I know that Independence Day has passed and our celebrations are over. But God has strongly placed this message on my heart concerning the spiritual condition of our nation. Can America return to God? This is God’s message to us this morning.
PRAYER
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"Nothing Happened Today." Britain’s King George III wrote the day’s activities in his diary: "July 4, 1776--Nothing happened today."
Nothing happened? America was born that day, King George. America’s birth marked an era in history for the cause of human freedom.
For 248 years, we have celebrated our independence--our own right to do as we please in governing our own lives. What a wonderful country we live in--despite all its faults and failures. What wonderful freedoms are offered to us as citizens of the USA. Yet our country seems to be leaving God out of everything. Politics and political rivalries have taken over and almost blotted out what our country was founded upon.
One of those freedoms that we are privileged to have is FREEDOM OF RELIGION. We can believe or worship anybody or anything we want with no one to tell us differently. Many thousands of Christians around the world die for that right each and every year. Yet in America--a country established for that very right--many won’t give God the time of day, much less their lives.
What happened that made millions now celebrate the "Freedom from Religion" instead of the "Freedom of Religion?" Many have tried and succeeded often in getting God kicked out of our schools, sporting events, public places and work places.
And it’s not the god of the Hindu, Muslims, it’s not the philosophy of reincarnation or the New Age, it’s not homosexuality or condom distribution they want out. It’s God and Jesus Christ. "Spiritualism" has taken the place of Christianity. Spiritualism puts self on the throne and religion in general. Christianity--the founding guide for America--is under attack. To a great extent our society has gotten what it wanted - a society without God.
In 1962, the Supreme Court held that the Establishment Clause prohibited prayer in public schools. Since 1960, while the gross domestic product had nearly tripled, violent crime has increased at least 560 percent. Divorces have more than doubled. The percentage of children in single-parent homes has tripled. And by the end of the decade 40 percent of all American births and 80 percent of minority births will occur out of wedlock. These are not good things to get used to.
In 1940, teachers identified the top problems in America’s schools as: talking out of turn, chewing gum, making noise and running in the hall. In 1990, teachers listed drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, suicide, rape and assault. And now it’s also guns. These are not good things to get used to, either. What is the answer? How can we turn this nation back to God? Can it even be done? Yes! We can make a difference!
Are you aware that America is in a cultural civil war? William Bennett, former head of the U.S. Dept. of Education, wrote, "America is engaged in an on-going & intensifying cultural war. Over the last two decades there has been waged an all-out assault on common sense & on the common values of the American people. We now stand at a crossroads." Yet, in 1980, it was ruled to remove the 10 Commandments from any public school property.
Now if we're standing at a crossroads, then it seems to me that we, as Christians, need to know what to do, & in what direction to proceed. Our map for that is found in:
2 Chronicles 7:14 - "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves & pray & seek my face & turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven & will forgive their sin & will heal their land."
I mentioned this verse last week in our service as we heard God pleading with us to humble ourselves and pray. It is then that God will begin to restore us. It is then that He will forgive our sins. It is then that He will heal our land. We are witnessing just the beginning of this restoration in our lives right now.
I am thankful that the Louisiana governor has now mandated that the 10 commandments be displayed in every classroom.
I am thankful that Oklahoma has now mandated that the Bible be considered a part of the curriculum in every classroom.
I Praise God that the American people are finally beginning to remember what our country was founded upon before it is too late.
In the book of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah had witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem & its people being carried off into captivity into Babylon. Then, Jeremiah utters a prayer that comes straight from his heart. He prays:
Lamentation 5:21-22 - "Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless you have utterly rejected us & are angry with us beyond measure."
I believe that ought to be our prayer, too. So, let’s consider 4 things
we can do to reclaim the heritage that is ours as Christians.
First of all, we need to be informed about America's spiritual heritage.
History is being rewritten today, & we're now being told that the founding fathers of our country were deists or secular humanists. Now a deist is someone who believes in God, but he believes that God has removed Himself from us & is no longer involved in what’s happening with mankind.
So those who are rewriting history want us to believe that our founding fathers were all deists. They say that our country was founded as a spiritually neutral land, where all religions would be accepted, & that no religion is any better than another.
They also say that the founding fathers advocated strict adherence to separation of church & state - that the church should have nothing to do with government, & that government should have nothing to do with the church. But that is simply not true, & you need to know it. You need to know that our country has a rich spiritual heritage. Jesus needs to be an integral part of every aspect of church AND state.
Jamestown, VA. was one of the earliest English speaking settlements in the new world, & it has been carefully restored so that we can see what life was like nearly 400 years ago. At Jamestown, you'll discover many interesting things about our country. You'll learn that when this settlement was first established, most of the people built rather humble huts for their families. But right in the middle of Jamestown they erected a church building as a testimony to all who came that the people of Jamestown put God first.
They had 2 hour worship services every day of the week, & attendance was mandatory. If you didn't show up for the daily service, your day's ration of food would not be given you. Their reasoning was, if you were too sick to go to church, you were too sick to eat.
They had a 5 hour service on Sunday, & you were expected to be there all 5 hours. If you missed church for 3 weeks, they would put you in stocks for 6 weeks out on the church lawn. The stocks are still there for all to see. Even though they may have gone too far, it seems to me the lesson which comes through loud & clear is that in this original settlement, the people wanted to communicate clearly that God came first. We need to be informed about America’s spiritual heritage.
