What is America’s destiny according to the Bible? Find out with speaker Dr. David Reagan along with hosts Tim Moore and Nathan Jones on the television program, Christ in Prophecy!
Air Date: August 26, 2023
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Transcript
Tim Moore:Welcome to Christ in Prophecy! I’m your host, Tim Moore.
Nathan Jones:And I’m your co-host, Nathan Jones.
Tim Moore:Since Lamb & Lion Ministries was founded in 1980, we’ve held many annual Bible Conferences. Our founder, Dr. David Reagan, has been a featured speaker at all of them.
Nathan Jones:For many years, Dave was the director of our Ministry. Now, he is the Evangelist Emeritus. But he still proclaims the soon return of Jesus Christ with as much power and passion as anyone we know.
Tim Moore:That was true again this year at our 2023 Annual Bible Conference. Following our theme of Let Not Your Heart be Troubled, Dave offered keen insight on the darkness falling over our own nation—and the judgment of God that will eventually sweep America into the dustbin of history.
Nathan Jones:Well, wait! I thought this was supposed to be an encouraging conference!
Tim Moore:It was. As long as your hope does not lie in this sin-saturated world. Those who place their trust in princes and worldly powers will be sorely disappointed. But those who trust in the Lord of lords and King of kings—Jesus Christ—will never be disappointed, because they have already obtained everlasting life.
Nathan Jones:As with all of our presentations, we wish we could show you Dr. Reagan’s entire message. Although we can’t within the time limits of this 30-minute program, we will offer enough excerpts to make you want to catch the full presentation.
Tim Moore:You can watch it on our Christ in Prophecy YouTube Channel or, you can order the complete DVD set with all six presentations, along with two different Question and Answer sessions. Stay tuned for details on that offer. Right now, here is David Reagan.
Part 1: Presentation by David Reagan
Dr. Reagan:My topic this morning is a very sober one it’s called America’s Destiny. And I want us to pause for a moment of prayer. Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. And I thank you for the way you have already blessed this conference, through the speakers, through the music, through the fellowship. And, Lord, I just pray that you will bless this conference in another way, that you will bless it by generous donations that will make it possible for this conference to be paid for in full. I thank you for every person who’s here, Lord, for the churches they represent, for the many miles they travel, give them safe journeys home. I thank you for the fact that their very presence is a great source of encouragement to everyone on the Lamb and Lion staff. And now, Lord, I pray for you to anoint this presentation. Nobody here needs to hear me, they need to hear You. So use me as an instrument of your will. In Jesus name. Amen.
Well, because of the nature of this presentation and the nature of my topic, I’m going to be touching some very sensitive areas. So I want to begin with two disclaimers. The first, I am neither a Republican or a Democrat. I am a monarchist. And I say that because I have devoted my life to doing everything I possibly can to prepare the way for the coming of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who is going to reign from Mount Zion in Jerusalem and bring peace, righteousness and justice to this earth.
Here’s the way social commentator Todd Starnes put it recently in one of his books, “We don’t need Americans bowing down to the Democratic donkey or the Republican elephant. We need more Americans bowing down to the Lion of Judah.” Amen.
And that thought brings me to a second disclaimer. I do not believe that either the Democrats or the Republicans are the hope of America. I believe the only hope for our nation is Jesus Christ. And therefore, I am sorry to say I believe our nation has little, if any, hope because we have turned our back on God.
Throughout America today, there are well-meaning pastors who are preaching the hope of a great spiritual revival for our nation. They point to such revivals in the past, when we have grown cold in the Lord. But folks, it’s different now, our nation has not grown cold in the Lord. No, our nation is consumed in a full blown rebellion against God. That point was illustrated after the horrible Connecticut school shooting in 2012 when someone designed this t-shirt: Dear God, why do you allow so much violence in our schools? Signed Concerned Student. Dear Concerned Student, I’m not allowed in your schools. Signed God.
I’d like to begin with three foundational scriptures. Number one, “Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh.” Second one, Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” And the third one is in Proverbs 28:2 which reads, “When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily.”
