Dr. Mike Murphy
June 11, 2023
The words he wrote must have troubled him. He saw a nation that was turning to lawlessness, a nation of people only concerned with their own selfish interest. Since the War of Independence, the nation found itself in a moral decline. The roaring waves of the First Great Awakening had now turned to nothing more than ripples. He watched as our churches were becoming empty. Church membership in this nation had fallen to just five to ten percent, and many of our churches were facing the horror of having to permanently close their doors. The Methodist were losing members far faster than they were gaining them. The Baptist referred to this time as their “wintry season”. The Lutherans were looking to merge with the Episcopalians just so both could survive. It was so bad in New York, that the Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church simply quit functioning. It had been so long since he had confirmed anyone that he decided his job was no longer needed.
As he saw the Church falling apart, he watched as the nation was following suit. Out of the nearly five million citizens that made up this country, three hundred thousand were drunkards. Sexual immorality was soaring, as illegitimate births and sexual diseases were becoming epidemic. Crime had become an all to common occurrence. Bank robberies were being seen every day, and people began to not trust the security any of the banks offered. For the first time in our history, women were now afraid to go out at night. Dueling had become the national pastime, and it was said that this country had become stained in blood.
Even his friend, the President doubted our future. A fellow friend had written to President Washington, warning of what he saw. "Our affairs seem to lead to some crisis, some revolution; something that I can not foresee or conjecture. I am more uneasy than during the war." Washington’s reply was just as troubling, "Your sentiment... accords with mine. What will be is beyond my foresight." All of this had so troubled John Marshall, the future Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, that he found himself writing of it to his friend James Madison. The words that came from his pen brought tears to his eyes. “The church is too far gone ever to be redeemed.”
So what had caused the Church to fall so fast? Most historians list a series of issues that brought the Church to this low point. First, was the war. Many do not realize, but the war had divided the nation. Only one-third had supported independence, while another third had sided with England, leaving a final third that sat on the sidelines uncaring. Of the third that supported independence, many if not most had come from the churches of this country. Ministers had often been the voice that led the cause. After the war, many churches found themselves without pastors, as these men had bravely gave their life for our freedom. The unity of many local churches had been lost during the war. And as the men that had fought came home, many discovered a lull in returning to everyday life. Timothy Dwight, who would become a leading theologian of his day, spoke these words of the day. “Seven years of war had unhinged the principles, morality, and the religion of the country more than could have been done by a peace of forty years.”
Second, was the emergence of Rationalist Deism. They saw and taught God as distant, uninvolved in the world around us. It also stripped the moral code as given from God, and placed it in the minds of men. Authors, like Thomas Payne, attacked the very principles of the Bible. He wrote, “It would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the word of God.” Most had never even heard the Scripture questioned, and had no clue how to reply now that it was happening.
Third was an acceptance of French secularism. During the war, America had closely aligned itself with France. As the war ended, many of the teachings and writings of Voltaire and Rousseau became popular within our society. These atheist teachings became an accepted part of university teachings. An acceptance of immorality soon became commonplace in our culture. Socio-political gatherings known as ”infidel clubs”, began to arise in many major cities. The stated purpose of these clubs were to destroy Christianity, and to revolutionize government around atheist principles. An atmosphere developed that attacked the very core of the home and the family.
Last, but far from least, was a rise in Unitarianism. Unitarians took a universalist approach to faith, denying the deity of Christ and pushing toward humanism. As Unitarians gained such a stronghold in one of our major denomination of the day, that the denomination not only split, but soon became extinct. This belief also gained a strength in many of our universities. Schools of the day that not only educated our leaders, but developed our theological ministers. A poll taken in this day at Harvard found not one believer in the whole student body. The same poll was taken at Princeton, a theological college at the time, and found only two believers. At Williams College a mock communion was held. At Dartmouth, anti-Christian plays became commonplace. Bibles were taken by college students from churches in New Jersey, and thrown into a bonfire. Christians became so scarce on campuses that they were forced to meet in secret, keep their minutes in code so no one would know what they were doing.
So what brought America back from the depths of this immorality? Two simple words, prayer and revival! Revival in our churches, and the prayers of believers saved this country. A small spark that started in the 1790’s became a raging fire that consumed the 1800’s. A fire we all know as the Second Great Awakening! God’s Word was again preached, heard from our pulpits and from the voices of our leaders. Words that spoke a truth to the hearts and the minds of the people of this country. Words that blew the Spirit across this nation, filling once again our congregations and dotting our once church less cities with steeples. Hundreds of thousands found themselves on their knees, with their arms raised again to the Lord. A hunger for flesh was replaced with a hunger for the Lord and a passion for His Word. America had again found the Lord, and they soon realized the Lord had not forgot them. America flourished like it never could have imagined.
Once again, we find our nation in similar conditions to those described by John Marshall and many of our Founding Fathers after the War of Independence. We find ourselves a nation divided by an internal war. We watch daily as our nation attempts to redefine God. We watch as secular principles are thrown to the forefront, and the lawlessness that comes with these decisions. And we watch as many in the Church are willing to compromise their faith in favor of society’s acceptance. We watch as America heads in a direction that will result in destruction, a direction our forefathers once feared this country was mired in.
So how does America avoid the cliff we are running toward? How do we repeat the wisdom of our forefathers, and pull ourselves out of the depths we now find ourselves trapped in? There is but one way to accomplish this goal, to miraculously bring America back from the abyss we find ourselves heading toward. We must take a position of strength, the strongest of positions we can find ourselves in. We must again find ourselves on our knees! We must not only humble ourselves and admit our flaws, but turn to the mercy of the only One who can correct these flaws!
