"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; from His dwelling place He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works. The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a false hope for victory; nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in You. --Psalm 33:8-22
This Psalm, obviously written about Israel, still has implications and applications for us. There are eternal truths woven within these verses that should cause us to examine where we are as a nation. Are we giving our children the kind of land our forefathers fought to give us?
I. The Issues That Can Destroy Us
We have known our share of battles, turmoil and controversy, yet, to this point, we have survived. What is it that makes a nation able to withstand the tests?
The Medo-Persians were great, but they drank their way to destruction. Alcohol is the #1 drug in America today and one of the major factors in teenage deaths and the destruction of the family.
The Egyptians flourished for hundreds of years--thanks in no small part to Joseph--but they eventually passed off the scene as a powerful nation.
Greece and Rome both rose to world domination, only to fall to second-rate status because of lust, materialism and immorality.
What about America?
* We have survived a civil war, world wars and the Great Depression.
* We lead the world in humanitarian relief.
* We have been and continue to be the great "melting pot" of people from cultures and nations around the world coming to our shores to find freedom.
But we are in trouble...
Everybody seems to know the problem, but nobody wants to fix it. No one is willing to take the blame or offer up a legitimate solution. We have serious issues:
* Dependence on foreign oil
* Economic destabilization on a variety of fronts, mostly because American workers are greedy, and it is cheaper to send jobs overseas
* The questionable future of American car-makers
* The embracing of same-sex marriage
* Loss of faith in politics and politicians
* Lack of support for our troops who fight for our freedom
* Loss of traditional family values
* The devaluation of human life through abortion and euthanasia
All this has led to a jaded and grim view of life and the future.
"Change is occurring so rapidly that there is no time to react." --John Naisbitt
As we approach a presidential election, I believe more is at stake than we can possibly imagine. Francis Schaeffer said, "People vote their pocketbooks to protect their personal peace and affluence." This is sad, because it reveals that moral and ethical issues will not be hot topics for this campaign. Rather it will be about gas prices, the economy. The resolve of this nation is being put to the test, and much is at stake.
II. The Decisions That Will Define Us
Do we as Americans even have the stamina to defend ourselves? I’m not calling for another moral majority that seems to care more about politics than revival. What I am calling for is a people, a family, a church, a denomination that is willing to say we need the touch of God on our land. We need to repent, so we can be restored. As Anne Graham Lotz said, "If God doesn’t judge America, He owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology."
One of Satan’s great methods to destroy a nation, home or church is disunity. His strategy is to divide and conquer, but God is not the author of division, disunity or disharmony.
* In the Garden, Satan destroyed the unity God intended for marriage.
* Satan has destroyed the witness of hundreds of thousands of churches because of infighting, disunity, bickering, gossip and power brokers. Jesus prayed in John 17 "that they may be one, just as We are one." Paul admonished the Ephesian church to "be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
According to an AP story on June 24, 2008, by Eric Gorski entitled "Americans are Tolerant of Religions," a recent survey of 35,000 adults conducted by Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life revealed that 57% of evangelicals believe many religions can lead to eternal life. In all, 70% of Americans with a religious affiliation share that view. Only six of ten Catholics believe God is "a person with whom people can have a relationship." The article goes on to say that religion in America is "3,000 miles wide and three inches deep."
"There’s a growing pluralistic impulse toward tolerance and that is having theological consequences." --D. Michael Lindsay, Rice University, Sociologist of Religion
No wonder we aren’t making an impact. Where are those who stand unapologetically for the Lord? Why is there is no power? No revival in the land?
* We’ve got marriage seminars but more divorce.
* We’ve got financial counseling but more debt.
* We’ve got abstinence programs but more teen pregnancies.
* We’ve got youth groups but a growing number of gangs.
* We’ve got more sermons but less ministry.
What’s the problem? The church is failing in her mission. If you are talking about fireproofing a nation, it’s going to take more than a church here and there or a family here and there to make a difference. We are called to be the light of the world. If the world can’t see a difference in us, there is no hope. We must be spiritual people who offer spiritual solutions. As God’s people go, so goes the culture. Until we decide to be the church, not just a group of religious people, our nation is without hope for the future.
