AMERICA: A Once Great Nation
If you listened to our president in his 2016 State of the Union address, you might come to the conclusion you are living in a great nation.
“The United States of America, right now, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world.”
“The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period.”
“And that’s why I stand here confident as I have ever been that the State of our Union is strong.”
However, our states are not so united on this point. Not everyone in America agrees with President Barack Obama. Right now our news cycle is dominated by the candidates vying to be our next president. No one has stolen more headlines than Donald Trump with his campaign to:
“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”
So, which one is it? Is America a great nation? Or do we need to make it a great nation again?
I am not writing to give you my personal opinion. I am a pastor not a political commentator.
But I am writing to tell you a way in which America is no longer great. We are no longer the land of the GREAT AWAKENING. We are the land of the free to forget the revival that played a role in the foundation of our nation.
I am writing about the time of pastor Jonathan Edwards and his famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
I am writing about itinerant preacher George Whitfield and how the entire city of Boston came out to hear his open air preaching.
Here is what Benjamin Franklin had to say about George Whitfield in his autobiography. Franklin was impressed with Whitfield’s preaching and the two men became lifelong correspondents. Keep in mind, Benjamin Franklin was NOT a Christian but this is how he described George Whitfield’s impact on the American colonies in 1739:
“It was wonderful to see the Change soon made in the Manners [behavior] of our Inhabitants; from being thoughtless or indifferent about Religion,
it seem’d as if all the World were growing Religious;
so that one could not walk thro’ the Town in an Evening without Hearing Psalms sung in different Families of every Street.”
The Great Awakening from 1739 to 1742 set the tone of a Christian foundation for our nation that continued to the Declaration of Independence written on July 4, 1776. Keep in mind author Thomas Jefferson was also NOT a Christian. He was known for cutting out parts of the Bible and yet he writes:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…
You don’t need me to tell you this is not the America you are living in today.
When was the last time you heard a liberal in our nation acknowledge God as Creator?
Can you remember a nonbeliever describing the wonderful benefits of those who were finding religion?
Our nation would rather pay money to go to the movie theater than listen to a preacher of God’s word for free.
Even if you go to many of our churches you will never hear anything like the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. We don’t call people sinners anymore and we definitely don’t act like we believe in a God who gets angry.
The great revival of our country is lost in the pages of our history books.
We have forgotten who we were as “one nation under God.”
I was reminded of this today when I read the book of Nahum. That’s right, Nahum. It is one of the Old Testament books of the Bible. More specifically, it is the 7th out of 12 Minor Prophets. In many Bibles these pages are still stuck together. They are not even really talked about in evangelical churches. Most people who call themselves “Christians” have never read them.
And yet Nahum is exactly what “we the people” of America need to hear.
Nahum is “An oracle concerning Nineveh.” Perhaps you have heard of the city of Nineveh before. It was the capital city of the ancient nation of Assyria. It is famous for being in another one of the Minor Prophets: Jonah. Jonah was the prophet of God who was sent to preach to the people of Nineveh. He is most famous for being swallowed alive by a big fish when he got in a boat to go the opposite direction of Nineveh. After the fish spit Jonah out on dry land he eventually made his way to the city and warned them of God’s judgment to come.
And the city of Nineveh experienced a GREAT AWAKENING.
The people repented of their sins, and so God relented of his coming judgment. The city of Nineveh was saved!
Now Nahum is writing to the city of Nineveh 100 or so years later. Like America, Nineveh has forgotten its own history of revival. The people are turning away from God and doing whatever they want.
Here is how the book of Nahum begins:
“The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
The Lord is avenging and wrathful;
The Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
And keeps wrath for his enemies.”
Anyone who seriously reads the Bible will come to the conclusion of Nahum: God gets angry!
God is never okay with people who forget about him and who despise his commandments by living in sin.
God was angry with Nineveh in ancient times and God is angry with America right now.
And whenever God is angry with a nation of people who are forgetting him and choosing sin you can be sure of this: JUDGMENT IS COMING!
If there was ever a time America needed to remember our history of revival it is now!
Perhaps we need to bring back what Jonathan Edwards said on July 8, 1741 in Enfield Connecticut in his famous sermon Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God:
“(God’s) wrath toward you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire…It is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go into hell last night; that you were ever suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes in sleep. And there is no reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up.”
Just like the people of Nineveh, if we repent of our sins, God will relent of his coming judgment.
But also like the people of Nineveh, if we forget about revival and turn away from God to continue in our sins… he will by no means clear the guilty (Nahum 1:3). God will not let us get away with it.
Make no mistake: Either revival is coming to America or judgment is coming to America.
I am not waiting for the presidential election to vote.
I am casting my vote for America today.
I am voting GOD REVIVE AMERICA!
Instead of waiting for the voters booth, let’s get into our prayer closets. Now is the time to ask God to turn us back before it is too late! Ask God for more of his greatness with another Great Awakening!
The book of Nahum is not all bad news. Whenever God warns a people of coming judgment he always gives them a way out, a way of salvation. Nahum 1:7 reads,
“The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
He knows those who take refuge in him.
