Gospel News · May - August 2018

33
Will God Save Nigeria?
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Bro Gaius Egwu (Ohafia Nigeria)
M
ay I arrest your attention for a few
moments to suggest some answers about
why Nigeria/the World faces moral bank-
ruptcy? Oh, that we would be awakened to the
judgement upon evil! I speak primarily to
Nigeria, but let all others listen and learn.
“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all
the nations that forget God.” (Psalm 9:17).
The alternative is Repent. We will experience
either a moral and spiritual revival, or the
judgement of Almighty God. God only knows
whether the hour is already too late.
In contrast to God’s dealings with the nations
of antiquity under the old covenant, today
God has no special relationship with any na-
tion under the new covenant. (Acts 15:9; Ro-
mans 3:22; 10:12.) But some principles still
hold true: one of these is “Righteousness ex-
alteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any
people.” (Proverbs 14:34.) The problem is sin,
and sin is the transgression of God’s holy laws.
People sin not only when they steer jets into
skyscrapers, but also when they love money,
kill unborn babies, revel in drunkenness, take
another man’s wife, withhold workers’ wages
and so forth. It makes no difference which of
God’s holy laws mankind violates, sin is a re-
proach to that people. God may not preserve
Nigeria as a nation – only He knows whether
that will be a part of His all wise agenda. But
that is not the point. We know that the final
judgement will be based on personal account-
ability. The Bible says, “So then every one of
us shall give account of himself to God.”
(Romans 14:12). God will not compare Nigeria
with South Africa, nor U.K. with America. Nei-
ther will a whole nation be saved or punished
because of one man, or a particular group of
men. Each person will give an account of him-
self to God. So that is where we must focus
any attempt at adjustment. Individuals must
repent before there will be any recovery.
Therefore, rather than focus on the problem
of government or others, we need to look at
some basics in our own lives.
A.
Honesty: provide things honest in the
sight of all men. A banker recently said that
he does not expect most of his customers to
tell the truth. Consider all the untold extor-
tion, embezzlement and fraudulent misuse of
government funds. We see that honesty has
been lost. But people excuse themselves and
say ‘everyone does it.’ True followers of Jesus
do not cheat. An honest person will lose money,
reputation, or life, rather than tell a lie.
B.
Work Ethics: “If any would not work, nei-
ther should he eat. Let every able-bodied man
do an honest day’s labour for his pay. And
whatever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord
and not unto men.” (Colossians 3:23). Many
stumble at these Bible answers because they
are so simple.
C.
Morals: “Keep thyself pure. Abstain from
fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”
Purity to many people is a joke. But the path
of impurity leads to death. Venereal disease is
only the beginning of God’s judgement on
immorality today. Who can find a virtuous
woman? Who goes to the marriage altar
morally pure today? Whatever happened to
modesty and propriety in dress and conduct?
Where are the solid, happy marriage unions as
God planned them to be? The true child of God
can testify of great satisfaction, of an abun-
dant, full life when he keeps himself from the
filth of this world and takes God’s way. Satis-
faction and fulfilment can be yours. God will
have mercy upon you if you take His way. Par-
ents, we must teach these and other basics in
our home both by precept and example. How
can we teach our children honesty if we cheat
on our tax returns, or in our business dealings
with our fellow man? How can we teach our
children the work ethic if we have the philos-
ophy, ‘Get as much money as you can for as
little work as possible’? The word of God says
“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to
the Lord and not unto men.” (Col. 3:23).
Fathers, how shall we teach our sons moral
purity if we are engaging in extra-marital
affairs or obscene talk? How shall we keep our
youths from drug and alcohol addiction if we
ourselves are relying on cigarettes and beer to
soothe our nerves? Mothers, you must teach
your daughter the demoralizing effect that
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