The Flag
A Memorial Day sermon by Elam Johnson
Written by Donna Braman
I am so honored to be able to write this profound, discerning truth spoken today about Israel and this historical story told of America on this Memorial Day May, 29, 2011
How many know where the Star Spangled Banner, America's national anthem came from?
Today I'm going to share a story about that from the Revolutionary War. It is a patriotic song written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 and was inspired by a story about the flag.
America is a wonderful place to be born in and live. We have the privilege of worshiping our Lord, which a lot a nations don't have today. I would like to quote Psalm 125:1, "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever." The Lord is with us and His Holy Angels are about us. Pray today for the Peace of Jerusalem. Never forget that command in Genesis 12:3,"I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
We are a part of all the families of the earth. We bless Israel as G-d commands us. Today, we back and support Israel. In 1948 the Jewish people became a nation in the land of Israel. President Truman was up for re-election that year. There was a lot of anti-semitism at that time and many didn't want to support Israel. But G-d put Harry Truman in that place for such a time as that. When the Israel flag went up President Truman said, "Israel, we are going to back you and stand beside you. We're going to take our flag and wrap it around your flag. We're going to support you financially and with prayer."
Harry Truman was re-elected. America became blessed once again and during the 5o's we were prosperous and families were stable, and the church was thriving. Now, I'm giving my age away. But we lived during that time with little crime, people didn't have to lock their doors and lock down everything on their property. We had very little unemployment and we were a thriving nation. Because we were a blessed nation and I believe that was because we stood with Israel.
But slowly liberals came in and America began to be stripped away of its core values and character. When character goes, morals go in a nation. The one who comes to steal, kill and destroy came in America! Today, we can't trust our government. Politics says you have to divide Jerusalem. We're messing with the wrong nation now. Many leaders have tried to come up with the division of Israel. Every time a president told Israel you got to give up land, a catastrophe happened on our soil.
The Arabs say give up land Israel and you'll have peace. But we know peace comes only from the Prince of Peace. Are all these disasters we are seeing today a mother nature fluke or G-d's wrath on the US? We don't tell G-d to divide His Land! So is it a wonder why we have no confidence in our nation's leaders or state government?
Is G-d's wrath on us because we took prayer out of schools, allowed homosexuals in the pulpits of Christ's Church? We've backed away from the US flag's meaning and as a result we have foreclosures on homes, jobs lacking and then we have preachers proclaiming things in G-d's word that's not true.
Our freedom in the US comes at a price, and we have forgotten that. But I have something to tell you today, I found out what that price was and saw it with my own eyes as I served two tours in Viet Nam. I saw men dying beside of me in the rice patty fields and in the swamps of that jungle.
We had a makeshift airstrip on a mountain in Viet Nam and you couldn't land a jet only a C130 plane. As I flew over that mountain we were getting fire all around us. I looked and saw another plane being destroyed. It was on fire from mortars. I didn't know at that moment that our plane was not going to be able to land. But suddenly the mortar fire was on us. I was going to have to jump out of that plane. As the plane engine begin to slow, I jumped. When I hit that ground I looked up and I saw that I had no covering. looked about me and saw the body bags. I said, I can't stay here. I ran for a bunker made from the metal on the runway which had sand bags around it. I jumped in that hole.
Later I realized I had landed in a Mash Unit hospital area. I saw this Marine with surgeons all around him about to do surgery. His legs were blown off and one of his arms. I heard this soldier cry out, "Please don't let me die."
When you hear a soldier cry out for his life you know the price for freedom then. Can you hear that song now, "Oh say can you see...by the dawn's early light..." That precious song was written by a man that witnessed the price of freedom also. Francis Scott Key was not a song writer, he was a lawyer. He was called to a ship of captives in the Revolution and they told him, we want you to go and see if the enemy will release these prisoners. Tell them we will give one soldier per soldier of theirs. Francis Key went but with great sadness in his heart. He didn't know if he could do this bargaining.
To his great surprise the bargain was made. But no one went to tell the ship of soldiers who had been held captive that they were free. Francis went himself to tell them, and it was an event that changed the course of his life.
He said, "At first I couldn't see anything. When my eyes finally focused, I saw a scene that would be forever etched in my mind."
Have you ever had a tragedy in your life? It always clicks back in your mind if something comes up and reminds you of it. That's how it is with most Viet Nam Veterans.
