The Fall of America - pt.2 Rebellion

Introduction

We began the ‘American Experiment’ a handful of weeks ago, but due to our trip out west and homecoming, we are only on our third message in the series.

This is a series detailing some of the history of the United States and in particular a great turning point in our nation.

Within this series we are going to look at the underlying morality that has shaped our politics and how the Bible compares to the policies put forth especially by the Democratic Party.

I began this series with a message titled ‘The Foundation of America’

I. The Choices Before Us

Ignorance or Enlightenment? - What do we really want?

Bible or Politics? - Is there a difference?

Silence or Severing? - I am compelled to speak truth, regardless of reception

Salvation or Destruction? - Which will we choose?

II. The Country Entrusted to Us

It’s Christian Heritage - We recounted the Biblical, Christian Faith that was wrought through our government

It’s God-Honoring Founders - The Faith of our Forefathers demonstrated in their lives & witness

III. The Country We Leave Behind

Is Up to Us - We will choose what we leave to our children

What began as one message but turned into a series within the series we started last week titled ‘The Fall of America’

In these few messages titled ‘The Fall of America’, I will be placing before you a timeline ranging approximately 80 years. I believe if you pay close attention, this ‘series within a series’ will give you great understanding from a Biblical perspective what I believe to be THE turning point in America where we fell away from God.

In ‘Part 1 - Revival:’ of the Fall of America, we went back and examined the state of America prior to the fall. It was a time known as the ‘Third Great Awakening’. The time frame is ~ 1857-1920

I. Prayer Meetings

II. Godly Preaching

D.L. Moody (1837-1899)

Samuel P. Jones (1847-1906)

Billy Sunday (1862-1935)

J. Frank Norris (1877-1952)

III. Missions Movement

IV. Societal Change

Namely Prohibition

In that day, the church effected law and society. Today society has effected the world, and laws have been brought forth that are anti-Christ.

The text I chose for the message comes from the book of Isaiah. The path of the COI in how they began as followers of God, how God did miraculous things in and through them, then them forsaking the LORD that bought them for other gods, is just like the path of America. Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, That take counsel, but not of me; And that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, That they may add sin to sin:”

We’re going to look at the Rebellion of America and how they added sin to their sin.

Today we’re looking at Rebellion!

II. Rebellion

~ 1920’s

Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, That take counsel, but not of me; And that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, That they may add sin to sin:”

Proliferation of Bible Versions

Of course, where God is doing a work, Satan is going to fight against it. So as Satan began seeing this revival taking place after the War between the states and going back to the ‘oldest trick in the book’ - the attack upon God’s Word. Genesis 3:1b “…Yea, hath God said…?”

In 1885 the English Revised Version came out in 1885 - perceived as too British by American audiences, gave validity to the perverted manuscripts known as the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus - and 16 years later the American’s who were part of the translation team for the ERV would then release what was known as the American Standard Version (ASV). When the ASV was released it found an audience… it’s great audience was not the lay people at first, they knew better… it was the preachers, the seminaries, the ‘academia’. They accepted it!

The ASV was the stepping stone from the KJV to all the perverted versions that we have today.

So right at the time America is seeing revival, Satan is working to destroy it by bringing perversion and confusion upon the very basis of the church - the WORD OF GOD!

Of course, it didn’t gain in great popularity over night, but it garnered enough to set the stage for where we are today.

(Ill.) Back when I got saved, the most popular Bible in America was still the KJV. That changed in 2011 when the NIV became the most popular Bible in America. Now, the KJV is the third. #1 NIV, #2 ESV - decedents from the ERV & ASV.

Psalm 11:3 “If the foundations be destroyed, What can the righteous do?”

Today you can have any Bible version you want… you can read it in ‘word for word’ form, thought for thought, storybook form - and in language from GEN Z to Ebonics. With all this availability in various formats, why is America further from God today than 120 years ago when there was only one?

