The Failure of America - pt1

Introduction

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

The Fall of America - pt.1-3

I. Revival ! (pt. 1)

Prayer Meetings

Godly Preaching

D.L. Moody (1837-1899)

Samuel P. Jones (1847-1906)

Billy Sunday (1862-1935)

J. Frank Norris (1877-1952)

Missions Movement

Societal Change

Namely Prohibition

II. Rebellion (pt.2)

Proliferation of Bible Versions

Increased Crime

Promotion of Vices

Alcohol

Lewd / Flashy Dress

Promiscuity

Speculative Investments

Acceptance of Darwinism

Media Replaces the Bible

III. Rebuke

Rebellion of Disobedience (1920’s) - (1Sam. 12:15)

Led to a Rebuke of Wealth (1929) - (Ps. 5:10; Pro. 11:28; 1Tim. 6:17)

Rebellion of Dependence (1932-33) - (Pro. 3:5-8; Ps. 118:8-9; Isa. 30:1-3)

Led to a Rebuke by Wind (1933) - (Ps. 68:6; Lev. 25:3-4; Lev. 26:18-20; Jer. 17:5-8)

Refusal to Detour (Jer. 5:3)

Led to a Rebuke with War (1941) - (Jer. 5:23-29)

Deuteronomy 8:11–14 “Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;”

Now that we've established some historical context, it's time to examine some of these policies specifically and how they line up to the Bible.

Today we are focused more on the principles that founded America and economical policies in general. The view of Scripture from our founding fathers that formed it, but mainly on economic issues itself.

I. We have Grown Dependent upon Government

What began as rebellion in the 1920s turned into dependency in the 1930s and continuing forward.

The Emergence of Big Government

We are speaking about the ‘New Deal’ that FDR brought into existence during his presidency - most of them within the first term.

Why am I telling you these things? Because it began the age of big government, because the policies that were promoted in the 1930s are the same type of policies today, except on steroids. We need to understand the causes and effects of these policies, why they were brought to fruition in the first place, and how to identify them when they are put before us today.

Expense

Last week, I had given you some numbers on how the federal government expenditures expanded with the election of FDR.

It was 3.2 billion in 1932 under Hoover

5.1 billion in 1933

6 billion in 1934

$9.8 billion in 1936

So, in 4 years, it tripled. A pretty staggering sight. I did some research and ran the numbers on how that would compare to the federal budget today.

(Show the chart) The current federal government budget is $6.9 trillion. When you adjust 1936 numbers, it equates to about $200 billion for inflation. This is how much our government has grown in the past 90 years. But again, understand, this is adjusted for inflation. Our government now is 30-35 times larger than it was even in that day.

This demonstrates the amount of our current dependence upon government.

It all truly began with FDR's New Deal.

Encroachment

Not only did government become more expensive, but it began encroaching upon the lives of Americans as never seen before. Let’s review a few of these:

NIRA / NRA (National Industrial Recovery Act)

The NRA dictated prices, wages, production levels, and even the number of hours employees could work. Private businesses were required to follow “codes of fair competition” that effectively replaced market forces with federal mandates.

The Government got with large corporations to dictate terms, leaving small businesses struggling to survive (Sound familiar? What happened to small businesses during Covid because of Govt. regulations?)

AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration)

The AAA paid farmers to destroy crops and livestock to artificially drive up prices, even as Americans went hungry. This not only manipulated the free market but also restricted individual farmers’ right to produce on their own land.

They use the Commerce Clause to tell farmers what they could & couldn’t grow on their own land.

(Ill.) A man by the name of Roscoe Filburn (from Ohio) was charged with violating the Commerce Clause because he was growing wheat on his own farm for his family's consumption and that of his livestock. The government wouldn't let him grow his own food to feed his family and his livestock. They wanted him to buy it from others instead because it "affected the market."

Gold Reserve Act

In 1900, President William McKinley (A Republican) signed the ‘Gold Standards Act’ which gave a set value to the dollar, backed by gold. It was valued at $20.67 per troy ounce. You could take your paper dollars to the bank and get gold coins back for them on demand.

