Hi. This is Dave Olson.
I'm the senior leader of Hartman church located in Ankeny Iowa.
I hope the following message, challenges and courage's and
ultimately changes you thanks for joining us.
This is July 4th weekend. And so man, I tell you what it,
I love our nation. And so I just wrestling with
what to preach on because we are technically in a series.
So you got to find a way to adjust.
Justify getting off track. You know, I'm pulling it in but
I want to talk about this morning, I want to talk about
praying for our nation. I want to, I want us to
understand the responsibility that we have.
I believe that as Believers we have, we all have a general
responsibility, but I would propose to you that as heart,
Landers that. We have a specific
responsibilities that God has called this church specifically
to stand in the gap for this nation.
The nations of the earth and there is a there is an
intercessors mandate on this church to contend for the
purposes of this nation. So I want to, I want to hit face
on this thing. That says that patriotism is at
best a distraction and at worst idolatry because there's people
that will tell you that, you know, patriotism is simply, you
want to Define patriotism. It means a love for your country
and affection for your particular country.
And people will say Well, we're supposed to love all people, and
that's true. And we're supposed to love all
countries, and that's true. God is a global God.
He did. He has the nation's in his heart
and King, Jesus will not be satisfied.
Until every tribe. And tongue has heard, and
there's worship in his Endeavor under every tongue of his name.
And so, God is a global God. He desires that every nation, be
presented, the gospel and every nation be won by him scriptures.
Clear psalm for the Nations are his the world is his However,
God gives us certain things to Steward.
I'm supposed to love all families, but I got a favorite
one. I love all families and I want
all children to be fed, but I've got responsibilities for certain
ones. And scripture says, I'm worse
than an Infidel, if I don't fulfill that responsibility.
Matter of fact in the gospels, there was a time where Jesus
rebuked the Pharisees because they what they've done they
called it Corbin. They said, what was supposed to
go to my parents? I dedicate I devote to God.
Therefore I'm relieved of that responsibility and for you to
say that distraction that to contend for the nation that on
which you were to Citizen the place where you live to say,
That is a distraction from Devotion.
To God, is a form of what Jesus rebuked him for.
What I'm saying is this Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because
they would say, the, the law said they had responsibilities
to their parents but they said, well I'm going to give that to
God. I'm going to devote that to God
and that relieves me of my responsibility to my parents and
the Lord said that is a false teaching.
That they still had an obligation to care for their
own. Paul said that God has chosen
the times and the places in which men should live now we've
touched on this before, but this is a very, very important
principle that two of the parameters of your calling is
the location in which you live and the generation in which you
live, Matthew chapter 11 matter of fact.
Let's turn there. I want you to see this for
yourself. So, you know I'm not making it
up. Matthew Chapter 11 This is a
very interesting thing, I heard the Lord speak this to me one
day up. In the balcony before service, I
was praying up there and I had never heard anybody say this and
it just so took me back. And he then he took me to
Matthew 11 and showed me that indeed, this is what the word
teaches. Look at Matthew 11, Verse 20,
Jesus is speaking of Jesus, then he began to denounce the cities
where most of his mighty Works had been done because they did
not repent, woe to you chorazin, woe to you bethsaida for.
If the mighty Works done in, you had been done in Tyre or sidon,
they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and Ashes, but
I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment
for tyre and sidon, then, for you, And for and you Capernaum,
will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to
Hades for. If the mighty Works done in you
had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day but
I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment
for the land of Sodom than for you.
Now, what's fascinating to me is that the Lord is addressing and
the population of a city. He's not talking to an
individual here. He there's a corporate rebuked
because there's corporate responsibility.
In other words, as an occupant of that City, they bore
responsibility for which they would give an account.
Let me say it again, as an occupant of that City that
rejected Jesus, they bore a responsibility for, which they
would give an account. So their location was part of
their stewardship. You understand what I'm saying?
The fact that they lived their gave them a level of
responsibility. There should have been somebody
in that City that would have stood up and say Jesus, I'm
staking my claim, I receive you, I bless your ministry.
I'm getting the I believe and stake the claim for that entire
city, God is looking for representatives in cities and
nations of the earth so that he can, he can bless those cities
and nations of the earth. It's called an intercessor.
If you remember Abraham When God said he was going to destroy
Sodom, but the the city that Jesus is speaking of here,
Abraham stood in the Gap and said, what, if you find this
many Believers and this many and this many he was he was dealing
with the principle. The very real principle that we
are Salt and Light and God will withhold, his hand of judgment
for the sake of a small amount of righteous people in a city or
a nation. So here we have the location,
our city. You have a stewardship of the
city, or the nation in which you live, you bear a greater
responsibility for what happens in the United States of America,
as someone who lives here, then you do for what happens in the
Ukraine. Now, some of you may have
Ukrainian blood, you may be a Ukrainian Citizen and you, there
is a level of responsibility that you retain.
