My dad was a retired Air Force serviceman. He was also a retired Federal Civil Service employee. My dad became disabled from defending this land for you and for me. And with all that, my dad used to say that with all her problems, America is the greatest country on earth.
Let’s talk about …..
1. AMERICA’S GREATNESS
America has greatness in her beauty. From the tree covered hills in Main, to the clear streams running through meadows in Kentucky, to the vast desert vistas in Arizona, on to the stunningly beautiful coast of California, America simply has it all. There is no other place on earth that has such a diversity of beauty within its borders.
But that is not what makes America great.
America has greatness in the abundance she offers. I have been to many other countries, as some of you have, and I have seen first-hand that even the poor in America have more than most people in some other countries. We offer the ability to have a fine home, several cars, toys of every kind and nature, and we offer all of it on the installment plan so you don’t have to save any money to have any item.
But that is not what makes America great.
America has greatness in her freedoms and liberties. It used to be that everyone respected the rights of others, even if they disagreed with our thoughts. Today, however, society has very little tolerance for anyone else, and even less ability to be civil with others who disagree. Common sense just isn’t that common in America anymore.
Today, the in-thing to do is show you are an “UN” person. In other words, the trendy thing is to be unpatriotic; unforgiving; and even un-American and unchristian at times. And we do all this, believing it is our right to do so and we are justified. The “UN” thing is rapidly destroying the very fabric of our wonderful nation.
There are people in America today that are actually undermining the integrity of our country because they are not motivated by principle but rather by selfishness. They want notoriety, fortune, or power, and they don’t really care how they get it. They try to revise history to say that our forefathers felt the same way. But that is a lie.
Those brave men who signed the Declaration of Independence had far more to lose than they ever stood to gain. As we have discussed before, most of them were wealthy and influential, but they willingly put all that on the line for this nation, because they knew there was something far more important that the materialistic. They knew that true freedom and the ideas freedom was based on were far more important to this nation.
These men paid the price for our freedoms because almost all of them lost everything they had for their principles. I cannot help but wonder just how many of us today are that committed to the principles we claim in our lives. By singing the Declaration of Independence, they were committing an act of treason against the British Empire. The penalty for such was death, yet they signed anyway.
John Hancock singed twice as large as anyone else, and he explained it by saying, “Now His majesty can read my name without his spectacles.” Stephen Hopkins was a very old man, and he signed with a shaky signature. He said his hand trembled, but his heart did not. These men paid the price for what we enjoy today. They lost everything they had and died penniless and broken. The next time you see old Glory waving in the breeze, take a good long look. The red stripes on our flag were painted by the blood that many shed for our freedoms.
This is what makes America so great.
And the next time you see somebody burning a flag in demonstration, understand that this is not freedom of speech. This is an act of treason that deserves to be punished as such. One should never carelessly dishonor the price others paid for their freedom to be ignorant.
Now, let’s talk about …
2. AMERICA’S GOD
Just as some people want to rewrite history to make it look like our forefathers didn’t care about God, they also want to take Jesus out of our society today. They conjure up all kinds of stories to make you think it didn’t happen the way it did – even though the proof is against them! Just because I want something and say something, does not mean it is true. There is an old political saying that says: “Tell a lie often enough and loud enough and it will soon be believed.”
People should just accept the past. Most people settled their country in times past because they went there looking for riches. People settled America because they went there looking for God.
The first pilgrims arrived in 1620. The boat they crossed the ocean in was only 26’ x 113’. We have bigger sailboats at the lake today. But they did, and when they got here, the first legal document they signed was called “The Mayflower Compact.” The second paragraph begins with these words:
“… for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith.”
Have you ever noticed that when someone actually puts it all on the line and steps out in faith, God rewards that person abundantly? If you have never done that before, and you want to see what it feels like to be overwhelmingly blessed, try it. You will be absolutely amazed at what He will do for you.
For those pilgrims, that first winter was a tough one. Nearly half of them died. Many more were very sick. But the spring came, and they planted their corn. God blessed them by letting them reap their first harvest; 21 acres of corn. What did they do? The first thing they did was to band together and give God the glory and the thanks.
That following December 13th, the remaining 58 pilgrims gathered with about 80 friendly Indians and celebrated God’s goodness in thanksgiving – not for one meal like we do today, but for three full days! Of course, they didn’t have the luxuries of a TV football game, or a boat at the lake to take their minds away from God like Americans do today.
