MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
CENTRAL CHRISTIAN, BROWNSVILLE, TX
A. I really do love the United States of America, & I feel tremendously blessed to be a citizen of this land. As most of you know, I lived the first few years of my life on the China/Tibetan border, & since then have had opportunity to visit other countries, too. I’ve seen the differences, & I thank God for the United States, & what it has meant to so many in generations past.
We will soon be celebrating the 4th of July, & that day means a lot to me, too. In many places there’ll be parades & special ceremonies, reminding us of our nation’s heritage, & honoring those who have gone before us. And I must admit to you that when I stand to pledge allegiance to our flag, or to join in singing the "Star-Spangled Banner" or "America the Beautiful," oftentimes I get a catch in my throat or mist in my eyes.
ILL. This week I was at a gathering of some 10,000 Texans, & a part of its program was the presentation of the colors. I stood there with all the others as men & women of our armed forces marched by, carrying flags emblematic of each branch of service.
And as they did, I thought back to WW2, & the years when my parents were prisoners in a Japanese Internment Camp in Manila. On the night of Feb. 2, 1945, 900 men of the 8th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division dashed through 60 miles of enemy territory held by 50,000 Japanese soldiers, straight into the city of Manila, with express orders to take both the military & civilian prisons, & hold them at all costs until the army could reach them.
For 3 weeks those 900 men held the prisons against furious counterattacks by a determined enemy, saving the lives of my parents, along with more than 4,000 other prisoners. And I thanked God once again for those men.
Last of all, in the presentation of the colors, carried with all due honor & respect, came the stars & stripes, the flag of our nation. And I am not ashamed to tell you that tears began to roll down my cheeks, & it was with great difficulty that I regained my composure. God has truly blessed America!
B. There is probably no country in all the world that has its beginning more entwined with religious beliefs than the United States. When you look back over the history of our land, you discover that our forefathers came here in search of religious freedom. They risked their lives, leaving their homes, because they wanted the right to worship God according to the dictates of their heart.
And as you read the early history of our country, you realize that practically everything that happened was based upon deep religious convictions. In schools, the Bible was the main textbook, & God was a part of class discussions. As children learned to read, they learned to read from the Word of God.
As you learn about our early leaders, you find that they unashamedly went to their knees time & time again, seeking both the wisdom & the power of God before important decisions were made.
Our country has a very rich & illustrious past. We are "One nation under God." We are a nation that is supposedly trusting God each day for our existence.
C. But as we celebrate our nation’s 22_th birthday, it doesn’t take much to realize that many changes have taken place in these 22_ years. This nation, which is supposed to be a Christian nation, leads the world in its divorce rate, in abortions, in alcoholism, in drug abuse, & in violent crime. Immorality seems almost to reign supreme.
So there is much that is wrong with our country. And yet, there is hope on the horizon. It seems like the pendulum is beginning to swing in the other direction as many in our land are trying to get back to the basics, & to restore God to His rightful place in our country - in government, in our schools, in our homes, & in society.
D. But there is a question that has bothered me all week, & I hope it will bother you for a long time to come. The question is, "If we should reverse the trend, & if we would get back to where we need to be as a nation, then, Can God still bless America?"
Now God can bless any country that He wants to, because God is God. So maybe a more pertinent question would be, "Will God still bless America?" The only way we can answer that question, I think, is to look at the way God has dealt with other countries in the past: those which have rejected Him, or pushed Him aside, or simply ignored Him.
E. The story of one such nation is found in 2 Kings, chapters 21, 22, & 23. It is the story of the nation of Judah.
Here is the history lesson. In the O.T., following the death of King Solomon, there was civil war & the kingdom was divided into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom of Israel, & the southern kingdom of Judah.
As you read the history of the northern kingdom of Israel, you’ll discover that every king that comes to power is bad. Every king rebels against the will of God, until finally God is so angered at Israel that in 722 BC He destroys the northern kingdom of Israel.
But when you read the history of the southern kingdom, Judah, you discover that they have their ups & downs. There are times when good kings ruled, & there were times when bad kings ruled. So God permitted the nation of Judah to continue on for a while.
In 2 Kings, chapter 21, we read about a king by the name of Manasseh. In fact, as the chapter begins, we find that Manasseh began to rule when he was 12 years old, & he ruled for the next 55 years. Then his son, just as evil as he, succeeded him, but his rule lasted only 2 years. So for 57 years, Judah was under the influence of evil kings.