Nathan Jones:David Reagan reviewed the Biblical pattern that applies to America, and then made an application to our nation.
Dr. Reagan:Now, let’s quickly take these principles and apply them to our nation. I believe that God raised up this nation with the purpose of using our great natural resources, and our technical ingenuity to spread the Gospel all over the world. And as we fulfill that promise, God began to pour out His blessings upon us. He blessed us tremendously, unparalleled freedom, prosperity, immense power, and worldwide influence. But He even gave us the blessing of serving as the key nation in the rebirthing and the nurturing of the nation of Israel. What a blessing that was. But here’s the problem. As we received all these blessings, we began to think that we were responsible for these blessings and not God. And we became enamored with our wealth and with our power. And we began turning our back on God.
And so in my lifetime, this is what has happened. Money has become the God of America. Greed has become our national motivator. Sex has become our obsession. Gambling has become our national pastime. We have become the world’s largest consumer of illegal drugs. We have kicked God out of our schools. We have converted our educational system into a vehicle of indoctrination. We have committed the insanity of confusing our children’s gender identity. We are teaching our children the fantasy of evolution. We have declared God off limits in the public arena. We are continuing to slaughter babies in the name of freedom of choice for women. We have glamorized homosexuality. We have legalized same sex marriage. And many states have legalized marijuana. And some have legalized all hard drugs. And we have become the moral polluter of planet Earth with our violent, immoral and blasphemous television programs and movies.
Now, regarding the fate of our nation. I do not believe that the United States is specifically mentioned in Bible prophecy, but I do believe we have a prophetic type in Bible prophecy. I believe the nation of Judah is America’s prophetic type. Consider for a moment the parallels. Judah had great leaders, incredible freedom, tremendous prosperity, and wonderful spiritual blessings. The Shekinah Glory of God dwelt in the Temple there in Jerusalem.
I wish I could end there, but I can’t because there are other parallels. What happened was that the people of Judah became proud of themselves and began to talk about how they had achieved all these things. And that pride led to rebellion. In Isaiah chapter 5, the prophet tells how God asked him to compile a list of the sins of Judah, and Isaiah reported back to the Lord that he had found injustice, greed, pleasure seeking, blasphemy, moral perversion, intellectual pride, intemperance and political corruption, all of which are the sins of America today.
Seventy-five years later, God raised up another prophet in Judah by the name of Jeremiah, and God asked him to do the very same thing, compile an inventory of Judah’s sins. And Jeremiah came up with the same list, except that he added one new item: religious corruption. He concluded his report with three summary statements: Their faces are harder than rock. They have a stubborn and rebellious heart. They do not know how to blush.
And what was the response of the people of Judah when Jeremiah warned them of God’s impending wrath? They chanted, “The temple, the temple, the temple.” What did they mean by that? They were saying, Jeremiah, you don’t know what you’re talking about. God resides in our Temple. You think God’s going to allow somebody to destroy that temple? Well, God did. They destroyed Jerusalem. They destroyed the temple, and they destroyed the land of Judah. Oh, my. What a destruction it was.
Well, God is doing the same thing today to the United States of America. He is sending prophetic voices and He is sending remedial judgments. And yet, no one seems to be listening, and those who do mock. it’s like people believe, even Christians, that God is sitting on His throne wrapped in an American flag and He would never touch this nation. Yes, God loves this nation, He’s blessed it beyond any other nation. But God will not be mocked and He is not sitting on a throne draped in an American flag. He is calling for repentance and we are ignoring it.
This brings us to a very important question: Why should the United States be treated any differently? Why should we be treated any differently than Judah? The answer, of course, is that God is not treating us any differently. He has raised up prophetic voices to call us to repentance, and He has sent remedial judgments. And our response has been one of patriotism when the needed response is repentance.
