Hello and welcome to the Wilton Baptist Church. My name is Steve Harness, and we are glad that you have found our websites, and we pray that this message will be an encouragement to you. Wilton Baptist Church, where we worship God, walk with others, and win people to the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessings as you listen today. Independence has never been easy. Nearly 250 years ago, it was something worth fighting for. The idea of a people who stood on equal footing. Free to speak. Free to wander. Free to live. These were ideals worth risking everything for. Today, we find ourselves fighting old battles. Not with past foes, but with ourselves. We are a nation divided. Divided by skin. Divided by opinion. Divided by hate. It seems the very freedoms we once fought for have become stumbling blocks. Are we too busy seeking ourselves to even recognize the tragedy which surrounds us? see the profound need for the hand of God. In this moment, the truth of Scripture rings especially true. If we, the people, will humbly pray, turn from wickedness, and seek His face, then He will hear us, He will forgive us, and He will heal this land. Today, may we remember this one simple truth. True independence is found only in our dependence on God. true dependence is found in our dependence upon God. I'd like to direct your attention to Isaiah chapter fifty nine today and I was planning to go see fireworks at Congress Park but somebody told me they're not planning it so whatever you choose to do I hope you enjoy. At this time we do have our children so third grade and younger go on out to right through that door up the side there is fine they're going to be dismissed. So we were planning to do fireworks or watch fireworks but it may not be happening so Anyway we'll watch it on a screen right we've gotten good at that. All right Isaiah 59 will be our passage today and pray for the kids and all the workers. Thank you all those who are volunteering to help out with nursery and also with kids life. It's so exciting to offer those and if you know other young families that have been to church for a while or ever you know make sure they know about this as well. I'm going to be texting some young adults and families who had come pre-COVID and try to encourage them to come out once again. Truth and freedom are a lot of things backwards today. a lot of things seem like it's upside down in society. I think there's a lot of great quotes in history Ronald Reagan he said something the Constitution was never meant to prevent people from praying is declared purpose was to protect their freedom to pray. That makes a lot of sense you know we have freedom so we can practice our religion. There's a book that we have for everybody here today in the lobby and it's about the Second Baptist Church in America. This is pre-Revolutionary War famous pastor John Clark and he talked about the the freedom of conscience and what an amazing story he has and from that we have the liberties that we enjoy in America today that took place in Rhode Island it's a great little read about 30 pages please take that today. Another person John Adams he said July 4th ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty solemn acts of devotion to God. He also said liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it derived from our maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us at the expense of their ease, their estate, their pleasure, and their blood. But as we look around, Common sense is out of place and it's out of place in the public square. People are enslaved to their sin. We're driven by our sin. Our world is driven by its lust and greed for stuff and things and our society is reaping the consequences of this open rebellion of living life without God and sometimes in the face of God you know without God Samuel Adams wrote to his brother John Adams or relative John Adams laid out the absolute need for a nation educated in their rights and responsibilities here's what he said. Let the divines and philosophers statesman. and patriots unite their endeavors to renovate the age by impression of the minds of men the importance of educating their little boys and girls of inculcating I like that word inculcating in the minds of use the fear and love of the deity speaking of God. and universal philanthropy, and in subordination to these great principles, the love of their country instructing them in the art of self-government. without which they can never act a wise part in the government of societies whether great or small so we do have some of these on the screen here will advance here. Yep there's some of those quotes. So that's what Samuel Adams said. That's another great a great idea here. Divines that be spiritually minded people philosopher statesman so you're elected officials patriots And he's talking about educating knowing history knowing what happened and where we come from and why things are the way that they are. Well in Isaiah fifty nine. Isaiah is preaching a message he's delivering God's word to a nation that was divided. Israel had already fallen away from God and God carried them away captive Judah and this is the nation of Israel's divided so you have north and south. You have Israel and Judah and he's addressing in Isaiah those living in Jerusalem. Those who live in those two tribes of the southern part of what called Judah and he has this message that really can impact us even today. Because the way that they were living is the way that we're living and there's a lot of parallels that we can learn from Isaiah 59 beginning in verse 9. Therefore is judgment far from us. Neither doth justice overtake us. We wait for light, but behold obscurity, for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes. We stumble at noonday as in the night. We are in desolate places as dead men. We roar like bears and more likes like dogs or like dogs. We look for judgment but there is none for salvation but it is far from us. What was the reason for that. Well the next verse for our transgressions are multiplied. Their sins had grown. They had a nation of iniquity and wickedness. Our transgressions are multiplied before thee and our sins testify against us for our transgressions are with us. And as for our iniquities we know them in transgressing and lying against the Lord and departing away from our God speaking oppression and revolts conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. But get verse fourteen. Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off, for truth is fallen in the streets. and equity cannot enter. So they couldn't find judgment. They could not find justice. They could not arrive at equity. And the reason is truth had fallen in the streets. It had fallen in the public square. Yeah truth faileth and he that departed from evil make it himself a prey in the Lord saw it and it displeased him that there was no judgment. Israel and Judah were divided. They had spiritual differences political differences economic differences now and all this was prevalent because of their sin. They're turning back away from God. They're turning away from what is right and so some people were still in Jerusalem. A lot of people of Israel have been carried away. There are still pockets of people that comprise what they would call Judah at this point and Isaiah says we need to turn back to God and the reason for your condition the reason for the turmoil the reason for all the problems in our society is because of your sin. because truth is fallen in the streets and at the word street there means public square it's not just outside of your house street but the public square where the people were at where the policies are made where the leaders are where where people go and are looking to and where they learn and what they're what they're watching and looking for in life in the public square in the streets that's what he's talking about. Truth is fallen. in the streets. You know what if you disregard truth it will not help you. If you kick it. If you just just throw it away like garbage. Truth not going to help you. They were not valuing truth truth had fallen in the streets and so their world was in chaos they had trouble and turmoil and no justice could be found. Well Jesus says that truth sets us free you got a lot of John chapter eight verses thirty one and thirty two listen to this then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him. If you continue in my word then are you my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth. and the truth shall make you free. What a great truth for us. the Christian life right here. We've come to the truth we know the truth Jesus out of the way the truth in the life. And so we need truth in our society today just like Isaiah said truth fall in the street what they need. They needed to embrace the truth to know the truth to love the truth to live the truth but they rejected it in their world was falling apart in their nation was suffering the consequences for that. Well the Bible teaches us how nations should be in the Magna Carta in the Constitution of Israel if you would in the Old Testament the five books of Moses we have an example of how a nation could work by how God set up the nation of Israel. Exodus chapter twelve verse forty nine. one law shall be to him that is home born and unto the stranger that sojourn among you. In other words in their country in their nation. There's one law for everybody. And so what we expect out of you is what we expect out of you no matter where you come from. What your background is you need to live by the same set of rules the same set of expectations the same laws and so they were celebrating the same things and they were mourning the same things they're living the same life together in their nation and God said well if you're going to be a united country you just have one rule of law you all no matter where you come from you follow the same rule that makes a lot of common sense right. OK we're all going to follow the same rule living in the same land. Did you know that early Israel in these United States of America are the only nations founded on Bible principles. Now if you go down to the Dominican Republic they have a Bible in their flag the only nation on earth with a Bible in their flag. But as far as the principles of Scripture and how to organize a nation and how to set up the the laws in the system and in all that you have in the Old Testament Israel and then our founding fathers here in America they followed the same principles from the Old Testament and some from the new as well and how to set up a country only nation other than Israel. I think it's great but a nation should be one. A nation should be one no matter what their people's background is whether they're foreigners or home born like this versus now as Christians there should be unity as well. Christians are one we are one in Christ I studied this verse quite a bit this week last week and almost delivered the whole message from this but listen to this Galatians chapter three verse twenty eight. There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither bond that be like a slave or free there is neither male or female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus one in Christ. So as a Christian when God looks at you. He's not concerned about male or female or bond or free or Jew or Greek would be like the Gentiles. What he sees is one person in and the one person here is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's amazing isn't it. So as a church we're united in the person of Jesus as Christians we are united in the person of Christ and we tend to categorize