What was America like in July of 1776? As our founding fathers and 56 men of faith and courage signed their names to "The Declaration of Independence," it was considered to be their death certificate, because king George most assuredly would have killed every one of them had they won the revolution. England had the best-trained and best-equipped army on the face of the earth. Our forefathers in those 13 colonies were farmers with an assortment of rifles. On that historic day in 1776, these 56 signers of "The Declaration of Independence" pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to birth the land of the free and the home of the brave.
So where are we now? China is trying to destroy America's economy. They want to totally economically control us. China is an enemy of democracy. Our nation is economically in crisis created by runaway inflation, created on purpose by a president who shut down the gas and oil industry the first day in his office. His goal is to destroy America's economy. He said that, saying, this was something they were doing to help the New World Order, "The International Order," he called it. Either we have the most stupid people on planet earth with our economy, or we have people who know exactly what they're trying to do, and they're doing it. I say we have people doing exactly what they intend to do. And we need to run those people out of office. Consider our schools. Our schools are producing graduates that are far below third world countries. No nation on the face of the earth spends more money on educating their young people than we do. But we're graduating people, who cannot read and write, from high school. Why? Because you can control a poorly informed, poorly educated society.
If you give birth to a generation of people who can think and see through the fog, then you have trouble. Believe me, the socialist unions are taking this nation's children down the drain. I want to say the socialist teachers' unions are telling the American parents, "Your children do not belong to you". I assure you; your children do belong to you. They do not belong to the state. Stand up and speak up for the defense of your children. The collapse of the American family has produced a generation that has lost its moral and spiritual foundation. Even the secular media is now saying, "The reason the American family has been crumbling is because of the absentee fathers". According to the Casey Foundation of the national kids count, approximately 35% of the children in the United States of America live without their father.
Think about that. So where do they go for leadership? When they get to be teenagers and mother can no longer control them, they go into the streets, and they find the leadership from gangs and from thugs and drug pushers. And they are sucked into that sewer. The Bible says, "You, fathers, train up your children in the fear and the admonition of God," not the mother, you! God holds the man responsible for the moral and spiritual teaching. He doesn't say, "Send them to the schoolhouse". He doesn't say, "Send them to the church house". He said, "The kids in your house, you teach them. They hear you pray. They see you read the Bible. They see you practice the Bible. Stand up and do your duty. Stand your post. Do your duty. Be a man in your house and lead your children in the paths of righteousness".
America's criminal justice system has collapsed. The policemen have been fired. They need to be rehired and appreciated. There are district attorneys across America who have been funded by socialist, George Soros, one million dollars each to gain access to office. They refuse to punish the criminals who return to the streets quickly to murder, rob and rape. You see it in the newspaper on a regular basis. Anti-semitism is sweeping our nation. Policemen are handcuffed. Criminals are set free. America has become a playground for criminality. What can we do? We can do what our forefathers did in a time of national crisis. How did America become great?
Let me tell you the story of general George Washington and his army on Christmas day 1776 when America was in great crisis. George Washington prayed to God Almighty in the snows of Valley Forge. This is not a portrait. This is a historical fact. The Bible says, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, then will I hear from heaven, and I will heal their land". I think one of the greatest shocks in heaven is going to be when we get there and find out what we could have had if we'd just had the courage to pray for it and to believe God to bring it to us. Washington and the continental army had lost the first two battles with England. People were calling for George Washington to resign. Some were saying, "Fire him: he's a loser".
Washington's army collapsed from 30,000 in December to 2,500. Less than one in every 1,000 Americans had the courage to stand with Washington on Christmas day in 1776. Of that 2,500, one-third did not have boots to wear in the snow. Some had not eaten for three days. They wrapped their feet in burlap and left a trail of blood, marching the nine miles to Trenton, to cross the river to fight the American enemies. George Washington knelt in the snow to pray, and after he prayed, he fought.
"Faith without works is dead". Faith without works is dead. Yes, we're going to pray for America. But when it comes time to vote, we're going to go vote the Bible, and we're going to vote for principles of righteousness. This prayer you see of Washington praying in the snow was the turning point of the revolution. Washington met with his officers in the tent, and he gave each of them a coin. And on that coin were these words, "Victory or death". Say that with me. "Victory or death". Washington looked at them and said, "If we do not win now, and we wait till the spring, king George will hunt every one of us down and hang us". Signing that "Declaration of Independence" was their death warrant.
