1. Illus: Every year in January the president of the United States delivers what is known in our nation as the "State of the Union" address--in which he stands before the packed chambers of the House of Representatives and addresses a joint session of the Congress and our nation through live television and radio.
   1. It is not exactly the most watched and eagerly anticipated television program of the week--but it is a big deal politically speaking.
   2. Tonight I recall a State of the Union address our president Bill Clinton delivered.
      1. And I, for one, found great comfort in the fact that it took him 1 hour and 21 minutes to say what he had to say!
      2. Just thought you ought to know that!
      3. But I promise not to match that feat....tonight!
      4. Near the end of that 81-minute sermon, President Clinton articulated-- though he knew it not--the very prayer that an ancient Pharoah cried out to Moses when the awful plague of locusts covered the land of Egypt: "Remove this deadly thing from me."
      5. However, when President Clinton prayed a very similar prayer, he wasn't praying for deliverance from a plague of locusts, as Pharoah was.
      6. But he was pleading for deliverance from a plague of violence.
      7. I grabbed my pen and scribbled his words down as he condemned "the violence that permeates our media all the time."
      8. And he received a roaring ovation from the packed chamber for that line.
      9. Because it isn't just the president of this nation who tonight worries over the violent state of the union--the fact of the matter is, the presidents and prime ministers and politicians and people of every nation are deeply troubled by the rampant violence that stalks this earth!
      10. And beyond the plague of violence, President Clinton preached about "an epidemic of teenage pregnancies."
      11. And he spoke of the need our own nation has for moral values.
   3. And then he did something I don't remember hearing any other president do in a State of the Union address: He appealed to the churches of the land.
      1. Illus: First he noted that there are more houses of worship in American per capita than any other nation in the world.
      2. Which, of course, is an embarassing statistic--since with this many places of worship you'd think life would be a bit more exemplary around America!
      3. And then he appealed to the religious leaders and their congregations to "work for change."
      4. illus: And to illustrate his appeal for moral change, he turned to the gallery and introduced two pastors, an African-American husband and wife team, Diane and John Cherry, who together pastor 17,000 members there in Maryland.
      5. After telling of their reclamation efforts in their community, he appealed to the churches of the nation to essentially, "Go and do likewise."
   4. Question: What is it that has the leaders of this world so deeply concerned? Answer: It's finally dawning on some of them that our nations (plural) are in deep moral trouble.
   5. Illus: So the prayer of an ancient Pharoah is not at all inappropriate tonight on earth!
      1. Let's read the prayer of Pharoah to bushy-bearded Moses--Ex. 10 (p 61).
      2. In a mighty showdown between the gods of Egypt and the God of the children of Israel a devastating series of natural disasters and supernatural destruction has broken out across the land of Egypt.
      3. This moment in the narrative comes in the midst of the eighth plague-- (after the tenth plague the children of Israel will march out of Egypt in the mighty exodus that the Jews to this day continue to joyfully celebrate--in fact let's pick up the eighth plague here in verse 12.
      4. Read vv. 12-17.
      5. The New Revised Standard Version of the English translates it this way: "Remove this deadly thing from me."
      6. A very appropriate prayer for this nation's and this world's moral revival, isn't it?----"Remove this deadly thing from us."
   
2. Because let us all recognize tonight that the moral disease of our homelands isn't the concern of politics alone--religion is deeply concerned, too.
   1. illus: Let me illustrate--I have here one of the newsletters from the very popular Christian psychologist and radio personality and leader, Dr. James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family without a doubt one of the most influential Christian leader in this nation tonight.
   2. And Dr. Dobson, too, though he uses different words, pleads the prayer of Pharoah: "Remove this deadly thing from us."
   3. And so he writes, "Dear Friends...."
   4. Listen, before I read a few lines from his newsletter, I must tell you that I have both high regard and appreciation for James Dobson and his Focus on the Family ministry.
      1. This man has done more perhaps than any other single individual in our nation to salvage and strengthen the American home.
      2. And I have personally communicated that to him.
      3. illus: You see, somebody sent my book Countdown to the Showdown to Dr. Dobson.
      4. I learned about it through a mutual friend we have who called me one day and said, "Dwight, Jim Dobson has told me he's gotten your book and he's a bit upset with his name appearing in your chapter on the Religious Right. What did you write?"
      5. illus: So I told him, let me read you what I wrote:

         "Anybody who reads and watches the news today knows that there is a new religo-political coalition uniting Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish Americans in a renewed attempt to spiritually reform America. Their rallying point initially began with a common cause: an anti-abortion battle in this nation. Which is why Cardinal O"Connor of New York and James Dobson of Focus on the Family--who has done so much for the American family--can join hands in a concerted effort to outlaw abortion. I, too, am opposed to the wolesale slaughter of human fetuses as a method of birth control. But I find it more than strangely coincidental that in this particular hour of history, there is such an apparently innocuous joining of some very strange bedfellows, . . . and if they work so well in this cause, I wonder what new cause they might eventually find on which to effectively unite." (p 58)

      6. So this mutual friend on the phone suggested: "Why don't you call him or write him and explain our position on the separation of church and state and what your concerns really are."
      7. And so I did--a 4 page letter.
      8. illus: And a few weeks later, I received this letter from him.
         1. So when I read from his newsletter now, I want you to know that I believe this man cares very deeply for his nation and is earnestly seeking and praying for its moral healing from the depths of his own heart.
         2. Even as we should, too.
         3. illus: Here are a few sentences from his letter to me:

            "Dear Pastor Nelson: I appreciated your warm letter, your words of affirmation, and the 'spirit of Christian collegiality' in which you wrote. Thank you for taking the trouble to explain the thesis of your book and the context in which my name appears in its pages....I'm grateful for the clarification, and pleased to have a copy of COUNTDOWN TO THE SHOWDOWN to add to my library....We [here at Focus on the Family] are anxious to preserve for ourselves and our posterity the freedom to express our beliefs and address our God in public as well as in private, in accord with the time-honored American tradition....I want to assure you that I have no intention of harming any component of the Church of Jesus Christ. I would give my life for the body of believers, and feel called to support and defend it....We are allies in this struggle to defend the Gospel in this day of apostasy and secular humanism. If you knew me better, you'd see the utter sincerity of this statement. Perhaps we'll have an opportunity someday to meet face to face....God's richest blessings on you and your congregation! Sincerely, James C. Dobson, President, Focus on the Family"

   5. In their battle for morality and decency in this nation, James Dobson and the hundreds of moral leaders that he reflects from around the world are essentially praying the plea of Pharoah: "Pray to the Lord your God that...he remove this deadly thing from us, THE DEADLY MORAL CANCER ON THE SOUL OF OUR NATION."
3. And do you know what? The time has come for us to join James Dobson and Billy Graham and Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Patriarchs of the Orthodox Church and the rabbis of Judaism and the immans of Islam and the philosophers of Hinduism and the priests of Buddhism in the great struggle for the moral soul of the nations of the world.
   1. Why here in the United States alone--the spiritual battle of the Religious Right and evangelical Christianity for a return to Judeo-Christian values and standards in this country is one we, too, can and must engage!
      1. "Remove this deadly thing from us!"
      2. God deliver us from violent immorality and immoral violence!
      3. Illus: Our British friends sing, "God save the queen!"--surely we can all pray, GOD SAVE THE WORLD!
      4. "Remove this deadly thing from us," can be our shared global passion and prayer!
   2. Which is why we need "The Truth of the Broken Goblet" tonight!
      1. For we must not abandon the moral high road to the political right or the religious right (or the political left or the religious left for that matter).
      2. We, too, must take the moral high road.
      3. But what our politicians don't realize--and sad to say--what too many of our Christian leaders have forgotten--the moral high road can only be discovered through a very pertinent piece of evidence that must be presented tonight.
      4. It is "The Truth of the Broken Goblet"
      5. Let me explain!
4. To illustrate this compelling truth let's pretend that we have all the religious leaders of the world here with us this evening--and let's make this a courtroom scene--so that these great leaders become the ladies and gentlemen of our jury.
   1. We'll pretend the jury is right over here--and sitting there we can imagine Dr. James Dobson and Rev. Billy Graham and Pope John Paul II and Archbishop ----- of Cantebury and Patriarch ----- of the Orthodox Church and Rabbi ---- of Jerusalem--and I'm willing, if you wish, that we invite Iman ---- of Islam and the Dhali Lama of Tibet to sit in the jury stand (although we will take a Judeo- Christian approach to this critical moral need).
   2. And so I say to them (on your behalf): Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we here tonight fervently agree with you that what our nations of this world need more than anything else is a return to God and His moral laws. (I see you nodding your heads--and indeed we do all agree!)
      1. And so we have come to fight the good fight with you.
      2. HOWEVER, in doing so, we feel it necessary to share with you why we Christians at least here in America--I may not be able to speak for all nations--but we must declare we are not succeeding in our moral agenda for this nation.
      3. DOES IT NOT FOLLOW, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that before the Christian church can call any nation to follow after the great standards of the divine law, the church itself must first set the example for the country? Would you agree? (Of course, you nod your heads).
      4. And I know you spiritual leaders also agree that we as Christians must indeed practice what we preach to our nations...correct?
      5. illus: Why, it'd be like a father trying to tell his son not to smoke, while the father himself is puffing away. He's got to practice what he preaches first.
   3. Moreover, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, as Christians we have all read the words of James 2:10-- surely they speak with particular power to global Christians tonight.
      1. We submit this text in evidence--Read James 2:10-12 (p 1159).
      2. There is no question, members of the jury, that James is referring to the great Decalogue, the Ten Commandments.
      3. And of course, it is to these very Ten Commandments that you, as national religious leaders, have been pointing us!
      4. In fact, the very two commandments that you often refer to are the same ones James mentions:
         1. How often you rightfully remind us that wholesale abortion violates the command of God, "You shall not murder."
         2. How often you have pointed us to God's command, "You shall not commit adultery," as you have pleaded from your pulpits with the nation to abandon its pornographic immorality and homosexual lifestyle.
      5. So we, too, would join you in calling our homelands and home neighborhoods to live up to the moral standards of God's law.
   4. But, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, James is very clear, that if we neglect to obey just one of God's commandments, we end up breaking them all!
      1. Reread v. 10.
      2. illus: And so we submit EXHIBIT A--a hammer and a glass cup.....(after placing a glass goblet on a stand, I will strike it with a hammer and shatter it while the audience watches).
         1. THE POINT: A glass that is struck at only one point is nevertheless shattered!
         2. To shatter the Ten Commandments at only one point is to break them all!
         3. James 2:10.
      3. illus: Now, EXHIBIT B--R.C.H. Lenski the well-known Christian commentator:

         "The law is not a set of ten pins [he takes us to the bowling alley--show animation on screen of bowling ball hitting some pins and leaving others standing], one of which may be knocked down the while the others left standing. The law is a unit, its unity is love: to violate it at one point is to violate love as such, the whole of it." [After that quote, or just as it is ending, show someone bowling a perfect strike, with all 10 pins going down together, illustrating that when one falls they all do.]

   5. AND IT IS HERE THAT I MUST APPEAL TO YOU, OUR CHRISTIAN LEADERS AND FRIENDS IN CHRIST THE WORLD OVER
      1. It is not sufficient for the Christian church to call the nations back to only 9/10 of God's law; we must embrace all 10 of His moral precepts.
      2. And before we can call the nation, we must answer the summons ourselves.
   6. Which is why, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I feel compelled to remind you as our Christian colleagues and neighbors that there is one of God's moral Decalogue that the Christian church has forgotten.
      1. And it is the commandment that begins with the word, "Remember."
      2. It is the 4th commandment [screen]: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, for the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God."
      3. And lest you object that it is illogical to isolate only one of the commandments for scrutiny--and of all the commandments, to pick the one least popular in contemporary Christian circles--I remind the jury of spiritual leaders that the 4th commandment is THE ONLY ONE of the Ten that fully identifies the Law Giver!
      4. In fact, return to the Ten Commandments with me and let us read the 4th commandment again--read Exodus 20:8-11 (p 71).
      5. Illus: Notice how v. 11 carefully identifies the Lawgiver: His name, LORD (Hebrew YHWH); His office, "made the heavens and the earth," i.e. CREATOR; and His jurisdiction, "the heavens and the earth and the sea," i.e., the universe.
      6. Illus: When a presidential or prime minister's seal is stamped on a document--you will find these three ingrediants: NAME, OFFICE, JURISDICTION--e.g., William Clinton, President, United States of American--Nelson Mandella, President, Republic of South Africa, etc.
      7. Why it's as if there were a presidential seal in the very heart of the Decalogue--in the heart of the 4th commandment: NAME, OFFICE, JURISDICTION--The Lord, Creator, heavens and earth and sea and all that in them is!
      8. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the 4th commandment declares God to be the sovereign Creator of all peoples and all nations throughout the jurisdiction of the entire cosmos!
      9. Which means that this commandment is THE ONLY ONE that provides the LEGAL AND JUDICIAL JUSTIFICATION for His claim of our obedience in the other 9 commandments.
      10. Remove this commandment, and you remove the historical and legal validation for God's claim to human allegiance, devotion, love and obedience.
      11. SEARCH THE OTHER NINE--NO WHERE ELSE WILL YOU FIND HIS SEAL!
      12. I.e., as our Creator and Life Giver He alone has the sovereign authority to be our Law Giver, He alone has the right to ask for our loyal obediance.
      13. Members of the jury, you're right--the 4th commandment is NOT the greatest commandment--Jesus said the greatest commandment was, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind"--but it is the 4th commandment alone that identifies who this God is we are to love with all our being!
   7. And so I ask you: Could it be, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this is why our leaders in Christian America, and indeed the leaders of the nations of the earth tonight, are having such a difficult time calling this nation to observe God's high moral standards?
      1. Could it be that we Christians--leaders and people alike--are effectively neutralizing our own witness by our own disregard or disobediance of the very moral law we are calling our beloved nations back to?
      2. For how does James 2:11 read?
      3. What good is it for us as national OR global Christians to wring our hands over the 6th and 7th commandments, when all the awhile we are ignoring the 4th commandment?
      4. Reread v. 10.
      5. Could it be that if we Christians had been faithful in upholding 10/10 of God's Decalogue, our nations (and I speak of the "Christian" nations in particular) would not be in the moral trouble they are in today?
   8. Now, dear Christian leaders and neighbors of the jury, we are all acquainted with the reasons that have been given down through the years why obediance to God's 4th commandment no longer is necessary for Christians:
      1. Some have suggested that to obey the 4th commandment is LEGALISM!
         1. But how could that be--for is it legalism to obey the 6th commandment and protest against abortion?