I talked about some who try to rewrite history. If you go into any public library or school today, you will notice that the books say the Pilgrims and the Indians met to thank each other – NOT TO THANK GOD!
Let’s fast-forward about 240 years to when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving. In that proclamation, he made a very profound statement:
“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.
”But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
The Puritans made public record as to why they came to America. In the opening sequence of the New England Confederation it says: “Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties of the gospel in liberty and peace.”
Now, correct me if I am wrong. If someone says they go somewhere for a particular reason, is it right for someone later to say they came for a different reason? The truth is the truth, no matter what we say.
Abraham Lincoln was talking to a farmer one day and asked the farmer how many legs a cow had. The farmer said “four.” Abe asked him how many legs the cow would have if you called its tail a leg. The farmer said “five.” Abe said, “No. It doesn’t matter what you call the tail, the cow still has only four legs.” The truth is the truth, no matter what we say. And the truth is, America was founded by Christians who valued the leadership of God over them.
That fine upstanding organization, the ACLU, fully believes in the saying that if you tell the lie often enough, people will buy it. They have been screaming it for years, telling us that there is wall of separation between the state and the church, and the government put it there. In truth, that phrase does not appear in any government documentation at all in this country. It did appear in the Karl Marx Communist Manifesto, however!
How did that phrase come about relating to America? Thomas Jefferson wrote a personal letter to the Danbury Baptist Association assuring them that he would make sure the government would stay out of church business, and he used the phrase, “Wall of separation”, but he meant that wall to be for the protection of the church from the state.
Here is an exact quote of the first amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …”
In other words, the government will not get involved in any way with the churches, and people have the right to worship the way they so choose, without interference.
What was George Washington’s first act as president? He kissed the Bible that was used to swear him into office. Then he held a two-hour praise and worship session in the Congressional halls of these United States. To show you how far we have fallen, Judge Roy Moore was fired from his position on the state supreme court for keeping a monument of the ten commandments in the entry way to a state building. If old George were alive, he would have handled that one quickly!
How does Congress open their sessions? With prayer. Who do they use to pray? Chaplains (Ministers). How are they paid? With tax dollars. What I don’t understand is why can the big shot congressmen open their sessions in prayer, but a teenaged girl in Chandler, Arizona, was cuffed and detained for standing at the flag pole BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED and began praying?
Congress voted to put the words “In God We Trust” on our money. By the way, in 1776, 11 of the 13 colonies required that before you could run for political office, you had to be a professing Christian. The next year, Congress voted to spend $300,000. To purchase new Bibles for distribution to the nation, including giving them to schools to use as study books.
Did you know that all 50 states have constitutions that refer to God? The famous Liberty Bell has part of LEVITICUS 25:10 inscribed on it. “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
Above the Los Angeles city hall, part of PROVERBS 14:34 is written. “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
It is a matter of record that all but the last couple of presidents have made some reference to the leadership of God over this country. President Reagan said that if America ever forgets that we are one nation under God, we will be one nation gone under.
George W. Bush, our current commander-in-chief, was asked who had the greatest influence on him. He said, “Christ, because HE changed my heart.”
Wake up, America! It’s time we stop believing everything we hear and start paying attention to the facts. My dad used to say that if someone is whispering on one street corner and someone else is yelling at another, you can pretty well bet the one who is not yelling is telling the truth. To my experience, I agree with that comment.
The greatness in our nation lies in her freedoms: The freedoms that God has so benevolently given us, and the freedoms that so many of our men and women have died to keep.
We have talked about our greatness as a nation, and we have talked about the God of our nation. Now, let’s talk about …
3. THE SHAME OF AMERICA
Edmund Burke once said that evil would triumph when good men do nothing. All we have to do is look around us at society and we see that very thing happening today. Why do I use the word “shame” in describing America today?
I use that word to show that it is a shame we are s indifferent to God today as a society. Even in our churches we do not find the boldness or the commitment to do things for God. Most people in church today want to be comfortable, especially those in power. They want the status quo. They are more focused on their desires than they are on following the true tenants of Jesus Christ.
America has become complacent. Good men and women do nothing while others push the evil agenda and win. Michael Ludow sued to get the name of God out of the pledge of allegiance. Madelyn Murray O-Hare sued to have the name of God refused entry into our school system. She won, He didn’t – yet.
