“I am a nation of unparalleled prestige and prosperity. A vast network of highways tie together every major city that is stretched under my flag. Magnificent public buildings and edifices stand as monuments to my greatness. The citizens of my domain are much like the citizens of every country. Humanism has influenced society in every way. Homes are collapsing; women are demanding more rights. The government is taking control in areas once reserved for cities and states. People are complaining about housing shortages, soaring rents, congested traffic, polluted air, crime in the streets and the high cost of living. Unemployment is a perennial problem. To solve it, government has created a mass of civil service jobs, including building inspectors, health inspectors and tax collectors.”
What is my name? America? No, that description was written of the great Roman Empire of the 1st century A.D.!
Rome ruled the world but could never conquer herself—and was finally brought to ruin. It was destroyed not from without but from corruption within; devastated not militarily but spiritually.
She was a “great nation” but a godless nation; and a nation that is godless is never truly great.
Before Rome dominated the world, Greece did. Alexander the Great conquered the known world of his day—just 300 years before Christ. Greece, like Rome, was destined to self-destruction, for the Greeks were equally godless. They tried to build an ideal society on the premise that “man is the measure of all things.” The human body was the object of Greek worship. Deformed or weak children were thrown over the cliffs. Seven-year-old boys were sent off to train for war. Like the Roman government, bureaucracy reigned supreme in Greece. Medicare for all citizens was tax-financed. Red tape and taxation were a way of life. Before the end came, there was even a tax levied on the tax!*
Greece ignored God, worshipped the creature rather than the creator, and fell to God’s judgment.
America, our beloved America, has ascended to heights of power, prestige, and prosperity excelling any nation, past or present. But on this 248th anniversary of our independence day, we stand at a crossroads!
In 1620, Pilgrims came to the shores of this continent under a charter, signed by King James I of England, for the purpose of “advancing the enlargement of the Christian religion to the glory of God Almighty.”
In 1638, the 13 colonies in the Rhode Island Charter affirmed the goal of government thusly: “We submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His given to us in His Holy Word.”
We were indeed “One Nation Under God!” Our first president, at the age of 20, prayed, “Almighty God, most merciful Heavenly Father, since Thou art a God of pure eyes and wilt be sanctified in all who draw near unto Thee; Who dost not regard the sacrifice of fools, nor hear sinners who tread in Thy courts…Be our God and Guide this day and forever for His sake who lay in the grave and rose again for us—Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
That’s why America has been singularly blessed; God has blessed her because we have been One Nation Under God. We’ve invoked His blessings; we’ve acknowledged His sovereignty! We’ve stamped His name on our currency and acknowledged His sovereignty in our Constitution.
We are not great because of what we have; we have what we have because we are great! And we have been great because we have paid allegiance to the living God and His Son, Jesus Christ. As Alexis de Tocqueville said, when he visited our country to find out why we were so blessed: “America is great because America is good; and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
America is not a nation like Rome and Greece that never knew God; we have known Him, but we have forgotten Him!
- We’ve known a day in America when every preacher of the gospel believed the Bible was the Word of God;
- We’ve known a day in America when every seminary professor believed in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ;
- We’ve known a day in America when in every public school you could find a copy of the Word of God, and when it was more common to hear it read from than not;
- We’ve known a day in America when murderers were executed for their crime, and when mothers were not afraid to stroll through public parks with their babies; and when pornography and homosexuality were words most of could not spell much less speak;
- We’ve known a day when men elected to public office were basically honest men whose number one interest was America—and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all;
- We’ve known a day in America when, because Bible morality ruled, a man’s word was his honor;
- We’ve known a day in America when mothers felt that rearing children and ruling as Queen in the home was the highest calling under heaven known to women;
- We’ve known a day in America when children were expected to obey parents, respect elders, and render honor to their teachers;
- We’ve known a day in America when to hear a band playing the Star Spangled Banner, carrying Old Glory, would bring goosebumps to the back of our necks;
- We’ve known a day in America when Sunday was considered a HOLY day; when stores did not traffic in all sorts of merchandise and when people thought it more important to attend church worship services than to attend everything else under the sun;
- We’ve known a day when government was considered to be the protector not the persecutor of the people—a day when an American could walk anywhere in the world safely and proudly without fear of being spat upon, kidnapped, shot, or arrested on phony charges;
- We’ve known a day when a dollar would buy more than a loaf of bread;
Yes, we’ve known these days in America! But we cannot say that all is well today in our beloved Motherland! Freedom’s torch is not burning so brightly as once it was. Somehow, we forgot along the way that what we sow, we reap; that “the wicked shall be turned into Hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Ps. 9:17); and that “righteousness exalts nation” (Provs. 14:34).
May God help us. May God bless America.
*Note: The above text is, in part, a message I delivered in 1982 at Thompson Road Baptist Church—more than 40 years ago! Some of the material is not original with me, but I am not sure which is and which is not. If it was true then, how much more so today. Let us repent as a people and beg God for His mercies yet again.
May your 4th of July be filled with good memories, solemn reflections, and heartfelt prayers.
Pastor Anthony Slutz
YOU and GOD 