         2. And is it legalism to obey the 7th commandment and protest against child pornography?
         3. Why, Dr. Dobson, you are a powerful advocate of both those commandments!
         4. How then could it be legalism to obey the 4th commandment and worship God on the 7th day Sabbath?
         5. The issue is not legalism, it is ILLEGALISM, is it not, if one illegally chose to disregard a known law?
         6. Illus: In fact ultimately, the issue is not legalism but LOVE-- how can any of us miss Jesus' inescapable point on the eve of His own death? John 14:15 (p 1043).
         7. Could it be any more plain? "If you love Me," Jesus cries out to Christians the world over, "you will keep My commandments."
         8. Illus: When a man falls in love with a woman and they come at last to the day when he whispers, WILT THOU? and she WILTS--is it legalism for the young wife to expect that her young knight in shining armor will remain true to her for the rest of his life? Is she being legalistic in asking him to be faithful till death do them part?
         9. HARDLY! Marital fidelity is not an issue of legalism--it is a matter of LOVE!
         10. IF YOU LOVE ME--REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY!
      2. But then some suggest we can't know which day of the week is the 7th day Sabbath any more.
         1. But let the gospel writer Luke remind us: [show on screen] Luke identifies the three most important consecutive days in the history of our planet:
            1. Luke 23:54 - the day Jesus was crucified - "the Preparation" day Friday.
            2. Luke 23:54,56 - the day Jesus laid in the tomb - "the Sabbath according to the [4th] commandment - Saturday.
            3. Luke 24:1-3 - the day Jesus rose from the dead - "the first day of the week" - Sunday.
         2. Everyone knows that Easter, the day the Christian church celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ is on Sunday.
         3. And the New Testament clearly states that God's holy day, the seventh-day Sabbath of the 4th commandment, is on the day before Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead, and we all know that the day before Sunday is Saturday, and that fact has never changed since the days of Jesus Himself.
      3. But then there are those who declare that the ancient Church changed the day of worship.
         1. Which of course is true.
         2. But, dear jury members, what if the same Church had changed the 6th commandment--would we, could we all go out and kill each other?
         3. BECAUSE there is no church on earth that has authority to change God's holy moral law, is there?
         4. illus: Here is a CROCK cartoon that appeared the other day in the paper....French legionnaire sargent out in the desert office is reading an article to his commander: "This survey shows most people prefer a small church."
            1. The sargent turns around to the perennially tough-guy commander and asks, "How small was your church?"
            2. The commander ever an acid-tongued man stares out the window as he quips back, "We only had four commandments."
         5. Fact of the matter is, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, there isn't a church in the world that has the right to whittle down or tamper with God's holy Decalogue.
      4. But then there are those who suggest we now live after the cross, and so now grace supercedes the law.
         1. Illus: Try telling that to the men and women sitting on death row tonight: "Oh by the way, guys--good news--we're no longer under law, but under grace!"
         2. There isn't a judge in the land--or a jury either--who would buy that one!
         3. Because all the judicial grace in the world can never set aside the claims of moral law.
         4. Illus: Yes, but doesn't the Bible teach that we are not under law, but under grace? Yes and No--look at the verse for yourself in Romans 6:14 (p 1089)
         5. Ah hah! There it is--proof that the law is no longer binding on Christians today!
         6. Wait a minute--hold it right there--BECAUSE THAT IS HARDLY WHAT PAUL IS TEACHING!
         7. Why read his exclamation about the Ten Commandments in chapter 7, verse 12,14!
         8. Paul says the ten commandment law of God is holy, just and good. The law is spiritual.
         9. Members of the jury, Paul is hardly doing away with the Ten Commandments.
         10. What is clear then is that when Paul writes that we are under grace and not the law, he means that as a means of salvation it is grace and not the law that saves us!
         11. And how right he is!