We are given a wonderful promise in 2 CHRONICLES 7:14.
‘If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.’
The solution to our problems today will not be found in the White House, the State House, or the Court House. It will only be found in God’s House.
Can America be brought back to full glory? Yes, it can, but there are five things that Christians must do first. And it will not be easy.
· We must participate in paying for our government. None of us like paying our taxes, and many of us use every possible angle we can to not pay them. Let me ask you a question. On your tax return at the beginning of the year, did you take exclusions that you knew you really shouldn’t? If you did, you sinned and you need to ask God to forgive you.
We need to pay our “fair share” of taxes. Jesus said to give Caesar that which was his. He was talking about helping to honestly support your government.
You might say that the taxes are unfair and are squandered by selfish politicians. I agree. But the Lord didn’t say we needed to pay if we agreed with what was happening with it.
In ROMANS 13:7, it says –
‘Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes: If revenue, then revenue: If respect, then respect: If honor, then honor.’
I used the word “shame” a moment ago. It applies here. Many of us owe taxes and do not pay then; we owe respect but refuse to give it; and we owe honor and will not honor. That is the shame our hearts have cast over us in this day and age.
And we can tell it is wrong by listening to people explain why they don’t. It always starts out with “I”. I think these taxes are too high. I think they use them very badly. I can’t respect a person who has angered me. I can give no glory to someone I hate. When we are focused on ourselves, we have no room left to focus on Jesus.
· We must start offering up regular, deep, and sincere prayers. As you can tell by now, I like statistics. I don’t know if I believe in them to be 100% correct, but I do think that they show general trends and give us a good idea of what’s happening.
One such statistic I saw once said nearly 70% of churchgoers never prayed on a daily basis, and this included church leadership and pastors.
In 1 THESSALONIANS 5:17 we are told to,
‘pray continually’
Well, if we are to pray continually, what are we supposed to pray about?
In 1 TIMOTHY 2:1, we are told,
‘I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone …’
We are to pray our requests and needs to God. We are to pray for other people’s needs, and we are to always remain thankful in prayer for everything and everybody, no matter what.
Pray for revival, pray for salvation for others, pray for our own hearts to be cleansed and made pure. And pray for the money we give our government that it might be used to further God’s kingdom in America.
· We must start praising our nation. We will never have a spirit of revival in this country until we have a spirit of patriotism in this country. Our society has gone from forging a new land to being led to the slaughter like animals. We cannot change that until we take America back as the people’s country, not the special interests country.
And the only way to do that is to start praying patriotism in our hearts again.
· We need to start participating in this nation. I do not understand how anyone can really care about making things better in America if they don’t take the time to vote for its leaders.
There are many who pledge their allegiance to our flag, then sit back and never do anything for the flag. That is like my professing to be a Christian and then never doing anything Christian. We must start participating, and we can participate by living the truth and letting everyone around us see whom we are living for.
JOHN 8:32 says,
‘Then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.’
I think this applies directly to our nation today, but I also know it applies to each and every American. We are all bound by sin, and we can see it isn’t getting any better out there because our society is bound by sin.
Just like many of our forefathers paid the price for our freedoms, we will eventually pay a price too, but I am afraid it might be for our sins.
ROMANS 6:23 tells us,
‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
Who does this apply to? It applies to each one of us. Is there sin in your heart this morning? Have you gone to God and given it to Him, or have you held on really tight so you could go with it some more? If you are doing that, what chance do you have of being saved?
ROMANS 10:13, says –
‘For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Many people think that means to acknowledge the Lord and you will be saved. Those are the same people who think they can go to church and be saved. What this verse means is to cry out to God to save you from eternal death! It means to submit your heart to Him like never before; in brokenness and humility.
I like what REVELATION 3:20 says.
‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with Me.’
Jesus is waiting on you this morning to come clean with Him. You might be worried about where our nation is headed, but I tell you this – until you come clean with Jesus regarding the sin in your life; until you make the fateful choice to walk with Him as your guide; you will never be able to affect the world around you with anything but negative.
Is today the day of decision for you? Do you feel the gentle tug of Jesus pulling at you, telling you what to do? Why do you hesitate? Why don’t you listen to Him this morning?
And once you come to Him for your help, you will then be able to do the things you need to do to help our glorious nation rekindle the passion for Jesus Christ.
INVITATION