Then in 1933 FDR signed Executive Order #6102 which made it illegal for an American citizen to own gold. It was a ‘forced buy-back’. (Sound familiar? Don’t think that it can’t happen with guns as well!)

But here’s the thing: Once they bought the gold back at $20.67 per ounce, they raised the value of gold to $35 / ounce. Do you know what that did to the dollars everyone had? It dropped their value by 40%! (Ill.) One dollar was now worth 60 cents!

So they drive food costs up by destroying crop & livestock, then drive your purchase ability down by devaluing the dollar. Sounds like a great plan!

Then they make you a life-long dependent upon the government with the SSA

SSA (Social Security Administration)

What did we do before Social Security? Provided for ourselves & depended upon God! Our security was dependent upon our God and decisions we made as opposed to being forced to buy into the Government’s ponzi scheme - THAT WILL SOON COME CRASHING DOWN.

In 2024, Social Security’s trust funds took in about $1.42 trillion.

In 2024, the program paid out about $1.48 trillion in benefits.

The trust funds ran a cash deficit for the year of around $67 billion

OWI (Office of War Information)

This was in essence the propaganda machine.

The Germans weren’t the only ones running propaganda in those days, it was the government working with news agencies to shape public opinion. (Sound familiar? In August 2024, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire. Zuckerberg described these interactions as "brutal," with officials reportedly "screaming" and "cursing" at Meta employees. In September 2025, Alphabet, Google's parent company, submitted a 28-page letter to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. The letter revealed that the Biden administration pressured Google to remove user-generated content related to the COVID-19 pandemic from YouTube, even when such content did not violate YouTube’s policies.)

We have grown dependent upon the government to provide for us, to tell us what we can and cannot say, to tell us what we can and cannot grow on our own land, and to take care of us in our elder years!

The Entitlements Begin

With the ‘New Deal’, we see the dawn of ‘entitlements’. These would include:

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA, 1933)

Provided direct relief (grants) to state and local governments to help the unemployed.

Social Security Act (SSA, 1935)

Not only Retirement benefits, but

Unemployment insurance.

Aid to dependent children (welfare for families with children, sometimes called ADC).

Other Work-related programs

CCC, WPA, PWA, REA - all provided in essence ‘jobs’ to the unemployed. (I’ve not a problem with this per se if necessary - other than it puts more civilians dependent upon the government)

The Government - under Democratic policies - are taking on a life of it’s own in America. It has become, in essence, a "dealer." of funds rather than a protector of liberty.

I will show you how this compares to Scripture and the founders vision shortly. But first, we need to see the expansion of the Welfare State

The Expansion of the Welfare State

Then in the 1960’s, Democrat Lyndon Johnson (JFK’s successor after he was murdered) took John Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” policy of 1960 and turned it on it’s head.

Here we are going to look through some of these policies and see how it has affected America in the years since.

Medicare / Medicaid (controversial)

Many of you will look at these programs and think, "Well, I benefit from that!” And when we consider how expensive healthcare is, we shudder to think what we'd do without. But I submit to you that had it not been for Medicare and Medicaid, we would not have the high cost of health care that we do have today. Nor would we have the pharmaceutical industry peddling their legal drugs and making zombies out of Americans!

Three of the top 5 industries in America are healthcare related.

Consider for a moment what has happened to healthcare premiums since Obamacare was enacted.

2011 Avg. Annual premium = $3,736

2025 Avg. Annual premium = $6,000

But they say ‘Well, 80% of people’s premiums are subsidized’ - in other words, we’re just paying it in taxes now, instead of paying it directly to the insurer.

Elementary & Secondary Education Act

We went from spending at the beginning of this (adjusted for inflation) $3,962 / per student to $17,495 / per student. SINCE THEN, SPENDING HAS INCREASED!

We are now spending 4x more per student - let me ask you this: How is public education doing? Has public education improved over the last 50 years?

HUD, Food Stamps & Cash Assistance

(Ill.) I saw a woman who was getting 4k a month in food stamps, $800 / mo. in Sec. 8 housing, has 6 kids from 4 different baby daddies and finally got in trouble because she bought a 2024 BMW!

Currently the Federal Government spends approx. $170 billion annually.

What is the results of this?

