america repent

04.08.2011

“On April 8, 2011, I was driving home to North Carolina from Philadelphia in the rain. I needed a break from the traffic and decided to stop in Washington DC to preach for a few minutes outside The White House. I had a loud speaker and was given great freedom to lift up my voice. At one point, an officer approached and simply asked if I would refrain from pointing the half-mile hailer directly at The White House. I happily obliged and turned the speaker’s mouth to the side. This same officer confirmed that President Obama was inside the White House. Thus, I preached” (Jesse Boyd).

Good afternoon folks. My name is Jesse. I'm from North Carolina and am simply driving home today from Philadelphia to North Carolina. I needed a break from the traffic and decided to pause for an hour or so to preach God’s Word to you today, even though it’s raining.

I think it's great to be able to stand outside The White House and preach the words of eternal life. There aren’t many countries in the world where you can stand outside the residence of the leader or the king and declare truth, calling one’s own nation to repentance. The other day, I was reading a statement made by our second president, John Adams, from one of his personal journals. He wrote about how every night, under the burden and pressures of the presidency, he would kneel beside his bed. And in a spirit of repentance with heartfelt sorrow, he penned,

"I would confess the multitude of my sins, my foibles, and my weaknesses to Almighty God and plead His help and assistance as I endeavor to do my duty.”

Now, contrast that with today and with our President of today, who tells half the nation that he is a Christian to collect votes, and then once he comes into The White House, he doesn't even have time to go to church, doesn't even bother. That's the politician of the day. They tell you things to get your vote out of one corner of their mouthes. They claim they are “Christian.” And then, out of the other side of their mouths, they sanction and affirm things that God and His Word, the Bible, declare to be abomination and wickedness. So, we have profound hypocrisy from our politicians today, particularly our President. Contrast that Founders and early Presidents such as John Adams, who openly confessed their inability before God and spoke of calling out to the Lord in repentance each night before bed. Oh, that we as Americans would be like John Adams! Oh, that our attitude would be one of understanding our need to repent before a Holy God!  Oh, that we with heartfelt sorrow, as individual Americans in this free land would go to our beds in the night and confess with repentance the multitude of our sins, foibles, and weaknesses before the Holy God of all Creation.

My friends, trust me! There are a multitude of sins, foibles, and weaknesses that render us guilty before God, not only corporately as a nation but as individual citizens. During the bloodiest days well into civil war, Abraham Lincoln called the nation to repentance, suddenly understanding that a bloody brother war was judgment from God. Thomas Jefferson called the nation to repentance and a day of fasting during his presidency. James Madison did the same when the British burned The White House and the Capitol back in 1812. How far have we fallen today, my friends! We don't even want to mention the name of God, much less that of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, in the halls of our government. It’s almost funny, for the men we look up to in our history books shouted exactly the opposite. I believe it was Patrick Henry, well-known for his brash statement “Give me liberty or give me death,” who also said of America many years later:

“This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Today, it seems, we can't even mention Christ. Of course, when kids go into a school and shoot up the place and kill their classmates, we want to blame God and Jesus for that, never considering that we kicked God out of the schools many years ago and told Him He was not welcome. So, why do we expect Him to come in there and save the day?

No friends, we need to be like John Adams and confess our sins before God. I call upon our President today. I call him out. President Obama, I call you out. I plead with you to humble yourself before the Lord and to lead us as a people in humility before Almighty God. I ask you to be who you claim to be. You have said before many witnesses that you are a Christian. But sir, how can you be a Christian and yet claim it's okay to murder the unborn children in the womb, especially when most of aborted babies in this nation are African-American. How can you say that? How can you say that you are a Christian while sanctioning and affirming lifestyles that God says are an abomination to a nation? I call you out, Mr. President. I ask that you would lead us, as John Adams led the nation many years ago, in a spirit heartfelt repentance. I ask that in a spirit of love, sir. I love you and the Bible commands that we as Christians pray for you as our leader.  That's what we do. We pray that God would give you wisdom and discernment, but more important than that, that He would grant you repentance and faith, that you might point this nation back to righteousness.

