We have all heard the saying, “Lest you forget!” It can refer to a few things. It can illustrate the fact that if we forget history then we’re doomed to repeat it. It can also let us know there are consequences for forgetting something.
At the creation of the Constitution of the United States of America, John Adams, the second president and one of the crafters of the Constitution, said: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
I am going to pull some other quotes from other signers and drafters of the same aforementioned Constitution ( https://www.free2pray.info/6-founderquotes.html ).
- Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence said:
- “[T]he only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be aid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments. Without religion, I believe that learning does real mischief to the morals and principles of mankind.”
- Noah Webster, author of the first American Speller and the first Dictionary, said:
- “[T]he Christian religion, in its purity, is the basis, or rather the source of all genuine freedom in government. . . . and I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of that religion have not a controlling influence.”
- “The moral principles and precepts contained in the scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. . . All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”
- Gouverneur Morris, Penman and Signer of the Constitution, said:
- “[F]or avoiding the extremes of despotism or anarchy . . . the only ground of hope must be on the morals of the people. I believe that religion is the only solid base of morals and that morals are the only possible support of free governments. [T]herefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God.”
- Fisher Ames, author of the final wording for the First Amendment, wrote:
- “[Why] should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school book? Its morals are pure, its examples captivating and noble. The reverence for the Sacred Book that is thus early impressed lasts long; and probably if not impressed in infancy, never takes firm hold of the mind.”
- John Jay, Original Chief-Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, said:
- “The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.”
- James Wilson, Signer of the Constitution and U. S. Supreme Court Justice, wrote:
- “Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is divine. . . . Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other.”
- Robert Winthrop, Speaker of the U. S. House, said:
- “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet.”
- George Washington, General of the Revolutionary Army, president of the Constitutional Convention, First President of the United States of America, Father of our nation, said:
- “Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society.”
- Benjamin Franklin, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, said:
- “[O]nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
Many of the early founders of this nation (although not all agreed with using the Bible as a basis), esteemed the Bible and morality, and for the most part had a firm sense that something concrete was needed in order to grow. And so for many years, there was a strong religious undercurrent in this country. But that is all being swept away with our “modern” times of enlightenment and “wokeness”. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses this election. Neither candidate would help this country to get back on track with obedience to God. People have lost touch—their minds have been given over to depravity (Romans 1:18-32).
In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul describes our unique time. The absolute need for God and His Holy Word, the Bible, in order to lay out morality and Truth, are being swept aside wholesale. Even those who claim to be Christians are keeping false and biblically wrong days (Easter, Halloween, Christmas, etc.). Thereby they show they have no respect for God’s laws.
Deuteronomy 4:7-9 says: “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day? Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren…” (Please also read Deuteronomy 8:1-20).
The tendency to forget and to turn away happens quickly. It also happens over generations. Notice in the previous Scripture the reason to TEACH God’s Word to the new generations, was so that they would not lose their way. The prophecies for our modern nations of Israel and Judah (read our free booklet: The Fall and Rise of Britain and America) point out the quickly-coming destruction because of our national turning away from God. How many times have we read in the Bible the lessons of our forefathers, and their constant massive issues all through the Old Testament BECAUSE of their turning away from God?
While we know what is going to happen, and it can be rather frightening or discouraging, we should each take stock that the suffering and the horrible things that are occurring now and will continue to happen with greater ferocity until Christ’s return, will end. There is a time coming soon where it says in Jeremiah 31:33-34: “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
