Has America Changed Her God?

INTRODUCTION

America is in turmoil. Riots rage, governors rule with an iron fist, millions of acres burn, towns are under water and citizens are divided like never before. What is the problem? What is the solution? Learn what God says in this Bible message.

Jeremiah was a prophet during the final days before Judah’s destruction and captivity. He warned the nation and its leaders of impending doom. After generations of unrepentent sin, God’s judgment was near. The people scoffed at the prophet’s message. The leaders ridiculed him and punished him for speaking the truth.

After the destruction of Judah and the carrying away of the best and brightest to Babylon, Jeremiah stayed in destroyed Judah to speak for God. The Book of Lamentations records the unbelieveable destruction and the broken heart of the prophet. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet.

Our text in Jeremiah chapter 2, our LORD recounts the good memories from Israels beginning.

Then He asks them two powerful questions.

Jeremiah 2:5 KJV 1900

Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

What did Jehovah do wrong? What sin did they find in Him? None.

They left God because of their sinfulness, not His.

Jeremiah 2:11 KJV 1900

Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

Have you changed gods? Do you no longer claim Me as your God? Have you chosen to reject me in favor of false gods?

Yes. Israel rejected the God of gods to serve the fake gods of surrounding nations.

Changing gods was their great sin!

Judgments was coming. They would be astonished and horribly afraid of their as they become desolate.

Jeremiah 2:12 KJV 1900

Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord.

God had given them everything. He called them to be a special people and blessed them above all the nations of the Earth. Yet, Israel committed two evils.

Jeremiah 2:13 KJV 1900

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

They forsook God Almighty Who is the fountain of all good. He is the Creator and Giver of all good things. They rejected Him.

They worshipped false gods that were not real. A cistern is a place that holds water. A broken cistern lets the water leak out. God uses the illustration that they rejected the SOURCE of water for a bowl that doesn’t even hold water. How foolish!

The consequences of their decision would become a harsh teacher.

Jeremiah 2:19 KJV 1900

Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.

It is an evil and bitter thing to forsake God.

LET’S APPLY THIS THOUGHT TO OUR NATION.

America is a young country. She is 244 years old in 2020.

While that is old in human years, it is young for a country.

To put our nation’s age in perspective, consider these facts.

Isreal was in Egypt for 430 years. That’s almost twice as long as America has existed.

The Israelites have existed for more than 4,000 years. God called Abram to be the head of the new nation around 2100 B.C.

Egypt has existed for over 4,000 years.

China has existed for 3,000 years.

America is a baby nation.

America has been supernaturally blessed in her short existence. In less than 200 years, this fledging nation became the most powerful country on the planet. We have been blessed in every category you can measure.

Our nation’s birth was not easy. Our forefathers defeated the most powerful army in the world at the time to earn our freedom.

We have fought many wars to protect our nation and freedom at the cost of millions of lives.

The price to protect our nation has been high.

The deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were held in strict secrecy. Consequently, anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall when the proceedings ended in order to learn what had been produced behind closed doors. The answer was provided immediately. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

America has battled many foes in physical battles and philosophical warfare.

We have overcome outside forces such as Nazi Germany, Imperialist Japan, Communist Russia, violent Islam, and ambitious China.

The enemy from without could not destroy America.

Today, our nation faces a new enemy - an enemy from within.

America is struggling to find her identity.

Is our nation:

capitalist or socialist?

good or evil?

a republic or a democracy?

And the most is vital question of all - Is America a Christian nation which honors God Almighty?

The answer is all-important.

Psalm 33:12 KJV 1900

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; And the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

We believe America has been blessed because of God Almighty. America been supernaturally birthed, miraculously protected, and divinely blessed.

But what if America chooses to turn her back on God? What will happen?

The Bible gives us a startling answer.

Psalm 9:17 KJV 1900

The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.

Other nations could not defeat us, but today, America is being destroyed from within.

Isreal made the same mistake!

Hosea 4:6 KJV 1900

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Hosea 13:9 KJV 1900

O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

Russian Communist leader, Nikita Khrushchev said, “We will take America without firing a shot. We do not have to invade the U.S. We will destroy you from within.”

Islamic leaders have made similar statements.

HAS AMERICA CHANGED HER GOD?

It depends upon who you ask.

The Citizens

In a Gallup poll from 2017, 87% of Americans say they believe in God. That number has gone down from 92% in the same poll in 2011.

The real question should be how many of those who believe in God are truly saved or strive to please Him?

The Government

Our nation’s government has taken a hostile stance against God. Unbelieving politicians and judges have made constant decisions that defy God and His Word.

In 1962, The Supreme Court outlawed “school sponsored” prayer. That decision has been used to keep God out of public education.

In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized the murder of innocent babies inside their mother’s womb.

In 2015, the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

Representations of The Commandments have been removed from Government buildings across America.

Crosses have be removed from Government land around our country.

In May 2009, During his first overseas tour since being elected, President Barack Obama took time out to remind Americans and the rest of the world that the United States is not an officially Christian nation.

Speaking at a media event in Turkey April 6, Obama remarked, “I’ve said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is – although as I mentioned we have a very large Christian population – we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”

Not long after that, Obama went on to praise the concept of “a secular country that is respectful of religious freedom, respectful of rule of law, respectful of freedom, upholding these values and being willing to stand up for them in the international stage.”

https://www.au.org/church-state/may-2009-church-state/people-events/us-is-not-an-officially-christian-nation-obama-says

The Educational System

Public schools are not “religion-free zones,” but they have discriminated against Christianity.

Religions from around the world are discussed in Christian schools. Remember when a parent was enraged when her child was taught The five pillars of Islam school? Another parent was horrified when her child was taught muslim prayers that claimed Allah as the only true god.