         12. Illus: Don't put your hands up--but how many here have ever gotten a speeding ticket? How come I'm the only one with my hand up! How nervous we all are as we await the judge to call our name and we must stand before the judge and make our plea--and we try to think of every excuse in the book to justify the fact that we were driving too fast--but when he stares down from his bench and thunders, AND HOW DO YOU PLEAD? we squeak out the pitiful plea, GUILTY, YOUR HONOR. And in a froggy voice, we tell him the extenuating circumstances--we were hurrying home because we didn't want to miss the evening news, or we have dyslexia and thought the 25 mile an hour speed limit meant 52 miles an hour, or even that our baby was sick and we were racing to the hospital--etc., etc.. And to our dumbfounded amazement, the judge takes pity on us and pardons us and tears up the ticket and declares, NO FINE--YOU'RE FREE TO GO.
         13. Members of the jury, that is what you call GRACE--you deserved to have the book thrown at you, but the Judge takes pity on you and reverses what you had coming and grants you what you do not deserve--GRACE.
         14. Thank God for grace!
         15. Illus: But as soon as I float out of that courthouse and climb back into my car--elatedly repeating the word GRACE, grace, grace--DO I THEN CONCLUDE THAT I AM NOW UNDER GRACE, AND THEREFORE AM NO LONGER SUBJECT TO THE LAW? And so I squeal my tires out of that courthouse parking lot and thunder down the narrow road breaking every speedlimit in sight--WOULD I BE FOOL ENOUGH TO DISREGARD THE LAW now that the Judge has shown me grace?
         16. Read ROMANS 6:15!
         17. "SIN IS LAWLESSNESS" (I John 3:4) [show on screen]
         18. When we're under grace do we then break the law?
         19. NOW THAT I'M UNDER GRACE--do I go out and kill? Do I go out and steal? Do I go out and bear false witness? Do I go out and break the seventh-day Sabbath?
         20. WHY OF COURSE NOTE!
         21. Then why is that, ladies and gentlemen, we're very comfortable declaring that all the commandments are still binding--except one--the "Remember the Sabbath day" fourth commandment?
         22. Why do some people conclude that you're under grace even if you keep 9 of the commandments--but if you obey the 4th commandment, suddenly you're under law?!?
         23. WHAT STRETCH OF LOGIC produces that kind of reasoning?
      5. Ah, but then, when it's all said and done-- maybe it just doesn't matter anymore, the disregard of one small little commandment.
         1. Reread James 2:10 [screen].
         2. If it didn't matter, then why did God give the commandments in the first place?
   9. I realize that I'm being a bit blunt and forceful, dear friends in the jury, but included among you are my clergy friends, who are the spiritual leaders of your congregations and churches and organizations.
      1. And I must appeal to my colleagues in ministry.
      2. Your personal and pastoral example in obeying God is the most powerful force many of your parishioners have in their lives, outside of the Spirit speaking directly through the Scriptures.
      3. There is a moral war raging.
      4. But how can we call our people to the high moral standards of God's law if we ourselves are unwilling to embrace all of God's commandments?
      5. Of course we're saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
      6. But the Lord of salvation is also Lord of the Sabbath.
      7. How can we call our people to one without the other?
   10. And so to JAMES DOBSON and ROBERT SCHULLER and BILLY GRAHAM and BILL HYBELS and Paul Yonggi Cho and POPE JOHN PAUL II and the Archbishop of Cantebury and the Patriarchs of the Orthodox Church....and your 100s of 1000s of millions of faithful followers, I appeal tonight:
       1. I thank God for your godly leadership.
       2. You have trumpeted loudly the call to our nations and our world to return to God.
       3. You have effectively used your international pulpits to address the spiritual needs of all peoples.
       4. And I applaud you for your moral courage.
       5. I appeal to you to model before your people and your nation obediance to all of God's moral commandments.
       6. Think of the impact your example has across this planet!
       7. And I pray that God will grant you the grace and the courage to stand in faithful obedience to His moral law, no matter what society may say.
       8. You hold the destiny of 10s of 1000s in your hands.
       9. As you daily reexamine and restudy and reflect on what it means to model God's call to moral leadership in this land, may you be faithful to all of God's law.
       10. For therein will be the secret to your lasting leadership.
   11. And yes, why would I not also wish to appeal to the moral leader who when he visited Manila drew the single largest audience ever assembled in the history of the world to hear one man: Pope John Paul II, who preached to 5 million people in one gathering.
       1. illus: As one reader wrote to the South Bend Tribune:

          "Although I am Protestant, . . . Pope John Paul II...is in my view the triumphant 'man [not of the year but] of the century." ....He is...a political genius....Despite his poor health, the pope is now taking on the Western left's secular humanism....suggesting that the way top halt the effecvts of unsafe sexual practice is to stop the practice....I hope that John Paull II can live another 10 good years to help lead the struggle against the new paganism of the Western left and the full restoration of a civilized Judeo-Christian moral order in the Western world and especially in the United States."

       2. And so for John Paul II whose moral leadership circumnavigates the world, I pray divine grace and moral courage.
       3. If there were anyone who could lead his people in a commitment to obey all of God's moral precepts, surely it is this man!
   12. But let us turn from the jury to ourselves--for last of all I would appeal to all of us in the NeXt Millennium Seminar:
       1. Because James 2:10 is for you and me, too.
       2. We may smugly think that we have found the truth, but the more pressing question is: HAS THE TRUTH FOUND US DEEP IN THE SECRET PLACES OF OUR LIVES?
       3. There is no point clucking our tongues about our "less than moral" neighbors, when all the while our own hearts conceal a disobedient spirit.
       4. James 2:10 is a call to radical obedience of all God's life-preserving, relationship-protecting Ten Commandments.
       5. What good is it for us to decry the immorality of Hollywood and the media, when we ourselves choose to disregard one of God's commandments?
5. "And Pharoah hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, 'I have sinned against the Lord your God...Do forgive my sin...and pray to the Lord your God that...he remove this deadly thing from me.'"
   1. I don't know what deadly thing you need removed from your life this evening.
   2. But I do know that the only way that deadly thing can be removed is if the one who became a deadly thing for you and me removes it.
   3. Isaiah 53--remember these words? "And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." "And by his wounds we are healed."
   4. When Jesus died on the cross, He took your deadly thing and my deadly thing to death with Him.
   5. And having already dealt your deadly thing a deathblow, Jesus urgently summons you to seek His deliverance now before the tenth plague strikes our world.
   6. Time is of the essence
   7. Obedience is no longer an option.
   8. Will you let Jesus deliver you now?
   9. You need His POWER, He needs your PERMISSION.
   10. "Remove this deadly thing from me."
   
   Let us pray: O God, please--through the power unleashed at Calvary, through the One who became sin, who became this deadly thing for us, the One who knew no sin, through Jesus Christ our Lord, deliver us from our deadly things--privately and personally, and then corporately and nationally. Unless we are delivered, what hope can there be for our homelands and our hearts? Grant us the courage to obey our consciences and seek the deliverance that only Jesus can give us. In His name we pray. Amen.

Further Study:

Discover Guide - Does God Have A Special Message For Our Day?     (Lecture Study Guide from Discover Bible School)

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