Adrian Rogers - Thorns in a Nation's Side
Take God’s Word and find if you would, please, the book of Judges, and I want you to look in chapter 9 if you will. I begin in verse 8. This is the first parable ever given in the Bible. It’s the parable of the trees who wanted a king.
Judges chapter 9 verse 8 through verse 15, «The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them and they said unto the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' But the olive tree said unto them, 'Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the tree? ' And, the tree said to the fig tree, 'Come thou and reign over us.' But the fig tree said unto them, 'Should I forsake my sweetness, and my fruit, and go and be promoted over the trees? ' Then said the trees unto the vine, 'Come thou and reign over us.' And the vine said unto them, 'Should I leave my wine which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? ' Then said the trees unto the bramble, 'Come thou and rule over us.' And the bramble said unto the trees, 'If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'»
It’s an interesting story isn’t it? The title of our message, «Thorns in a Nation’s Side». And I want to tell you today that America is in a crises and the crises concerns leadership. We need in America today, desperately need, leadership. Somebody has given us this line a long time ago, talking about leadership, «If the gold rust, what shall the iron do»? That is, if those who’re supposed to be in areas of leadership don’t lead, then what’s going to happen? What we have here in the Word of God is the story of a pitiful politician, and a nation in disarray.
Now, we’ve just come through elections and in the elections, we’ve seen some pitiful politicians and we’ve seen some statesmen, and I’m not going to tell you who’s who, but I hope you know. We’ve seen some pitiful politicians and we’ve seen some statesmen. By and large, we get the kind of leadership that we deserve. I hear people quote it like it comes from the Bible, that, «Wicked rulers are God’s reward for wicked people». That’s not a quote from the Bible but I believe it is a Bible truth.
Now, what’s the difference between a statesman and a politician? Well, a statesman works for the next generation, a politician works for the next election. And, we have on every hand statesman, and I thank God for statesman. I believe that we have seen some statesmen elected and some politicians elected, and there’re all kinds. And you know in the last election, there were some dirty tricks. I think one of the dirtiest is where somebody sneaked into the campaign headquarters of one of the candidates and let all the air out of his speech. It’s a terrible thing.
Now, what we have here in these passages are three steps in the decline of a nation. And, I want you to look at them. First of all, I want you to see what I’m going to call the apostasy of an unthankful people. Now, go back to chapter 8 and look in verse 33. Last week, we talked about the victory that Gideon won. Remember in Judges chapter 7 in verses 19 through 21, when they shouted, they blew the trumpets, they broke the pitchers, they held up the lantern and they said, «The sword of the Lord and of Gideon,» and God put the enemy camp in disarray and there was a mighty, mighty victory. Boy, you would think that the people would be so grateful and praise God so much that they would never, ever again go back on God. But what we have here is the apostasy of an unthankful people.
Judges chapter 8 and verses 33 and 34, «And it came to pass as soon as Gideon was dead that the children of Israel turned again and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god». That is a fertility God. That is, they turned to immorality. «And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side». Isn’t that pitiful? Is that not pitiful? God had given them a wonderful, wonderful victory and verse 34 says they forgot it. They remembered it not. And, they had gotten off into a fertility cult. You see, the book of Judges is not just what God has said, it is what God is saying.
Look again in Judges 8 verse 33, «And it came to pass as soon as Gideon was dead that the children of Israel turned again and went a whoring after Baalim and made Baalberith their god». Now, as we told you, that the book of Judges has an underlying theme, and it’s Judges 17 verse 6, «In those days there was no king in Israel and every man did that which was right in his own eyes». That is, there was no fixed standard of morality. Now, every politician today will stand up and talk about values, but when you ask him whose values, he shuts up. He doesn’t know how to get a standard for values. In other words, it’s morality by majority. Remember the four steps that we gave you? First of all, we’ve gone from authority to relativism. Everything is relative. There’s no fixed standard. We have a government today that’s run by polls, find out what people want and then give it back to them.
