Last Sabbath was Armed Forces Day, a day to honor our military services. Monday is Memorial day, sometimes called Decoration Day, a day for showing our gratitude by remembering the sacrifice of our veterans and all those who died for this country, but particularly those who died in battle. May 30th is the traditional Memorial Day. It is traditionally a day of parades and speeches and flags. But since the National Holidays Act of 1971, it is observed on the last Monday in May, regardless of the date, in order to give everyone a three day weekend. It is still observed with parades and speeches and flags, but now, most people seem more aware of the pleasures of a three day weekend than of honoring our war dead. In fact, in a recent Gallup poll, only about 28% of Americans know the meaning of Memorial Day. Most now know it only as a three day weekend.

June 6th is the sixty-fourth anniversary of D-Day. D-Day was the name given to the first day of the assault on Hitler’s fortress Europe along the Normandy Coast of France by American, British, and Canadian forces during World War II. It is a kind of memorial day too for the estimated 1500 to 4900 troops who were killed that first day. The exact date some died is unknown but the huge American military graveyards at Normandy give mute testimony to the sacrifices paid by America’s military in that monumental operation.

Where did Memorial Day come from? How did it become a national holiday? Where does God come into all this - or does He? David addressed God's part in wars in the book of Psalms. Let's read about it:

Today I want to discuss some thoughts on the meaning of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day was first founded on May 30, 1868 to honor the war dead of the American civil war. It was observed by both sides, north and south, of that war. It was first observed at Arlington Cemetery by the placing of flowers on the graves of the war dead of both Union and Confederate soldiers. That practice continues but now includes the placing of small American flags at the graves of each fallen veteran. On each Memorial Day, the President or his designee places a wreath of flowers at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery.

Memorial Day is an opportunity for Americans to say "Thank You" to our brave defenders of freedom and their families, especially the children they have left behind. In declaring a day of memorial to those who had died in service to our country, General John Logan, then Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, proclaimed on May 5, 1868:

Various cities and towns have Memorial Day parades by Veterans Organizations, patriotic citizens, and schools. Until about 1960 respect and appreciation toward veterans has been demonstrated by virtually all Americans. Since the 1960s Americans have shown a declining interest in veterans and the positive side of American history, particularly American military history. However, with the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and with the news media and liberal politicians emphasizing the losses in this war, public interest has grown somewhat. Why this decline in patriotism? Why do more and more cities discontinue their Memorial Day observances? Why do more and more citizens look at our national holidays as just another day off work, another day to watch the ball game, the Indianapolis 500, go to the beach or participate in some other form of recreation? Why are so few flags displayed by the public on this day?

I want to review the course of U.S. military history. We could start as far back as Columbus, a man who pictured himself as fulfilling a great purpose of God. But this sermon does have a time limit and I would like to talk about events in the lifetime of you listeners, so I'm going to limit it to events after about 1930.

World War II was destined to affect more nations, damage more property, cost more money, and kill more people than any past war. Some estimate total military and civilian deaths to have been about fifty-five million - fifty-five million people.

In the 1920s and 1930s serious economic depression stalked the world. In an effort to solve the depression, nations installed strong leaders who promised corrective measures at any cost. The cost in Germany and Italy was dictatorial, nationalistic government. Japan already had a militaristic government carried over from her conquests in Manchuria and China. Britain's Winston Churchill described Hitler's rise to power thus:

Of all the people on earth, Hitler believed the Jews were the worst (although Slavics came close) - and should be exterminated from this planet. On January 30th, 1933, Hitler was named chancellor of Germany. Dr. Joseph Goebbels was named Minister of Propaganda. "Like a servant of God," Goebbels wrote in his diary, "Hitler fulfills the task which was given to him and he does justice in its brightest and best sense to his historical mission." In his newspaper, Der Angriff, he wrote: "What diligence and knowledge and school learning cannot solve, God announces through the mouths of those whom He has chosen. Genius in all fields of human endeavor means - to have been called. When Hitler speaks all resistance breaks down before the magical effect of his words." It was true that when Hitler spoke, many Germans became transfixed under his hypnotic spell.

By 1936, Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland to see how Britain and France would react to it. Britain and France were preoccupied with Mussolini's aggression in Ethiopia. France's 100 divisions could have destroyed Hitler's feeble forces but France did nothing. This should be a lesson for critics of our intervention to remove dangerous dictators.

Hitler's next act was to take over Austria through intimidation. This added 7 million to the Third Reich and put it in a very good strategic position in central Europe.

