A Thankful People

I didn't realize that we had that many songs in the book that were about thankfulness, but there certainly are a lot in the hymnal. I'm sure you've been following the news about the Occupy movement that's been going on in this country for some time now, not only this country but other countries as well. I think in about every major city there are those who are participating in the Occupy Wall Street protest that's sort of morphed into what it is becoming. In listening to some who were being interviewed on television and radio, those who are protesting, it is rather hard to nail down exactly what it is that they want. I don't know if you found that to be the case in listening to the myriad comments that have been made by various ones that are participating in this Occupy movement. But the gist I get when I listen to some of the people is it seems that many of the protesters are looking for someone to give them something. Their desire is for someone to give them something, to hand something to them on a platter. The United States at one time was not that kind of people. We were not the kind of people that were looking for handouts from anyone. I was talking to Mr. Spears before services, and he and I were talking about his father, how his father had died at 72, and how probably he could have lived longer, but he did not, because he did not want to spend the money on the doctors. As a result, Mr. Spears' mother would not have had money to make it, because it would have cost a lot of money to say they have a bypass. That's the way it used to be in this country with a lot of people. They may do with what they had, basically. They made it through. A lot of families that used to be, they would not go to doctors at all. Not because they necessarily didn't want to go to a doctor, it was the cost of doing it with so much that they were not able to do it. So, simply, they got to the point where they would take care of themselves. But, you know, it seems as we look at this nation over the last decades that have taken place, that more and more we're becoming the people that are asking for people to give us things. You know, I'm reminded of what John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural address. And he said, don't ask what your country could do for you, but he says, ask rather what you can do for your country. And this was, of course, the mentality back in the 60s of people offering something to the nation rather than expecting to get something from the nation. It seems more and more we're becoming a nation of complainers who are not appreciative of the nation that we live in, the kind of place that we live in. You know, brother, in the United States is one of the best places to live on the face of the earth. It is one of the best places to live upon the face of the earth. I've had the opportunity to travel to far lands where there's a lot of poverty. And I'll tell you that every time I've landed in the United States, I felt like getting on the ground and kissing the ground, thankful that I was able to come back to the United States. I remember when I went to Israel back in 1973, and traveled throughout Europe. One thing that I wanted more than anything when we landed in New York at the airport is I wanted to find a water fountain where I could just go and drink the water and not be afraid of what I was going to drink.

But, you know, the United States, again, is one of the best places upon the face of the earth to live. Of course, I realize that this country is not perfect. You know, many people think, well, you know, all I want is I want to be an average person. You know, I don't want anything more than that. I just want to be an average person. All I desire, some people think, is to have the things that the average person has. Well, you know, who is Mr. Average of this world, anyway? Who is Mr. Average of the world? Not Mr. Average of the United States, but who is Mr. Average in the world? Most of us tend to think that we're somewhere above average, a little above average. But where are we in comparison to the average person on this earth, on this planet? Let me tell you, brethren, how you can be average if you want to be average. Number one, get rid of your cars.

You don't get to have a car if you want to be an average person in this world. And maybe you're going to be able to have a bicycle. You know, if you save up your money and all that, you might be able to have a bicycle. Can you imagine, you know, if you had to get up in the morning and to get to work, you hopped on your bicycle. You headed off to work that way.

Next, brethren, get rid of your indoor toilet. You can't have an indoor toilet.

You can't have running water. The only running water that you're going to have is from the path from the well up to the house if you run with that bucket. It's running water that way.

You know, when I was growing, by the way, for large periods of time, years, we didn't have running water in our house. We had a well that you go and, you know, put one of these long. Have you ever seen the buckets that are really long? You hoist it up from the well and then you'd release it and then go into the bucket and you'd carry it up to the kitchen. That's where everybody got their water. Next, brethren, take out your nice flooring in your house because you can't have, you know, the nice flooring that probably you have in your home. You can't have your carpeting that you have. You can't have the nice ceramic tile or porcelain tile you might have.

You might be able to have a linoleum rug. You might be able to have that. Or you might be able to have a concrete floor. Or you might have a wooden floor. Or you might have a dirt floor, depending upon your circumstance, if you want to be Mr. Average. Get rid of your ample food supplies. You can't have your little cabinet, your cupboard, with food that you can go and raid at eight or nine o'clock at night and eat that way. And your main staple is going to be rice.

So you're going to have a lot of rice. Get to have rice. You can have it for breakfast. You can have it for lunch. You can have it for dinner. That's what you're going to eat a lot. Next, brethren, change your language to Mandarin, because this is what the average person speaks in the world.

This is the majority language. Next, brethren, you have little formal education or none.

No, maybe if you have some education, it's very little. Or maybe you have none. You have no education whatsoever. Next, brethren, some of you really like this one. You would be 29 years old.

The women, though, unfortunately, you would be male. A 29-year-old male, if you were average in the world. And this is the thing that is astounding to me, is you would not have access to a computer or the internet if you were the average person. You know, I think we need to think about that, don't we, in the church? If we're going to reach the people of the world, then we have to remember that there are people who don't have the internet, and maybe never will have the internet in that way. So, brethren, these are just a few of the ways that you could be Mr. Average in the world.

