MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2017)
(Powerpoint slides used with this message are available at no charge. Just e-mail me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request - #235.)
TEXT: 2 Kings 21-23; 2 Chronicles 33:1-16; 2 Chronicles 7:14
I love the United States of America, & I feel tremendously blessed to be a citizen of this land! There is so much that is special about our country.
ILL. For instance, someone wrote:
Only in America are there handicap parking spaces in front of a skating rink.
Only in America do we buy hot dogs in packages of 10, & hotdog buns in packages of 8.
Only in America can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
Only in America do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, & a DIET coke.
Only in America do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions, while healthy people can buy their cigarettes at the front.
Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway & put our junk in the garage. -- Something to think about, isn’t it? (Adapted from Steve Shepherd on SermonCentral)
ILL. Some of you may remember George Carlin, a comedian who died in 2008. But there were times when he was serious. And in one of his serious moments he wrote what he called, “The Paradox of Our Time.” Listen to a part of it:
The paradox of our time in history is that:
We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers….
We have bigger houses, but smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees, but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, & yet even more problems….
We’ve learned how to make a living, but not how to make a life.
We spend too recklessly, drive too fast, get too angry, read too little, watch TV too much, & pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.
We talk too much, love too seldom, & hate too often.
We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted our souls.
(Adapted from Steve Shepherd on SermonCentral)
APPL. That sounds dismal, doesn’t it? But even though there are many negative things that could be said, I still believe that America offers more opportunities & freedoms than any other country in the world.
A. As 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.
This Tuesday will be the 4th of July. In many places, parades & special ceremonies are scheduled, reminding us of our nation's heritage, & honoring those who have gone before us.
ILL. A few years ago I was at a gathering of some 10,000 Texans, & a part of its program was the presentation of the colors. I stood with all the others as men & women of our armed forces marched by, carrying flags emblematic of each branch of service.
As they did, I thought back to WW2, & the years my parents were prisoners of the Japanese, & of the 900 men of the 1st Cavalry Division who dashed through 30 miles of enemy-held territory to rescue them. And I thanked God once again for those men.
As I stood there watching the presentation of the colors, the last one, carried with all due honor & respect, was 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!
And I must also admit that when I stand to pledge allegiance to our flag, or join in singing the "Star-Spangled Banner" or "God Bless America," I often get a catch in my throat or my eyes begin to mist.
B. Except for ancient Israel, there is probably no country in the world that has its beginning more entwined with religious beliefs than the United States. Look back over the history of our nation, & you will discover that our earliest forefathers came here in search of religious freedom.
They risked their lives, leaving their homes, crossing the ocean, because they wanted the right to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience.
And as you read the early history of our country, you realize that practically everything they professed was rooted in their religious convictions. In schools, the Bible was the main textbook, & God was a part of class discussions. And as children learned to read, they learned to read from the Word of God.
ILL. If you visit the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., you'll discover scripture verses all over its walls. If you take out your coins you'll see the words, "In God we trust." And Congress still opens its sessions with prayer.
As you research the early leaders of our nation, you’ll find that they unashamedly went to their knees in prayer time & time again, seeking both the wisdom & the power of God before important decisions were made.
ILL. Pres. John Quincy Adams wrote, "The highest glory of the American Revolution was that it connected the principles of Christianity with the principles of government."
And yet, we are now living in a time of strong & persistent efforts to remove any reminders of the "faith of our forefathers" & any indication of our nation's spiritual heritage.
As far as many are concerned, even the mention of God & His Word are not welcome in our public assemblies.
ILL. In the light of that, it is well to remember that Pres. Thomas Jefferson warned us, "Can the liberties of the nation be thought secure if we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of men that these liberties are a gift from God?"
C. This week, as we celebrate our nation's 241st birthday, it doesn't take much thought to realize that there have been some tragic changes in these 241 years.
Our country, which is often called "a Christian nation", now leads the world in its divorce rate, abortions, alcoholism, drug abuse, & violent crime. And our whole modern attitude about morality, about what is right & what is wrong, is no longer rooted in what is godly but what is popular.
PROP. I'm concerned about the United States. Have we, as a nation, gone too far? Is it too late for us? Or is it still possible to get back in step with God & once again become “one nation, under God” & be assured that His blessings will continue?
I. HOW GOD HAS DEALT WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
The only way to answer that is to look at the way God has dealt with other countries in the past - those which rejected Him, pushed Him aside, or simply ignored Him.
A. The story of 2 such nations is found in the O.T. books of Kings & Chronicles. It is the story of the nations of Israel & Judah.
