THE HEALING OF AMERICA
II Chron. 7:14
INTRO.- I love America! Don’t you? And let me tell you why I love America.
ILL.- Father: Why don’t you get yourself a job?
Son: Why?
Father: So you could earn some money.
Son: Why?
Father: So you could put some money in the bank and earn some interest.
Son: Why?
Father: So that when you’re old you can use the money in your bank account and you would never have to work again.
Son: BUT I’M NOT WORKING NOW!
Brethren, I love America because where else in the world can you live and not work?
That’s not the real reason why I love America but that’s probably why some people love America. Because they have found they can live off the government.
ILL.- One lady said to another, “Did you see how pleased Mrs. Smith looked when I told her she didn’t look a day older than her daughter?”
Her friend replied, “Why no, I didn’t notice Mrs. Smith. I WAS TOO BUSY WATCHING THE EXPRESSION ON HER DAUGHTER’S FACE.”
That’s why I love America. Where else but in America can a mother make herself look as young as her daughter? Or perhaps younger!
ILL.- An executive came home from work and slumped down in his favorite chair with a discouraged look on his face. His wife asked him what was wrong.
He said, “Well, you know those aptitude tests we’ve giving at the office? I took one today just for fun. And it’s a good thing I own the company!”
Where else but in American can the owner of a company be dumber than his employees? That’s why I love America!
ILL.- Someone else put it this way: Where else but in America do we make instant coffee and yet spend hours drinking it?
Where else but in America does it take more brains to fill out the income tax return than it does to make the income?
Where else but in America does a mother drive her three kids 4 blocks to a physical fitness center?
Brethren, I do love America, but these are not the real reasons why. But let me quickly give you some reasons why I do love America and then talk about the healing of America.
1- I love America because of our FREEDOM
ILL.- Since 1984 I have traveled to the following cities to attend the North American Christian
Convention: Atlanta, Georgia...Oklahoma City, OK...
Denver, Colorado....Cincinnati, Ohio....Louisville,
KY....Orlando, Florida....St. Louis, MO...Dallas,
TX....Indianapolis, Indiana. And probably several more
which I can’t remember.
I haven’t been out of the U.S. but I’ve also been to Duluth, MN, several times to run a marathon for 26 miles alongside Lake Superior, and I’ve been to Boston, MA to run that marathon. And when I was a child my parents took me to Disney Land in California, and I remember absolutely nothing about it!
Other people have been to many more places in the U.S. than I have. ALL I AM SAYING IS THIS:
Isn’t our freedom to travel anywhere in the U.S.
without a passport a wonderful blessing!
Also, think of all the other freedoms that we have: freedom of speech, freedom to live wherever we want, freedom to seek any occuption we want, freedom to worship as we please! Thank God for our freedom in the America!
2- I love America because of our FORTUNE I know, you’re thinking, “What fortune?”
I am not saying that I have made a fortune in America, but some people certainly have: Multi-billionaire Bill Gates, Sam Walton, Martha Stewart, Ted Turner, Oprah Winfrey, and hundreds of others have made a fortune in the U.S.A.
Where else in the world can you can make a fortune if you really set on your mind to it and go for it? No other country in the world offers such an opportunity as America does!
3- I love America because of our FUN
Did you ever stop to think how many fun things are available in our country? In the U.S. you can do
so many fun things, such as: Six Flags (that wouldn’t be fun for me, but it would for some), Disney World, Branson, Las Vegas, the World Series, the Super Bowl, you can also visit Hollywood, go to the beaches, and hundreds of other things to do or sites to see.
And our fun doesn’t stop with seeing certain cities or sites! Our fun includes all kinds of things that
people like to do: hunting, fishing, bowling, gardening, going shopping, playing tennis, playing ball, etc.
Where else but in America can you do all these things and have a blast doing them? No other country in the world offers such a great diversity of fun things to do!
4- I love America because of our FOOD
Have you ever thought about all the food that we have here in the U.S.? We are blessed in great abundance!
ILL.- My family and I lived in Iberia, MO (852 population) for 10 1/2 years and there were no
restaurants in town at all. Nothing. Zip. You had to drive at least 20 minutes to get to the nearest
restaurant and it wasn’t much.
We moved to Anna, IL (population 5000) in 1984 and a McDonald’s was just a few blocks from ourm house. WE THOUGHT WE HAD DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN!
