Sermons

 ​​A July 4th Look at America
Psalms 44:1 

The 4th of July is a special day in our country but not just for the signing of the declaration. Many special things have happened on this day. Three American presidents died on the Fourth of July, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe. Monroe was ready to die several days before but doctors kept him alive with drugs just long enough so that he could die on the fourth of July. Why, because the fourth of July meant something. 

Calvin Coolidge was born on that day in 1872. West Point opened on July 4th 1802. Stephen Foster was born on July 4th. The song "America" was sung for the first time on July 4th, 1832, in Boston. Alaska and Hawaii both became states on the fourth of July. Slavery was abolished in the state of New York on July the fourth 1845. 

In that great document delivered on July the 4th, 1776, we read of a belief that all people have rights given by the creator of Mankind. The document only has 1321 words, it takes just eight minutes to read, and God is mentioned four times, twice at the beginning and twice at the end. 

And the purpose of the declaration was to separate us officially from the repression and authority of England. And the very act of signing the declaration said to the world that I am a traitor to my native
Country, England. I am a criminal, a fugitive from London’s Justice. 

This weekend we celebrated the independence of our nation for the last 249 years. This morning, I would like for us to reflect back to that first July 4th and hear the price for freedom.

Did you know the 56 men who signed our Declaration of Independence that first 4th of July-- were risking everything? Because if they won the war with the British, there would be years of hardship as a struggling nation. If they lost, they would face a hangman’s noose. And yet, I quote, "We herewith pledge, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor," and they signed. But did they pay the price? 

When Carter Braxton of Virginia signed the Declaration of Independence, he was a wealthy planter and trader. But afterwards he saw his ships destroyed and to pay his debts, he lost his home and all his property, he died in rags. 

Thomas Lynch, Jr., who signed that pledge, was a third-generation rice grower and aristocrat--a large plantation owner--but after he signed his health failed. With his wife he set out for France to regain his failing health. Their ship never got to France; he was never heard from again. 

Thomas McKean of Delaware was so harassed by the enemy that he was forced to move his family five times in five months. He served in Congress without pay, his family in poverty and in hiding. Vandals looted the properties of Ellery and Clymer and Hall and Gwinett and Walton and Heyward and Rutledge and Middleton. 

Thomas Nelson, Jr. of Virginia raised two million dollars in his own name to help fund the war. After the War, he personally paid back the loans, wiping out his entire estate. 

In the final battle for Yorktown, Nelson urged General Washington to fire on his own home, which was occupied by the enemy. He died bankrupt. 

The home of Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey was seized by England. 

Francis Lewis had his home and everything destroyed, his wife imprisoned--she died within a few months. 

Richard Stockton, who signed the Declaration of Independence, pledging his life and his fortune, was captured and mistreated, and his health broken to the extent that he died at 51. And his estate was pillaged. 

Thomas Heyward, Jr., was captured when Charleston fell. 

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside while she was dying; their thirteen children fled in all directions for their lives. His fields and gristmill were laid waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves and returned home after the War to find his wife dead, his children gone, his properties gone. He died a few weeks later of exhaustion and a broken heart. 

Lewis Morris saw his land destroyed, his family scattered. 

Philip Livingston died within a few months from hardships of the War. 

John Hancock, history remembers best, due to a quirk of fate--that great sweeping signature attesting to his vanity, towers over the others. One of the wealthiest men in New England, he stood outside Boston one terrible night of the War and said, "Burn Boston, though it makes John Hancock a beggar, if the public good requires it." He, too, lived up to the pledge. 

Of the 56 signers of the Declaration, few were long to survive. Five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes--from Rhode Island to Charleston--sacked and looted, occupied by the enemy or burned. Two of them lost their sons in the Army; one had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 died in the War from its hardships or from its more merciful bullets. 

I think it’s important this July 4, that we remember this about them: These were men of means; these, were rich men, most of them, who enjoyed much ease and luxury in personal living. Prosperous men, wealthy landowners, substantially secure in their prosperity. But they considered liberty; they had learned that liberty is so much more important than security, that they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.


They fulfilled their pledge, they paid the price, and freedom was born. Most lost everything they owned, yet not one recanted his original declaration of independence. These men were courageous and valiant and brave and because of them and others, we have the privilege of being here today living in the greatest country in the world. 

Makes me ashamed of the pitiful effort we make for the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

Today marks 249 years since our Founding Fathers gave us our national birth certificate. We continue to be the longest on-going Constitutional Republic in the history of the world, and we need to understand that blessings such as these, are not by chance or accidental. They are blessings of God. 