After 9/11 my wife noticed an explosion of bumper stickers saying, God bless America. One day she turned to me and she said, “Honey, those bumper stickers are wrong because God has already blessed America.” So she went home and she designed another bumper sticker that said, “America, Bless God!” The 9/11 attacks were a wakeup call for our nation. But instead of awakening to the need for repentance, we were like the sleepy man who hits the snooze button on his alarm clock, rolls over and goes back to sleep. And so our society has continued to slouch toward Gomorrah.
Tim Moore:Dave also offered a sweeping overview of the moral and spiritual decay we recognize today. In hindsight, the speed of our downfall has been breathtaking—and it is only accelerating. He addressed some of the trends we are witnessing.
Dr. Reagan:From 1607 to 1833 for 236 years, Bible believing Christians were the establishment of our nation. From 1833 to 1918, they were the predominant force. Now I want you to notice the acceleration on the far right. From 1918 to 1968 we became a sub dominant force. From 1968-1988, a subculture. From ‘88 to ‘98, a counterculture. From ‘98 to 2008 an antithetical culture which he defined as, we were in full opposition to all the dominant values of the culture. And since 2008, a persecuted culture. That’s where we are today. And I think he’s right on target.
Now, one of the main reasons for this trend is because the number of Christians in our society has plummeted. In 1956, 91% of Americans claimed to be Christians. Today, 61%, and it is falling as fast as it can. Another one that’s really jolting is this one, the weekly church attendance in the United States, weekly church attendance, those who go every week in 1956, 63% of Americans went to church every Sunday. The latest poll just taken last month, 16% of Americans now go to church every week. In fact, recent polls have revealed that only 9% of Americans have a Bible believing world view. They have certain questions you answer to determine whether you have a Bible believing world view. And only 17% of professing Christians have a Bible believing world view. What we have among Christians is a great multitude of cultural Christians, they’re cultural Christians. But they don’t know the Bible. They don’t go to church maybe twice a year or something of that nature. But they simply are biblically illiterate.
Let me add a couple of other examples of Christian persecution. In 2021, when Florida Congressman Greg Stubby stood up on the floor of Congress and quoted Scripture to object to a pending piece of legislation that was endorsing transgenderism, Congressman Jerry Nadler of New York, who at that time was the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, responded on the floor of Congress with these words: “What any religious tradition describes as God’s will is of no concern to this Congress.”
An editorial in the Los Angeles Times 2021 was headlined Why America’s Godlessness is Good for the Nation. Here’s what it said, “The secularization of U.S. society, the waning of religious faith practice and affiliation is continuing at a dramatic and historically unprecedented pace. While many may consider such a development as a cause for concern, such a worry is not warranted. This increasing godlessness in America is actually a good thing to be welcomed and embraced.” Why? They tell us. “The organic secularization we are experiencing in the United States is a progressive force for good, one that is associated with improved human rights, more protection for planet Earth, and an increased socio- cultural propensity to make this life as fair and just as we can in the here and now, rather than in a heavenly reward that fewer and fewer of us believe in.” The Los Angeles Times.
We are literally witnessing the dismantling of the Christian foundation of our society. And the gravity of the situation was recently summed up by Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He wrote, “We are witnesses to one of the most comprehensive and fast paced moral revolutions ever experienced by humanity. The velocity and breadth of this revolution are breathtaking and consequences are incalculable. This society is dismantling the very structures that have allowed for the enjoyment and preservation of human liberty and respect for life.