Hitler's next goal was to take over half of Czechoslovakia. His excuse was that he wished to liberate the three and a quarter million Germans who lived in Sudetenland. Czechoslovakia began mobilizing for war. Hitler feared that England and France might side with Czechoslovakia and begin a general war. The Czechs' defiance put Hitler into a rage. "How dare they accuse Germany of being about to commit aggression." The French and British, however, wanted peace at any price. They sent Edouard Daladier and Nevill Chamberlain to meet the German dictator and offer a deal - they would allow Hitler to take half of Czechoslovakia. Hitler's response? "I have fallen from Heaven." Sound familiar? Hitler, of course, took all of Czechoslovakia.

But France and Britain and Russia were at last alerted. To remove the threat of Russia, Hitler secretly offered her half of Poland. The offer was too good to ignore. Russia and Germany signed a nonaggression pact on August 23rd, 1939. Hitler was troubled by reports England and France might go to war if he attacked Poland. On the 26th, the following was reported:

Five days later Germany attacked Poland. Hitler's orders to his troops: "Close your eyes to pity. Act brutally!" Germany's armored vehicles made quick work of Poland's horse cavalry. Britain and France declared war on Germany the same day, September 1st. On the 17th, Russia attacked Poland from the east.

Germany invaded Denmark, Norway, and The Netherlands next. By May 14th, 1940, they had taken Belgium and were attacking France. It took them six days to cross France and reach the channel. 400,000 British, French and Belgian troops were surrounded on the coast at Dunkirk. At this point in history, Hitler issued one of his strangest orders: "Dunkirk is to be left to the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force)." Then another strange incident occurred - a suffocating fog closed in. The English channel became calm. Every civilian boat in the area was ordered to Dunkirk. Over 340,000 were evacuated from May 26th until June 4th. This evacuation has been named the "Miracle of Dunkirk". In Churchill's words, "a Guiding Hand interfered to make sure the Allied forces were not annihilated at Dunkirk."

On June 14th, one month after being invaded, France surrendered to Germany. Britain was then all alone but didn't have long to wait for its turn. On July 10th, Germany began bombing British airfields, aircraft factories and radar stations. From July until September 7th, Germany continued this attack. Then on September 7th, Germany switched targets to British cities. This change came just in the nick of time because the British Fighter Command had been severely damaged and could not continue much longer. The British felt they could sacrifice cities if they could remain in control of their skies. Germany needed to destroy the British Royal Air Force because it alone could destroy the planned German sea invasion. By October 12th, Hitler realized he could not destroy the Royal Air Force and canceled the sea invasion until the following spring. He later postponed the invasion again until he could destroy Russia. Another interference from the Guiding Hand.

The British needed military supplies from the U.S. in a desperate way, so the U.S. sent its convoys to Britain under U.S. military escort. Many of these convoys were decimated by German submarines. The American military service which suffered the biggest percentage of deaths during World War II was the Merchant Marine. In May 1941, the Germans sent their biggest and newest battleship, the Bismarck, into the Atlantic to attack Allied shipping. The British navy pulled out all the stops to find and sink her. But the Bismarck was in such a hurry to slip into the Atlantic that she failed to top off her fuel tanks in Norway and so, by the time the British caught up with her, she had to return to France for more fuel. Nearly the entire British Atlantic fleet was after her. The British had to attack her by air because the Bismarck's guns had longer range than the British. About 400 miles off France, one British plane managed to hit the Bismarck's rudder with a torpedo. With nearly the entire Atlantic fleet chasing her, the Bismarck's fate was doomed. Regarding the Bismarck, the British commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir John Tovey commented:

Hitler had hoped to knock Russia out of the war before America joined her European Allies. But Japan spoiled that hope when she attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Now the industrially mighty U.S. would immediately gear up for all-out war production. At that time America was self-sufficient and did not depend upon other countries for oil or steel or electronics or shipbuilding or very much of anything. America's industrial strength was unsurpassed in the world. The words "Made in USA", found on nearly everything, indicated quality. America's president, President Roosevelt, and Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, were the two great leaders the free world needed at that time.

