America's Greatest Need # 1

America's Greatest Need # 1

"The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory" (Jeremiah 4:2).

The following sermon by Dr. B. R. Lakin entitled "America's Greatest Need" was read into the Congressional Record by the Honorable Congressman William Jennings Bryon of South Carolina on October 3, 1968.

In these days of national strife and international confusion, when the seeds of hatred are being cultivated in the hotbeds of communism and radicalism, let us throw our shoulders, double up our fists, rough with the calluses of honest toil, and stand up for true, fundamental, godly Americanism. The Bible teaches patriotism, and patriotism was the light that burned in the hearts of the faithful in the midnight gloom of the dark ages.

It was the torch that lit the fires of the Reformation. It was the rock which Western civilization survives the onslaught of the Red Scourge, it will be Christian patriotism that will fuel the lamps of truth and provide morale for the fight for freedom. America has many privileges, but it also has great responsibilities. Our freedom was ordained at a great price. Our first responsibility is to God, but we are duty bound to our beloved country.

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." (Romans 13:1).

Sir Walter Scott struck a note of true Christian patriotism when he wrote - Breathes there a man, with soul so dead, who never himself hath said:

This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd
From wandering on a foreign strand?
If such there breathe, go mark him well;
For him no minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim -
Despite those titles, power and pelf,
The wretch, concerted all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonor'd and unsung.

With manmade creeds forgotten, we find common ground in the sublime truth of the "Old Book" and in the spirit of those brave men who crossed the seas in search of a free land in which they could worship their God according to the dictates of their hearts.

We enjoy the benefits of a land founded in faith, baptized in blood and dedicated to the freedom of worship. I would like, by the help of the Spirit, to revive within our hearts some of the great ideals that have made America the "Hub", the very center upon which the world revolves. I would like to stir up our souls with a renewed national zeal and a closer walk with God, without whom no nation can succeed.

1. We Need A Sense of Gratitude

One day in every year we celebrate Thanksgiving, but one day out of 365 is not enough. Americans should thank God every day that we live. Every day we should thank God for the sacrifice of blood, sweat, privation, even death, on the part of multiplied thousands of our heroic dead. Had it not been for their standing between us and the iron hand of fascism and Nazism, we might not be commemorating their sacrifice. Instead, we might be goose-stepping at the heels of storm troopers and taking our orders from them instead of the Bible being read in our homes. Mein Kampf might now be our textbook. Instead of blending our free voices in the singing of "My Country, Tis of Thee," we might be "Heiling" and saluting the swastika. Let us bow our heads in humility and our hearts in reverence and gratitude to a merciful God who has brought us national deliverance.

A. We should be grateful for the righteous birth of our native land. Other nations were born in the blood of plundering conquest, but not America. Our nation was conceived in the noble hearts of courageous, righteous men. She was born in the throes of holy prayer at Plymouth Rock, cradled by the strong hand of salwart faith, nourished at the bosom of living, vital, sincere religion, fed on the wholesome food of the highest ideals and developed to her towering stature under the smiling approval of Almighty God. America stands today a fortress of freedom, loved by all free men, respected by the liberty-loving peoples of the earth, feared by the enemies of God and human liberty. With the shadows of communism deepening upon every continent, America holds high the torch of faith, light and hope for the downtrodden peoples of the world.

~B. R. Lakin~

(continued with # 2)