And Lord, we pray in Jesus name, Lord
God, that America, that the world would just
be looking to you.
It's not governmental leaders.
It's not political parties.
It's if we'll turn our heart to the
Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the universe,
as we look to Lord, just the condition
in the state, Lord of America, as we
consider Lord, the, the events of 9-11.
And Father, as we this morning, look to
this nation and into the world, Father, it
is our heart's desire that by the power
of your spirit, you'd give us ears to
hear Lord, in the heart to do in
Jesus name.
Put your eyes to the screen, if you
would.
Speaking to them, staying with them, knowing that
their partner, their spouse would never get out
of the buildings.
And as they were talking of the roar
and the thunder and the screaming, and then
the silence, and we spoke to them, we
talked with them and ministered with them.
And it was a tremendous time.
That song that you heard, extremely powerful, written
by our own Jean-Luc here, leading us
in worship this morning.
You can get this CD after service.
I think there's 50 of them, you guys.
It's five bucks.
It's a testimony to New York.
This is what we handed out on the
streets of New York City by the thousands
on September 11th, 2002, one year after the
event.
I encourage you to do that.
All this to for us today as a
church to be reminded.
And I pray, listen, I pray that you'll
receive this message this morning.
It's it's from my heart.
I pray that you will forgive me in
advance if there's any emotion expressed, because these
things that I share this morning are very
dear to my heart.
I hope to your heart.
It's caused me to think a lot this
week in preparation about America, about the world
in light of all that's going on in
the world right now.
What is it to be an American?
What does it really mean?
We're not hearing that much anymore.
The lines are skewed and things are shifting.
And.
God intends for every one of every nation
that they reside in to be honoring that
nation in which they live as Christians, we
are to be the best of citizens.
If you live in America or if you
live in Uganda or Mali or Brazil, you
ought to be the best citizen.
That that nation ought to be thankful that
you as a Christian reside in that country.
And those things are lost in the day
and age in which we live.
So in light of the fifth anniversary of
September 11th.
I want you to consider some things today
and.
And I want you to consider the title
that may be offensive to some of you,
and I pray that it is not.
I pray that you listen carefully.
The title of today's message in memorial of
September 11th is Can a Nation Rise Again?
Can a nation rise again after it has
been attacked in a most brutal way?
Any nation can a nation rise again?
The answer is a nation can rise again
after it's attacked.
The question is, rise to what?
Germany is back from being a nation.
England is back from being a nation.
The United States came back from December 7th,
1941, as a nation.
But what do nations rise toward?
What do they become?
And so in our time together this morning,
I'm just going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn to Second Chronicles, chapter
seven, and you can just park there today
and take notes as we advance in this
study.
Can a nation rise again?
There in Second Chronicles, chapter seven, the scripture
says, verse 13, God says, When I shut
up heaven and there is no rain or
command that the locusts devour the land or
send pestilence among my people.
If my people who are called by my
name will humble themselves, pray, seek my face,
turn from their wicked ways, then I will
hear from heaven and I will forgive them
their sins and heal their land.
Now my eyes will be opened and my
ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
And of course, in the context, God was
speaking to the people of Israel regarding the
temple and regarding the nation of Israel.
That promise is given to Israel, and we
could throw our arms up this morning and
say, well, that's a lost promise in that
it's reserved for the nation of Israel and
for no other nation on the planet.
Theologically, you'd be correct.
However, God then announces to us that he's
not a respecter of persons.
God also says in the word that I
will bless any nation that makes me their
God.
And so the promise bestowed upon Israel, if
a people who are called by his name.
Will humble themselves and seek his face and
pray.
Turning from their wicked ways, then he will
hear from heaven that is the cure for
America, that is what we need to rise
to as a nation.
And my friend, listen, anything less than that
will be failure.
This is the United States of America.
If you have any vision and understanding of
America, it is a miracle created by God.
It is the envy of the world or
it was, but it can be again.
If we do those things before the Lord,
we need to be very careful.
We all remember that day.
You remember exactly where you were the moment
you heard the news or the moment you
turned on the TV and you watched what
was going on.
And many of us, most of the world,
by the way, witnessed the second attack into
the tower.
Because by that time, a little over an
hour later, by that time, the world tuned
in.
We will never forget where we were that
morning.
Consideration number one, can a nation rise again?
I'm going to give you 10 things that
I believe is a prescription, according to the
Bible, if a nation can rise again.
But my friend, listen carefully.
This is not only about America.
It's about any nation in the world that
will listen.
And it's about your family.
If you listen, it is about your life.
It is about your children.
It is about your marriage.