people and look at people in different lights. But according to this we're one. in Christ Jesus nations should be one. If you go set up following a biblical model. They're they're united they're one have the same type laws and expectations as Christians. We are one in Christ neither bond nor free Christ alike belongs to both by faith. Neither male nor female and not male or female there's no distinction between them. Christ loves all of us in this idea of one here is one man is masculine and it's speaking of Jesus for you are all one. It's speaking of Jesus one in Christ now. We have a divided nation we have. It's it seems exempt. It seems. exasperated more and more all the time. You see where I'm going with this here and it's troubling to see you know this divisiveness and all the problem and all of it goes back to sin because truth is falling in the streets. That's where it all comes from. More fighting comes from people just don't know the truth because if we're to be one nation have the same laws for everybody and as Christians if we're one in Christ be united around the banner of Jesus Christ. People don't know this stuff. There's going to be more problems. Now I love this quote. Maybe you like it maybe you don't. Martin Luther King Jr. Here's what he said. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Let me tell you something, that's gold. That is worth it. That's such a great statement and what a great ideology he had in that statement. Some of the things he said weren't right but this is a great statement. and this is a good thing for us to consider our world needs to hear more of this but truth is falling in the streets. What's the consequences of truth falling in the streets. Well people are looking at others with great differences instead of seeing each other as human beings and there's only one race by the way instead of seeing that they see other things that are divisive and dividing and tearing things apart and Abraham Lincoln quoting the Bible said a house divided cannot stand. and it won't stand, and it will fall, and it's failing. We have more in common than most media and most politicians and most rioters will want you to know. because of who God made us and how God made us to be. Here's some history people don't know today. It's in Genesis chapter 9 verses 18 and 19. The sons of Noah that went forth of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth. Ham is the father of Cain and these are the three sons of Noah and of them was the whole earth overspread three sons. Now I would like let's see here. Enoch you come on up. Ephraim where's Ephraim come on up here Ephraim and oh let's see Kyle you come on up. All right. You guys come up here and my friend Bill is here today. I won't have you come up Bill but you could be Noah. I love the beard. I love the beard. You could be Noah. So he's my friend. All right, so we got Noah. This is Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Did you know that Shem, from Shem, you have all the Asian people including the Semites which would be the Jews. So here is Shem and here is a map. Guys go ahead and click to the next map. His family kind of went through that area and up to the right. There is another map that I will show you in just a moment. Ham stayed a little bit lower geography wise. Japheth that means in large they went north and this is where all the people groups of the world came from these guys are perfect representation of that and of course Noah Noah had and they all look different. You have all these different characteristics but they're still Jim Hammond Japheth there's still one race the human race had the same daddy same mother but people want to emphasize the differences. Did you know that 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 There's like 00001 that makes the differences in us. That's it. But our world because it doesn't know truth emphasizes what's different. People get angry about this. We have a lot of problems today. When Noah's Ark landed you have him Africa Japheth Europe Asia Shem and of course Jesus being a Jew he people sometimes say he was white he wasn't white he was Semitic he was he was from Shem from that lineage from that side and so he was actually he was actually white and by the way I thought about I thought about having the guys black in the screen but nobody is pale white like paper. You know the pig there's everyone has some pigment. All right. That's not the whole message today. I just I thought that was interesting that people just miscategorize things and don't know what they're talking about because they've been taught things that are not true. So three major categories the Caucasian Japheth Mongolian would be more like the Chinese the Japanese in the Semites the Jews and the Negro it races. According to this African pop and Australian aborigine that began. It's just how God had this happen. It's so very minor differences. But we're still people. People that God loves so much he gave his son to die on the cross for. and he resurrected for every one of us all those small differences as well an honest study of language culture society even health concerns DNA like sometimes there's different genetic deficiencies and things in different lines. If you if you have an honest study of all these different avenues and even cultures and things you'll see there's three major categories in this world. It all goes back to that one man Noah who found grace in God's eyes and I think that's amazing that's history that people do not know but why is racism being promoted today. It's actually being promoted today in different ways in saying that they're against racism people are actually sometimes teaching racism. Why is the unity of the United States under assault today. It's because truth has fallen in the streets and we're reaping lies and