Let’s go another step further… Today we have:

Hard Rock ‘Christian’ music

Heavy Metal / Death Metal

Rap & Hip Hop

Top 40 - the whole K-Love CCM stuff

I ask you this: With all the variety of ‘Christian’ music out there, why is America more ungodly today than it was 120 years ago when there was just hymns?

We see America’s fall is brought on by the Proliferation of Bible Versions

Increased Crime

Prohibition gave rise to seedy elements in our society. Gangs / Organized crime gained prominence in running alcohol, as well as gambling rackets.

In Chicago, homicide rates increased by 50% between 1920-1930. Rates had grown to 15 homicides for 100,000 ppl. In fact, the increased crime was one of the arguments in why prohibition should be repealed. So it was repealed. Guess what happened to crime? Nothing. Do you know what it is today? approx. 18 per 100,000 people - a 20% increase in homicides in Chicago since the days of Al Capone!

Today we don’t have violent gangs distributing sin - no, that’s reserved for either ‘respectable businessmen’ or the government itself!

Our government saw fit to legalize alcohol so as to profit from it via taxes

Our government saw fit to legalize gambling, so as to tax it (this is what I and other’s call a ‘poor man’s tax’)

Now, our government is looking to legalize marijuana - guess why? To profit off it. BUT KNOW THIS: THIS CYCLE NEVER ENDS! THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A VICE THAT SOME WANT LEGALIZED. AFTER POT, IT WILL BE SOMETHING ELSE, MARK MY WORDS! Proverbs 17:15 “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, Even they both are abomination to the Lord.”

There was an increase in Crime.

As I said, whenever God is working, Satan will be battling - the answer is not to give up, but to fight back!

Promotion of Vices

In the ‘20’s, we see sin take center stage. It earned it’s name called the ‘Roaring 20’s’, as it was a time of change to social, cultural and economic norms that ‘roared’ through Europe & America.

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; That put darkness for light, and light for darkness; That put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

The first we’ve spoken of is Alcohol

Alcohol

Proverbs 20:1 “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: And whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”

Intoxicating drink is hardly thought of these days. It’s nothing to see people going in the convenience store or grocery store and carrying out a case of beer. We don’t consider the lives that are effected by that drunkenness. We don’t think about the children who must deal with a drunken parent, or the wife that must suffer from the drunken husband. To us today it’s just ‘another drink of choice’.

But let me share with you a few statistics:

Currently approximately, 50k people die per year due to firearms. Roughly double that from alcohol related deaths.

Now, when you take away the 25,000 gun deaths which are self-inflicted, 1,500 more accidental, alcohol related deaths are nearly FIVE TIMES more than homicides!

We hear all this chatter ‘Guns, guns, guns - AND NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THE EVILS OF DRINK!

Alcohol was a menace to society then, and it still is today. Just because we ignore it doesn’t make it any better!

At the crux where Revival and Rebellion meet (1920), we see in 1919 76.5% of the Senate, and 68.8% of the House voted for the 18th amendment (prohibition). Just 13 years later, 71.9% of the Senate and 69.9% of the Houser voted for the 21st amendment (repeal).

We see a seismic shift, as alcohol was promoted.

Lewd / Flashy Dress

The ‘Roaring 20’s’ rebellion brought in a drastic change in the dress of the day - particularly in women.

The rebellious women of the day were known as ‘flappers’. Here’s a short description:

Women frequented speakeasies, jazz clubs, and dance halls.

Public smoking, drinking alcohol, and socializing unchaperoned became more acceptable.

The “New Woman” could pursue career and personal interests, not just marriage.

(i.e. the feminist agenda)

Flappers and modern women projected confidence, fun, and rebellion against traditional gender roles.

Dresses had a low, dropped waist, eliminating the traditional hourglass silhouette. This created a more boyish, androgynous look compared to the corseted styles of earlier decades. (show the picture).

1 Timothy 2:9–10 “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.”

We see the Lewd / Flashy dress, but it didn’t stop there.

