Happy Birthday America! Isn’t this is a great country in which we live? After all, only in America do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke. Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our junk in the garage. Only in America do we use answering machines to screen calls and have call waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to in the first place. & Only in America do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight. (Steve Shepherd, Mattoon Christian Church; www.SermonCentral.com)
We enjoy tremendous freedom in this country; but if we’re not careful, we can lose that freedom very quickly.
In the early 1800’s, an unknown sage from Europe visited our young country to learn the secret of her greatness. Later, he wrote: “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers – and it was not there… in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there… in her rich mines and her vast world commerce – and it was not there… in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution – and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” (Attributed to Alexis deTocqueville by Dwight D. Eisenhower in his final campaign address in Boston, Massachusetts, November 3, 1952, but not found in deTocqueville’s works)
Now, nearly 200 years later, one wonders, “Has America ceased to be good?”
Just 14 years ago, Joe Wright, pastor of the Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas, was asked to pray before the Kansas State House in Topeka, and this is what he prayed:
“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
“We confess that: We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism. We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it a choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
“Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your will. Amen.” (Troy Borst; www.SermonCentral.com)
We were living in Kansas at the time, and I remember the tremendous amount of controversy that prayer stirred up. One member of the Kansas State House actually walked out in the middle of the prayer.
Later, Paul Harvey got a hold of Joe Wright’s prayer and read it on the radio. As a result, He got more requests for copies of it than any other thing he had ever done. Evidently, there are a lot of people in this country who agree with the sentiment of that prayer.
Many people feel that America has ceased to be good. Does that mean she will also cease to be great in the very near future?
We do well to heed God’s warning to another young nation just getting its start nearly 1,500 years before Christ. Then, God told the nation of Israel, “When you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God… You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth… If you ever forget the LORD your God… I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed” (Deuteronomy 8:12-19).
We, as a nation, have forgotten God, so our destruction cannot be that far behind, but there is hope.
The nation of Israel, as predicted, did forget God just one generation after she conquered the Promised Land. As a result, the surrounding nations constantly attacked and ravaged her land over a period of about 400 years. Then God raised up a leader and his mighty men to restore Israel to greatness once again.
Will God do it for us? And if He will, what kind of people will He use? What kind of people will God use to restore this great land? What kind of people will God use to bring us back to Himself?
Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 2 Samuel 23, 2 Samuel 23, where we see the kind of men God used in David’s day to make Israel great again.
2 Samuel 23:8-12 These are the names of David’s mighty men: Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter. Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead. Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the LORD brought about a great victory. (NIV)
What kind of people will God use to restore a nation? Well first, God will use those who…
STAND STRONG IN HIM.
God will use those who stand firm in his strength. If there is anything true about these men, it is the fact that they were strong men. If they can single-handedly wipe out the enemy, they have to have some strength and ability.
But from where does that strength come? How were these men able to prevail? Well, the answer is found twice in the text, in verse 10 and in verse 12, where it says, “The Lord brought about a great victory.” You see, God gave them their strength. God gave them the victory! & They were able to stand strong only by depending on Him.
So it is with us today. We must stand strong in Him if we’re going to see our nation restored. We must depend on the Lord. We must wholly rely on Christ.
That’s what made America strong to begin with. The signers of our own Declaration of Independence declared their “firm reliance on the protection of divine providence.”
Patrick Henry said, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
George Washington in his Farewell Address to the Nation proclaimed, “Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism if they even attempt to remove religion from politics.”
John Adams declared, “We have no government armed with power cable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people... it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other…”
And even Thomas Jefferson, in his address to the Danbury Baptists, said, “The 1st Amendment has created a wall of separation between church and state, but that wall is a one directional wall, it keeps the government from running the church, but it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.”
John Jay, the 1st Chief Justice of our Supreme Court, wrote that “Divine Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty… of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.’” (Letter to John Murray, Oct. 12, 1816)
Indeed, carved above the entrance to the Supreme Court and on all our currency are the words, “In God We Trust.”
Our nation’s founders stood strong in the Lord. They trusted God and relied wholly upon Him for everything.
But you would never know it today. Up until 1962, many school children across the United States prayed this prayer to start their day, “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our teachers and our country.”
Then the United States Supreme Court decided that this violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment, and they removed prayer from the public schools of our great land.
Later, they took out the 10 Commandments and even the right of a teacher to put a Bible on his or her desk.
Today, a public schoolteacher is afraid to recite the Lord’s Prayer or read Psalm 23 in her classroom for fear of legal repercussions, but that same teacher can tell your child where to get a condom or an abortion without your consent or knowledge and fear no legal repercussions (Tana Key, By Divine Design, 1995, p.90).
In our “politically correct” culture, even the students are afraid to mention the name of God. It reminds me of the fourth grader who gave a report on the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday. He said, “The pilgrims came here seeking freedom of you know what. When they landed, they gave thanks to you know who. Because of them, we can worship each Sunday you know where. (Leadership, Vol.19, No.4)
God has been completely removed from our schools, and we wonder why there is so much violence there and all across our land. We, as a nation, have moved away from that “firm reliance on the protection of divine providence.” We have forgotten God, and so we invite our own destruction.
It’s time to repent. It’s time to turn back to God. It’s time to stand strong in Him again if we want to see this nation restored.
For these are the kind of people God uses to bring a nation back to Himself. God uses those who stand strong in Him. But those same people will have to...
STAND ALONE at times.
When we choose to stand strong in the Lord, we often have to stand by ourselves; we often have to stand apart from everybody else.