falsehoods that have truth so teaching in our society today. Not only when it comes to Christianity but even just just playing out where did people come from and how did we get here as a nation as well just history type things. For example critical race theory theory is a racism repackaged. It's racism repackaged and it's really weird once you start to look at it's been around for like thirty years or more but it's really been emphasized in recent days. Well the Bible says what do you do with people who are telling the truth. Romans sixteen verses seventeen and eighteen now I beseech you brother and mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them. for they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. What's the motivation for these people they're serving themselves. They're teaching lies. They're causing divisions and the Lord says Paul said you mark them you know who they are and don't follow them don't listen to them. So as Christians we need to be careful who we're listening to because Satan wants a house to be divided so it will fall. Causing division because they were not speaking the truth. Now there are two major players that have affected modern society. First was Charles Darwin that's an obvious one the theory of evolution he came up with and his book over a hundred years ago here's here's the full title of it. Now we just hear the origin of species but listen to the full title tell me if it's not a true racist motivation on the origin of species by means of natural selection or the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life. It's all it really emphasizes racism so well that must be a favorite race. That was better than that one. That's that's evolution. We've been teaching evolution as a society for years as if it was absolute truth and now we're seeing the consequences of that. It's not a good thing. Now David Barton he's a historian Christian historian look him up sometime. Some of the illustrations I'll give you the next few moments come from him and he he revealed something to me I realize something then another one that motivated or they had the motivation of racism was Woodrow Wilson. I went to Wilson Elementary School in Ohio. They celebrate him in Ohio. Woodrow Wilson was a racist. He loved the KKK. He was against black people. He hated people that were not more white or Caucasian for whatever his reason was. Maybe he was influenced by Charles Darwin. He wrote a book before he was president, several books. You can see the set. and the history of the American people he was the president of Princeton one time but before that he wrote this set of books and a lot of the educational society I'm talking this a long time ago a lot of a lot of school systems adopted this a lot of colleges adopted this and he started to teach it and he put people who were non-white in a negative light. He missed a lot of important history and glossed over other things and a lot of our academic textbooks today are based on or were influenced by his work. Extreme racists, you add into that eventually there was a disregard for God and people were motivated by economics and so most history today is taught from the money side of it. How did it change things economically? Most history is now based off economics. A lot of the change started with Woodrow Wilson. And this academic set really changed a lot of things. So this is why last year Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, Tim Kaine announced on the floor of the Senate, he said, and I've heard others since him say this, something to this effect, he said, the United States didn't inherit slavery from anybody, we created it. We created it OK. You must not know anything about history to say something like that. Thirty five hundred years ago the Jews were in slavery. To the Egyptians that was thirty five hundred years ago. Why don't people know stuff like this. They don't know the truth. Truth is falling in the streets or they just don't want to see it because it has something to do with God and they disregard it. David Barton said this quote for even the most basic student of world history. Such a statement ought to immediately be recognized as incomprehensibly ridiculous. Historically every single people nation culture and race has at various times been both a slave and a master. Indeed all have said and fall short. Senator Kaine, just like the famously inaccurate 1619 Project, must ignore documented history and create his own fantasy world to arrive at such a conclusion. What a sad state we find ourselves in, because truth has fallen in the street. People are deceived. They're not seeing the truth. James Madison, a key delegate to the convention, in addition to authoring the Federalist Papers, he remarked, it is universally admitted that a well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people. But we're not getting good instruction of where we come from. And in fact a lot of its lies that are not true and we're facing some of these consequences from it. Truth is fallen in the streets. Well there's a young fellow named John Moran's John Moran there's John. And he was just a young boy he was a slave but he was released. And at the age of 13 he loved the Lord Jesus he loved his Bible and he would go to church a lot as a young person at the age of 13 he was out in the woods and he met an Indian a Native American and and he started to talk to him and he said Let's go back to my tribe together so he went back to live with them and for the next for the rest of his life he lived with the Indians with the Native Americans and he. shared the gospel within thirteen year old. He was preaching to them about Jesus and saw you know saw people get saved even chiefs and whole tribes they would take them over to other tribes and tell them about the love of God. But an amazing story in