One of Germany's major goals was the middle east oil fields. To capture them Field Marshall Rommel, one of the most brilliant of all World War II generals, was about to attack Alexandria, Egypt, and thereby control traffic through the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal was critical for the movement of men and material to and from India. In mid-August 1942, Lt. Gen. Bernard Montgomery was put in charge of the British Eighth Army in Egypt. What kind of a man was "Monty"? He was known as the "Spartan General". He neither smoked nor drank, and he didn't swear. He rose at 6 AM and went to bed at 9 PM. He had a fanatical belief in physical fitness. Monty's recipe for physical and spiritual fitness was that each man should run a long course before breakfast (regardless of the weather) and he read the Bible daily. At the Battle of El Alamein, the British Eighth Army decisively defeated Rommel and sent them fleeing westward.

The invasion of Italy followed but the largest military operation in Europe was the Allied landing at Normandy. The Germans knew it was coming. They had fortified the entire Atlantic coast from Norway to Spain by an Atlantic wall. Rommel had warned Hitler that the first 24 hours of the landing would be critical for both the Allies and the Germans. The Allies had to be stopped on the beaches. They could not be allowed to penetrate inland. The Atlantic Wall at Normandy was penetrated in less than one day. General Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, would later describe the 175,000 troop massive military build-up as "a mighty engine of righteous destruction."

The landing on June 6th, 1944 was inserted in a lull of an Atlantic storm that had been plaguing the French coast. As a result of the storm many top German generals were away from their commands, believing that the weather would prevent a landing. Rommel himself was visiting his wife in Germany whose birthday turned out to be on June 6th. Operation Overlord achieved a complete surprise. A few hours after the landing, President Roosevelt included the following in a statement to the American public:

King George VI told the peoples of Britain:

Germany surrendered less than a year later.

Let me now turn to the war in the Pacific. As I mentioned earlier, Japan attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. More than half of America's Pacific fleet was destroyed or severely damaged in the surprise attack. 347 of the 394 planes on Oahu were destroyed. 2403 lives were lost and another 1178 were injured. They followed up the attack with invasions of the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Islands. Singapore and the Philippines were soon occupied by the Japanese.

But there soon came good news too. On June 4th, 1942, the Japanese attempt to occupy Midway Island, at the western end of the 1000 mile long Hawaiian Island group, was thwarted. Japan lost four aircraft carriers in the attempt. That action left Japan short of aircraft carriers and, even more important, the loss of their air crews.

In August 1942, the U.S. landed forces on Guadalcanal to stem the expansion of Japanese forces toward Australia. Japanese control of the air field on Guadalcanal would threaten the sea link and communications between the U.S. and Australia. Thereafter began the island hopping campaign toward Japan's home islands. As the U.S. captured island after island, its ability to begin bombing Japan's factories and cities increased. American submarines decimated Japanese merchant ships bringing raw materials to Japan for their war effort.

In October of 1943 General MacArthur returned to the Philippines. As soon as the landing was made, the Japanese navy made an all-out attempt to destroy the landing. They sent nearly every ship they had to the landing area. Following their losses from the initial battle, they decoyed the main body of the U.S. Third Fleet north and away from the landings. Only a small invasion-supporting naval Task Unit was left to protect the landings. Another Japanese battle fleet then approached nearly within gun range of the beaches, but then, for some unknown reason, they turned and ran. When the battle ended, Japan had lost four carriers, three battleships, nine destroyers, and ten cruisers. America's Admiral Sprague later summed up that decisive Leyte Gulf battle as follows:

Prime Minister Churchill had made a similar statement in 1942 when he said:

Shortly after the Japanese surrender aboard the battleship Missouri, General MacArthur made the following historic broadcast to the American nation:

Following World War II came other wars. Korea and Vietnam were the major ones. The Korean war ended in a stalemate. The Vietnam war in defeat. But the loss of these wars was not the direct result of defeat of the American fighting man. They were the result of indecision by America's leaders. "Once war is forced upon us," said General MacArthur, "there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end. War's very object is victory - not prolonged indecision. In war, indeed, there can be no substitute for victory." But, alas, it was General MacArthur's all-out victory approach to the Korean War which caused him to be relieved of his command in the Pacific. General MacArthur and General Lee were probably the best generals America has ever had but both ended their careers having their principles criticized and just fading away without being able to teach the reasons for their successes to others.

Indecision with no victory has been the hallmark of the U.S. military policy since World War II. Korea was followed by the Cuban missile crises where we left the Cuban freedom fighters on the beach to die after promising them air cover. Then we made an agreement with Russia not to ever invade Cuba if they would just take out their missiles.

