This is Truth Time Radio.
Here we are again coming up on the National Day of Prayer, an event where people from all across America come together, go to the Bible, and steal someone else's mail, and use it to pray a misapplied prayer, one that won't do one bit of good.
The verse they use, the one we're speaking of today, is found in 2nd Chronicles, chapter 7, verse 14.
It's a verse concerning King Solomon, and it had to do with his temple and his people.
It's about a covenant between God and Israel.
Hey, if you want to, you can go get yourself a telescope, a pair of binoculars, or maybe a magnifying glass, but you're not going to find America in this picture.
Anyone that would attempt to claim Israel's covenant promises, to take what's promised to them and pretend to make it their own, they're just great pretenders.
In 2nd Chronicles, chapter 7, they were making animal, making blood sacrifices for their sins.
Contrary-wise, our sins are already forgiven.
The only blood important to us today is the blood of Christ.
Don't be a cherry picker and just pick through the verses and rip them from their context.
Pick out a part you like and skip the animal sacrifices.
No.
You see, in verse 8, Solomon and all of Israel, that's who's being spoken of here, they were keeping feast days.
Do we do that?
Why won't they mention this there at the National Prayer Day?
Why is it called the National Day of Prayer, verse 14, but it's not called the National Day of Feast, verse 8?
You see how the game works?
Oh, we like 14, but not 8.
No, that's not to us.
Instead of ripping out verse 14 because it helps to advance their agenda, perhaps they should have read the verse that comes before verse 14.
That would be verse 13.
2 Chronicles, chapter 7, verse 13.
Listen to the book.
If I shut up heaven, that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send
pestilence among my people.
Are you getting this?
This is a curse.
This is judgment, God's judgment on the land of Israel.
Comparatively, we've been redeemed from the curse.
Galatians 3:13, Christ was made a curse for us.
He took what should have been our curse upon Himself.
Christ and Him crucified.
That's the answer to the religious mess.
That also answers why those feast days that they kept here in 2 Chronicles don't belong to us.
We know that from Colossians 2:16, and Galatians 4:9, and 10.
We're not under Israel's feast system.
Neither are we under their prayer system.
We don't pray for forgiveness, as 2 Chronicles 7 says they did.
We don't pray for God to heal our land.
Going backwards to 2 Chronicles only takes away from what Christ did on the cross for us.
So today, let's take an honest look at the verse.
2 Chronicles, chapter 7, verse 14, a verse that many confused individuals will use at what they call the National Day of Prayer.
A bunch of cherry-picking hypocrites will all come together and wrongly divide the word of truth.
Let's just call it as it is.
They're all about their feelings, and it'll make them feel better.
A big emotional rally where they'll get together, hold hands and cry, and pretty much waste their time.
But as long as they feel better.
Okay, 2 Chronicles 7:14, famous verse.
If my people, which are called by my name, stop right there.
This refers to Numbers, chapter 6, verse 27.
They shall put my name upon the children of Israel.
See that?
Not America.
So let's frame this.
It's saying if the children of Israel, let's keep reading, if the children of Israel shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then, then, then and only then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
It should be so evident to saved people, listen, body of Christ, this is simply not our mail.
It doesn't belong in our mailbox.
I mean, where do we begin?
Let's break it down.
First, he's speaking to Israel.
Second, before forgiveness can happen, there's some works to be done.
So those here in the context had to pray, had to pray for forgiveness.
Although we, we who are on this side of the cross, we're already forgiven.
That was the purpose of the cross.
No prayer needed.
If we could just pray and be forgiven, why did Jesus come?
You know, some truth is right in front of us, hidden in plain sight.
The only work needed for our forgiveness was done by Christ.
He did it.
And he alone gets the credit.
He did it on our behalf, but not before 2 Chronicles.
No, you got to come over here to the other side of the cross, something the National
Day of Prayer folks don't do.
How quickly they forget what Christ accomplished and they attempt to place us back over there in the book of Chronicles under King Solomon and under Israel's law.
It's insanity.
What's the definition of insanity?
To keep doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results, something like that?
Hey, you can recite Second Chronicles 7:14, recite it from the time you wake up in the morning until you're counting the little sheepies at night.
But America is what America is.
God's not healing land.
He's not changing America's circumstances because of an Old Testament verse that was not only to, but about Israel.
