According to a Greek legend, there lived on an island in the Mediterranean Sea a race of fascinating creatures, half woman and half fish called sirens. As a ship would near the shore, the sirens would come with their harps and sing. Because their songs were so enticing, the mariners were drawn away from the hardships of the sea toward the island of promise, and their ships were smashed on the rocks.
There are singers of siren songs in our own times. Strange music is again filling the ears of the peoples of the world, promising salvation and peace. As I look at the American scene today, I hear several songs being sung which could cause our nation to flounder. First, there is the song that says the West will win over Communism —if we wait long enough, that time is on our side.
We were so buoyed up by the Communist backdown in Cuba and the alleged split between China and Russia that we are in danger of being lulled into a false sense of security. During the past 15 years I have talked to Communist leaders in many parts of the world, and I am convinced that we face a titanic self-confident movement that has no intention of halting its drive toward world domination.
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The second siren song that I hear is that our military might will save us. Do not misunderstand me. I am not a pacifist. I believe we should maintain the strongest military establishment on earth. But the danger lies in our dependence on this military power for our security, when the real enemy is our drifting away from our moral and spiritual moorings.
The Bible says, Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. *PSALM 33:12 Who can forget the picture of George Washington on his knees at Valley Forge? Or Benjamin Franklin calling the Constitutional Assembly to prayer, and out of that prayer meeting emerging the Constitution of the United States?
Who can forget Abraham Lincoln on his knees time after time with his cabinet beseeching God’s will to be done in the midst of the Civil War? This is the spiritual heritage of America. Our nation is great because, despite our failings, God has blessed and protected us. We still keep the motto “In God We Trust” on our coins, but have we preserved it in our hearts?
The third siren song that I hear is that we can continue to disregard moral law and survive. God gave to men certain moral laws and warned that if we break them we will pay for it in the destruction of the individual and the society. Who can deny that we are breaking the Ten Commandments at every turn?…The First Commandment thunders, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
*DEUTERONOMY 5:7 God claims supremacy above all man’s loyalties and allegiances; to the extent that the First Commandment is observed, men are free. When it is nullified, they are enslaved. This is why, it is so important that the nation put God back on His rightful throne in our national affairs.
The fourth siren song that I hear is that we can have the highest concepts of Christianity and Judaism without personal commitment and involvement. As I travel throughout the country, I find that people are nervous and restless, that there is a hunger and a thirst and a yearning for something unknown—something more than material possessions, success or the other things people strive for.
Many say that there is no hope. I disagree. I believe that there is an answer; there is a way out; there is hope for us as individuals and for us as a nation. As I listen to the cries of modern man for a savior, I try to call back, “A Saviour has been given, yet few are accepting Him.” Man seeks desperately for some other kind of savior in science, sociology, psychology, political schemes.
The astounding truth is that the central event of the whole history of this planet was on that Christmas night 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ has the key to our frustrations and dilemmas. He offers the inward security, peace, joy and salvation that could change your life, your home, your business, our nation and the world… There is no middle ground. None of us can be neutral.
Christ said: “You cannot serve God and self; you must make a choice.” **MATTHEW 6:24 “Which way will America choose —the commandments of men or the Commandments of God? On that decision rests the destiny of America!
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