In 1864, Salmon Porter Chase, Secretary of the Treasury of the
United States, addressed a letter to the director of the Mint of
Philadelphia stating that our coinage should bear a motto
expressing in the fewest words that no nation can be strong except
in the strength of God.

     Congress established the motto, "In God We Trust" by act of
Congress, April 22, 1864, which authorized the director of the mint
to fix this motto to the two cent piece.

     On July 11, 1955, the United States government enacted a law
to provide that all currency and coins shall bear the inscription
"In God We Trust".  Since that time all American currency and coins
bear this inscription.

     Do we, as God's people, mouth "In God We Trust, but..."  

     Have these become vain, empty, meaningless words?  Have we
come to a place where we depend upon everything but God?  Has this
motto become a mockery in God's ears?  It is sad, but true, that
many today have put their trust in lying words that do not
profit.*** Jeremiah 7:8

     "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? 
     but My people have changed their glory for that which
     doth not profit."  *** Jeremiah 2:11

     The Scriptures tell us of several things God's people have
chosen to put their trust in.  I encourage you to search your
hearts to see if any of these are in your lives.  God is pleading
with us, His people today, to stand before Him with clean hands and
a pure heart. 



THOSE WHO TRUST IN THE STRENGTH OF EGYPT

     In the 14th year of the reign of Hezekiah, King of Judah, did
Sennacherib, King of Assyria, send three men:  Rabshakeh, Rabsaris
and Tartan to disquiet God's people, saying,

     "Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What
     confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

     Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have
     counsel and strength for the war.  Now on whom dost thou
     trust, that thou rebellest against me?"*** II Kings
     18:19-20

     The king's spokesman, Rabshakeh asked, "Do you put your trust
upon the staff of Egypt?"  Or do you say, "We trust in the Lord our
God?"*** II Kings 18:21-22

     These questions are before God's people today.  Those who rule
the land put forth these same questions and they, as King
Sennacherib, send out spokesmen, causing God's people to question
their confidence in their God. King Sennacherib's spokesman,
Rabshakeh, mockingly proclaimed,

     "Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of
     Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come
     out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and
     every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the
     waters of his cistern."*** II Kings 18:31

     Those who rule America today are likened unto the Assyrians,
who, with an high outlook of their own abilities dare to say to
God's people, "Why do you put your trust in God?"

     And many of God's people are listening and heeding to the
welfare system which says, "Come under the shadow of my wings and
I will provide for your every need."*** II Kings 18:31

     "And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is
     a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the
     children are come to the birth, and there is not strength
     to bring forth."*** II Kings 19:3

     Because we have changed our hearts from total trust in God to
fear, doubt and unbelief in His daily provision, we are truly in a
day of great trouble, rebuke and blasphemy.  And because of this,
we, as the children of God, have no strength to bring forth that
which God has planned in our lives.

     When the king offers an agreement whereby all our physical
needs will be taken care of, our food and our housing will be sure,
will we, then, put our trust under the shadow of His wings, and
accept His agreement?  or do we say, "In God We Trust" and then
accept the government's monthly support?

     When the king offers an agreement whereby our property will be
safely covered by His protection, upon what "Rock" have we placed
our assurance?

     Are God's people mouthing but vain, empty words, saying, "In
God We Trust, but..."  putting our trust in everything but God? 
This has truly become a mockery in God's ears.  God is sick of this
deceitfulness!

     The King of Assyria, again, put forth another statement,

     "Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this
     bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it
     will go into his hand, and pierce it:  so is Pharaoh king
     of Egypt unto all that trust on him."*** II Kings 18:21

     Have we put our trust in the broken reed of the staff of
Egypt?  Each of us must answer these questions in our own hearts. 
If we, as God's people, shake hands with and hold on to the hand of
the world, our hands will truly be pierced through.  

     Isaiah's words ring true for God's people today,

     "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that
     take counsel, but not of Me;  and that cover with a
     covering, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to
     sin:  

     That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at My
     mouth;  to strengthen themselves in the strength of
     Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!

     Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame,
     and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion."***
     Isaiah 30:1-3

     Have we become rebellious children, no longer seeking His
counsel, but instead taking cover under the shadow of the world? 
The Lord says those who trust in the shadow of Egypt shall come
into confusion.

     How far have we gone down into Egypt?  Isaiah reveals,

     "Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye
     despise this word, and trust in oppression and
     perverseness, and stay thereon."  *** Isaiah 30:12

     Are we daily in God's Word, feeding upon its promises, peace,
protection, praise and provision?  Or do we dwell upon the
oppression and perverseness set before our eyes in our living
rooms, through the media's spokesmen who can only bring fear, doubt
and unbelief?

