Members of the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Breakfast Committee, Government Members and Representatives, Ambassadors and Delegates from other nations, ministers and people of God, and to all who will hear these words. We are gathered here in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2017, on the day of the changing of powers, leader, and governments. And we are gathered here in the name of Him whose kingdom changes not.

As we came here to this city four years ago, we come now with one agenda and one purpose, to seek His face and to pray for His will for this government and for this nation. It is fitting that we do so on this day which more than any other day represents the future of our nation. And on the day of the inauguration, we are here to inaugurate the purposes of God.

We've come from every part of this land to stand before the Almighty, before whom kings and kingdoms rise and fall, and nation's ascend and descend, Who alone remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.

We must pray according to God's will and truth. So this message will not be politically correct, but it will be true.

The Message of the Arbella

Three Hundred and Eighty Six Seven Ago, the ship called the Arbella journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. Aboard that ship was John Winthrop who would pen the founding vision of the civilization that would be called 'America.'

If America followed the ways of God, he wrote, then, 'The Lord ... will command a blessing upon us in all our ways ... He shall make us a praise and glory ... For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill.' America was to be as a city on a hill, to which the eyes of all people would look. Winthrop's vision was based on the nation of Israel.

In the history of this planet only two civilizations came into existence on the solitary foundation stone of God's calling and purposes. The first was Israel. And the second... was America.

The Fall of Ancient Israel

Israel was consecrated to the will and purposes of God. But in the midst of its blessings, the nation made a fatal mistake, it turned away from God. The people began removing Him from their lives. They removed Him from their culture, they legislated Him out of their government, they silenced Him from their public squares, they ruled Him out of their kingdom.

In His place they brought in foreign gods and idols, gods of sensuality and materialism, and idols of wealth, carnality, and sexual licentiousness. They replaced the standards of righteousness on which the nation was founded for a new morality a new immorality. What they once knew as sin, they now called good, and what they once knew as good, they now called evil, and what they once knew as right, they now called intolerant and dangerous.

It was now a civilization inverted, at war against the foundation upon which it had been established, and at war against the God of its foundation. They blasphemed the name of God and descended into the darkest of sins. They now killed their own children on the altars of Baal and Molech. And those who remained true to God, were now vilified, marginalized, mocked, and persecuted.

And God called them back, and sent prophets to awaken them. But they hardened their hearts and warred against the prophets. And they stood at the brink of judgment.

The Fall of America

What about America? Those who came to these shores four centuries ago dedicated the new civilization to God and consecrated it to His will and purposes. America was to be a city on a hill, a holy commonwealth. Its first governments were established in the name of Jesus and for the glory of God. It public school system was founded for the purpose of teaching the Word of God. And as Winthrop had prophesied, God had commanded a blessing. America would become the most blessed, the most powerful, and the most prosperous, nation the world had ever seen, a praise and glory in the earth.

But something happened to the city on the hill. As the people of ancient Israel, in the midst of their blessings, committed a fatal error, so too have we. We have turned away from God. We've ruled Him out of our culture, out of our government, out of our lives, and banned Him from our public squares.

In His place we have brought in idols of carnality and gain, and gods of materialism and licentiousness. We have replaced the eternal standards of righteousness for a new morality of immorality. The nation that was brought forth to fill the world with the light of God, now fills the earth with pornography. And what we once knew to be sin, we now call good, and what we once knew to be right, we now call intolerant and dangerous. And those who held true to God and His Word, were now marginalized, mocked, and vilified. We have become a civilization inverted, at war against the foundation upon which it had been established, and against the God of its foundation.

We have descended to the darkest of sins. Israel killed thousands of its children on the altars of Baal. But we have killed millions. We've offered up our unborn children on the altars of self-obsession. It was here in this city that their murder was legalized forty four years ago. And their blood cries out to Heaven against us.

If John Winthrop could now return, he would find his city on the hill darkened and progressing to judgment. For no nation can wage war against the God of its blessings and expect those blessings to remain.