That’s what David’s mighty men had to do. In verses 9-10 (of 2 Samuel 23), all of Israel withdraws, but David’s man stands his ground. In verses 11-12, it’s the same story: “Israel’s troops fled, but Shammah took his stand…” Standing out often means standing alone. That was certainly true for David’s might men.
And that was true of our founding fathers, as well. What many people don’t realize is that after the 13 Colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, a large number of colonists never fully united behind the war effort. A third of the population sympathized with Great Britain, calling themselves “Loyalists.” And nearly a third remained indifferent about the outcome of the war, supporting neither side. That put the outcome of the Revolutionary War in the hands of a few Patriots, who made up less than one-third of the entire population.
They stood alone, and that’s what we may have to do, if we choose to stand strong for the Lord today. We will probably have to stand alone, because standing for the Lord is not all that popular today. But these are the kind of people God uses to restore a nation to Himself.
God uses people who will stand strong in Him. God uses people who will stand alone. And God uses people who will…
STAND TRUE no matter what.
If we want to be used of God to bring our nation back then we must remain faithful no matter what the cost; we must be loyal to the Lord and to His cause.
David’s mighty men were extremely loyal.
2 Samuel 23:13-15 During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem (David’s home town). David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” (NIV)
I can see David remembering the days when he was a shepherd boy, coming out of those hot, dusty fields surrounding his home. Oh, how a drink from that well in Bethlehem refreshed him back then, and now he longs for that refreshment again. That’s when he says mostly to himself, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem.” He was only expressing the longing of his heart. This certainly was no command, but look at what his men do for him anyway.
2 Samuel 23:16 So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. (NIV)
David was so grateful, that he poured the water out as a drink offering to the Lord.
2 Samuel 23:17 Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men. (NIV)
They were extremely loyal to their king. They stood true even at great risk to themselves.
And that’s what our founding fathers did. They stood true to the cause of freedom even at great risk to themselves.
On July 4, 1974, just a couple of years before our country’s bicentennial, Paul Harvey talked about the price our founding fathers paid on his News and Commentary radio broadcast. This is what he had to say:
“Americans, you know the 56 men who signed our Declaration of Independence that first 4th of July – you know they were risking everything, don’t you? Because if they won the war with the British, there would be years of hardship as a struggling nation. If they lost they would face a hangman’s noose. And yet there where it says, “We herewith pledge, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor,” they did sign. But did you know that they paid the price?
“When Carter Braxton of Virginia signed the Declaration of Independence, he was a wealthy planter and trader. But thereafter he saw his ships swept from the seas and to pay his debts, he lost his home and all of his property. He died in rags.
“Thomas Lynch, Jr., who signed that pledge, was a third generation rice grower and aristocrat – a large plantation owner – but after he signed his health failed. With his wife he set out for France to regain his failing health. Their ship never got to France; he was never heard from again.
“Thomas McKean of Delaware was so harassed by the enemy that he was forced to move his family five times in five months. He served in Congress without pay, his family in poverty and in hiding.
“Vandals looted the properties of Ellery and Clymer and Hall and Gwinett and Walton and Heyward and Rutledge and Middleton. And Thomas Nelson, Jr. of Virginia raised two million dollars on his own signature to provision our allies, the French fleet. After the War he personally paid back the loans wiping out his entire estate; he was never reimbursed by his government. And in the final battle for Yorktown, he, Nelson, urged General Washington to fire on his, Nelson’s own home, then occupied by Cornwallis. And he died bankrupt. Thomas Nelson, Jr. had pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor.
“The Hessians seized the home of Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey. Francis Lewis had his home and everything destroyed, his wife imprisoned – she died within a few months. Richard Stockton, who signed the Declaration of Independence, pledging his life and his fortune, was captured and mistreated, and his health broken to the extent that he died at 51. And his estate was pillaged.
“Thomas Heyward, Jr. was captured when Charleston fell. John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside while she was dying; their thirteen children fled in all directions for their lives. His fields and gristmill were laid waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves and returned home after the War to find his wife dead, his children gone, his properties gone. He died a few weeks later of exhaustion and a broken heart.
“Lewis Morris saw his land destroyed, his family scattered. Philip Livingston died within a few months of hardships of the War.
“John Hancock, history remembers best, due to a quirk of fate – that great sweeping signature attesting to his vanity, towers over the others. One of the wealthiest men in New England, he stood outside Boston one terrible night of the War and said, “Burn Boston, though it makes John Hancock a beggar, if the public good requires it.” He, too, lived up to the pledge.
“Of the 56 signers of the Declaration, few were long to survive. Five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes – from Rhode Island to Charleston – sacked and looted, occupied by the enemy or burned. Two of them lost their sons in the Army; one had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 died in the War from its hardships or from its more merciful bullets.
“I don’t know what impression you’d had of these men who met that hot summer in Philadelphia, but I think it’s important this July 4, that we remember this about them: they were not poor men, they were not wild-eyed pirates. These were men of means; these were rich men, most of them, who enjoyed much ease and luxury in personal living. Not hungry men – prosperous men, wealthy land owners, substantially secure in their prosperity. But they considered liberty – this is as much I shall say of it – they had learned that liberty is so much more important than security, that they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. And they fulfilled their pledge – they paid the price, and freedom was born. Paul Harvey – Good Day! (Paul Harvey, News and Commentary, July 4, 1974; www.SermonCentral.com)
Where are such men today? Where are such women? For these are the kind of people God can use to bring America back to Him. In fact, God can use you, if you stand strong in His strength, if you stand alone, and if you stand true to Him.