Increased Dependence upon Government

Incentives to sin

Women were rewarded for have children out of wedlock

NOT TO MENTION THAT IT DESTROYED THE BLACK FAMILY.

Men were also rewarded for slothfulness.

The replacement of the role of the church

Before welfare, the church supplied for the needs of the community, as they were best able to determine the true need. The church was better equipped to determine who should qualify for help and who needed to reap the fruits of their sin or come to repentance.

Entitlements begin

A Biblical Examination of these Policies

God’s Word Teaches Restricted Government

In 1690, a man by the name of John Locke wrote a book titled, "Two Treatises of Government." You may not have heard of John Locke or of his writings, but you sure are a beneficiary of his vision for government. His Bible-centered vision of a new form of government, one that was founded from the annals of God but never put into practice by man, was the foundation for Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence.

The Order of Things:

God → Natural Rights

Man is made in the image of God

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.”

What we see here is:

God Creating Man in His Image - a different, special creation

God giving man Dominion over all the earth

God giving man charge to subdue it to ‘take charge’ or ‘conquer’

Man is endowed with Blessings and Stewardship of the Earth

Genesis 2:15 “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

Genesis 9:1 “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”

Moral Law protects property

Exodus 20:15 “Thou shalt not steal.”

Rights are pre-existing, not granted by government.

Washington doesn’t give you these rights, God does!

Life, liberty, and property are moral and divine in origin.

SO THIS IS NUMBER 1 - ANYTHING ELSE FALLS AFTER THIS

Natural Rights → Government

The Purpose of Government is to protect life, liberty & property

Rulers are to punish evil and protect the good

Romans 13:1–4 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”

Government was not designed by God to take from one and give it to another! Forced charity IS NOT CHARITY - IT’S THEFT!

There’s reason why God blessed the Hebrew midwives for their disobedience to Pharaoh’s commands

There’s a reason why God blessed the three Hebrew boys in Nebuchadnezzar's Day.

There’s a reason why God kept Daniel safe in the Lion’s Den

What did Peter tell the magistrates in Acts 5:29 “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”

When a Government oversteps what God has authorized them, then it’s time to change the Government

Government exists to protect these rights.

Let me ask you this: Were my rights being protected during Covid?

Authority is conditional, not absolute.

Government → People

People consent to government to secure rights.

(Rom. 13) John Locke and our Founding Fathers saw this as conditional authority. In other words, if the government did not preserve the good and punish the evil, the people had a moral responsibility to rebel. (Declaration of Independence) “Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…”

If government violates its trust, rebellion is justified

Thomas Jefferson used the motto "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God" on his personal seal

He also said: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants

Why do we have a Government that reaches into every aspect of American life? BECAUSE OF DEMOCRAT POLICIES

God’s Word Teaches to Rely on God

Psalm 118:8–9 “It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in princes.”

1Sam. 8:4-22 (When the people reject God for a King)

Key verse: 1 Samuel 8:7–9 “And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.”

We have trained currently 30% of American’s to depend upon government financial assistance - not including Social Security.

Why have we done this? BECAUSE OF DEMOCRAT POLICIES

God’s Word Teaches Personal Responsibility

Galatians 6:5 “For every man shall bear his own burden.”

Ezekiel 18:20 “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”

Democratic policies not only take away personal responsibility, but rewards sin.

We should not be rewarding women who play the harlot, have multiple kids with multiple dads by paying their bills, housing and food!

We should not be providing Obama phones!

We should not be providing hotels and healthcare for illegal aliens!

Why are we doing it? BECAUSE OF DEMOCRAT POLICIES

God’s Word Teaches the Lazy Should Go Hungry

2 Thessalonians 3:10–11 “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.”

As of Aug. 2025, US unemployment rate is 4.3%

As of August 2025, there were approximately 7.2 million job openings in the U.S. non-farm sector.

This equates to job opening of 4.3%

In other words, there are jobs for people that want them. Why am I paying to put food on the table of people who are unwilling to work?

BECAUSE OF DEMOCRAT POLICIES

II. We have Grown Distant from God

III. We have Grown Dim in Understanding

IV. We have Become Derelict in our Duties

Conclusion