David Padfield www.Padfield.
com 1
In God We Trust
Introduction
I. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Pro. 14:34).
A. On November 19, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln stood before 15,000
people to dedicate the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
B. In his Gettysburg Address Lincoln said: Four score and seven years ago
our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in
Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now
we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any
nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
C. Today we are still testing whether this nation can long endure.
II. When our Founding Fathers talked about religion and politics they borrowed
their language from the Jewish Old Testament.
A. People today often claim our Founding Fathers were simply Deists.
B. But they talked about God in terms that are radically Jewish: Creator, Judge,
and Providence.
C. For the most part, these are not names that could have come from the Greeks
or Romans, but only from the Old Testament.
D. All of the Founding FathersThomas Jefferson includedshared in
common a belief that a people cannot maintain liberty without religion.
E. They understood the power of religion to their cause and worried that in the
eyes of God they would be found wanting.
F. I sometimes tremble to think that although we are engaged in the best cause
that ever employed the human heart, yet the prospect of success is doubtful,
not for want of power or of wisdom but of virtue. (John Adams, 1776).
G. The founding generation of our country had no munitions factory on this
side of the Atlantic, and yet they were facing the most powerful army and
the largest navy in the entire world.
H. Because our young nation couldnt compete in armed power, the colonists
depended on high moral qualities in their leaders and on devotion in the
people.
I. In order to win, George Washington had to avoid frontal combat and rely on
the moral endurance of his countrymen year after year.
J. General Washington issued an order that any soldier who used profane
language would be drummed out of the armyhe impressed upon his men
that they were fighting for a cause that demanded a special moral appeal.
III. In September 1774, members of the First Continental Congress were riding
hastily toward Philadelphia, where they hoped to remind King George III of the
rights due to them as Englishmen.
A. As these delegates were gathering, news arrived that the kings troops were
shelling Charlestown and Boston.
B. As they gathered, the delegates were confronted with impending war.
C. No wonder the first act of the Continental Congress on September 7, 1774
was an official prayer by an Episcopalian minister.
David Padfield www.Padfield.com 2
D. He read a Jewish prayer, Psalm 35 in The Book of Common Prayer: Plead my
cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me. Fight against them that fight
against me. Take hold of buckler and shield, and rise up for my help. Say to
my soul, I am your salvation. Let those be ashamed and dishonored who
seek my life. Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil
against me.
IV. Later, when Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence he
mentioned God twice.
A. But, before Congress would sign it, members insisted on two more references
to God.
B. Thus, these four names appear in that great document:
1. The Author of nature and natures laws.
2. The Creator who endowed in us our rights.
3. The Judge to whom we appeal in witness that our motives spring not out
of seditiousness, but from a dear love of liberty.
4. And Providence, a trust in Divine Providence.
C. The members of Congress on July 2, 1776 were about to make themselves
liable to the charge of treason against the Crown.
1. They appealed to an objective world, and beyond the eyes of men they
appealed to the Supreme Judge for the goodness of their intentions.
2. They needed that reference to their Judge in the Declaration.
3. And they wanted that reference to Providence, to declare that God is on
the side of Liberty, and that those who trust in liberty will therefore
prevail.
V. Less than a century after our nation was founded we were engaged in a great
civil war.
A. In 1861 Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received a letter from a
minister by the name of M. R. Watkinson.
Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress
respecting the affairs of the national finances.
One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I
mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins.
You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered
beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding
centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation?
What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next
inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words perpetual union; within
the ring the all-seeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the
American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States
united; in the folds of the bars the words God, Liberty, Law.
This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could
object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would
place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed.
From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not
the least of our present national disasters.
David Padfield www.Padfield.com 3
B. Seven days after the receiving Watkinsons letter, Secretary Chase wrote to
James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia and instructed him to
prepare a motto, declaring, No nation can be strong except in the strength
of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should
be declared on our national coins...
C. In God We Trust first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin.
D. Nearly a century later, on June 14, 1954, Congress unanimously ordered the
inclusion of the words Under God into the nations Pledge of Allegiance.
E. A law passed by the 84th Congress and approved by the President of the
United States on July 30, 1956, President Eisenhower approved a Joint
Resolution of the 84th Congress, declaring In God We Trust to be the
national motto of the United States.
VI. We have come a long way in our nation!
A. Omar Bradley (18931981) was one of the most popular generals of WWII.
1. He commanded the Second Army Corps in North Africa and was given
command of the US ground forces for the invasion of France.
2. In an address he made on Armistice Day in 1948, General Bradley said:
We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on
the Mount The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours
is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
B. The ACLU and atheistic groups are trying their best to remove God from
every vestige of our national life.
1. They want His name taken off of our coins and currency.
2. They want His name taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance.
3. They want to rewrite the history books to remove any reference to the
Almighty in the writings of our Founding Fathers.
