In recent postings I have highlighted the status of the United States of America relative to the social and political turmoil she has experienced over the last several decades.  Historians tell us that it has not always been this way in the nation the Almighty (Lord) brought into being to serve as his end-time light to the dark Gentile world.  Of late His light has gone out, leaving the nation in the same darkness as the world she was created to enlighten.  America’s darkness can be measured by her moral stature.  By even the most liberal standard, the once-blessed nation called “America the Beautiful” now clings to lower rung the moral ladder.  She has become as ugly as she once was beautiful.  What happened?  How did she arrive at this point?  How did she descend from God’s moral “penthouse” to Satan’s moral “outhouse” in less than 250 years?

As is the case individually, a nation’s morality affects every aspect of her existence.  Initially, the “Great Experiment” that came to be America was a haven for those seeking freedom to worship the Biblical God according to His dictates, not according to the way prescribed by a government or a cadre of Bible scholars.  A “scholar” is one who has the answer, not necessarily the right answer, but the answer.

From the earliest days America’s morality was rooted in the Holy Scriptures.  Her morality was taught, practiced and enforced according to the people’s understanding of the Truths presented in “the Book.”  For example, there was a period early on when some colonies outlawed the observance of Christmas because the people knew that it was a heathen holiday and an abomination to the Lord as He plainly states in Jeremiah 10:1-5 where He refers to the adulterous custom as a vain abomination practiced by heathen.  Initially, those arriving in the new world practiced their Bible-based religion with a fervor not seen since the early days of the New Testament Church.  Their rules of behavior were enforced much like what the Apostle Paul prescribed for sinners in the early church.  For example, in Galatians 1:8,9 he declared that anyone in the church who refused to obey God was “accursed,” meaning cursed by God.  In the Corinthian church there was a man who was committing adultery.  Paul proclaimed that if he did not repent and return to the Lord the church must throw him out.  And not only that, Paul would turn him over to Satan who would kill him (1 Cor. 5:1-8).  Paul verbally chastised the people for allowing the sin to go on as long as they did.  Reading the writings of the other apostles reveals that spiritual discipline was a major emphasis within the early church.  John was especially harsh in his condemnation of sin among professing believers.  One needs to read the third chapter of his first epistle to see how passionate the apostle was relative to God’s rule over those who called themselves by His name.  Peter was equally condemning of sin when he noted that judgment was on-going in the church, that only the righteous would be saved, and they just barely (1 Pet. 4:17,18).  This was the mind-set that existed in the early American church, as well as in God’s church today.  Which explains why His church is today rejected by the religious establishment, declared “accursed” and characterized as “anathema” (separated from God).  What happened?  How did “One Nation Under God,” the God in Whom the people “Trust,” arrive at where she is today?  Did morality stop being an important part of American life?  No.  However, it did change forms.

In recent years the American morality of the past has evolved 180 degrees  As a queer priest noted: “God has changed.”  And the church has gone along with His apparent moral evolution.  The old Bible-based morality has been replaced by a new and improved, entirely different morality that is anti-Bible, anti-God and anti-Christ (read Luke 10:17).  However, it is enforced with the same zeal as was America’s original moral codes.

The New Moralists insist on strict compliance relative to such things as sexual identification and involvement, gender identification and role playing, racism, multiculturalism and many other aspects of American life.  Ironically, though it is totally anti-God and anti-Bible, the new American morality is enforced with the same religious zeal as the earlier version.  Not only do the New Moralists judge with extreme harshness those who do not go along with their moral dictates, they judge God in the same way and for the same reason.  He, along with His followers, have been weighed in their moral balance and have been found wanting.  However, as Scripture proclaims, HE WILL PREVAIL (Rom. 3:4).

Of late there has occurred in the United States a “New Moral Awakening” which is far different from her previous “Great Awakenings.”  Read the series that describes these awakenings.  Use “Awakenings” as your focal word.  Do not use quotation marks when writing in the SEARCH THE WEBSITE space.  In colonial times, those who had fled from religious persecution in Europe drew many of their laws directly from the Bible, specifically the Old Testament.  Many of their covenants mirrored the 1620 Mayflower Compact which stated that they were establishing new colonies in the New World “for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.”  Many of those colonies cited Biblical chapter and verse when drawing up their charters which established the law of the land.  Later, many state charters contain Biblical language and references to the Lord Himself.

When colonial settlers encountered periods of difficulty and trial, civil leaders responded by strictly enforcing the law of the land while calling the people to days of prayer, fasting and worship.  During such times the punishment for unlawful behavior tended to be applied much more harshly because the people knew that there was a positive correlation between sin against God and punishment from God–the more sin, the more punishment.  Modern church people, along with the population that follows their lead, reject this Biblical Truth.  In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic one does not hear from either the religious community or the government calls for national days of prayer, fasting and worship of the Biblical God.  Instead we are told that the solution to the problem is more medicine and faster ways to deliver it.  Man, we are assured, will solve the problem.  Yes, he will, only to have the Lord pour out yet another version of His wrath on sinning America because she fails to “Repent and believe the gospel” (Jesus of Nazareth–Mk. 1:15).  L.J.