(If you have found this sermon helpful, please visit us at www.HeritageRestorationProject.org or www.ChristianWisdom.info)
Tomorrow is Independence Day. Independence Day is to our Nation what the Day of Pentecost is to Christians, a birthday celebration. And just as we have tried to keep alive in our hearts and minds the religion which came from the Lord through His apostles, so too we should strive to keep alive in our hearts and minds the ideals upon which our nation was founded.
It is reported that Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States, seeing changes occurring in our nation became concerned and commented: “Maybe our country needs to recapture the pride of its earlier years!” I wonder how he would react if he were with us today?
Today’s downward societal riptide is very swift and strong, powered by negative attitudes toward religion, negative attitudes toward classical virtues, “relativism” in in our understanding of values, secularism, and “me first-ism”. The providential blessing of the American system of government is for the most part no longer widely appreciated nor understood by our nation’s citizens. Why is that? Quite simply because such things are no longer taught in our nation’s schools, no longer praised, and no longer respected in our own country.
As Americans we should stand firm in our advocacy for the ideals and values which gave rise to our nation, a nation that was once compared with the 12 tribes of Ancient Israel, God’s nation. The constitution of the United States of America introduced a comprehensive system of government previously unknown. So new and wonderful was this system of government that people celebrated it as a providential gift from God. And indeed it was. But like the 12 tribes of Israel, we have neglected to care for our nation’s relationship with God. We have neglected to live by God’s ordinances. And, we have largely forgotten the Author of our freedom, the One from whom this divine gift was given.
Those who brought forth this most wondrous form of government were spiritually gifted, immersed in Christian culture and blessed by God. They gave us the Constitution which guarantees the inalienable rights of every citizen. I wonder, if these framers of the Constitution were with us today, what their reaction would be seeing widespread anti-Christian attitudes, and legislators of a mindset quite different from that of the framers of the Constitution. Freedom of religion does not mean, nor was it ever intended to mean freedom from religion. Atheism, the total lack of theism, was never intended as the policy of the framers of American government. And what is worse, agnosticism and atheism has given way to hostility toward Christianity.
Those to whom we have entrusted governance have chased God away from our schools and institutions, claiming that the principle of the separation of church and state justifies their hostility toward Christianity. It does not. Far from it, what has come about in America today is very wrong and it is very dangerous. Liberty was achieved in America because the concept of liberty is rooted in natural law, God’s law. “We hold these truths to be self-evident”, the signers of the Declaration of Independence affirmed, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” If God is no longer recognized, natural law is no longer guaranteed.
The concept of natural law has been replaced by concepts of relativism and changing truth. Most young people today equate the word “providence” with a city in Rhode Island and have no understanding at all of why that city was named as it was. If a vote had been taken in our country in Eisenhower’s day, God would still be alive in the classrooms of America today. That day seems to have passed along with “The Greatest Generation”. We are in the midst of a radical cultural paradigm shift, a shift toward secularism. Much of that paradigm shift has already been accomplished.
“The Greatest Generation”, those Americans who grew up during The Great Depression and fought World War II, or whose labor helped win it, knew, as did previous generations, that America was founded by the providence of God. The majority of today’s generation has little or no concept of what that means. No other nation, no other people ever before in the history of the known world, had based their governance upon the principle that government serves the people rather than the people serving the government. This idea was, God-inspired. And for us to have lost that understanding is to have lost one of the most precious treasures of our American heritage, the bedrock and the very foundation upon which liberty was established.
What has been the result? In previous generations our jails were relatively small. Today America has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world. It seems as if jails cannot be built fast enough. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that there is no relationship between the numbers of our citizens being incarcerated and loss of our moral compass. The rise of criminal violence in America coincided with the abandonment of faith and morals in this country. The Holy Spirit is being ignored, and that is, frankly, a sin that will lead to death, not only for individuals, but potentially for the nation. What comes next? Euthanasia of the sick and elderly? Persecution of Christians? Loss of liberty and property? Tyranny?
Here is the Lord’s warning for America, and I hope every American will take it to heart: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent” (Revelation 2:5). That “lampstand”, is the Holy Spirit, the light that pierces darkness. If the Holy Spirit is withdrawn from America, just what do you think life will like?
There was a time when most Americans loved God and embraced duty. There was a time when we honored our Founding Fathers. Somehow we have allowed this to be taken from us—no more celebration of Washington’s birthday, no more celebration of Lincoln’s birthday; instead, a generic and somewhat meaningless “Presidents Day” in which none of the valor, faith and leadership virtues of Lincoln and Washington are remembered and passed on to current and future generations.
It is not unlikely that when this present generation has passed there will be very few people left who actually know our American heritage, very few who feel in any way connected to George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and the many other representative Americans who have contributed so greatly to the building of our nation. Pride in our American heritage has been taken from our children. Knowledge of our Christian heritage is being taken away, removed from our collective memory, erased, never again to be passed on to our children. Must America be subject to this dishonor? Must this disgrace be endured? Most assuredly unless the present direction in which we are moving is changed.
Woe to this nation that was once God’s lamp unto the peoples! What tragedy! What loss! What dishonor! That which was brought into this world through the providence of God has been corrupted. If the Light of the World is forgotten, the resulting darkness will be far worse than that which descended upon Europe during the last century. It will be catastrophic in measure even beyond our ability to comprehend.
Shame on our courts and legislators! Shame on our schools and universities, and shame upon all those who have contributed to the growing darkness! Shame upon every Christian who has neglected to be vigilant in the defense of freedom! Wake up America! You are at war! The enemy is not the enemy you see. Your enemies are spiritual forces and spiritual principalities bent upon your destruction.
Can we turn back the tide? We must try. Pray that God pours out His spirit upon a new generation of Americans who can lead us back from the precipice. Let us reclaim pride in our freedom, the freedom which flows from obedience to God. Let us reclaim our stature through willing adherence to God’s law of justice for all. Let us remember and be proud of and celebrate our forebears who built this nation upon self-discipline, and the virtues of sacrifice, and self-control.
Tomorrow we celebrate Independence Day. But if the founders could return today, I think they would not celebrate what we have become. They would grieve. So much has been lost.
Do we truly love America? Do we truly care for our neighbors? Do we truly love Christ? Then, let us re-dedicate ourselves to rediscovering and teaching our children the virtues and truths upon which this nation was founded. America was truly a gift from God. We as Americans must reclaim this understanding for ourselves and future generations!
(If you have found this sermon helpful, please visit us at www.HeritageRestorationProject.org)
