America! America!
a Nation Adrift
Introduction: Is the great American
dream turning into a nightmare?
America has rejected God in dealing with the
issues of life.
God has
showered upon America 200 years of blessing. As she acknowledged and obeyed her
Creator, God elevated her from infancy to a place of world leadership. He has
allowed her to enjoy unprecedented wealth, freedom and influence.
America
has led the world in medical and technological advancement. The nation has
pioneered in space, pushed back the frontiers of science and given its citizens
the world's highest standard of living.
America has opened her arms to
millions of immigrants and refugees, first from Europe, then from the Far East,
add to this the stream of new residents from Mexico and other Latin countries.
While other nations build barbed wire fences to keep people from getting out,
America greets a long line of people waiting to get in.
With grateful and humble hearts,
Americans once honored the God who granted her blessings and freedoms. But
slowly she began to attribute her blessings not so much to God, but to man.
A FATAL LAPSE OF MEMORY.
Forgetting to acknowledge “the Power that hath made and preserved
us a nation,” her citizens began to congratulate themselves on their own
achievements to celebrate man, while relegating God to the back seat. The god
of secular humanism began to infiltrate all of her institutions.
Wallowing in materialism,
self-centeredness and pride, many Americans decided that they really did not
need God after all. Some began to tamper with God's absolute standards, and to
tolerate what they would never have allowed before in their own lives or in
society around them. That which God says is never right could be sometimes
right, depending on the situation. Courts that had once legislated against
immorality began to grant freedom to every man to “do that which was right in
his own eyes.” This happened in (Genesis 6:5) just before God past judgment on
the earth. And God tells us in (Matthew 24:37-39) Read also (Judges 17:6; 21:5). Lines of right and wrong blurred. In time, all sorts of ungodly behavior
became acceptable even admired. Americans no longer were shocked. Eyes grew,
“accustomed to the dark.” Few citizens rose up in outrage. When God fades from
a nation's conscience, one can justify almost anything.
NEW AMERICAN MEANINGS FOR OLD WORDS
God
says, "Thou shalt not Kill." Americans gave murder a new name and
indifferently aborted 1,374,000 unborn babies.
Many
tried to camouflage sin with new terminology. God calls it “drunkenness.” We
call it "alcoholism- a social disease.” God calls it "Sodomy."
We call it “homosexuality - gay rights, an alternate lifestyle.” God calls it,
“perversion.” We call it “pornography - Adult entertainment.” God calls it
“immorality.” We call it the “new morality.” God calls it “cheating.” We call
it “abnormal social development.”
With the dissolving of absolutes,
America's crime rate has spiraled, until it costs taxpayers $2 billion a year.
A serious crime is committed every 3.5 seconds, one robbery every 83 seconds,
one murder every 27 minutes. Drug addiction and alcoholism are rampant. Suicide
is the second largest killer of teenagers. Teenage pregnancies, incest and
sexual child abuse draw national attention. More than 2 million Americans a
year contract gonorrhea. Pornographic magazines and books crowd the newsstand.
Video—cassette stores now market the products of X—rated theaters. One out of
every two marriages ends in divorce. Some 1.3 million unmarried couples now
live together, according to the United Sates Census Bureau.
America once legislated against
those things that God said to be wrong. But gradually we began to tolerate,
then accept, then condone openly and even promote, that which was once
unthinkable. The perversion and degradation that once made us blush are now
flaunted before the eyes of a nation that was conceived in the fear of God. It
has happened, little by little, right before our eyes, not because someone
forced it on us, but seemingly because we did not care. We just didn't care.
And so, we are living out the truth
of God's Word given to a past generation: (Deut. 6:10-12; 8:17).
I. A Nation Adrift.
A.
American Institutions
under attack. A ferocious assault on Christian faith and morals, first on the
part of the intellectual community, and then on the part of the government.
Israel in their time also opted for the "New Morality." (Judges 17:6)
"In those days, there was no king in Israel; but every man did what was
right in his own eyes."
B.
When did we begin to drift away from our Christian heritage? I
think we reached that point when many Americans turned away from the idea of
salvation through Christ to that of salvation through technology or science or
material affluence.
C.
America's only hope is
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ.
II. The Myths That Could Destroy America.
A.
The Definition of a myth
is a traditional story of unknown authorship, any fictitious story.
B.
It is a dangerous thing when
we too easily accept new ideas as truth.
1.
Myth number one: The
Battle isn't real. A new reporter asked a pedestrian. “Do you know what the two
greatest problems in America are?” “I don't know and I don't care!” responded
the man. “Then you've got both of them!” was the reply. Our nation is rotting
on the inside and hostile forces are determined to take away our freedom, and
many people who neither know nor care.
