Update: Tuesday, March15, 2022
The host Timothy Williams is not a United States of American Christian.
Timothy Williams is not a republican, democrat, libertarian or independent Christian.
If he were God would be ashamed of him.
Timothy Williams would be disqualified for heaven if he were a red, white and blue, God, family and apple-pie Christian.
(Hebrews 11:13-16) All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
The Consider podcast at www.consider.info">www.consider.info is where we examine Today’s Events and Tomorrow’s Realities with an opinion that comes from God’s righteousness.
The Sin of Patriotism
Turn to Genesis 11, we’ll be getting there shortly. Today we’re going to talk about a topic where passions run deep. World wars have been fought over patriotism, individual’s lives have been destroyed because one man believes in his country versus someone else’s country. In Genesis 10:32 it says that God made us into different nations, we’re each made differently. It says:
Genesis 10:32 – These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.
God has made us different colors, different nationalities, He fashions us in different ways and yet we’re still supposed to be one family, one nation really under God. I’m not talking about the United States when I say that. What happened is after the flood men’s sin continued to grow. Let’s go to Genesis 11, starting in verse 1. Men decided to make a name for themselves, to be something. Each nation wants to be known for who they are, each nation has their own flag, they’re proud of their achievements and their accomplishments and what they have done. Within communities men are proud of their town, they’re proud of their families, they’re proud of who they are and so pride causes men to go to war with one another. In Genesis 11:1 it says:
Genesis 11:1 – Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
Everybody was united under one banner. It goes on to say:
Genesis 11:2-3 – As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
Man began to take things into his own hands. His pride welled up within him as they began to get together and they will want to make a name for themselves. Nations will talk about they have the largest building or having the most in this over here. Everybody wants to be known for what their nation does or has. Verse 4 says:
Genesis 11:4 – Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
Then they said after they have the plan of what they wanted to build that would give them renown they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city.” Men were not happy with the habitat that God had constructed called the earth and the universe. They wanted their own name and they wanted to stand out for who they were. God, you remember, had said for us to subdue the earth, to go out. Man is rebelling in a perfect way, he is not wanting to do what God has called him to do. They want to be united together and they want to sit down together and they want to say we are something great. We want a tower that gives ourselves glory and honor. We want to use brick and mortar. We want to begin to use things that we can conjure up and put together in order to make a name for ourselves. We want to be able to turn and say there is this tower that we have built that we have accomplished with our own hands. Verse 5:
Genesis 11:5 – But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
God comes down and He looks at each man’s heart, He looks at each nation and He begins to deal with their pride because He is God and He created everything.
Genesis 11:6 – The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.”
That’s an amazing statement that God says whatever man sets his hands to he will be able to accomplish. God made us in such a way that there is a tremendous power that we have but it all came from the Lord. And that power, that heart, and who we are can be used to glorify ourselves or to glorify God. God made us to worship Him and that aspect of worship when it begins to get perverted it begins to worship a nation called the United States or Argentina or England or wherever you live. People worship their families, they worship what they have accomplished, what they think they have done. And God is saying that if one language they are able to do this nothing will be impossible for them to do. We’re going to see that pride exaggerated when the antichrist comes on the scene when all men seek to return to one language for a common goal. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the language they have begun to do, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” Verse 7:
Genesis 11:7 – Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.
So God takes this pride and He begins to divide it up because if He allows it to remain then complete destruction would happen very quickly. In order to slow down man’s sin He divides man up and He begins to send them away. He begins to confound their speech and their efforts. God is seeking to humble them but it will not work in terms of humility because we have seen all through history one nation rising against another nation, one nation wanting to make a name for itself, to be exalted as somebody that is perfect or holy or their country is the best. Verse 8 says:
Genesis 11:8-9 – So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babelbecause there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
So man is scattered and each person goes to their own language, their own nationality, their own government, whatever it is that they want to form. And what we have seen all through the history is a tossing and turning as one nation tries to conquer another nation.