But dear sir, I don't know if you can hear me or not, BE WARNED, BEWARE. Just as the preachers warned our politicians all through the early days of this nation’s inception, be warned that God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Sir, if you sow to the flesh, you will reap to the flesh. I implore you to turn this nation back to the God of its Fathers, to lead us in repentance for the wickedness of this nation.

Here in America, we pridefully think we are entitled to the blessings of God. And yet in truth, we are one of the most morally reprehensible countries in the history of the world. Things that even heathen Third World considers taboo, we not only do them, we take pleasure in them. You'd be hard pressed to find women, who have all the circumstances of life against them in a Third World village, ready and willing to kill the babies in their wombs. You'd be hard pressed to find poor Third World societies, that have all the excuses in the world to be angry with God … you’d be hard pressed to find these declare that homosexuality is okay with God. You'd be hard pressed to find these things in heathen nations, but here in America …

Just look at marriage. More than fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. At least half of the marriages in the church end in divorce, and we say, “It’s okay. It’s no big deal. Jesus preached against the divorce, my friend. Oh, there can be forgiveness from God, but that doesn't make it right.

Mr. President, I don't blame you for the state of our nation. I blame the churches. I blame the pastors and America's pulpits where few have the guts to preach truth as men of God did in the old days. You see, men of God in the early years that sandwiched the founding of our country were not afraid to speak blunt truth. In fact, if it weren't for some bold Baptist preachers in Virginia, my friends, we wouldn't have a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. You see, James Madison was running to be a delegate from the State of Virginia for the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and he found himself in a strange quandary. Mr. Madison didn't have the votes to be elected delegate from Virginia. And yet, he was the very man who had penned the rough draft of the proposed United States Constitution. So, it appeared tha the man who had actually written the draft wouldn't even be elected to attend the Constitutional Convention and vote on that document from his state. There was a Baptist preacher named John Leland from Virginia. He, along with other Christian Baptist preachers agreed:

”You know what, let's talk to Mr. Madison. He needs to guarantee us that as Christians, we will have freedom of religion and freedom of speech in this country” [my paraphrase]

You see, those preachers understood that in a society where men were free to hear God speak to their conscience, apart from the trappings of a state church, in such an environment, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (which is not religion, but a free gift upon repentance and faith) would best thrive.

There was no Bill of Rights in the Constitution, my friends. These would be amendments to the Constitution once the Constitution was ratified by the States. James Leland, that Baptist preacher, acted as spokesman for the other preachers of the state and met personally with James Madison under an oak tree out near The Wilderness in Central Virginia, the same area where a terribly bloody battle would take place in 1863 between the the armies of Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. Leland conveyed to Mr. Madison:

“Listen, we will put our support behind you, and we will tell our church bodies to vote for you as a delegate if you will guarantee us that there will be freedom of religion and freedom of speech inscribed in this Constitution—inscribed freedom for us to speak out God's truth, even against political leaders, and to call this nation to repentance at any time” [my paraphrase].

Quite unlike the politicians of today, Mr. Madison gave his word: that if they would elect him to be a delegate from the State of Virginia, he would ensure that these things, a Bill of Rights, would be etched into the Constitution. The Constitution was passed, and the first order of business thereafter was our Bill of Rights. Mr. Madison indeed kept his word to a group of Baptist preachers. A Bill of Rights guaranteed us something that other nations have never guaranteed to citizens, that the truth could be spoken, that there would be no state church, that there should be no government-sanctioned persecution of Christians, and of course, no government-sanctioned persecution of Jews, nor a government-sanctioned persecution of any faith. I'm thankful for that, my friends, and do you want to know why a Christian preacher can say such a thing? It is because I know there to be a Sovereign God who rules in the affairs of men; and He doesn't need the trappings of government to speak to your conscience. In fact, apart from the trappings of government, you are more able to hear the voice of God in creation and in your conscience, calling you to repentance. So, I’m very thankful for our Bill of Rights.

