The Only Hope for America

Tomorrow our nation turns 246 years old.

That means something to me, and I hope it means something to you.

Church, I fear for the future of our nation. I fear for the future of our children.

The survival of our country does not lie in Raleigh, it does not lie in Washington, it lies right here at Parks Crossroads Christian Church. You and I we hold the key to survival. Why do I say this? Because of what we read in 2 Chronicles 7:14

2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV 1900

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.

Let me be clear here on the context. This word was spoken by God to Solomon following the dedication of the temple. God spoke these words to confirm His answer to Solomon’s prayer. God spoke these words to Israel, not to the church. It is wrong for us today to read this verse and say “This is what God promised His church”. Look at that last phrase… “will heal their land” - God never promised His church any land, but He did promise a land to Israel. It is wrong to rip this verse from its context and lay claim to its promise for the church. Don’t believe me? Read 2 Chronicles 7:15

2 Chronicles 7:15 KJV 1900

15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

We have to take this verse with the previous one as they are connected. If we take verse 14 and say it is for the church today, then we shouldn’t be here. God’s promise was hear the prayer that was made in the temple Solomon built. BTW…that temple was destroyed, and there have been three temples built there, but God only promised to hear from the first one. Today there is a Muslim mosque sitting on the temple mount. How are going to pray there with no temple?

I said all of that so that you would understand the context in which this verse was written. There can be only ONE interpretation of Scripture. It means what it means when it was written, and it means what it means to whom it was written. However, while this verse may not have been written “To” us, it most certainly was written “for” us and we are going to make application to it today.

Church, there is hope for this country yet, and we, the church, are that hope.

How, today can we be the hope that America needs?

Consider the following truths of this promise:

The Nature of the Promise

There are in Scripture two types of covenants or promises that God typically makes: Unconditional and conditional.

An unconditional promise is made upheld strictly by God. In an unconditional promise God simply says “I will”.

A conditional promise, however, is different, it contains certain parameters that require our participation. God says, “I will, if you will”.

You will notice in 2 Chronicles 7:14, that the promise is most definitely conditional. “If my people will respond to me, then I will respond to them”. (Essence of the promise). First let us notice...

By Whom the Promise was Made

God

Plain and simple

God made this promise

Consider His nature

Titus 1:2 “2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”

God cannot tell a lie

When He makes a promise, it is as good as kept!

1 John 1:5 “5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

God cannot sin.

Therefore God will not break His promise!

God is never going back on His word, therefore, you can rest assured that He will hold up His end of the promise

When we consider that God will always uphold His end of the promise, what about the other party involved?

To Whom the Promise was Made

“My people” - Israel

They are His people.

He chose them in Abraham

He promises them that He will fulfill every aspect of this promise, even if they turned away from Him.

Boy did they EVER turn from Him!

Solomon eventually broke every command given to the kings of Israel

Married ungodly women

Hoarded treasure

Worshiped idols

The people turned their backs on God

Building false temples

Worshiping idols

Sacrificing their children

Yet, when they turned away from their sin, and turned back to God, He forgave them!

But this promise does not stop with Israel...

“My people” - the Church!

1 Peter 2:9 “9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

Peter was speaking to the church in this verse

We are God’s people, His spiritual children through faith in Jesus Christ!

God, in a real sense, is speaking to us in this verse, “If my people, which are called by my name...”

This speaks of our relationship (my people)

It speaks of fellowship (Called by my name)

We have a special connection with God as His Spiritual children

Like Israel we are prone to go astray!

1 John 2:1-2 “1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Like Israel, God gives us the chance to repent and turn back to Him, 1 John 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Listen to me, the nature of this promise, whether viewed in its context to Israel, or applied to us today, is still conditional! God promises in this verse that He will hear, forgive, and heal, if we will turn back to Him.

If the promise is conditional, the next we must learn...

The Conditions of the Promise

In order for us to receive God’s promised blessing there are four conditions we must meet. They are:

Humble ourselves - the word means to submit to God

Pride is rampant in our society

Don’t believe, me, what was last month known as?

Proverbs 11:2 “2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: But with the lowly is wisdom.”

Pride means “high mindedness”

Thinking highly of oneself

There are a lot of churches, pastors, and Christians guilty of this today!

Do not think you are immune

Do not think this “Won’t happen to me” or this “Won’t happen at our church”

Rather, be on guard, and be willing to humble yourself to God!

