We will not be meeting on Wednesday July 3rd – so our church family can be with their families for the July 4th Holiday.  I have chosen instead to upload my sermon notes from Sunday —  “July 4th & Same Sex Marriage.”   As you have opportunity during this holiday week – make some time for quiet time – and meditate on these scriptures and pray for yourself, your family, our church, our nation, and our world. Pray that we will (as it says in 1 Thessalonians 1:9) turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God.

The only hope for the world is Jesus.

Please look at the notes below and feel free to comment:

We will Observe the Lords Supper in just a few moments- But in light of  the Fact that this week on July 4^th -we Celebrate the 237^th Birthday  of  our Nation -&- the Fact that the US Supreme Court decided this past week to overturn the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act – which effectively legalizes Same-Sex  Marriage at the Federal Level -&- puts Homosexual Marriage on the Same legal standing with Traditional Christian Marriage – I thought it necessary to share a few thoughts with you from the Word of God.

Ezekiel 16 — The context of this passage is – The Destruction of Jerusalem. in 586 BC

The Jewish People were in shock – they could not believe that the Lord God of  Israel would allow Jerusalem – the City of God -&- the City that contained The Temple of God – to be destroyed by  Foreign Powers –  But He Did !

So the Lord gives Ezekiel the Answer -WHY?  – Recorded in Chp 16  -&- since this chapter is long, I will give you a Danny Jones Paraphrase

Because the Story of America closely Parallels this Story of Jerusalem  – Both started with humble beginnings & were blessed by God to grow to greatness.

The Lord likens Jerusalem (& America) to a Baby Girl that had been born and   nobody wanted her or cared for her.  And so The Lord picked up the little baby girl named Jerusalem (or America) – who had been left to die in a Vacant Lot at the end of the street. And he Washed her and Clothed her and Blessed her so she could grow up and have a decent life.

vs 8 – The little Girl grows up & becomes a beautiful young woman – but still no one wanted her because of the heathen family she came from and the poverty & problems in her past – SO the Lord agreed to MARRY her and make her his wife. The Lord bought her Clothes & Shoes from Macy’s -&- Soaps & Perfumes from Bath & Body Works – Jewelry from Jareds. He gave her silver  and  gold Credit Cards. He blessed her with the Best Food & Drink. He treated her like a Queen.

vs 15 – But instead of being thankful and grateful to God for His Blessings   upon her – She began to assume that she  DESERVED all this & that she was   ENTITLED to this kind of lifestyle & that it had NOTHING to do w/ GOD – but with her own Stunning Good Looks, Winsome Personality, Brilliant Planning, & American Ingenuity.

And instead of Meeting God for Worship & Fellowship on Sunday – She FORGOT ALL about God & she began to chase after other gods from other countries all around the world – gods of Fame, Fortune,  Sports, Leisure, Music &  Movies, Sex & Excitement. The Lord in vs 43 is “Agitated” (KJV – Furious)  with all this & refers to this Idolatry  -or- Spiritual Adultery  as an   “Abomination”.

vs 20 – Not only did Jerusalem (aka America) begin to consort with other Lovers from every nation and religion in the world – she got SO busy with them that she did NOT have Time to raise all the BABIES she was having –   so she began to kill her own children because they were putting a DRAG on   her lifestyle – Jerusalem sacrificed her babies to Molech so she could   have MORE FUN – NOT just 2 or 3  – that would have been TRAGIC – but since 1973 – America has killed over 56 Million babies – & God moves beyond Calling that a Sin — to Calling it an Abomination !  (vs 22)

vs 25 – God begins to describe how her adultery was NOT just a ONE TIME  “youthful indiscretion” – but that she was  committing adultery with every nation that came along – whether they were Friend or   Enemy. Then God says    – NOT only was she a Prostitute – but she was worse than a Prostitute –   Because Prostitutes do it for Money – but Jerusalem (I Mean America) was actually PAYing her friends & enemies to sleep with her.  (Think about all   the Billions in Foreign Aid every year that we give to Nations both  Friends & Foe so we can be “Embedded” with them ).

vs 48 – Not only was Jerusalem – I mean America – worse than a Prostitute –   she was worse than Sodom – And what was Sodom’s Sin ? – vs 49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness  of food, and abundance of idleness;

Does that Description of Sodom remind you of America ?

