The Salvation of America

The Salvation of America

A Sermon for Independence Day

Matthew 9:35-38

INTRODUCTION:

Abraham Lincoln said "At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? If it ever reaches us, it must spring up among us. It can not come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be it author and finisher; as a nation of free men, we must live through all time or die by suicide."

Over 50 years later another great man, Theodore Roosevelt, was hear to say these words: "The things that destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."

As we are gathered here together this morning, preparing to celebrate the birth of our Nation, indeed even celebrating the 39th anniversary of South Peninsula Baptist Church, I want you to consider America today. Is America as we know it, silently reposed upon her death bed awaiting the icy fingers of death to carry her off to oblivion? Is she too young to die? Is there salvation for our wonderful country?

If we were to compare America with the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Babylon, Israel, Judah, and the list could go on and on, then America is nothing more than a baby in diapers creeping along the floor of time.

Remember if you will, the symptoms that predated the collapse of the once mighty Roman Empire. Edward Gibbon states, in his classic study of the Roman Empire, that there are five primary causes for the dissolution of that great society.

The rapid increase in divorce and the undermining of the sanctity of the home.
The spiraling rise of taxes and extravagant spending.
The mounting craze for pleasure and the brutalization of sports.
The building of gigantic armaments and the failure to realize that the real enemy lay within the gates of the empire, in the moral decay of its people.
The decay of religion and the fading of faith into a mere form, leaving the people without a guide.

Will this be the fate of our country as well? Think for a moment about those five statements of fact. Would you not agree that America has fulfilled all five of them numerous times? Would you not agree that we are only allowed to exist by the grace of God?

We stand at a crossroads today, and as we gaze down one road, we can see that it leads to the possibility and promise of spiritual renewal, a revival of Christianity in our nation, perhaps we can even call it the THIRD GREAT AWAKENING!!!!

Today, there is a new awakening that is brewing in the hearts and minds of America, but what kind of awakening is it? There is an awakening towards the worship of a Holy God. Then on the other hand, we see an awakening towards the Humanist Agenda that is sweeping our nation in rapid progression. To allow America to be swallowed up by a reaction away from God is to allow her to wander in the wilderness of Spiritual Destitution, Loneliness, Despair, Confusion, and Antagonism. Yes, America is at a crossroads, but to which way will she be steered? Will it be Christ, or Humanism. Is there salvation for America? It all hinges on the road that we choose in life, and how we choose to travel on it.

The famous atheist, Clarence Darrow, once said in a debate, "They tell me there is a God, but I have never seen Him. I have no personal acquaintance with Him." To which his opponent replied, "It is credibly reported that Mr. Darrow has a mind, but I have never seen it. I have never touched it. I have no personal acquaintance with it at all."

This morning, two great forces stand toe to toe against one another. In one corner we find Jesus Christ, and in the other the Humanist Agenda (which we can call Satan and his principles). Are we too young to be defeated at the hands of Satan? In order to insure complete and total destruction of Satan and to win salvation for America, there are three basic principles that must be followed.

I. The People Must Be Seen (v35-36)

In verses 35 & 36, we can see through the eyes of Jesus as the crowds of people followed him. Jesus saw the people with the eyes of compassion, that divine combination of love and pity that leads a person to respond. He loved the people, he cared what they thought, and what they felt. He loved a person for themselves, not for their money, or skin color, or social standing.

Where ever we find people, we invariably find those "resistant people". Those characterized by an unwillingness, even without desire, to change their lifestyle because they do not have ears to hear the Gospel. Oh, of course they have physical ears, but they have sealed off their spiritual ears. William Booth called them once "Gospel Proof." Today, we, as the household of faith need to be in constant prayer for our nation.

Satan is attacking us through what may be called the "secularization of America." This can be defined as the withdrawal of whole areas of our lives from the control or influence of the LOCAL church.

How far has this process reached? It seems to me that the symbols of Christianity remain, but now carry the extra baggage of pagan meanings, and secular rationalizations. When you look at our country, what do you see? Do we live in a Christian nation as we proudly proclaim? Statistics state that 75% of the people living in the United States are barn again, yet our moral climate denies this fact! Are we as a country too young to die??? Can we defeat Satan hands down? If you answered yes to both questions, then we must begin to see the people around us as Jesus saw them. If you hear nothing else this morning, hear this: When you leave this building, you become a foreign missionary, because the world does not know you, and to them you’re foreign! See the people through Jesus’ eyes.