Can you imagine Moses taking a poll in Egypt. Can you imagine Martin Luther taking a poll at the reformation? That’s not leadership. We’ve gone from authority to relativism. We have moved from truth to pragmatism. No longer do we ask is it true? We ask does it work? And people choose religion to produce health, wealth, and happiness. It’s man-centered rather than God-centered. We have gone, thirdly, from revelation to feeling, and psychology has been substituted for theology. It’s not theology. It’s me-ology. It’s man-centered. Sin is no longer the enemy, sorrow is, sadness is. To feel good about yourself is the number one priority. Fourthly, we’ve gone from convictions to opinions. Few people really have convictions about anything except their right to be happy.
Now, the said thing is that this is being played out in government today. This nation has had some great national treasures in our constitution and in the things that our founding father’s died for. But I want to give you some rulings now that have come down. I want you to listen to these. In the case of Reid vs. Van Hoven in 1965, the court ruled that if a student in a public school prays over his lunch, it is unconstitutional for him to pray out loud. Can you imagine that?
In the case of DeSpain vs. DeCobb County Community School District in 1967, the court ruled that for kindergarten students to recite the non-sectarian prayer, «We thank you for the flowers sweet, we thank you for the food we eat, we thank you for the birds that sing, we thank you for everything». Friend, they said, that is unconstitutional. Why they even left the word «God» out of it. We just say thank you. But they said, «Somebody might think of God. They might think of God». So, you can’t have little children just bow their head and say thank you. Why, they have ruled that it’s unconstitutional for students to arrive at school early to hear a student volunteer read prayers.
Now, both the House and the Senate have a chaplain that opens with prayers and those prayers are recorded in the congressional record. But students and teachers in America’s schools are prohibited from openly professing allegiance to their God. They can’t even have a moment of silence. In some places they’ve ruled that you can’t even bring a Bible in a plain brown wrapper. This is America. It’s unconstitutional they’ve said for a school graduation ceremony to contain an opening or closing prayer. And in Alaska, the students were told that they could not use the word Christmas at school because it had Christ in it. They were told they could not even put the word Christmas on their notebooks. They could not exchange Christmas cards or Christmas presents or participates in any activity, which acknowledged Christmas as the most sacred holiday of our western tradition.
When are we going to wake up? I mean the first amendment says, «Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or the free exercise thereof». Every bite that the left takes, takes another bite out of our religious liberties. Is anybody paying attention? You know people always talk about the first amendment. They need to understand what the first amendment says. Listen to it again. «Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion». That is, we’re going to have no national religion, no government-sponsored church, but the other side says, «nor the free exercise thereof». You need to remember this, that when the first United States congress was passing the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights, at the same time, they also passed the Northwest Ordinance.
Historians have told us that the four most important documents in our national history are these: the Northwest Ordinance, the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. Do you know what the Northwest Ordinance said? Now, I want you to understand how the framers must have looked on the First Amendment. Here’s what the Northwest Ordinance said among other things, «Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and means of education shall forever be encouraged». Why shall we have schools? Why shall we have means of education? Because religion, morality and knowledge are necessary to good government. These are the ones, the same ones who wrote the First Amendment.
I’m telling you folks, it’s time that we wake up. And, not only has the religion become apostate, and the revisionists remodeled our constitution, but the media moguls are systematically seducing our children. They have normalized that which is abnormal and subnormal. They have normalized it. Kids watch entertainment today and they see people slipping in and out of bed, unmarried peoples as normally, as naturally as people would shake hands. Profanity and filth are known as polite conversation. And after they’ve normalized, then they have desensitized. We’ve come to the place where things don’t shock us anymore. What used to amaze us now amuses us.
And, we have a generation today that doesn’t know how to blush or flinch and it gets filthier and filthier to keep the audience coming back. And after they’ve normalized and desensitized, then they legitimatize. They have legitimized the illegitimate. Sexual perversion has gone from a sin, to a sickness, to a socially accepted practice. They have legitimatized things that God calls sin. And after they’ve done that they still have not finished. They have then stigmatized that which is good and decent and godly. The word virgin is a word to be laughed at. Monogamous marriage is a joke. And for you to stand up for Bible truth, or for me to preach what I’m preaching today, I’ll tell you beyond a shadow of any doubt, I will be called a part of the radical religious right.