But I'm talking about those of us right now, who live in this
nation and especially as Citizens, there's a level of
authority and there's a level of responsibility that we have.
So when Jesus said, God chose the times and places are when
Paul said that he said, God chosen chooses the times and
places in which men should live, it wasn't just some kind of
arbitrary, kind of an interesting fact.
It wasn't like trivia. Hey isn't this interesting?
There was a reason behind his saying that he was saying that
God appointed you to a place and a generation, a location and a
generation and you will give an account for both now.
So we see in this one here. Jesus is.
Thing that he will call to account those people who lived
in those cities. Now, look at later on.
And chapter 12. Look at verse 41 of chapter 12.
The men of Nineveh Nineveh will rise up at the Judgment with
this generation and condemn it. So now he's talking about a
generation a people who lived within a season of time a unique
season of time in human history and God said that the people of
the, the generation of Nineveh would rise up in witness against
the people who lived in that unique period of time in which
Jesus lived, because they had, there was a unique opportunity
that they allowed to pass them by And I am here to tell you
this morning, that this is not an anomaly.
This is true of every generation.
There are purposes. Two seasons.
We talked about it, I don't know.
It was probably about seven years ago.
Now, I was the Lord spoke to me one day and he said, I want you
to do a series on wisdom, but I don't want you to pull out your
old material, you know, sometimes the Lord has to tell
the preacher that because you do it so you can lean on what you
used to know. Bill Johnson has this wonderful
phrase what you know can keep you from what you need to know.
That's a sobering thought. Because if you think the little,
you know, is the whole, then you won't be over open to the rest.
And so the Lord dealt with me and I began to ask him about
wisdom, and he took us on a journey.
And one of the things he really began to talk to me about was
wisdom and time. That time.
From, from a Divine perspective, is not the way you, and I think
of it. You and I think of time as
minutes on a clock and days on a calendar, but to God time and
you can see this throughout scripture from the Divine
perspective in the economy of Heaven, time is a period
pregnant with purpose, it's launched by fresh Revelation and
it's consummated by the Fulfillment of the purpose of
that revelation. Let me say it again that when
God launches a new time or season and Daniel, Daniel
chapter 2 is very clear. God sets the times and the
seasons, God changes the times and the seasons.
And one of the primary ways in which God, shifts Humanity or a
church, there are big enormous blocks of seasons and times.
That are Global and historical in nature.
There's also that's also true of us as individuals in your life.
There are times and Seasons that God has for your life.
It's true of churches times and seasons and we don't have time
to get, I'm getting pulled into something.
I didn't intend to talk about. So let me just make a couple
comments about Daniel chapter 2, okay?
Because the Lord has been speaking to me about this for
three weeks now. In prayer, Daniel chapter 2,
it's very clear. Daniel, praise out this prayer
and he prays out. He's thanking God because God
had given him a Divine download about what Nebuchadnezzar's
dream is, and Nebuchadnezzar had made a neat.
That all the wise men would be killed because they could not
only could they not interpret his dream.
They first couldn't tell him what the dream was that they
were supposed to interpret Nebuchadnezzar wasn't gambling
that this he could be manipulated, he said you're not
only going to tell me what my dream meant.
You're going to tell me what my dream was.
I'm not going to tell you what it was.
And if you can't tell me, I'll kill you because you claim to be
these diviners these wise men, these Magi and you're a fraud
and they're like, there's not a man on Earth.
That can do this and their knees were shaking and I he said
you're just you're waiting for the time to change.
That's what he said. It's an interesting phrase.
What he was insinuating, his you're waiting for my time on
the throne to be up so that you can manipulate the next guy.
You think you're hoping you can Outlast me so that you can start
manipulating the next guy because you know I won't be
manipulated So Daniel is in his second year of its in the second
year of Nebuchadnezzar's rain that this happens and Daniel and
the three Hebrew children, Shadrach Meshach and Abednego,
or make the bed, and shake the bed.
And into bed, you do you tell your kids?
But he says these four, they were they were captured by
Nebuchadnezzar and it says they were inducted into a three-year
training as wise men. But chapter 2 says in the second
year of Nebuchadnezzar's rain. So at best they were only
sophomores. Okay.
They were in the second year of their training and Daniel gets
word, he's dead. He's going to get killed, they
come to pick him up and to kill him and he says, wait, wait,
wait, why are we in such a rush? Let's not be Hasty here.