III. The Truths That Have Defined Us
The greatness in American history is written in the ink of her involvement with God--from the Pilgrims, to Jonathan Edwards, to the Great Revivals of the 1700s and 1800s. While the Puritans have been criticized as prudes, we are a blessed nation, because we were founded by people who sought a land where they could worship the true and living God.
Look back at Psalm 33:12: "Blessed (happy) is the nation whose God is the Lord." The Psalm resounds with warnings and encouragements about the kind of nation God will bless. We used to be that kind of nation. Are we today? You decide.
A) The founders were overwhelmingly Christian.
Of the 55 colonial delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, 52 (94.5%) were members of Christian churches. Only three considered themselves to be deists.
When you study the 17,000 written works of the framers of the Constitution, 34% of their quotations came from the Bible. The two most quoted non-biblical writers were two European legal writers with clear biblical views of law and government.
"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." --George Washington
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity and freedom of worship here." --Patrick Henry
"We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." --James Madison
B) The Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights were founded on a biblical worldview.
* The Declaration of Independence states our liberty comes from "the laws of nature and nature’s God."
* The Constitution does not talk about God because it’s not a religious document, but it does recognize 1787 as "the year of our Lord," indicating a common acceptance on the calendar based on the life of Christ.
* The Bill of Rights says nothing of the separation of church and state. That phrase was coined by Jefferson in a letter he wrote to the Baptist Association of Churches in 1802. He wrote it to emphasize that no denomination could be given preferential treatment over another.
Take a look at the other highlights from our nation’s capital:
* George Washington appointed chaplains.
* Thomas Jefferson began the practice of appropriating money for missionaries to the Indians (a practice which continued into the late 19th century).
* During the time of Jefferson, Bibles were placed in the public schools in Washington, D.C. at Congress’s expense.
* As you walk up the steps to the Supreme Court, you can see a row of statues of various lawgivers, each one turned to face the one in the middle, which is Moses holding the Ten Commandments.
* As you enter the Supreme Court, the oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on the lower portion of each door. The wall above where the justices sit has a display of the Ten Commandments.
* There are Bible verses etched in stone all over federal buildings and monuments in Washington.
* Every session of Congress begins with prayer by a paid chaplain whose salary has been paid by taxpayers since 1777.
* The first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said, "Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers."
* On the aluminum cap atop the Washington Monument are two words: "Laus Deo." You can’t see them, but they are placed at the highest point. Translated, the phrase means "Praise be to God!"
* From the top of the monument you can see for 69 square miles. The city is divided into four major sections forming a perfect cross: White House to the north, Jefferson Memorial to the south, Capitol to the east, Lincoln Memorial to the west.
* The twelfth landing of the Washington Monument contains a prayer offered for the city of Baltimore. The twentieth landing is a memorial presented by Chinese Christians. The twenty-fourth landing is a presentation made by Sunday School children in New York and Philadelphia. In the cornerstone of the monument is a Bible.
* The walls of the Capitol dome contain these words: "The New Testament according to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
* In the rotunda of the Capitol is the figure of the crucified Christ.
* A Latin phrase translated "God has smiled on our undertaking" is inscribed on the Great Seal of the United States.
* Micah 6:8 is on the walls of the Library of Congress.
* All 50 state constitutions make reference to God. Georgia’s says, "We the people of Georgia, relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution."
"There is a striking parallel between the condition of the country and the church. As the Constitution means little to Americans today, so too the Bible means little to the average church member. Church members generally are as ignorant of the Bible as are Americans of the Constitution. Too many people within our borders are Americans in name but un-American in their hearts and anti-American in their conduct. The church has a corresponding ailment, Christians in name, but in reality are only once -born children of Adam. The American spirit is sadly eroded today by distrust, by corruption in high places, by moral decay. It won’t be restored merely by flag-wavings and drum-beatings and Fourth of July speeches. It may not be possible to raise a new crop of patriots in such shallow soil. It may take disaster to make us realize what we had. There is also a Christian spirit in the church that has that need. When in the nation and in the church we humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways, then God will hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land." --Vance Havner