Look at Genesis 12:1. A life of faith is a call away from nationalism. All we have to do is look at Hitler and his goal to nationalize Germany, to make a name for Germany. All you have to do is to examine that the reason why he wanted World War II supposedly was to gain revenge for losing World War I, to undo the shame of losing to another country. In Genesis 12:1 a life of faith begins by leaving our country. Whether we’re from Italy or the United States or England or down south or wherever it might be.
Genesis 12:1 – The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”
God reaches down and He calls us out of our families. It doesn’t matter whether we’re Italian or German or Greek or slave or whatever we might be. It doesn’t matter if we live in Italy or France or wherever else it might be, God calls everyone who claims to be a Christian who would live a life of faith to leave behind their patriotism, to leave behind their nationalism, to leave behind who they are in order to become a people of God. Let’s look at it again: The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Verse 2 says:
Genesis 12:2 – I will make you into a great nation And I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
He calls men out into the kingdom of God, into God’s nation, into what God has in mind. So a life of faith means I leave behind my heritage, I leave behind my country and my family in order to become a part of a new nation in order to become a part of God.
Let’s go to Acts 21:35 because patriotism is something that resides in our heart. You can get a fight breaking out between men, you just walk into a bar or a situation and you say, “Oh, I think this country is the best.” Men will begin to argue and to fight and you can just back out of the scene. Everyone will be slinging things at each other and arguing about who is the greatest. It’s something that is deep within our hearts and that’s what we need to look at today. Because intellectually you can say yes, I’m a part of the kingdom of God. Intellectually you can say I belong to Jesus Christ, but it is in the heat of situations that really shows what resides in our hearts and really what is in our soul. The fourth of July for the United States everybody breaks out the fireworks and the celebrations and the barbeques in order to supposedly celebrate a godly nation coming into being. We’ll see here in a moment that this country was not founded upon God nor by God’s hand. He allows certain things and certain nations to arise up and to work and to achieve His purpose that we would not put our trust in any of the nations that are in the world but that we would put our trust in Him.
In Acts 21:35 we’re going to see the heart of Paul. It says:
Acts 21:35 – When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers.
You can see the heat of the battle in the situation that Paul is in. Paul is going to speak to this crowd and everybody is in such a riot that the only way the guards are going to be able to get him out is to literally lift him up and to carry him over the violence to a place where it is safe. In verse 36 it says:
Acts 21:36 – The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”
These people aren’t stepping away from the situation and what they’re saying about Paul is away with him. You might be wondering why we’re doing this and looking at all this because we’re going to see Paul’s response to all of this in a moment.
Acts 21:37-38 – As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied. “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?”
Now I want you to look at Paul’s response. Does he say, “No way, I’m not a terrorist”? Does he begin to defend himself? In the middle of this kind of riot, in the middle of this kind of battle, when the heat is there and everything about us would be to want to defend who we are, look at what Paul’s defense is. Look at the patriotism, so to speak, to put it in a worldly term, that comes out of Paul. Verse 39:
Acts 21:39 – Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”
And so what burns in your heart, to wave the flag for America or does it really burn within your heart that you are a citizen of no ordinary city? I might live in the United States, I might be in the city of Enumclaw, but I am a citizen of no ordinary city. And please let me speak to the people, he asks. What burns in the heart of men? And what do men fight for and what do they stand up and take their stand upon? It is a sin to be patriotic for the United States of America. It is a sin to be patriotic for England, Argentina, Mexico, whatever it might be, because everyone who becomes a Christian has aligned himself with the city of Heaven. And is a citizen of the city that is coming down from glory. And if that doesn’t burn in your heart then you’re not worthy to go into that city. And then you can drive up and down the streets of Enumclaw where we live and you can see American flags outside of churches. You can see American flags behind the pulpits. You can see all kinds of celebrations and what they are declaring when they do those things is we don’t belong to that city in Heaven. We belong to the world and we like the world the way it is.
