America is in a state of potentially irreversible calamity. Government at almost every level in the nation is financially insolvent. The Federal Government has a $1.4 trillion 2009 budget deficit. The deficit is projected to be $1 trillion a year over the next 9 years. Federal debt now totals approximately $12 trillion. State governments are also bankrupt. California, the largest state in the union, has a current deficit of $21 billion. New York faces a $3 billion deficit. Forty-eight of the 50 states are facing massive spending reductions as a consequence of budget deficits. Major cities are also facing shortfalls. Chicago is furloughing city employees in an effort to reduce the city’s deficit.

Unemployment is skyrocketing; currently 10.2% nationwide and at its highest level since 1983, with projections exceeding 11% nationally for the next several years. The real unemployment rate, accounting for the unemployed and underemployed is approximately 17.5%. The price of gold has reached new records, at over $1,100 per ounce, as the US dollar is devalued. The dollar is now 30 cents lower than its value 10 years ago. The Democratically controlled Congress and President Obama continue to spend trillions of taxpayer dollars in the form of economic stimulus money, and banking and auto industry bailouts.

Congress is on the verge of passing legislation to fundamentally restructure the health care system in the United States, an act that will directly effect every American citizen. The proposed legislation will increase the overall cost of health care by over $200 billion dollars; increase the Federal Budget Deficit by almost $300 billion; and cost a gargantuan $2.4 to $3 trillion. Moreover, the proposals will cut Medicare by $500 billion, resulting in rationed medical treatment; increase taxes on insurance premiums, and medical supplies and equipment; raise payroll taxes; reduce the overall quality of health care; impose employer mandates requiring each employer with more than 50 workers to ensure their workers or face tax penalties; impose individual mandates requiring every individual to buy health insurance; and inevitably, as a result of establishing a new government-run insurance program, end the private health insurance industry, forcing tens of millions of citizens to purchase government insurance. In short, by virtue of the impending legislation, the federal government will take over the entire health care system in America. Most egregiously, the proposed legislation fails to forbid the use of federal tax dollars to fund abortions. According to a recent Rasmussen poll Americans oppose this legislation by a 56% to 38% margin.

The social order in the United States is disintegrating. Two of every three marriages end in divorce. More than 38% of all children are born outside of marriage. In the Black community the rate is a staggering 70.7%. The rates among Hispanics and Whites are equally disturbing, at 49% and 26.6%, respectively. The institution of marriage is under attack as state courts are redefining marriage beyond the traditional definition of a union between a man and woman. The culture has become coarse, sated with degenerate values. Sensuality and sex are ubiquitous throughout the major media venues, and the Internet. Gambling and lotteries permeate society. Celebrities are idolized; but the memorial services of those Americans who have sacrificed their lives for the preservation of liberty are rarely publicized.

The public school system in America continues to fail. Among 12th grade students nationwide, only 35% are proficient in reading, and 23% proficient in math. “Proficient” represents solid academic performance. Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter. “Basic,” the level reflecting the great majority of 12th grade students, denotes partial mastery of the knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at a given grade. (Source: U.S. Dept. Education)

Corruption runs rampant among society’s institutions, particularly throughout the government at every level, as most politicians are legally bribed to cast their votes on legislation to serve some singular interest, at the expense of the public good. Hence, the citizens cannot trust elected leaders, as so many demonstrably lack integrity. The US House of Representatives currently has 17 on-going ethics investigations of its members; one congressman was recently sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for corruption. As Jeremiah declared, “Lies and not the truth prevail in the land.”

Recently, Dr. James Dobson, of Focus on the Family, asked a poignant question, to wit: “Where are all of the voices?” He was referring to the voices from the Christian community, particularly from Christian pulpits, the most prominent voices among Christians, in addressing the perilous direction of our nation. I am compelled to echo Dr. Dobson’s question - where are the Christian voices? I hear but a murmur from the thousands of Christian pulpits.

In the context of America’s godly heritage, shall Christian pulpits be a mere whisper as the nation races toward self-destruction? Do Christian pulpits in the most blessed nation on the face of the earth, the nation God has made the home of the Gospel, have no responsibility to raise their voices in opposition to national sin? May it never be! No Christian standing in the pulpit should think otherwise in view of America’s historical, and most importantly, Biblical predicates.

First, it is irrefutably clear, that America was founded upon the Rock of Christ. Of the 56 framers, 29 held the equivalent of seminary degrees. They explicitly articulated the basis of their convictions and actions in and about the Revolution. Lest anyone be uncertain about America’s foundation, he need only examine the following affirmations compiled by our learned brother and historian, David Barton, founder and President of Wallbuilders.