What Francis saw that day was boys in that ship chained to each other. They were sick and wounded, and they were laying in their own filth. In the bottom of that ship he knew a lot of those young men would not make it out alive. He told them, "You're going to be free. You're going home."
Now in Viet Nam when we heard that, we called that 'going home plane' the freedom bird. That day on that air strip when I got to cover from jumping out of that plane it was like the bird from heaven coming down on that strip that day. I had made it, I was free from the enemy.
But there in that ship, there were no sounds of joy, not a word was said. Eveyone of those boys went quite. One of the men finally spoke up and said, "Are you trying to tell me, we're getting out?"
Then he said, "Will we be allowed to fight again?"
Francis looked at him astonished and said, "No, what's wrong with you, you've done enough already. The battle is over."
The young man said back to Francis, "You don't understand, our task is not done for this country yet."
Our battle for this country today is not over yet either. We have a real devil to fight in this country and in our lives, get the task done.
Francis was overcome by the spirit of these men. He went to the Admiral and said, "Please get those boys out of there."
The Admiral said, "It doesn't matter what happens to those boys because they won't have a country to go back to."
You see, soon this is what we will say in America again.
The Admiral takes Francis to one side of the ship and says, "What do you see?" And Francis says, Fort McHenry and the American flag."
The Admiral takes Francis to the other side of the ship and says, What do you see?" Francis says, "The ocean and a bunch a little dots on the horizon."
The Admiral tells him that is the British Royal Navy coming to blow Fort McHenry off the face of the earth if the flag doesn't come down. You see, their government has sent our government a message; You're going to bring that flag down or the stars and stripes will be blasted from this earth.
This is the same thing Iran is telling Israel, I'll wipe you off the face of the earth. Israel has another enemy coming at her today too, the Arab Confederation. Psalm 83:4 says, "They have said, "Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more." They will come against Israel and we will see this, and we need to support Israel, our blessings in this nation depend on it.
Ezekiel 37:10 says, Israel will be a nation of peace achieved via their military might. It is the "exceedingly great army" and the zeal of Zion foretold by Ezekiel which will be the instrumental tool utilized in the execution of the judgments against the surrounding Arab nations, and Israel will be restored her fortunes and all her land.
G-d says in Ezekiel 39:7-8 that, "So I G-d will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let them (the Arab Federation) profane my holy name anymore. Then all the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the HOLY ONE of Israel, says the Lord G-d."
But the world says, just leave them be for they will die anyway. But America needs to get on the Lord's side because as you will see in the end of this story G-d uses his armies to accomplish His will in nations that love Him and do not profane His name.
The Admiral said, "Just leave those boys alone, they have soon have not a country."
You see, no country had ever been able to withstand the might of England. Fort McHenry, it looked like, was going to be destroyed. These boys in that ship started crying out, "don't let them take our flag down Mr. Key."
Francis Key went back at the top of the ship and just starts pointing at them. He set watch all night and suddenly in the early morning the cannons began to roar. Its called softening up the enemy. We had ability to call in air strikes in Viet Nam. You didn't raise your head up in a rice patty to see how it all went down.
These cannons from the British ships went on all night. The flag was still standing when Francis looked that early morning. He knew G-d's hand was on America. About 4:00 a.m. everything went silent. The English troops had used all their powder in their scare tactic and our flag was still standing. Francis made his way to the Fort. Everything was a splintered tooth pick. He dropped to his feet and something tore his heart out.
That flag had been hit and it came down but a soldier had ran out and stood it back up. Another soldier ran and put the flag back up and at the end a pile of soldiers' bodies were holding the flag up.
You know Jesus came down and gave us liberty and freedom and left us the Christian flag. He set men free. Satan has never made a lock that Jesus can't unlock. I thank G-d for the blessings I have today to worship freely my Lord Jesus Christ. Won't you pick up His flag today and follow Him and let your banner be the bible? Satan will try to take your mind from your freedom and try to make you think you have lost it, but Jesus died to give you that freedom and with his death He took the keys of death from Satan and when we give honor to His name and glorify Him He will uphold Israel and the USA.
If you see a veteran today, thank them for serving, they are not thanked or honored enough. Jesus came down from heaven to give us freedom thank Him today! The greatest battle we have facing us is to keep Satan from occupying the USA.
Take up your cross daily and Serve Him, and it will cost you to follow Him, but your reward is with Him.
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