Washington made an unprecedented decision. He made the decision to cross an icy river in the middle of the night in the middle of a snowstorm to the surprise of the 800 professional German soldiers that the British had hired to fight the American forefathers. Washington and his staff looked at the message "Victory or Death," and they crossed the river. And they captured or killed the 800 German soldiers. The British were stunned. The Americans were stunned. The revolution went from the brink of defeat, back on the road to victory. And for 7 1/2 years, almost eight years, they fought relentlessly until freedom was born. God bless the U.S.A. I want to take a side road for just a moment.
One of the main reasons it went from defeat to victory was from a Jewish investment banker named Haym Salomon. Historians have clearly recorded that Haym Salomon, an investment banker, gave millions of dollars to buy weapons, to buy food, to buy medicine, to buy clothing. George Washington said, "We likely would have lost the revolution without the help of Haym Salomon". Haym Salomon died broke and is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Pennsylvania. But here was a Jewish contributor to the American revolution that likely without his help we would not be sitting here today. The American people owe a debt of gratitude to the Jewish people in the independence battle. Let us remember that password, "Victory or death".
Without victory, there is no survival. I assure you, the battle between capitalism and socialism is a battle. If capitalism does not win, your children are going to live in economic intellectual slavery. America was born by eight years of brutal sacrifice, by patriots in the American revolution. They refused to quit or bow their knee to the political dictators of Europe. Yes, America is in a moral, political and economic crisis. Don't tell me we can't take America back. In God, we still trust. God is still on his throne, and miracles still happen. Get excited that this country was created by "We, the people," who were willing to say, "Victory or death," while marching in burlap bags in the middle of a snowstorm to do the impossible. All we have to do is make up our mind that we are not going to bow before the secular message.
We trust in God. We stand on the Word of God. We will not bend. We will not bow. We will not give in, not now, not ever! We're going to isolate and crush the socialist machine trying to destroy this country. We are going to replace their failed policies with policies that make America great again, the greatest country on planet earth. The winds of victory are blowing in our direction. The winds of victory are blowing in our direction. The question is asked, "What happened to those 56 men who signed The Declaration of Independence, July the 4th, 1776"?
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seven seas. To pay his debt, he lost his home, he lost all of his properties, and he died in rags. He pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor. He kept his honor. He lost his fortune, he lost his life for your freedom.
Thomas Lynch Jr., the third-generation rice farmer, was an aristocrat. He was a large plantation owner. He was very wealthy. After he signed, his health failed. With his wife, they set out for France to regain his health. The ship never got to France, and he was never heard from again.
Thomas McKean of Delaware was so harassed by the British, he was forced to move his family five times in five months. He served congress without pay. Now there's a novel idea for you. Term limitations would be good. His family lived in poverty and in hiding. The British looted and burned all the properties of Ellery, Clymer, hall, Gwinnett, Walton, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton. They lost all, all that they had for your life of freedom.
Thomas Nelson Jr. Of Virginia, after whom Thomas Nelson publishing company is named here in America, raised two million dollars on his own signature to provision the fighting troops. After the war, he personally paid back those loans. It wiped out his entire estate. He was never reimbursed by our government. In the final battle for Yorktown, Thomas Nelson urged general George Washington to fire on his house. Why? Because it was occupied by British general Cornwallis. And his home was totally destroyed. Thomas Nelson died bankrupt, buried in an unmarked grave. Thomas Nelson pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor. They gave up something for freedom that we enjoy.
John Hart was driven by the British from his wife's bedside while she was dying. Their 13 children fled in all directions for their lives. His fields were burned, and his gristmill was laid waste. For more than a year, he lived in the forest in caves. Returning home after the war, he found his wife dead. His children were gone. His properties had been destroyed. He died a few weeks later of a broken heart. He pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor.
Point: these 56 men paid a price for liberty and freedom. They were not poor, hungry, wild-eyed pirates that people are trying to portray them. They were men of means who enjoyed luxury and the ease in personal living. They had much to lose, and they gave it up gladly for our freedom. But it was paid for in the blood, sweat and tears of 56 of our founding fathers. God bless their sacred memory, and let us never forget the sacrifice they have made for us.
Now let's focus on you, the question for you. Is there anything you believe dearly enough to put your life or your job or your reputation in jeopardy to stand for that? At what point will you, as a Bible-believing Christian, object to the moral corruption being forced on your children in the public schools? School boards are not dictators. They are people who allegedly work for you. I'm speaking to the national audience now. If your school is getting off track, you go to those board meetings. You let your voice be heard. You get organized and speak up for your children and for America. Will you object if universities refuse to grant degrees to outspoken Christian students? Will you object when congress and the state taxes more than 50% of your income through taxation?