II. To secure the salvation of America, then the PEOPLE MUST BE LOVED!

According to a recent Gallup survey on church attendance, 40% of all Americans regularly attend church or synagogue. This figure has remained unchanged for the past 50 years. Why is that? Has the church lost its capacity to love the sinner and hate the sin? Or do we tolerate the sinner and the sin as well?

In verse 36, we see Jesus opening His heart to the people. He was moved with compassion for their lives. The word translated as compassion testifies to the unique nature of Christ’s love. The Pharisees, saw the crowds as chaff to be chastened. They saw an opportunity to judge, and build themselves up, making themselves appear to be better than they were. Jesus however, saw them differently, He saw a harvest, he saw people ready for the Kingdom of God! N their pride, the Pharisees looked for the destruction of the sinners. In love, Jesus sought their salvation and restoration to Him.

Today in America, we need to turn our hearts toward this great nation and place our hands on the hearts of those we know and love everyone. Without Jesus, each of us would be perishing. We need to reach out in love to those around us. Even those who we deem to be beneath our current standing. We are all in the same boat, and should not judge according to the way the World views people. We are to love one another as Jesus loved us.

III. To Ensure the Salvation of America, THE PEOPLE NEED TO BE REACHED!!!

Simply seeing the people, and loving them is not enough. It is easy for us to sit here on our comfortably padded pews and acknowledge that there are sinners in our world. It is even easy to say, in a fit of piety, that we love them. It is not as easy to accept them as they are. It is not as easy to go where they are and cultivate them for Christ. We must get outside the walls of the church if we are ever to reach a dying nation for Christ. The harvest will never be reaped without reapers of souls. The farmer would never expect his peanut crop to jump into the storage bins on its own accord, why then should we as Christians expect the sinner to jump into the Church building (a storage bin if you will) on his or her own accord? The harvest is plentiful. Outside the walls of this church (even inside perhaps) there are people who have no direction in life whatsoever, and if we are not the ones to intervene in their lives, then Satan will. Satan will peddle his easy believe system and delude them into thinking that their mere goodness is sufficient. A religion that does nothing, that gives nothing, that costs nothing, that suffers nothing, IS WORTH NOTHING!!!!!!

In America today, there are far too many people that have no concept of God, religion, faith, trust and the Bible due to the propagation of this sort of easy belief system. Voltaire said that in 100 years the Bible would be a forgotten book found only in museums. When the 100 years were up, Voltaire’s home was occupied by the Geneva Bible Society! The Bible is a worldwide Best-Seller! What a twist of fate! What an awesome illustration of the power and scope of God’s intervention!

It appears that today many want the peace and serenity that faith offers without the agony it at times entails. Victory without struggle, solvency without taxes, leadership without criticism, peace without sacrifice, and salvation without conviction! Would you agree that this sounds like our country today? Are we to be persuaded that there is an easier way to find forgiveness? Forgiveness begins when we fall on our face before a Holy God and confess our shortcomings and our sins! How many more will have to fall by the wayside and die in their sins thanks to Satan’s Humanist Agenda?

CONCLUSION:

In order to Save America from a certain death, to reach America for Jesus, then we are commanded to Seek, Love, and Labor! Why? Because People need the Lord. Can the Humanist agenda of Satan be defeated? To put it into perspective, Satan has already been defeated, on an old rugged cross! Satan was defeated at Calvary!

Browning once wrote man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?" We have no other choice but to reach out past our current grasp for the sake of heaven and humanity. We can never be satisfied wit the status quo. Please allow me to end with this small poem:

An old man going a long highway,

came at the evening cold and gray,

To a chasm vast and deep and wide.

The old man crossed in the twilight,

The sullen stream had no fears for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side,

And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,

"You are wasting your time with building here.

You never again will pass this way,

your journey will end with the closing day.

You have crossed the chasm deep and wide,

Why build you this bridge at the evening tide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head.

"Good friend, in the way that I’ve come," he said,

"There followeth after me today

a youth whose feet must pass this way.

This stream has been a naught to me

to the fair haired youth might a pitfall be.

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim.

Good friend, I am building this bridge for him."