F. Now here are 5 things that happened to Judah during that time.
1. First of all, Manasseh & his son led the people of Judah to forsake God. They forgot about God. They stopped worshiping God. And in place of worshiping God, they began to worship idols. Manasseh erected temples & altars to Baal, & reestablished the pole of Asheroth. And the temple that Solomon had built & dedicated to the worship of God was forsaken.
2. Now along with that, almost the whole nation began to pursue the occult & Satanism. They listened to astrologers & spiritists & mediums.
Do you notice some parallels here between what took place there & what is taking place here & now? We have virtually taken God out of our schools, & out of our government, & even out of our society. It is no longer politically correct to talk about God in most public environments. And the result has been that New Age religions have been sweeping across our land, & many are absorbed with channeling & mediums, & with attempts to contact the dead.
3. Thirdly, the Bible tells us that the streets of Judah ran red with the blood of innocent people. Sanctity of life was not a priority.
Today we have aborted millions of babies, & children are killing children. And it seems like our conscience has become so hardened that it no longer really bothers us.
4. The 4th thing that happened was that sexual desires were satisfied outside of marriage. The sanctity of marriage was ignored, & people sought sexual satisfaction anyplace they could find it. Sexual perversion & immorality dominated society.
5. And finally, the 5th thing that happened was that Judah failed to listen to the warnings of God. God loved the people of Judah, & again & again He warned them that they were going astray & they needed to get back to His Law. But they ignored His warnings.
G. So finally, God said, "Enough!" But before that happened, there was an interesting change of events. By chapter 22, both Manasseh & his son are dead, & a new king comes along. His name is Josiah.
Josiah started to rule when he was just 8 years old, & he ruled for the next 31 years. Josiah was a good king, & began to correct all the things that Manasseh did that was wrong. Josiah tears down the altars to Baal. He tears down the pole of Asheroth. He begins to restore the worship of God once again in the temple. He begins to restore the principles of sanctity of life & sanctity of marriage. He repeats again & again the warnings of God towards the nation. And you begin to see them moving back where God wanted them to be.
But there is an interesting passage in 2 Kings 23 that bothers me greatly. Here is what it says in 2 Kings 23:26-27, "Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of His fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke Him to anger. So the Lord said, `I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, & I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, & this temple, about which I said, `There shall my Name be.’’"
So in 586 BC God destroyed Judah, even though Josiah, a good king, tried to bring them back to where they needed to be, & tried to restore the worship of God.
H. Here is my question, "Even if the pendulum does swing back, & even if we begin once again to return to the things that make this nation great, & which brought the blessings of God, my question is, `Will God still bless America?’ Or have we gone too far? Is it too late?"
What is the root of our problem? Why have we so alienated ourselves from God? Why have we virtually ruled God out of society & everything we do? And the answer to all that is our pride.
Now in some ways pride is a good thing. But the pride that the Bible condemns is that which the dictionary defines as "too high an opinion of oneself; conceit; acting as if better than others; scorn of others." In other words: making what we think & what we want more important than what God wants.
Pride is the beginning of sin. Pride is the reason that Satan was evicted from Heaven. Pride is the reason that Adam & Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. And when we begin to trace the history of sin in our own life, we’ll find that the root of it is usually pride.
PROP. So I want to take a quick look at what the Bible says about pride.
I. WHAT DOES GOD THINK ABOUT PRIDE?
A. First of all, "What does God think about pride?" Psalms 138:6 says, "Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud He knows from afar." That says that God is close to the lowly or the humble. But He is far off from those whose pride is a primary characteristic of their lives.
Proverbs 16:5 says, "The Lord detests all the proud of heart." And vs. 18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, & a haughty spirit before a fall."
In the N.T., James 4:6 & 1 Peter 5:5 both say, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
B. In Luke 18 Jesus tells a story you’ve undoubtedly heard before. And it tells us the reason why He is telling this parable. Luke 18:9 says, "To some who were confident of their own righteousness & looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable." He is telling this parable to people who are self?righteous. He is telling it to people who look down their snobbish noses & put down other people. He is telling this story to the proud.
Here’s the story found in vs’s 10-14, "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee & the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up & prayed about himself; `God, I thank you that I am not like all other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week & give a tenth of all I get.’
