I would love to give the Pastor of this
predominantly black church in Virginia three cheers. This guy is obviously a
leader. Perhaps we should each decide who our real leader is... It is amazing to
see that very little has changed in 4,000 years.
Good morning, brothers
and sisters; it's always a delight to see the pews crowded on Sunday morning,
and so eager to get into God's Word. Turn with me in your Bibles, if you will,
to the 47th chapter of Genesis. We'll begin our reading at verse
13, and go through verse 27.
Brother Ray, would you stand and read that
great passage for us? ... (reading) .... Thank you for that fine reading,
Brother Ray. So we see that economic hard times fell upon Egypt , and the people
turned to the government of Pharaoh to deal with this for them. And Pharaoh
nationalized the grain harvest, and placed the grain in great storehouses that
he had built. So the people brought their money to Pharaoh, like a great tax
increase, and gave it all to him willingly in return for grain. And this went on
until their money ran out, and they were hungry again.
So when they went
to Pharaoh after that, they brought their livestock - their cattle, their
horses, their sheep, and their donkey - to barter for grain, and verse 17 says
that only took them through the end of that year. But the famine wasn't over,
was it? So the next year, the people came before Pharaoh and admitted they had
nothing left, except their land and their own lives. "There is nothing left in
the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your
eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land
will be servants to Pharaoh." So they surrendered their homes, their land, and
their real estate to Pharaoh's government, and then sold themselves into slavery
to him, in return for grain.
What can we learn from this, brothers and
sisters?
That turning to the government instead of to God to be our
provider in hard times only leads to slavery? Yes... That the only reason
government wants to be our provider is to also become our master?
Yes.
But look how that passage ends, brothers and sisters! Thus Israel settled in the
land of Egypt , in the land of Goshen . And they gained possessions
in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly." God provided for His people,
just as He always has! They didn't end up giving all their possessions to
government, no, it says they gained possessions! But I also tell you a great
truth today, and an ominous one.
We see the same thing happening today -
the government today wants to "share the wealth" once again, to take it from us
and redistribute it back to us. It wants to take control of
healthcare, just as it has taken control of education, and ration
it back to us, and when government rations it, then government decides who gets
it, and how much, and what kind. And if we go along with it, and do it
willingly, then we will wind up no differently than the people of Egypt did four
thousand years ago - as slaves to the government, and as slaves to our leaders.
Lord, You alone are worthy to be served, and we rely on You, and You
alone. We confess that the government is not our deliverer, and never rightly
will be. We read in the eighth chapter of 1 Samuel, when Samuel warned the
people of what a ruler would do, where it says "And in that day you will cry out
because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not
answer you in that day..."
And Lord, we acknowledge that day has come.
We cry out to you because of the ruler that we have chosen for ourselves as a
nation. Lord, we pray for this nation. We pray for revival, and we pray for
deliverance from those who would be our masters. Give us hearts to seek You and
hands to serve You, and protect Your people from the atrocities of Pharaoh's
government. In God We Trust...
I deleted a piece in the middle which is too political for me.This was sent to me in an e mail and I feel it has a lot of value as long as it is. Thanks for reading, just me.
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