He said there is a God in heaven and so he says give me three
days. I'm going to fast and pray and
God is going to give me the dream and then he tells his
buddies no more even worse. Trouble and they go on this fast
and the Lord gives them a download.
He gives him a dream of the dream and then interprets it for
him. And as a response to this divine
intervention, Daniel goes into this praising this worship and
this prayer. And this is what he says.
God, you change the times and the seasons you promote Kings,
and you remove Kings, you give wisdom to the wise and knowledge
to those with understanding three.
Things he says God changes the times and Seasons times are
smaller increments than these major transitions called seasons
in the Hebrew. I want to say the word was Odin.
I don't remember. I'd have to look again but then
it's a small time as a smaller measurement and then the seasons
are major shifts in human history and let me just pause
here. And propose to you, we be in
one, okay? We are in the shifting of a
season in human history and when we get on the other side of this
tumultuous shift, this hinge moment in human history.
Nothing will look the same Financial systems will look
different, the boundary lines of Nations will look different.
There's going to be the rising and falling of Kings in this
season. Because the second thing,
Daniel, Says, is he removes Kings?
And he promotes Kings. What he's saying is this that
from God's perspective time is divided.
Redemptive history is divided. Among the reign of men.
It's where it says of David David served his generation and
he was no more, and he was laid to rest with his father's.
And then it went from being the time of the davidic rain into
the solemn Reign, Solomon, reigned You can see this in
person. Second Samuel, first and second
Kings, and first and second chronicles, it's Redemptive
history divided. Among the reins of men.
What does that mean? See, it says of David David
discerned that he was King, think, didn't take a lot of
discernment. They poured the oil on your head
and then put a crown and you sat on a throne, a lot of
discernment. You got to read the rest of us.
It says he discerned. He was King for the purpose of
Israel. In other words, David leaned in,
and ask God, for the reason for his anointing.
We just let that one land for a moment.
You better know the reason for your anointing.
Because whether you understand it or not, you will give an
account account for whether you fulfill it or not.
And so you better press in and say God what was the purpose of
my life? Because there's a reason God
puts you on planet Earth and you will give an answer for that
assignment whether you know what it is or not, it's on you to
figure it out. That's why Paul said in
Ephesians 5, he said don't be a fool.
No, the will of the Lord, he said time is short know, the
will of the Lord, he said, you are a fool.
If you want walk through life, not knowing the purpose for your
life. You are in danger of wasting
what you have and then you'll come before heaven have to give
an account for what you didn't do.
God is more willing to show you than you want to know.
But no, the purpose of your life.
So God changes the times and Seasons.
How does he do it? He moves people in and out.
You can see this in churches. They'll be a leader in a church.
And when that person's time is over there is a shift in the
calling of that church. When there's a new leader and
that's not always the senior leader, there are times and
Seasons where influential people are in churches, and the Lord
will move people around and it Dawns a new season in a church.
When new people show up and there's an anointing on him,
it'll thrust a church into a new Direction into a new season.
If we're hearing the voice of the lord, we can cooperate with
them and fulfill the corporate purpose of that church.
So God changes the times and Seasons, he does it by removing
Kings, and promoting Kings. And then he does this, he gives
wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.
What he's talking about is Daniel's role in this whole
thing. Nebuchadnezzar's role was that
God had just appointed him. And so God inserted a prophetic
Daniel at the Inception of Nebuchadnezzar's rule because
God had plans for this Pagan King to rise him in power to
shape human history. The nature of the, the necessity
rather of the prophetic in times of transition is really
important for us to understand. Because God has his plans in the
enemy has his matter of fact. It says, okay, that's Daniel
chapter 2. You know what?
Daniel chapter 7 says it says the enemy attempts to manipulate
the times. So in those moments of
transition things are fragile, things can be taken off track,
so God has his times, and the enemy has his.
And so it's incumbent upon us to step in.
And in cooperation, with the Lord, hear the word of the Lord,
and fulfill the purpose of the Lord.
Because what it does, is it will stretch the times.
In God's economy. Time is not a date on a
calendar. It's the Fulfillment of a
purpose. That is why an eleven-day
Journey out of the promised land can become 40 Years of
wandering. They had to fulfill their
purpose. That's why it says of Jesus in
the fullness of time. God sent forth his son, born of
a woman born under the law. God is wanting to bring the last
season to fruition, so he can launch us into the next season.
And one of the ways, the enemy manipulates the times is keeping
his God's children, fulfilling their calling.
And it can seize the gears and keep it can prolong the season.
And so we need to yield ourselves to the Lord and
fulfill Our Calling. I don't we don't have time to go
my goodness. This is very, very important.
