Chapter 7
Righteousness Exalts a Nation
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s
throne in heaven and His Church on earth.
Over the past year I have had more vivid, prophetic dreams
than I have had over my entire lifetime. When I mentioned this to my brother
Ken, he said, “You’re simply getting old”, to which I replied, “What do you
mean?” He quipped, “The Bible says,
‘Your old men shall dream dreams, your
young men shall see visions.’” We both had a good laugh (Joel 2:28).
Recently, I had the most memorable, impacting dream
ever. I was in a large American church
preaching to a crowd of about two thousand people when I heard the following
question echo from the audience, “Why aren’t we prospering?” As I was preaching in the dream, the Lord
began to delineate, scripture by scripture, the reasons why Christians in this
country were not prospering. The first
passage of scripture He led me to was from the book of
Proverbs.
Proverbs 13:22 “The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the
righteous.”
The Lord said to me, “Many Americans think they are righteous,
but they are not.” We have heard
ministers preach for decades about the transfer of wealth from the hands of
sinners to the storehouses of the saints.
We have made the mistake of assuming that we are a righteous nation,
when in reality we have fallen into a degenerate state of moral
corruption. As a Church, we have focused
on how to obtain the wealth of the sinner, not realizing that we have disqualified
ourselves from this transfer of wealth because of our unrighteous ways.
The second scripture the Lord gave me in the dream was also
out of the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness
exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
The third and final scripture passage that the Lord gave me
in the dream was from the Gospel of Matthew.
I then awoke from the dream with this scripture ringing in my ears.
Matthew 5:20 “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
If
righteousness exalts a nation, then it follows that unrighteousness and
self-righteousness are sins for which our nation will be judged and humbled.
The scribes and Pharisees sought to establish their own
righteousness through good works, instead of submitting to and receiving the
righteousness of God through Jesus’ finished work on the cross. Many Americans today proclaim their own
goodness based on a lifestyle of good intentions, much less good works. We don’t realize that our self-righteousness
is nothing more than “filthy rags” in the Lord‘s sight (Romans 10:3, Titus 3:5,
Isaiah 64:6).
The scribes and Pharisees epitomize dead and burdensome religion. Religion enslaves people, binding them to
dead works as a means of obtaining righteousness. In a word, scribes and Pharisees were hypocrites,
who taught the way of righteousness, but never lived it themselves. They bound the heavy burden of the law on
men’s shoulders, yet never lifted a finger to help them carry the load (Matthew
23:3-4).
The Lord gave me a very simple way to distinguish between
the operation of the Holy Spirit and religious spirits. The Holy Spirit works from the inside out,
convicting and inspiring our inward man to delight in the perfect law of
liberty. On the other hand, religious
spirits work from the outside in, oppressing us with the burden of duty,
binding us with the letter of the law that ultimately brings death (James
1:25).
II Corinthians 3:6 “. . . the letter kills, but the Spirit
gives life.”
We are
largely in deception regarding our right standing with God. We think we are righteous, when in reality
many of us are unrighteous sinners and self-righteous hypocrites.
“Holy
spirit works from the inside out. Religion works from the outside in.”
Nevertheless, God has a remedy for our unrighteousness and
self-righteousness. If taken as He prescribes, His cure will not only gain us
entrance into the glorious kingdom of heaven, but also bring exaltation and prosperity
once again to our great nation.
Righteous Living
What does it mean to be righteous? We become the righteousness of God in Christ
Jesus when we repent of our sins, confess Jesus as Savior, and receive Him in
our hearts as Lord.
II Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who know no sin to be
sin for us, that we might become the righteousness
of God in Him.”
Romans 10:10 “With the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made to salvation.”
Saving faith grants us a “ticket to heaven” and provides us
a positional righteousness with God.
According to the scripture below, the righteousness of God is revealed
not only through “saving faith”, but by a “living faith”.
Romans 1:17 “. . . The righteousness of God is revealed from
faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live
by faith.’”
Saving
faith is “alpha” or “founding” faith that allows us to enter the
“Saving
faith is “founding” FAITH. Living faith
is “finishing” faith.”
Many Americans are saved by faith, but few are living by
faith and therefore are not pleasing to God.
Although in right standing with God, many in this country are not living
righteously because they do not walk by faith.
Why do we need to trust God for finances when we can rely on our home
equity loans and credit cards? Why do we need to believe God for healing when
we have Urgent Care and doctor’s who will prescribe any drug we need or think
we need? (Hebrews 11:6).
God is challenging this nation to return to a living faith,
where we trust Him not only for our personal sustenance and safety, but also
for His kingdom purposes to be realized – the worldwide salvation of
souls. It is time for Americans to
return to the faith and righteousness of our founding fathers.
Righteous Giving
Righteous giving is an important aspect of righteous
living. The Apostle Paul’s second letter
to the church at
II Corinthians 9:6, 7 “. . . he who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly
or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful
giver.”