And when you consider these factors, brethren, doesn't it make you thankful for what you have?

You know, doesn't it make you thankful for where you live? You know, we in this land, brethren, are the inheritors of some of the richest and most productive land in the entire world.

You know, if you go to some parts of Kansas, the top soil is yard stick. Not just a couple of inches, but yard stick. And so we have some of the most productive land on the planet.

And we have food and super abundance. You know, you walk down the aisle of a grocery store, it is all there, isn't it? Every kind of rice cake that you wanted, you know, every kind of bean that you want, any every kind of bread that you want. You know, at one time we were called the breadbasket of the world. I don't know if we are still that in this world, but at one time we recalled that. You may remember some of the old articles in the Plain Truth magazine where it had stacks of grain that were piled up in Kansas because all the silos were filled. And they had to stack the grain on the streets and pile it up on the streets because we had so much in production.

In our land, brethren, few, if any, go to bed at night agonizing for food as the average man in the world does. I know recently they were saying that one in four kids don't know where their next meal is coming from. But I assure you, brethren, those one in four know they're going to eat.

Somehow, in some way, they're going to eat. They may not know where it's going to come from, but they're going to eat in this land, in this country. You know, we don't know, brethren, what real hunger is. I'm talking about agonizing, traumatic, deep hunger with the bloating of the bodies and the sunken eyes and the emaciated skeletons of people who look like they have a thin layer of skin that's draped over their bones. That kind of hunger. The kind of tormenting hunger which causes people to grab a handful of dust and cram it down their throats just to fill the void in the stomach. We in the United States, brethren, through the grace of God, have been spared that kind of existence. But it hasn't been because of us, but it's been because of God's great mercy toward us and what he's shown us in terms of the promise that he made to Abraham that's been realized in us. The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in his Thanksgiving Day proclamation of October 3rd, 1863, he made a proclamation. He said, I want you to feast. I want you to rejoice and eat as a result of this proclamation. No, he didn't say that. But let me read to you what he said in 1863. He said, We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power, as no other nation has ever grown, but we have forgotten God. Interesting, isn't it? He's a president, a secular president, who's recognizing we have forgotten God. And it says that President Lincoln therefore proclaimed the 30th day of April 1863 as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer in the hope that the American people might be reconciled to God, forgiven and healed. You know, this proclamation was made during our nation's bloodiest war, the Civil War, and it was needed then, but it's not nearly as needed as badly as it is now. We have, brethren, as a result of the bountifulness of our land, become a nation of ingrates, of people who really aren't thankful for what we have. You know, God provides all of this for us. Somehow we think that we did it for ourselves, that we've been able to accumulate all this for ourselves. You know, God warned Israel when they had a land of plenty, that they not say they'd gotten it by their own might, but it was God who provided these good things. You know, He warned them, don't forget where this is coming from. Don't forget who is buttering your bread, Israel. Who's taking care of you? You know, think about it, brethren. America has grown since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 to the present day, 2011. In just 235 years, with the 13 original colonies, our population was 1.5 million people back then. And now we've grown to over 300 million people in this country, in this land. The gross national product of those colonies was less than 3 billion dollars, and today's GNP is into the trillions. You know, we've got so much commerce going on in our time. The unfortunate thing is we end up spending as much as we make just about in this land. In the 1950s, the United States and Britain owned two-thirds of the world's wealth. Think of that. Fathom that, brethren. Two-thirds of the world's wealth were owned by two countries on this planet. Do you think that was an accident? Did that happen? I don't think so. Especially, you think about this fledgling little country, the United States, that grew in just a short period of time, to 1950, where we were possessing, along with Britain, two-thirds of the world's wealth. And God gave this to us, brethren, for a purpose and for a reason.

You know, while the world is seeing the rise of the two greatest nations of the United States and Britain of our time, it will also see the coming demise of these countries and these lands. And God is going to have to teach our peoples a great lesson in the very near future. Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 8 and read what the Bible says over here. In Deuteronomy chapter 8 and down in verse 5 here, you know, God warned Israel, you know, he talked about with Israel. He said, look, that he chastens them. He's going to chasten them. But in verse 5, we'll pick up the thought.

It says, And you shall know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the eternally your God chastens you. And so God chastens nations.

Now, sometimes it seems that when natural disasters happen in the United States, we try to to poo-poo the idea that God is saying something to us.

Well, brethren, when God does not intervene to stop something as he can do and has done, probably multiple times for the United States of America, he is saying something to us in the United States. God corrects a people as it says there. Therefore, it says, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God to walk in his ways and to fear him. And so God wants us to fear him and to walk in his ways. And that word fear means, brethren, we respect God. We honor God.