     Who is our strength for the battle?  Isaiah announces,

     "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help;  and stay on
     horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; 
     and in horsemen, because they are very strong;  but they
     look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the
     Lord!"  *** Isaiah 31:1

     Have we settled back on our lees, putting our trust in the
strength of the military, saying, "We dwell secure and at ease." 
If we put our trust in the strength of the world, we have come to
a place of false security, dwelling carelessly and at ease, putting
our confidence in the world.

     The Greek word for secure is AMERIMNOIS and means "without
carefulness, free from anxiety and care".  This meaning has truly
come to describe the "American" way of life.

     The daughters referred to in the Old Testament are a type of
the church in the New Testament.  Isaiah exhorts the daughters in
the land, today,

     "Tremble, ye women that are at ease;  be troubled, ye
     careless ones:  strip you, and make you bare, and gird
     sackcloth upon your loins."*** Isaiah 32:11

     Have we forsaken the Rock upon whom we are to trust, and put
our trust in man and his government?  We need to search our hearts
and repent in sackcloth and ashes before the Holy One of Israel,
saying,

     "The God of my Rock;  in Him will I trust:  He is my
     shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and
     my refuge, my saviour;  thou savest me from violence."***
     II Samuel 22:3

     We need to, once again, put true meaning to our motto, "In God
We Trust".  We need to return to the Rock of our salvation.  We
need to, again, sing praises to our God with our whole hearts, not
just mouthing vain, empty words.  We need to know and proclaim,
assuredly, that God is our provision, our protector, our peace, our
praise and our hope in the days of trouble which lie directly
ahead.

     Cry out ye inhabitants of Zion, sing forth!

     "There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside
     thee:  neither is there any Rock like our God."*** I
     Samuel 2:2


THOSE WHO TRUST IN LYING VANITIES

     Is  "In God We Trust"  nothing but vain, empty words?  The
psalmist exhorts those who say, "In God We Trust", but have,
instead, put their reliance upon lying vanities.  

     "I have hated them that regard lying vanities:  but I
     trust in the Lord."*** Psalm 31:6

     Have the precepts and doctrines of men become our trust?  Have
we become a people who draw nigh unto the Lord with our mouth but
our heart and our trust is far from Him?  Do we vainly worship Him,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men?*** Matthew 15:7-9

     "For the leaders of this people cause them to err;  and
     they that are led of them are destroyed."  *** Isaiah
     9:16

     Leaders, both political and religious, have turned God's
people from their total trust in Him, and have substituted lying
vanities for the truths of God.

     Isaiah further exhorts those who lead God's people today,

     "Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men,
     that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

     Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death,
     and with hell are we at agreement;  when the overflowing
     scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: 
     for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood
     have we hid ourselves."*** Isaiah 28:14-15

     The Scriptures are very emphatic in exposing the refuge of
lies that many Spiritual leaders have tried to use to get God's
people to hide under.  The precepts and doctrines of the various
denominational systems being put forth today are in error and are
bringing God's people into a false sense of security.  

     "Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams,
     saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause My people to
     err by their lies, and by their lightness;  yet I sent
     them not, nor commanded them:  therefore they shall not
     profit this people at all, saith the Lord."*** Jeremiah
     23:32

     Many today operate their whole lives by dreams which have been
prophesied as coming from God.  What are some of these false
dreams?

     "Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make My
     people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; 
     and He that putteth not into their mouths, they even
     prepare war against Him."*** Micah 3:5

     Many false prophets today are proclaiming, Peace, Peace, where
there is no peace.  Many are putting their trust in this false
dream of peace without the Prince of Peace.  

     Ezekiel, also, prophesies against the prophets of Israel who
prophesy out of their own hearts, who follow their own spirit and
have seen nothing.*** Ezekiel 13:2-3

     "Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the
     hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in
     the day of the Lord.

     They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The
     Lord saith:  and the Lord hath not sent them:  and they
     have made others to hope that they would confirm the
     word.

     Therefore thus saith the Lord God;  Because ye have
     spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am
     against you, saith the Lord God.

     Because, even because they have seduced My people,
     saying, Peace;  and there was no peace."*** Ezekiel 13:5-
     6, 8 & 10

     Are God's people sitting back on their lees, dwelling
carelessly, and at ease because they have trusted in "Peace, Peace,
where there is no peace?"  Jesus proclaims, 

     "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth?  I
     tell you, Nay;  but rather division."*** Luke 12:51

     Have we, as God's people, begun to put our trust in a covenant
with death?  Have our Spiritual leaders erred in giving us hope
that, when the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come
upon us, saying, "God's people will be taken off the earth before
any evil comes?  The Spirit of Truth proclaims, 

     "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the
     world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the
     evil."*** John 17:15

     Have our Spiritual leaders given us a false refuge, saying,
"When we die and go to heaven all things will be alright?"  Many
people today have placed their hope in the day that they will die
and go to heaven.  God's Word speaks of life not death.  Have we,
as God's people, put our refuge in a covenant with death?