The Vietnam war actually started in 1950 while the U.S. was involved in Korea. Here again, MacArthur's admonition that there is no substitute for victory was ignored by President Johnson and his military advisors. It is my belief that President Truman, President Kennedy and President Johnson lacked the faith to face Russia nose to nose and so backed down to a no-win position. The protracted Vietnam war, however, resulted in public resentment against the government and the individual GI. Distrust of government is still with us. MacArthur said that one would have to be insane to become involved in a land war in Asia, but even if it were unavoidable, and it wasn't, our political leaders should have pursued victory, not indecision and compromise and ultimate defeat - the first war the U.S. ever lost. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Arthur Goldberg stated in February 1967: "We are not engaged in a 'holy war' against Communism." The next month he added: "We're ready for unconditional negotiations!" These leaders, lacking faith in God, sold out our fighting men.

General Curtis LeMay, who led the bombing of Japan and later headed the Strategic Air Command, said:

One bright spot in this dark story of indecision without victory occurred in 1975 off the coast of Cambodia. The Communists in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam were looking for excuses to further humiliate the U.S. giant. On May 12, the Cambodians fired on the container ship Mayaguez, boarded her and forced it into the port of Sihanoukville. President Ford called this seizure "an act of piracy." Diplomatic initiatives produced no results. President Ford ordered the Marines to retake the ship and crew. Punitive air strikes were carried out on military targets and an oil depot while Marines captured a strategic island. The Cambodians released the ship and crew with the statement, "our weak country cannot have a confrontation with the U.S.." What did the rescue operation accomplish other than the recovery of the ship and its 39 man crew? An editorial entitled "The Eagle Still Has Claws" in the Toronto Star gives us the answer: "The free-world alliance will be greatly reassured and heartened that its leading power ... still has the will and capacity to act decisively against unprovoked aggression."

The Gulf War involving Kuwait may be the latest evidence of the policy of indecision without victory. Yes, we destroyed the invading armies of Iraq, but our military and civilian leaders in Washington chose not to pursue complete victory by conquering Iraq. Each time we choose indecision over victory, we only postpone the inevitable. Like Hitler's unchallenged invasion of the Rhineland in 1936, when the U.S. is too busy to police these unfinished wars, the enemy will conclude his treachery.

We are still awaiting the results of our current occupation of Iraq. Will we be able to stay the course, despite the bombing of military and civilian targets? This time we have been forced into what is essentially a religious war. What will be the outcome? You can read of some possibilities in our sermon "Where Are We in God’s Master Plan."

But we have other problem areas in the world today. One of our previous governments allowed some of our nuclear weapon technology to be released to our enemies. We have released our strategic and commercial choke-point, the Panama Canal, to Red Chinese control, an avowed enemy. We have been invaded by twelve million illegal Mexican immigrants, many of which want the entire southwest US either returned to Mexico or used to form a new country called Aztlan (the mythical place of origin of the Aztec peoples). This movement, called by many The Mexican Intifada (Arabic word for uprising), is a perfect parallel to the demands made by the so-called Palestinians for the God-given land of Israel. In fact, some claim Mexican Indians descended from Hittites (Deu 7:1, Josh 1:1-4). Joel 3:2 and Amos 9:15 show God’s displeasure with countries which give away His covenant land and refuse to let Israelites live on their land. Let’s look at these scriptures.

After Great Britain gave to the Arabs (i.e. Jordan) most of the land which the League of Nations had set aside for Jews, and later refused to let Jewish refugees trying to escape from Hitler’s genocide in Europe to come to Israel, Britain lost her empire, the biggest empire the world has ever known.

The U.S. government has applied much pressure on Israel to give up the Sinai, Gaza, Samaria, and Judea. It seems as though every time the US pressures Israel to give up more covenant land, the US experiences disaster, measure for measure. For instance, one week after Gaza was evacuated by Israel with the loss of 1200 Jewish homes, green houses, synagogues, and businesses, hurricane Katrina arrived on the US gulf coast and destroyed 200,000 US homes.

During President Carter’s brief four years in office, a very significant chain of measure for measure events occurred. Soon after taking office in 1977 he began discussions with Israel on a peace treaty with Egypt which included the transfer of the Sinai to Egypt. At about the same time, 1977-78, he offered to release the Panama Canal in order to improve US relations with Latin America. On March 26, 1979 he was present as Israel formally gave the Sinai peninsula to Egypt. Was the loss of the Panama Canal (without a shot being fired) the penalty the US suffered for its efforts to give away Israeli land?

