In our last issue we noted from the scriptures how God wanted His works to be remembered.
Psalms 78 teaches us that we are responsible to teach our children the past works of God so they too can have hope in the Lord.
In today's culture many of the works of God have been perverted and misrepresented to mankind. Whenever and wherever natural man gets a hold of a spiritual work of God, he will always find a way to disgrace and exploit it.
Carnal man has done this with so many of God's works through out the years. Now instead of the people being reminded of the wonderful works of God as so many of the scriptures teach us, many of these days of observance are separated from their God ordained spiritual significance and dismissed as just another secular evil holiday. Another holiday fabricated by the mind of man to make money and glorify the flesh, and the devil. Many religious people are teaching this kind of bondage and legalism leading God's people away from him and robbing the God they serve from the praise He deserves.
However, this is just another trick of the devil to steal from God the glory and praise he is to be offered by his people for the works he has done.
Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, and 31 8Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 15Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 21Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 31Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
God is not responsible for the corruption that has crept in to defame His mighty works.
Take the holiday of Christmas. It is not God's fault that evil people took a wonderful work of God and turned it into a billion dollar business. The true holiday that a Christian celebrates is to give praise to God for his wonderful works. In this case, the birth of our redeemer our Lord Jesus.
Now I am aware of the winter solstice and the worship of pagan gods that were mixed in to pervert this holiday but that's not God's fault. So you know what some religious people do? They throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Instead of teaching the truth of the birth of our Lord Jesus they erase the wonderful work of God and dismiss it to a scheme of man. Some go as far to refuse to acknowledge the holiday and preach its sin to celebrate it in any way fashion or form.
God was excited about His Son's birth; He announced it.
Luke 2:8-12 12And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
As a matter of fact, the anticipation of the Christ, the coming king, is the great subject from Genesis 3:15 on. The angels were excited and offered praise to God for his wonderful work.
Luke 2:13-14 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Why is it we can't celebrate the wonderful work of God, the birth of our Savior and offer praise also?
This is just one of the many ways the devil is able to steal praise from our God. He convinces well meaning Christians that any acknowledgment of this holiday is wrong, that it belongs entirely to the mind of man. The result is that God is robbed once again from the praise due him.
Luke 17:15-19 15And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
Praising God brings wholeness to his people.
Psalm 145:4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
Now how is someone going to praise God and show forth his wonderful works if they believe the lies the devil has fed them regarding all "holidays"? There is only one more thing to establish. If the Word of God is true and if God did instruct us to set aside times and days to remember His works we should strive to be obedient to His Holy Word. We should want to praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:8 15, 21, and 31.
Now if the Fourth of July can be clearly documented that it is in fact a wonderful work of God, then to recognize and offer praise to God for this day is not following a holiday of secular man but offering praise and thanksgiving to the supreme creator.
Slavery did not originate in America. The king of England and many other European and eastern countries practiced slavery for centuries long before they extended their rule to the Americas'. However, slavery was legal and practiced in Great Britain and America at that time being an extension of the British Empire with British men in charge of the colonies extended and continued this sinful atrocity. The Declaration of Independence made it possible for further works and laws to be enacted to the eventual abolishing and emancipation of slavery in America.
Consider Reverend Richard Allen (1760 — 1831). He founded the first black denomination of America. He was raised as a slave in Delaware where a Methodist evangelist came through preaching the gospel. He accepted Jesus Christ and became very zealous for the Lord. He began sharing Christ with everyone on the plantation including the slave master. Being convicted in his heart by the Word of God the plantation owner realized slavery was wrong and freed Allen. He left Delaware a free man and walked to Philadelphia where he began to preach the gospel. He winds up preaching and pasturing a church of 2000 people a week. That church was a white church. Allen's work didn't stop there; he was also a solider in the American Revolution. He met and began to work with Dr. Benjamin Rush. Dr. Benjamin Rush was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and is known as the father of American medicine. It was from his relationship with Dr. Rush that he founded the first Black denomination in America.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, was founded in 1816. Reverend Richard Allen was elected its first bishop in 1816.
In 1793 Philadelphia fell to the yellow fever epidemic. People were dying off at the rate of 120 or so a day. Philadelphia was the third largest city in America at that time with a population of 40,000.
During that epidemic they lost over 10% of the population. There were about 70 or so Doctors in Philadelphia practicing medicine and most all of them left the city because they were scared that they would contract yellow fever and die.
Dr. Rush decided to stay and help the people. Do you know who else decided to stay and help Dr. Rush? Reverend Richard Allen and there was one other man who worked along side of these two great men his name was Absalom Jones. Absalom Jones was the first black bishop in the Episcopal Church. So you've got Dr. Rush signer of the Declaration of Independence, Reverend Richard Allen and Reverend Absalom Jones two blacks and a white working side by side to treat most of Philadelphia. This is just one example of thousands of black men and woman God called to minister the gospel. I would consider this a great work of God. Praise God for America and the open door it gave to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
May we continue to be as wise as our fore fathers and praise God for his wonderful works!ÿ
Note: All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. NIV indicates The New International Version, NLT indicates the New Living Translation, NAS indicates the New American Standard version, NKJV indicates the New King James Version, ASV means the American Standard Version, NJB means the New Jerusalem Bible, BBE means the Bible in Basic English, DBY means the Darby translation, NAU means the American Standard Version, 1995 Edition, and NAB means the New American Bible translation. For more information, go to the Works Cited page.