eighteen sixteen somebody asked an elderly John Adams so eighteen sixteen you have seventeen seventy six several years later. near the end of his life, John Adams. John Adams, who influenced the freedom the most in the Revolution? Who influenced the Revolutionary War the most? Who really was the ones that were the driving factor for freedom? Here's what he said. Samuel John Adams said there were guys like Samuel Cooper and many other preachers like John Jonathan Mayhew and he named revivalist preachers. He could name a lot of other people you know George did it or John did it or Benjamin did it. No it was the preachers he named who were the most influential because they were preaching the truth. They were teaching and preaching the Bible. How about this Harry Hoosier. I love this Harry Hoosier. He was a former slave and he was released from slavery. This is around the colonial era there and he was released from slavery. and he went up to Pennsylvania and in Pennsylvania he started to preach and he was just a young man himself but he loved the Lord he loved the Bible he would start to preach and these these people were on the edge of the frontier so you think we're Philadelphia is and they're all pushing West everybody's pushing West in that era And so he would preach these guys who were on the frontier but eventually they started to move a little bit and migrate back in that era that everyone's just pushing West and he would preach to them. Eventually a lot of these guys from Pennsylvania who heard the preaching of Harry Hoosier. They get to Indiana and they get to Indiana and some people in Indiana they're like who are these these people there. They're different. and they come from Pennsylvania. Why are they different what they're just there. Their values are different. They they love somebody from the Bible named Jesus and what's different about them they saw their their Hoosiers. Their followers of Harry Hoosier. Most people in Indiana do not know that their state mascot or the Indiana State University name of Hoosier is because of a gospel believing Bible believing preacher. Nobody knows it. Nobody knows that. Harry Hoosier I love that Natalie's from Indiana. She's my Hoosier. But yeah that's where she's from. followers of Harry Hoosier. How about this before I tell you about this painting and it's like a dishware painting there. Other forgotten history 1807 America was the first nation to ban the slave trade. Now it's important to note it's a slave trade so no more ships going back and forth. The fourth nation to ban slavery in 1865 so there is no slavery at all. And then 94 nations today, this is interesting, 94 nations today in their charters or constitutions or whatever they call it, 94 nations today have no mention or disavowing of slavery in it. 94 of all the 170 plus nations today still allow slavery. And that's why there are 40 million slaves in the world today. Active slavery happening. People complain about America a lot. but it's happening all around the world. Sixteen nineteen you'll hear that number thrown around a lot trying to just help understand the times. Sixteen nineteen. There is a ship outside of Jamestown is the ship from Portugal and it was some kind of merchant ship and the Americans caught that ship for whatever reason sixteen nineteen on board were nineteen slaves and they were they found them they made them indentured servants they said who's going to pay for you guys and who's going to pay for your voyage over here. And so they made them indentured servants they weren't they weren't made slaves but indentured servants after seven years they were released. There's a model for indentured servitude found in the Bible you release and a lot of that's based on debt you know who's going to pay for this type thing and they were released. People are using 1619 and whatever happened there and are trying to say that that was when America invented slavery. But they're using different terms, it's not the same thing, and they're misapplying, misstating what really took place. That was in Jamestown, Virginia. Here's another example, and I love this example here, Lemuel Haynes. There's Lemuel Haynes right there preaching he was what would be called an African-American clergyman at the age of five months his family. He was born under a scandal basically he was born under a scandal and at the age of five months they sold him to indentured servitude and he became an indentured servant so then later on when he was a teen somewhere in there he was released from that indentured servitude but five months whenever he was probably a teenager there but the mother of where he lived the wife. She cared for him as if he were her own. She taught him they educated him all these different things he went to church every week. He loved the Lord. He became a preacher. Now he became a preacher after he fought in the American Revolutionary War. He helped Ethan Allen in the Green Mountain Boys over in Vermont. He was up at Fort Ticonderoga helping George Washington. This is all right after he was released from being an indentured servant and then he goes on to learn about the Lord and to become a teacher and a preacher of the gospel. And he was a pastor of a church in Connecticut. He was a pastor in Vermont had a church for 30 years and then in Granville New York. You can see I found his gravestone just this week. He's buried in Granville New York. Listen every congregation he was a pastor if he preached in the week after week week after week. They were all predominantly white people white in color and they loved him. Everybody got along. It was good. This guy's a hero that nobody's ever heard about. He shouldn't be just a little notation at the bottom of a page. This should be something that people know about. It's a big deal. It's a big deal. And so you can see the painting