John Adams
Signer of the Declaration; Judge; 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.”

Benjamin Rush
Signer of the Declaration; Surgeon General of the Continental Army; Ratifier of the US Constitution; Father of American Medicine; Treasurer of the US Mint; Father of Public Schools under the Constitution

“I do not believe that the Constitution was the offspring of inspiration, but I am as satisfied that it is as much the work of a Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament.”

“[T]he only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government is the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible. The Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life… [T]he Bible… should be read in our schools in preference to all other books because it contains the greatest portion of that kind of knowledge which is calculated to produce private and public happiness.”

Elias Boudinot
President of Congress; Signed Peace Treaty to end the American Revolution; First Attorney Admitted to US Supreme Court Bar; Framer of the Bill of Rights; Director of the US Mint

“Let us enter on this important business under the idea that we are Christians on whom the eyes of the world are now turned… [L]et us earnestly call and beseech Him, for Christ’s sake, to preside in our councils. . . . We can only depend on the all powerful influence of the Spirit of God, Whose Divine aid and assistance it becomes us as a Christian people most devoutly to implore. Therefore I move that some minister of the Gospel be requested to attend this Congress every morning . . . in order to open the meeting with prayer.”

Charles Carroll
Signer of the Declaration; Delegate to the Constitutional Convention; Framer of the Bill of Rights; US Senator

“Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which, through Jesus Christ Our Lord, He had conferred on my beloved country in her emancipation and on myself in permitting me, under circumstances of mercy, to live to the age of 89 years, and to survive the fiftieth year of independence, adopted by Congress on the 4th of July 1776, which I originally subscribed on the 2d day of August of the same year and of which I am now the last surviving signer”

Patrick Henry
Revolutionary General; Legislator; “The Voice of Liberty;” Ratifier of the US Constitution; Governor of Virginia

“Being a Christian… is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast. The Bible… is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed.”

“Righteousness alone can exalt America as a nation.”

“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.”

Thomas Jefferson
Signer of the Declaration; Diplomat; Governor of Virginia; Secretary of State; Third President of the United States

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

Charles Thomson
Secretary of the Continental Congress; Designer of the Great Seal of the United States; Together with John Hancock, Thomson was one of only two founders to sign the initial draft of the Declaration approved by Congress

“I am a Christian. I believe only in the Scriptures, and in Jesus Christ my Savior.”

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”

“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.”

“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.”

John Dickinson
Signer of the Constitution; Governor of Pennsylvania; Governor of Delaware; General in the American Revolution

"Rendering thanks to my Creator for my existence and station among His works, for my birth in a country enlightened by the Gospel and enjoying freedom, and for all His other kindnesses, to Him I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity."

“[Governments] could not give the rights essential to happiness… We claim them from a higher source: from the King of kings, and Lord of all the earth.”

Samuel Huntington
Signer of the Declaration of Independence; President of Congress; Judge; Governor of Connecticut

"It becomes a people publicly to acknowledge the over-ruling hand of Divine Providence and their dependence upon the Supreme Being as their Creator and Merciful Preserver . . . and with becoming humility and sincere repentance to supplicate the pardon that we may obtain forgiveness through the merits and mediation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

John Witherspoon
Signer of the Declaration; Ratifier of the US Constitution; President of Princeton

“[H]e is the best friend to American liberty who is the most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy to his country.”

Benjamin Franklin
Signer of the Declaration; Diplomat; Printer; Scientist; Signer of the Constitution; Governor of Pennsylvania

“As 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.”

“And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that "except the Lord build they labor in vain that 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 Builders of Babel.”

These men, and their fellow framers, stood, and founded this nation upon, the only firm foundation, the rock of Christ. They understood as it says in Isaiah, “the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our King.” They understood that no foundation can anyone lay, other than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Secondly, as you are most aware, the Lord God establishes governing authorities; and in this great land, that authority is a representative republic; a government, as Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, under God; and of the people, by the people, and for the people. In effect, God has entrusted the government of this nation to the people. Thus, we the people are the government; we are the responsible party; and we, as Christians are commanded by God to exercise proper stewardship over all that He has entrusted to our care. We are to occupy until His return; we are to exercise good citizenship, not only accepting the benefits of liberty, but as Christians assuming its ordained responsibilities. Failure to do so dishonors God, and ignores that this blessed liberty is a gift from above; having come down from the Father of Lights; and dishonoring God, and ignoring the charge of stewardship, is sin.