And going on here, it says, For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, just as we were brought into this good land. A land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs that flow out of valleys and hills. A land of wheat and barley, of vines and thick trees and pomegranates. A land of olive oil and honey. It says, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity. That's exactly what's happened, hasn't it, to us in the United States. In which you will lack nothing. A land whose stones are ironed and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And when you have eaten or are full, then you shall bless the eternal your God for the good land which he has given you. And so God says that when you have all these rich blessings, you make sure you bless the eternal. You thank God for what God has given to you in this world. You know, we look again at so many that are not prospering and do not have the the accoutrements and the blessings that we have in this this country. But notice going on, he says, beware. Beware. Be careful that you do not forget the eternal your God by not keeping his commandments, his judgments, and his statutes which I command you today. Beware that you don't get into that frame of thinking, that kind of mind at all. Let's notice down here in verse 18, it says, and you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, and that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers as it is this day. You see, God made that covenant with Abraham, and God aimed to keep it. And He did. He said He would bless the seed of Abraham, and they would become as the stars of heaven, like the grains of sand on the seashore. And God has done that. He's done His part of what He promised to Abraham. In verse 19, it says, Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.

You're going to perish. As the nations with the eternal droids before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the eternal your God.

So God promised ancient Israel you're going to perish if you'd forget Me.

And, brethren, thanksgiving is one of those few times in which we can do this, that we can thank God. And, of course, it should not be the only time we should be thanking God all through the year, but I'm just saying that thanksgiving is one of those times when you could do that, to express your thanks to God for all that He has given to you.

We sometimes around our table go around the table and say, what are you thankful for this year? And try to get everyone to think about that kind of thing, how thankful we are for what God has given to you. So God says, if you forget Me, you're going to surely perish if we fail to recognize who has given this tremendous blessings that God has given to us here in the United States. You know, yesterday was Black Friday.

You know, and I last evening during the news, it was called Black and Blue Friday. I don't know if you saw that news item that was on Channel 7 on the news, the national news, because people were fighting one another. One lady was pepper spraying somebody else so that she could get the good deals before they did. Can you imagine this? There was one news clip of people that were actually having a fistfight, you know, and it was really a feeding frenzy.

You know, Piranha, you know, wherever the deals were to be made. And I know about you, but I looked at how busy they were and I just drove on by, you know, and didn't want to... I went... I did go into Walmart, thankfully, and got in and got out. I got what I needed to get and they had the checkout line where there were, you know, the... if you have certain items you can... you don't have a lot of them you can get through real fast and I happened to get through fast there with that.

But, you know, it seems that yesterday, for the most part, that for many people civility went out the window and it was frankly shameful. I don't know about you, but in looking at how people are and just kind of a feeding frenzy that they showed... you know, I saw one or two guys who were on the film clips and it was just like this, you know.

They were... I mean, they were like they were hunting, you know, looking all around. I think, get a hold of yourself, man! You know, you'll get your VCR or whatever it is you want, you know, your blue ray or whatever that you're searching for. But, you know, people look crazy! I mean, and how the frenzy was just...

it seems that it overtakes some people. You know, imagine going out and camping out at Best Buy. Some guy camped out, I think, from about noontime, you know, the day before, I guess on Thanksgiving, he must have done Thanksgiving, didn't eat dinner or something, and camped out. I mean, there were a whole lot of people that did that.

I think, man, if you need something that badly, you know, something wrong there. Let's go to Isaiah 1. Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 2, it says, "'Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.'" You know, God has brought us up. You know, we had nothing.

He brought us up, and he says, you've rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, but the donkey... and the donkey, it's master's crib. You know, the brute beasts, they've got a lick of sense, and they know their master's crib, and they know what they're supposed to do. You know, but my people do not consider. My people do not consider. You know, we're so busy accumulating things. "'Alas, sinful nation, of people laden with iniquity, a brood of evil-doers, children who are corruptors.

They have forsaken the eternal. They have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel. They have turned away backward.' And so, you know, the nation has gone that way. We've turned away backward. We've turned away from God, from the values that we once had as a people, the values we had as families, you know, as a people. You know, every once in a while, I catch myself and say, 20 years ago, I think, well, no, it wasn't this way 20 years ago. It was probably this way 40 years ago or 50 years ago.

I think we've long since lost that sense of family and the values in this nation that we once had. But God is going to have to show our peoples who the master is. They've forgotten about that. In the book of Ezekiel, God, time and time again, says He is going to allow national calamity on Israel. And then you'll see the statement, that they may know the eternal He is God. That they may know the eternal that He is God.

You know, one of the greatest sins of our people, brethren, is our unthankfulness to God for what He's done for us. That is a terrible sin that our nation has committed.

In 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy, I realize, brethren, that some are thankful. I don't want to say that everybody fits into that category, brethren, but I would have to think that it's probably well over 50 percent that don't. In 2 Timothy 3, in verse 1, let's notice this, the utter selfishness of the end of the age. It says, but know this, Paul says in 2 Timothy 3, that in the last day, perilous times will come. And we are right on the cusp, aren't we, of perilous times in this nation, thinking about what could happen. And I'll tell you, the fireworks are really going to begin to go off if Iran is invaded. We're going to see a whole new ballgame in the world if that happens.

