Annual Sermons: Vol. 12 Sermon 13 Bob Marcaurelle Dan. 9:27-28 Patriotism Sunday AMERICA ON THE ROMAN ROAD

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1 Annual Sermons: Vol. 12 Sermon 13 Bob Marcaurelle Dan. 9:27-28 Patriotism Sunday AMERICA ON THE ROMAN ROAD You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians (Dan. 9:27-28). These were God s words on the wall to the King of Babylon and that night his kingdom fell to the Persians. Is God s handwriting on the wall for America? In Jesus day the Roman Empire was invincible. It tied the world together with roads and at the first sign of trouble, big or small, it dispatched its fighting men and the problem was over. It ruled with an iron fist. But history was against Rome as it is against every nation, including America. The average civilization or nation usually lives for about 200 years. A nation fights to be born. It courageously gains its freedom and becomes strong. It is blessed with abundance. It grows weak and self indulgent. The self indulgence becomes more and more sexual, sensual and savage. It becomes fat, satisfied and evil. It is overcome by some other nation. Because that nation is strong? No! Because that nation being overrun has become weak and wicked to the core. God s holy Word predicts this. It says in Psalm 33:12, Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord... Psalm 9:12, The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God. A house built upon sand will crumble and die and a nation built upon filth will do the same. It s a fact of history and a promise from the Word of God. The only mystery to anyone who believes this and knows the morally rotten heart of America, is why we are still around. Most of us agree with Billy Graham, who said, If God does not destroy America, then He should apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. Once proud and powerful Rome went the way of ruin as it rotted from within and was overrun by Barbarians. And the amazing thing is, the road they took to ruin, is the same road our nation is traveling. Edward Gibbon, the eminent historian, in his classic work, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, gave five reasons Rome rotted and fell:

2 I. THE BREAKDOWN OF THE HOME AND THE RISE OF SEXUAL IMMORALITY. 1. The Home. In Jesus day the Roman home was solid. There were rules and order and the authority of parents because Rome operated that way. But when indulgence came, the home was not enough to satisfy needs. The ancient historian, Seneca, said of Rome, They divorce in order to remarry and they marry in order to divorce. Do you know what this becomes? Legalized adultery. Historian Philip Myers said this all began when affluent Roman mothers and fathers indulged and showered their children with gifts to gratify expensive whims. That next generation, then, became lazy and selfish. Sound familiar? Our kids demand not only high priced clothes but certain kinds of high priced clothes; not only cars to drive to school, but new cars and new cars of a certain model. In Rome and America we see... 1) The Dethronement of Father. During Rome s highest hours the fathers were men marked by valor and justice who felt an obligation to impart these character traits to their children. Today, men may claim to rule the roost, but it s the little woman who rules the rooster. Men have given over the reigns to their wives. The women are the spiritual leaders if the home has spirituality. The women teach and discipline the children while the husbands work, watch television and run away to hide behind some hobby. Ray Stedman says,...the problem is not so much due to the demand of wives to assert leadership as it is the refusal of husbands to assume their responsibilities. 2) The Deliverance of Mother. Jerome Carcopino in his book Daily Life in Ancient Rome said women evaded the duties of maternity for fear of losing their good looks. Some were not content to live their lives by their husband s side. Now I m not going to fight this old battle of whether or not Christian women are supposed to work. But I ll tell you this, as I survey 36 years of pastoring and look at my daughters and granddaughters through the eyes of a father - a wife and mother, out in this dogeat-dog competitive work force, full time, puts a great deal of stress upon herself, upon her relationship with her husband and upon her relationship with her children. I know, to have vacations and to help our children with college, many women

