SermonNotes July 8, 2012 FBCam
“Faithand Freedom”
Thisweek we celebrate all that we love about America. There are parades,fireworks, speeches, and family BBQ’s. Contestants squared upin the annual Hot Dog Eating contest, and veterans marched down MainStreet reminding us of the cost of America’s Liberty.
Ournational celebration should cause Christians to reflect on the sourceof our freedom, and the support that is necessary to uphold it. Thetheme of this sermon is that Faith is the only Foundation that cansupport Freedom. Without Faith, Freedom fails.
Ournation’s second president is quoted as saying, “OurConstitution was made only for a moral and religious people It iswholly inadequate for the government of any other.”
Itcan hardly be disputed that faith has been diminishing in our nationsince the early 1960’s. A national defiance against God has put asymbolic banner over our nation that says “God Not Welcome.”
PRAYERwas Banned in our public schools in the 1962, Supreme Court – Englevs. Vitale decision. A constant battle is fought over the removal ofreligioussymbols frompublic property. The FDR Memorial, the WW2 Memorial, and the CapitolHill Visitors Center – all recent construction memorials in ournation’s capitol are intentionally devoid of Christianreference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXbWyrN6BdU&eurl=http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/
“HateCrimes” legislation seems to be written to include Christianspeech against moral ills as crimes against society.
Arecent study sponsored by the Department of Homeland Securityincludes language that could easily be used to label Christians andall freedom loving Americans as potential terrorists. The study wasintended to help identify potential sources of terrorism in the US. Notice the language that identifies freedom loving people and thoseconcerned over the direction or our country as potential terrorists:
“ExtremeRight-Wing terror Groups groupsthat believe that one’s personal and/or national “way oflife” is under attack and is either already lost or that thethreat is imminent …andbelievein the need to be prepared for an attack either by participating inparamilitary preparations and training or survivalism.…..suspiciousof centralized federal authority, reverent of individual liberty… Religious:groups thatseek to smite the purported enemies of God and other evildoers,imposestrict religious tenets or laws on society (fundamentalists),forcibly insert religion into the political sphere……. (apocalypticmillenarian cults;
http://start.umd.edu/start/publications/research_briefs/LaFree_Bersani_HotSpotsOfUSTerrorism.pdf
Homosexualitypushedthrough the COURTS.
SameSex marriage is permitted in several States.
NJnow allows Civil Unions. October 25, 2006 NJ Supreme Court. Lewisv. Harris thatthe “unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to committedsame-sex partners can no longer be tolerated under our StateConstitution.” Essentially,the Court ORDERED the Legislature to write a law to provide legalstatus for same sex couples.
OnDecember 14, 2006, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill providingfor civil unions which was signed into law by the Governor JonCorzine on December 21, 2006. The Civil Union Act came into effect onFebruary 19, 2007.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition_of_same-sex_unions_in_New_Jersey)
ABORTIONcontinues to blight our nation with over 50 million killed since Roev Wade.
Thelist of moral outrages goes on and on. As a nation, we are turningour backs against God. We are losing faith.
Thisloss of faith has devastating consequences for freedom, for faith isthe only foundation that can uphold freedom. Without faith, ourfreedoms are misused as opportunities to take advantage of the weak,or to steal from our neighbors.
TheLoss of FREEDOM can already be seen.
Wehave lost ECONOMIC FREEDOM.
TheFederal Reserve said the median net worth of families plunged by 39percent in just three years, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in2010. That puts Americans roughly on par with where they were in1992. (YlanQ Mui, Washington Post, June 11, 2012)
NOW,the highest number ever are on on foodstamps. 1 in 7 Americans onfood stamps, called SNAP “Supplemental, Nutrition AssistanceProgram.” Did you know that the government spends millions ofdollars advertising this program to encourage more people to receivetheir benefits? Rather than helping people get off of governmentsupport, our government seems content to find more people to receivegovernment help. We have become a welfare state.
50%receive some form of government assistance
Themost recent jobs report found only 80,000 new jobs. But consider theeconomic impact that in the same month when 80,000 jobs were added,85,000 added to SSDI! At this rate, we will be bankrupt in a veryshort time.
OurNATIONAL DEBT continues to balloon out of control, jeopardizingfuture generations of Americans.
InOctober, 2008 our national debt was $9.7trillion,about $31,700per person
TODAYit is 15.8 TRILLION ($50,549 per person)
In3.5 years, your government has added 18,849 of debt for every man,woman and child in America!
Weare also losing PERSONAL FREEDOM
Withouta foundation of fatih, more laws necessary to govern the people.
Morerestriction
moreGovernmental control
Wehave become a nation of users. People are discovering that it iseasier to receive public benefits than it is to work. “Whenthe people find that they can vote themselves money, that will heraldthe end of the republic” (Attributedto BenjaminFranklin. Similarquotes by AlexixDe Tocqueville andAlexanderTytler)
Weare well on our way to becoming a European style socialist society. “Theproblem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of otherpeople’s money” (MargaretThatcher)
“Thereare two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by sword, theother is by debt” (JohnAdams)
Butthis slothful dependence on one’s neighbors violates thecommands of Scripture.
“Bythe sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to theground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dustyou will return.””(Genesis 3:19)
“Thepoor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.”(Matthew 26:11)
“Foreven when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a manwill not work, he shall not eat.””(2 Thessalonians 3:10)
Wehave a nation DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF. Producers are pitted as theenemy. Those who refuse to work make greater and greater demandsagainst those who earn a living.