- When our earliest universities began, most of them were founded to train preachers. When Harvard was established in 1636, their statement of purpose said that every student's main aim is to know God & Jesus Christ, & to recognize that Christ is the foundation of all learning.
- When Yale came into existence in 1701, they said that "God is the source of all wisdom," & they required all their students to attend daily public prayer services both morning & evening.
- When Princeton came into existence in 1746, Princeton proclaimed, "Cursed is all learning contrary to the cause of Christ."
- Our founding fathers were convinced that the Psalmist was right when he wrote "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."
• 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."
• William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, said, "If we aren't governed by God we will be ruled by tyrants."
• John Jay, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, said, "It is the duty as well as the privilege & the interest of a Christian nation to select & prefer Christians for their rulers."
Schools in our country used one primary textbook, & that was the Bible.
So don't let anybody tell you that our country was started by a bunch of deists. Don't let anybody tell you that our country is to be spiritually neutral & one religion is as valuable as another. Don't let anyone ever tell you that our Constitution says, "Separation of church & state." It doesn't! Our country has a rich spiritual heritage!
The second thing we need to do is to be positive about our potential to win. Christians oftentimes feel defeated. We’re a long way from being defeated.
Be like the father who went to watch his son's T ball game. Arriving in the middle of the first inning, he saw his son & asked, "How is your team doing?" The boy replied, "Well Dad, we're behind 20 to nothing." His father said, "That's pretty bad, isn't it?" "Oh no, we haven't even come up to bat, yet."
It's time for us to come up to bat. God has given us the power to win.
1 John 4:4 - "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."
Nineveh was a city full of cruelty & sin, & God said He would destroy it because of that. He told Jonah to go to Nineveh & preach. Jonah finally obeyed, & when he preached the city repented, from the peasant to the palace they all repented before God. And the result was that God spared Nineveh all because of Jonah's preaching.
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Go back with me in time & stand at the cross. Look at Jesus Christ hanging there, & it looks like defeat. "We can't win. Our leader has been crucified." But 3 days later the tomb is empty. "He is not here. He is risen." Christ is victorious. He has conquered both sin & death. The Bible says that:
Romans 8:37 - “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
Romans 8:31 - "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
We need to be positive about our potential to win.
Thirdly, we must be bold in communicating the truth. We have been commissioned to go into all the world & preach the Gospel. But instead of being aggressive, most of the time we have been passive. Maybe that is because it has become politically incorrect today to share our faith.
Well, guess what - in the First Century it wasn't politically correct to share your faith, either. Go back to Acts 4 & you'll read the story of Peter & John being so excited about their faith they couldn't keep it inside. They went out into the streets of Jerusalem & started sharing their faith with anyone who would listen. Hundreds of people started coming to Jesus Christ. The Jewish government became concerned because of what was taking place & arrested Peter & John.
They couldn't find anything to condemn them legally, so finally they had to release them. But first, the Bible tells us, "They... commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." "But Peter & John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen & heard.'"
Now here is what I want you to see. That story is very close to what's happening in our society today. A few years ago there was a bill in Congress that fortunately was defeated. If it had passed, it would have become law that the workplace is to be religion free, which means that we couldn't leave a Bible on our desk at work, nor could we talk about or share our faith at work without breaking the law.
Some are trying to tell us today that we are not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus Christ. So, we must decide. Are we going to respond as Peter & John did? Will we say as did they, "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen & heard?" Or will we crawl into the corner & be silent?
I tell you, the ACLU & the Gay Rights groups, & the NOW movement & the humanists are all speaking with loud voices. They're shouting what they believe & what they think ought to happen in this country. We outnumber them, but we aren't speaking up as we should. We're remaining quiet, & the result is that we're losing when we should be winning. Paul said in:
Romans 1:16 - "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes."
Are you ashamed of the Gospel, or do you believe that it is the power of God unto salvation?
Finally, we need to focus on the power of the Gospel to save us. Our job as the church is to preach the Gospel. We're not trying to take over the government. We are, rather, trying to change hearts from within. We can't just change the educational system & fix it. We can't just change the welfare system & fix it. The only way we can fix it is to change the hearts & lives of people. That's our job.
And as people are changed then there will be Christian teachers & Christian principals, & Christian writers writing textbooks, & Christian lawyers & judges, & Christian politicians & businessmen & executives, & even Christian newsmen & newswomen who are reporting the news into our homes each day.
But it must begin from within, & that's our responsibility.
Proverbs 14:34 - "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people."
Righteousness exalts. Sin tears down. So, what are we going to do about it? Are we going to seek out the enemy, do battle with him, realizing that God has given us everything we need to defeat him?
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One of these days you're going to stop breathing, & so am I. One of these days we're all going to stand before the Creator of the universe, & all that will count in that moment is what we've done for Christ.
What about now? Are you doing anything now to build His kingdom? Are you trying to reclaim our heritage as Christians in this great land? We have the potential to win. It's time for us to begin. So, I end where I started:
2 Chronicles 7:14 - "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves & pray & seek my face & turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven & will forgive their sin & will heal their land."
This morning, if you're here outside of Jesus Christ, that is the place to begin by making Him your Lord & Savior. So, if you need to make a decision for Him, we invite you to come & make that decision now as we stand & sing.
