Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
GOD’S LOVE FOR AMERICA!
Lamentations 3:40-42, "Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned."
Even though the verses above are the key to this message, I believe that God’s dealings with Israel throughout the entirety of the Book of Lamentations is a picture perfect example of His dealings with our nation today.
Israel was under judgment from God. Because of her great apostasy, Israel had played the harlot in her spiritual adultery with the idols of Canaan and the surrounding nations. Israel, God’s chosen nation, is often referred to in terms of being the wife of God upon this earth. In this sermon I will attempt, under the leading of the loving Holy Spirit, to show you how God’s hand of love brings correction to a rebellious nation who has forsaken Him and went whoring after other gods.
God’s ultimate purpose in bringing judgment upon man for his sin is to turn man from that sin in true acts of repentance, the judgments that God allows to befall a rebellious nation or individual are never pleasant and often misunderstood in their purpose.
While our Just, Righteous and Holy God must judge sin and cannot allow it continue, His judgments are always tempered with mercy and a promise of ultimate deliverance if those under judgment would only turn back to Him.
The Prophet, Jeremiah, as he weeps in sorrow over the condition of his own people, is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ as He stands and weeps over the sin in our world. Jesus stood on the hill and looked over Jerusalem crying in Matthew 23:37-38, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."
Jesus still stands today, looking down from the hills of Glory, looking at each person on the earth one at a time, at each nation in turn, and America, a nation that was so blessed and cries those same words for us. How great is His love for America! How great is His love for every man – so much so that He died on the cross for you and I, and yet He must and has begun to send judgment because of our rebelliousness as a people and nation.
In the years prior to and immediately following World War II, America was looked upon as the friend of the world and the protector of all that was good and the bastion of freedom by every nation on the face of the earth. Every nation, even our enemies, had a healthy respect and awe for the blessings of God and the things that were good about our nation.
Since the 60’s with the Vietnam Conflict, and continuing to this day, our power, prestige, and will, as a nation has been on a fast slide into oblivion. Multitudes of sermons and studies from the secular world have paralleled our slide to destruction with that of the Roman Empire as it began to crumble, not from attacks of outside enemies, but from the corruption, degradation and sin within.
The Book of Lamentations is a graphic example of what a nation experiences as it faces God’s judgments. I want to example those examples and show why I believe that America is already under judgment from God for its corruption and sin.
Lamentations 1:1-2, "How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies."
America has always been known as the “great melting pot” of humanity. People from all nations still come to our land with high hopes and a dream of prosperity and freedom. It is a testimony to the blessings of Almighty God, that even when America is in trouble, it is still the greatest nation, economically and militarily, upon the face of the earth. But this greatness is waning quickly.
"America is great because America is GOOD. If America ever ceases to be good it will cease to be great." - ALEXIS DE TOQUEVILLE, a French Historian, upon visiting America in the early 19th Century.
Here is man with great insight and understanding of the freedoms that we have enjoyed for over 200 years as a nation; freedoms that are under attack from all sides today.
Here are a few of his other observances of our country, some of which are extraordinary in their perception:
"If there ever are great revolutions there, they will be caused by the presence of the blacks upon American soil. That is to say, it will not be the equality of social conditions but rather their inequality which may give rise thereto."
"...I know of no other country where love of money has such a grip on men’s hearts or where stronger scorn is expressed for the theory of permanent equality of property."
Tocqueville even saw the pitfalls presented by the nanny state. He feared that the American character might succumb to the idea that government can take care of all the minor aspects of people’s lives.
It is sad to say that his observances and words have been proved time and again since the day he wrote them, but they have been proved from the perspective of failure and compromise and not of victory.
Israel found itself in captivity to its enemies, and I believe that America has fallen captive to her enemies as well. Our greatest enemy is not Russia, China, or any other nation. We are our own greatest enemy.
(The following information was quoted from an article found on the Internet that was written by an author known only as “Courageous Lion”)
In the early ’60’s during the days of the "former" Soviet Union, Russian Premier Nikita Kruschev pounded his shoe on the podium of the United Nations and shouted to the West, "We will bury you!" Fearing an invasion from the Reds, America proceeded to build the most awesome military machine in history.
Unfortunately, we forgot to guard our political home front from being taken over by socialist - communist - liberal activists who would gain office and destroy American law by process of gradually installing the Communist agenda within our legal system and separate branches of government.
Americans, being the most naive people among the nations, now believe that Communism is dead because the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain have been removed. The ironic truth is that Communism has just switched names to become more "politically correct". Today it is called international democracy. The reason that the Berlin Wall came crashing down is not because Communism is dead but because they have achieved the planned agenda to communize the West, including America. Washington D.C. has indeed become part of the New World Order of atheist governments.
With the last vestiges of Christian law having been removed from "American government" over the last twenty years, there is no longer a threat of resistance against world Communism. In reality, American government became so weak in its resolve that it is, in effect, part of the Iron Curtain, thus there was no more need for the likes of a Berlin Wall.