If you listen, it can be about your
church.
If you listen for this truth of God.
Transcends and is broader than our own perspectives,
it goes beyond its infinite number one, can
a nation rise again only if that nation
knows where it came from?
Will you jot that down?
A nation can rise again only if it
knows where it came from.
Where do we go to when the nation
is going to attempt to rise again?
When President Bush, with that fireman, stood on
that heap of rubble at ground zero at
the World Trade Center and made the announcements
trying to bolster America.
And the subsequent speeches of president and of
others and congressmen and senators and mayors and
governors across America, we will rise up again.
We will not be defeated.
We have a resolve.
We are Americans.
My question is, what will we rise to?
The only thing that we can begin to
step in the right direction is to ask
ourselves this question or to consider this challenge
only if that nation knows where it came
from.
And do we as Americans know where we
came from?
This is a nation, a land of immigrants,
all of us.
And our fathers and our mothers came here
with a reason and a purpose, and they
had to learn what it was to be
an American.
Many of our families, if not all of
our families, came through Ellis Island.
And you can go to New York today
and trace the roots of your nation coming
from Europe and starting this country.
And if that's not close enough or far
back enough, you can go to the pilgrims.
God had a plan.
We need to know where this nation came
from if we're ever going to return back.
And listen, this is an important thing.
And some of you may take issue with
what I'm saying today.
And that's OK.
That's totally fine.
It's not going to hurt my feelings.
I will, though, require of you to study
some history.
You don't want my opinion and I don't
want yours.
We want the facts.
Where did this nation come from?
Unfortunately, people are coming into this nation today.
They don't even know where this nation came
from.
How can you be loyal to a nation
that God has given if you don't know
what it's all about?
I'm all for people coming if they want
to partake of the amazing miracle that God
did by creating America.
Do you know what America is?
If we ask some questions, I wonder if
they can be answered.
Where did America come from?
I think every school ought to ask that
question of every student.
Where did America come from?
Do our children know the answer to that?
What does America return to?
Do we know that question?
Do we know the answer?
Our founding fathers, our founding foundation, our founding
faith, Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse 18, says, and
you shall remember the Lord, your God, for
it is he who gives you the power
to prosper.
Wouldn't that be great if that verse, Deuteronomy
18, was on Wall Street?
Wouldn't it be great if they took that
bull off the street and put a plaque?
You know what bull I'm talking about?
I'm not I'm not cussing right now.
I'm talking about the bull.
You know, the bull that's there.
If you've been to New York, the big
bull speaking about a bold and strong and
going forth economy.
Take it down.
Put up this scripture.
Don't forget God who makes you to prosper.
Yeah, that should be there.
But I don't have any power to put
it there.
So I'm just saying.
I'd also like to go around and ask
every high school teacher and every high school
student, by the time they get out of
high school, they ought to be able to
answer this question, where did America come from?
Because you'll never know where America should be
taken, where she should go, unless you know
where she's come from.
Or if you get into some old, good
old documentaries, look at the precious people.
Look at our our grandmas and grandpas who
are coming from Poland and Italy and France
and all over the world.
Standing in line is so cute.
They were there and they're so excited and
they the little kids had flags and their
parents were telling them in Polish or in
Italian, we're coming into America.
We're coming to America and it's standard.
They're coming up the ships, they're waving flags
and they're just waiting.
They're moving up in line.
The names are recorded.
They enter and they they learn what it's
about.
They stand, they take the pledge and they
enter in and they created an awesome nation
by the grace of God.
It's amazing to think.
It's beautiful, you know, it's so fun to
travel America, you go to the Midwest, the
upper Midwest, and you know who you run
into, you run into all kinds of Dutch,
all kinds of Germans, all kind of northern
Europeans.
And they got their cheeses and they got
their beef and they got the stuff that
they're great for.
And then you go to certain areas, you
go down to the south of the United
States and you've got a lot of southern
nations represented there.
And you also have southern Europe much represented
there.
New Orleans was named after Orleans.
And there's a French influence.
And it's wonderful.
You go to Florida and there's the Spaniard,
the Spain influence of Western Europe.
It's just wonderful.
Unlike any other place on the planet.
The envy of the world, where did we
come from?
Can a nation rise again only if that
nation knows where it came from?
We need to know where we've come from.
Listen to bore you.
I hope not.
I'm joking.
But to some people find this incredibly boring.
I find it hard to hold back tears.
This is from the text of October 3rd,
1789.
I reserve to tell you who said it
in a second.
I will let you know, quote, whereas it
is the duty of all nations to acknowledge
the providence of the almighty God and obey
his will to be grateful for his benefits
and to be humbly imploring his protection and
favor upon us.