But alas, how far have we fallen! In that day, a politician gave his word, and he kept it. In this day, no politicians do. How many things did our president today say he would do in his campaign, and yet, he has not. I don't hold him or our political leaders responsible. I hold the nation responsible, particularly the churches. We have turned blind eyes to sin in this country. We have forgotten the God of our Fathers. We are guilty of the very things our Founding Fathers warned against.

George Washington, in his farewell address to the nation, warned us of the day when we would forget the source of our freedom and our existence, Almighty God, the God of Heaven. James Madison warned us of the day when Americans would think our national security to be rooted in anything other than our ability and our desire as a society to follow the Law of God, the Ten Commandments. Friends, we have forgotten this. Not only we've forgotten it, but like Israel of old, we have turned from the God of our Fathers to worship other gods.

For many of you, your god is money. For some of you, your god is a politician. In America, we make gods out of men who can rock-n-roll, or who can throw a leather ball into an iron hoop, or who can carry a pigskin across a grassy field. I'm not preaching against sports, but we have undoubtedly made them idols. Some of us have made an idol out of the pastor of our church, not willing to test what is preached with the Word of God. Some of us have made idols out of our jobs, our paychecks, our careers, and we have turned away from God. We have forgotten Him.

And in the churches, I would say that evidence of God's judgment against our country is abundantly clear. There is evidence that God has already judged us can be found every Sunday morning at eleven o'clock from sea to shining sea. It’s the caliber of preaching that is in America's pulpits of today. This is hard evidence that the Lord's judgment is already upon us. My friends, it is indeed a scary place to be for a once free and blessed nation: all these little preachers, these sissy reverends pontificating about hoping and coping and sharing their sermonettes for Christian-ettes. Thank God He has reserved to Himself a Remnant. Thank God He always has a Remnant, and the truth is always available, and He's always got His prophets, even today. I’m speaking today, not because I claim to be somebody special or important. Neither am I here to recruit you to my church. You would have to drive 6-7 hours to get there anyway. I’m simply here to declare the Word of God. His judgment upon this nation has already begun, but friends, there remains hope. We have sinned against a Holy God. Our consciences bear witness. We have lied, we have stolen, we have blasphemed with our mouths and by our lifestyles.  We have committed adultery and murder. Jesus preached that God sees our lust as adultery and our hatred as murder. Not only have we done these things, we have known them to be wrong and offensive before the Lord, and yet, we take pleasure in them. We celebrate our iniquity. America is indeed guilty before a Holy God.

A just and holy God cannot tolerate sin and we deserve His judgment. We deserve His judgment as a nation. We deserve hell and white-hot wrath for all eternity. But my friends, there remains hope against all hope. I’m not a preacher of doom. I'm not here to condemn you. We are already condemned. I'm a preacher of love, and I'm here to indeed declare that we we are HELPLESS without a Savior. And yet, we are only HOPELESS if there is no Savior. Hallelujah, there is a Savior! Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

Almighty God demonstrated his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners—not while we were good people or righteous people—but while we were sinners, Christ Jesus died for us. Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. You see, God formed the body for Himself, and He filled it like a hand fills a glove. He stepped into space and time, the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He walked the dusty roads of Galilee. He was tempted in all points like as we are, he suffered in all points like as we have, YET WITHOUT SIN. And then He, who knew no sin, became sin for us. When those Roman soldiers nailed Jesus of Nazareth to that rugged cross as His Jewish brethren stood by and mocked … My friends, the Jews didn't kill Christ. The Romans didn't kill Christ. Christ Jesus laid His life down. He laid his life down as a sacrifice for our sins, a perfect blood sacrifice to cover our sins, much like the blood of that Passover lamb covered the people of Israel as they fled from Egypt, that same night God slew all of Egypt's firstborn.