And on the flip side, nor is God pouring out His wrath on us today.
Oh, if He were, we'd know it.
This ain't nothing.
This is man-made, not God-made.
The things we're seeing today is not from God.
We don't need His help messing things up.
We're doing a fine job on our own.
We the people.
If you think there's some sort of great hope in land, in a country, your faith's in the wrong place.
I'm thankful for America and the freedoms, the liberties we have and all of the wonderful things we can enjoy here, but my hope's in something far greater.
This is temporal.
I'm just passing through.
And while here, as a result, as a thankful, saved by grace, through faith individual, there's some things I need to be doing.
So let's get out of the book of Chronicles, under King Solomon and the law, and let's move over here, over here on the other side of the cross, and make some real changes.
Start redeeming the time, realizing that the days are evil.
And you're not going to change that.
But if you're saved and know the gospel, God's got a job for you.
And it's a lot bigger than going to a prayer meeting and praying for land to be healed.
If you know the gospel, start sharing it.
Share it with others wherever you go.
If you're saved, you've been given the ministry of reconciliation.
So go help others be reconciled to God.
Now back to 2 Chronicles, because there's more, more works here.
Let's recap.
Israel was told that before forgiveness could happen, they had to first humble themselves, then pray, and next seek God's face.
Then what, God?
Have we done enough yet?
Nope.
Now, turn from your wicked ways.
The National Day of Prayer, folks, what they're forgetting is, back here in 2 Chronicles, there's no cross work.
No death for forgiveness.
That's why this is forgiveness by works.
Something we've been, now listen, something all of us today, way over here on the other side of the cross, something we've been delivered from.
Glory to God.
The cross changed everything.
Under the works program, Israel had to first pray, then seek, and finally, the third work needed was to turn.
And then, then and only then, God would forgive their sin and heal their land.
Think of it this way, for Israel, forgiveness was being offered.
For us, it's accomplished.
See the difference?
Today, the only thing being offered is salvation, not forgiveness.
When all the National Day of Prayer people come together, when they pray for God to heal our land, they're speaking of all sorts of things they want God to do for this country.
Totally contrary to what we read about here in 2 Chronicles, they change it to mean something it does not.
This healing that Israel needed for their land, it was literal for them.
They were an agricultural people.
Their land was important.
The healing they spoke of was to literally heal their land.
Heal their land from, and I quote, the pestilence in the land.
Found in 1 Chronicles 22:12, verse 14, 2 Chronicles 6:28, and ironically enough, in verse 13 of chapter 7, which we read earlier, yeah, that verse, that verse that's right before 14, which is the one they use for the National Day of Prayer.
So we can't even excuse them for this.
The evidence is overwhelming.
And not only is it written down in the same book, but in the same chapter, in the verse before their verse.
As I've said before, you can't make this stuff up.
When we stay true to the context, it's about God healing Israel's land from pestilence.
And we're not to take that and somehow twist it and make it about asking God to heal America's social and political problems, a prayer to God to make the world a better place.
Well, that's about all we've got today, but another thing to remember is their land means their land.
We have no part in it.
Our position is heavenly, Philippians 3:20, where our spiritual blessings are, Ephesians 1:3.
So what happened is, God drew up a covenant between them and Him, not America.
It was an if-then-I-will covenant.
If-then-I-will.
Conditional.
Conditional to their performance.
Conditions had to be met before God would respond to the need.
They couldn't get forgiveness until they worked for it, plain and simple.
Furthermore, at the time of the Second Chronicles 7:14 covenant agreement, the one between God and Israel, at that time we were aliens from their commonwealth.
We were strangers from their covenants, Ephesians 2:12.
We don't need our land healed.
God's not nation-building, He's body-building.
Building His church, which is His body, Ephesians 1:22.
So let's not let the religious-minded come along and distract us from Christ and Him crucified, the finished cross-work of Christ and His resurrection for our new life, our new eternal life in the heavenlies.
The finished cross-work of Christ is the healer, and 2 Chronicles 7:14, it's old news.
It's not our good news.
It's historical truth, but not present-day truth.
It's not for us to follow.
Hence the reason God said to rightly divide the word of truth.
Okay, until next time, remember, you only get two educations, the one you're given, and the one you give yourself.
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