Often, Lead by ungodly people

Rewriting History

Racism and bigotry

1619 project

bias against God and America

I wrote an entire chapter on God and education.

History is clear. America was founded by Christians.

Consider these quotes by our Founding Fathers about God and Christ.

John Adams

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; JUDGE; DIPLOMAT; ONE OF TWO SIGNERS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.1

Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company: I mean hell.2

The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity.3

Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. . . . What a Eutopia – what a Paradise would this region be!4

I have examined all religions, and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world.5

John Quincy Adams

SIXTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; DIPLOMAT; SECRETARY OF STATE; U. S. SENATOR; U. S. REPRESENTATIVE; “OLD MAN ELOQUENT”; “HELL-HOUND OF ABOLITION”My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ and I cannot cavil or quibble away [evade or object to]. . . . the whole tenor of His conduct by which He sometimes positively asserted and at others countenances [permits] His disciples in asserting that He was God.6

The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made “bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” [Isaiah 52:10].7

In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.8

Samuel Adams

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; “FATHER OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION”; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTSI . . . [rely] upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.9

The name of the Lord (says the Scripture) is a strong tower; thither the righteous flee and are safe [Proverbs 18:10]. Let us secure His favor and He will lead us through the journey of this life and at length receive us to a better.10

I conceive we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world . . . that the confusions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled by the promoting and speedily bringing in the holy and happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and the people willingly bow to the scepter of Him who is the Prince of Peace.11

He also called on the State of Massachusetts to pray that . . .

the peaceful and glorious reign of our Divine Redeemer may be known and enjoyed throughout the whole family of mankind.12we may with one heart and voice humbly implore His gracious and free pardon through Jesus Christ, supplicating His Divine aid . . . [and] above all to cause the religion of Jesus Christ, in its true spirit, to spread far and wide till the whole earth shall be filled with His glory.13with true contrition of heart to confess their sins to God and implore forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior.14

Benjamin Franklin

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION; DIPLOMAT; PRINTER; SCIENTIST; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIAAs to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and His religion as He left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see.29

The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and guilding, lies here, food for worms. Yet the work itself shall not be lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more beatiful edition, corrected and amended by the Author.30 (FRANKLIN’S EULOGY THAT HE WROTE FOR HIMSELF)

John Hancock

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTSSensible of the importance of Christian piety and virtue to the order and happiness of a state, I cannot but earnestly commend to you every measure for their support and encouragement.37

He called on the entire state to pray “that universal happiness may be established in the world [and] that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole earth be filled with His glory.”38

Patrick Henry

REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; LEGISLATOR; “THE VOICE OF LIBERTY”; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIABeing a Christian… is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.48

The Bible… is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed.49

Righteousness alone can exalt [America] as a nation…Whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others.50

The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible.51

This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.52

Thomas Jefferson

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; DIPLOMAT; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA; SECRETARY OF STATE; THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATESThe doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of man.63

The practice of morality being necessary for the well being of society, He [God] has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the moral principles of Jesus and nowhere will they be found delivered in greater purity than in His discourses.64

I am a Christian in the only sense in which He wished anyone to be: sincerely attached to His doctrines in preference to all others.65

I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ.66

George Washington

JUDGE; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY; PRESIDENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; “FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY”You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.121

While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.122

The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger. The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.123

I now make it my earnest prayer that God would… most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of the mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion.124

Daniel Webster

U. S. SENATOR; SECRETARY OF STATE; “DEFENDER OF THE CONSTITUTION”[T]he Christian religion – its general principles – must ever be regarded among us as the foundation of civil society.125

Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens.126

[T]o the free and universal reading of the Bible… men [are] much indebted for right views of civil liberty.127

The Bible is a book… which teaches man his own individual responsibility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow man.128

Noah Webster

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER; JUDGE; LEGISLATOR; EDUCATOR; “SCHOOLMASTER TO AMERICA”[T]he religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles… This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.129

The moral principles and precepts found in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.130

All the… evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.131

[O]ur citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament, or the Christian religion.132[T]he Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children under a free government ought to be instructed. No truth is more evident than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.133

The Bible is the chief moral cause of all that is good and the best corrector of all that is evil in human society – the best book for regulating the temporal concerns of men.134

[T]he Christian religion… is the basis, or rather the source, of all genuine freedom in government… I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of Christianity have not a controlling influence.135

For more information about the Christian History of America visit Wallbuilders.com.

America will be judged harshly for turning away from the God who birthed and sustained her.

America is already being judged.

America is burning.

NIFC.gov Year-to-date statistics

2020 (1/1/20 - 9/19/20)Fires: 42,866 Acres: 7,236,139

2019 (1/1/19 - 9/19/19)Fires: 37,715. Acres: 4,343,1052018

(1/1/18 - 9/19/18)Fires: 48,177. Acres: 7,310,798

Floods

In 2019, there were 14 billion-dollar weather and climate change disasters. Three of them were floods along the Mississippi, Missouri and Arkansas rivers. Approximately 14 million people were impacted by flooding this year, while 200 million were at risk. At one point in the spring of 2019, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) had warned that two-thirds of the lower 48 states could see flooding.

https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disaster/2019-u-s-spring-floods/

riots

In Minneapolis alone riots have destroyed 400 businesses and caused damage of over 500 million dollars. Fox article

Fox News

pestilance.

Coronavirus Pandemic Will Cost U.S. Economy $8 Trillion

https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaharziv/2020/06/02/coronavirus-pandemic-will-cost-us-economy-8-trillion/#33ebe0dc15e4

drought

65 million people in drought

https://www.drought.gov/drought/

financial crash

Our only Hope is to turn back to God!

CONCLUSION