Well, there were more penalties to come. On November 4, 1979 the US Embassy and its employees in Teheran was seized by Iranian radicals. On April 24, 1980 Carter authorized an American military rescue effort but would not allow a force sufficient to do the task. The rescue effort failed. President Carter graduated from the Naval Academy but he sure didn’t follow the advice of the great military leaders of his day, some of whom we just discussed. Instead, in my opinion, he demonstrated lack of wisdom, cowardice and appeasement.

The failed rescue effort, the loss of the strategic Panama Canal, the continued imprisonment of US Embassy employees all contributed to Carter’s failure to be reelected in 1980. But there’s still more: Panama then contracted Red China to manage this vital strategic passage with its former US bases, thereby putting all American cites within missile range. Doesn’t look like US relations with Latin America improved either, does it?

Is the threatened loss of the U.S. southwest a potential punishment? Could it be the potential punishment for US demands that Israel evacuate Samaria, Judea, and part of Jerusalem, all historically Israeli covenant land? We seem to be under the curse of Deut 28:52 instead of the blessings of Gen 22:17. Let’s read these two verses.

God is warning a sinning Israelite nation which He had previously blessed thru Abraham:

North Korea threatens Guam and Japan and exports nuclear weapon technology to middle east terrorists. Chinese generals now threaten Los Angeles and China can threaten U.S. cities from former U.S. bases in Panama. Our military has been drastically reduced in bases, manpower, and maybe even supplies. Huge pressures are being applied to our citizens to give up personal guns which could be used for self defense. Individual freedoms and privacy are under constant attack by our government, even to an attempt to monitor our bank accounts and reportedly telephone calls without court order. We seem to be well along on the path to national captivity. The only thing we seem to lack is the national awareness of how close we are to disaster. Most citizens are blinded to our dangers by apathy and an unrelenting obsession for more pleasure and wealth.

What happened after World War II to change our government’s attitude of successful warfare and respect for individual freedoms to one of compromise instead of victory and shame for our military power? We were reading from Deut 28. Let’s turn to verse 15 of Deut 28 to find out.

As you read through the remainder of Deut 28, you will see why and in what ways this country is having the problems it is having. The last verses of Deut 28 describe the final days if we as a nation do not repent and turn around and respect God’s laws instead of rejecting public mention of Him, His Biblical instructions, and those who follow them. The news media is full of examples of government and personal rejections of our Creator.

But there is more to the decline of the U.S. than its national sins. God determines the course of nations. God determines their life and destiny, yes, even of the U.S. and yes, even of the present day country of Israel. How often have you asked yourself, "Why has God blessed the little country of Israel when most of its people are secular, reject Jesus (Yeshua) as their Messiah, and do not even obey God’s commandments? Most seem proud that they are Jews but leave God almost completely out of their lives." The answer is that God is working out His purpose. Perhaps we can get a glimmer of understanding of this from Romans 9:6. I am going to read this from the Jewish New Testament.

Verses 11 and 12 goes on to say, "so that God’s plan might remain a matter of His sovereign choice, not dependent on what they did, but on God, who does the calling."

Romans 11 compares the calling of Jews and Gentiles. I suggest you read this chapter to see how God is calling both Gentile and Jew. Verse 1 tells us if God has rejected the Jews.

The children of God are from those people whom God has called. These verses are discussing who the children of God really are, but I think they also show us very clearly that God determines the destiny of all nations and peoples. I believe that the rise and decline of the U.S. is all part of God’s plan for these end days. God is sifting out His people regardless of what country they are living in. In Christ’s prayer before His crucifixion, the real Lord’s Prayer, He described the difference between God’s chosen people and the rest of the world. Let’s read it.

Brethren, there is a difference between those who God is calling and the rest of the world. In these end times, is it not logical that when a nation rejects our Creator by preventing His Word from being read in schools and public libraries, by prohibiting prayer at sports events, by courts ordering His word out of Halls of Justice, by countries forcing the give-away of God’s covenant land to enemies of Israel, by government leaders equating Allah with the true God and celebrating Islamic religious holidays even in the White House, by congressional persecution of strong Christian leaders, by public statements that we have accomplished our successes only by our own talents, by a nation which legalizes abortion and is attempting to legalize same-sex marriages, by a nation whose morals have gone into a cesspool, that our Creator might select and protect his own people out of that God-rejecting nation and let that nation suffer the results of its sins, even though, like ancient Israel, it was once a God-fearing nation?