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 discover that from the very first every king is evil, rejecting God & leading the people into worshiping pagan fertility gods.
Every king rebels against God's laws, until finally God has had enough & He brings about the destruction of the northern kingdom.
But when you read about Judah, the southern kingdom, you find a different story, for there were times when it had good kings who remained faithful to God, & the kingdom was blessed because of that.
But then some of the kings who ruled over Judah were evil, rejecting God & His laws. And in the books of 2 Kings & 2 Chronicles we read about one of them, a very evil king named Manasseh.
His father, Hezekiah, had been a good King, & faithful to God. But Manasseh did not follow his father's example. And as we read about him, we learn that Manasseh ruled over Judah for 55 years.
2 Chronicles 33:2-6 tells us, "He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites…
"He also erected altars to the Baals & made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts & worshiped them… In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts.
"He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination & witchcraft, & consulted mediums & spiritists."
And 2 Kings 21:16 adds, "Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end…"
B. Now here are 4 results of Manasseh's rule over Judah.
#1. Manasseh led the people away from God. He erected altars to pagan gods. And the temple Solomon had built & dedicated to the worship of God was defiled & forsaken.
During that time, almost the whole nation, even many of the priests, became involved with the occult, practicing sorcery & witchcraft, consulting mediums, seeking contact with the dead.
#2. The Bible says that the streets of Judah ran red with the blood of innocent people. Manasseh was cruel & sadistic, & the people became more & more like him, even sacrificing their children in the worship of pagan gods..
#3. The sanctity of marriage, of family & home, was ignored. Sexual perversion & immorality permeated society during his reign.
#4. The people completely ignored the prophets that God sent to warn them that they were going astray. 2 Chronicles 33:10 says, "The Lord spoke to Manasseh & his people, but they paid no attention."
C. Then we are told (2 Chronicles 33:11-13), "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 dis¬tress 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."
So for the last 3 or 4 years of his life, after Manasseh acknowledged God & repented of his sins, God accepted his repentance, forgave him, & restored him to his throne.
Then Manasseh tried to undo some of the evil he had done. 2 Chronicles 33:15-16 says, "He got rid of the foreign gods & removed the image from the temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill; & he threw them out of the city.
"Then he restored the altar of the Lord & sacrificed …on it, & told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel."
D. Manasseh changed his own life, but he was too late, unable to change his son's life. And when Manasseh died, Amon became King & was just as evil as his father had once been. He abandoned the reforms his father had made, rebuilt the pagan altars, & worshipped the pagan gods.
And most of the people of Judah were just like Amon. They didn't change for the better either. The nation had sunk so low that finally God said, "Enough!"
But before that happened there was an interesting change. By chapter 22 of 2 Kings, Amon has been assassinated, & Amon's son, Josiah, becomes King.
He was just 8 years old, & he ruled for the next 31 years. Josiah became a good king, & carried out the reforms that his grandfather Manasseh had started. He restored the worship of God in the temple. And lifted high the principles of the sanctity of life & marriage.
But despite that, there is a statement in 2 Kings 23:26-27 that says, “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…"
Even though good King Josiah tried so hard to bring the people back, it was too late. They were entrenched in their sins, & the result was their destruction!
So the Babylonians came & destroyed Jerusalem & the people of Judah were killed or taken captive – just as the prophets had predicted!
II. IS IT TOO LATE FOR US?
With that example in mind, I wonder - even though some of our leaders today still acknowledge & cling to the principles that once made our nation great, & which brought the blessings of God upon us - is it too late?
Like Judah, have we already gone too far? Have we reached the point of “no return” as far as the standards & morals of our nation are concerned?
Like other nations before us, have we begun that downward slide to disinte-gration, destined to drift off into history someplace & be forgotten? Oh, I hope not!
Listen again to God’s promise, "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." (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Maybe there is still time to turn the tide. Maybe there is still time to receive God's blessings once again.
INVITATION: One thing is for sure. It’s not too late for us as individuals. We still have the opportunity to turn to God, even as did Manasseh. And we can receive God's love, God's mercy, God's grace, & God's forgiveness.
You see, this morning you may be living in the land of liberty, enjoying the freedoms of our Constitution, but still lack the freedom that comes only from Christ. That’s why He came to earth & died on the cross – to set us free.
This freedom is yours, if you’ll come to Him this morning, surrendering your heart & will to Him. Today can be your personal Independence Day, if you’re willing. Won’t you come?
We give you that opportunity this morning as we offer His invita¬tion. And we pray that you will respond as we stand & as we sing. Will you come?
