D-Day was JUNE 6, 1944.
Over 160,000 troops from America,
Britain, Canada, free France, Poland, and other nations landed along
a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast of France. It was the largest
amphibious invasion force in world history, supported by 5,000 ships.
Now that is not 5000 ships scattered across the world, but 5000 ships headed to one 50 mile stretch of coastline. Add to that 195,700 navy personnel and 13,000 aircraft.
I can not seem to get my imagination to go there. I try to visualize 5000 ships and 13 thousand aircraft and all those men in one place at one time bringing the forces of the world into one massive conflict. One must wonder if it would not have brought into question the future of humanity and the world. On
that day, the sea along the heavily fortified beaches ran red with
the blood of almost 9,000 killed or wounded.
On that day the President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt in speaking to the American people asked the nation to join with him in prayer, he began:
I
ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty
God, Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty
endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our
civilization...
Give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard.
For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces... We know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph...
Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom..."
"Help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice...
I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
Give us strength...and, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee... With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy...
And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen."
Give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard.
For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces... We know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph...
Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom..."
"Help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice...
I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
Give us strength...and, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee... With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy...
And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen."
Today
we face an old enemy, but he is on different fronts, he is not as yet
fortified in the natural as he was then, but deadly just the same.
Then we fought to preserve our Republic, our Religion, our
civilization, but today our enemy is not as visible, yet he threatens
the same. Today he lets us talk of freedom while he secretly binds
our hands.
Then
we were told to ask for strength, today we are told we are strong
already. Then we were told to ask for stoutness of heart, today were
told to take pride in ourselves. Then we were told to ask for
steadfastness of faith, today we are told the expression of our faith
is to be kept to ourselves. Then we cried out to Almighty God, "help
us", today we cry out how great we are and how we can anything we set
our minds too. Then we prayed give us faith in thee, today we are
told there are many faiths of which we are to pray. Then we were
asked by the leader of our nation's government to join with him in
prayer, today that government tells us not to pray.
March
30th,
1863, President Abraham Lincoln told us, “Intoxicated with unbroken
success, we have become too self sufficient to feel the necessity of
redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that
made us! It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended
Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and
forgiveness.”
Three
months later, in conversation Lincoln was asked if he thought the
country would survive. President Lincoln replied: “I do not doubt
that our country will finally come through safe and undivided. But
do not misunderstand me . . . . I do not rely on the patriotism of
our people . . . the bravery and devotion of the boys in blue . . .
(or) the loyalty and skill of our generals . . . . But the God of our
fathers, who raised up this country to be the refuge and asylum of
the oppressed and downtrodden of all nations, will not let it perish
now. I may not live to see it . . . I do not expect to see it, but
God will bring us through safe.”
It
seems again today we are intoxicated in our own self sufficiency and
feel no need of God's redeeming and preserving Grace. Again our
pride brings us to a place where it is to below us to pray. The hope
of our nation and the victory over our enemy still lies in God's
Grace and His Grace alone. Will He bring us to repentance and call
us back to Himself? I cannot say at this time with the surety of
President Lincoln that he will do so because
it has been said of old, Rom 1:21 . . . that, when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain
in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom
1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom
1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the
lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between
themselves:
Rom
1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.
Amen.
Rom
1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even
their women did change the natural use into that which is against
nature:
Rom
1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the
woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working
that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence
of their error which was meet.
Rom
1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are
not convenient;
Rom
1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom
1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters,
inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom
1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural
affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom
1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such
things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure
in them that do them.
I do not doubt God's promise of II Chronicles 7:14, nor do I doubt the surety and truth of Romans 1. God has always had a people, His Church will remain and be preserved and kept, but as nations have turned away from Him he has always let them go and given them over to themselves.
I do not doubt God's promise of II Chronicles 7:14, nor do I doubt the surety and truth of Romans 1. God has always had a people, His Church will remain and be preserved and kept, but as nations have turned away from Him he has always let them go and given them over to themselves.
It
behooves us then, again, to humble ourselves before the offended
Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and
forgiveness. It is of necessity as we do so, that our lives are surrendered to His purpose and we are fully committed to serve Him in the mist of a crooked and perverse nation. Our purpose must be to glorify Him in all things, in all manner of life and conversation.
Another aspect of our lives must be to our children and grand children. It is also a necessity that we pray for them, and as we pray we must teach them the truth of scripture and they must see that truth being lived out in our lives. We must live faithful before them for they will have the task of building their lives in a nation gone astray.
They will not have the benefits of the social and cultural restraints that we were afforded. They will not know the freedoms we have experienced because a sinful and debauch people cannot govern themselves rightly. They must know that the faith will cost them much more dearly than it cost us if they embrace it in their lives. They must be prepared to sacrifice the things of this world for a walk of faith. They will be persecuted for their faith in ways most of us in this nation have never known.
In the mist of this they must know to love those that persecute them and do good, they must know their responsibility to give the Gospel at every opportunity. Their lives will be different from ours as we have grown up in an environment favorable to Christianity, where it was socially beneficial and politically proper to confess the Christian faith. Their lives will be lived in a much different environment.
To some this may sound scary, but we must set our face for one purpose, will we serve God or no? Scared we should not be, concerned yes. Concerned to the point we make the commitments and preparations for life in a different America if our nation is not turned to repentance. We must know that as our children face these things that their lives can be filled with great joy, their families also can know a much deeper joy and love than perhaps we have known because of the great supply of God's Grace in times such as these for His people. They may not experience the material pleasures we have been afforded, but they will experience so much more of His preserving Grace upon their lives. It is a glorious thing to live in such Grace and experience such a walk with God. Our America past has provided so much for us to be amazed at that it has been easy for us to slip into our own dependence and miss out on the wonderful dependence upon God's Grace to make us what we are for His Glory.
They will not have the benefits of the social and cultural restraints that we were afforded. They will not know the freedoms we have experienced because a sinful and debauch people cannot govern themselves rightly. They must know that the faith will cost them much more dearly than it cost us if they embrace it in their lives. They must be prepared to sacrifice the things of this world for a walk of faith. They will be persecuted for their faith in ways most of us in this nation have never known.
In the mist of this they must know to love those that persecute them and do good, they must know their responsibility to give the Gospel at every opportunity. Their lives will be different from ours as we have grown up in an environment favorable to Christianity, where it was socially beneficial and politically proper to confess the Christian faith. Their lives will be lived in a much different environment.
To some this may sound scary, but we must set our face for one purpose, will we serve God or no? Scared we should not be, concerned yes. Concerned to the point we make the commitments and preparations for life in a different America if our nation is not turned to repentance. We must know that as our children face these things that their lives can be filled with great joy, their families also can know a much deeper joy and love than perhaps we have known because of the great supply of God's Grace in times such as these for His people. They may not experience the material pleasures we have been afforded, but they will experience so much more of His preserving Grace upon their lives. It is a glorious thing to live in such Grace and experience such a walk with God. Our America past has provided so much for us to be amazed at that it has been easy for us to slip into our own dependence and miss out on the wonderful dependence upon God's Grace to make us what we are for His Glory.
May the Grace of God be upon each of you,
David