Don't we need this now?
And whereas both houses of Congress have by
their joint committee requested to me to recommend
to the people of the United States a
day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be
observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many
and single favors of the almighty God, especially
by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish
a form of government for their safety and
for their happiness.
To be devoted by the people of these
states to the service of the great and
glorious being who is the benefit author of
all that is good, all that was, that
is, and that will be that we may
then all unite in rendering unto him our
sincere and humble thanks for his kind and
care protection of the people of this country.
Do we not need this now?
Wouldn't it be great if a politician read
this announcement for the civil and religious liberty
of which we are blessed and the means
we have acquired and diffusing useful knowledge and
in general for all the great and various
favors which he has been pleased to confer
upon us and also that we may then
unite in most humble offering of prayer and
supplication to our great Lord and ruler of
all nations.
And beseech him to pardon our national and
other transgressions given by the hand in the
city of New York on the third day
of October in the year 1789 President George
Washington.
It's amazing to me that what he said
today, the ACLU would find to be illegal
and he was the founder of our nation.
Notice how many times he referenced God, how
will we ever get back if we have
lost the way number two, can a nation
rise again only if that nation returns to
its purpose?
Do you know, Church, the purpose of America,
by the way, I'm excited.
We are very, very much firming up the
plans of a God in American heritage tour
next year.
We've almost got the specific dates nailed down
the sites.
We will begin by God's grace, Lord willing,
in Plymouth, and we will end in Washington,
D.C., and it's all going to be,
by the way, Dr. Peter Marshall, Jr., son
of Peter Marshall, is going to be conducting
our tour at Plymouth, and that is going
to be amazing, all about God and American
history and heritage.
And we're going to be giving Bible studies
in front of the White House.
We're going to be giving Bible studies in
front of the Pilgrim's Gathering and Plymouth Rock
and all of that.
It's going to be a great thing that
we might understand that it's possible that God's
not done with this nation if we will
repent.
What did America do that no other nation
has ever done before?
It once preached the gospel of Jesus Christ
and the federal budget of the United States
funded such an effort.
Did you know that?
Did you know that the United States budget
up until 1954 funded the production of the
publication of Bibles to be distributed worldwide?
Taxpayers' dollars went to that.
What about the separation of church and state?
That is not a federal document, nor is
it a law, nor is it found in
any governmental writings.
Did you know that it was stolen from
a private letter from Thomas Jefferson to his
pastor friend who was the senior pastor of
the Danbury Baptist Church?
There is no separation of church and state.
It's a myth.
And you would say to me after service,
it's in the First Amendment.
I challenge you, my friend, I've read the
Constitution, I've read the amendments, I've read the
Bill of Rights, I've read the Declaration of
Independence.
I'm telling you right now, show me where
it is.
Find me where it is.
You will not find it.
That's CNN or a new revised history version.
I challenge you now, you won't find it.
No other nation in the history of world,
in all of human history has sent more
relief, more aid, more to more people, to
more nations, to more places still to this
moment than the United States of America.
Did you know that?
We're the most benevolent nation in the world.
Where do you think that heart comes from?
If this nation rejects Christianity, it will become
even more self-centered and this nation will
begin to be less benevolent.
No other nation in all the history of
the world has sent more Bibles and more
missionaries to more people, more places than the
United States of America.
Did you know that?
Even you say, oh, no, England did.
No, America surpassed England in missionary ventures in
less than 200 years.
What was our purpose for being a nation?
I'll read to you a section of the
Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776, when in
the course of human events.
It becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political bands of which connected them with
one another and to assume among the powers
of the earth, the separate and equal station
to which the laws of nature and the
nature's God entitled them.
A descent respect, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare
the causes of which impel them to the
separation.
They're talking about the break from England, of
course.
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 that among them are life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness.
That's the Declaration of Independence, a portion of
it.
Did you know that democracy?
Listen, this ought to raise an eyebrow, but
it's a fact.
Did you know that democracy and its truest
definition can never work right unless there's a
God fearing people that dwell within that democracy?
Did you know that democracy only works if
we love one another?
You say, well, yeah, but this guy might
be a Muslim and this guy might be
a Buddhist and this guy might be a
Christian and this guy might be an atheist.
Do you understand that according to the Constitution
of the United States and the spirit of
our founding fathers, the signers of the Declaration
of Independence, 56 of them.
Did you know that 27 of them, I'm
proud to say, were my brothers.
27 of them were ordained pastors.
27 out of the 56 signers of the
Declaration of Independence.