A legal transaction took place between God and man on the Cross of Jesus Christ. Almighty God stepped in to pay your fine and mine, Mr. President. He stepped in to pay your fine on the cross. We broke His moral law. He paid the fine with His life's blood; and three days later He took his life up again and rose from the dead, proving that His sacrifice was efficacious and accepted by God the Father. Christ Jesus is not hanging on a cross anymore, my Catholic friends. He has risen from the grave. He has risen from death. Mr. President, our Savior is not a dead religion; He is a Living Savior. He is a Great King, and His salvation is free. Oh, for the sake of those precious children of yours, that you would turn to Christ and raise them in the fear and abomination of the Lord. That's your primary duty, Mr. President, as a father. This supersedes your duty as President, my friend.

Jesus Christ indeed rose from the grave, and therefore salvation from sin is available to all. The ground at the foot of the cross is level. Salvation is AVAILABLE to all, but my friends, it is not AUTOMATIC. God commands us to repent and believe; He doesn't offer us salvation. He provided it, and now He commands us to repent of our sins.

Let's stop making excuses for our sin as a nation! Let's stop making excuses for our sins a individual citizens! God says abortion is murder. He says homosexuality is abomination. He says fornication is a dangerous sin. He says that covetousness is idolatry of the heart. Anger without cause is murder of the heart. Lust is adultery of the heart. The Lord has said; thus saith the LORD! Let us quit making excuses and acknowledge truth for what it is, that we we are helplessly lost without a savior and that only Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed of God, can save us. Let us REPENT.

God commands us to repent and and put out trust in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, His death, His burial, and His glorious resurrection. I'm not talking about a head knowledge, my friends, a simple assent to some historical facts. Biblical faith is complete trust. It is the same trust you would have in a parachute, if you grabbed it in a downing plane. You would assuredly never let go.

Many people today try on Jesus, and like a jacket when it becomes unfashionable or out-of-style, they pass it aside. The faith the Bible speaks about is serve to grab hold of Jesus Christ and hold tightly, never letting loose. Cease trusting in your religion, your church attendance. Quit trusting in these things. Start trusting Christ. In the Messiah, God promises that He will save us from our sin, that He will declare us to be righteous. And in giving us His Holy Spirit, He will conform us to the image we've been declared to have in Christ and He will indeed give to us eternal life. Friends, that is the Gospel.

The Gospel is simply. Jesus Christ was crucified according to the Scriptures. He was buried. And on the third day he rose again from the dead according to the Scriptures. This is not religion; it's life. And Jesus Christ can free you, my Catholic friend, my Mormon friend, my JW friend, my Muslim friend … Jesus Christ can free you from the bondage of your religion.

My fellow Americans, we must humble ourselves before God. We cannot understand the Gospel, neither can we embrace it, neither can we be saved except we repent. And, we must repent as a nation. Mr. President, I implore you to lead us into repentance. Be assured that I will pray for you. My young seven-year-old daughter, just a couple of weeks ago, prayed very simply and humbly that Mr. Obama would repent and trust Jesus. I share that in love, sir.

The God of our Fathers commands us to repent and believe on Jesus Christ. He may judge this nation. He may very well overthrow it, and yet, He remains in the work of saving men, changing them individually from the inside out. Will you escape on His day of wrath? Only Jesus can save you to God, my fellow Americans. Only Jesus can save you to a relationship with God. But, we warned, BEWARE, only Jesus can save you from God. You need to be saved from God because His wrath is white-hot.

The nations of the earth, even nuclear superpowers, are but a drop in a bucket before the Almighty. His judgment is coming. How can we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

Mr. President, how can our nation escape if we neglect so great salvation which was spoken of by the Prophets, the so great salvation Jesus Christ fulfilled according to the Scriptures. How can we escape, Mr. President?

Please consider my words today, proclaimed in this Spring rain. I pray this preaching has been a blessing to you. Time is short. Judgment is indeed coming. Flee to Jesus Christ before it is too late.

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 24-25).