Let’s go to Joshua 5:6. Because what conjures up within man is what? Oh, God was on our side. Every nation thinks God is on their side. Whether it’s the United States, Mexico or Canada, everybody that believes in some form of God thinks that God is on their side. In Joshua 5:6 we’re going to see that Joshua is preparing to go into battle into the Promised Land. It says:
Joshua 5:6-8 – The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.
When a man becomes circumcised to the Lord, when his heart becomes soft toward God he becomes a new creation along with belonging to a new city. Verse 9:
Joshua 5:9 – Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.
What else was rolled away for us? Hold your finger there in Joshua, you probably won’t have time to turn to it but Luke 24:1 tells us that the circumcision of being separated from the world Jesus Christ did when He rose from the dead. It says:
Luke 24:1-2 – On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and we are no longer a part of this world, the things of Egypt, the things of this world we have been circumcised from. And each of us belongs to a city that is coming down from glory but Joshua is going to be taught a very important lesson about this in just a moment. Let’s look at verse 10 of Joshua 5:
Joshua 5:10 – On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover.
These are a people coming out and being separate. Celebrating that Jesus Christ has rescued them from their sins, that they have been separated from the world, that they no longer belong to the world.
Joshua 5:11 – The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land; unleavened bread and roasted grain.
They’re eating without yeast, they’re eating in purity, they’re eating without sin in their lives.
Joshua 5:12 – The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.
Now look at verse 13, Joshua is going to learn a very important lesson about what? Where he belongs and who he belongs to.
Joshua 5:13 – Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
We know that God was with Joshua and that God had led the people out of Egypt. And God had brought them to the Promised Land. If anybody could have said that God was with them it would have been Joshua and his army. In verse 14 the angel answers what? Neither.
Joshua 5:14 – “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
As a commander of the Lord’s army he is saying to Joshua, “I am not for you or against you. I belong to God.” To put it in our human terms the angel or the soldier is saying, “My nationality, my city belongs somewhere else. It is not of this world and I am only for the living God.” And that’s the kind of people we are to be. We’re never to ask is God for me or against me in terms of if we go to war as our nation or our country. We are to be only for the Lord and whatever He wills and whatever He wants to work. It dawns on Joshua who he belongs to. And he falls down in humility before him and says, “Okay, what is your message?” It dawns upon Joshua leave behind nationality, leave behind who you think you are. Leave behind the thought that you are Joshua and God backs you up. It’s not that kind of thing. It is the Lord his God that he serves and is supposed to love. Verse 15 says:
Joshua 5:15 – The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
There is to be nothing of the works of man between us and God. It is holy ground. God doesn’t need the United States of America. He doesn’t need our nationality, He doesn’t need the fact that we’re Jewish or white or Caucasian or whatever it might be. Take off your sandals, that which man has created. God created the world, He put men where He wanted them to be and that is sufficient. And there is to be nothing that separates, none of works of man between what? Between God and between man. The commander of the Lord’s army said, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” It is sufficient enough that I belong to God, I don’t have to be God and America. It is sufficient that I belong to no ordinary city. And anything that I might create, anything that I might envision, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, everything that comes from that, the sandals that I wear that come from America, nothing is to separate me from the earth God created and who He is. That is sufficient. And the pride and the boasting and the fighting that comes from anything else is sin.
In Exodus 17:15 it says:
Exodus 17:15 – Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.
That is who we are to march forward with, that is who we are to be, that is all that we are to represent. If somebody were to ask me, “Does God support America?” The answer is, “I don’t know. He’s not for or against. All I know is to serve and to love God and that’s all that matters. And I don’t belong to this city. I’m looking for a different home somewhere else.”
In 1 Peter 2:9 it tells us that when we become Christians we become illegal aliens automatically. 1 Peter 2:9, when you become a true Christian the world will hate you, every single nation, we’ll see here in a moment, will hate you. We become automatically when we are baptized and come out of that water, as far as the world is concerned, we become illegal aliens. There is nowhere we can go. 1 Peter 2:9 Peter says this:
1 Peter 2:9 – But 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.
It’s amazing to me the churches that will use this Scripture and have flags of the United States behind their altars, behind their pulpits. What does that say to the rest of the world that we’re ministering to and being missionaries to? That the United States has a handle on righteousness? That somehow God is more with us than with their nation? Not only is that a lie but it’s not even close to the truth. But 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. I have a choice between the glory and the light of the United States and the glory of Jesus Christ. There is no contest. One is utter darkness and one is pure holiness.