Deut 12 tell us not to accept the ways of pagan nations.

But then, followers of main stream Christianity tend to reject the laws and statutes of the Old Testament. So, the President and many of his advisors may be influenced by just such a false doctrine.

Revelation 18 is generally accepted as a condemnation of a fallen church, but does verse 4 also refer to God’s people who live in a fallen national society?

A plague, from G4141; is a stroke; by implication. a wound; figuratively a calamity: What plagues? Will God’s plagues hit America too? Does Zech 14 give us some answers?

Yes, America is included in "all the nations." In President Bush’s meeting with the leader of the so-called Palestinians, he announced that Jerusalem must be shared with the Palestinians. President Obama seems to have the same plan. And if Israel continues to refuse to relinquish Jerusalem, what then? We have just read the answer. Only divine protection can protect His people from the divine wrath the LORD will have for the countries in which His people reside.

Now, what can we learn from all the disappointing post-World War II military events? In each event we find a common thread: Since World War II the government and certain boot-licking military leaders have shown a tendency of indecisiveness, lack of faith and hypocrisy (e.g., we are in a war against terrorists and the countries that harbor them, except for the Palestinians and the Syrians; we condemn the destruction of the Koran but the Saudis can destroy the Bible; we claim to be the author of the Road Map Agreement but it actually came from Saudi Arabia). All too many Presidents and other influential leaders of the U.S., since the end of World War II, have had a reputation of profanity, temper, deceitfulness, immorality, and indifference to God’s laws. Some are just foolish. Some, self-righteously try to include pagan philosophies in their Judeo-Christian values. But typically, when moral, principled Presidents were in office, military position and respect improved because the Eternal blessed this land in the process of rewarding those leaders. During other presidencies, military position and respect declined. A fear of God, i.e., a fear of breaking God’s laws - moral reverence, generates faith and decisiveness because leaders know God is behind them. Those who do not care if they please God have to depend on their own judgment and God is often not behind them. Let’s read a few scriptures which support what we’ve just said.

The word "fear" is Strong’s number 3374 and means moral reverence. Having a knowledge of the Holy One implies having a knowledge of God’s plan for nations and individuals as described in the Bible.

Good Presidents must understand and accept the Biblical judgments in both Testaments.

What does all this have to do with Memorial Days? Through it all, through right government decisions and wrong government decisions, the serviceman, who has to risk his life, has continually been willing to do so in patriotic support of his country. It is to the devotion and sacrifice of the servicemen of all U.S. wars that Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day and D-Day are dedicated.

In conclusion, as we observe Memorial Day on Monday and the anniversary of D-Day on June 6th, offer up a prayer of thanks to our Creator for His miracles and His support in our military affairs in the past which have assured us the freedoms we enjoy today. And pray for the families of those who have lost sons, fathers, husbands, brothers, grandsons in the present conflict, or seen them seriously injured.

As the public evaluates politicians with Presidential or other high office aspirations, it must judge them not by their looks, their race, their promises of more public money from the publically funded government feeding trough, or their eloquence, but by their character , their integrity, their principles, by their respect and appreciation for God, by their knowledge of His Word, His laws, His promises, and His miracles which have protected and stood by this nation so well in the past. Their honesty is compulsory.

As the 2004 Presidential election demonstrated, those people who were religiously oriented, as determined by those who attend church at least once a week, constituted the majority of the votes for the more-conservative candidates. The majority of those who seldom or never attended church favored the more-liberal candidates - liberality being defined as the setting of one’s own standards of conduct. This is an indication that this nation is fragmenting into a religious versus a secular society, a pro-God verses anti-God society; a God-fearing versus a Godless society, right in line with Biblical prophesy of the end times. Prophesies such as 2 Tim 3:1-5 and Mat 24:9-13 suggest that the secular will become an increasing threat to personal security and national stability in the last days. We are seeing this phenomena in both the US and Israel. Before we close, let’s look at these two explicit scriptures:

To survive, this nation must return to the full meaning of its motto In God We Trust in order for us to expect that God will Bless America. We must defeat the current trend toward rejecting Biblical standards and the worship of God. We must heed the words of David, which we read at the beginning of this sermon, "The eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him....", those who fear to disobey him; not on our strength or our wealth, but on our trust in and respect for our God. If we remain dedicated to God and His ways, we shall be saved; not from persecution by an evil world, but saved from eternal death.

Sermon given by Wayne Bedwell

23 May 2009

Copyright 2009, Wayne Bedwell