Just for simply saying that there’s a right and there’s a wrong. I mean those who stand up for what is right are now not only no longer tolerated, they are stigmatized. We’re looked upon as a threat to society. No wonder the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 20, «Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil». Former congressman Jack Kemp spoke, what he said was significant, I quote, «When grade schoolers are encouraged to learn and to read about condoms but forbidden to see the Ten Commandments on a classroom wall, something is mightily wrong with education in America. This is a double standard that undermines all standards. Our children need to learn less about the mechanics of sex and more about the meaning of character.
When children grow up in homes without a father’s discipline and love and without a mother’s nurture and comfort, we consign a young generation to problems they have not created and do not deserve. And, America, without a foundation of stable families is an America built on shifting sand. When we accept the denigration of religious freedom, we compromise the means of our deliverance. Today, where two or three are gathered in His name, there also it seems is the ACLU in their midst. We believe in a free church and a free state, but that freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion. We, as a nation, were conceived in faith, founded on faith and prospered through faith». I think that’s well said.
Now, folks, the very first thing I want you to see is the apostasy of an unthankful people. Look again in Judges chapter 8 verses 33 and 34, «And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead that the children of Israel turned again and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god. And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God who had delivered them out of the hand of their enemies on every side». Now here’s the second thing I want you to see. Not only the apostasy of an unthankful people, but I want you to see the arrogance of an ungodly leader. In this situation, there arose an ungodly leader. His name was Abimelech.
Begin to read now in Judges chapter 9 verses 1 and 2, «And, Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and communed with them, and with all of the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, 'I pray you, in the years of all the men of Shechem, whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are three score and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.'»
I want to pause here to say there was a man, he was a bramble, he was a thorn bush, but he had an unholy ambition to lead the country. So, the very first thing he did in verses 1 and 2 was to build a coalition. He went to his friends, back where he was raised, and he said, «Listen, I want you to know that I am one of you. I am a part of this generation». Here’s a politician. He built a coalition. Second thing he did, he bought his constituents. Look if you will in Judges 9 verses 3 and 4, «And his mother’s brethren spoke of him in the years of all the men of Shechem, all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, they said, 'For he is our brother.' And, they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith,» that is, out of the god of sexual immorality. That’s where he got his money. «Wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him».
That is, he bought his constituents. This was a slap in the face of the God of Israel, because of where the money came from. You know, you can sometimes buy an election. Somebody talked about a man who spent twenty million dollars to get elected. They said, «Isn’t that an awful lot»? They said, «Well, only works out to about two dollars a promise». You know, you can promise a lot and you can buy a lot. Heard about one man had a plan to balance the budget by tilting the country. He bought his constituents, and look, he brutalized his competition.
Look if you will in Judges 9 verse 5, «And he went into his father’s house at Ophrah and slew his brethren, the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone». He was a bloody man. You say, «We don’t see that happening today». No, they’ll put you in jail for that. You can’t do that today, not openly, you can’t do that. But you can still have a government built on blood; the blood of little babies, innocent children. You know what the Bible says in Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 12, «Woe unto him that buildeth a town with blood and establisheth a city by inequity».
Visit the Vietnam War memorial. It’s there and I’m glad it’s there. That memorial has 68,000 names on it. It stretches for 500 feet, but if we were to build a memorial for the little babies who’ve died since Roe vs. Wade, it wouldn’t have on it 68,000 names. It would have over sixty million names. And, it would stretch for over a hundred miles. Built on blood. Built on blood.
If you’ve had an abortion, I’m not here to make you feel guilty. Many people have done things unknowingly, unwittingly, out of fear, or ignorance, and there’s a God of grace and a God of forgiveness and God does forgive, but, oh, somebody has to speak up for the unborn, somebody has to say something. I know there are people in this congregation who don’t like it when we speak about these things. But, am I therefore your enemy because I tell you the truth? And what do you have here? You have a man who built a coalition, who bought his constituents, who brutalized his competition and then he had himself inaugurated with a show of religion.