1 Peter 2:10 – Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
So what does it say in verse 11? How then shall I live now that I have become a child of God? Now that I belong to Him? Now that I’ve become a holy nation? It says in verse 11:
1 Peter 2:11 – Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
You become an illegal alien. They don’t want you here and you don’t want to be here. And you’re hiding out spending your time trying to make a living until Jesus Christ comes back to form the nation that He is starting now. We are to be strangers in this world. We don’t know how to talk, we don’t know how to relate, we don’t know their customs, we don’t know what to do. To become a Christian literally means that you will be transported automatically when you come out of baptism water and you’re in the middle of Peking, China, and you’re supposed to communicate and know how to act and like the food. We become aliens, we become strangers to everything about us that has to do with the world, and that includes nationalism and patriotism. We can’t relate to it, we can’t understand it, only those who idolize the United States can possibly understand why they worship the United States.
In Numbers 23:8 Balaam says:
Numbers 23:8-9 – How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced? From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
Then listen to what Balaam says, a false prophet says who is speaking truth for once in his life. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations. We are to be a people who are Christians who do not consider us to be a part of the United States of America. Whatever country a Christian lives in, do you really think they want to consider themselves to be a part of China that persecutes them? Or of Russia? I see a people, does the world see a people in this country?” I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations. Do you consider yourself an American? Then you need to repent. Do you consider yourself a patriotic American? Then you need to pray and fast and weep and repent.
In Hebrews 11:13 it tells us that only those people that are not looking for some place they can settle down in this world go to heaven. Hebrews 11:13, it says:
Hebrews 11:13 – All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
Look at what it says in Hebrews 11:13. Look at what they freely admitted. Listen to what they declared with their mouth: And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. We all fit in. You know there ought to be days when you sit down in your prayer closet and you’re sitting before the Lord and you simply say, “I want to go home. I’m sick and tired of this place called earth. I don’t belong anywhere. I don’t fit. I feel alone. When can I go home? When can I go to the country for which I really belong?” Verse 14:
Hebrews 11:14 – People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
We don’t have a country, Christians don’t have a country in this world. We don’t belong to the United States of America. If anybody thinks that they’re a Christian in the United States of America they need to become a Christian. They need to become a true Christian because the minute you become a true Christian the United States of America will not want you. Verse 15 says:
Hebrews 11:15 – If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
If they had been thinking about the fact that they moved to Mexico and they’re American citizens and they’re looking for a country of their own and that they want to return to that, that’s where they could have gone. But to be a Christian means there isn’t one single place on the globe that you can point to that says, “This is my country, this is where I belong.” Look at verse 16:
Hebrews 11:16 – Instead, they were longing for a better countrya heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
What kind of country? A heavenly country. Yes, there is one place where you can be patriotic. It’s toward the country that is coming from heaven and it’s not here yet. Instead, they were longing for a better countrya heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. When somebody stands up and says, “I’m an American Christian,” when they wave that flag, God is ashamed to call them His children. When they march up and down in the parades and parade their sin, as Isaiah puts it, saying, “We’re Americans and we’re celebrating the fourth of July,” when we teach our children the lie that our country was founded by godly men and godly principles and we do all of these things what we are telling God is to be ashamed of us in glory. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them. It is no wonder Paul says what? I am a citizen of no ordinary city. And he says it under pressure, he says it when everybody is coming against him, that’s what burns within his heart. He is patriotic toward one thing, the city of God.