And besides McDonald’s there was a Pizza Hut and a Dairy Queen and several other good eating places in town. AND WE EVEN HAD A WAL-MART JUST A MATTER OF BLOCKS FROM OUR HOUSE! You couldn’t get any better than that.
And then, of course, Elaine and I moved here last September and there are hundreds of good restaurants here in Mattoon! This place is not just heaven, it’s the 3rd heaven!
Brethren, I love America because of many things! I am blessed! We all are blessed to have been born and raised in America! HOWEVER, NOT ALL IS WELL WITH AMERICA!
ILL.- De Tocqueville of France came to America over a hundred years ago. When he went home he wrote these words about America: “I sought for the greatness of America and it was not until I went into the churches and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the greatness of her power.”
And he went on to say these memorable words, “America is great because she is good; and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
Brethren, I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but in many ways, America is ceasing to be good!
I think believe that America is the greatest country in the world and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere
else. But in many ways, America’s goodness is going out the window!
We need to wake up to what is happening in our country and make a commitment to do something about it!
Prov. 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
ILL.- A lady named Barbara Reynolds wrote in USA TODAY several years ago, “Hate crimes are in. Public school commencement prayers are out. Abortion is a little in, a little out. As Bibles and pictures of Jesus sweep across the former ‘evil empire’ of Russia, millions of U.S. school kids won’t be able to hear a prayer at the graduation ceremonies.
“The court said that it was unconstitutional for a Denver 5th grade teacher to keep a Bible on his
desk. Nor could he keep a copy of The Story of Jesus in his 240-book classroom library. A book on Greek gods, however, was allowed to stay.
“At a time when blood flows in our streets and crime flourishes in corporate suites, the USA’s rejection of God and religion - is being swallowed with hardly a hiccup from committed Christians.” OUCH!
She further wrote, “The Ten Commandments ought to be posted in public schools, but that was knocked down by the court in 1980. If there isn’t prayer in schools, there will be more prayer at funerals. Youths who can’t be taught the Golden Rule will learn their own rules on our mean streets.”
DO I HEAR AN “AMEN”?
ILL.- Donald Wilmon of the American Federation for Decency Journal wrote these words some years ago: “The truth is we are anything but a Christian nation. Our behavior as a nation makes a mockery of Christianity. We lead the world in every abomination known to man - abortion, alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling, divorce, child abuse, violent crime, pornography, and yes, even child pornography. Worse yet, we export our violence and immorality to other countries through our
sleazy movies and TV programs. We have become the moral polluter of planet earth.
“And we are reaping what we have sown.... Read Deut. 28:15-48. The curses of a nation under judgment are listed there and the passage reads like a detailed description of America...Yet, despite these judgments, we have refused to repent. In fact, we have stiffened in our rebellion against God. In our schools we have abolished prayer, removed the ten commandments, and banned the distribution of Bibles. We have terrorized our teachers into believing they will lose their jobs if they mention God to their students. We have even mandated the teaching of evolution and have
prohibited the truth of creationism. We are in the process of legalizing and encouraging sodomy. We are handing out condoms and needles to our youth.
“We are going out of our way to protect every expression of profanity and obscenity. America is
thumbing its nose at God! The Supreme Court is in rebellion against God. Our Congress is hardened
against God. Our Bureaucracy could care less about God. Our educational system has banned God.”
Brethren, I realize these are strong words! And we all have to agree with at least some of them.
Rom. 12:9 “Hate what is evil and cling to what is good.”
We have to cling to what is good in America and at the same time we need to hate what is evil in America.
ILL.- Someone has well said, “If we have no hatred for evil how can we have a love for the good?” The two go hand-in-hand.
What can be done to turn America around and make her the good country she once was or the good country God wants her to be?
PROP.- God’s answer for the healing of America is found in II Chron. 7:14 “If my people, who
are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
1- the people
2- the plan
3- the promise
I. THE PEOPLE OF HEALING
ILL.- Brethren, do you realize that I am the man? By that, I mean I am the man whom God ordained to be your preacher! At least, for this Sunday! Maybe not next Sunday! I do realize that I am not indispensable.