There have been people who have been prematurely pushed off
their post. And we need to step in and pray
that thing through because there are the purposes of God in God's
economy, the time has to come to its fullness in order to lunch
launches into the next season. And that is what Daniel was
talking about. In that passage the true that
the same is true of your life. There are people who move from
season to season, they get saved.
And in five years there well down the road in their walk with
God going from season to season. From glory to glory and then
there's others who go to Glory. And they stay on the same level
of Glory till they literally go to Glory.
Because they never learned to cooperate with God and fulfill
the purpose for their life. God wants to take you from glory
to glory. He wants to move you through
times and seasons in your life. But again, the times and seasons
of your life, are not dates on a calendar, it's the Fulfillment
of the purpose of that season. So, we've got to discern.
Lord. What is the purpose for this?
What are the lessons? You're trying to teach me.
Their isn't the old-timers? Used to say, don't take laps
around Mount Sinai. Okay, I don't want to spend 40
years walking around Mount. Nigh.
There's an old song. Don't take another lap around
Mount Sinai till you learn your lesson.
I don't remember the rest of it but I can hear it in my it was
kind of a One of those songs, you know, I'm not sure what that
was. It just came over me.
Lily, it was kind of a he ha song but it had a good message
okay? Yes yes it's why I'm not up here
with a mic in my hand during worship.
God told me, I'm on the worship team.
He just wants me down there when it happens.
Okay. But this thing at this is a
crucial thing. And two of the parameters of
your purpose, to of the parameters of your calling are
the generation of the location in which you live.
God has purposes for every generation.
There are things. God is moving.
His story along history is his story, and he's moving things
along and you have a part to play.
Don't Paul said, let no man, steal thy crown.
Don't have God. Don't Make God assign someone
else to your assignment. What are you called to do?
Fulfill that calling. The the enemy loves to get us to
either neglect, are calling out of a sense of unworthiness or
Des get us distracted. So we don't do it.
Sometimes the way we're distracted and we get our eyes
on somebody else's calling. And we think if I don't do what
they're doing, I'm not--that's I'm really not doing something.
If you are called to be a garbage man, That's a good
living. Okay, that I'm not I don't mean
that as a denigration of a form of employment.
If you're called to be a garbage man and you become a pastor, you
will give an answer for Disobedience to God.
Because you need to fulfill the purpose of your calling because
there's people you would face on your garbage route.
You're never going to face in the pulpit.
And God put it on you. So this is a very important
phrase idea. So it's our generation and our
location and God has purposes for every generation purposes.
For every time and season in our life, as individuals in our
corporate Life as a church and you in the life of your family,
there are seasons. And if we are quick about it, we
can learn those lessons and move on or we can stretch em out.
It's up to us. So, part of the assignment on
your life, is the fact that you live where you do. and part of
that is that you live in the United States of America, And
you live here now. During this tremendously
tumultuous time. You need to ask yourself.
God, what were you thinking? Not in the way I just said it,
but believe me. I've asked it both ways.
But ask God, what? What's on your heart?
Why am I here during this hour of human history, God saw fit,
he perfectly formed you and equipped you for this
challenging season in human history. and I'm telling you,
That God placed you here in this nation, to contend for his
purposes. I love this nation, I love a lot
of things about it. I love that we are afforded the
moat, the greatest prosperity, and the greatest freedom of Any
Nation in all of human history. And, you know what?
I pray that in the future, there's other nations pass this
up. I don't want to go back, but I
don't have a problem with them passing this up and the that
they disciple us. I don't love this nation because
I think we're more worthy because I don't I don't think
that we're any more special to God's heart, but I think the
purposes of God for this nation are that crucial and we need to
contend for that. We are the Guardians de Steward
of his purposes for this nation. Those of you in this room, there
are a number of you who are immigrants that have come to
this nation, realize that God sent you here for a reason that
is an amazing thing. Most of us can discount.
It will always just born. Here, it was a, you know, how
was a twinkle in my mom's eye one night and you know, here I
am. That'll take a minute.
But so you know here we are some of you.
God moved, you across the world to come here.
Yes, Hallelujah. And you know what that needs?
You need to feel that that is that's a holy calling Unholy.
Entrustment God puts you in this nation.
Such for such a time as this. We have a responsibility.
Turn with me to Exodus 32. I've Been In this passage since
4 a.m. this morning, I just love this passage.
Because it's the story of a man who saves a nation through
prayer. God willing in the days to come.
We're going to go into a series on how we got where we're at.
I'm talking about the mess, we're in.
How many of you hear people on TV or read things that people
say? And you're wondering what in the
world are these people thinking? Where are they?
