WOE TO THOSE CAUGHT IN THE BARBARIAN NATION OF PROSPERITY. THESE COMMENTS ON THE PASSAGE BELOW BY SAMUEL WALES* SHOW HOW GOD VIEWS NATIONS WHO DRIFT FROM HIM. Moses describing the prosperity of Israel: "Beware that you do not forget the
Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments,
and His statutes which I command you today, lest--when you have
eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell
in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your
silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is
multiplied; when your heart is lifted up (and then) you forget
the Lord your God ..."
"In the midst of all our present public happiness, dangers surround us and evils hang over our heads. The greatest evil by which we are endangered, and which indeed is the source of all others, is the want of true Christianity... "When we are favored with a profusion of earthly good, we are exceedingly prone to set our hearts upon it with an immoderate affection, neglecting our bountiful Creator from Whom alone all good is derived. We bathe and bury ourselves in the streams, forgetting the fountain whence they flow... "Wealth, with its common attendants, idleness and pleasure, were the ruin of Sodom and Gomorrah. Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom; pride, fullness of bread, and the abundance of idleness was in her and her daughters. These same things were the ruin of mighty Babylon. 'Thou that art given to pleasures, said the prophet, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.' In what a striking manner were these words verified in the day of her fall! The same things brought destruction upon each of the four great monarchies, and upon most of the other states and kingdoms which have fallen, one after another in the successive ages of time." PLEASE JOIN ME IN AGREEING PRAYER: ** "Lord, we are indeed the most blessed nation on earth. Our hearts have turned away from You, the One who blesses, and towards the blessings themselves. "Lord, we are One Nation Under Barbarianism, ruled primarily by barbarians, "Lord, in Your justifiable Wrath, please remember Mercy, "We pray this in Jesus' Name. Amen!" * Samuel Wales was the Professor of Divinity at Yale College. He preached this sermon on May 12 , 1785, before the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut at Hartford. could you encourage us by e-mailing back with your "Amen"? Or if you would like to add a prayer of your own which we can "Amen", then reply here. Thank you.
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