Righteous giving is sowing bountifully, purposefully and
cheerfully. Bountiful giving begins with
tithing and continues with offerings and almsgiving. However, most Christians in this nation “tip”
God, instead of “tithe” to God.
Therefore our sparingly sown, token seeds have not yielded a harvest of
righteousness.
“Most
American Christians ‘tip’ god instead of ‘tithe’ to god.”
Purposeful giving is not done aimlessly, but in faith. Many Christians sow their weekly tithe as if
they’re paying their electric bill. If
our giving is robotic and obligatory, without purpose, it will avail little. However, if we give with purpose, we will
realize the abundant promises of our giving to God.
Cheerful giving is a crucial aspect of righteous
giving. Whenever we receive an
unexpected, significant gift from a loved one, it becomes a memorable treasure
to us. Similarly, sacrificial giving
from a joyful heart of praise is like perfume to the Master. If God loves a cheerful giver, then gifts to
Him given grudgingly must be of little consequence to Him and of even less benefit
to us.
II Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you,
always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an
abundance for every good work.”
God’s promises for righteous giving are abundant. Righteous giving enables God to always
provide us with all grace for all sufficiency in all things. Now that’s a promise! This promise of total provision enables us to
have an abundance to give into “every good work”, but not to satisfy the lust
of our flesh or to fund an extravagant lifestyle.
An example of having an abundant supply for a “good work”
is from the life of Aimee Semple McPherson, who
founded the
Apostle Paul further qualifies types of righteous giving in
his second letter to the Corinthians.
II Corinthians 9:9 “He has dispersed abroad, he has given
to the poor; His righteous remains forever.”
Not
only tithes and offerings, but also missions giving and almsgiving to the poor
establish an enduring righteousness.
Historically, this country has been one of the largest contributors to
world missions and greatest suppliers in the war against global hunger.
II Corinthians 9:10 “Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you
have sown and increase the fruits of
your righteousness.”
Our
obedience in the kingdom principles of giving will not only supply, but also
multiply what we have sown and increase the fruits of our righteousness as a
nation.
Righteous Speaking
Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Not unlike God, who made the heavens and the
earth with words, He has privileged human beings with the same creative
power. We can use this power for good or
evil, for the Lord’s righteous, redemptive purposes or Satan’s destructive devices
(Proverbs 18:21, Genesis 1:3, James 3:2-10).
Earlier in this chapter we established that the just or
righteous live by faith. Faith speaks a
certain way.
Romans 10:6-8 “But the
righteousness of faith speaks in this way . . .’The word is near you, even
in your mouth and in your heart’, that is the word of faith which we preach.”
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and is the
evidence of promises not yet manifested.
Walking by faith means we cannot walk by our natural senses. Despite contrary circumstances, faith agrees
with God’s promises and is accompanied by joy and peace (Hebrews 11:1, II
Corinthians 5:7, Romans 15:13).
Abraham gives us a classic example of righteous speaking. He did not waver at God’s promise of being
“the father of many nations” by considering his 100 year old body or the
deadness of the womb of his wife Sarah.
Instead, he strengthened himself in faith, giving glory to God by
speaking the promise, despite conflicting, natural evidence. Abraham’s faith secured the actualization of
God’s promise and “it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:17-22).
Romans 4:17 “. . . he believed God, who calls those things which do not exist
as though they did.”
One of the first experiences I had regarding the power of
faith-filled words was while I was in college, about a year after I received
Christ in 1983. I was studying
electrical engineering at
Recently the Lord
gave me the following prophetic word for the Body of Christ.
“Despite contrary circumstances, roadblocks, lingering symptoms,
empty bank accounts, and a looming economic depression, My word to you is ‘Yes’
and ‘Amen’. If you will believe Me, believe My promises
of a new day, and by faith leave your wilderness, I will empower you to enter
your promised land through the new gate I have formed.”
These
promises won’t just fall on us. They are
conditional in that we have to believe them to receive them.
Righteous Seeking
Jesus commanded His disciples to seek first the
Like the Romans, our nation has sought the hand of God instead
of the face of God. The
“American’s have sought the hand of god instead of
the face of god.”
Romans 14:17 “For
the
As a nation,
Hosea 10:12 “Sow
for yourselves righteousness; reap
in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it
is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.”
If we
will sow righteousness by seeking the face of God, He will not only rain
righteousness on us, but grant us mercy and lay up a crown of righteousness in
eternity for us and for all who have loved His appearing (II Timothy 4:8).
The Elisha Commission is a
clarion call to prophets to preach repentance, so that the standard and banner
of righteousness can be raised again over this country. Indeed,
Prayer: Lord, forgive us for straying from Your paths of righteousness and the highway of holiness you
have charged us to walk upon. Forgive us
and cleanse us from our unrighteousness and self-righteousness that have kept
the reproach of sin upon