There are people who used to talk that they would go see Hitler speak. And they would be thoroughly against Hitler in every fashion and opposing him in every way. And they would go and they would sit and listen to his speeches and by the time he was done they were standing up giving the Heil Hitler. Without God being our only love we will embrace nationalism, we will embrace being an American or a Communist, whatever it might be. Let’s understand one thing clearly. Let’s look at 1 John 5:19 and let’s believe what God is telling us right now. The United States of America is controlled by Satan. Period. Either that or God is a liar. If that is not true then we can take our Bibles and we can throw them in trashcans on the way out. 1 John 5:19 tells us this:
1 John 5:19 – We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
We know that we are children of God, we know that as a fact. Everybody who knows or thinks they know that they are a child of God, they accept that as an absolute fact. You can ask people that and they will say it adamantly, “Yes, I’m a child of God.” Well, then, let’s accept the rest of what we’re going to read here. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole worldevery nation, every nationality, every government, everything in this world is what? Controlled by the evil one. Satan controls the United States of America. Now I don’t want everybody to go off on some paranoid tangent and write several different books about the secret societies that are going on or open your dollar bill and there’s a little triangle there with a little eyeball and see that proves Satan is in charge. I already knew that before you opened your wallet or read the book. I don’t really care, it’s just a fact. Satan controls the United States, he controls every country, he is influencing and controlling the world. That is a proven fact. Now let’s get on with dealing with that fact.
In Jeremiah 9:3 I want to talk about America just briefly. If anyone doesn’t think that the United States isn’t controlled by the evil one they need to do a study of injustice that’s in this land. From abortion to all kinds of things that’s in the United States proves that the evil one is in charge. There is not justice in this land. Prosecutors that prosecute criminals will go and get other criminals to testify against that criminal. It doesn’t matter whether you’re innocent or whether you’re guilty or whatever the case might be, all they care about is to what? Win the court case. You look at the laws, you look at the rules, you look at everything that is set out, it is against Christians in every single way and it’s only by God’s grace that we can work and move within those situations. In Jeremiah 9:3 it says:
Jeremiah 9:3 – “They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.
Is it truth to say that a woman can abort her child? Is it truth that our justice system represents justice? It’s justice for who can afford the most justice, it’s not justice at all. And yet everybody wants to worship a piece of paper called the Declaration of Independence thinking it’s giving us something good. They say, “Shouldn’t we celebrate our freedom?” Freedom to what? Die in our pleasures, freedom to die in our sins, freedom to come and to go so that nobody worships God anymore? There used to be blue laws in this country where stores couldn’t be open on Sunday. Now everybody is free to do whatever they want and people don’t go to church. It isn’t by truth that we triumph in the land. “They go from one sin to another, they do not acknowledge Me,” declares the Lord. For all our bravado and our singing and our talking about God in the United States it is evident that the United States is controlled, influenced by Satan, and the United States loves it.
If anyone who claims to be a Christian thinks otherwise they need to become a true Christian and face some real battles. They need to open their eyes and look at the injustice in this land. Before we ever start talking about God is on our side, that somehow God formed this country. In fact, In Romans 13:1 it tells us that America is America the rebellious. I have asked time and time again, individuals will say that God started this country, that godly men formed this country, that our constitution is formed on godly principles, they may have borrowed some things from the Bible but I always ask them, “How do you deal with the fact that God declares that if you rebel against governing authorities you are rebelling against God?” And this whole nation was formed, its whole base was upon rebelling against England. Romans 13:1:
Romans 13:1 – Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Had I lived at the time that this country was thinking about being formed I would have looked at this Scripture and said, “Okay, England is the one who is in power. England is the one who rules over here in the United States. I do not have a right or a privilege and God’s Spirit is not moving me to rebel against them.” Verse 2:
Romans 13:2 – Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
And I have asked time and time again for an explanation of this and time and time again I get no explanation. The best explanation I’ve had is, “Well, sometimes God is just doing something different.” Something different than His Word? Something different than He already set down? That requires a full explanation if you want to bring that to me. Let no one deceive themselves with the march on the fourth of July and the fireworks and the celebrations celebrating our independence, celebrating our rebellion against England, we are celebrating our sin. Every one of those individuals that signed the Declaration of Independence was rebelling against England and will suffer judgment for what they did. They were not godly men because godly men do not rebel against the authorities that God has instituted. Now God might have let this nation rise up but it wasn’t through godly men in prayer closets. It wasn’t through men that went back and said, “Lord, what should we do?” and God says, “We’ll disregard Romans 13:2 and start a new nation.” America is America the rebellious and what do we see all down through history? A constant rebellion. We see men rebelling against one another, that independent spirit separating man in every way. We see rules and laws where everybody is only concerned about their rights and what they get and what we see now is the heritage of that where everybody takes everybody to court and everybody is fighting against everybody else, where love doesn’t reign in the land. Goodness, I can’t even walk from my house to downtown where I live without putting my life in danger. They’re remodeling, they’re rebuilding the downtown, there’s lots of detours and everybody is inconvenienced. And if you walk across the street people are not stopping because they’re inconvenienced, they have a right to move forward, they have a right to do what they want, selfishness reigns in the land. Not holiness and not righteousness and not a selfless love. Because why? It all started when men rebelled against the governing authorities that God had established. It was all about money anyway, and I don’t have time to get into all that, but we see that’s what America is all aboutmoneynot religious freedom.