     Jeremiah's words can certainly be applied to God's people and
this nation today,

     "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend
     your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell
     in this place.

     Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the
     Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are
     these.

     Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit."***
     Jeremiah 7:3-4 & 8

     The apostle Paul spoke about the indistinct, uncertain sound
of the trumpet.  Many, who are blowing the trumpet in the land
today, are giving forth an uncertain sound.

     "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall
     prepare himself to the battle?"*** I Corinthians 14:8
     
     Be warned!  Many prophets, pastors and teachers today are
sounding forth uncertain sounds and because of this, God's people
are not preparing for the day of battle that lies directly
ahead.    

     We need to be as David, who continually repented before the
Lord.  We need to return unto the Lord, our refuge and our
strength, and proclaim in truth, "In God we will put our trust!"***
Psalm 56:11


THOSE WHO TRUST IN UNCERTAIN RICHES

     There is truly much uncertainty in God's people today.  We
have mistakenly listened to trumpets sounding forth uncertain
sounds.  Uncertainty is far reaching.  It encompasses a false
security and trust in our own works, abilities and riches.  Jesus
warns,

     "Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches
     to enter into the Kingdom of God!"*** Mark 10:24

     Paul charged Timothy, and we are to do the same,

     "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be
     not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the
     living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."***
     I Timothy 6:17

     Has this nation and God's people come to trust in uncertain
riches?  We need men and women who will speak forth "In God We
Trust" with sincere lips.  We need to be a people who completely
trust and hope in God.  Let not the cares of this world and the
deceitfulness of riches choke the Word so that it becomes
unfruitful in our lives.*** Matthew 13:22

     "They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in
     the multitude of their riches;

     None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor
     give to God a ransom for him:  

     For the redemption of their soul is precious..."*** Psalm
     49:6-7

     Can the abundance of uncertain riches, heaped upon our own
lusts, redeem a brother?

     "Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength;  but
     trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened
     himself in his wickedness."  Psalm 52:7

     Have we come to put our strength in our own riches and
abilities, and in reality, saying, "I can only trust in what I have
laid up for the future"?  Do we proclaim, "With my wisdom and with
my own understanding I have gotten me riches, and have gotten gold
and silver in my treasures,"*** Ezekiel 28:1-10?

     Can we, indeed, redeem a brother by trusting in these
uncertain riches?  

     "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where
     moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break
     through and steal:

     But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
     neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do
     not break through nor steal:

     For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
     also."*** Matthew 6:19-21

     Have the abundance of uncertain, earthly riches made us
unfruitful in this harvest time?  Truly the harvest is plenteous,
but the labourers are few.*** Matthew 9:37

     "Pray ye therefore the lord of the harvest, that He will
     send forth labourers into His harvest."*** Matthew 9:38

     Will we, from this day forward, begin to place our trust
wholly in the riches that are to be found in Christ Jesus?

     "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
     treasures in Egypt."*** Hebrews 11:26

     Uncertain riches can, by no means, redeem our brothers.  We
who truly proclaim, "In God We Trust", are to do good, be ready to
distribute and willing to communicate.  *** I Timothy 6:18

     "Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation
     against the time to come, that they may lay hold on
     eternal life."*** I Timothy 6:19

     For the redemption of a brother's soul is indeed precious.


THOSE WHO TRUST IN FENCED CITIES

     Have we, God's people, come to put our trust under the shadow
of the world's riches, the refuge of lies of false leaders and the
strength of Egypt?  The Lord warns us to flee these fenced cities
and high towers wherein we have come to put our trust.

     Have we, as God's people, become guilty of mouthing, vain,
empty words as those to whom Jeremiah warns?

     "And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear
     falsely."*** Jeremiah 5:2

     Have we only mouthed our devotion and our belief in God?  Do
we indeed proclaim: "In God We Trust", "The Lord Liveth", "With 
God all things are possible", "One Nation Under God", with our
lips, but our hearts are far from Him?  Have we passed on these
faithful sayings to our children as empty, vain words?

     How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have
     forsaken Me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I
     had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery,
     and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots'
     houses.
 
     Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and
     shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?***
     Jeremiah 5:7 & 9

     How long will we, God's people, put our trust in the refuge of
lying vanities?

     And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not
     in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

     Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye
     speak this word, behold, I will make My words in thy
     mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour
     them."  *** Jeremiah 4:13-14

     Will you not forsake your trust in these things that do not
profit God, and once again place your complete trust in the Holy
One of Israel?  