Look in Judges 9 verse 6, «And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the plane of the pillar that was in Shechem». Now, what is this? Some translations give it by the great tree that’s in Shechem. Most believe that’s where God spoke to Abraham and gave Abraham the covenant. And, there in that place to try to associate himself with things that were good and holy and with a covenant made a farce of the whole thing. Now, you have the apostasy of an unthankful people. You have the arrogancy of an ungodly leader, but here’s the third thing I want you to see, the apathy of uncommitted bystanders.
Now, go back to the parable that I read to you beginning in verse 7. There was a man there, he was a prophet, his name was Jotham, and he stood up and he had something to say. Look in Judges 9 verse 7, «And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice,» and would to God there would be people today who would, «and cried, and said unto them, 'Hearken unto me, you men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.'»
Listen to God’s Word if you want God to listen to your word; that’s what he’s saying. Proverbs 28:9, «He that turns away his ear from the hearing of the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination». And, so he told about this parable. «The trees said, 'We need a king». They went to the olive tree and they said to the olive tree, «Will you reign over us»? And the olive tree said, «No». Said, «I can’t reign over you, I’m too busy producing fatness, the oil of the olive. After all, that’s national necessity». And, so they went to the fig tree. And they said to the fig tree, «Fig tree, will you rule over us»? And the fig tree said, «Oh I can’t do that. I’m too busy producing figs with its sweetness. That may not be a necessity, but that’s a nicety. I’m too busy doing that».
So they went to the vine and they said to the vine, «Will you rule over us»? And, the vine said, «I can’t do that. I’m too busy producing wine to cheer the heart of man and God. Now, that’s a luxury». And, so here they were with their necessities, and their niceties, and their luxuries. They’re all so busy doing good things, and they went to the bramble. They asked the bramble, the briar, «Will you rule over us»? He said, «I’ll be glad to. I’ll be glad to». Said, «As a matter of fact, you can rest in my shade, I’ll be a shadow for you».
Can you imagine a bramble being a shadow, a shade tree? The bramble has no fruit. The bramble has no shade. It has no timber. It has no lumber. But it rips, it shreds, it chokes, it clings, it grows, and it’s very hard to root out. But all of these people fled their responsibilities and let the bramble rule. Do you know what Edmond Burke said? A classic statement. Edmond Burke said, «All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing». «All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing».
You say, «Pastor Rogers, why are you preaching about thus and such a person»? I haven’t called any names. The names have been hidden to protect the guilty. I haven’t called any names. All I’m doing is just telling you what has happened in Israel’s past before. And, I’m telling you friend that it was a serious situation.
I must close this message, but I don’t close it in despair, because let me tell you what the book of Judges shows. God had rather forgive than judge. He is a God of mercy and we must disabuse ourselves of the idea that there can be no renaissance, no revival, no restoration. There can be, and we dare not lose hope. I like that. You know what that tells me? It tells me there’s hope and people have been staining Heaven with their prayers. And across this land preachers have been preaching and God’s alarm clock is going off. And let’s now just press the battle to the gates and let’s take this country back for Jesus Christ.
Oh, Father, help us to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves, bold as lions. May we, dear God, shine as lights in a dark place. Send, oh God, a mighty revival and let it begin in me.
Now, while heads are bowed and eyes are closed. If you’re not certain that you’re saved, would you like to be saved, would you? Would you like to know that you really do have life? Jesus said, «I’ve come that you might have life». Could I lead you in a prayer? We’ll call this prayer the sinner’s prayer. And you can pray and accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You can do it right now. Would you pray this prayer?
Dear God, I know that You love me. Thank You for loving me. And I know that You want to save me. Jesus, You died to save me and You promised to save me if I would trust You. Jesus, I do trust You. I believe You’re the Son of God. I believe you paid for my sin with Your blood on the cross. I believe that God raised You from the dead. And now I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Forgive my sin. Cleanse me. Come into my life. Take control of my life and begin today to make me the person You want me to be. And Jesus, give me the courage to make it public. Help me never to be ashamed of You. In Your name I pray, Amen.