John Adams said, "The general principles on which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity." Adams went on to say that in observing the 4th of July, “It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty." 

Preserving American liberty depends first upon our understanding the foundations on which this great country was built and then preserving the principles on which it was founded. 

Woodrow Wilson once declared, "A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, or what it is trying to do.

Psalm 44:1, says "We have heard with our ears Oh God, Our fathers have told us what you did in their day long ago." 

And the trouble with America today, is that we stopped listening to our forefathers, listening to what they told us about what God did in their lives long ago. 

It was on July 30th (1789) that President George Washington gave his inaugural address, 1/3 of which was dedicated to a direct prayer to God for guidance and strength for our nation. And with that start, God has blessed our nation. But have we forgotten who has blessed us? 

How quickly our allegiance can change. Does our country today even resemble what was intended? Do our homes and leaders have anything close to the same spirit?

The first three universities established on this soil were Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All were church colleges and all for the intention of training for the ministry, and that is what America is really about.
Over a couple decades ago a political science professor at the University of Houston did a research: "Who did the founding fathers quote the most?" They examined 3154 documents. Who did they quote the most in the early part of our country? Three writers, Blackstone, Montague, and John Locke. But 16 times more than those writers, they quoted from the Bible. And that is what America is really about. 

But what has happened to our generation? We have told God that we don’t need the Bible, we don’t need the church, we don’t need God in the running of our nation, our schools and sadly even our homes. 

Officially we told God we didn’t need Him in 1962 and we have paid the price since them. In 1962 a simple prayer was the center of a great deal of turmoil. Permit me to read it. It says, "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country." 

What is significant about that prayer is that simple prayer, on June 25, 1962, in the case, Engel vs. Vitale, the courts declared that prayer to be unconstitutional. Based on that decision the courts removed prayer from our schools. 

Hosea 8:7 says, "They sow the wind, they reap the whirlwind.” And the question is what have we reaped from sowing that one decision?

Prayer was removed on the basis of separation between church and state. In that one case in 1962 the courts redefined the definition of the word Church. For 170 years before that case, the word church as used in “Separation of Church and State” had been clearly defined by Jefferson and by all following courts to be a “federally established denomination, no more.” In this case in 1962 they redefine church to include any religious activity performed in public. 

This was the turning point in the interpretation of the first amendment. And I believe with all my heart the turning point in our nation. It was on that day that we as a nation, for the first time, officially told God, we do not want you in our schools, in our nation, in our government, in our lives. 

And we found, as Hosea says, you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind, and that’s what we’re reaping today. 

School prayer was the first casualty of this new definition and decision. Within twelve months, this same court removed Bible reading and any religious classes or instructions from the public education system. The Ten Commandments and beatitudes soon came down. And we’re paying the price today.

What is the price we’re paying? I want you to consider that the prayer removed dealt with four areas. It asked for God’s blessing upon: 
Youth, 
Families, 
Education 
and our Nation. 

And what has happened in those four areas since the removal of prayer in 1962. 

#1) Youth; for decades prior to 1962 teenage pregnancy had remained relatively stable, yet in every year following the courts’ decisions in 1962 unwed teenage pregnancy has gone up. In girls under 14 it has gone up 553%. This graphic display is repeated in every single morally measurable statistic. 

Sexually transmitted diseases were extremely uncommon and rare. Following 1962 they shot up over 230%. Pre-marital sex had been declining before the removal of Bible teachings, yet following 1962 they have risen 281%. Since that time it has risen over 1000% for 15 year olds. In every measurable moral area, the level of participation in sin has increased dramatically since 1962. 

You say well, aren’t there other influences and factors. Certainly, there are – television, cultural changes, the transient nature of our families. But where do they find their roots? Why did these other factors present themselves in 1962 instead of 52 or 42 or 32. I believe it is because in 1962 we told God, we don’t need You and He said “Okay.”

Deuteronomy 5:29 says, "Oh that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands so that it might go well with them and their children forever." 

Have our children suffered since prayer was removed? And the answer is yes, they have, in every single measurable moral issue. 

#2) The second part of that prayer asked God’s blessings upon Our Families. 

What has been the result in our families since that prayer was removed? Divorce had been declining every year since 1948, but when we told God, we don’t want you here, beginning in 1963, for the first time the divorce rate began to climb again until it has risen over 120%. The U.S. is now #1 in the world in the area of divorce.

