Let me welcome you and let you know where we’re going today, and a couple of things like that, and how this all got started. I’m gonna share just for a moment, have an opening prayer, and then we’ll have one more worship song, and then Dr Tony Evans, who’s the head of the Executive Council, that we’ve called this together, this Solemn Assembly is going to-to bring a word to us. So just to let you know, we were praying and talking a few years ago about what we could do to bring our nation to God. We could say, ‘bring our nation back to God’ but I’m not sure our nation’s ever been totally to God. Huh-huh. But we want to bring our nation to Christ, and we know that.
And that’s the most important thing is for us to come before Him. And that scripture reading I was thinking about the “IF’S” and the “THENS” And y’know, the most famous verse, and so sometimes when a verse is well known, we tend to forget the “theo-pneustos” part of it, the God-breathed part. But it’s still God-breathed. And that’s 2nd Chronicles 7:14. “IF my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked ways, THEN I will – no doubt about it – I will hear from heaven. Will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.
So, a few years ago as we were meeting, we said, “You know, I think the best thing we could do to help our nation is pray. And let’s call a Solemn Assembly and ask people to come together and pray and so that happens tonight at Seven. We are completely full tonight plus overflow. And we are simulcasting to many other churches, and we welcome those of you who are joining us by simulcast.
But we also said, let’s gather the pastors and the leaders together in the day. And let’s have a prayer meeting before we have the Solemn Assembly at night. So that’s why we’re here.
I wanna tell you one thing that you wouldn’t normally say to pastors without having the time to explain it, but I wanna tell you something that-that’s not theologically correct, but it actually is, when I get around to it. You ever preached a sermon like that?
God needs us to do our part. And when the Lord told me that a few years ago, that He said, “I need you” I explained to Him why that’s not theologically correct. I went to Criswell Bible College but I know that’s not theologically correct, because God is self-existent, self-sufficient, and self-sustaining. And I said, Lord you don’t need anything, and he said, “I need you.” And then the Lord began to explain to me what He was saying. God decided to partner with us. And that’s where the IF and the THEN comes in.
You know, God parted the Red Sea, but Moses raised the rod up. I coulda done that. I coulda raised a rod up. That’s a natural thing. My part’s always natural. His part’s always supernatural. So what we’re gonna do today is we’re gonna do our part. And we’re gonna come before Him, and we’re gonna pray. And so I wanna ask you just to join me now, and let’s let this be that first opening prayer, and please agree with me, where two or three are gathered, let’s agree.
Lord, we come and agree that today can change something in our nation. God, we come and agree, Lord, that if we will pray, that-and seek your face, and turn from our wicked ways, that you will hear from heaven, no doubt about it. You will hear our prayer today. And you will forgive our sins, and you will heal our land, and we receive it today, in Jesus’ name, and everyone said, “Amen”.
As Tony Evans did after him, Robert Morris recited the incantation to get God to change his mind (2 Chronicles 7:14):
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Here I will repeat what I wrote about Tony Evans’ misuse of 2 Chronicles 7:14.
I have never understood why people mistake this as a promise to America. American citizens are not His people called by God’s name. This verse is not addressed to Americans. This verse is the second half of a sentence started in verse 13 and concerns the dedication of the Jewish temple led by King Solomon.
11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said:
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
God made an agreement with Solomon regarding Israel. On behalf of America, who made such a covenant?
This promise was made in a very specific way to Solomon about the very homogeneous Jewish nation. Despite a majority Christian population, there is no civil requirement to keep Christian morality. There is no civil requirement to even be a Christian to serve in government. It is very simple, these verses have nothing to do with us. We are not a new Israel.
There is nothing wrong with praying and repenting. However, a nation such as ours doesn’t do it, people do.
In the past, Morris’ needy god asked Morris’ permission to move The Kings’ University from California to the Southlake campus.