This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, The Only Hope for America.
America will be destroyed not because of some enemy without, but because of debauchery within.
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
Today we are doing something the founding fathers did not intend. Many people fail to understand that the American Declaration of Independence was a document of independence from Great Britain, and at the same time, a document of dependence upon the divine providence of Almighty God.
You cannot separate righteousness and liberty. The reason why we are in danger of losing our liberties in America is because we are losing our righteousness.
Righteousness is responsibility assumed.
The more responsibility you assume, the more liberty you have. A little baby does not have to go out and earn a living, mow the grass, or do the laundry. And he does not make choices about anything, either. But as that child grows, parents watch their child assume more responsibilities, and the child is given more liberties.
This is taught in the Word of God about government. The less responsibility we are willing to assume, the less liberty we will have. When there is a demise in character there is always a growth in government. You cannot be irresponsible as a individual, or as a society and expect to remain free.
The American Constitution was written by people of character, for people of character, and it will work for no other people. America was born in the white heat of revival. From 1740 to 1770, America was aflame with the Great Awakening. Churches were built, and character was placed in the hearts of the founding fathers. They were dyed in a great belief in God.
The founding fathers believed in self-reliance and in responsible living, and, therefore, they believed that the best government was the smallest government.
What is the basis of character, of the righteousness of God? It is not morality by majority. The basis of the righteousness of God is the Ten Commandments of God.
The American Constitution will not work unless you use it the way it was intended to be used.
Liberty is also responsibility assumed.
We think we can have license and freedom, but we cannot. Real liberty comes from within. The less God rules in your heart, the more control you will need to have from without.
As a child grows more responsible, he is given more liberty. But say he gets to be an adult and becomes a criminal. What happens? He is put in jail. Now he has no responsibilities—and no liberties. When he ceases to act responsibly, his liberty diminishes.
The difference between slavery and freedom is this: in slavery, the laws are from the outside. In liberty, the law is in the heart.
America is living in reproach today. In World War I, God gave us victory, but rather than giving Him the praise, we wanted liberty without responsibility. The flapper age, the Roaring Twenties, came and then the Great Depression came. We failed to understand that these blessings came from Almighty God, and when the Great Depression came as a result of our debauchery, we began to turn to the government for help.
Great governmental social programs began to come into America. Everybody said, “This is wonderful. Look what the government is going to give us!” But the government cannot give us anything that it does not take from us. The government assumes more and more authority when the people lose character.
The government gets people to depend upon them, with subsidies, and the welfare state. If you are not careful, not only does the government start to provide and control, but it also oppresses. Government grows as strong as weak characters will allow it to grow.
You may say, “We still have a lot of freedoms in America.” True. But the shadow of the constitutional government that was founded by our fathers is quickly receding over the horizon. If we do not have a spiritual awakening in America, if we do not return to our first principles—that is, return to God—here is what will happen.
The middle class will disappear. You will have two classes: the very rich and the very poor. Travel to Third World countries and you will see this.
Read Romans 13, and you will see that government is here to punish evildoers and defend the land. “He does not bear the sword in vain.” (See Romans 13:4.) When you get the idea that the government is here to provide you are headed to difficulty. “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). When we have a welfare state—a form of socialism—we have gotten away from the teachings of the Word of God.
When the government begins to control, they say, “If you’re getting government subsidies, you are going to do as we tell you.” An oppressive government wants the minds of its adherents. Keep the rank and file; do what daddy government wants.
How do you start to control minds? You start with the children. You get a National Education Association and Department of Education. Take the Ten Commandments down, and bring “values clarification” in. Say that there are no fixed rules of right and wrong. And the little children will grow up in a nation that the founding fathers did not know.
If the government provides, the government controls and the government oppresses. Why? Because of a lack of character on the part of people. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
The truth is that God holds parents responsible for teaching children. Teach your children our heritage, our history. Fathers and mothers receive the teaching from God and pass it along to their children.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
America will never have a new birth of freedom until America has a revival of God’s righteousness. Therefore, the key to American revival is not in the White House or the Pentagon, but in the Church and your home.
That is not mere rhetoric. Christians, we are the salt and the light. (See Matthew 5:13-16.) Salt cleanses, purifies, preserves, and penetrates. We do not have to be a majority.
The First Amendment teaches that there should be no State Church; that is, no national denomination. We believe in the freedom to worship God without it being subsidized by the government.
But the founding fathers never believed in the separation of God and government. You do not put the fish in one barrel and the salt in the other. We are the salt of the earth.
Jesus said, “If the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matthew 5:13b). Why is the Church the butt of so many jokes today? Because we are salt without savor. They do not respect us.
It is time to let the salt work, and the light shine. Revival and spiritual awakening can happen in the darkest of days. God Almighty rules in the affairs of men. Live or die, we need to stand up for what we believe.
Proverbs 14:34; Romans 13:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:10; Psalm 33:12; Matthew 5:13-16
Restore us, O God of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to cease. Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations? Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, LORD, and grant us Your salvation. I will hear what God the LORD will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land.
O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.
We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You. Do not abhor us, for Your name’s sake; do not disgrace the throne of Your glory. Remember, do not break Your covenant with us.
