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5) Judge the land according to God’s ways.
What did King Solomon pray for? When he judged the land, he said, “God, I want one thing. I’m not asking for riches, I’m not asking for fame, I’m not asking for power, I’m not asking for perks, but I just want wisdom to judge the people.” What’s the church’s role? Our role is to pray, “God, help our judges judge according to the way You would judge. Grant them wisdom to rule with righteousness.” They need our prayers more than ever to judge and to rule righteously in the changing times we are in.In the Peace Tower Memorial Chamber, there’s an altar with an incredible verse on it and this brings us to clue number six.
6) You win the battle against evil with the armor of God.
Our forefathers knew we would be facing evil. They knew that evil days were ahead of us. Paul writes, ‘In the last days there will be evil days’.So, what did they tell us? What they did not put on the altar was: “Build the biggest army you can. Get a nuclear bomb. Join the arms race.” No, they gave us a verse that Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, which was one of the best churches in all the land. They had some of the best teachers. Paul planted that church and spent three years there. Timothy was there. Jesus’ mother Mary was in the church. John the Beloved who was banished to the island of Patmos and wrote the book of Revelation, was finally sent back to Ephesus. Apollos the great preacher who could discern God’s word was in that church. Paul still writes to them and says, “You know what? You guys have all this knowledge, but you’ve got to fight.” We can have all the knowledge of God’s word, but guess what? We must fight against evil.
Canada was birthed under Christian influence. We’ve had much teaching, many churches, but we are in an hour where we need to wake up and fight. I think our forefathers were saying there’s a battle to be fought in the spiritual realm. In that key place called the Memorial Chamber, dedicated to the peace and longevity of our nation, the message left was “Take up the armour of God,”Who was this verse left for? Who were they thinking of? Tourists? No, they put it on there for us! They put it there for our First Nations people, for those of us who came from Europe, for those of us who came from South America, for those of us who came from Asia, for those who came from Africa, for those of us who came from the Middle East, and from all the nations of the world. They put that verse on there for us. They wanted us to read it. They didn’t just put these verses on for decoration to make it a nice heritage building.
If we stood before God and said, “God, we didn’t know what to do,” God could reply, “I had it visibly written for you. I inspired your forefathers to engrave it in your Parliament buildings. I gave you the clues to keep your nation great.” The passage found in the Memorial Chamber in that Peace Tower is Ephesians 6:13 which reads, “Take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”I believe our forefathers were telling us that we need to remember we are not just wrestling with flesh and blood. There’s a spiritual battle that’s raging for this country, and as Canadians not only do we at times have to fight a natural battle, there is also a spiritual battle to keep this land glorious and free.If you’ve ever been to Ottawa you’ll hear the Peace Tower bells ring and on the hour there’s a special bell that rings. That bell is bell number 53 and it weighs about 22,000 pounds. On this bell Prime Minister Mackenzie King had engraved: “Glory to God in the highest. On earth peace, goodwill toward men.” Our forefathers left a heritage for us. It’s our responsibility as Canadians to understand these clues and pass them on to the next generation.
In conclusion, the comments from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1981 affirm the importance of passing on this heritage of faith.The golden thread of faith is woven throughout the history of Canada from its earliest beginnings up to the present time. Our native peoples lived a rich spiritual life long before the first white man set foot on our soil. Faith was more important than commerce in the minds of many of the European explorers and settlers, and over the centuries, as successive waves of people came to this country, many in search of religious liberty, they brought with them a great wealth and variety of religious traditions and values. Those values have shaped our laws and our lives, and have added enormous strength to the foundations of freedom and justice upon which this country was built… It was in acknowledgement of that debt that the Parliament of Canada later gave its approval, during the Constitutional Debate, to the statement that Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law. Faith played a large part in the lives of so many men and women who have created in this land a society which places a high value on commitment, integrity, generosity and, above all, freedom. To pass on that heritage, strong and intact, is a challenge worthy of all of us who are privileged to call ourselves Canadians.
Join us this Saturday, July 1st as we celebrate Canada Day, remembering our Canadian forefathers and as we lift up the name of Jesus at Voices Together!
For more info visit: www.voicestogether2017.ca
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© 2024 Coastal Church. All rights reserved | Privacy & Security
1160 West Georgia Street Vancouver, BC, V6E 3H7