They have they lost their minds. There is a logic by which they
are navigating life that you and I need to understand if we're to
engage these people, we need to understand where they're coming
from. And it doesn't do us any good to
just sit back and laugh and say they're losing their mind or get
mad and yell at the TV. Throw your slipper, you know,
I've often said my poor family, I don't watch TV, I talk to TV
so I just kind of stay away from the news.
I do my news by reading because I can't handle the TV.
I'm just I know my weaknesses. Okay.
But we need to understand and God willing in the end soon.
In the coming days will go through a series on this.
We are this close to losing this nation.
We would have never thought that there are people in our Halls of
Congress. Literally voting along the lines
of those. We were defending ourselves from
four decades in the Cold War, There is a demonic seduction
going on in our nation and we need to understand the
philosophical underpinnings to that thing.
But it's going to take more than us understanding.
It's going to take much more than us.
Just being able to engage people and talk.
We need heaven to sweep in, we need God to withhold, his hand
of judgment. Because our biggest danger is
not Russia or North Korea or China or any other Nation.
Our biggest concern needs to be heaven.
How are we with heaven? And this is a story of a nation
that was on the eve of its own destruction, and didn't even
realize it, but there was one godly man who was in the pocket
of intercession one, man saved a nation.
Want you to think about that. One man who found favor with
God. Leveraged that favor to save a
nation. It's an amazing thing.
Look at Exodus 32 verse 1, when when people saw that Moses
delayed to come down from the mountain of people gathered
themselves together to Aaron and said up, well up make us Gods
who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who
brought us up out of the land of Egypt.
We do not know what has become of him because Moses had been on
the mountain for like 40 Days by this time.
And so they just went to Aaron said, hey we you know, he walked
up into that. All during cloud, with peals of
thunder and lightning. And, and man, he's not come
back, we think he's gone. We're not sure.
They acted. Like, they didn't even know this
guy anymore, so they said make us new God.
So Aaron said to them, take off the rings of gold that are in
your ears and the ears of your wives, your son's, your
daughters, and bring them to me. So, all the people took off the
rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron
and he received for the gold from their hand and fashion it,
and carving tool made a golden calf and then said, these are
your God's o Israel. Who Brought you up out of the
land of Egypt. When Aaron saw this, he built an
altar before and Aaron made a proclamation and said tomorrow
shall be a feast for the Lord. And they rose up early the next
day, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
In the people sat down to eat and drink and Rose up to play.
They got into Pagan revelry as the old way of saying it, and
the Lord said to Moses go down for your people.
Whom you brought out of Egypt have Up to themselves.
Isn't that interesting? That's that's exactly what the
Lord said to him. Moses your people who you
brought out God is kind of washing his hands of them later
on the next chapter, got Moses say God your people who you
brought out That's an interesting Dynamic I would
propose to you. That was very very important in
this interchange between Moses and God.
Because what God was doing his God was provoking that
investment that Moses had already made Listen to what he
goes on to say. They have turned aside quickly
out of the way that I've commanded them.
They have made for themselves at golden calf and have worshipped
in sacrifice to it. And said, these are your God's o
Israel brought you up out of the land of Egypt and the Lord said
to Moses, I have seen this people and behold it is a
stiff-necked people. Now, therefore, let me alone
that my wrath may not may burn hot against them and I may
consume them in order that I may make a great nation out of you.
That that passage just makes me shudder.
Behind what God was saying. There was something he was
trying to provoke out of the heart of Moses.
He said, those people your people, you brought him out and
they have they have made me angry and my wrath is going to
burn hot against him. Leave me alone, so that my wrath
may burn. And then I will make a nation
out of you. You see Moses had found favor
with God. This was a man who had great
favor. He touched things in.
God. That are just I'm blowing to me.
He would God would speak to him as a man speaks to a friend face
to face so much. So that Moses would come down
and his flesh, his skin absorbs glory and he would come down
like a glow worm. And then Moses he would speak to
them and it says, then he would put a veil over his face so that
they would not see that. It was fading.
See a lot of people believe that Moses wore a veil because the
people couldn't handle it. That's not what it was that glow
was his credibility day. What if I showed up on Sunday
morning and I said, hey I've got a real hard message for you and
I showed you my face and that'll get you know you'd be a little
more inclined to listen to Pastor Dave that morning.
He would cover it up so they wouldn't see that it was fading.
Because he wanted to minister from the glory.
So he would go get some Glory talk to the people, cover his
face back up, and go get some more before it faded.
That's good preaching. That's good policy.
We need preachers. Who stay in the glory?
Amen. Speak from the glory.
Pray for your preachers. Amen.
Hallelujah. But God told him, he said I'm
going to make a great nation out of you.
You see? The Lord was testing, Moses.
Heart. Moses.
Will you tolerate the destruction of the people whose
genetic code you share? Will you tolerate the
destruction of the nation that you've invested so dearly?