In view of the foregoing observations, shall Christian pulpits utter a mere whimper about the calamitous course of the nation? My dear brethren; every Christian should be mindful of divine providence at work throughout American history. George Washington was mindful of it; read his Thanksgiving Proclamation should you doubt. Abraham Lincoln was mindful of it; read his Gettysburg Address, and second inaugural address. Former slave, Abolitionist, and most trusted advisor Frederick Douglas, characterized Lincoln’s second inaugural address as a “sacred” effort. Franklin Delano Roosevelt certainly relied upon divine providence, as he steered the nation through war; read his D-Day radio address to the nation, as he led the nation in prayer. John F. Kennedy was also mindful of the preeminence of God in America’s founding; read his inaugural address wherein he stated, “…the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue…the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” Any cursory review of American history reveals God’s intercession in the establishment and preservation of the nation; and any Christian who cannot see this divine grace must be blinded by choice, given that a spiritual man appraises all things. Can we possibly recall such history and fail to speak boldly in opposition to the nation’s present course of impending doom? Shall we watch the nation self-destruct and say nothing?

It must be observed that the framers, who have been rightfully extolled by their posterity for their vision, wisdom, and courage, never sought to aggrandize themselves before or during the American Revolution, but rather sought wisdom, guidance, and support from the prominent Christian preachers of the era, including the Reverend Dr. Jonathan Mayhew; Reverend Dr. Samuel Cooper; Reverend George Whitefield; and Reverend Charles Chauncy; and also from their fellow Christian clergymen of African descent including the Reverend Lemuel Haynes; Reverend Richard Allen; Reverend Absolam Jones; and Reverend John Marrant. I would commend to your study the sermons entitled, “Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers,” and “Civil Magistrates Must Be Just, Ruling in the Fear of God,” by Dr. Mayhew, and Reverend Chauncy, respectively, as they addressed the principal moral issue of the Revolution, namely, whether resistance of the governing authority was affirmed by Christian theology. Not only is it affirmed by a right understanding of Christian theology, but God Himself confirmed their resistance in the miraculous victory of the colonies over the most powerful nation on earth, the British Empire. In the aftermath of an American colonel and his men, really nothing more than a group of farmers, capturing a British fort, John Adams said, “It appears to me the eternal Son of God is operating powerfully against the British nation.” The framers relied upon, acted in concert with, and witnessed the mighty hand of God operating on their behalf, in accordance with their faith in the Son of God. Shall now we, the elect of God, charged with preaching the truth, remain silent in the nation God has established on the basis of His eternal truth?

How can we be silent when Christian preachers preceding and during the Revolution were not silent? How is it they were bold in the face of tyranny and oppression, and we are timid and silent in the face of impending national suicide? Do we have a lesser calling than they? Do Christian pastors have no responsibility to be a moral influence in this nation and upon its government? Shall American leaders no longer be subject to conviction for sin because Christian pastors fail to raise their voices? Can you be silent while Satan and the forces of wickedness dismantle this nation’s godly foundation and rebuild it upon sand? Shall we preach the truth to all except the governing authorities? Shall we admonish all except politicians? Shall the voice of Christ be still in the land?

The Scripture declares where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. We Christians, and all American citizens, enjoy the blessings of liberty by the grace of God. It is this God-given liberty that is the basis of freedom and individual rights. It is the word of God that institutes marriage, and the family order, and recognizes that personhood begins at conception. It is the word of God that proscribes right and wrong conduct. It is the Scripture that states if anyone will not work, neither let him eat; that you will reap what you sow; that each person is to bear his own load; and that there is no partiality with God. These precepts, together with the New Testament story of the laborers in the vineyard, represent the tenets of free-enterprise capitalistic economics. Notwithstanding, today, the President, and Congress, with all due haste, are striving to undermine the social and economic order grounded upon the word of God, and impose humanism (i.e., man-based morality; rejection of supernaturalism), and socialism (I.e., collective, communal, or governmental ownership and control of the principal means of production and distribution of goods and services; no private property) upon the land – in direct contravention to God’s order for life and society. As Pastor Adrian Rogers counseled:

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the industrious out of it. You don't multiply wealth by dividing it. Government cannot give anything to anybody that it doesn't first take from somebody else. Whenever somebody receives something without working for it, somebody else has to work for it without receiving. The worst thing that can happen to a nation is for half of the people to get the idea they don't have to work because somebody else will work for them, and the other half to get the idea that it does no good to work because they don't get to enjoy the fruit of their labor."

