Like a pack of hungry wolves, enemies within our borders are attacking America, bent on destroying the nation we love. Their assault is fierce and determined. Aghast, we behold their hatred and their violence. We can hardly believe that we hear aright when they talk of “guerrilla” operations and forcible destruction.

What has happened to our fair land, with its bounty and freedom for all its people? Why have these enemies arisen? We can take a lesson from the history of Israel. Long ago the Lord foretold that when the Jewish nation attained to notable wealth, it would turn away from Him. "But Jeshurun [Israel] waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation" (Deuteronomy 32:15).

The root cause of America's present plight lies in the spiritual realm. As a nation we have turned away from a vital relationship with God and have become enamored by material things. We feel no need of Him because we are well supplied for every aspect of our earthly existence. We have turned to false gods. We worship the idol of material success, the idol of pleasure, the idol of science, and the great idol of man as sufficient in himself to solve ultimately all problems.

This idolatry has led us to ignore God, to neglect His Word, to flaunt His commands, and to forget altogether His warning of judgment to come. The rising crime rate, along with the great number of crimes never reported, is evidence that many in this country have lost the fear of God. But so also is the shocking permissiveness in morals found in all levels of our society.

God also has observed the radical departure of most of our major denominations from the historic Christian faith. Their preachers no longer testify that man is corrupt and that faith in Jesus Christ as personal Savior is the only way to life everlasting. They are emphasizing social betterment, a gospel of secularism, a false gospel. In thousands of our pulpits every Sunday, false prophets — products of our liberal seminaries — are deceiving their congregations with the false gospel of social improvement.

God knows, too, how many of our institutions of higher learning, often founded by godly men, have turned into purveyors of false philosophies. They deride the Bible as the verbally inspired Word of God; they reject the God of the Bible and the Savior He has provided. Year after year, such institutions send forth their graduates as the future leaders of America. Moreover, our entire system of public education has become secularized.

God sees that when in mercy He afflicts America in order to turn men back to Himself, they fail to give heed and repent. In recent years He has been speaking to America very strongly. We are involved in a war from which we find the utmost difficulty in extricating ourselves. The powers of darkness that have an interest in this war can be overthrown only by the power of God exercised in answer to prayer. But America has not humbled itself to seek from God the peace He can give. Meanwhile, the country faces internal foes as powerful as any we have ever known: foes that only a repentant nation can overcome.

The Bible tells us that when the Jewish nation forsook God, its troubles mounted. As we read the Old Testament prophets, we seem to hear them speaking to sinful, pleasure-loving America as well as to Israel. "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass, his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that deal corruptly! They have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged and gone backward. Why will ye be still stricken, that ye revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint" (Isaiah 1:2-5)

Without a genuine repentance and supplication to God we can expect the American crisis to intensify. In the midst of this crisis are millions of born-again Christians, and thousands of Bible-believing churches. Thank God! But let us ask ourselves: Are we in any measure at all responsible for America's spiritual plight? Do we the people of God also need to repent before Him?

Have we not also been seduced by the siren of material prosperity? Enjoying our comfortable lives, we make our religion conform to them. Now, we should cry to God on behalf of our country; our prayer meetings are poorly attended and are often purely local in their petitions. In our homes we need to establish the authority of the Lord and His Word. We need homes with family altars and praying fathers and mothers. Only prayer can safeguard our children from the floods of evil which seek to engulf the youth of America.

We ourselves need to be Spirit-filled Christians. Daily we should manifest to those who are neglecting God that He lives, that He gives new life to all who trust in Christ. We must be faithful to seize every opportunity for personal witness.

Along with the consistent demonstration of a sanctified life, we have the weighty responsibility of praying for America. What Paul wrote to Timothy grows steadily in importance in these days. "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (l Tim. 2:1-4).

Let us pray that God will bring upon all strata of our society a mighty conviction of sin so that great numbers of men and women and young people will turn to the Savior in faith. The deadly forces of darkness seek to destroy as far and as fast as they can — unless our earnest supplications hold them in check. Christ is the Victor over them all. Are we willing to place ourselves at His disposal so that He can work freely through us on behalf of our beloved country? How much depends upon us!

Everywhere the Lord's people expect Him to come soon to catch up His church. Surely when we rise to meet Him we will want to leave behind the powerful testimony of radiant Christian lives. And when we stand before His judgment seat we will want to be most sure that He was able to use us as His witnesses and intercessors in the vast mission field which is America.

(This article was written in 1969 in the “Prophetic Word” magazine. Its message stills echoes 50 years later.)