And do you know what they announced?
They announced it's okay if you want to
be an atheist, that you have the freedom
to be an atheist.
We respect that.
You want to be a Muslim?
It doesn't say Muslim Hindu, but it says,
by the way, Abraham Lincoln echoes it as
a Christian nation.
He says this is a Christian nation, Abraham
Lincoln said, and we will love people.
We will tolerate their different beliefs.
That means it's OK.
You don't want to believe that.
That's OK.
I love you.
I'm going to pray for you.
We're going to help you.
We're not going to separate you.
You don't get any treatment of blessings from
the government because you're an atheist.
You get blessed.
You're not segregated.
This nation of all nations on the planet
had a vision that said, you know what?
Black people and white people ought to live
together and be equal.
Yeah, that's a struggle because the human heart
is wicked.
It's still a struggle.
But where on the planet is there a
nation that has been dedicated for the last
230 plus years to dissolving those demonic divisions?
I believe, by the way, I know it's
a strong statement.
I don't want to hear about it from
you after I say it.
I believe racism is from Satan.
I really do.
It's the exact opposite of God's heart.
The proclamation of the president of the United
States, President John Adams, March 23rd, 1798, quote,
as the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately
and essentially depend upon the protection of the
blessings of almighty God.
And the national acknowledgement of this truth is
not only an indispensable duty, which the people
owe him.
But it is our duty whose natural influence
is favorable to the promotion of that morality
and piety, without which social happiness cannot exist,
nor can the blessings of a free government
ever be enjoyed.
President John Adams, can you imagine a president
saying this today?
He'd get sued.
He went on to say.
It is religion and morality alone which can
establish the principles upon which freedom can securely
stand.
See, democracy demands this.
The only foundation of a free constitution is
pure virtue.
We have no government armed with power capable
of contending with human passions unbridled by morality
and religion.
Other constitutions has made only for a moral
and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate to the government of
any other.
This is a statement from John Quincy Adams,
president of the United States.
The law given from Mount Sinai was a
civil and municipal code as well as a
moral and religious code.
It contained many statutes of universal application, laws
essential to the existence of men in society,
and most of which have been enacted by
every nation which has professed any code and
rule of law.
God gave in the Bible how nations should
be ordered.
Samuel Adams.
Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws
will secure the liberty, liberty and happiness of
people whose manners are universally corrupt.
That haunts me today.
Did you hear what he said?
He said there's no constitution and there's no
wise laws that are going to secure the
liberty of the happiness of this people.
If people whose manners are universally corrupt, in
other words, if we have corrupt politicians and
a corrupt society, laws will be changed and
thrown out.
Is that not happening?
Number three, can a nation rise again only
if that nation's God is the Lord?
Psalm 33, 12 says, Blessed is the nation
whose God is the Lord.
It's pretty simple.
Isaiah 37, 12 says, What have the gods
of other nations done for them?
Have they been delivered?
Have you ever thought about that?
I'd just like you to write down this
question.
Always ask yourself this question.
What are the gods of other nations done
for them?
That is about the most unpolitically correct question
you can ask yourself today.
Look around the world.
Find out what find out how governments and
people live and the standard of living that
they live in, how women are viewed.
Ladies, do I have your attention?
Listen, ladies, go look to other nations and
read about how women and their freedoms are
viewed in other countries.
Where the Bible is not taught, it is
the Bible, and this is not my opinion,
you can read this in history, it is
the Bible that has elevated the position of
all women around the world when it's properly
taught.
Women are beyond women are to be honored.
When the Lord is the God of that
nation, obviously, that title, we could go on
all day.
Number four, can a nation rise again only
if that nation determines to follow God?
Only if that nation determines to follow God.
Number four, can a nation rise again?
These are the closing remarks of one of
my heroes, and I don't have many in
life.
Jesus ultimately is beyond the hero.
But I'm speaking about Abraham Lincoln.
Just a statement from the Gettysburg Address, one
of the shortest speeches ever given by a
politician.
And still today, it's unmatched.
Gettysburg Address, 16th President United States, Abraham Lincoln
said, I quote.
Oh, by the way, let me give you
a little preface.
This is obviously the Gettysburg Address given at
Gettysburg in regards to the fallen dead in
the Civil War.
I want you to hear this in light
of September 11th.
I want you to hear this in light
of Afghanistan and Iraq at this moment.
He said, we are highly resolved that these
dead shall not have died in vain, that
this nation under God shall have a new
birth of freedom and that government of the
people, by the people and for the people
shall not perish from off the face of
the earth.
That is an awesome statement.
By the way, you want to see this
really cool?