ILL.- Brother Ed Bousman was a very popular preacher at the Kiamichi Men’s Clinic in Honobia, OK, for many years. DID ANY OF YOU MEN EVER GO TO THAT MEN’S CLINIC?
Brother Ed Bousman was an old-fashioned preacher who preached the message very clearly but also very bluntly. One time a man came to him and said, “Brother Ed, I don’t know what we would ever
do without you?”
Brother Ed replied, “The clinic will do fine without me. God got along just fine before I came along
and He’ll do fine when I’m gone.”
And I feel exactly the same way about myself. I want to make that very clear. But for the time being, I do believe that God ordained for me to be your preacher!
I came here to preach to the pulpit committee last July after they read my resume and heard my sermon tape on Forgiveness. You probably already know that, but what you don’t know is what happened months earlier.
You see, I sent that same resume and that same sermon tape several months before I sent the second ones. Now I don’t know what happened to my resume and sermon tape, BUT I HAVE AN IDEA THAT SOMEBODY MUST OF HAVE TRASHED THEM!
When Priscilla called me and asked me to send my resume and a sermon tape, I said, “I already sent
you a resume and a sermon tape....” “Could you send another?” I did and here I am!
What I’m saying is this: Somebody, somewhere was trying to keep me away from Mattoon Christian Church! But God didn’t let them get away with it!
Something else happened that could have been a deterrent. One of our elders said to me that they
never heard anybody laughing or making any noise in the background on my sermon tape.
And I told him that’s because I taped that sermon in my bedroom to two cats! I’ll tell you, brethren,
it’s hard to preach to two cats who just sit there with a dumb expression on their faces!
Brothers and sisters, I really do believe that God ordained for me to preach here at Mattoon Christian
Church. AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE I BELIEVE? And even more strongly!
I really believe that God ordained you to be the people of healing in America! I believe that God
ordained all Christians everywhere to be the people of healing in America!
II Chron. 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name....” God said, “My people...” We are the people of healing in America.
I Pet. 2:9 “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
Brethren, our land will not be healed by congress but by Christians! And our land will not be healed by any President but by people who are plugged into God! We Christians are the key to the healing of America!
Brethren, we are the people who must do something! In a very real sense God is saying, “If my people will do something to help America, I will heal her.”
We need to commit ourselves as God’s chosen people to do something to help heal America!
II THE PLAN FOR HEALING
ILL.- In 1992, while I preparing for the Huntsville, Alabama, marathon in December, I decided to do
something entirely different. I went on all vegetable and grain diet for two months. Here is what I ate every day for two months during October and November of 1992.
I ate a big bowl of Fiber One cereal for breakfast every day. And that alone had about 30 grams of
fiber in it. My lunch was a bowl of vegetables which I heated in the microwave and ate with soda crackers. There were beans, broccoli and some pasta spirals in it. And I also drank a glass of water with it. SOUND GOOD?
My evening meal consisted of a baked sweet potato....a big one. And this is where I cheated a bit. I put margarine and brown sugar on it. Again, extremely high fiber.
I ate those same meals every day for two months. I varied only a little. And at the end of those two
months I ran that marathon and it was one of the fastest I had ever run and it was the easiest I had
ever run! I had energy left over, which had never happened before. And I never felt so strong in a
marathon as that one. The last 6 miles I was passing other runners right and left.
I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER! And whether you think it was good plan or not, it worked for me!
I have discovered that most plans will work, if we work the plan. And that is especially true when it
comes to God’s plan! GOD HAS A PLAN! And God always has a better plan than we do! And His plans always work!
God’s plan for the healing of America is found in this text. It consists of:
1- we must humble ourselves
2- we must pray
3- we must seek God’s face
4- And we must turn from our wicked ways
1 - We must humble ourselves
II Chron. 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves...”
The way I look at it, it always pays to get down before God! And if we don’t do it willingly, God will help us to get down before Him!
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
Sometimes we get so stubborn and rebellious in our sin and pride that God just has to put His foot down.... And when He does, watch out!
ILL.- You remember David of old? He lusted after Bathsheeba and took her to himself and she conceived. And what happened? DAVID GOT HUMBLED BIG TIME! Any time any one gets to thinking they are too smart for their britches God can set them down very hard on their backside.
And say, “Wait just a minute!”