Once again, in their foolishness, the American public has believed the lies of their "leaders" who applaud "the fall of Communism", while they have sold out the country to anti-Christian, anti-American statutes and regulations on the federal, state, and local levels.
The Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx are listed below. You tell me whether we, as a nation have been led down a long road to captivity, and, we went willingly along and let it happen.
1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rent to public purpose.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transportation in the hands of the State.
7. Extention of factories and instruments of production owned by the State, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to labor and establishment of Industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.
10. Free education for all children in government schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.
None are more hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free....
Truly, American has become “tributary”, a slave to its own laws that restrain its freedom and “chained” by its own weighty laws that restrict every move we make.
Even those nations who once were our staunch allies are now looking upon America with disdain. We no longer can count on aid from any other nation on earth in times of crises but we must generally face the enemies of freedom alone, and even our resolve is weak to complete the task.
The reasons we lost in Korea and Vietnam and still have problems with Saddam Hussein and several third world dictatorships around the globe is not that we don’t have the power, militarily, to defeat them. Our government just doesn’t have the conviction to stand and fight until the victory is won.
There is too much infighting and division to accomplish anything.
Lamentations 1:3, "Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits."
Just as an individual will become a slave to the sin in their life, our nation is a slave to its own sin. In our attempts to right every wrong through legislation instead of repentance of the heart, we have created a massive digest of laws that choke us into servitude.
I dare say that you probably cannot leave your home this morning and return home this evening without breaking some law, no matter how small, from wearing of seatbelts, to speed limits, to a host of others. While most of the laws are meant for our good and for our protection, we have overstepped the boundary between legalism and common sense care for ourselves.
Lamentations 1:9, "Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself."
Israel had become so adulterous in their worship of idols that she could no longer remember the days of walking in righteousness and holiness before the True God. They had fallen so far, so quickly. Their younger generations did not know God, knew not of Israel’s blessings of the past, and lived with an attitude that now was the norm for Israel. Sin had magnified itself so greatly as to hide the fact that there was a path of righteousness that should be followed.
What a picture of American society we can see here. Our nation, so caught up in gaining of wealth, creating a great lifestyle and self-indulgence at all costs, has forsaken the paths of goodness and righteousness.
The youth of our land do not understand and have not heard of the sacrifices and biblical foundations of our country. They don’t know the price of freedom and haven’t been taught that America is a great nation only because of the blessings of the Lord upon it.
We now have a society where a majority of the people believe that they have the right to be rich, the right to live in a good home, the right to drive a new car, the right to health care without any of the responsibilities and accountability that go along with these rights.
Work has become a dirty word. As a nation, we are becoming lazier each day and we give no thought about God or holiness at all.
Lamentations 1:16, "For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed."
It is past time for us to cry out for our families, our friends and our nation!
Oh Lord, how long will your love continue to bless America, even in judgment? Let your mercies be extended to us. Holy Spirit move in your people and let there be a great revival of righteousness and holiness to come upon our land.
Time and space does not allow me to continue through the entirety of the Book of Lamentations, examining each point of judgment against Israel in light of what is happening in our own country. Take the time to examine it for yourself. The picture that will emerge is frightening when I think of what is in store for our future.
Surely, we are facing judgment. America is ceasing and perhaps has already ceased to be good. How long can God bless a nation that has turned it back on God in such a manner as we have?
2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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."
This is a great promise in God’s Word! God help us a people, as individuals, and as a nation to fall on our face in repentance for our sin. Help us to humble ourselves before you, to seek your face and pray for deliverance.
Yes, there is hope for America, just as there is hope for a soul. No matter how far from God a man may go, the Holy Spirit never gives up on trying to reach them. Judgments must come as chastisements to turn us around. We can recognize those times of correction and turn back to God or we can choose to ignore every warning and pass into eternity without God. The choice is ours to make.
God loves you and I. God Loves America, too. But God’s love must, one day, give way to justice and righteousness.
Let us, as the body of Christ across this nation, cry out to God in repentance and pray for a revival in our land. Unless we do there is little hope that we will survive as a nation enjoying peace and prosperity for God’s judgments will increase and we have only seen the tip of the iceberg in the troubles to come.
If we don’t turn to God in repentance, I fear that social unrest will lead to all out rebellion in the streets and anarchy will reign. There are few safe places left in our cities now but, in that day, there will no safe place anywhere.
God will bring down our idols of pleasure, self-indulgence, wealthy lifestyles, financial stability and prosperity. There is no limit to the Love of God for man, even those who don’t love Him. The fact that there is no limit to God’s love also means that there is no limit to the depths of judgment that will come in God’s efforts to turn us from our sinful ways.
Pray for America! Pray for your family and friends! Pray that we have a revival in the Land! That’s our only hope!
America’s main problem is not social unrest, lack of health care, inequality of opportunities, poverty or any of those things even though all of these are problems that must be addressed. America’s main problem is that we have left worshipping the God of Heaven, taken Jesus Christ out of our lives publicly, and removed the Word of God from anything that is public.
If God is going to bless America, we must see those trends reversed.
