July 03, 2000
Our pastor's sermon for Sunday July, 2, was entitled "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL," and he apparently did his home work in preparation for his message.
In his confirmation of the established truth that the United States of America was founded to promote Jesus Christ and God's Law, the pastor traced this nation's Christian heritage all the way back to the year of 1607.
His well-researched sermon pointed out the following facts:
Several years prior to the Pilgrims arrival on our shores, the Jamestown settlers landed at Cape Henry. Their first order of business was to plant a cross as they claimed the land for Christ as directed by the Charter of Virginia, granted by King James 1 of England.
Their purpose, as stated in the Charter was to the ... "PROPAGATING OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO SUCH PEOPLE AS YET LIVE IN DARKNESS."
The Pilgrims who followed, in the manner of the Virginians, and the Puritans who followed thereafter, considered themselves as missionaries. The Mayflower Compact of 1620 clearly declares that the Pilgrims came to advance the Christian faith for the glory of God.
In the time period from 1736 to 1770, English Evangelist George Whitefield and the more famous John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards were preaching revivals across this land, which led many thousands to come to Jesus Christ.
Six years later, as the colonists were driven into the Revolutionary War, many of those who had accepted Christ as their Savior, sacrificed their lives during the five-year struggle for our independence from England.
During the time of the War for Independence, it was recorded that as many as 99.8 percent of the colonists and patriots claimed to be believers in Christ Jesus.
For the first 200 years after the Revolution, all schools in America were Christian, as spelled out by the Northwest Ordinance, and signed into law by the U.S. Congress, which required that schools be instituted for the purpose of teaching religion.
The first college in America, Harvard, included within its precepts: "Let every student be plainly instructed... to know God and Jesus Christ... therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the foundation of all sound knowledge and learning."
At William and Mary-- "...that the Christian faith may be propagated."
Yale-- "...to know God and Jesus Christ...lead a Godly, sober life."
Princeton University's first president proclaimed-- "... cursed be all learning that is contrary to the cross."
All-in-all, 106 of the 108 colleges in America were founded on the Christian faith. This continued for 20 decades. So, what happened that allowed this once God-fearing nation to be governed by non-believers?
Many historians and theologians would quickly point out that GREED and its related SINS were allowed to move in. It has been established that the sin of slavery spread throughout this land as a result of GREED.
Although a loving God, our God, The Most High, cannot allow sin to go un-punished! That goes for an individual person or a nation.
The sin of slavery played a major roll in the onset of our Civil War. That war cost us 600,000 American lives-- more American losses than in all the wars combined that followed later in our history.
In accepting the prospect that God allowed the Civil War to take place as a result of the sin of slavery, what greater punishment do we deserve for the sin of MURDER by ABORTION?
1.5 MILLION babies each year are murdered in the U.S. under the guise of a medical procedure! In God's eyes, that baby is a human life, designed after His own likeness.
I can only begin to imagine how sad and angry God must be as he has seen his own people turn against him. We have turned from the wisdom our founding fathers sacrificed their lives for.
Those who penned the Constitution of The United States of America were inspired by the Word of God. They were given the "wisdom, knowledge, and understanding" that the Holy Scriptures make known to all those who sincerely seek God's will.
Yet, we continue to legislate band-aid fixes for our sin problems. The whole nation seems to have adopted the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" philosophy for [all] evil as we choose not to face our responsibility to combat the sin, itself!
Many of our liberal legislators have called for, and in too many occasions, have enacted new laws that have curtailed our Constitutional rights under the Bill of Rights in an attempt to cure our SIN/CRIME problem. They would have you believe that those rights do not apply in these modern times. But knowing that our Constitutional law is based on God's law, no length of time could render it obsolete.
The time is long overdue that "We the People" get down on our knees, and humble ourselves before the Most High God, and pray for a personal revival in our souls. Then we must have the courage to ACT upon the wisdom that God will impart to us. This nation can still be rescued from the perils of sin and liberalism, and our Constitutional rights restored, but it may be costly!
If God should call us to put our lives on the line as our patriot brothers and sisters did when called to service in the American Revolution, the Civil War, World War I, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and all the "brush fire" wars in between, would [we] have the courage to do what was required of us-- what God might ask us to do?
When you get right down to it, the enemy (the Devil) already knows our name, and where we live. So, we might as well stand up and be counted as warriors in God's army.
God's patriot call may ask us to march into the missionary field, preach on the street corners, or run for political office. But whatever the call, we will fail unless we go in the boldness of the Holy Spirit, washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ, and wield the Sword of God's Word.
As we celebrate this
Independence Day, and enjoy the FREEDOM and LIBERTIES bought by
the blood of our forefathers and patriots, I urge you to join me in prayer that
it will NOT be the LAST Independence Day!
Gary Miller