You know, Iran is vowed, of course, to launch terrorist attacks in this country. Apparently, they have seated people that can do that kind of thing in this country, you know, that are ready to move forward if need be. And so we'll see this happen, I'm sure, not only abroad at some of our embassies over there, but we'll probably see it here in this country and in Europe as well.

For men will be lovers of themselves. You see, they love themselves. Lovers of money.

Now, this is why you've got people with, again, this feeding frenzy. You know, I think for a lot of people, you used to have the attitude, well, look, if I've got to be that way, I don't want to, I don't need that. I don't need it. But it seems that more and more are just lovers of money. Boasters, proud blasphemers, you know, nothing in other words, is sacred. Disobedient to parents, young people in this country. Of course, this is certainly the case, not just for young people, but even adults, older people who don't respect their own fathers and mothers and show the right kind of respect for them. And then notice in verse 2, unthankful, unthankful, not being a thankful people. And it says, unholy, unloving, unloving, unforgiving, slanders without self-control.

You know, they can't control themselves. Brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers are pleasure rather than lovers of God. I think that a few years ago when the economy was just going out to ceiling and everybody had money, you know, of course, the money was coming from Fannie Mae and all these places that were loaning money, you know, to people right and left. You know, people were less likely to listen to God then than they are now. I think if things really get bad, people are going to be wanting to listen to what God has to say through the church.

But notice going on, it says, having a form of godliness but denying its power from such people turn away. And so this nation, brethren, you know, we know when it observes its holidays tend to not glorify God. But usually they're vain, they're empty. You know, it seems that there's just not any substance to the holidays that man observes. And most of the time, quite frankly, God doesn't even enter the picture. And maybe for us, brethren, if we weren't reminded about it, God would not enter the picture either for us. Maybe we wouldn't be as concerned about it if we were not reminded about it. Because easy isn't it to be like the world? It's easy to pick up on that spirit that's out there in the world. You know, Jesus said, unto whom much is given, much is required.

And so when you're given a lot, God says, more is required of you. And since we've been given so much as our people in this land, our thanks should be much greater. And when we observe thanksgiving, brethren, as we did this past Thursday, you know, did we take the time to express to God how thankful, truly thankful we are to Him? And by that, brethren, I don't mean that we are to be pseudo-sanctimonious about ourselves, because we need to be real people. But we can all be thankful to God through our daily prayers. We can express that thank and thanks. And certainly when we're asking God's blessing over the food that we're going to eat on that day, and we can express our thanks for what He's given to us, the good health that He's given us, the ability to take care of ourselves, to be able to pay the bills and put the food on the table and clothing. We've been given so much, brethren, in this nation for which to be thankful for. America has the largest amount of fertile land with the most favorable climate of any nation in the entire world. That's the kind of blessings that we have as this nation.

And even though America only possesses 6% of the world's land, it possesses also 6% approximately of the world's population, we possess 18% of the total crop land in the world. Again, think about that. 300 million people have 18% of the world's crop land, and the rest of the people, the 7 billion people more, they've got the 82% that's left divided among the countries. Other nations, by the way, they look at the fantastic blessings of America with great amazement. They really do. And I made a statement at the Peace in Hawaii that they've done surveys, and of the population of the Earth, the 7 billion on this planet, that there are about 1.5 billion people in the world who would like to come to the United States. And by the way, don't think that we keep people out, because we let more people in this country than any nation on the Earth. And so we allow people to immigrate into this country.

And of course, there are a lot of people that immigrate illegally into this country as well.

You know, you may not know this, the Great Lakes of the United States account for 90% of the fresh water in this country.

90% of our fresh water is located up there in those Great Lakes, the Lake Superior, and all those other lakes that are up there. And this is even more astounding. We have 20% of all the fresh water in the world here in this country. God brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey. We've got so many blessings, brother.

You know, think about the size of this nation which covers from sea to shining sea, too, brother. How did that happen? How does that happen that we have the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific, you know, here in the United States of America?

In just over 200 years we have transformed this land.

You know, just over 200 years, brother, this land has been transformed.

Where does that happen? Where does that happen? It doesn't happen anywhere else, but it happened here, brother. We have transportation systems covering the whole nation. And every part of it is in use in some way, whether it's ranching or cropland, or maybe they decide for resources for the future. It's being utilized. We have also, brother, and think about this, the greatest military in the world. We have the greatest economy in the world, and we are, frankly, the only superpower in the world. Now, Russia is wanting to be a superpower. China wants to be a superpower. But make no mistake about it, brother. They do not measure up to the United States right now. Now, they will. They will. Unfortunately, we're giving them the technology to come up with us. But think about that. We are the only superpower in the world, and with a great power we have militarily. And all of this took place in just over 200 short years.

We came from this fledgling little upstart nation in 1776 to the present. And we know it's going to change. We know that prophecy indicates it's going to happen. But, you know, the world knows the abundant wealth of the United States, but Americans simply take it all for granted, and we don't appreciate it the way that we should.