Promiscuity

1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”

I read on the History channel that one practice that came to be during the ‘flapper’ age was what was called ‘petting parties’. (I’m not going into detail on that, but I’m sure you get the point.)

Another figure who left a tragic mark upon America came to be just before 1920, her name was Margaret Sanger.

1914: Sanger founded a newsletter called The Woman Rebel, which promoted contraception and women’s reproductive rights. She coined the term “birth control.”

October 16, 1916: Sanger and her sister Ethel Byrne opened the Brownsville Clinic in Brooklyn. They distributed contraceptive information and devices to working-class women.

1921: Sanger founded the American Birth Control League, which later evolved into Planned Parenthood.

There was a sexual revolution taking place in the 20’s - not just of committing acts of perversion, but also the swapping of gender roles in society.

We see Rebellion against God through Promiscuity

Speculative Investments

Proverbs 28:22 “He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, And considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.”

Proverbs 27:1 “Boast not thyself of to morrow; For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

There were several factors that led to the financial woes known as the ‘Great Depression’. Though the stock market crashed in 1929, it didn’t happen overnight - but rather through various decisions throughout the 20’s.

Time doesn’t permit to go through them all, but will a few:

Buying on margin:

Investors could buy stocks with only 10% down, borrowing the rest. This worked as long as prices rose—but when they fell, investors were wiped out and couldn’t repay loans.

Credit purchasing:

Most American’s couldn’t buy a car or washing machine or refrigerator with cash, they bought on credit. As the economy began to contract toward the end of the decade, less people bought, yet manufacturers kept producing. The ultimate result was:

Manufacturers had an abundance of product and no one to sell it to

Manufacturers would lay off people - the same people who had bought stuff on credit, and now can’t pay

Banks weren’t insured, between 1930-1933 9,000 banks went out of business - and everyone’s money was lost that had it there.

The vanity of wealth and ‘keeping up with the Jones’ instead of practicing Luke 12:15 “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

Rebellion against God through Greed was part of the fall

Acceptance of Darwinism

Genesis 1:26–28 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Another grand tool of Satan that contributed to the fall was American’s acceptance of Darwinism (otherwise known as Macro-evolution).

1859: Charles Darwin publishes ‘On the Origin Species’ which postulates that all living beings evolved from a common ancestor through ‘natural selection’.

1880-1910: Darwinism becomes increasingly influential in biology and higher education. Universities begin teaching evolution as part of science curricula, especially in urban, northern institutions.

God through the Bible belt began fighting back and many places began passing anti-evolution laws.

This would lead to what’s known as the ‘Scopes / Monkey’ trial in Tennessee in 1925.

A high school teacher named John Scopes began teaching evolution and had sued the law with the ACLU taking up the case. (This was the ‘Trial of the Century’ before the trial of the century. It was broadcast on TV.

Though Scopes lost the trial, what was becoming an increasingly ungodly society were persuaded in the matter and (though dormant for a spell) would be as you know what is taught to our children today.

Rebellion against God’s Word in the acceptance of Darwinism

Media Replaces the Bible

Psalm 119:105 “NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.”

Two mediums that has held American’s attention for the last 100 years came on the scene: The motion pictures and radio.

Motion pictures came into being after the turn of the century, and what’s known as ‘talkies’ (pictures with sound) began in 1927.

Radio: 1920: KDKA in Pittsburgh is widely considered the first commercial radio station; by 1924 there were over 600 stations in the US.

Why does this matter? For the same reason it matters today:

People stopped reading their Bibles and started spending their time watching movies & listening to music on the radio.

If you really want a comparison, consider that radio was the ‘social media’ of the day. Instead of sitting down in the living room while dad read the Bible to the family and held devotions, they would gather around the radio and listen to Louis Armstrong and the music of the day.

Proverbs 13:13 “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: But he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”

Church, let me ask you this: What is taking the place of the Bible in your life? Is it:

Social media?

Recreation?

Slothfulness?

Are you guilty of living the lifestyle of those who by their Laodicean mindset allowed this country to Reject God?

Conclusion