someone made a little painting and there he is I think this was a rendering of when he was in Vermont the church that he was that for thirty years and in that just amazing thing. How many of you knew that before this week. Yeah. All right you know you know I didn't know it. That's just amazing. You see truth has fallen in the streets. Is there a lot of bad things that happen in history. But why don't we talk about some of the good things as well. Truth is fallen in the streets. Here's what Isaiah said about it judgment is turned away backward and justice stand at the far off for truth is fallen in a street and this really is a clincher equity cannot enter. Equity cannot enter Isaiah's lamenting the sin of the people he includes him self in his in this confession of the sin of the people and why their nation is the way that it is truth has fallen in the streets and what is this equity well here's a little image to kind of help a lot of people talk about equality today. Equality is everybody gets their own box. Equity is you get what you need like that that's what equity is. I thought that was a pretty good you know what that little guy needs two boxes the other fellow needs one and the big guy just he doesn't need one. People are talking about equality and they really want equity. People don't understand the differences between these things and take away from this what you want with this but there is a difference there but according to this passage equity can't be arrived at because truth is falling in the streets. They will never find it. They will say equality but what they want is equity but they will never find it because truth is falling in the streets. You can't lie and steal and cheat and talk about history and rewrite history and not really know the truth and come to a good conclusion. can't do it. It won't work because the sin is growing the sin is growing there's more said there's going to be more fighting. There's going to be more problems more trouble because truth has fallen in the streets less churches less true Christianity results in more racism. Less teaching of truth results in more chaos. Less or selective teaching of history results in more bondage to sin. Truth has fallen in the streets. Let me encourage you with three ideas from this passage beginning in Isaiah 59 verse 1. Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save. Neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. You know what God still can respond. God can still rescue and he can still save and we need to believe God. I hope that you believe the Lord today believe that God can believe that God can God can save God is still powerful enough to save. He is still powerful enough to deliver and there can be another awakening or a great awakening. It's possible as truth goes out. It's possible God may use us. He may use you and God can God can save is still powerful enough to save. He's still powerful enough to share the share salvation to make it available it's available to whoever would trust in him. He's still powerful enough for that he's still good enough to offer salvation and he's still so good and so powerful that he'll still let us make the selection. He'll still let us choose. Am I going to trust the Lord or trust myself. Am I going to listen to lies or am I going to listen to truth. He lets you decide. What will you decide the free will of man. He lets you choose. What will you do. Problems in strife are not God's fault. The world is in its condition is then not because of God but because of mankind because of our sin because of our wrong choices. He lets us choose. Problems of this world are sin our choice and our wrong we're suffering the consequences just like Isaiah described I encourage you go back to this chapter read all through you'd be like wow it's like exactly how things are in our life today. We need to turn back to believe the Lord number to confess sin to God verses two through four but your iniquities have separated between you and your God. So their separation was the separation because of because of sin and equity in your sins. have hit his face from you that he will not hear something God cannot hear. He will not hear because of the sin and your hands are defiled with blood. Your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies. Your tongue have muttered perverseness. And so we know that God needs and he wants us to confess our sins to him the world is the way it is because of our sin but we must confess it to him. Look at verse twenty in verse twenty. The Redeemer shall come to Zion and then to them that turned from transgression and Jacob save the Lord. He's telling the people back then turn back to God turn from your sin. So confession. We need to confess our sin to the Lord First Chronicles is a well known verse about confession. If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven and will then forgive their sin and heal their land. So there's confession and even in here there's repentance turning back around from it. I'm confessing that we're sinful we're wrong and I'm going to turn back around from it. I'm going to turn back to the truth instead of the lies that we're hearing in the number three. We need to trust Jesus only. Do you know that new rules will not help relationships new rules will help relationships. Let's make some new laws which have a lot of laws will cover this cover that will cover every idiosyncrasy that we could ever dream of and will cover in the laws and then that will have peace on Earth. No we're all lawbreakers already. You make all the laws you want. We are already breaking the most basic laws when it comes to loving one another and being kind to one another etc. It's not going to change it. A relationship with Christ is the only true hope because truth will set us free. What will set us free? Truth. It will make us free. Jesus will come back one day notice in verse eighteen according to their deeds accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries recompense to his enemies to the islands he will repay recompense. