You will remember after the Protestant Reformation there was quite a bit of persecution against many of its adherents. The armies of Spain, then the mightiest in the world, swept across Europe and all but drove the Protestants into the sea. But there was a thorn in her flesh, and that was the little island of England—a source of refuge and reinforcement.
In a dozen cities in Spain there was feverish activity that went on for years and years as a plan was laid and carefully executed. Finally the great day came, and the plot was uncovered. Out of the city of Lisbon, down the Tagus River, there sailed a ship, and then another, and then another even mightier than before. One after another they came. The mighty Spanish Armada, the greatest fleet the world had ever seen, poured out of the rivers of Spain into the Atlantic. When they had finally come into the ocean, they stretched as far as the eye could see, from horizon to horizon. They set their sails toward England. The word reached that land, and terror gripped the hearts of many, for the decks of those ships were crowded with thousands and thousands of soldiers who would overrun this tiny land and would destroy the Protestant faith so newly begun there.
But the Puritans fell upon their knees and cried out to the God of nations, saying, “O Lord God, help us. We plead our cause.” And God heard. The sails of the ships appeared upon the horizon of Britain, and the prayers went up more incessantly. There were others who mocked and said, “Shall prayers stop such an armada as this?”
The wind began to blow; the sea began to churn; the waves increased. The sun sank into the west, and when the morning light appeared, the invincible armada lay scattered upon the rocky coasts of Britain. On the medal stamped that day in commemoration of the deliverance of God, there appeared the words of Moses, sung after the overthrow of Pharaoh in the Red Sea: “You blew with Your wind, and the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters” (Exodus 15:10).
I think that we in America had best take heed of this lesson. Our military strength, as important as that is, will do us absolutely no good if our moral strength is taken away, because there is a God who rules over nations as well as men, and He raises them up and He casts them down when they turn their backs upon Him. This nation has had more privileges and has heard more of the Gospel than any people who have ever lived. Yet we live in an era of moral decline that is even shocking some of the most superficial and sophisticated of analysts. We have a foe. We have long known about him. There is a conspiracy—a worldwide, external, and internal conspiracy—to destroy America. We should fight that conspiracy. But as we fight it with missiles and planes, we may well remember that guided missiles will not replace misguided morals.
It is time for us to call upon the Lord. Unless Jesus Christ is restored to His rightful place in the public life of this nation, I declare unto you that the end of this land is not far off.