The third response to the collapse of our society and the biblical one is to take a stand for righteousness against the tide of filth. And a sterling example of that is Franklin Graham. He is hated like no other man in America. Just go to Google and type in his name and read the articles of hate that are there. I hope he has good bodyguards because there are people who want to kill him. Here’s what he had to say, “True followers of Jesus Christ, whose salvation is based entirely upon God’s Word, cannot endorse same sex marriage regardless of what our president, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the media, or the latest Gallup polls say about the matter.” He goes on and he says “The moral issue has been settled by God Himself. It’s been settled by God Himself.” And he says “It is not subject to manmade revisions or modifications. In the end,” he says, “I would rather be on the wrong side of public opinion than on the wrong side of Almighty God who established the standard of living for the world He created. Marriage is a biblically moral issue, not a political one.” He goes on, “This debate is ultimately about something much more important than the question of same sex marriage.” This is an important point. Crucially important. Let me read it again. “This debate is ultimately about something much more important than the question of same sex marriage. It’s about the authority of Scripture.” He says, “There are many things in Scriptures that Christians disagree on, but the Bible is crystal clear about the sanctity of life and marriage. It’s also clear that homosexuality is spelled out as a sin, and there are no ifs, ands, or buts.” In fact last month, he was the keynote speaker at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, and he began that speech by saying, “That Satan has released every demon from hell upon American society today.” And he urged faith leaders to stand strong and preach the Word of God and not give in to the pressures of the world.
My friends, it is true that in His grace and mercy, God gave us a temporary respite, a window of grace through the miraculous election of Donald Trump in 2016. Incidentally, I believe the crucial factor in producing that miracle was Franklin Graham’s prayer crusade that he took to every state capitol in our nation. At each stop, he began his presentation with the same words. These were his words, “I have no hope in the Democratic Party. I have no hope in the Republican Party. Zero hope. Our only hope is God.”
Another person who has spoken out strongly in this way of standing for righteousness is a dear friend of mine, Bob Russell, who was the pastor of one of the five largest churches in America before he retired recently. Here’s what he wrote on his blog recently. He said, “Our forefathers used to sing songs that were battle cries. “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” “Stand up for Jesus.” They understood that Jesus didn’t call them to a playground, but to a battlefield. They took Paul’s admonition seriously, put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. In recent years, many churches have dropped all images of war in favor of a peace treaty with the world. We speak of Jesus as the healer, and leader, not as Lord and King. We shout grace. We whisper repentance. We make inordinate attempts to ingratiate ourselves with those who oppose us. We retreat into silence in the face of horrendous evil and hope it will disappear. He then concludes with a very sobering question. Ask yourself this: Do you suppose our children or grandchildren would one day ask us, ‘Where were you when America lost the cultural war?’”
President Trump did a lot of things right while he continued to proclaim that he was going to make America great again. But he did not succeed. No one can make our nation great again as long as we continue in our outright rebellion against God and His Word. Folks, let me tell you something. Our fundamental problem is not political. It is not economic. It’s not social. It’s not racial. No, our problems in all of these areas are simply manifestations of the fundamental problem. And that fundamental problem is our rebellion, which is caused by systemic godlessness. Systemic godlessness.
Our nation, like Judah, has gone too far in its rejection of God. I believe our wound is incurable. And I believe the election of Trump was not a portent of our future. And I can prove it with five brutal facts that we don’t like to look at. And that is this, after eight years of the most ungodly administration in US history, President Obama left office with a 60% approval rating. In 2016 our nation’s future, our millennials, 18 to 29 year old, they supported an out and out socialist, Bernie Sanders. And when he failed to get the nomination, they voted overwhelmingly for Clinton. And again in 2020, they supported that same socialist Bernie Sanders. Third, Obama’s designated heir, Hillary Clinton, received 3 million more votes than Trump. And in the presidential election of 2020, Biden received 7 million more votes than Trump.
Consider too the ignorance of God’s Word that has come to characterize both our nation and professing Christians. The latest poll shows this, 77% of Americans believe divorce is acceptable. 71% believe sexual intercourse between unmarried adults is acceptable. 69% believe in having a baby out of marriage is acceptable. 58% believe viewing pornography is acceptable. And most jolting to me, last month, just last month, the Barna Association in their poll discovered a startling fact. They called it that, a startling fact. In May of 2023, in a Barna poll, 56% of those who identified themselves as born again Christians said they believe Jesus sinned. Folks, let me tell you something. If Jesus sinned we have no hope whatsoever, we had to have a sinless sacrifice to die for the sins of this world. But 56% of born agains are now saying Jesus, probably sinned. Considered too what public opinion polls are showing regarding same sex marriage. Acceptance of this abomination has increased rapidly from 37% in 2007 to 62% today. That’s the general society, but it’s about the same among Christians because Christians do not know the Word of God.
