This week we celebrate all that we love about America. There are parades, fireworks, speeches, and family BBQ’s. Contestants squared up in the annual Hot Dog Eating contest, and veterans marched down Main Street reminding us of the cost of America’s Liberty.
Our national celebration should cause Christians to reflect on the source of our freedom, and the support that is necessary to uphold it. The theme of this sermon is that Faith is the only Foundation that can support Freedom. Without Faith, Freedom fails.
John Adams, our nation’s second president is quoted as saying, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”
It can hardly be disputed that faith has been diminishing in our nation since the early 1960's. A national defiance against God has put a symbolic banner over our nation that says “God Not Welcome.”
PRAYER was Banned in our public schools in the 1962, Supreme Court - Engle vs. Vitale decision. A constant battle is fought over the removal of religious symbols from public property. The FDR Memorial, the WW2 Memorial, and the Capitol Hill Visitors Center - all recent construction memorials in our nation’s capitol are intentionally devoid of Christian reference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXbWyrN6BdU&eurl=http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/
“Hate Crimes” legislation seems to be written to include Christian speech against moral ills as crimes against society.
A recent study sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security includes language that could easily be used to label Christians and all freedom loving Americans as potential terrorists. The study was intended to help identify potential sources of terrorism in the US. Notice the language that identifies freedom loving people and those concerned over the direction or our country as potential terrorists:
“Extreme Right-Wing terror Groups groups that believe that one’s personal and/or national “way of life” is under attack and is either already lost or that the threat is imminent ...and believe in the need to be prepared for an attack either by participating in paramilitary preparations and training or survivalism. .....suspicious of centralized federal authority, reverent of individual liberty... Religious: groups that seek to smite the purported enemies of God and other evildoers, impose strict religious tenets or laws on society (fundamentalists), forcibly insert religion into the political sphere ....... (apocalyptic millenarian cults;
http://start.umd.edu/start/publications/research_briefs/LaFree_Bersani_HotSpotsOfUSTerrorism.pdf
Homosexuality pushed through the COURTS.
Same Sex marriage is permitted in several States.
NJ now allows Civil Unions. October 25, 2006 NJ Supreme Court. Lewis v. Harris that the "unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to committed same-sex partners can no longer be tolerated under our State Constitution.” Essentially, the Court ORDERED the Legislature to write a law to provide legal status for same sex couples.
On December 14, 2006, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill providing for civil unions which was signed into law by the Governor Jon Corzine on December 21, 2006. The Civil Union Act came into effect on February 19, 2007. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition_of_same-sex_unions_in_New_Jersey)
ABORTION continues to blight our nation with over 50 million killed since Roe v Wade.
The list of moral outrages goes on and on. As a nation, we are turning our backs against God. We are losing faith.
This loss of faith has devastating consequences for freedom, for faith is the only foundation that can uphold freedom. Without faith, our freedoms are misused as opportunities to take advantage of the weak, or to steal from our neighbors.
The Loss of FREEDOM can already be seen.
We have lost ECONOMIC FREEDOM.
The Federal Reserve said the median net worth of families plunged by 39 percent in just three years, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010. That puts Americans roughly on par with where they were in 1992. (Ylan Q Mui, Washington Post, June 11, 2012)
NOW, the highest number ever are on on foodstamps. 1 in 7 Americans on food stamps, called SNAP “Supplemental, Nutrition Assistance Program.” Did you know that the government spends millions of dollars advertising this program to encourage more people to receive their benefits? Rather than helping people get off of government support, our government seems content to find more people to receive government help. We have become a welfare state.
50% receive some form of government assistance
The most recent jobs report found only 80,000 new jobs. But consider the economic impact that in the same month when 80,000 jobs were added, 85,000 added to SSDI! At this rate, we will be bankrupt in a very short time.
Our NATIONAL DEBT continues to balloon out of control, jeopardizing future generations of Americans.
In October, 2008 our national debt was $9.7 trillion, about $31,700 per person
TODAY it is 15.8 TRILLION ($50,549 per person)
In 3.5 years, your government has added 18,849 of debt for every man, woman and child in America!
We are also losing PERSONAL FREEDOM
Without a foundation of fatih, more laws necessary to govern the people.
More restriction
more Governmental control
We have become a nation of users. People are discovering that it is easier to receive public benefits than it is to work. “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic” (Attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Similar quotes by Alexix De Tocqueville and Alexander Tytler)
We are well on our way to becoming a European style socialist society. “The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money” (Margaret Thatcher)
“There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by sword, the other is by debt” (John Adams)
But this slothful dependence on one’s neighbors violates the commands of Scripture.