Go to Disneyland.
And Abraham Lincoln presents, you'll see him say
this.
I mean, it looks like it's they use
the real death mask of Abraham Lincoln's face
to make that thing.
And he's speaking to you.
You want to just stand up and shout.
You ever heard of John Hancock?
I hope so.
John Hancock said, in consideration of many undeserved
blessings conferred upon us by almighty God, the
father of all mercies, it becomes us not
only in our private life.
And in our usual devotion to express our
obligations to him as well as our dependence
upon him, but also specifically to set apart
a day.
To be employed for this great and important
purpose.
I have therefore thought fit to appoint and
by the advice of the consent of this
council to hereby accordingly appoint the next Thursday,
the 17th of November to be observed as
a day listen, a day of public Thanksgiving
and praise to God throughout this commonwealth, hereby
calling all ministers and people of every denomination
to assemble on this day in the name
of our great mediator.
You know, that is devoutly and sincerely offering
up to him.
Almighty God, the gratitude of our hearts.
Oh, would God please provide politicians today?
See, if somebody would stand up and present
the truth of God in a humble heart,
even people that oppose that particular person's various
backgrounds or denominational persuasion, God will take truth
and stimulate your heart with it.
And you will even say things like, I
don't even know why I'm going to go
vote for John Hancock, but you know what?
Whatever he says rings true to my heart.
And I don't even like the guy, but
I'm going to go vote for him.
That's the power of God.
And it's amazing.
Where are we?
Number one.
I knew I just tested.
Number five, can a nation rise again?
Only if that nation humbles itself.
Only if that nation has humbled itself.
Nahum one seven.
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the
day of trouble, and he knows those who
trust in him.
That's Nahum one seven.
You can find that, by the way, in
the cup of an In-N-Out burger
drink.
Isaiah 40, verse 17, says before him all
the nations are as nothing.
And they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.
God's not swayed by nations.
A nation can be humbled, you know.
God can do it like this.
And here's the thing.
What will that nation do with the invitation
to be humble?
Church, are you awake?
Are you listening?
When God says, listen, this has come upon
you for many reasons, but one of them,
will you humble yourself and seek my face
and pray?
Will you?
What will that nation do with that calamity?
Will it shake its fist at God and
say, why?
Or will it bow its heart before the
Lord like Daniel, like Nehemiah, like Jeremiah, like
Ezekiel and say, oh, God.
Oh, God, I'm so sorry that now you
have my attention.
Oh, Lord, let us seek you with all
of our hearts.
We will pray to you, God.
We will confess our sins before you.
We will seek your face.
Oh, God, we humble ourselves before you.
What what do most nations do?
What I what is it that I believe
this nation is guilty of?
Oh, by the way, before I say that
in England, I was in England and this
guy told me, you know, you guys are
amazing in America and we are disgusting here
in Europe.
I didn't say it.
He said it.
He said, we're disgusting.
We got hit by the by the train
bombings in Spain.
We've been hit time and time again in
England.
And what do we do when we get
hit in England?
We go to the bars and get drunk.
What do you guys do when you get
hit?
You guys all run to church and pray.
He said, you guys are amazing.
Well, listen, that's true for two weeks.
September 11th and the weeks following, including this
church was packed out.
And we you know why we we chanted,
never forget, never forget.
We will not forget.
You know why?
Because we forget and we have forgotten and
this nation will not rise again unless it
remembers.
Don't think you're going to rub some Christian
lamp and pull out a dollar bill and
everything's going to be fine.
The American view is if I just throw
enough money at it, it's going to work.
That's over.
A lot of churches function that way.
Just throw enough money at it.
I was told on Thursday night, there's a
church that I've actually spoken in at this
church.
There's a church that someone left 80, 86
million dollars to this year.
And when I heard that, I cringed.
I thought, oh, Lord, give that pastor and
the board of that church extreme wisdom, for
they will stand before God someday to give
an account on how they use that money.
Be careful.
We can throw enough money at something in
America.
That's the American way.
Just throw enough money at it.
It'll work.
Those days are gone.
We've been humbled and we're being humbled.
Ask your child honestly, when they're really in
a moment of candor, ask them, do all
the material things I've bought you, does it
matter to you?
Really?
Does it really fill your heart?
If your children are honest, they'll tell you,
no, I want you, Dad.
I want you, Mom.
America is at war, if we have forgotten
a war unlike any other war that's ever
been fought.
We're fighting an enemy that cannot be defeated
by conventional means.
And I'm not talking about using nukes.
That's not going to work either.
This enemy can only be confronted with truth.