Shall Christian pastors be silent until we are no longer one nation under God? As President Reagan warned, “If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

Brethren, do you realize that there are American patriots, and among them many, as General George Washington formerly said, of “the more distinguished character of Christian,” who are sacrificing their lives to preserve God-given liberty? Are we Christians, yet not Americans? Have we not been blessed by God to be born in this land? While courageous patriots raise their armaments, shall we fail to trumpet our voices in opposition to the effort to transform the nation into secularism? May it never be!

I, for one, will not be silent in the land God has so graciously established, blessed, and protected these 233 years. If this nation dies, it will never be said that I did not stand up, speak up, and man up as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Shall Christian pulpits not cogently admonish their congregations as did the Reverend Matthias Burnet in 1803, wherein he stated:

"Ye whose high prerogative it is to . . . invest with office and authority or to withhold them and in whose power it is to save or destroy your country, consider well the important trust . . . which God . . . has put into your hands. To God and posterity you are accountable for them. . . . Let not your children have reason to curse you for giving up those rights and prostrating those institutions which your fathers delivered to you."

Nonetheless, some will argue that God is in control; and if this present course leads to America’s demise, then it was God’s will. Thus, we are justified in remaining silent. To this notion I say, “Preposterous!” In consideration of such a notion, I must ask whether such an assertion is based upon God’s “determined will,” or His “permissive will?” Has Christ told you that this is the beginning of the end for the United States? Can you affirm that it is with a clear conscience? More poignantly, has the time for individual and collective or national repentance expired? Is “seventy times seven” now void? As soon as you persuade me that the time for repentance is exhausted, I too will join the ranks of the silent, as I take no pleasure in confronting this matter, but am under compulsion.

Others will contend that speaking about matters of government and politics will jeopardize their church’s tax exempt status. Are Christians not commanded to render taxes to whomever they are due? Did not Jesus pay the tax? Shall Christian pulpits be bound and gagged by the state? Such an effort can only be attributable to the Devil’s scheme. Still others will fear losing members of their congregation should they articulate a Christian perspective, the only true perspective, on current governmental affairs. To this I respond, are Christian leaders now in the business of limiting discourse out of fear? As you are most aware, the word of God is not limited, but rather profitable for instruction and reproof in all matters of life. Thus, its exposition and application must never be limited by men sent to declare the truth; and after preaching the truth should the entire congregation depart, I dare say, let them depart! For if they depart after hearing the truth it must be that they were only present to have their ears tickled, and for the social and entertainment value offered by church fellowship. Yet, do not fear. God will build His church and your fellowship. In the immediate aftermath of the dastardly attack on September 11, the churches were overflowing, as masses of citizens were filled with pain and fear. Growing fear again pervades society, and people are yearning for plain-spoken truth. If they do not hear it from the Christian pulpit, then where shall they hear it? If you do not preach it, then who will? Rest assured that God will send those who hunger and thirst for truth and righteousness to your pulpit. It is the Holy Spirit who adds to the church; so have faith in God, as He is not unjust to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name.

Finally, some will say that the task of addressing national affairs and explaining important matters effecting the entire country is too great; that we can have no great impact on the people and the governing authorities. But our venerable brother Spurgeon avows:

"We are not to expect to win victories for the Lord Jesus by a single blow. Evil principles and practices die hard. In some places it takes years of labor to drive out even one of the many vices which defile the inhabitants. We must carry on the war with all our might, even when favored with little manifest success. Our business in this world is to conquer it for Jesus. We are not to make compromises but to exterminate evils. We are not to seek popularity but to wage unceasing war with iniquity."

Brethren, we know by Scripture and experience, that God uses instrumentality in the discharge of His purposes. Are pastors not the foremost instruments in the Christian church? Respectfully I ask Pastor, how can you be silent? Will any pastor be content with his silence when he must explain to his children, grandchildren, and future congregants how a once bountifully blessed America, abandoned God, forfeited His grace, and by virtue thereof, sowed the seeds of its destruction?

Regrettably, yet most assuredly, I say that should you remain silent America’s demise is inevitable; and none will be more culpable than we Christians who failed to boldly preach the truth against this evil humanist and socialist cancer spreading across this great land. If Christian pastors will not give an answer to the forces of wickedness, then who will? Are Christian pastors not called the repairer of the breach and the restorer of the streets? I, a nobody, will not permit this nation’s demise to be charged to my account. Will it be charged to yours? Will America’s destruction be charged against the Christian pulpit? I pray not!

In His blessed name ~

Allen Sutton
Executive Director
SheetAnchor.org