My friends, we need to face up the fact that we have lost the culture war, humanism has triumphed. And we are now a nation that is begging God for destruction.
Is there any hope for our nation? Let me ask you a question. How could there be? As Alexander Solzhenitsyn said in 1983, “America has forgotten God.”
Nevertheless, we should not despair for several reasons. First, what we are experiencing is a fulfillment of end time prophecy. The biblical prophets, including Jesus Himself, all prophesied that in the end times society would disintegrate into violence and immorality, that it would become as evil as it was in the days of Noah, and that people would go about their business as if everything was normal. Well, folks, that’s exactly where we are today. And thus we are witnesses to the very signs that are heralding the soon return of Jesus. That is why the great pastor, Adrian Rogers once said, “The world is growing gloriously dark.” Or as Jan Markell likes to put it, “The world is not falling to pieces, rather the pieces are all falling into place.”
The second reason we should not despair is because there is individual hope. Look at these Scriptures from both Deuteronomy and Hebrews. “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble. For Yahweh, your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
A third reason we should not despair is because of what God is doing in Heaven right now. Every time I get down in the mouth about our society, I turn to Psalm 2 and I read it and I am lifted up. Because Psalm 2 says that while all the political leaders of the world are conspiring against God, against His Word and against His Son, our Creator is sitting on the throne laughing. He is laughing because it’s not because He does not care. He’s laughing because He has the wisdom and the power to orchestrate all of the evil of mankind and Satan to the triumph of His will in history.
And don’t forget, we’ve got a fourth reason for hope. We have the incredible hope of the Rapture. And finally, there is also hope for unbelievers, because as Robert Jeffress likes to point out, when the darkness deepens, the light of Jesus will shine more brightly like a diamond on a black cloth. And more and more people will be drawn to Jesus and be saved.
Meanwhile, as the darkness deepens, those of us who are believers must be salt and light. Standing for God, standing for His Word, refusing to give in to the demands of a pagan society, regardless of the cost. We must be beacons of hope, pointing people to the God of hope, while urging them to put their hope in their only hope and that is Jesus, the Son of God, our soon returning King of kings and Lord of lords, to which I say Maranatha, Maranatha, Maranatha. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
Tim Moore:All of our speakers engaged in a Question and Answer session—along with Nathan Jones and David Bowen. One person asked whether the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth at the Rapture?
Dr. Reagan:The Holy Spirit is not going to be removed. We’ll just start with that. That’s an old idea that when the Rapture of the Church occurs since the Holy Spirit indwells believers, the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the world. That’s nonsense. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent. The Holy Spirit does not just reside in believers. He resides in us in a special way, but He’s omnipresent. And when the Church is taken out, the Holy Spirit is not going to be taken out. The Holy Spirit will still be here because we know there’s going to be a great harvest of souls during the Tribulation. And the only way they can be is for the Holy Spirit to be witnessing to them and pulling them to Jesus.
Closing
Nathan Jones:What more can we say? David Reagan is a powerful prophetic voice to America in his own right.
Tim Moore:He certainly is! When Nathan and I first heard Dr. Reagan his message motivated us to eagerly anticipate Jesus’ soon return. But, if the Lord tarries, we plan to bring you more of Dr. Reagan’s gifted teaching. Before we go, we want to let you know how you can get a copy of our complete Conference DVD album.
Nathan Jones:You can visit our Christ in Prophecy YouTube Channel and watch all these episodes individually, or for only $25—and that includes domestic shipping—you can order the 3-DVD set with the complete presentations by all six speakers, as well as both Question and Answer sessions.
Tim Moore:Next week we have a double-feature by two renowned pastors in store for you. You won’t want to miss it! But, that’s all the time we have for today. So, on behalf of all of us at Lamb & Lion Ministries, we pray that you know the Blessed Hope so that your heart is not troubled! Godspeed!!