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the West and his glory from the rising of the sun that be on the east from the enemy shall come in like a flood When the enemy shall come in like a flood the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard or a banner against him. God in other words is going to deliver his people now this is all future. Maybe we'll get into this when we get into the book of Daniel a little bit but Isaiah is referencing something in the future. God's people are going to be set aside for a little bit and then as you get to the tribulation there's going to be people fighting against God's people and according to this God will deliver his people. God will rescue them he'll come in and save the day but before he does that it's in verse twenty twenty one before he does that he judges the world in verses eighteen and nineteen. He judges this world you think about the tribulation and then when he comes back at the Battle of Armageddon there's that's a part of a judgment there that takes place but he rescues his people just in time. Look at verse twenty the Redeemer shall come to Zion. That's when he sets down sets up the millennial kingdom and unto them that turn from transgression and Jacob say of the Lord. As for me this is my covenant with them sayeth the Lord my spirit that is upon the and my words which I have put in my mouth shall not depart out of my mouth nor out of the mouth of I seed or out of the mouth of I seed seed sayeth the Lord from henceforth forever and ever. And so he says that Jesus will come he'll rescue his people at the end of the tribulation he'll deliver them but friends he will come then but he's already come for us. He's already come for us he came the first time. as a little baby live the perfect life and died a cruel death after being dead for three days he rose again. He already came for us he's coming back again in the rapture will meet the Lord in the clouds to forever be with the Lord and then seven years after that is when he'll touch down and deliver his people that Isaiah is talking about. This is something we're looking forward to but Christ already came for us and we need to believe the gospel. We need to believe God's words he emphasizes my words to the next generation the next generation in the next generation after that it was twenty one. It's a friends. Let's believe Jesus. Let's trust him. Become a son or a daughter of God becoming a Christian isn't based on the color of your skin and texture of your hair is not based on the economic status where you work what education you have. It's not based on any of that you can be one in Christ. It's about being cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ the resurrected son of God. Have you trusted him for yourself. That's the truth. That's the truth that will set any person free. Let's take some time to visit with the Lord to pray. We're looking for that blessed hope in a glorious a period of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify into himself a peculiar people zealous of good works friends it's the truth. that sets us free. It's the truth that our society needs today. Maybe you say Pastor God has spoke to me about believing that God can. God can still save. God can still deliver. And I'm encouraged with this truth today. Anybody like that. I still believe God can right all the wrong. Yes. Oh God bless you. Lot of hands. Yes. I still believe that. There could be an awakening again God could turn us back we could turn back to the Lord very good how about this will you confess your sin to God. Will you confess the sin of our nation to God we're part of this nation. You confess Isaiah confess the sin of the nation as if it was his very own said would you confess your sin to God. God help me I want to confess any sin I have. God help me with that. Raise your hand a lot of hands good others. Yes yes confess it to the Lord. Confess it. And then would you trust Jesus only. Maybe you've been trusting religion for salvation or catechism or saying some prayer or confirmation or something. Have you trusted Jesus for yourself in your heart. Do you know that Jesus is the resurrected son of God. Do you believe that he died and rose again. Have you trusted that for yourself. If you say I'd like to know more about salvation. I want to know more about that. I'm not for sure. Anyone like that just raise your hand around this room. Anybody at all. All right. Thank you. Let's take some time. Let's pray for our nation. Let's confess to the Lord. Let's believe God can express that to him. Heavenly Father. On this Independence Day. I think today we together will say truly our dependence should be on you. Lord we have a lot of lies a lot of things that are not true. A lot of problems the results of sin and truth fallen in the street. Help each of us to be truth bearers. Let us boldly share the truth with those around us. Lord any sin to confess. We do fall short and while we're so unworthy you still came and died for us. We thank you for your love for us for people no matter where we come from or what we look like no matter what sin we've ever committed or how good we think that we are. You still love us we rejoice we say thank you. We pray for our nation we pray for an awakening we pray that truth will no longer be kicked down the street. and in the public square that it could be elevated once again that people would know the truth and truly be set free. Lord encourage each of us with this challenge here before us today. We thank you for hearing our prayer now. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.