3 have to work. God bless them every one. But I also know far too many wives and mothers work for the wrong reasons - a high standard of luxury and/or a desire to avoid the toughest job in the world - parenting. Ann Landers says a mother is a nurse, chaplain, teacher, referee, punching bag, etc., and it s easier to wriggle into a girdle and beat it out of the house every morning...and their kids show it. The Moral Breakdown. Gibbon associated this with the home, as he should, for this is where sexual ethics are seen and taught. When archeologists uncovered Roman homes, there on the walls were depicted every sexual scene imaginable. Is this not what our children s eyes see on the internet at the local library or in their home if you have a computer or HBO? And what if you don t have HBO? One of our denominational leaders listed what we and they can see on regular television. Roseanne, in one episode dealt with her homosexual partner s crush on the delivery man, her daughter s sexual exploits, and her 12 year old son s disappearance. To her horror he had been going to church. NYPD Blue has full nudity from the back. On Sisters Norma decides to have a child with her lesbian lover. In Friends the characters discussed the weirdest places they had had sex. Frazier bragged about how his dad gave him a prostitute for his 16 th birthday. I ask you this, how can any young person stay sexually pure in this kind of tempting, enticing climate, where sex oozes from the pores of our culture? The result on the home is devastating. Love, commitment and sex only within the God given bonds of marriage - things that cement the home together - are forgotten and the family falls apart. And as the homes go, so goes the church and the nation, for homes provide the human resources for both. Cicero, an ancient historian, put it, The seat of the Empire is at the fireside. II. INCREASED TAXATION The Roman government which was so strong and stable slowly turned into a greedy monster than gobbled up the incomes of its people. As dishonest, immoral, weak children went from their homes to places of political responsibility they proved to be dishonest, immoral, weak leaders. The limitless source of

4 wealth, that of the people, fed their greed and thus more and more money was called for. I ll only say two things about this. First - Add up all your taxes and it comes to sixty percent of your income, used not for schools or enough prisons to keep dangerous men behind bars but to feed the political machine that keeps wanting and taking more money. Second - If ten percent is enough for Jesus, it ought to be enough for Uncle Sam. III. PREOCCUPATION WITH PLEASURE Gibbon said there was a mad desire for excitement leading to all sorts of moral extravagances. In the arena, the chariot races and in the gladiatorial contests they glorified violence and spelled their doom. Sports are a mixed blessing. I am one of millions who find rest, joy, and recreation at good athletic events. But athletics can be a tool for Satan. Being big business they lead to gambling and graft. I have seen more public drunks at football games than on skid row. And pleasure can become a substitute god until Sunday is less and less God s and more and more man s. IV. THE BUILDUP OF NATIONAL ARMAMENTS WITH BLIND INDIFFERENCE TO MORAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS. I remember during the Vietnam war a statement that it was costing us a billion dollars a day. I, and many of the boys who fought there, still don t know why we were there. Had I been their age, I no doubt would have gone, if called. But if today, I were blind or crippled or without a good friend because of it, I would wonder why I went and what good it did at so great a cost of young lives. While fighting over there we were blind or indifferent to problems here. What could we have done with a billion dollars a day to help fight poverty; to increase the prison system; to give relief to our courts where innocent people plead guilty to get out of jail awaiting trial; to better education and to improve race relations. More important, what do we care now? What are we doing now? Very little. V. THE DECLINE IN RELIGION AND GIFTS TO CHARITY. Gibbon s final reason was the decline of religion and the lack of support for character-building institutions. Selfishness and self-

5 centeredness ruled and men fed themselves on the things of this world. They forgot their gods and worshipped their possessions. They turned pagan. 1. The Church s Failure. Here I will speak only to the Christian church and the first thing we must admit is our failure. Christianity is declining in our land - fewer and fewer people go to church. But in the churches true Christianity is declining. Our churches are too often filled with empty people. There is little relation between church attendance and character. Every survey taken during my 36 years as a Pastor reveal that church attenders are no better morally and ethically than non-attenders. They are just as likely to cheat or steal at school or on the job; to have affairs, sex before marriage and abortions. A new nationwide organization called Swingers, primarily age 35 up to death, has conventions and regional group meetings. They get drunk and party and husband and wife swap. A study revealed that fifty percent of their members come from mainline Christian churches. One husband and wife, who talked about the joys of sex with other partners told their kids what they were doing and the kids said it was Cool! When asked if they cared for what people thought, they used a Bible quote, Judge not that you be not judged! The church, said Jesus, is the salt of the earth. That is we, like salt on meat, can prevent decay. The problem is the salt is also rotten. In 1840 a world historian came to America to see her secret. He looked for a long time and wrote, I sought for the greatness and the strength of America in her commodious harbors and ample rivers, but I didn t find it there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, but I didn t find it there. Not until I went into the churches and found the pulpits aflame with righteousness, then I discovered the source of strength in America. 2. The Church s Hope. We sing God Bless America! There is no reason in her to be blessed. She has more bars than churches, more bartenders than preachers; more abortions than any nation; more pornography than positive entertainment. The only reason God will bless America will be if God s people repent, put off our wickedness and pray! The old promise still stands in 1 Chronicles 7:14,...if my people (the church), who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and

6 seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Let s do it. Amen!