In Luke 21:17 it tells us there will come a time when all nationsall nationsall men will hate Christians and that includes America. That includes whatever country you belong to. All men will hate you because of Me, Jesus said.
Luke 21:17 – All men will hate you because of me.
And in Matthew 24:9 Jesus puts it this way:
Matthew 24:9 – Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
The United States of America will at some point hate all true Christians. It is a sure thing in Jesus Christ. So do I want to go marching up and down and celebrating the fourth of July? Do I really want to stand before God and say, “I had the American flag in my church, or I had it out front and I’m proud to unite myself with the United States of America?” From the slavery issue to the abortion issue to the freedoms taken away from man to the enslavement and pleasure, I really want to stand before the living God and say I’m united with this country called the United States? I don’t even unite myself with the soldier that was standing toward Joshua and I don’t say, “This is who I’m with.”
Revelation 18:1:
Revelation 18:1-3 – After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
Does that not sound like the United States of America, to you? It is no wonder that our dollar bills say in God we trust. Satan likes to tack on his blaspheme while he has the pyramid and the eyes and everything else that is there. And what is America known for? Taking the things of this world at the cost and expense of other people. And what does it say in verse 4?
Revelation 18:4 – Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;”
Then I heard another voice from heaven say what? Celebrate Independence Day with her? Go embrace Babylon the Great, the great prostitute, and have a good time? It says come out of her, My people. We are an alien people, we are to be a separate people. It is a sin to be patriotic for the United States of America just because of who it is. Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.
Revelation 18:5 – for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.
You don’t think for a moment that God isn’t backing up looking at the United States saying those sins are being piled up to heaven? That the United States is known for its revival meetings and its holiness and its purity? Goodness, even the Muslin world looks at us as Babylon the Great. They’re no better than we are but at least they’re calling the cards right in that direction. Everybody around me says they want the heart of God and I know a lot of people who say they have the heart of God or they desire the heart of God or they’re like David. Well let’s look at the heart of God concerning nations. Isaiah 40:15. You want the heart of God then you get this heart. When God looks at the United States, when He looks at England, when He looks at any country in this world He says:
Isaiah 40:15 – Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket: they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket, they are nothing to the living God. What does He care I’m part Italian and part German? What in the world is that? Does He care whether I come from Germany or whatever country I come from? Does He really care about my pride and relationship to who I am and how I was created? Indeed, it was Satan who looked at himself and became proud of who he was that caused him to fall from heaven. Shall we then as a country look at ourselves and say oh we’ve done all these grand things? Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket: they are regardedthis is how God views countries and nationsthey are regarded as dust on the scales. Dust on the scales, something there but not worth anything, not of any measurement whatsoever. He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
I used to live on Guam when I was a kid and everybody was proud to be a Guamanian. It’s like dust, it’s fine dust, a small island 24 miles big. And when God looks at it He says, “It’s but fine dust.” Verse 16:
Isaiah 40:16 – Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
Look at verse 17, this is the heart of God when He looks at the United States, when He looks at any country to which we belong.