2.
Myth number two: Life
Began with Blind Chance.
3.
Myth number three: We
can have Morality without religion. God clearly pronounces judgment on those
who "Call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light
for darkness" (Isa. 5:20).
4.
Myth number four:
Whatever is Legal is Moral. People today have been brain washed to believe that
whatever is legal is moral. But what men make legal is not necessarily moral.
5.
Myth number five:
Morality cannot be legislated. Yet secular humanism is imposing its own
morality on the American public. It does so through the media, the schools and
the courts.
6.
Myth number six, The
Role of Men and Women is Interchangeable.
7.
Myth number seven, A
Fetus is not human.
8.
Myth number eight,
Pornography is a Harmless Adult Pleasure.
III. The Family Is Being Destroyed.
A.
More and more mothers
have to work outside the home. In 1948 18% of the mothers worked outside the
home. Today it is over 50%.
B.
Changing Ideas about
Motherhood, it is frowned upon by many.
C.
Uncontrolled behavior,
promiscuity and perversion. Many parents today often resent children because
they interfere with their life.
IV.
The Porno
Plague.
A.
Can anyone deny that
movies are dirtier than ever? They do not call it dirt. They call it
"realism." T.V. also.
B.
God tells us in His Word
that the seeds of destruction are contained in every sin. (James 1:15)
"Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it
"is finished, bringeth forth death." (Gal. 6:7-8). Someday, if
America does not return to righteousness, America will reap what she has sown.
C.
We do not call it
Pornography we call it Adult entertainment. A casual glance at the lists of the
sins of the flesh recorded in the New Testament will reveal that the sins of
sexual looseness are grouped together with the sins of violence. They always go
hand in hand. We should not be surprised to see it today. (Rom. 1:26-31; Gal.
5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-11).
D.
Staying Pure in an
Impure World.
1.
Covenant with your eyes
Job did, (Job 31:1). The eyes provide the window- to the mind. By the power of
the Spirit we can discipline our eyes.
2.
Consecrate your mind. The
mind is the battleground upon which every moral and spiritual battle is fought.
Our thinking ultimately determines our character. Solomon said in Proverbs
28:7; "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”. See what Jesus said in
Mark 7:21-23.[*]
3.
Commit yourself to Bible
study and memorization (II Corinthians 10:5) "bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ."
There is only one way to accomplish
this goal: We must fill our minds with God's Word. The Psalmist had this in
mind in (Psalm 119:9, 11).
4.
Don't knowingly put
yourself in the place of defeat: (Romans 6:13) “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves
unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God.”
D. We do have a message of Hope and
Forgiveness for anyone. (Isaiah 1:18) "Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the Lord: though yours sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool”; see
also (I John 1:7)[†].
1.
Paul reminded the
Corinthians that even though some of them had been fornicators, idolaters,
adulterers, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards,
revelers, and extortioners, yet nonetheless they had been washed clean "in
the name of the Lord Jesus. (I Corinthians 6:11).
V. With A Rise In "New Morality," America Is Becoming "New Sodom." Is Homosexuality An Alternate Lifestyle?
A.
What does God think of
Homosexuality? It was God's plan for sexual relations to be in the form of
man-woman union; man and wife become "one flesh"(Gen. 1:27; 5:2; Gen.
2:24).
1.
We are told in God's
Word (Lev. 18:22; Lev.20:13).
2.
Jesus is the only hope
for the homosexual, (Rom. 3:23-24; I Cor. 6:11; I Tim. 1:15).
VI. God's Judgment On Nations.
A.
Why Did the Roman Empire
Fall? The events that led to the collapse of the Roman Empire are startlingly
similar to the events occurring in our nation today.
1.
Strong Families: Rome
was founded on high moral standards. Each father was respected as the head of
the family. In the early republic, the father had legal authority to discipline
rebellious members of his family.
2.
Home education: The
education of the children was the responsibility of the parents. This further
strengthened the children's honor and respect for their parents and deepened
the communication and understanding between parents and children.
3.
Prosperity: The Roman
armies were victorious in war. The wealth of conquered nations increased Roman
prosperity and prestige.
4.
National Achievements:
Great building programs began in Rome. A vast network of roads united the
empire. Magnificent palaces, public buildings and coliseums were constructed.
5.
Infiltration of “The
lie”: As Roman families prospered, it became fashionable to hire educated
Greeks to care for the children. Greek philosophy, with its humanistic and
godless base, was soon passed on to the roman families. Women demanded more
rights and, in order to accommodate them, new marriage contracts were designed,
including “open marriages.”
6.
Big Government: By the
first century A.D., the father had lost his legal authority. It was delegated
to the village, then to the city, then to the state, and finally to the empire.