Isn't that interesting?
It's a spiritual war.
When someone's attacking you with a spiritual mindset
since September 11th, their agenda is spiritual.
You can launch all the bombs you want.
It's not going to change what's inside them.
This war will not stop.
America is attempting to wage this war and
to rebuild itself, to protect itself, to defend
itself, to wage war for itself, to promote
democracy.
All this without God.
Without God's help and without God's blessings.
This is a very serious thing.
If we are going to recover, we've got
to have God in the middle of it
all.
The Bible says some trust in chariots, right?
And some trust in horses.
But we shall trust in the name of
our God.
And that's what we need to do.
Will the nation rise again?
Number six, can a nation rise again only
if that nation will seek justice?
Isn't it interesting the timing of it all?
Are our courts in America known for justice?
Anything, but the joke around the world and
the joke is here.
If you have enough money, you can get
off to can you buy?
Make no mistake about it, even against the
founding of America.
You are considered guilty until you have enough
money to prove yourself innocent.
And that's a sad thing.
A nation can only rise again if that
nation seeks justice.
Isaiah 60, verse 12.
For the nation and kingdom which shall not
serve the Lord shall perish.
And those nations shall utterly be ruined.
Does this ring a bell to you?
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers
brought forth on this continent, a new nation
conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal.
Again, Abraham Lincoln.
Justice for the black man.
Justice for the white man.
Justice for the poor.
Justice for women.
Justice for men.
Justice should be only concerned about truth.
And not what color or how much money
is in your pocket.
Number seven, can a nation rise again only
if that nation would pursue righteousness?
I give you the words of Benjamin Franklin
at the Federal Convention in 1787.
I have lived, sir, a long time.
And the longer I live, the more convincing
proofs I see of this truth.
That God governs in the affairs of men,
and if a sparrow cannot fall to listen
to him, if a sparrow cannot fall to
the ground without his notice, it is probable
that an empire can rise without his aid.
Have we been assured, sir, in the sacred
writings of the Bible that except the Lord
build the house, they labor in vain who
build it?
I firmly believe this.
And I also believe that without his concurring
aid, we shall succeed in this political building
no better than the projects we will be
confounded with them.
And we ourselves shall become a reproach and
a byword down throughout the ages.
And what is worse?
Listen, mankind may hear after from this unfortunate
instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom.
And leave it to chance, war or conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth
prayers be implored for the assistance of heaven,
listen, and its blessings on our deliberations here
and be held in this assembly every morning
before we proceed with our business as a
nation, that one or more of our clergy
of this city be requested to officiate in
that service daily.
Benjamin Franklin.
Thank God that has somewhat been held true
still to this day.
Somewhat.
James McHenry, signer of the Declaration of Independence,
we in vain without the Bible will increase.
Listen to this will increase laws and draw
entrenchments around our institutions.
Bibles are our strong entrenchment where they abound.
Men cannot pursue wicked courses and at the
same time enjoy a quiet conscience.
I love that.
He says, if there's no Bibles, the lawmakers
are just going to make a bunch of
more laws.
Why do that?
Put the Bible out there to the people
and their conscience will be bothered when they
do something wrong.
Is that perfect?
Hey, do you guys care about this?
Are you with me here?
I'm sorry.
I must admit I am a historical freak.
I love this stuff, but you can't return
unless you know where you came from.
OK, number eight, we're almost done.
Can a nation rise again?
Only if that nation would cry out to
the Lord again.
Second Chronicles 714.
But somebody says, if my people are you
a Christian and what's cool about this statement?
Are you a Christian?
Are you Jewish?
Are you crying out to the God of
the Bible?
Oh, he says, which are called by my
name shall humble themselves, pray and seek my
face.
That needs no no definition other than an
invitation church to pray.
Honestly, can I if I haven't offended you
by now, can I offend each and every
one of us right now, including myself?
Until we seek God's face, nothing really serious
has yet happened in our lives.
You understand that?
Don't tell me after service that your marriage
is messed up.
I won't believe you.
I might look at you and be courteous.
Hi, nice to meet you.
What's that?
Well, your marriage is ruined.
I'm sorry.
But we're just wasting time.
You're not really serious about it unless you
are crying out to God.
Oh, but pastor, I need you.
You don't need me.
You need the Lord, man.
And you say, well, why are you a
Christian?
I'm not talking about becoming a Christian again.
I'm talking about full on your face and
crying out.
Hey, husband, is your wife wayward?
Get on your face and cry.
Grab the feet of Jesus and say like
Jacob, I'm not going to let you go
until you bless my wife and bring her
back home.