Remember how the American revolution started? It was taxation without representation. And they were upset, because they raised the price of tea 3%. Our founding fathers didn't say, "Well, jolly ho, we'll just pay it". No. They got on the boat and threw it out in the bay. It's called "The Boston tea party". Remember that? They went to war over that! Many Americans are now being taxed 50% or more of their income. That's slavery by any other definition. Will you object if universities refuse to grant degrees to outspoken students? Will you object when congress and the state taxes you more than 50%? Will you raise to speak when every tenet of your faith is being legislated against in congress?
If there is any freedom of principle you would defend and give your life for, your honor for, your fortune for, of all the things we are now in progress in America, at what point will we say, "Enough is enough"? Christians of America, we are at war for the soul of this nation. We are at war for the future of our children and our grandchildren. Compromise with the world is treason in heaven. James says, "A friend of the world is the enemy of God". That's in the Bible. "Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered". That's in the Bible. Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth". The salt loses its ability. The salt loses its saltiness, its ability to fight corruption. It's good for nothing but to be trampled under feet. We, the people, must rediscover our saltiness, stand up, speak up, and defend righteousness in this nation!
America was born in a covenant with God. Pericles built a civilization based on culture. Alexander the Great built a civilization based upon power. Caesar built a civilization based on power and might. When our forefathers landed at Plymouth rock, they knelt on the shores and thanked God for this land. There was a preacher on board named roger Williams. He was persecuted for his faith in Europe. He came to America, and he founded Rhodes island. The capital was called providence, and providence is another name for God. Did you ever put that together? Harvard was built by puritans to train ministers of the gospel to preach the gospel to the American people. It was called, in those days, "Holy Harvard".
In 2009, the students at Harvard gathered on the campus to chant to pagan gods. It's not holy Harvard anymore. God calls this spiritual adultery. "Thou shall have no other gods before me". When the continental congress came to an impasse, Benjamin Franklin called upon the members of congress to fall on their knees and to ask God for guidance. And this is what Benjamin Franklin said, quote, "We have been assured in the sacred writings," that would be the Bible, "That except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that built it". "I believe," he said, "We also without concurring his aid will not succeed in building this nation anymore than the builders of the Tower of Babel," end of quote. Our forefathers built this nation on their knees in prayer. George Washington led his army to the greatest victory we ever had on his knees in prayer. When the church in America gets on their knees in prayer, God Almighty will move heaven and earth. We will preserve our freedoms and this nation! Give the Lord praise in the house!
Edward Gibbons wrote his masterpiece, "The decline and fall of the Roman Empire". He gave these reasons for the Roman Empire's collapse. I want you to listen to them and think about America. One was the rapid increase of divorce. In America, since 1962, the increase has been 350%. Two, the belittling the sanctity of the home. That has certainly happened in America. Thirdly, higher and higher taxes with public money being wasted. Remind you of anyone you know? Four, a mad craze for pleasure, which became increasingly exciting and brutal. The Romans had the Colosseum and gladiators. How many of you have seen that movie "The Gladiator"? America has professional sports, violent and more violent, gigantic armaments for war while nations decayed internally, the decline in faith in God that became mere form and ceremony.
Can America survive, because we're doing exactly all of those? There's going to have to be a spiritual awakening at the grassroots if this nation is going to survive. God will hear our prayer. Jeremiah 33, "Call upon me, and I will answer you," and listen: "And show you great and mighty things that you know not". Say that with me. "Call upon me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things that you know not". James 4:2, "You have not, because you ask not". 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and I will heal their land".
This is a story that comes from Derek Prince. It's a story that comes from the believers of England. Just after World War II, Joseph Stalin said he was going to execute the Jews of Russia. He was going to murder them all. And he was certainly capable of doing it. He only killed a hundred million people, trying to make his form of socialism work. Believers in England began to fast and pray that God would save the Jews. At the end of the 12th day, Joseph Stalin had a brain hemorrhage. Sixteen doctors worked on him. They could not save him, because there's awesome power in prayer. Saints of God, we do not know the power of our influence through prayer. God is waiting for the church in America to stand up and wake up, waiting for us to take a stand against evil with anointed action. Let's do it. Let's take this country back. Let's take it back to the Bible, back to the principles of righteousness, back to being salt and light. Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered! Give the Lord a shout of praise!