As we bend our legs and find our way to the ground, we must also realize whose knees must first touch that ground. It must be the Church. We cannot expect people to find their way to their knees, who do not know the purpose of being on their knees(2 Chronicles 7:14). And we cannot expect people to turn toward God, unless the Church first knows the direction in which the Lord stands. It was once said, “To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” These words must ring in each of our sanctuaries, The Church must again find its’ voice, find the One who gives words to that voice, and awaken this nation. Awaken this nation from the sleeping coma we find ourselves in.
But in order for the Church to awaken this nation, it means that the Church must first find itself awake. As I look around this nation today, I hear the snores and the yawns that are coming from our churches. I see the stillness of their slumber. I see a Church that is fast asleep. A sleep that has made the Church oblivious to the dangers that surround us. A sleep that has filled the Church’s head with dreams of the world accepting us, of a worldly belief that might include us. A sleep we must quickly awakened from, but a sleep where lullabies are being sung from many in our pulpits.
Recently, the Barna Group showed the results of a two year poll they had concluded of theologically conservative pastors. This poll looked at where they stood on the moral issues that the country faces today. When asked if the Bible spoke to the moral issues of our country and the world today, ninety percent of the pastors answered “yes”. But when asked if they addressed these issues, spoke of them from the pulpit and taught of them in their churches, less than ten percent said they did. When asked what these pastors were doing to make their congregations aware of what the Bible said of these issues, the resounding answer was “nothing”. Our pastors told Barna that they know what the Bible says about the issues that we face today, but have chose to ignore what the Lord has to say about them. Remember, these were evangelical pastors, the ones we would expect to hear the truth of these issues from. If we included our more liberal pastors, these numbers would be beyond staggering! The vast majority of pastors in this country today are deliberately deciding to not teach all that the Bible tells us!
So with this in mind, Barna went on to ask what they did see as the purpose of their church. They asked how these pastors defined a successful church. Five answers were overwhelmingly given, five answers that pastors today define as success in a church.
-Attendance
-Tithing
-Number of church programs
-Number of staff
-Size of their facilities
Success is being seen in our churches not by the lives we touch, but by the size and beauty of our buildings! Not by the numbers that are brought to the Cross, but by the numbers we have on our staffs! Not by the souls that we help the Spirit to reach, but by how full our collection plates are each Sunday morning! We see success spoken in terms that are material, not described by words that are spiritual.
For this nation to be awakened, we must first awaken this Church. We must bring many of our pastors out of the dormant hibernation they now find themselves in. We must realize that our pulpits are not leading us into this slumber out of blind ignorance, but out of willful disobedience. We must awaken our pastors to the fact that not one of their answers for success did Christ die for. Not one of these answers did Paul describe as “success” in his ministry(2 Corinthians 11). Not a single one of these answers has ever directed a soul to the Cross. And not one of the answers will ring the alarm bell that will awaken this Church and this nation.
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”, Psalm 50:15. The words of the psalmist need to now stir us, to drive us into action. Words that must now ring through our sanctuaries, and awaken our pulpits. Words that stirred our forefathers, and brought a past generation to its’ knees. Men with the names of Finney, Asbury, Dwight, Beecher, Campbell, and others. Men who not only fell to their knees, but whose words led the Spirit to cause other legs to fully bend. Men who led a generation to not only return to the Lord, but to honor the Lord. Men who led their generation and this nation to be used by the Lord in mighty ways. A generation that not only sought to honor God, but brought His hope back into the heart of this nation.
This same hope is today waiting for us, calling us back to the Lord. A hope that yearns to fill our hearts, a hope that seeks to once again use this nation to glorify our Lord. A hope filled with unlimited promise, a hope that knows no end to the opportunities it can bring. A hope that waits anxiously for us to awaken.
I want to tell you a little story of a man that most of you will remember from history, Thomas Edison. Many of you know Thomas Edison as one of the greatest inventors the world has ever known. Many of the devices we use today came at the hands of Thomas Edison. In December of 1914, a sixty-seven year old Edison had been working at his lab and warehouse on a storage battery. Despite his efforts, he could not get it to hold its’ charge. This particular evening spontaneous combustion had broken out in the film room. Within minutes all the packing compounds, celluloid for records and film, and other flammable goods were in flames. Fire companies from eight surrounding towns arrived, but the heat was so intense and the water pressure so low that the attempt to douse the flames was futile. Everything was destroyed. Although the damage exceeded two million dollars, the buildings were only insured for $238,000 because they were made of concrete and thought by experts to be fireproof. With everything gone, you would have to wonder how Edison would go on! But go on he did! The next morning, Edison looked at the ruins surrounding him and said, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.” Three week after the fire, Edison delivered what was maybe his greatest invention. Edison delivered the first phonograph!
Out of the fire, God created an opportunity for Edison to create a contraption that would change the world. A device that would be used to help God spread His plan of perfection to the world! A device that would allow many to hear God’s Word! Out of the worst disaster, God created the greatest of opportunity. Where most would see no hope, God saw endless potential. Where we see destruction, God sees the occasion to show His plan of perfection. When we think we are hopeless, the Lord sees the greatest of expectations! Expectations that lead us to bring honor to His Name!
That same hope is waiting for us today. The hope that drove Edison. The hope that lead a new nation mired in disaster to rise up, and to help the Lord spread His Word throughout this world. The hope that stands at the door of our churches today, knocking loudly. A hope that is without limits, that exceeds all expectations. A hope that only needs us to be awakened!Praying each of your lives will be awakened to His hope!