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast & said, `God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’" Then Jesus says, "I tell you that his man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, & he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Jesus is saying, "If you exalt yourself I’m going to find a way to humble you. But if you humble yourself I will exalt you."
II. HOW DOES PRIDE AFFECT US?
Not only does this parable tell us what God thinks about pride, but it also tells us some ways in which pride affects our lives.
A. First of all, pride refuses to admit its need. As this Pharisee stands before the Lord, filled with pride, he doesn’t recognize any need in his own life. He’s okay! It’s everybody else who needs help. He’s quite all right.
B. Pride also refuses to admit that it cannot fix itself. If it finally recognizes that maybe there are some things wrong in its own life, then it proudly says, "I can handle it. I can fix it on my own."
APPL. I think that’s where our country is today. We have finally come to the place where we recognize there are some things wrong with our country, but we think we have the power to fix it. We think: "If we just elect the right people; if we just adopt the right programs; if we build more housing for the homeless; if we had a better welfare system; if we would just spend more money, we can fix the problem ourselves."
But the humble person realizes he can’t fix it alone. The only one who can is God. So the humble comes to God & says, "We need your help to fix it."
C. Thirdly, pride is always more concerned about what people think than about what God thinks.
I can just see this Pharisee standing there & thinking, "Do I look all right? Is my robe in place? Do I look pious? Maybe I need to fold my hands? Do I sound religious when I talk?" So he puts on this religious air & as he begins to pray he prays with this wonderful voice that sounds so holy. And everybody stands back & looks & says, "Boy, He is really religious."
But the tax collector comes in humility, & he realizes his need is so great that there is no room for concern about what people think. He is only concerned about talking to God.
D. Fourth, pride always sees the faults of others. This Pharisee looks around & sees people he calls "robbers & evil doers & adulterers & even this tax collector," & he says, "I thank God that I am not like that."
An humble person is not critical because he sees his own faults & he realizes he has no right to be critical of anyone else. Pride always claims to be right. "I’m right. I know I’m right & only when you agree with me will you be right, too." But the humble person recognizes that he could very likely be wrong, & he needs God’s help to find the truth.
III. IS IT TOO LATE FOR US?
A. Well, back to my original question, "Will God still bless America?" It is a difficult question. But there is an interesting passage that I want to call to your attention in closing. It concerns the evil king Manasseh that we were talking about in the first part of this sermon.
2 Chronicles 33:10 says, "The Lord spoke to Manasseh & his people, but they paid no attention." Now that is in keeping with his character & the rest of the story. Manasseh & the people of Judah didn’t listen to God. God spoke to them again & again, & He warned them, but they just didn’t listen.
Beginning with vs. 11 it says, "So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles & took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God & humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to Him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty & listened to his plea; so He brought him back to Jerusalem & to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God" [2 Chronicles 33:11-13].
B. I’m not sure if we’ve gone too far so that God will no longer bless our country. But this I know, you’ve not gone too far. You see, the good word is that even though God destroyed Judah, that when Manasseh, this evil king, came back to God & sincerely repented, God was touched by his repentance, & God forgave him.
So the promise God gives in 2 Chronicles 7:14 is still available. "If my people," if God’s people, "who are called by my name, will humble themselves." There’s no room for pride here.
And if we will pray. Now I know that we have many things to do, but let me suggest that one of the most important things you can do this week is to take a few minutes & pray for our country. We need to be urgent. And I think it is time for God’s people, people called by His name to humble themselves & pray. We need to pray.
"...& Seek my face." Seek the will of God for your life & your church & your country. "And turn from your wicked ways..." And if you do turn from your sins, then His promise is, "I will hear, & I will forgive, & I will heal your land." That’s God’s promise. That’s what we need to do before God will respond to us.
CONCL. So the question is, "Will God still bless America?" I don’t have the answer. Maybe it is too late for us. Maybe it is already in the time when this country is beginning its decline, & it will drift off into history someplace & be forgotten.
Maybe not. Maybe there is still time to turn the tide. Maybe there is still time to receive God’s blessing. One thing is for sure. It is not too late for each of us as individuals. We can turn to God, even as did Manasseh. And we can receive God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s grace, God’s forgiveness.
We give you the opportunity to come this morning as we offer the invitation of God. And we pray that you will respond as we stand & as we sing together. Will you come?