C. Lawsuits have been filed to prevent local schools from displaying copies of
the Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact and the Pledge of
Allegianceclaiming that those documents are unconstitutional because
they mention the name of God!
D. In 1992 the Kentucky Legislature had to pass a bill to allow schools to post
these documents in their classroomsincluding the Preamble to the
Kentucky Constitution!
VII. It seems as though everywhere you look people are trying to remove God from
the daily life of American citizens.
A. This lesson will contain numerous quotations from our Founding Fathers.
B. I am not quoting these men out of mere reverence for themI want you to
listen to how these men spoke of God, His Word and His Son.
Discussion
I. We Have Removed God From Marriage
A. We have seen numerous attempts to legalize gay marriage.
1. Voters in state after state have voted to ban gay marriage, but liberal
judges often overturn the will of the people.
2. Recently the U.S. Senate was presented with over 2,000,000 petitions of
support for the Marriage Protection Amendmentbut despite over-
whelming public support for the Constitutional amendment, liberals in
the Senate filibustered and would not allow a vote on the amendment.
David Padfield www.Padfield.com 4
B. The majority of Americans realize that marriage is a covenant relationship
between a man and a woman.
1. Many oppose gay marriage because they realize that God condemns
homosexual activity (Rom. 1:2627).
2. If you were to ask most of these same people why gay marriage is
wrong, they would probably be able to quote our Lord (Matt. 19:45).
3. Sadly, these same people are willing to ignore the rest of what Jesus said
about the marriage covenant (Matt. 19:79).
C. We need to reaffirm that God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16).
1. The marriage covenant is so binding that God has only allowed one
reason for an individual to put away their spouse and marry another, i.e.,
sexual immorality.
2. I often get calls from someone who is about to get married and they are
looking fro someone to perform the ceremony.
3. I make it clear that I do not perform civil ceremoniesI preach!
II. We Have Removed God From Public Schools
A. Many of you saw the news a few weeks ago when a young woman, Brittney
McComb, had her microphone turned off as she was giving the valedictorian
speech at Foothill High School in Las Vegas.
1. Her problem was that she attributed her success to God.
2. Her crime was that she used a phrase that the Board of Education just
could not standshe said; Gods love is so great.
B. Do you realize that when this nation was founded the Bible was the primary
textbook used in all public schools?
1. Most people today would argue that teaching the Bible in school would
be a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.
2. Fisher Ames was one of our Founding Fathers and he offered the final
wording for the House version of the First Amendment.
3. Interestingly, Fisher Ames wrote an article where he expressed concern
that the Bible might become under-emphasized as the primary textbook
in public schools.
4. He deduced that as more and more books were introduced into
classrooms, there would be less time to study the Bible.
5. He warned that the Bible must never be pushed to the back of American
classrooms, urging: Why then, if these [new] books for children must be
retainedas they will beshould not the Bible regain the place it once
held as a school book?
6. He concluded his article by stressing that the fact that the Bible was the
source of sound morals in America was a further reason that it must
never be separated from the classroom.
C. William Holmes McGuffey (18001873) was considered to be the
schoolmaster of the Nation.
1. In 1836 he published the first edition of McGuffeys Reader.
2. This book was the mainstay in public education in America till 1920.
3. Over 150 million copies have been soldit is one of the most widely used
and influential textbooks of all time.
4. Millions of American children learned to read and write from the reader.
David Padfield www.Padfield.com 5
5. In the forward of the book, McGuffey wrote: The Christian religion is
the religion of our country. From it we are derived our prevalent notions
of the character of God, the great moral governor of the universe. On its
doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free institutions.
6. In his 1837 Eclectic Third Reader, he wrote: The design of the Bible is
evidently to give us correct information concerning the creation of all
things, by the omnipotent Word of God; to make known to us the state of
holiness and happiness of our first parents in paradise, and their dreadful
fall from that condition by transgression against God, which is the
original cause of all our sin and misery The Scriptures are especially
designed to make us wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus; to
reveal to us the mercy of the Lord in him; to form our minds after the
likeness of God our Saviour; to build up our souls in wisdom and faith, in
love and holiness; to make us thoroughly furnished unto good works
D. I am not recommending that schoolteachers today conduct Bible classes.
1. However, neither am I suggesting that God be removed from discussions
on moral and ethical questions.
2. The Bible does answer the great questions of life:
a) Why am I here on earth? (Eccl. 12:1314; Micah 6:8).
b) Where did I come from? (Gen. 1:1).
c) Where am I going? (Heb. 9:27).
E. In the 18
th
, 19
th
and early 20
th
centuries, school days customarily opened with
an oral prayer.
1. Citing separation of church and state in the First Amendment and
applied to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment, opponents of the
practice were successful in getting school prayer abolished.
2. Staff-sanctioned prayer in public schools was effectively outlawed by two
landmark Supreme Court decisions: Engel v. Vitale [1962] and Abington
Township v. Schempp [1963].