The Last Eight Years

A nation's apostasy cannot be blamed on any one leader. It is the nation that is ultimately accountable. But an ungodly leader, a Jeroboam or an Ahab, can help turn a nation away from God, and deep and accelerate its departure. And a godly leader, a Hezekiah or a Josiah, can slow a nation's fall, or help lead it back to God. In the past years eight years, America's spiritual fall and moral descent has both deepened and accelerated.

The present administration has led this nation to champion the killing of the unborn, and not only within its own borders, but in that of other nations across the world.

The present administration has labored to strike down the standards and order ordained by God concerning man and woman and marriage, not only within these borders, but around the world.

Under the present administration, relations between the United States and Israel have been brought to their lowest point in the history of the two nations. And the administration's parting gift to the Jewish nation was to abandon it at the United Nations, to allow and even foster a resolution declaring that Israel's ancient holy city Jerusalem, belonged not to Israel, but was, quote, "Palestinian territory." In this way too, the present administration was waging war against the Word of God.

From the days of pagan Babylon and Rome, to the Soviet Union and Communist China, governments at war with God have not only persecuted His people, but have used the powers of state to coerce them to desecrate their faith and commit acts against the commands of God.

And now in the United States of America, under the present administration, the government has used the powers of state to force believers to commit acts against the commandments of God, to take part in the overturning and destruction of God's sacred order of marriage, to pay for and become accomplices in the murder of the unborn.

And for the first time in American history, those who refused to violate the Word of God, faced being put in prison by the state. And of their imprisonment, the present administration issued its blessing.

But in a very short time, the present administration will cease to be the present administration.

America at the Threshold

The stakes of this election could not have been any higher. The Democratic campaign for the presidency was a battle to seal the changes enacted in the past eight years into permanency. At stake was the appointing of the Supreme Court justices who would determine America's future as touching life and death, morality, and religious freedom.

For the first time in history, the Democratic platform called for the striking down of the Hyde Amendment, so that all Americans, could now through their taxes, directly fund the murder of unborn children.

And for the first time in American history, a major presidential candidate uttered these words: "Deep seated religious beliefs... must be changed..." The war against God had now reached the stage that a mainstream candidate for the presidency could call for the overruling of God's word, and for the eradicating of faith. And why was that faith to be altered? So that abortion could be expanded still further.

America stood at the threshold in the face of an election that threatened to establish for ages the edicts of apostasy and the ways godlessness, and an open war against the people and gospel of God.

The Surprise

And then there was Donald Trump. There had never been a candidate like him. Whatever it was that one was never supposed to do when running for president, he did them all. Poll after poll after poll foretold a sure Democratic victory if not a landslide. The only question was how much of a landslide and how much destruction the Republican Party would incur. The Democrats prepared for victory. The Republicans prepared for defeat. And the media, the pollsters, and the president prepared to be vindicated.

But then something happened. And nobody was sure exactly what. The election took a strange turn. And what everyone was sure could never happen... happened. The media was in shock. Democrats were in shock. Obama was in shock. The Republicans were in shock. And it appears that Donald Trump couldn't believe it happened either.

But as it was written in ancient times, it is no less true to this day: "As high as the heavens are above the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways. And My thoughts than your thoughts."

And as we can bear witness today in the city of Washington, on January 20, 2017 ... "With God, nothing... shall be... impossible."

Donald Trump had not lived the life a believer, and there was much concern among God's people. Can God use those who have not known or walked with God to accomplish the purposes of God? Can He choose them and anoint them to lead nations?

In Isaiah 45, God speaks to Cyrus, King of Persia:

"Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand... to open doors so that gates will not be shut... The Lord God of Israel who calls you by your name for the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, Though you have not known Me, I have called you by name."

The Lord called the prophet Elisha to anoint the warrior Jehu, to be king over Israel. Jehu didn't know God and was a man of fiery passion. But God chose him and used him as a vessel, a vessel to cause the shaking of a nation and the ending of the dynasty of Ahab and Jezebel, and the rule of the priests of Baal, along with their evil.

God can and has used such men as His vessels - for the sake of His kingdom and His people. And now we must pray for Donald Trump, that he will fully yield his life to be used as a vessel for the purposes of God.

In the days of Israel's apostasy, when the people were warring against His ways, God extended His mercy. He gave the people time to repent. So too, in the days of our apostasy, God is giving us a time to repent.