²⁰ “Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food. ²¹ On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. ²² And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” ²³ Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.”

One of the most complicated issues I face as a Pastor is when I speak to issues that conflate our love of God and our love for America. Of course, the two are different things; but, they are both real.

As Christians, we love God first and foremost… but, as Americans we also love our Country. We must be careful here; we cannot say, “My Country right or wrong” when our Country continues to go against the teaching of God’s Word in so many areas of life.

Because I love America, I long to see her as “One Nation Under God.” Sadly, that appears to be going away. Since our Nation (by and large) has chosen to turn away from God and His Word, we are going to stand against her more and more often.

I long to see America as she once was when our people – for the most part – honored God and stood for the kind of principles that God gives in His Word. Many Americans still do, of course, but the days when honoring Jesus was widely accepted among Americans may be gone forever in America.

I am completely convinced that because America has turned our back on God HE is beginning to turn His back on us! This is already a very different America than it was fifty years ago; and, only God knows what it will be fifty years from now.

Certainly there is hope. God can send revival at any time HE wishes to do so. Please join me in praying that HE will.

Due to the fact that God seems to be removing HIS “Hand of protection” off of our Nation, we are now facing several threats to our very existence as a Nation that we have never faced before. Some of the threats we have faced before have returned and they are more fearsome than ever.

As the Lord allows, this coming Lord’s Day morning, as we begin the celebration of the 238^th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I will address the subject of “The Greatest Threat to America.” We face threats financially, militarily, morally, ethically, and spiritually; but, one threat is more dangerous by far than all of these others combined!

We find a clear illustration of this threat in our text for Sunday, Acts 12:20-23.

We find the story of a people who had become so dependent on a human King and his government that they began to literally worship him and attribute to him the title of, “a god.”

We will also clearly see how the One True Living God reacts to such people and such governments.

I fear that America is rapidly becoming such a blasphemous people! We (as a Nation) tend to look everywhere and anywhere for our provision and protection except the one place we ought to look – Jesus Christ!

So, we will look to this story of a godless King and his stupid people who by attributing deity to him brought about his destruction and I will attempt to make three specific and pertinent applications from this text to the situation in America in the 21^st Century.

I hope that you will read through, think through, and pray through these verses carefully between now and Sunday. I hope that you will take these days of celebration to reflect on and pray about the “spiritual downgrade” we face.

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!