F. On June 27, 1962 Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia delivered a
powerful and moving message in Congress just two days after the Supreme
Court declared prayer in schools to be unconstitutional.
Inasmuch as our greatest leaders have shown no doubt about God!s
proper place in the American birthright, can we, in our day, dare do
less?
In no other place in the United States are there so many, and such varied
official evidences of deep and abiding faith in God on the part of
Government as there are in Washington
Every session of the House and the Senate begins with prayer. Each
house has its own chaplain.
The Eighty-third Congress set aside a small room in the Capitol, just off
the rotunda, for the private prayer and meditation of members of
Congress. The room is always open when Congress is in session, but it is
not open to the public. The room!s focal point is a stained glass window
showing George Washington kneeling in prayer. Behind him is etched
these words from Psalm 16:1: Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put
my trust.
David Padfield www.Padfield.com 6
Inside the rotunda is a picture of the Pilgrims about to embark from
Holland on the sister ship of the Mayflower, the Speedwell. The ship!s
revered chaplain, Brewster, who later joined the Mayflower, has open on
his lap the Bible. Very clear are the words, the New Testament according
to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. On the sail is the motto of the
Pilgrims, In God We Trust, God With Us.
The phrase, In God We Trust, appears opposite the President of the
Senate, who is the Vice-President of the United States. The same phrase,
in large words inscribed in the marble, backdrops the Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
Above the head of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are the Ten
Commandments, with the great American eagle protecting them. Moses
is included among the great lawgivers in Herman A McNeil!s marble
sculpture group on the east front. The crier who opens each session
closes with the words, God save the United States and this Honorable
Court.
Engraved on the metal on the top of the Washington Monument are the
words: Praise be to God. Lining the walls of the stairwell are such
Biblical phrases as Search the Scriptures, Holiness to the Lord, Train
up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart
from it.
Numerous quotations from Scripture can be found within its [the Library of
Congress] walls. One reminds each American of his responsibility to his
Maker: What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and love
mercy and walk humbly with thy God (Micah 6:8).
Another in the lawmaker!s library preserves the Psalmist!s
acknowledgment that all nature reflects the order and beauty of the
Creator, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
showeth His handiwork (Psalm 19:1). And still another reference: The
light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not (John
1:5).
Millions have stood in the Lincoln Memorial and gazed up at the statue of
the great Abraham Lincoln. The sculptor who chiseled the features of
Lincoln in granite all but seems to make Lincoln speak his own words
inscribed into the walls.
...That this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and
that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not
perish from the earth.
At the opposite end, on the north wall, his Second Inaugural Address
alludes to God, the Bible, providence, the Almighty, and divine
attributes.
He then continues:
As was said 3000 years ago, so it still must be said, The judgments of
the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
David Padfield www.Padfield.com 7
On the south banks of Washington!s Tidal Basin, Thomas Jefferson still
speaks:
God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be
secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the
gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just,
that his justice cannot sleep forever.
[These words of Jefferson are] a forceful and explicit warning that to
remove God from this country will destroy it.
III. We Have Removed God From Our Worship
A. This might seem like a strange statement to some, but please give me a
moment to explain.
B. From the time of Cain and Abel we find examples of men and women
bowing before their Creator in worship.
1. Abraham when he was ready to offer his son (Gen. 22:5).
2. The children of Israel (Exo. 4:31).
3. David worshiped after the death of his son (2 Sam. 12:20).
4. In the days of Ezra after release from captivity (Neh. 8:6).
C. We also read of those who worshiped false Gods.
1. Aaron made a golden calf (Psa. 106:19).
2. Manasseh (2 Kings 21:13).
3. Amon (2 Kings 21:2022).
4. The Lords decree against the cities of Judah (Jer. 1:16).
D. It seems strange to some today, but God is not obligated to accept your
worship (Matt. 15:79).
E. God alone can prescribe how He is to be worshiped (John 4:24).
F. Most people today no longer have the concept that God is to be the object of
our worshippeople today are more prone to worship themselves.
1. When people today are looking for a church, what do they look for?
2. They are looking for a church that makes them happynot God.
3. Evidenced by their singing, choices of men for gospel meetings, how the
building is designed.
Conclusion
I. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour
the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by
My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and
heal their land (2 Chron. 7:1314).
II. Let us all pray and then put our prayers into action by seeking to restore a sense
of righteousness in this nation.
David Padfield www.Padfield.com 8
For Further Study
The source material for this lesson was derived from many sources, including:
Americas God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, by William J. Federer
The Ten Commandments & Their Influence on American Law, by William Federer
The Foundations of American Government, by David Barton
US Treasury Fact Sheet on the History of In God We Trust
<http://www.ustreas.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/in-god-we-trust.shtml>
In God We Trust, an article by Michael Novak
<http://www.hooverdigest.org/002/novak.html>
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