In Rome, citizens complained about housing shortages, soaring rents, congested
traffic, polluted air, crime in the streets, and the high cost of living.
Unemployment was a problem. To solve it,
the government created a multitude of civil service jobs, including building
inspectors, health inspectors and tax collectors.
7.
Decline and persecution:
The problem of big government only multiplied. Meanwhile, Rome was persecuting
God's people. Rome was quite tolerant of all religions except Christianity.
Christianity was banned and Christians were persecuted, burned, and thrown to
the lions. Why? Because the very nature of Christianity is intolerant of “the lies” of
Satan which is the basis of every other religion.
B.
The ruins of Greece, a
civilization that rejected God and worshiped the human mind and body.
1.
The basic philosophy of
Greece was, “Man is the measure of all things. Man, not the gods, the relative,
not the absolute.” Only the strong survived in Greece. Deformed or weak
children were hurled from cliffs or abandoned by their fathers to die.
Seven-year-old boys were sent off to learn war. The human body was idolized. A
man who could not swim or wrestle was scorned. As immorality increased, the
human mind became supreme. Reason itself was worshipped. The Greeks' search for
knowledge was unending. Their probing produced a pantheon of skeptics, cynics,
stoics and epicureans. Soon the government became a bureaucracy bound in red
tape and taxation. At one time there were 218 taxes. There was even a tax on
tax receipts. God's judgment came upon the Greek civilization according to the promise of His Word. “The wicked shall
be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Ps. 9:17).
C.
America: Next on the
List? Is God blind to the sin of our own nation? Will He continue to bless us
as He looks on our idols of silver and gold, on our pride of personal
achievement, on our prevailing rebellion against Him? The Bible repeatedly
warns that, without repentance, judgment is inevitable. “Righteousness exalteth
a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” America is not big enough to
shake her fist in the face of a holy God and get away with it.
1.
Sexual promiscuity (sin)
the root of the problem. The American public expresses its outrage at the
growing problem of child abuse and sexual molestation. But is such behavior
really very surprising in a sex-craved society that exalts moral perversion on
television, in movies and magazines, and when pornography is pumped wholesale
into the living room of America?
2.
The sin of self-centered
lifestyle comes back on both Individuals and society. Civilizations do not just
die. Their leaders and people are first deceived; then they are destroyed by
God. "Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things
(immorality, covetousness, worship of false gods, etc.) cometh the wrath of God
upon the children of disobedience (Eph. 5:6). The deception comes in the form
of “the lie”; “...God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe
the lie” (II Thess. 2:11). “The Lies” was first given to Eve in the Garden of
Eden: “...ye shall be as gods, knowing (deciding for yourselves) good and
evil.” (Gen. 3:5).
3.
When a Nation listens to
"The lie" it dethrones God and deifies man’s achievements. It exalts
human reason as supreme. It trusts education and science to solve its problems.
It believes that man is evolving into perfection. It replaces God's moral
standards with situational ethics. It promotes sensual pleasure and instant
gratification. It strives for a world utopia of prosperity and peace. It makes
the State the sovereign dictator over everyone.
Conclusion: In April 1912, the largest and most luxurious vessel ever built
set forth on its maiden voyage. The British liner Titanic had a doubled bottomed
hull, divided into sixteen watertight compartments. Because as many as four of
these could be completely flooded without endangering the ship's buoyancy, the
Titanic was considered unsinkable.
On the fateful night of April 14,
shortly before midnight, the great liner was steaming through the foggy North
Atlantic when it collided with an enormous iceberg. A 300-foot gash was ripped
in the ship's right side rupturing five of its watertight compartments. The
Titanic sank into the icy depths, claiming over 1,500 lives.
A tragic, though often untold story
about that night concerns one man on another ship, less than 20 miles away from
the Titanic. The other vessel was the Californian, and it could have come to
the rescue of the sinking liner if only someone had been listening. But the
radio operator had fallen asleep on duty! When help did finally reach the
disaster area, it was too late to save more than a few.
The
very greatness of the Titanic had caused her crew and passengers to feel
inordinately confident. “Unsinkable” was such an assuring term. But it proved a
fatal misjudgment.
Like
the Titanic, our great ship of state, America, has gone adrift and is headed
for a potentially fatal collision. Many feel she, too, is unsinkable; but that
assessment is rooted in feeling, not fact. The truth of the matter is that
America has already run into some “icebergs” that have damaged her hull, and
caused not a few leaks. She is in grave danger.
God tells us in His Word to wake up as His people. (Romans
13:11-14[‡]; Ephesians. 5:1-21[§]).
See also The Shed Blood That Justifies and this brief on Those who call themselves Jehovah's Witnesses by R.A. MacIntee