*We are a Proud people- we still brag that we  are the worlds only remaining Superpower – even while we are weakening  ourselves with $17 Trillion in Debt – even while we ship our manufacturing jobs overseas,   even while we reduce the size of our military, even while the Dept of  Defense said 2 weeks ago that we will be training women to be Army Rangers and Navy Seals

*We have Fulness of Food – We are the only nation in the History of the World whose poor have to be treated for Obesity

*We have more Idle Time, more Time off, more Time Saving Devices than   any other nation in History – and instead of using our Idle Time for God & Good — we used it for studying up new and   interesting ways to SIN against God like this whole new “civil right” that our Ancestors called Sodomy and our Supreme Court calls Same-Sex Marriage

vs 49 Continues – neither did Sodom strengthen the hand of the poor and needy (instead they passed Obamacare that weakens the cause of the UnBorn & the Sick & the Elderly)  ⁵⁰ And they were haughty / Arrogant and committed abomination before Me; (That Abomination was what we call Homosexuality) therefore (The Lords Says) I took them away (I Destroyed Them) as I saw fit.

That’s WHY Jerusalem was Destroyed – and America is on the Same Track. With ONE MAJOR Difference – Because of Gods Promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – The Lord kept His promise  to RESTORE Jerusalem after her destruction in vs 60-63.

– The Lord has made NO such promise to America. – maybe that’s why there is no mention of the USA in Revelation unless we are Babylon the Great

Let me Finish – with the Conclusion to the Email that we sent out Last Wednesday after the Supreme Court Decision.

*If you study the Bible,  you will discover that Societies who made similar decisions about Homosexuality did not end well.

*If you study History, you will discover that Nations who made similar decisions about Homosexuality did not end well.

*If you study a little Biology, you will discover that Homosexuality on a National Scale CANNOT end well.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Tim 3 that “in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of   themselves… and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… and evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”   I’m not sure if this is the Last Days for the World or just the Last Days of America. But as Christians we need to be praying to our Lord for courage to stand, reading His Word for guidance, believing His Truth, and living holy & separated lives – and not listening to the “politically correct” propaganda that is being served up in our media. Instead we need to remember the admonition from our Lord recorded in Revelation 18 “Come out of [Babylon… – Sodom… – Egypt…. ], my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”

John 17: 15-16 -Jesus says – Christians are “In the World Not of the World”      We are In the World  – but NOT to be Entangled by the Sins of the world

Mat 24: Jesus said – behold I come as a thief … so don’t let me Come & find   you -Sinning with the Sinners -or Drinking with the Drunkards

Our Mission on this Earth is to Trust Christ to save us from OUR Sins – and to Lead as many others as possible to Turn
from their Sins and Turn to Jesus for Salvation

I wish ON this Sunday before July 4^th – that I could Preach a Great Patriotic Sermon…  I wish that I could preach to you that America’s Best Days are Still Ahead

But when you look at our Abortion Rate -& –  Normalization of Homosexuality – -Look at All the People who are forsaking the God of our Fathers – and the Rule of Law in our Society -When you see Rampant Lying, Cheating, Stealing from Pres of U S -to- the Average Man on the Street

These are NOT SIGNS of a Nation on the Increase

These are Signs that if we do NOT Repent … we shall Perish as a Nation

NOW is NOT the Time to look around at the world and say “If you can’t beat em – Join em ”

NOW is the Time for Christians to be walking in Close Fellowship / Close Communion with the Lord

Speaking of Communion,   Let’s go to the Lords Table and  Share the Lord’s Supper