If we’re going to see God move in our country, then we, His church, must be willing to humble ourselves just like Israel was commanded to. We must also...

Pray - a very specific word here, meaning to intercede

The same word is used in Job 42:10 “10 And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

Israel in this verse was not being asked to pray for themselves, but for those who were living in outright sin!

Church, what do we do when we see the evil in our nation?

We complain.

We get angry.

We argue.

Church, what we need to do when we see the direction our nation is headed is to pray!

Pray for those you love that they will see the light and avoid sin’s pull.

Pray for those you struggle with loving, that you will be able to love them, after all, Jesus died for them too.

Pray for your leaders, THEY NEED IT!!! Even, especially the ones you do not agree with.

Pray for God to raise up men and women to lead in the right direction, then vote for them! (but don’t ever stop praying for them).

Pray for God to send peace in our land, to heal the division.

Pray for God to save lost souls in our land

Church, we need to pray

Next we need to...

Seek His face - this has the idea to put our extreme or great effort and suggests a willingness to obey.

Israel had to promise to live by GOd’s standard if they wanted to see God live up to His end

We are no different.

We must strive to live consistent Godly lives

We must stand on the Word and stand against the world

We must not apologize for speaking the truth, and we must not back down when we face opposition

The world wants us to cower in its presence.

God wants us to gather strength from Him.

The last condition we must keep...

Turn from our wicked ways - repent. Need I say more?

The word turn perfectly describes what repentance is

It means to turn from (wicked sinfulness) and turn to righteousness. Literally turning our back on sin.

Listen to me, if you love this country, if you love this church, if you want to see God move, then you must apply this verse and these conditions to your life! You must be willing to cast off your pride, pray for those you do not agree with, strive to be obedient to God, and repent of your sin! If you are willing to meet the conditions of this promise, then you are ready to see...

The Outcome of the Promise

Notice the last phrase in this verse… “Then”.

Then. When all of the above conditions have been met, God says, “Then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and will heal their land”.

Church, if you are not willing to meet the above conditions, then you will never see God keep His promise.

Psalm 66:18 KJV 1900

18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear me:

Again, let me point out that this promise was made to Israel. God never promised His church a “land”. However, if we make proper application here we see that God has promised to bless us with all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1.3 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” )

Church the way we see the outcome of this promise may not be the way we want or the way we expect. Let me explain:

To Israel God made material promises

A land

Wealth

An inheritance, etc.

To the church God has made spiritual promises, therefore the fulfilment of this promise to us is going to be different than to Israel

Our fulfilment will not necessarily be physical/material

Don’t expect God to cure our economy.

Don’t expect God to make you rich.

Don’t even expect God to necessarily heal your body

Although, all of these are within His power, they may not be in His will.

Our fulfillment will be spiritual

Meaning that when the church meets God’s requirements we will see:

Revival.

in our homes

our church

our nation

Souls saved - when the people of God do what God expects, God moves!

Peace in uncertainty - understanding that God will see us through

Grace for the challenges - the ability to endure what would otherwise be impossible

This is what it will look like when God “heals” our land. It will be God moving through His church which has devoted herself to keeping His requirements.

Conclusion: Listen to me, it is not too late for America, but it is not up to our politicians, it is up to the Christians in this country to turn back to God! He wants to forgive us, He wants to do something mighty in our church and in our land, but we must be willing to turn!

Are you ready? Are you willing to see God move? Will you:

Humble yourself before your God?

Pray for those you do not agree with.

Pray for their salvation

Pray for their safety

Pray for wisdom

Seek God’s face - devote yourself to being obedient to His will

Turn from your wicked ways - Christian, God is calling on you to repent. Will you?

The only hope for our nation is in God’s people doing what God expects. I have just laid out for you those expectations. What are you going to do with them?

Every head bowed this morning.

No one is looking around as they make their way up front.

In a few moments we’re going to stand and sing one verse of a song, but before we do, I want to ask you, has the Spirit of God moved in your hear today? I wonder, would you say, “Pastor God spoke to me this morning, and I want to do my part to live up to God’s expectations.” I wonder would you raise your hand today?

Maybe today you need to pray, this altar is open for you to do just that. Maybe today, God is calling you to repentance, to salvation. Today is the day, and now is the time to do so.