You know, when we demonstrate to God that we don't appreciate what He's given to us, then we begin to drift away from the core values which many Americans at one time live by, you can better believe the time is coming when God's going to take it away. That's what He did with ancient Israel. He did that with them. They got to the point where they did not appreciate what God had done for them, and they turned away, and they began to go ways contrary to God's way of life. I want to take you to a few scriptures, brethren. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 5 over here. Ephesians chapter 5. You know, the apostle Paul tells us over here in verse 14, and this is certainly something is for us, a call to action. But in verse 14, it says, therefore he says, Awake you who asleep. Arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. So we need to be awake and alert, brethren, as God's people today, and not be like the world and the society around us. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. The days are a time of evil, a time of calamity that's going to come upon this world. You know, think about this. Paul considered his days evil.

What would he think about our days right now? Well, all you have to do is go downtown San Francisco and he'd find out real quick, especially if he went to the Castro district, you know, down there, he'd find out real quick how things have changed.

Verse 17, going on down, it says, therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And he says, and do not be drunk with wine, and which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God, the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Giving thanks always. I've talked about, you know, being thankful, the difference between being thankful and just thanking God, but being a thankful person. Should we not, brethren, be thankful people? Should this nation not be a grateful people? That's what God wants us to be, a grateful people. And you know, I'm not going to go to this verse, but in Hebrews 13, 15, Paul says over there, therefore by him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God.

That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Are we again thankful as a people the way that we should be as God's people? Thankful for what God has done. We have even more things to be thankful for because God's called us and opened us our minds and shown us the truth.

Philippians 4. Philippians 4, down in verse 6. Here Paul says, be anxious for nothing.

Be anxious for nothing. No, don't get into the frenzy of this world over material things, certainly. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Everything with thanksgiving. You know, there used to be more of this kind of attitude in Americans. People tend to be more sober-minded in the United States. They tend to be more appreciative. I think when things really begin to change in earnest, maybe there could be other dates that could be chosen too, but I think that things begin to change during the 60s. You know, when the hippie revolution began to take place, the free love, of course, the free love was not love at all, was it? It was lust. That's what our nation began to indulge in. And people changed. Unfortunately, some of the people that were the hippies of the 60s are now running the country. They're the parents and the grandparents of children today. And it makes you wonder again what kind of hope our kids have if they do not wake up and see and smell the coffee, see the roses and smell the coffee of what is happening in the United States.

First, that's only in five. Rather than sometimes standing firm to support this country, sometimes people are tearing it down by being against it in every regard. In 1 Thessalonians 5, in verse 18, it says, And everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ for you.

So this is God's will, brethren, that you and I be an immensely grateful people. You know, are we that way as a matter of our personality, brethren?

Are we that way as people to our heart's core? Just really appreciative, really thankful for what is done for us, whatever it is, and whenever it is done for us. And you know, the thing that Paul says that we offer this sacrifice of praise to God, you know, as he says there in Hebrews 13, verse 15. And so this is the kind of spiritual sacrifice that God desires from us, a gratitude to him for what he has done for us. You know, interestingly, Christianity, you may have seen some of the recent statistics on this, Christianity is ranked as the largest religion in the world with some 2 billion people who identify with Christianity. 33% of the world's population is considered to be Christian. I think that's quite interesting, considering what's happening in the world, around the world. The United States has the largest population of professing Christians in the world, followed by Brazil and Mexico. I wasn't aware of that, but the United States has the most in terms of Christians out of the 300 million that are a part of this country. 85% of Americans claim to be of Christianity. 85%. So you'd almost be hard put when you go find somebody that doesn't claim to be a Christian. You know, to be fair to you, though, when I was growing up, I never went to church, but I claimed to be a Baptist. You know, I think a lot of people are that way, aren't they? They claim to be a Christian, but they don't do an awful lot about it. But only a paltry, 15% of the United States is of the other category made up of Jews and Muslims and Buddhists and Centurists and and the other religions that exist out there. However, of the 85% who consider themselves Christians, only 20.4% attend church once a week according to the surveys. And by the way, Gallup has typically set that at 40%, but they found that was not true, that it was only 20%. And I think this is what is quite interesting to me as well, is that young Christians 18 to 30 tend to attend percentage-wise far less than Christians 65 and older. In fact, I think 65% of the 85% that claim to be Christians, you know, of the 20% that attend, 65% of them are 65 and older.

And so young people are tending to drift away, again, from the values of Christianity.