Single parent families have risen over 140%. 1/3 of all babies (33%) are now born out of wedlock. Prior to 1962 that number was around 4%. And the amazing thing is that each of these statistics were stable or declining prior to the court’s removal of religious teaching from our systems. Since that time, every single moral sin has risen. 

1 Samuel 12:15 says if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you. 

#3) The third area in which we asked God’s blessing was our schools. What has happened since that prayer was removed. In deciding let’s consider what education was like when our nation was founded.  

The New England Primer was the first textbook ever printed in America. It was introduced in Boston in 1690, and for the next 210 years it was THE textbook in our schools. If you went to school in America, you learned to read from the New England Primer.


Now it was a very simple book that taught the alphabet, and after the alphabet was learned it went back and attached sentences to those letters to be memorized. Listen to the phrases that were memorized in our schools for over 200 years. 

A - A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. 
B - Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith 
C - Come unto Christ all ye that labor and are heavy laden and He will give you rest. 
D - Do not the abominable thing which I hate saith the Lord. 

And on it goes verse after verse. And note that every one of these phrases is a Bible verse: This was the alphabet of American schools for over 200 years. How far have we regressed? Without the blessing of God, with an increase of disobedience and a lack of respect, comes a lack of learning. 

The Scholastic Aptitude Test, the SAT, was initiated in 1926, and in 1941 it was placed on the same scale as is used today. Prior to 1963, the SAT had never risen or dropped more than one year in a row. Beginning with the removal of moral teaching in 1963, SAT scores dropped for 18 consecutive years. They have continued to drop. Is it any wonder that many parents are flocking to Christian schools where their kids can receive both education and Biblical teaching. 

Prior to 1962 there were only 1000 Christian schools in America. By 1984 that number had reached 32,000 and today, nearly 8.5 million students attend private religious schools. 

By the way, SAT scores for private religious school students are nearly 80 points higher on average. 
So, what is the difference between the two, it is not in the curriculum, they’re the same. It is not the teachers because we have just as many or more committed, Christian teachers in the public system as in the private. The difference is not the teachers. I believe the difference is that one school utilizes religious principles and teaching and the other does not. 

And I understand why. But let me say this, the saddest thing about the rise of Christian schools is that it has removed additional Christian teachers and students from the public schools, taking what

was already a difficult situation and making it worse. And I applaud Christian teachers who have remained as an island of hope in our public-school systems. But we are certainly seeing the effects of our rebellion. 

#4) Lastly is Our Nation. What happened in our nation when we separated religious principles from the public arenas? Violent crime after remaining stable prior to 1962 has risen over 800% since the court’s decisions. It is rising faster than our population growth. Since 1962 America has become number one in the world in Violent Crime, divorce, voluntary abortion, illegal drug use, and in teenage pregnancy and illiteracy. 

We can call all we want for more jails, more juvenile centers, but the reality is that this is a spiritual battle and until we reach our youth and nation with Jesus Christ, until God is invited back in our schools and government, we’ll be fighting a losing battle. 

Christianity stops crime because it controls the heart, and crime comes out of the heart. If you don’t purify the heart, you won’t stop the crime. That is why Christian teachings and principles are so important to government. 

So what do we do? 

We need to remember that the "Separation of Church and State" as we know it, is not the teaching of our founding fathers. It is not historical teaching in our country. It is not in the constitution or Bill of Rights. It is not a teaching of any law until recently.

And we must also understand that the current view of a separation of Church and state is not a Biblical teaching. Separation of Church and state says, "Okay Christian, you can be salt, and you can be light, but you can only do it within the walls of the church or in the confines of your own home. You can’t do it in the world. That is not a Biblical teaching. 

Proverbs 18:1 says "A man who isolates himself, seeks his own desires; he rages against all wise judgment." 

We cannot isolate ourselves. We must take a stand. It is absolutely hypocritical of us, to get mad, and yell and scream about the government forcibly removing God and prayer from our schools, when we have voluntarily removed God and prayer from our homes. 

It’s hypocritical to get upset and then not use our right and responsibility to vote into office those that will take a Christian stand.

Your vote does matter. We need to be willing to do something about what we believe. And maybe that’s more than voting.

I urge young people, "If you want to do something big for God maybe it means being a pastor or a missionary. But maybe even more so today it means being a politician, or lawyer, or judge, or a school superintendent. Taking the principle of God back into the areas of our society and government where they have been removed.

We have a Godly heritage in America, but we have been robbed by the 3% claiming to be anti-God. They have taken that heritage away, and we need to take it back. 

Amen!