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”” (Genesis 3:19)
“The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” (Matthew 26:11)
“For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”” (2 Thessalonians 3:10)
We have a nation DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF. Producers are pitted as the enemy. Those who refuse to work make greater and greater demands against those who earn a living.
Compassion is not measured by how you spend other peoples money.
Compassion is not measured by how you dictate others to assist your needy neighbors.
Compassion is showing up with your work gloves when your neighbor’s tree is in their yard
Compassion is feeding the hungry.
Compassion is housing the homeless.
Is there a Connection between Faith and Freedom?
God Blesses Nations who Trust in Him
Jeremiah 18:7-10 “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” (Jeremiah 18:7–10, NIV84)
(Proverbs 29:2) "When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan."
(Psalm 33:12 - ISRAEL) "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance."
(Proverbs 14:34 - ALL NATIONS) "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people."
America celebrates a Faith Filled Past. Here are but a few examples.
CHARLES LANDIS, the founder of Vineland, NJ was a Businessman, not a religious figure. This is what he said about prayer:
“The greatest relief I found was in prayer, though few would have suspected me of religious proclivities. But I always had, and have, an abiding faith that God hears prayers. There may be many things in this world that we cannot understand, but perhaps its calamities may even look to us as of small importance when we look back upon them from the immortality of the great hereafter. If the reader of this should be in dire distress or misfortune, if he has not done so, let him try the consolation of a silent and secret prayer, and he will see if he does not rise from it with renewed strength, determination and powers of endurance”
Vineland was an alcohol free town. It was here in Vineland that physician and dentist Thomas Welch and his son Charles processed the first bottles of "unfermented wine" to use during their church's communion service. We commonly know this now as “Welches Grape Juice, and it started here in Vineland in 1869.
This was only 140 years ago!!! Some of you have Grandfathers, or Great Grandfathers who were alive at this time!
The Founding of America recognizes our faith filled past. "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."- John Adams in a letter to his wife, Abigail
It was Mr. Adams' original conviction that American independence would be forever celebrated on July 2-the day that Congress, in a closed-door session, approved the resolution of independence. As it turns out, Adams was off by a couple of days. Americans celebrate the day that the Declaration was formally adopted and a copy of the manuscript officially printed.
Independence Day was already being celebrated one year later. On July 4, 1777, the city of Philadelphia held an elaborate celebration which included a public display of fireworks, forever tying pyrotechnics to American independence festivities.
The evening was closed with the ringing of bells, and at night there was a grand exhibition of fireworks, which began and concluded with thirteen rockets on the commons, and the city was beautifully illuminated.
For the Founding Fathers, American independence was explicitly tied to spirituality and religious liberty. Freedom was a right bestowed by an almighty Creator. So, convinced that God supported their cry of freedom, America's forefathers placed "a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence" as they pledged their lives, belongings, and honor in support of this ideal. (Source, Logos.com)
The Declaration of Independence reflects our faith filled past. We see this in both the opening AND closing statements of the Declaration . The opening statement is well known:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
But the closing statement is equally strong in its affirmation that the unalienable rights that we have from God can only be sustained as we trust in God!
“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
The following quotes from our Founding Fathers also demonstrate our faith filled past.
George Washington. “It is impossible to rightly govern without God and the Bible”
Patrick Henry. “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was grounded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity and freedom of worship here.”
John Jay, fist Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. “Providence has given to our people the choice of theri rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
Noah Webster. (Dictionary, school primers). “Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for yourselves rulers, ‘just men who rule in the fear of God.’ The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office the government will soon be corrupted, laws will be made, not for the public good, so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.”
The First Act of the Congress under the Constitution - elect a chaplain
Second act of the Congress was to approve the printing of 20,000 bibles for the Indians.
Our National Anthem reflects our faith filled past. Few people know the words to the fourth and final stanza of our anthem:
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
CONCLUSION: What do we do?
1. KNOW your history! Children are not taught these truths in school. We must teach them at home!
2. Don’t apologize for using the Bible to defend your beliefs!
3. No matter what happens politically in our nation, our confidence is in the Lord! Christians have been able to share the gospel in every political environment. We must become more concerned with our own personal lives, our families, and the spread of the gospel than we are with our comforts, privileges and pleasures.
4. Christians in America must confess our sin and turn to the Lord. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV) If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