Again, I realize that we don't agree with all the teachings of Christianity, but there are different principles, good principles, that are found, you know, in Christianity, in just about any church, as long as, again, they adhere to the Bible and as much as they know, as they understand, and they hold on to the values which are expressed, which often they think is done away, that are expressed in the Ten Commandments. You know, if people abide by those, you know, to be, that's probably about the most we can ask for in this world, you know, abiding by some of the, in not all of the commandments, obviously, they're going to violate the Fourth Commandment. But I think you can see that Americans are drifting away. These statistics, by the way, are getting worse and worse in the United States. They're drifting away from the core values. Well, let's go over to Leviticus 26. Notice what God said to Israel over here. In Leviticus 26 and verse 3, you know, here God said to Israel, if you walk in my statues and keep my commandments and perform them, then I will give you rain in due season. The land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. You know, what are we having a problem with now as time goes on? The bee population is diminishing, and this may be a problem as time goes on if we lose more and more of these pollinators. And it says, your threshing shall last till the time of the vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing. You shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land. Think about what's happened in this country, brethren. We've never known a war in our land except for the Civil War, but things are changing in the world. God has not allowed that to happen to the United States. And it says, and you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight. Your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. For I will look on you favorably, and make you fruitful, multiply you, and confirm my covenant with you. And you shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new. You know, just like it used to be. Remember, you know, the stacks of grain that were piled up in Kansas, you know, because the silos were all filled. Let's go down to verse 14. But if you do not obey me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise my statutes, or if you, your soul abhors my judgments, so that you do not perform all my commandments, but break my covenant, I will do this to you. Now, God says, I'm going to do this to you if you forget about my word. I will also do this to you, and it says, I will appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever, which will consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart.

And you'll sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set my face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. And those that hate you will reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues. And after all this, if you do not obey me, then I'll punish you seven times more for your sins. See, it's an intensity thing that's going to increase. You know, if we continue to turn away from God, and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron, and your earth like bronze. You know, God would send drought, in other words, and you know, the plowers have time, have a hard time even plowing the ground. And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield as produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. And so God said, this is what's going to happen. And then if you walk contrary me, and are not willing to obey me, I'll bring on you seven times more plagues according to your sins. So if God blesses us, brethren, abundantly, we need to turn to Him. We need to look to Him, because if we begin to withdraw from Him, He begins to withdraw His favor and His blessings to us. Down in verse 31, God says to Israel, I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation. I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. It's interesting, the fragrance industry and the cat walks of the fashion industry and all the finery many think of when they think about opulence and wealth will be taken away, as blessings are taken away. And our economy will suffer, and then food will not be plentiful for us. Verse 32, I'll bring the land of desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you, I'll scatter you among the nations and draw the sword after you. Your land shall be desolate in your city's waste. Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbath as long as it lies desolate, and you are in your enemy's land. Because we didn't keep any kind of land Sabbath. Didn't let the land rest, but work it to death. And then the land shall rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. So God said, this is what's going to happen. This is what's going to occur. And going on, as long as it lies desolate, it shall rest. For the time it did not rest on your Sabbaths when you dwelled in it. And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness in their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of shaken leaf will cause them to flee. And they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues. And they shall stumble over one another as it were before a sword when no one pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

It's a terrible thing, but you know what happened to ancient Israel, and it's going to happen to us, brethren, when we were at one time the superpower and the United States spoke and the world reacted to it. You know, that's decreasing now, by the way, because we're losing that kind of power in the world. Well, when this happens, and it's all taken away from us, then we're going to really appreciate what God did for us.

It's like with ancient Israel. You know, Israel had all the power and all the wealth that was built up in the time of David and Solomon that God blessed them with, and eventually they lost it all. They lost every bit of it, and they came in and took over.

You know, the Assyrians took over Israel to the north of Samaria and to the south of Babylonians came in and took it all over. And by the grace of God, Judah, part of Judah, was able to return. Let's go to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 10. Isaiah chapter 10. Yes, there is coming a time, brethren, when God is going to hold us accountable for not being a grateful people.

In Isaiah 10, verse 1, it says, "...woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune, which they," it says, "...have prescribed, to rob the needy of justice, to take what is right from the poor of my people. The widows may be their prey, that they may rob the fabulous." You know, what has happened recently in the United States with regard to the banking industry, and what has happened with regard to foreclosures and things like this, where what people did have was taken away from them. There's nothing afterwards.

You know, God is going to hold people accountable for that. It says, "...what will you do in the day of punishment, and in the desolation which shall come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your glory? Without me they shall bow down among prisoners, and they shall fall among the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." So God's going to reach out, and he's going to begin to touch the United States and Britain. He's going to begin to take away these things.

And it says, "...woe to Assyria." Now, Syria today is modern-day Germany. Modern-day Germany.

But it says, "...woe to Assyria, the rod of mine anger." God has used ancient Assyria to punish, you know, Israel in the past. And it says, "...the staff in whose hand is my indignation." God's going to show his indignation to our peoples, because, again, we've been an ungrateful, unthankful people. And I will send him against an ungodly nation. You know, some translations say, "...hypocritical nation." You know, again, 85% of us claim to be Christian.

85%. But what does that really mean? What does it matter to most people, what they claim to be? "...And against the people of my wrath, I will give him charge to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets, and it says, yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so, but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off not a few nations." And so, Assyria, modern-day Assyria, is going to be used of God to punish modern-day Israel, who has been the inheritors of these rich blessings that God has given to us.

