The Things That Made America Great

Psalm 33:12

July 4th, 2005

INTRO: We need to be reminded of the past blessings of God on America, and why those blessings occurred.  When the noted nineteenth century French political philosopher Alex DeTocqueville visited America in her infancy to find the secret of her success, he traveled from town to town examining our young government, our schools, and businesses; and in them, he found no reason for our strength and success.  When DeTocqueville visited the churches of America and saw as he said pulpits.... “aflame with righteousness,” he found the secret of American success.  When he returned to France, he summarized his findings by saying: “America is great because America is good; when America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

In George Washington’s first Thanksgiving proclamation, he said: “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor.....”

We must go back to the things that made America great.  We are now living on past blessings, and we are quickly unraveling at the seams.  Woodrow Wilson said: “A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do.  We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about.”

 

I.          BELIEF IN THE BIBLE MADE AMERICA GREAT (II TIM 3:16)

A.          The Bible is like a compass; and without the compass, we lose direction.

1.          Calvin Coolidge said: “The foundations of our society and our government so rest on the teachings of the Bible that it wold be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.”

a.         Faith in these teachings, the absolutes of the Bible, made America great.  And the lack of faith in them will be our destruction.

b.         We need the Bible because the Bible can get America back on course.

2.          William E. Blackstone, the man who helped to form a Christian base to early American law, said: “The Bible is stamped with a speciality of origin and an immeasurable distance separates it from all competitors.”

a.          Blackstone believed that God is the source of all laws, whether found in the Bible or observed in nature.

b.         In Blackstone’s view, man was bound to God’s laws and the absolutes taught therein.

3.          George Washington wisely said: “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”

4.         “If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible our country will go on prospering and to prosper.  But if we and our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm and bury all our glory in profound obscurity” (Daniel Webster).

5.          Horace Greeley said: “It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially Bible reading people.  The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.”

B.          When the Bible was thrown out of school, our educational system plummeted immediately.

1.         For America to be great again, we must get back to the Bible, not only in school but in our homes.

2.         Truly the Bible has the answer.  The answer for our homes and nation.  Note these words of Thomas Jefferson: “I have always said that the studious perusal of the Sacred Volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands.”

 

II.          PRAYER MADE AMERICA GREAT (II CHRONICLES 7:14)

A.          One of the most famous paintings of George Washington shows him kneeling in the snow, kneeling and praying to the God of heaven in whom he believed.  On Washington’s tomb at Mt. Vernon are these words of Christ: “I am the resurrection, and the life, he that believeth on Me, though he were dead yet shall he live.”

1.         The great Christian General Robert E. Lee had this to say about our need of earnest prayer: “Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all people everywhere to pray.  Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution that our people can make in the critical hour.  I humbly urge that we take time to pray– to really pray.

Let there be prayer at sunup, at noonday, at sundown, at

 midnight– all through the day.  Let us pray for our children,

our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes.  Let us pray

for our churches.  Let us pray for ourselves, that we may

not lose the word ‘concern’ out of our Christian vocabulary.

Let us pray for our nation.  Let us pray for those who have

never known Jesus Christ and redeeming love, for moral

forces everywhere, for our national leaders.

Let prayer be our passion.  Let prayer be our practice.”

2.         We need to pray for America, pray for our churches, our little children, our teens, for one another!

3.         In 1787, the 55 delegates of the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia to draw up our constitution.  When it seemed things would bog completely down and a constitution not be written, Benjamin Franklin recommended that each mornings session open in prayer.  Listen to the words of Franklin as he addressed that convention: “All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor.  To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity.  And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?  I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs the affairs of men.  And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?  We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that ‘except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it’ (Psalm 127:1) I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without His concurring and we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little, partial, local interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by-word down to future ages.  And, what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.

I therefore beg leave to move----

That henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of                           Heaven and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business; and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.”

B.          Prayer is so very important to the future of our great nation.  Let us pray and let us forsake our wickedness.  II Chronicles 7:14 is a great revival verse, and it is a great verse for our nation:

1.         “If”– this word indicates that there is a condition to the blessings and promises spoken of at the end of the verse.

2.         “My people”– the world is not held accountable for the spiritual condition of our nation.  “My people”– the elect of God– are.

3.          “Which are called by my name”– the people called by His name are Christians.  Those who bear His name.

4.         “Shall humble themselves”– the Hebrew word for humble used here is kana which indicates “to bend the knee, to bring ourself low in subjection.”  Christians need to completely surrender to the will of Almighty God, being empty of self.

5.         “And pray”– pray for the kingdom work, pray for our military, pray for our church, our home– pray, really pray.

6.         “And seek my face”– draw near to God!  To seek is to search out in worship, to strive after, to desire and to get.  While others go away, let us draw near to the face of God.

7.         “And turn from their wicked ways” – Christians are to repent of their sins.  We are to turn from greed, abortion (4,484 babies are aborted, murdered on an average a day in America, Prov 24:11-12), sexual immorality (lust, pornography, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, etc).

8.          “Then”– and only then.

9.         “Will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.”

a.         God will hear when we pray in the Spirit, when we pray earnestly and in purity.

b.         God will forgive our sins, the sin of His people.

c.         He “will heal” our land.  God can bring a great refreshing of spirituality to America.

 

III.          BELIEF IN COMMON DECENCY MADE AMERICA GREAT