Compassionis not measured by how you spend other peoples money.
Compassionis not measured by how you dictate others to assist your needyneighbors.
Compassionis showing up with your work gloves when your neighbor’s treeis in their yard
Compassionis feeding the hungry.
Compassionis housing the homeless.
Isthere a Connection between Faith and Freedom?
GodBlesses Nations who Trust in Him
Jeremiah18:7-10 “Ifat any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of itsevil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I hadplanned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdomis to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight anddoes not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended todo for it.”(Jeremiah 18:7–10, NIV84)
(Proverbs29:2) “Whenthe righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, thepeople groan.”
(Psalm33:12 – ISRAEL) “Blessedis the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for hisinheritance.”
(Proverbs14:34 – ALL NATIONS) “Righteousnessexalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
Americacelebrates a Faith Filled Past. Here are but a few examples.
CHARLESLANDIS, the founder of Vineland, NJ was a Businessman, not areligious figure. This is what he said about prayer:
“Thegreatest relief I found was in prayer, though few would havesuspected me of religious proclivities. But I always had, and have,an abiding faith that God hears prayers. There may be many things inthis world that we cannot understand, but perhaps its calamities mayeven look to us as of small importance when we look back upon themfrom the immortality of the great hereafter. If the reader of thisshould be in dire distress or misfortune, if he has not done so, lethim try the consolation of a silent and secret prayer, and he willsee if he does not rise from it with renewed strength, determinationand powers of endurance”
Vinelandwas an alcohol free town. It was here in Vineland that physician anddentist Thomas Welch and his son Charles processed the first bottlesof “unfermentedwine” to use during their church’s communion service. Wecommonly know this now as “Welches Grape Juice, and it startedhere in Vineland in 1869.
Thiswas only140 years ago!!! Some of you have Grandfathers, or Great Grandfatherswho were alive at this time!
TheFounding of America recognizes our faith filled past. “Thesecond day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in thehistory of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated bysucceeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought tobe commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotionto God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, withshows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, fromone end of this continent to the other, from this time forwardforever more.”- JohnAdams ina letter to his wife, Abigail
Itwas Mr. Adams’ original conviction that American independence wouldbe forever celebrated on July 2-the day that Congress, in aclosed-door session, approved the resolution of independence. As itturns out, Adams was off by a couple of days. Americans celebrate theday that the Declaration was formally adopted and a copy of themanuscript officially printed.
IndependenceDay was already being celebrated one year later. On July 4, 1777, thecity of Philadelphia held an elaborate celebration which included apublic display of fireworks, forever tying pyrotechnics to Americanindependence festivities.
Theevening was closed with the ringing of bells, and at night there wasa grand exhibition of fireworks, which began and concluded withthirteen rockets on the commons, and the city was beautifullyilluminated.
Forthe Founding Fathers, American independence was explicitly tied tospirituality and religious liberty. Freedom was a right bestowed by an almighty Creator. So, convincedthat God supported their cry of freedom, America’s forefathers placed”a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence” asthey pledged their lives, belongings, and honor in support of thisideal. (Source, Logos.com)
TheDeclaration of Independence reflects our faith filled past. We seethis in both the opening AND closing statements of the Declaration . The opening statement is well known:
“Wehold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienablerights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit ofhappiness.”
Butthe closing statement is equally strong in its affirmation that theunalienable rights that we have from God can only be sustained as wetrust in God!
“Andfor the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on theprotection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other ourlives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
Thefollowing quotes from our Founding Fathers also demonstrate our faithfilled past.
GeorgeWashington. “Itis impossible to rightly govern without God and the Bible”
PatrickHenry. “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that thisgreat nation was grounded, not by religionists, but by Christians,not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! For this veryreason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperityand freedom of worship here.”
JohnJay, fist Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. “Providence has given to our people the choice of therirulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, ofa Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
NoahWebster. (Dictionary, school primers). “Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you tochoose for yourselves rulers, ‘just men who rule in the fear ofGod.’ The preservation of a republican government depends onthe faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect theirduty and place unprincipled men in office the government will soon becorrupted, laws will be made, not for the public good, so much as forselfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will beappointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squanderedon unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated ordisregarded. If a republican government fails to secure publicprosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect thedivine commands and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.”
TheFirst Act of the Congress under the Constitution – electa chaplain
Secondact of the Congress was to approve the printing of 20,000 bibles forthe Indians.
OurNational Anthem reflects our faith filled past. Few people know thewords to the fourth and final stanza of our anthem:
Oh!thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Betweentheir loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blestwith victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praisethe Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Thenconquer we must, when our cause it is just,
Andthis be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
Andthe star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’erthe land of the free and the home of the brave!
CONCLUSION:What do we do?
1. KNOW your history! Children are not taught these truths in school. We must teach them at home!
2. Don’t apologize for using the Bible to defend your beliefs!
3. No matter what happens politically in our nation, our confidence isin the Lord! Christians have been able to share the gospel in everypolitical environment. We must become more concerned with our ownpersonal lives, our families, and the spread of the gospel than weare with our comforts, privileges and pleasures.
4. Christians in America must confess our sin and turn to the Lord. 2Chronicles 7:14 (KJV) Ifmy people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, andpray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will Ihear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal theirland.