Isaiah 40:17 – Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
Before Him all the nations are nothing, and so shall we celebrate our nothingness? When we hear the President giving a speech, standing up and saying, “Oh, we’re nothing as a nation”? When he brings in the name of God in his speeches and he says, “By the way, God looks at us at totally nothing, we’re of no significance whatsoever.” And we bring in the blaspheme, we bring in God, we never learned the lesson Joshua learned, we never fall in humility before God. Before Him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by Him as worthless. I know we’re back to that word again, worthless. Romans talks about it, the cross talks about it, but the nations are worthless because what are nations? They’re made up of a bunch of men who are worthless. Before Him the nations are nothing; they are regarded by Him as worthless. His attitude toward the United States is one that it is worthless, soon to be cast aside, soon to be judged, and less than nothing. You’re in the negative territory. We’re not even nothing, we’re less than nothing. We’re more than nothing, we’re anti-nothing, whatever that is, we’re beyond being nothing. That is the heart of God. Now is that what men are celebrating? Is that what the church will rejoice in? Is that what we see in the heart of Christians? It’s no wonder Paul can say in the middle of a riot, being drug away by soldiers, “I am a citizen of no ordinary city,” because that city is of value, because that city demands all of my heart and that city is worthy.
2 Peter 3:10 tells us we have a better home than this country. Why would we want to embrace nothing? 2 Peter 3:10 tells us:
2 Peter 3:10 – But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
The day of the Lord will come like a thief and all of men’s celebrations and all of men’s glory, man, think of all the world wars you’ve seen. Pictures of Russia bringing their missiles down on the town squares with their flags all over the place. And China marching in its parade to what? The glory of its nation. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Everything is going to be burned up. The American flag will not be in heaven. You are not going to be up there, there’s the flag, and you rally to that over there if you’re from America, or the English flag or the Mexican flag and everybody go find their flags. Verse 11:
2 Peter 3:11 – Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives
Everything will be laid bare, everything about what the United States is really about will be laid bare. Now we only see the surface, brothers and sisters. I don’t know about you but when we back up and we read our newspapers and we look at the lives around us and we see all the sin around us we only see the surface. What will happen when God lays it bare and the secret motives of men’s hearts and the secret deals in the back? Verse 11, since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? Patriotic? A little hat with the American flag on it? Sparklers running around your front yard? What kind of people should we be? Celebration of the United States of America, you want to draw attention to God? Yea. You ought to live holy and godly livesverse 12:
2 Peter 3:12 – as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
Now verse 13 says:
2 Peter 3:13 – But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
The United States, every nation, every country, every nationality, everything is going to be burned up after being laid bare. In Revelation 22:1 there’s a new city coming, the great city that Paul talked about. If I have patriotism that’s where it’s at. Revelation 22:1:
Revelation 22:1 – Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
Does the United States have that flowing anywhere in any city that you know? All the fountains that are around and all the decorations, where’s the river of life? We give our allegiance to concrete and water. We worship the work of our hands. You show me water in this land that is clear as crystal. Flowing from the throne of God and of the Lambif that was the only Scripture I had, if that was the only piece of Scripture I was told about I would pour contempt upon the United States of America. Everything it has given me has been polluted and tainted by sin. Everything. Verse 2:
Revelation 22:2 – down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
No longer will there be the sin of patriotism. Men will be humble looking only to the Lamb. No longer will man be proud of who he is and where he comes from, they’ll all be looking to the Lamb, drinking from the river of life. Verse 3:
Revelation 22:3-4 – No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
Perfect communion and perfect relationship.
Revelation 22:5 – There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Does the United States give me anything remotely related to that? Every month I have to pay a utility bill. To turn on the lights in my living room I’ve got to send them cash. This light I will never need what? The light of the sun. His light will shine and I will be in perfect fellowship with a God that is perfect love. And I’m going to be patriotic for the United States of America? All it does is enslave people around the world and enslave its people. People are patriotic because they love this world, they love what their country can give to them. They’re selfish to the core. That’s why God is ashamed to say they’re His children.