You know, this is what responsibility comes with the great blessings that God gave us because of Abraham and the covenant God had with Abraham.

And things, brethren, are building now in Europe for the coming beast power to emerge.

And the stage is being set. Germany, which was beaten down in World War II, brethren, has built up again, beginning with a Marshall Plan, and it has been the faithful American and British ally since that time. So, they've been able to keep their heads down, so to speak, all that time. And Germany, by the way, has always wanted to lead Europe. You know, Germany wanted to lead in World War I, and it resulted in World War I. They wanted to lead in World War II, and we had World War II. And they still want to lead. And now, economic forces have allowed them to be in that position in Europe. And now, the right circumstances, perhaps such as the collapse of the economy, and the right leader will emerge, will cause the beast power to coalesce, to come together into that ten-nation combine that's prophesied. There may be, by the way, other combines or blocks that will come before the ten-nation because of what it says in the prophecies. Let's notice in Revelation 17. Notice that over... I say that because we see that the beast power basically is a very short duration of time where it comes together as that powerhouse, and it leads right up to the time of the coming of Jesus Christ. But Revelation 17, down in verse 12, it says, The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. And so, this ten-nation combine is going to be very short. One hour is a short space of time. Of course, a year in prophecy, or a day is a symbolic of a year in prophecy. An hour is a short space of time. We may be talking about a matter of months or years. We can't really absolutely say, but it's going to be a short duration that this beast power is going to be on the scene. And these are one mind, and they will give their power and their authority to the beast. And they'll come right up to the second coming of Jesus Christ because it says, these will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them. So, they're going to be there at the second coming of Jesus Christ to fight against Jesus Christ.

So, there might be another step, by the way, between now and the emergence of the beast power. But it seems that one of the first things that is going to happen, you know, at the outset, is the United States and Britain are going to be destroyed. That we will be the first to fall.

It's interesting, I have some material somewhere. I was not able to find it for today's sermon, but I have material message I gave many, many years ago that has gotten lost in my files, unfortunately. But Field Marshal Ritter von Liebe wrote this in his diary on December 10th, 1943, when he was put in prison with other German generals after World War II.

He said this, he wrote in his diary, After the experiences of this war, we shall, in view of the enormous numerical superiority of the English fleet, have priority in future naval construction program to U-boats, destroyers, and mine layers, or land mine layers, above all to the strongest naval air arm in order to be able to search out and destroy the English fleet in its hidden bases. In other words, what he's saying here is one of the things we're going to have to do is we're going to have to have a strong navy when that time comes for World War III. And the first thing we're going to do is we're going to hunt down the bases of our enemy. In this case, it was Britain in this case. I've seen other quotations, by the way, from generals who went underground in World War II, who made the statement, the next time there is a war and there will be a next time. And the reason why we see this in history is when the Germans lost in World War I, they knew there would be a next time. And so World War II took place. And this time, they know that there will be a next time where, in fact, there's going to be a war, and they are saying the next war we will knock out the United States and Britain first. And think about the fact, brethren, and again, I'm only speculating with this, who has control over nuclear weapons in Europe? NATO, right? It wouldn't be a very easy matter for Europe to confiscate those nuclear weapons and, in the end, use them against us before all is said and done. And so, the German generals assumed, you know, after World War II that they would have the same enemies as they had in World War II, and they would knock out the United States and Britain first. Of course, now, brethren, those generals have long since died, like Hitler died. But, you know, the German aspirations, brethren, to lead Europe are still very much there. It's in their blood. It's what they want to do. And we see, again, in prophecy that we saw in Isaiah that God is going to use that drive that is in the modern Assyrian people to punish our people. Let's go to Ezekiel 5. Ezekiel 5. Ezekiel 5, Ezekiel 5, this prophecy here in the book of Ezekiel uses Jerusalem as a type of Israel. You remember the prophecy here in Ezekiel 5 and verse 1. It says, And you, son of man, take a sharp razor, take it as a barber's razor, and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take scales away and divide the hair. And you shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are finished. And then you shall take one-third and strike around it with a sword. And one-third you shall scatter in the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. And you shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment. And then take some of them again and throw them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there, fire shall go out into all the house of Israel. So, symbolically, it has to do with Israel. Talking about the nations of Israel. And again, the reason why the United States and Britain are going to be the focal point is we have been the greatest recipients of the blessings of Abraham. And so, God is going to hold us accountable.

So, Israel is the focal point. And remember this, brethren, about this particular prophecy. When Ezekiel was given this prophecy, he was a captive, a slave by the river Kebar. He opens up the very beginning, telling us that. And so, this message was not meant for ancient Israel, but it was intended for us in this modern time that we're living in right now, brethren. And we are coming up to those times when these things are going to happen. And so, Jerusalem is merely a type of what God is going to allow to happen in modern-day Israel in this end time. Down in verse 5, let's keep going. Thus says the Lord God, this is Jerusalem. I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her. And she has rebelled against my judgments and doing wickedness more than the nations against my statutes, more than the countries that are all around her. For they have refused my judgments and they have not walked in my statutes. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, because you multiply disobedience more than the nations that are all around you have not walked in my statutes nor kept my judgments or even done according to the judgments of the nations that are all around you. In other words, we've been far worse than the nations that are around us. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, indeed, I even I against you and will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. I will do unto you what I've never done.

