## He is Our Banner

## Psalm 60:24

Patriotism and Christianity go hand in hand in this country. I suppose it is possible to be a patriot and not be a Christian, but how can we be Christians and not be patriots? God has so blessed us as a nation that it boggles my mind when we in America refuse to honor Him. Two very important patriotic days in our country are Memorial Day and Independence Day. Between those days we have another, less celebrated patriotic day…Flag Day!

Flag Day was first observed in 1877 on the 100th anniversary of the Continental Congress' adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States. In that year, Congress asked that all public buildings fly the flag on June 14. The idea quickly caught on and many people wanted to participate in waving the flag. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Flag Day as a national celebration. However, the holiday was not officially recognized until 1949 when President Harry Truman signed the National Flag Day Bill. What is so special about our nation's flag? It is interwoven with the very fabric of our nation. There are many stories that recount the importance of our flag, but one stands out in particular. One night in September, 1814, a young lawyer stood on the deck of a ship in the Baltimore City Harbor, watching the sky light up in colors of red and orange and white.

The British army had just burned Washington, DC, and Francis Scott Key was afraid. The United States had lost almost every single battle up to that day in 1814 when Fort McHenry was shelled. So Key set up a vigil that night. He kept his eye on the large American flag that flew over the fort. That flag had been commissioned by the fort's commander, Maj. George Armistead, who asked for a flag so big that the British would have no trouble seeing it from a distance. A seamstress, Mary Young Pickersgill and her thirteen year old daughter Caroline worked in an upstairs bedroom using 400 yards of best quality wool bunting. They cut 15 stars that measured two feet from point to point. Eight red and seven white stripes, each two feet wide, were cut. When the flag was sewn together it measured 30 by 42 feet.

That was the flag watched by Key late into the night. But along toward dawn, he lost sight of it. It was dark and rainy, and there was an ominous silence as the shelling ceased. What could it mean? Had the fort been taken? When the sun finally brightened the sky, Key looked to see if Baltimore had fallen to the British. But he saw that the flag still hung there. It seemed to Francis Scott Key to stand for freedom, and hope, and most of all, for home. He started to write a poem on the back of an envelope and began the first stanza of his famous lyric:

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

When we look at our nation's banner, the American flag, we are reminded of our past (where we were), we are reminded of our present (who we are), and we are reminded of our future (what we must become). As believers, we also have a banner. And in much the same way, this banner is there to remind us of our past, present, and future.

(Psalms 60:4) Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.

In Exodus 17 we find the account of a wonderful victory provided by God for His people. The nation was wandering in the desert wilderness, and God had provided water for them from the Rock. This is a picture of God's provision of salvation for all who will come and drink from the Rock of Ages…Jesus Christ. [4] As they left that place refreshed by God's supply the enemy, Amalek, attacked. God again provided them a miraculous victory over their enemy. After this great victory, Moses built an altar to worship God. He called the name of it Jehovahnissi (which means God is my banner)! The Lord is our banner! We are to look to that banner!

I. Our Past: the way we used to be!

(Ephesians 2:1) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

A. We were dead spiritually

1. Spiritual life is only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ

2. So we were dead in our sins.

3. We could do nothing of ourselves to please God.

(Ephesians 2:2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

B. We were disobedient to God.

1. We walked according to the course of this world.

2. We walked according to the 'prince of the power of the air' and that is Satan.

3. We walked in disobedience to God.

(Ephesians 2:12) That at that time ye were without Christ … having no hope, and without God in the world:

C. We were lost!

1. That is the condition of all who do not know the Lord.

2. All who have never trusted in Him for their salvation.

3. This is where we were…as we look at our banner…we are reminded of our past.

II. Our Present: the way we are now!

(2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

A. The old things have passed away.

1. Our old way of thinking.

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Pr. 23:7a

2. Our old way of seeing things: we now see everything from a different perspective.

3. Our old habits: victory over the flesh is now possible.

4. Our old desires: we now long to serve Christ.

5. Our old conversations:

a. Our jokes are now different.

b. Our swearing becomes praise.

c. Our gossip becomes constructive encouragement rather than being negative and damaging.

B. All things are become new.

1. The way that we do business.

2. The way that we dress.

3. The way that we look at life.

4. The way we see ourselves.

5. Now we represent Jesus Christ to this world.

6. When they look at us…do they see Christ?

(2 Corinthians 5:20) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

7. When we look at our banner…we are reminded of our present responsibility as representatives of Christ!

III. Our Future: the way we will be!

(1 John 3:2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

A. We shall be like Him

1. What does this mean?

2. I believe that John is reminding us of the wonderful promise of our resurrected bodies.

3. These earthly bodies are wearing out!

4. But one day…we will be changed!

(1 Corinthians 15:51-53) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

5. No more sin…no more corruption…our new bodies will like Jesus' resurrected body.

6. Every time we look at our banner we should be reminded of the truth about our future.

7. This world is not my home…I'm just a passing through!

B. We shall see Him as He is

1. Not how we think He will be…

2. Don't look for Him to appear like any of the portraits we have seen here on earth.

3. We need to understand that He is not lowly shepherd, or a dying Savior.

4. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

5. Even though we may have questions and uncertainties now…when we see Jesus we will know Him and He will know us!

(John 10:14) I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Today, when we look at the 'Star-Spangled Banner' we are reminded of our country's past, present, and future. Another banner has been given to all who know and fear God. The Lord is our banner! As we look to the Lord, we are reminded of our past, present, and future! Do you the Lord this morning? Has He placed His banner over you? Come to Jesus this morning in simple faith understanding His great love for you!

(Hebrews 12:2) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.