Noelle Pikus Pace
Did you watch any of the Winter Olympics? Did you root for the Americans to win? My wife doesn’t like sports at all, but she even watched some of the Winter Olympic games. She rooted for the Americans to win, just like my daughter and I did. My favorite Olympian of the games was Noelle Pikus-Pace. She is an American who participated in the Skeleton event. She won a silver medal at the Olympics. The amazing thing is that she puts her family first, so she only gets to work out for about 2 hours a day. Most Olympic athletes train around 6 to 8 hours a day. It’s easy to have national pride, American pride over Noelle Pikus-Pace and her second place finish at Sochi.
Personally, I used to be proud to be an American and not just during the Olympics. I’m talking about real national pride. I’m still proud of the many men and women who have served our country valiantly over the years, including our current service men and women. America was the first country to put a man on the moon. We used to have what was called American ingenuity. A man used to work hard for a day’s wage and produced a good product. We used to lead the world in the area of technology. We used to be a great nation. We used to be the envy of the world. Yes, I used to be proud to be an American.
Unfortunately, American pride doesn’t mean what it used to mean. Just about every week now we see some famous or almost famous person or sports star that comes out loud and proud that they are gay. They say that they are proud to be gay and they want the whole world to know it. Then the media and everyone around these proud people trip all over themselves saying how proud they are that these people are proud of themselves. There’s so much pride going around that you can’t even keep up with all of it. But none of it is the old-fashioned kind of national pride.
Now it’s all pride over sexual immorality. So many people are proud today, but they are proud of their sexual immorality and they want everyone to know it and accept it as being “normal.” Where will it end? Polygamist want their rights. Bi-sexuals want their rights. Pedophiles want their right to “love” a child, they even have an organization in Europe that’s trying to make this abomination legal. (It makes me gag just writing these words). People that are into bestiality will be clamoring for their rights too.
There is no end to our debauchery in America. Real national pride or American pride is gone and the new thing is to be proud of your sexual preferences, your sexual immorality and then you need to try to cram it down everyone’s throat that what you are doing is not only ok, but that it is progressive and modern. You say that you are only looking for equal rights. Anyone who disagrees with you is a homophobe, hatemonger, backwards or a redneck.
There is no way that God can be for America any more. As a country as a whole, people are screaming that they don’t need God and that they don’t even believe in God. America is speeding straight to Hell and our country is heading there faster and faster every day. It doesn’t matter if the majority of Americans are in favor of same sex marriages. It doesn’t matter if most American’s are “open-minded” and think that all sexual perversions and immorality are alright. It doesn’t matter that many American’s are also proud of all the people coming out about how proud they are about their sexual preferences and deviations.
God resists the proud. I repeat: God resists the proud. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. America is not a humble nation; so not only is God not for us, He now resists us! James 4:4-6 says Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Our nation at a minimum is out of God’s favor and on a worst case, we are actually under God’s judgment. This will only get worse unless we repent as a nation – as a whole and cry out for God to forgive us. We need to turn away from our sins and turn back to God. Psalm 7:11 states God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. Did you catch that? God is angry with the wicked every day. There are no exclusions in that verse. Do not be deceived. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). Psalm 34:14-16 says Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
Not only does God resist the proud, but He is angry with unrepentant sinners. Ephesians 5:3-6 states: But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becomes saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Are you disobedient to God?
The apostle Paul also tells us not to be deceived: sexually immoral people will not make it to Heaven. Neither will idolatrous people, nor thieves nor drunkards. The list is long in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Please read these words carefully: Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Do you find yourself on this list? Please note it doesn’t say you Bob or you Janey are excluded from this list. There are no exceptions! That’s why Paul says be not deceived! Then in verse 11, Paul says such were some of you. Many true believers (myself included) used to be sexually immoral people, or drunkards or thieves or all of these. But when you are saved, you are transformed by the Holy Spirit. You are no longer the wretched sinner you once were.
Sure true believers still struggle with sin. But by the work of the Holy Spirit, we should be more Christ-like today than we were yesterday, when you are a true follower of Jesus Christ. Are you saved? Have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb? Have your sins been forgiven? Have you repented from your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone to save you? Can you say that you are God’s child? If not, please recognize today that you are lost. Please recognize that you cannot earn your way to Heaven. Please realize that you cannot save yourself. You cannot work your way to Heaven. Ignoring God and His truth will not make it go away. It won’t change the reality of Hell that awaits all unrepentant sinners.
Jesus Christ is the only perfect sacrifice. Only the perfect, sinless Son of God can take away your sins. Jesus died on the cross for sinners like you and me, but you must receive the free gift of salvation (Romans 5:1). You have to recognize that your sins are an abomination to almighty God and that you can’t get rid of one sin, no matter how sorry you are for it or how deeply you try to bury it, you cannot make your sin go away. But when you trust Jesus, when you are truly born again, God casts your sins as far as the East is from the West. He remembers them no more. God now sees you through the righteousness of Jesus because God laid your sins upon His sinless Son while Jesus hung on that cruel, cruel cross.
But this great exchange (your sins for Jesus’ righteousness) only happens if you repent and put your faith in Jesus. Are you proud today? Are you an arrogant, proud and rebellious sinner? Are you proud of your sins? Are you living loud and proud? Please repent and believe the Gospel. Please humble yourself before the One True God and cry out for Him to forgive you; for Him to have mercy on you – a sinner.
Are you ready to surrender your life to Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you ready to say: Your will Lord be done, not mine? Are you ready to be saved? Are you ready to submit your life to Jesus? Are you ready to deny yourself, pick up your cross daily and follow Him? Are you ready to get rid of all of your pride? Are you ready? Or are you still a proud American, the new kind of proud American? Are you full of the wrong kind of pride? Repent and put your trust in Jesus. Do this today.
(This message was lifted up at Missouri State University and downtown Springfield, MO on February 21, 2014).