So it's going to be a time such as we've never seen before or ever will see.

You know, Jesus Christ Himself said in Matthew 24-21, He says, For then shall be great tribulation, such as not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. Nothing like this has ever happened. Now, let's go down to verse 12. One third of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst.

One third shall fall by the sword all around you. Apparently, war is coming to this land and as a result of that war that's going to come to this land, a third are going to immediately die of, you know, caused by the sword, symbolically here, and a third are going to die from pestilence, which often is accompanied with war. And I'll scatter another third all to the winds and I will draw out a sword after them. So this is what God says is going to occur in the end of the age.

Now, how is this going to happen? How is this going to happen? How are you going to have a third dying from pestilence and a third by war? Well, you know, over here in Ezekiel 6, we get an indication of how that's going to occur. Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel. These are the nations of Israel. That's what a nation is. You know, the hill may be being the cities of the nation, but it says, prophesy against them. So this is a prophecy against Israel. And down in verse 6, in all your dwelling places the city shall be laid waste and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols shall be broken and made deceased, and your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the eternal. It's a nation that forgot who God was. And it says, yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some escape the sword among the nations when you are scattered throughout the country. So they're going to be those who are going to go into captivity, as we see Ezekiel here talks about as we read on down through here. So, brethren, a real day of reckoning is coming for our peoples when our cities are going to be laid waste. And it would seem that the only way this could be done is by nuclear weapons, possibly germ warfare, possibly dirty bombs. Who can know exactly how it's going to transpire?

I again personally speculate that it may come out of Europe. Those missiles that are over there that we have trained on our enemies will be trained on us. And we may suffer as a result of that.

And, you know, it's a time when Israel, brethren, is going to suffer, unlike any other time in the history of any nation, or ever will be. Let's go to Daniel 12. In Daniel 12, here we see in the prophecy here that Daniel gives to us in chapter 12 in verse 1. It says, And at that time, Michael shall stand up the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. So Michael is the archangel that watches over Israel. We have an angel all this time that has been watching over the United States and watching over Britain. And, you know, sometimes we think again we're just very lucky people. No, God has given us the fortune by interventions in the past. And I'm sure that Michael's been a part of that. It says, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time. So we've never seen anything like that. And he goes on to say, And at that time your people shall be delivered. Everyone is found written in the book. And it says, And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall wake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. And so this is a time, brethren, for God's people to shine now. This is the time, brethren, for us to express our appreciation to God and show people the way.

As much as we can, obviously you can't make people do things. I can't make people do things, but I can set an example to people. I can be an example myself of what I'm supposed to be.

And what God wants me to be is a Christian, a true Christian, not just being a part of the 85% of this country that consider themselves a part of Christianity, but a true Christian.

We know that man has what is professing Christianity. So now is the time for us to shine, brethren. It will be the time also in the future, you know, when the two witnesses are going to come on the scene, and God's people who remain faithful and true to their calling are going to, again, be protected during this time. And hopefully at the end of it all, when we've gone through the tough times ahead, when Christ returns, we can begin in earnest the kingdom of God. But now is the time for each of us to take stock of our own personal spiritual condition.

If we have drifted, we need to be drawn to God more than ever. We need to be closer to God more than ever. Of all people who should be the most thankful upon the earth, it should be us.

You know, those of us sitting in this room right now, or a part of God's church, it should be us.

You know, King David said to God in Psalm 68 verse 19, you don't need to turn there, he says, "...blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits. Every day God loads us with benefits," David said. We should be, brethren, a thankful people in the midst of the world, which is waxing colder and, you know, having an attitude of distancing themselves from God.

American and British people are increasingly secular in their thinking, not increasingly God-centered, but the opposite. And, brethren, again, this is heading the wrong direction. Prophecy shows that God is going to bring a day of reckoning for mankind.

We, indeed, as a people, are a hypocritical people in the United States, because most claim to be Christian, but very few live it. So, brethren, we are admonished to come out of this world and be separate. We're admonished to be different from this world. Let's make sure that we are different than this world. Quite frankly, brethren, you and I live like kings and queens. We really do. When you compare yourself to the average person of the world, we live like kings and queens, and we have usually all that we need to live fairly good lives.

And when you consider Mr. Average of the world, then none of us is really average materially, educationally, or spiritually, most of all. We should strive to be a thankful people while God yet blesses this nation and be appreciative of the bounty that He's given to us. So, brethren, let's strive, even if the whole world goes the opposite way, let's strive to be a grateful, thankful people for what God has given to us, and let's enjoy what we have while we have it.