Land of Confusion
The message tonight is about America. It is about the land of confusion. But before I get into that discussion, I want to talk about the original land of confusion, the tower of Babel. There was only one language before the tower of Babel was built. But God stopped men from building the tower. We now have the different languages around the world and people inhabit different areas of the world because God confused the language of men.
Original Land of Confusion
Genesis 11:1-9 says: And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Why Did Men Build The Tower?
Some people believe that men wanted to build the tower to protect them from another flood, but the Bible doesn’t say that. Plus God said that He would never destroy the earth by flood again. He even gave us the rainbow as a sign. That’s right, the rainbow was never meant to support LGBT, it is a sign from God that He will not flood the whole earth again.
Others believe these men wanted to reach up to God. But the Scriptures say nothing about them wanting to worship God or their wanting to be close to God. (By the way, none of us can reach up to God in Heaven. That’s why He sent His Son to be the atonement for guilty sinners who repent and believe the Gospel. We can’t reach God, so He reached down to us.)
The wording here in Genesis 11 is very plain and clear. They wanted to build a city and a tower to make a name for themselves. They wanted to be famous. They wanted to stand back and say look at what we built with our own hands. In other words, they were looking for pride and glory.
They wanted to glorify themselves and not God. They wanted to build a city like no other and a tower like no other so that they would receive all the glory. So they could make a name for themselves. (A modern day example is all the buildings we see named after rich people who donated money for the buildings.)
Pride Is A Great Sin
Pride is the sin that caused Lucifer (also known as Satan) to be kicked out of Heaven and it is still the main cause of sin today. People reject God because of pride. “I’m going to do it my way, not God’s way.” “Nobody’s going to tell me what to do.” “Everything is relative, you do what you want to do and I’ll do what I want to do.” “I’m my own boss.” These are just a few examples of pride that keeps people focused on themselves instead of focusing on God.
Many people are still running around confused today. America is the land of confusion on steroids! People foolishly try to say that we are born gender neutral, yet nothing could be farther from the truth. We are born male or female after God’s own image. He forms each and every one of us in the womb. He is the one who gives us life. You are born a boy or a girl. There shouldn’t be any confusion and there isn’t any neutrality. So why is there? Pride.
America is the modern day land of confusion and there’s no greater example of this pride than transgenderism. Every person who “feels” or “wants’ to be the opposite gender is telling our great Creator God that He made a mistake. That they know better than the all-knowing, all powerful and ever present God. I can’t think of anyway that you can be more prideful than this very basic sin of telling God that He made a mistake. That He made you the wrong gender. God does not make mistakes!
Sexual Immorality And Murder
Our nation is also morally confused with our heterosexual immorality. More young adults are fornicating than are married. A few cops have killed civilians and evil people are murdering cops. America is also sadly the land of confusion when it comes to the sanctity of life. A child in the womb is not a fetus, a clump of cells or a choice.
A child in the womb is a child that just hasn’t been born yet, but a child nonetheless. The Bible clearly calls a pregnant woman as being with child. Yet, in the last 44 years we have viciously murdered over 58 million babies in the womb. Talk about confusion. As a nation, we are brutally murdering the most innocent and defenseless of us.
All rebellion against God is sin, but pride is the worst. No matter what your sin of choice is, when you rebel against God, you foolishly are telling Him that you know better than He does. That you are rejecting what He says and you are doing what you want to do. Pride is the sin of all sin. It is man putting himself in place of God.
The United States of America is a very prideful nation. Sadly, many people are proud of our gender confusion. We are proud of our wealth. Our nation is proud of our accomplishments. But we have nothing to be prideful about. Every good gift comes from the Father above. We live in a country with amazing natural resources. We are fortunate to be here where God has placed us. But as a nation, instead of thanking God, we stand back and say “look at what we have done.” Sounds a lot like what the men said who were building the tower of Babel.
The Proud Is An Abomination To God
But heed the warning my fellow Americans. Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil (Proverbs 16:5-6). The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud (Proverbs 16:17-19).
Pride goes before destruction. The way of the wicked ends in destruction. Those who die in their sins without humbly coming to Jesus, will suffer eternal damnation and destruction. Just like the destroyed the plans of the prideful men who tried to build the tower of Babel, God destroys modern day prideful people too. Oh, they may “get away with it” for a while, but there is judgment coming. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.
There is Hell to pay. All unrepentant sinners have the lake of fire and brimstone to look forward to. Sadly, most of them are so prideful they don’t see the need to repent. They don’t understand and don’t want to understand that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. No, they want to continue doing things their way.
Are You Prideful?
Is this you tonight? Are you so prideful that you won’t listen to the Gospel? Are you a God hating, proud person tonight? If you continue resisting God, He will continue resisting you. He will continue being against you. A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit (Proverbs 29:23).
James 4:5-7 states: 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. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate (Proverbs 8:13).
Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him (Jeremiah 50:31-32). God spoke these words against the Babylonians. Yes, the same Babylonians that God used to punish the rebellious Israelites, God punished them for their pride.
You may think tonight that you are in control, that you can stand against God, but you are wrong. The prideful will fall. Destruction, everlasting destruction is what awaits you if you die a proud, unrepentant sinner. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Humble Yourself
It is humbling to admit that you are a sinner and that God is Holy. Most people don’t want to admit when they are wrong. But humble yourself tonight and come to Jesus. Stop stumbling around in the darkness. Quit running around being confused. Jesus is the light, the great light that is come into the world. Come to the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and He can fill you with peace that surpasses all understanding.
You don’t need to continue living in confusion. The majority of Americans may be confused today, but you don’t have stay that way. You don’t have to stay bound to your sins and bound to Satan. Come to Jesus and be set free. Repent and put your trust in Jesus. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5-6). When Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, He will direct your steps. Come out of the confused world of self-love, living for the flesh and being prideful.
Who Or What Do You Love?
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (1 John 2:15-17).
The lust of the eyes, the love of the world and the pride of life will keep you in a confused state. But those who do the will of God will abide with Him in Heaven forever. Come out of the land of confusion and come to the Savior. Turn from your sins and turn to Jesus Christ and be saved. He is the sinless Son of God. He is the one who bore God’s wrath over sinful man while He hung and died on the cross. Jesus is the one who rose victoriously from the grave. Trust the risen Lord.
Be saved today. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2 b). Repent and put your faith in Jesus. Call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Come to Jesus and leave the confusion of your old sinful life behind. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and He will direct your path. Then you will no longer be confused.
(This message was proclaimed in downtown Springfield, MO on January 20, 2017)