I know, I’ve been put there several times. But brethren, I would much rather humble myself than
have God humble me, wouldn’t you? Because when God does it, He does a very good job of it! HE GETS OUR ATTENTION AND THERE IS NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT!
God’s plan for the healing of America is that we first humble ourselves before the Lord, realizing that we are nothing and He is everything and that we can do nothing good without His help!
1- We must humble ourselves
2- We must pray
“If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray....”
ILL.- Abraham Lincoln once said, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”
Brethren, we have nowhere else to go for help! The Lord is the only one who can heal America! And we have to be a people of prayer, asking God to bring about that healing!
ILL.- Someone said:
Elijah prayed and called down fire from heaven.
Daniel prayed and shut the mouths of lions.
Paul prayed and the prison walls were shaken.
We prayed and....
More than ever before we need to believe in the value and power of prayer! WE NEED TO BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL HEAR AND ANSWER OUR PRAYERS! We need to pray for ourselves, for America and for our leaders!
1- We must humble ourselves
2- We must pray
3- We must seek God’s face
To seek God’s face means to continually seek His will for our lives and for the life of our country.
Prov. 3:5-6 “Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Did you ever have your plans backfire on you? Just completely fall apart or go to pieces? Why did
that happen? Could it be that your plans were not God’s plans?
We must never “do our own thing” in life! God’s will must always be foremost in our thinking and in our doing. We must always seek His will about anything and everything! Because His will is best and right and will do the most good in our lives and the lives of others!
God’s plan for us is to:
- humble ourselves
- pray
- seek His face, His will in all things
4- And we must turn from our wicked ways. Please notice that God didn’t say, “America must turn from her wicked ways...”
God said, “If my people will turn from their wicked ways then will I hear....” Here is the nitty gritty
part of God’s plan. Here is where God separates the men from the boys. Here is where we have to walk our talk.
ILL.- One Sunday morning a non-Christian or non-saved woman went to a good, Bible-preaching church and heard a sermon about the second coming of Christ. The sermon made such a great impression on her that she went home and began cleaning her house.
When her husband came home and found her cleaning, he asked, “What in the world are you doing?” She replied, “The world is coming to an end and the Lord is coming back and I’m cleaning house!”
Brethren, we are supposed to “clean house,” however, it is supposed to be our lives that get “a house cleaning.” Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with cleaning your house, but the Lord is more interested in your life than your house! He wants a clean life more than a clean house!
This is just as tough on me as it is on you because I don’t always do right in life! I struggle with sin,
just like you do!
We all need to “clean house” occasionally in our lives. We need to look around and realize, “Hey!
This isn’t right in me.” And then ask for forgiveness and ask for help to get better.
Brethren, how can we ever expect America to get right if we don’t get right? Could it possibly be that the reason America hasn’t repented is because the church hasn’t repented?!
I’m not saying that we Christians are all wrong, but neither are we all right!
God’s plan is right, holy and best. And His plan calls for us to turn from our sin before America can.
1- The people of healing
2- The plan for healing
III. THE PROMISE OF HEALING
II Chron. 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
God promise is:
- I will hear you
- I will forgive you
- I will heal your land
ILL.- Healing is nice. Five years ago I was diagnosed with a bad case of osteoarthritis in my right hip. My doctor, “Steve, you have to quit running.” And I nearly cried, because I enjoyed running so much and was good at it. BUT I QUIT.
But my hip got worse and worse and I limped for three years. I finally went back to the doctor and had my hip x-rayed and it showed there was no cartilage at all in my bone and socket. IT WAS BONE AGAINST BONE! And it hurt! I lived on pain killers.
Brethren, that got old in a hurry and I decided to have my hip replaced. I did that two years ago in
April and now healing has taken place and it’s nice. It’s nice not to limp anymore and not hurt
anymore! HEALING IS NICE!
And healing is nice when it comes into our lives as well. It’s nice to know that you are forgiven, that
you are headed for heaven, that you are saved! God wants all people to be saved. God wants you to be saved. And He wants America to be saved. But America won’t be saved unless we do our part according to God’s plan.
WHY DON’T YOU TAKE THE FIRST STEP? What do you need to do to be saved? What do you need to do to get right with God? What do you need to do to help America get right with God?
Why not make that decision today? Don’t you want to be healed and forgiven? Don’t you want America to be healed and forgiven?
