the land. One historian says that George Washing ton's letters written during those years were dark with pessimism. To a friend he wrote that he saw only the “ dark night of anarchy” ahead. How could liberty live in such an atmosphere? It could not, had not God intervened, and had not genuine Christian citizenship rallied to the challenge. Intimate history of the times tells of significant divine interposition in the little nation's life. In the midst of the quarreling Constitutional Congress that seemed about to disband and thereby fail to form the Union, Benjamin Franklin with masterful states manship called the Assembly to prayer, saying: "How has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Fa ther of Lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard; and they were graciously answered. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time; and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth that God gov erns in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” He concluded presenting a motion: “ That hence forth prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on the deliberations be held in this As sembly every morning before we proceed to busi ness.” In a short time the Constitution, which William Pitt, England’s Prime Minister, said would be “ the wonder and admiration of all future generations, and the model of all future constitutions," was complet ed. God was working, and so were many of the clergy. French revolutionary infidelity had perverted thou sands of the people, but in the main the clergy re mained biblically true. For years the colonial church had been in a state of pitiful apathy, but a great ‘ proportion of the ministry would not capitulate to the vicious vaporings of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Robespierre, nor to those of Tom Paine, who while patriotic, was also agnostic. The clergy were largely theistic and evangelical. They believed the Book that says, “ Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” They had been trained in the Christian philosophy of history, believing in sin, repentance, salvation and eternal judgment, knowing that if the people did not repent and turn to God, there was little hope for the continuance of the infant Republic; without God’s intervention, it would be throttled in its cradle. Harvard and Yale in that day were still training places in biblical faith for the clergy. German ration alism and Russian Marxism had not turned them into places where subversives could be incubated. They knew nothing of a “ dead God” or of “ permissive ethics,” nor were they bitten by the socialistic bug. The record says that twenty-three New England JULY/AUGUST, 1970
preachers sent out a manifesto to the religious lead ers of the thirteen colonies, calling the nation to prayer and revival. This is the need of Christian c iti zenship in this tragic hour. Ministers of the Gospel started preaching with greater zeal, their messages being characterized by increased sincerity and spiritual fervor. Churches that had been like morgues for decades once more be came centers of life and activity. The forces and pow er were generated in the churches in that day; in ours, very little dependence is placed in theologically sound Christian citizenry. The halls of vacillating congress and the radical philosophies of the univer sity are continually sought for salvation. These godly clergymen, together with a concerned Christian citizenry that was percentage-wise as much of a minority as we are today, prayed, preached and witnessed till a genuine revival swept the nation. The awakening turned the tide of national life, banished unbelief, elevated moral standards, stabilized the' economic structure, vitalized patriotic sentiment, saved a multitude of souls, and created a religious momentum that made possible great revivals in the land in practically every generation until World War II. Basically, today’s problems are religious ones. The redemptive Gospel, believed at least intellectually in that day, has departed. Much of our education is telling us that man is supreme in the universe, self- sufficient and perfectly able by scientific education, and whole sections of the church accept the premise. But history reveals that man, left to himself, sinks lower and lower; he possesses no inherent power to regenerate himself. He must seek the operation of a Higher Power. Moral reform without spiritual re generation is at its best only partial and temporary. History shows clearly that REBIRTH by the power of God is necessary. That rebirth must not only be faith fully preached by the pulpit but also sacrificially prac ticed by the Christian citizenry. When at the beginning of this nation’s existence we were threatened by the atheistic pollution of the French Revolution, dedicated patriotic Christians and their churches saved the day. In this day when the blight of Marxism foments almost every destructive attack upon us and there is no cure except the inter vention of the redeeming Christ. Sin and unrighteous ness, moral indifference and political chicanery have laid their blighting hands upon us. It’s time that we repented, and cried, “ Master, carest thou not that we perish?" Perish we will, unless this proud, possessive, materialistically-affluent, but morally and spiritually impoverished nation, turns to God in deep repentance. The issue is as simple as that in this crucial hour: AMERICA CHOOSES— REBIRTH OR OBLIVION! Con tinuance of our God-called, God-blessed Republic rests in the Christian integrity, the courageous pa triotism and the constant activism against all cor ruption of her genuinely regenerated, truly changed people. ■ 9
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