And and I'm going to entice you I'm going to I'm going to give
you an opportunity. I'll make a nation out of you
Moses. Now, some people say that God
was speaking anthropomorphic Lee, that's just a big way of
saying he was trying to relate with Moses, so we were didn't
really mean it. He was just trying to engage
with Moses. God is not capable of
insincerity. There is no shadow of turning
its in him. If he said it, he meant it.
He would have, he would have made another Nation out of
Moses. But you know what, it would have
done. It would have pushed the
purposes of God back decades, if not Generations, because he
would have had to produce an entire nation out of Moses.
But there was something in Moses that was owning this thing.
God said, they're your people and Moses said, yes, they are
and he stepped in and he owned this thing.
You see. Intercession can only happen
when we own this thing. It's not some disconnected way.
I can't just say, well, God, I hope you move in mind on my
nation because I know I'm going to be okay.
And you know what, I know I am. God's going to take care of me
and my family. God's going to take the worst
case scenario. I just go to heaven sooner.
I can't lose but there's a lot of people who can, if I don't
carry my heart right before the Lord.
And the Moses said, Lord, you can't let this happen.
Lord, he begins to appeal to the Lord on their several points in
Moses prayer. That are very important for you
and I to understand you see, Moses owned this thing, he's
saying yes, Lord, they are my people but they're yours as
well. And they kept as long as God had
a man on Earth. That said, yes, they're my
people and God in heaven said, yes, they're my people, this
thing's gonna work, but as soon as God losses, An intercessor on
earth, when there's no one that will say no, they're my people,
then God's got a scrap, his plan and start all over again, and he
would have done it. John Wesley was famous for
saying, God, does everything through prayer and nothing
without it, not because God's, not sovereign, but because he
has chosen to exercise his sovereignty, through his
delegated authority called, man. God delegates his authority to
us and we will give an account whether we fulfill his purposes
or not. And so, again, you and I need to
understand that God chose that you and I would live in this
generation in this location. I believe there's something
highly significant about Iowa. I'm just crazy enough to think
that the fact that we choose the president presidential
candidates. First is prophetic, there's
something about us that we have a say and the removing and the
removing of leaders and the Of leaders, there's something about
our role in intercession that God wants to use.
There's a weight of responsibility we need to carry
and When God says, this is your nation.
This is your state. This is your situation.
There needs to be something that rises up with us within us and
says, yes, Lord, I agree. I'm going to own this thing.
I'm going to pray this thing through.
When God said, leave me alone that my anger May burned, he was
deadly serious. But Moses red in there and
invitation because he understood what God was saying, is that if
I'm not left alone, then I will withhold my wrath.
And Moses inserted himself in there and he cried out for the
children of Israel. Listen to Moses prayer.
This is very significant, but Moses implored the Lord, his God
and said, oh Lord, why does your Rathburn hot against your people
whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power?
In your Mighty hand, isn't that interesting?
God said I'm going to kill the people.
They're your people and you brought him out.
God said Moses said, but God, why are you so angry with these
people, your people that you brought out and they're kind of
expect, you know, giving each other ownership there.
Reminding each other. Why should the Egyptians say
with evil intent? Did he bring them out and kill
them in the mountains and consume them from the face of
the Earth. Turn from your burning anger,
and relent from This Disaster against your people.
So, the first thing Moses does, is he appeals on the basis of
God's character and reputation reputation again among the
nations of the Earth. He's concerned with God's
reputation and he cries that out, not not for the sake of the
people, because the people did not deserve it, but he was
saying God for your namesake among the nations of the earth
Lord, turn from your wrath. And then he says this, remember,
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you swore your
own self and said to them, I will multiply your Offspring as
the stars of the sky. He was reminding God.
Of his Covenant with Abraham. There's something about
reminding God of his past promises and prayer.
I'm telling you, it'll move God's heart.
I always think of this illustration, it's not the
greatest one, but it's it's like when I pull out Kathy and eyes
wedding, pictures, Kathy could still fit in the wedding, dress
me, not so much. I never wore a wedding dress, by
the way, but I couldn't fit in the tux either.
I'm like, 50 pounds heavier. And I had, I had color in my
beard and I had two big windshields called glasses.
They're huge glasses back then and there we are standing there.
And I remember Day that I entered into Covenant with this
woman and it stirs my affections.
Once again, the day that I made my vows, it's good for us to
remind ourselves. There's a reason that the Bible
speaks of the wife of your youth, reminding yourself of
When you entered into that Covenant relationship.
And a very similar thing is going on here with Moses.