In 1 Corinthians 13:4, now I’m going to appeal just on the basis of love. 1 Corinthians 13:4 tells us that:
1 Corinthians 13:4 – Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
Would I ever begin to boast against England that we conquered them and they couldn’t win a war against us? Love would never do that. Should a man stand up and say that he is a part of the United States of America and that he is proud of that, boasting over another man? It is the opposite of love. Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. And so when you see the banner that says “Proud to be an American,” proud that it’s “Made in America,” you’re looking directly at the opposite of love. When you march up and down the street you’re causing other people in other parts of the world to envious us. Why do you think most of the world hates us? We provoke them to envy. We take the world’s resources, we use them for ourselves, we have excess luxury. They know that we take all of those things and take advantage of any situation we can in order to make the money for the comfort that we have in our life. We have radio show hosts that boast that this is proper and this is good and that this comes from God and all that you do is increase within people around the world that are in poverty and all kinds of struggles is envy. It is the opposite of love.
And so we should be a people without any regard that if somebody taunts us and says, “Oh, you’re from America,” or you tease them and go, “Oh, you’re from England,” it shouldn’t bother them at all because why? Pride is not present in those who love. You can say, “Oh, that’s no problem. I’m a man of no ordinary city.”
In Colossians 3:9 it says:
Colossians 3:9-10 – Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Now Colossians 3:11 tells us this, that in Jesus Christ there is no Greek or Jew. I’m not an Italian, I’m not a German, I’m not anything in Christ Jesus. I just belong to Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is not for Italians, He’s not against Italians. He is for Himself because He is holy and He is righteous.
Colossians 3:11 – Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
And when I look at my brothers and sisters I don’t see a nationality, I don’t see a color, I don’t see where they come from, I don’t see their status, I don’t see anything but the fact that they belong to the same kingdom that I belong to. It is a perfect love for one another because it comes from a God who is perfect, that loves us all perfectly. It is a sin to be patriotic, to say, “I am an American.” Americans around the world are known for their pride and their arrogance. That’s what precedes us. If you travel anywhere that’s what we are known for. And, indeed, if you watch Americans behave they act like they own the world. They take advantage of the world but they don’t own it.
In Micah 4:5, this should be our banner, this should be our motto, this should be our Scripture, this is our patriot Scripture if you need to do that:
Micah 4:5 – All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.
All the nations may walk in the name of their gods. America may have the name of its gods, Mexico, the name of its. We will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. When I become a new creation in Jesus Christ I leave behind the nation for which I was born into. And it is a grand nation. Isaiah, and this is our last passage today, Isaiah 11:10.
Isaiah 11:10 – In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
In that day the Root of Jessetalking about Jesus Christ. Will stand as a banner for the peoples. When you get to heaven or whenever this is formed, there will be a banner there for Jesus Christ and all those running toward it will find Him to be grand. I dare say that if Jesus Christ put up a banner called “Jesus Christ” then you had every nation’s flag out there they would separate themselves automatically. They would fool themselves into thinking God is with America and with me. The United States doesn’t give me rest. It is Egypt, it is a place of slavery and toil. It is hard battles that are fought. It taunts me with pleasure constantly. It seeks to drag me down into loving money. It seeks to blaspheme God in tacking on “In God We Trust” on everything. We go to war and we do it in the name of the Lord. We pray for our wars before we go. But it is not God’s glory we seek, it is our own comforts and our own pleasures.
Brothers and sisters, let us not ever be patriotic toward any country in this world. But let us look heavenward or somewhere else where a city is coming down from there.
Let’s go ahead and pray.
Father, we praise You for that home that is coming from glory, that city. We praise You, Father, for the healing of the nations that You will bring that will grow, Father, from the tree and the river of life. We pray, Father, that You come quickly and that You bring justice, You bring purity, and may You not be ashamed of us, Father, for this world really is not our home and we are as the hymn says, just passing through. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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