I pray for you as you read this right now, that you know this goodness of our Lord. I pray he is your stronghold in these troubling times in our nation. I pray you have taken refuge from the judgment to come in the only place where it already came: the cross of Jesus Christ!
And if you are a Christian in America, your country needs you!
America needs you not just getting involved in the political process by voting for our next president, but in the prayer process by voting for a revival.
America was once a great nation because of the revival that took place here.
We pray to the same God who revived us in the past and if his people pray, perhaps he will hear our prayers and answer us once again.
I have not given up on America. Have you?
“And whenever God is angry with a nation of people who are forgetting him and choosing sin you can be sure of this: JUDGMENT IS COMING!
If there was ever a time America needed to remember our history of revival it is now!”
“Make no mistake: Either revival is coming to America or judgment is coming to America.”
TRUTH! Praying Pastor Bobby! Praying for a great Revival and for it to start in HB!! Praying that we would be a church who prays and prays BIG, ALWAYS! (Monday nights at 7 at church would be a great way to pray BIG:)
Your last line – “I have not given up on America. Have you?” would better reflect our nation’s and the world’s spiritual condition if it read “Has America and the world given up on God?” The world (including the USA) has not only turned their backs on God but has abandoned God and the truth of Scripture. False teaching, false churches, and false denominations far outnumber those that teach the entire truth of God’s directives. Europe, Asia and Africa are lost – the last vestiges of Christianity on these continents are rapidly being extinguished by the barbaric ideology of Islam. You state, “These books are largely overlooked today. In many Bibles these pages are still stuck together. They are not even really talked about in evangelical churches. Most people who call themselves “Christians” have never read them”. Research (like Barna) indicates that the problem is much more severe/troubling than a reluctance of Christians to read the books of the Minor Prophets. A large number of Evangelicals not only have not read the entire Bible but also do not believe in its total inerrancy, that Satan is real, and a disbelief in a multitude of Biblical doctrinal positions. You also state, “perhaps he will hear our prayers and answer us once again”. We know he hears and answers man’s prayers (many examples in scripture – such as Noah that prevented the destruction of mankind). Many, many more that could be used as examples. While I pray that many individuals will come to Christ (nations are lost as they embrace the degeneracy of liberalism and a godless society), I pray fervently that Christ’s return will be soon in order that pain, suffering, evil and death will be no more. God’s love and mercy towards all of humanity will conclude with Christ’s establishing His kingdom as His original vision intended.
Too many evangelical Christians think we don’t have the follow the moral Law of the Commandments, well I got news for you. If you have faith like Jesus, we will also walk like Jesus. ( John 15:10, 1st Corinthians 7:19, Matthew 5:17-19, Matthew 22:35-40)
The misunderstanding of Grace is Jesus not only forgave our lawlessness (when we sin) he became the Moral Law of the Ten commandments called what we know as faith, but forgotten its called the Law of Faith ( Romans 3:27-31) Remember Jesus is not only King, but he is also Lawgiver and Judge. Moreover the word Truth means Law ( Psalms 119:142,151) So when Jesus said those the Father desires will worship in Spirit and Truth, he means will worship in Spirit and Law ( of Faith) Finally Revelations 22:14 is a powerful truth. So what is the true test of following Jesus. I call it the Four Pillars of Faith, Abide, in Love, Against Sin, in Righteousness, and in his Commandments ( The Moral Law of 10C thru Jesus) .
YES! Praying for a Great Awakening in America once again! Asking God to act for his name’s sake and it would start right here in Orange County! I am with you Pastor Bobby!
I am a liberal in our nation who acknowledges God as Creator.
Wow! Thank you for reading this Rachel! Do you believe in Jesus as the Christ who died for our sins and rose again?
Absolutely! I am actually a registered independent, but I typically vote for democratic candidates because I believe that their policies provide the most care for the poor and vulnerable in our society, just like Jesus did. Politics aside, God is my savior, regardless of which party I vote for.
The only problem I have with the govt helping the poor/ needy is that they have replaced the church’s role in that realm (and it’s ability to reach people/introduce Jesus, & His salvation). It leads to what Bobby wrote about here when people rely on the govt and not God. Jesus & his church have been the best providers ever on this planet
Fired Up!!!!! America was once a great nation. And i believe still is. Yes, we absolutely need a revival in America. I love what Sharon said about praying and praying BIG. Let us also add prayers for our pastors and leaders to teach us to be disciples and spread the gospel. Let us pray for the soldiers fighting for the freedom we have to openly worship and discuss the very God this nation was founded on. Let us pray for a president that will lead this nation with Godly principles. Let us pray also for the men of our church to be great leaders!!!! God bless America!!
Thank you Pastor Bobby! Once again, you’ve reminded me of how helpful you have been in my life ever since you were my high school pastor! America’s going the way that most nations go after they’ve experienced financially good times: immorality, refusal of morality based upon an indulgent upbringing, and rejection of (mostly outward) expressions of Christianity. Honestly, the most important thing is that people get saved, not that they’re a part of a certain political party. Countries or ideas come and go, but God’s word and salvation remain forever!
Amen! Thank you Pastor Bobby!
Great read pastor Bobby!
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