He's saying, God remember Abraham, remember this man who
found favor with you Lord for the sake of Abraham and then
remember Isaac Lord that he he also secured favor for you with
you and Jacob who secured favor with you and you made promises
to them and he would use that in prayer to move the heart of God
and God loved it. It's what Solomon was doing in
Psalm, 132 where he says, oh Lord, remember David?
And the sufferings he endured, I'm going to remind you my dad
went through. If you look later on in the
passage, it says, oh Lord now remember David make good on your
promise. As you said you'd always have
one of his sons on the throne. This is Solomon.
Speaking, you see what he's doing?
He's leveraging. His dad's favor on his own
behalf. He's saying Lord Me if not for
me for the sake of my dad. Moses is leveraging his favor in
the favor of other Patriarchs to move the house, the heart of God
to preserve an entire nation. Lou, Engel years ago, he wrote a
book, read digging, the wells of Revival, it's a great book.
I would highly recommend it. And in that book, he was talking
about how one time the Lord began to speak to him, about how
he's going to revisit America, because of Jonathan Edwards.
Jonathan Edwards. The who was a colonial
revivalist, a brilliant philosopher, and a very Godly
revivalist. And he was the primary leader of
the first Great Awakening. And God began to speak to who I
will revisit America for the sake of Jonathan Edwards.
And so as he was just processing, as he writes about
that the those principles in that book and he writes about
this episode, he said, so he was invited to speak at a youth
conference that night. So he went and the title of his
message was going to be God is going to save America because
we're the great, great great, great grandkids of Jonathan
Edwards, that was his title. It's hard to fit on a cassette
tape. So, he's sitting on the front
row, cassette tape for you younger.
That was a little plastic thing that you listen to sermons and
music on. Okay, I'll get you can Google
it. So he's sitting on the front
row, just worshiping and getting ready.
Just meditating saying Lord, you know, just use me tonight.
I want to speak to these young people at which time a young
man, sat down next to him and bumped him and said Lou, I got
to share something with you. He said I just found out
Something today, I am the great. Great.
Great grandchild of Jonathan
Edwards. And it was God's Little
prophetic kiss on lose message. I'm telling you, God will honor
the covenants of our forefathers.
It still moves, the heart of God, there are men and women who
gave their life, and intercession and fasting and
sacrifice for the gospel to be established America.
The United States of America is He's a rare experiment in human
history, it is one nation. That was established on biblical
principles. Do you know that in the founding
of our nation early on in our nation's history Congressman
would stand up and Congress and argue the scriptures when they
were legislating one would stand it.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
You forgot about Exodus 42. Literally read it weathers.
No 42. Hopefully they didn't said
Exodus 32 they turn to that Nick, they would argue this.
Yeah, but what about Deuteronomy 7 that was a safe one.
Got to go low numbers. Don't go hide.
Birds, when you're speaking publica it.
So they're arguing the scriptures, they based our whole
thing of the three, you know, the judicial branch the
executive branch and legislative branch, that was based on the
Trinity. And that there was a tension of
power between the three branches of government based on the
fallenness of, man because they understood that power corrupts
and absolute power corrupts. Absolutely.
So let's create a tension within the government.
Three unique thing, and all the Earth, and we are a nation of
immigrants. It's a Melting Pot, it's an
amazing thing. And there have been people who
have given their life. So that God would Bless America.
But perhaps what we need to be asking is not God Bless America
but God make us a people who are blessed oil, Lord, make us a
people that you can bless for God is a being of integrity and
he will not violate his own principles and answer prayers
that are contrary to his own nature.
He has to find righteousness. There has to be a remnant of
people that are crying out. And God is looking for
intercessors who are living righteously and have found favor
with God and then we'll get in the secret place and they'll
say, God, I'm not going to leave you alone until you give me a
promise. I remind you of my forefathers.
I remind you of Jonathan Edwards and his prayers.
I remind you of Charles Finney and father, Nash and the Second
Great Awakening and the thought the tens of thousands of really
hundreds of thousands of souls that were Wrapped into the
kingdom in the Second Great Awakening.
Lord, I remind you of these other intercessors down through
our history. Lord, remember their prayers.
They still come before the throne Lord, I add my prayers to
theirs. You have a responsibility for
this tumultuous moment in human history and you have a
responsibility. It is not idolatry and it's not
a distraction to pray for this nation.
In fact, it's your responsibility for which you
will give an account and don't let anybody tell you any
differently, we will give an answer for this moment in human
history in this nation. And there is a strategy of foot
by the enemy to erase our history and to cause us to come
on the side of the accuser and curse this nation.
Do you know that there's there was a large group in the
Democrat Party? That just put out this ad over
the holiday weekend, F, the fourth That is a demonic thing
now that that's not true of every Democrat.