Is your kids wayward?
Grab hold of Jesus's robe and get healed
prayer meetings when we really get serious.
We'll attend prayer meetings until you until that
nothing's really happened significant in our lives.
Let's not fool anybody.
If things are bad enough, we'll pray.
We'll call a prayer meeting.
Let's say let's say there's a prayer meeting
called this week.
How many people will come?
But if we say there's free pizza, it'll
be a packed house.
Honestly, pastor, you talk like that.
I'm not coming back.
OK, I have some very sad stats for
number nine.
Can a nation rise again?
Only if that nation will turn from its
sins.
That's what he says in Chronicles.
OK, if my people, if they turn from
their sins, then by the way, the word
in Hebrew is then and only then God
says then only then I will hear from
heaven.
Do you know what that implies?
Church, are you ready?
Isaiah 59 verses one and two says, My
hand's not too short that it won't save
you.
My ear's not deaf that I can't hear
you.
But the bummer is that I put that
in there.
The bummer is I can't save you and
I can't hear you because your sins have
separated you from me so that when you
pray, I cannot hear you.
And when you cry out for help, I
cannot save you.
Isaiah 59 verses one and two.
The American husband and wife lead the world
in divorce.
We are a Christian nation.
And we lead the world in divorce.
The American youth has more than two sets
of parents than any other nation on the
planet.
American youth.
The American youth is the most sexually active
people on the planet.
The American is the most medicated person on
the earth.
We consume more medications, mainly for pills and
for moods than any other person on any
other nation of the planet.
The Americans lead the world in pornographic production
and by the way, exportation to the world.
Did you know that?
The American makes more money than anyone else
on the planet.
Did you know that the American is the
poorest person on paper of anyone on the
planet by debt?
You say, what about the guy that's out
there in Africa sitting in a heap of
dirt and all he's got is a spear
and a rabbit?
He owns his hut.
That's his spear and that's his rabbit.
All this while at the same time, 88
% of Americans say they believe in God.
I hope you're sitting down here.
A few examples from a report or a
collection of reports.
I'll give you where in a moment of
what happened after at the removal of prayer
from public arena in 1963.
Regarding young people.
For 15 years before 1963, pregnancy and girls
of ages 15 to 19 years of age
had been no more than 15 girls per
thousand people.
I mean, 15 girls per thousand girls after
the removal of prayer in 1963, pregnancies increased
187% in within 15 years.
It's more now for young girls ages 10
to 14 years of age after the removal
of prayer, pregnancies increased 553% in ages
10 to 14.
553% before 1963, sexually transmitted diseases among
students were 400 per 100,000 people after
the removal of prayer in 1963.
They were up 226% in 12 years
within 12 years.
The family, the family before 1963, divorce rates
had been declining for 15 years in America
after the removal of prayer in 1963.
Divorces increased over 300% a year for
the following 15 years since after the removal
of prayer in 1963, unmarried people living together
has gone up 353% since after the
removal of prayer in 1963, single parent families
are up 140% after the removal of
prayer concerning the family in 1963, single parent
families with children are up 160% education
as the topic.
The educational standard of measures has been the
scores.
The scores had been steadily level prior to
1963 after the removal of prayer in 1963,
the decline for 18 consecutive years, even though
the same test has been issued since 1941
before the removal of prayer in 1963.
There are only approximately one.
This is the good news.
1000 Christian schools in America prior to 1963
after the removal of prayer in 1963 by
1984, 11 year, 21 years later, there are
more than 32,000.
This is 1984.
There are more than 32,000 Christian schools
in America after the removal of prayer in
1963.
The nation's top academic scholars shifted from the
public arena to three times as many now
from private and or religious schools, which operate
on one quarter of the education budget of
the public schools.
The nation after the removal of prayer in
1963 violent crime has increased 544% after
the removal of prayer in 1963, illegal drugs
have become an enormous and uncontrollable problem to
our nation.
After the removal of prayer in 1963, the
nation has been deprived of an estimated 10
million children, citizens through legal abortions.
And since Roe versus Wade in 1973, an
additional 47 million children, future citizens have been
aborted since that 1973 year.
And that's why today the United States Senate
has met and discussed the ramifications of an
aborted generation to the workforce and tax base
of America.
Did you know what?
Isn't it interesting?
Since 73, we killed 47 million kids in
the womb.
And isn't it interesting that it's an estimated
40 million people have come to America, many
of them illegally to work.
We killed the workforce.
I didn't say it.
Senator Zell Miller said it.
And I was in front of him when
he said it.
I heard him.
It is a study done by the United
States Senate.