     Zephaniah declares our day,

     "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and
     hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord:
     the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 


     That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and
     distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of
     darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
     darkness."*** Zephaniah 1:14-15

     When the overscourging wrath passes through, those who have
placed their trust in these fenced cities will be among those who
ask the question, "Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these
things unto us?"*** Jeremiah 5:19 

     "They have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he;
     neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see
     sword nor famine."*** Jeremiah 5:12

     How long will we, as God's people, continue to put our trust
in false words that proclaim we will never see desolation?

     "And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore
     doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us? then
     shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken Me, and
     served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve
     strangers in a land that is not your's."*** Jeremiah 5:19
 
     Jeremiah warns those who would trust in the fenced cites;
those walls and bulwarks, we, as God's people in America, have come
to put our dependency upon.  

     "And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread,
     which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall
     eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy
     vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced
     cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword."***
     Jeremiah 5:17

     God's judgment hand is sure upon this nation, and it is also
upon us, God's people, who have placed our trust in these things
that do not profit.  We must heed this warning and forsake our
trust in these fenced cites of lying vanities, uncertain riches and
the strength of Egypt, because they shall all be impoverished and
beaten down with the sword.

     Zephaniah recognized our day,

     "A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced
     cities, and against the high towers,"*** Zephaniah 1:16.

     We are the trumpets in the earth today, and we need to blow a 
clear, distinct sound.  We, God's people, need to run to and fro
through the streets and warn those who are trusting in their fenced
cities and their high towers.

     I encourage you to become the trumpet with a certain,
distinct, clear sound of truth.          Cast off the vain,*****
Revelation 1:21 empty, uncertain words. We need to begin to blow
the trumpet throughout the land.  Today is the day of the trumpet. 
Go forth with the clear, distinct sound of the truths of God's
Word.  


Questions


1.   Who established the motto, "In God We Trust"?  

2.   What have many people put their trust in today?  Jeremiah 2:11

3.   What system is it that many of God's people are listening to
     and heeding?  

4.   Why are we in a day of great trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy? 

5.   What does the Lord say will happen to those who trust in the
     shadow of Egypt?  

6.   How do we come to a place of false security?  

7.   What do we need to know and proclaim assuredly?  

8.   What have politiical and religious leaders taught people to
     substitute for total trust in God? 

9.   The precepts and doctrines of various   _________________
     systems are bringing God's people into a ____________ sense of
     ____________________.  

10.  What are many false prophets today proclaiming?  

11.  Many of God's people today have put their trust in what type
     of covenant?   

12.  God's  Word speaks of _________ not death.  

13.  Why are many of God's people not preparing for the day of
     battle?  

14.  We need to be a people who completely ___________ and
     ________________  in God.  

15.  What should those who truely proclaim,  "In God We Trust" do? 

16.  What is indeed precious?  

17.  God's judgment hand is upon this ____________  and upon 
     _______________  people. 

18.  Who are the trumpets in the world today?  

19.  What do we, God's people, need to be warning others about?   

20.  What is the clear sound we need to go forth with?  


Answer Key

1.   Who established the motto, "In God We Trust"?  
     Congress, April 22, 1864

2.   What have many people put their trust in today?   Jeremiah
     2:11

     Lying words that do not profit

3.   What system is it that many of God's people are listening to
     and heeding?  

     The Welfare system

4.   Why are we in a day of great trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy? 

     Because we have changed our hearts from total trust in God to
     fear, doubt, and unbelief.

5.   What does the Lord say will happen to those who trust in the
     shadow of Egypt?    

     They shall come into confusion.

6.   How do we come to a place of false security?  

     When we put our trust in the strength of the world.

7.   What do we need to know and proclaim assuredly?  

     God is our provision, protector, peace, praise, and hope.

8.   What have politiical and religious leaders taught people to
     substitute for total trust in God?  

     Lying vanities

9.   The precepts and doctrines of various   _________________
     systems are bringing God's people into a ____________ sense of 
     ____________________.  

     Denominational,   false,   security

10.  What are many false prophets today proclaiming?  

     Peace - where there is no peace 

11.  Many of God's people today have put their trust in what type
     of covenant?   

     A covenant with death.

12.  God's  Word speaks of _________ not death.  
  
     Life    Death

13.  Why are many of God's people not preparing for the day of
     battle?  

     Because of the uncertain sounds coming from many prophets,
     pastors and teachers.

14.  We need to be a people who completely   ___________ and
     ________________  in God.  

     Trust    hope

15.  What should those who truely proclaim,  "In God We Trust" do? 

     They should (1) do good, (2) be ready to distribute, (3)
     willing to communicate.

16.  What is indeed precious?  

     The redemption of a brother's soul.

17.  God's judgment hand is upon this   _____________  and upon 
     _______________  people.  

     Nation    God's

18.  Who are the trumpets in the world  today?  

     We are

19.  What do we, God's people, need to be warning others about?  

     About trusting in their fenced cities and high towers.

20.  What is the clear sound we need to go forth with?  



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