I know I know that many there's many Democrats that love the
Lord but I'm telling you, there is a sweeping spirit that is
trying to undermine this nation. There is a hatred for the
history of this nation. They're rewriting history.
A nation without history is like a person with amnesia.
They don't know who they are. And God is calling us to step in
and cry out for this nation. I'll never forget in 2008.
I was up in Toronto, Canada. And John are not.
We were up there at this celebration up at the Toronto
Airport fellowship and John Wimber got up because it was the
stock market was crashing and things were very tenuous and
John got up and he said and these are people from all over
the world. This is, you know, this wasn't
an American Service, this was there, a lot of, you know,
United States citizens are but people from all over the world
and he said, we need to pray for the u.s. right now.
And he made this statement and I was stunned.
It just really hit me. He said, I don't know about you.
He said, but I wouldn't want to live in a world in which the
United States didn't exist. This is a man from another
country saying this, about us. because he recognized the
preservative of peace that the United States has been Now, we
don't ignore those, we don't ignore the sins and there are
things that we have found out about our nation.
And the last number of years, that'll make your hair stand up.
The more I know, the more I had a conversation with some of my
dear Colombian friends. Last time, I was in Colombia, we
need to pray for Colombia, they just voted in a former farc
guerrillas. The president farc is a
communist terrorist organization.
We're living in a very tumultuous time in human
history. I'm telling you, there is a
battle at the gates for this door to swing.
And if we don't pray this thing through, it'll set the to God.
God will have his will eventually, but the timeline can
be stretched. Depending on our obedience in
our engagement, or it can be compressed.
And I was telling them I said because they were talking about
the corruption in their nation. And I said, I said, you know
there's been a lot of naivety in the United States, definitely me
included. Where I didn't realize how the
level of corruption in the higher echelons of our
government, it's been sobering to me, but I refuse to join the
accuser of the Brethren and curse this nation because God
has a purpose for this nation. I won't ignore the sins, I'll
get under the load because I'm an intercessor.
I will confess like, Daniel my sins and the sins of my I'll
bear them before the throne, but I also refused to curse this
nation. We're going to cry out for it
and ask God to stay his hand. If we refuse to let God Alone,
what seemed like a command to The Outsider to those on the
inside. The one who was intimate with
God, Moses, what sound would have sounded like a command
everybody else? Leave me alone that my anger may
burn. Moses because of his intimacy.
Understood it as an invitation, God left.
A crack in the door. He just told me.
He can only let his Rathburn, if I leave him alone, and Moses dug
his heels in and saved a nation. There is hope for United States
of America. But we can't we can involve our
self and charismatic bravado by just claiming.
It's all it's already done. Early on in our intercession
that we do every Tuesday through Friday here, early on a couple
years ago. One of the first things, the
Lord spoke to me during that season was as a very obscure
verse and a very sobering verse when he said it to me, he said,
one who puts on his armor should not boast his one who takes it
off and it shook me because I knew what he was saying.
It was a king of Israel. Rebuked, a pagan King when he
said he's going to invade. And the Lord was saying, don't
act like this thing is in the bag.
At the outset, there's still a battle to be fought and won.
We're in the middle of a battle for the Legacy and the
perpetuate. The legacy of this nation.
And the purposes of God for this nation, David perceived, he was
made King for Israel, and you need to perceive that you were
brought to the kingdom for such a time as this God's hand is
upon you. So that we will contend for this
nation and this generation. Amen, let's stand Want us to
close. In prayer for this nation.
If you would lift your hands to the Lord.
Father, we thank you. We thank you Lord for the
tremendous Prosperity that we have enjoyed.
As US citizens. Lord, we thank you for the
tremendous Freedom. The unprecedented Freedom that
we've enjoyed. But Lord, we also understand
that the sins of this nation have been grevious.
Lord that we have discipled the nation's in pornography and
other perversion, and it's only ramping up in this.
Our Lord, we understand that our our federal money, our tax money
have been used. To export abortion across the
Earth and Lord we ask your forgiveness God, as your people
Lord as representatives of this nation Lord we don't pick up
stones to cast at them. We say we are sorry.
Lord God we ask for mercy on this nation and Lord I ask that
you would establish a beachhead of intercession in this house.
Around these altars in this sanctuary and the prayer
meetings in the mornings. Lord God find it us a friend
like you found in Moses. Lord we ask preserve this nation
God. We ask it for your namesake.
We are zealous for the purposes. That you've placed within this
nation to be realized Lord, your dream.
The dream that you called the United States of America.
Lord, let it be realized in this hour.
God, visit this nation, send Revival.
Send Revival. Lord, send Revival.
Send Revival. In Jesus name.
Amen. Thanks for listening to our
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