We killed an entire generation of taxpayers and
workers.
And now we need people from abroad or
from the other side of the borders.
Amazing, huh?
Doesn't the Bible say you reap what you
sow?
You say, Jack, you're crazy.
Well, the data source is the United States
Department of Health and Human Services, the Center
for Disease and Control, the Statistics Abstracts of
the United States, the Vital Statistics of the
United States Government, United States of America, and
the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
Number 10, and we're done.
Can a nation rise again, my friend?
Only if that nation is willing to obey
God.
And that's the problem.
He says, I will hear from heaven and
I will heal their land.
If they turn, pray, seek my face, I
will hear them.
I will forgive them.
And he says, I will heal that land.
I want you to look at the screen.
Look at this.
This is precious.
She says to us, Statue of Liberty, give
me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe freedom.
Oh, you can read it.
I didn't know it was up there.
Send these, the homeless, the tempest tossed to
me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Anybody know who gave us that, by the
way?
Very good.
The French.
They have a little version of it.
She's shorter, half the size in France.
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled
masses yearning to breathe freedom.
You're teeming.
Look at the wretched refuse of your teeming
shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me.
She's announcing that she's standing beside the golden
door.
I lift my lamp.
You can sit back in the old days.
You could see her from out at sea.
And if you come to her, she stands
beside a golden door, golden.
We would say it's the golden door of
opportunity.
Will the nation rise again?
I don't know.
It can only happen if it's done God's
way.
It's only going to happen.
And it has happened once in history to
the nation of Israel.
It's not impossible.
Will it happen to us?
I don't know.
I almost cringe to tell you that someone
was listening to a study that we had
done in this church about eight years ago.
And they're listening on CD.
And then in that CD, they had told
me, you said that America had reached its
zenith.
You believed in that.
It was going to diminish from this time
on because the way that it was going.
And you also said that something would happen
to America, either externally or internally, that would
leave it so preoccupied that it would leave
its support of Israel.
And we're hearing campaign statements this week that
if you just vote for me, I'm not
going to send any money to Israel.
I'll make sure that we take care of
ourselves.
And you might say justifiably, yeah, Jack, that's
right.
We have people hungry here.
I understand that.
And don't tell me that we can't feed
them.
We don't really want to feed them.
If we wanted to feed them, we'd feed
them ourselves.
But don't ever turn your back on Israel.
We are.
I'll end with this.
When we go to the voting box, you
guys.
And let me make this very clear.
When we go to vote.
You understand, Jesus has already come.
He preached and taught, was crucified, resurrected and
went back to heaven.
When you vote for a Republican or a
Democrat or independent, do you understand?
Jesus is gone.
He's in heaven.
I say that don't vote for somebody thinking
they're going to deliver you from all your
woes.
They can't do it.
You got to vote for the lesser of
the two evils.
And here's my view.
Here's who I vote for.
I vote to see how they view Israel.
Because that tells me how well off I'm
going to be later on.
Because God says, I will bless those who
bless my people and I will curse them
who curse my people.
Will a nation rise again?
I don't know.
I know what I think.
But our God does miracles, doesn't he?
We need to humble ourselves, pray, cry out
to God.
But don't you dare expect him to bless
us.
If we are sinning against him and we
got this going on the side and we're
cheating on taxes and you got a little
bit of porn over here and a little
bit of this going on and you're flirting
with him and you're flirting with her and
you're depriving your kids.
And then you say, oh, God bless me.
He will not.
As a nation, we need to repent and
seek his face.
Let's pray now.
Dear God in heaven, as we remember September
11th, we can never make it back unless
we abandon our plans of self, self-grandizement,
trusting in money, affluence, power, position.
And we fall on our face.
And Lord God, I do not condemn any
governmental leader.
I come right alongside them.
My hands, our hands are as bloody as
anyone's hands.
Someone may legalize this, but how did it
ever come to his table, his desk to
begin with?
By my apathy.
Why have I not prayed more for this
nation?
Why have I not prayed more for my
city?
Why have I not prayed more for my
state?
Lord, I stand here.
I am guilty.
And I ask you to forgive me of
my apathy.
And I pray, Lord God, in these last
days, Lord, that you would awaken us as
a church to seek your face, to pray,
to humble ourselves, to turn from our sins,
to cry out to you.
Because you have promised us that if we
do that, you'll heal our land.
We ask you, Father, in Jesus name.
And as we look to the events of
September 11th, may we respond to them correctly.
If we haven't in the last five years,
may we do that today.
In Jesus name and all of God's people
said, amen.
Amen.
Let's stand.
I want to encourage you.