Morality – What is it and why is it so important?
Noah Webster, author of the first American Speller and the first Dictionary stated: “The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. . . All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”
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Gouverneur Morris, Penman and Signer of the Constitution: “[F]or avoiding the extremes of despotism or anarchy . . . the only ground of hope must be on the morals of the people. I believe that religion is the only solid base of morals and that morals are the only possible support of free governments. [T]herefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God.”
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Benjamin Franklin, Signer of the Declaration of Independence: “[O]nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
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Continental Congress, 1778: “Whereas true religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty and happiness . . . it is hereby earnestly recommended to the several States to take the most effectual measures for the encouragement thereof.”
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As I read the Bible I learn in Psalms how wonderfully I am made. You can take any part of your body and study it and see this great truth. But, what I think is so amazing is the way God made the body to heal itself. I am not a doctor nor do I have the knowledge of the human body to teach anatomy, but I do know that God designed us to heal our selves, and with the use of our white blood cells. It is these cells that attack any infection that comes into my body. They have the power to know where and what has been infected and it goes after it to remove it. When the body cannot fight the infection any longer – the body dies.
I learned that, “Although your white blood cells account for only about 1 percent of your blood, their impact is significant. White blood cells, also called leukocytes, are essential for good health and protection against illness and disease. Think of white blood cells as your immunity cells. In a sense, they are continually at war. They flow through your bloodstream to battle viruses, bacteria, and other foreign invaders that threaten your health. When your body is in distress and a particular area is under attack, white blood cells rush in to help destroy the harmful substance and prevent illness.”
God made the earth in a similar way, like us the earth has the power to heal itself. If the earth had white cells, how would they work so that earth could heal itself from infection? The more important question is what would infection be to the earth? From what I read in the bible the infection is the sin of mankind.
Isaiah 24:3-6 NLT “The earth will be completely emptied and looted. The Lord has spoken! The earth mourns and dries up, and the crops waste away and wither. Even the greatest people on earth waste away. The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God’s instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse consumes the earth. Its people must pay the price for their sin. They are destroyed by fire, and only a few are left alive.”
The Scripture says the earth longs and even groans for the day when God’s children of righteousness are revealed.
Romans 8:19-22 NLT “For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
Throughout history you will find that the earth has lashed out at immorality. Why was Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed? When places on God’s good earth become so completely immoral, the earth will attack to heal herself, as she with the threatening infectious sin in Sodom and Gomorrah.
I used to think that God sits up in heaven and when man’s sin has made Him mad enough, He brings down judgments. I do not believe it works this way. I believe God has instilled a system of healing in the earth. When the cup of immorality is full – the earth will attack and begin its healing process. Our climate is changing dramatically, and some will say it is from pollution, but I agree with God’s Word that it is from immorality. The earth wants to be healed. Look at what is going on in the world and see where extreme wickedness has taken place and is still taking place, then look at what nature has done or is doing right now. The earth will try to remove man’s wickedness, by removing man.
Our forefathers understood the importance of righteousness and justice; the effect it has on the land as well as the people. Today our leaders have forgotten this great wisdom as they reject the truth, and have allowed immorality to take over our country. Instead of judging immorality and turning from our wicked ways, we blame objects and natural disasters. One example of how ignorant our leaders have become is how they say, “Guns kill and we need to get rid of them. Then we will see less crime and injustice.” Guns don’t kill; it is the person pulling the trigger that kills. Murder is a hate crime; hate is in the hearts of men. In the same way, we need to admit that what is making our good green earth so angry is our sinful rebellion to our Creator.
If the earth is getting ready to judge America for its immorality, what would it look like? Look at nature’s forces in the recent past with the increase of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, droughts, flooding, etc. The experts claim these are happening far more often and with greater force than ever before.
But, people blame everything else as to why the earth is changing, and refuse to admit the problems in our world are due to our wicked hearts and hatred of God. The earth will heal itself by removing what is infecting it. You mess with the earth long enough and she will have no problem eliminating you, a city, a nation, or an entire world – like in the days of Noah.
Jesus said that in the last day the sinfulness of man on the earth will be great, completely covering the earth’s surface. Why does it say in the Bible that the Lord will renew the earth? He will make her new because she has been smothered by man’s sin; her face is like the face of woman that has been tortured beyond recognition. And, just like your body dies when your white blood cells can not stop the infection in you, the earth will also die because of the rapid increase of evil on the earth in the last days before the return of our Redeemer and King. Jesus comes and with Him comes a thousand years of rest and renewal for the earth. He will rule with an iron scepter and His everlasting kingdom will be one of peace and righteousness. He will return to strike and conquer with the armies of heaven. Talk about white blood cells!
As I mentioned before, with the “National Monument to the Forefathers,” under its statue of “morality” are the words: prophet and evangelist. Why would these two types of people be under morality? Our forefathers believed that the prophets are the ones that God sends to foretell what is coming and to expose the condition of man in the sight of God. I have been told by some very good pastors that the gift/office of prophet is no longer needed since the Bible was written. But what about the people who don’t read the Bible, or those who read it looking for what they want it to say? Could this be why our nation, and our world is in the condition it’s in? God still speaks through His prophets today and if we are wise we will listen to what they are saying about the coming judgments and God‘s Day of Judgment.
What about the evangelist? Without the changing of man’s heart there will be no change in morality. The evangelist is one who tells everyone about the saving power of Jesus Christ: The Good News! Without the prophet and evangelist, immorality increases rapidly to infect mankind and the earth. What is the outcome of immorality? The earth will begin to attack with what we call nature. What is the answer and hope? Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit helping us to return to the truth and the love of God, and more specifically, to bring Americans back to what our forefathers believed and lived by.
According to Leviticus 18:27-28 and Jeremiah 31:36b God says there are laws of nature that He has set up, and one of them is that the earth will vomit people up when their cup of iniquity is full.
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Thomas Jefferson said: “I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.”
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Benjamin Franklin said, “A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins.”
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