It pleased the Lord in other days to raise up our nation religiously and morally, so that she became an example to the nations of the world. That day, however, has long passed, and she is now found grovelling in the mire of her own corruption. Standards, in public and private life, which other nations envied, have long since disappeared and the nation is sinking down lower and lower in religious and moral standing. The question must arise in the mind of everyone who is concerned over this spiritual and moral decay — What is to become of Britain? If the present slide continues the end must be obvious to all who are not wilfully blind — we must inevitably destroy ourselves as a nation. To Israel the Lord had to say: “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself.” So will it be said about Britain before long, if it cannot be said already.
How is it that a nation so highly favoured as our land has been, has come to such a pass? There must have been at least one cause, though many factors may have been involved in bringing this about. It is often possible to isolate one main cause where such a change has taken place. In our case as a nation it should not be difficult for us to isolate that one significant cause of our decline as a nation and as a people. Our moral decline is intimately bound up with our spiritual decline, and the cause of our spiritual decline cannot be other than our rejection of the Word of God. It was said to others: “Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?” So it can be said of us as a nation. In rejecting the Word of God we have rejected God Himself. Is it any wonder then that we have brought ourselves so low?
After the dark night of popery had passed, the Lord favoured our land with the light of the truth of His own Word. It was through the light of that Word that the nation was established in righteousness. Righteous laws were set up, founded upon the Word of God. The glorious gospel of the blessed God was proclaimed throughout the length and breadth of the land. Men and women heard that gospel to their eternal profit, because it was accompanied with the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. Churches were established in a measure of purity, some more and some less. People sat under the Word of God and heard it proclaimed in their ears. To some it was savingly blessed. On others it had a restraining effect. Order to a large extent prevailed in the land. People could go about their lawful business without being afraid. So it continued until men became wiser than their Maker in their own eyes and began to reject the revealed truth of God’s Word.
Sad to relate it was in the Churches that the decline began. The Bible which, for many generations, had been valued in the nation, came to be questioned. Was it indeed the Word of God as had been thought? Satan injected the same poison into the minds of religious leaders at that time, as he did into the mind of Eve when he said to her: “Yea, hath God said?” The infallible revelation of God’s will in the Bible was counted to be no longer infallible. The Bible ceased to be the standard by which the beliefs and actions of men were to be weighed. As a result men adopted their own standards of belief and practice. Every one could adopt his own standard, for man was now without any compass to direct him in the way he should go. Man being fallen, what standards could he adopt but those corrupt standards which were suited to his carnal nature?
But things do not remain static, and accordingly there has been progression — but it has been on a downward track. We have been falling lower and lower, but we are unable to lift ourselves up from the morass into which we have fallen. Yet we remain so blind to it all. Men hold up their hands in horror at what has overtaken us as a nation and wonder how it has come about, so ignorant are they as to its cause.
It is one thing to diagnose the cause of the present spiritual and moral decline of the nation, but it may be more difficult to propose a remedy. Can the present spiritual and moral decline be remedied or alleviated in any way? Leaders in Church and State propose many remedies to try and arrest the present decline and still the situation seems only to grow worse. Is there no hope then for our land? Must we continue on this slippery slope until at last we perish as a nation, just as other nations have done before us? The answer must surely be that there is a remedy, that there is hope, even for a nation that has fallen so low as ours.
Where then are we to find the solution to our present state as a nation? The answer is to be found in the Word of God. The One who declared to Israel — “Oh Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself” — is the One who also declares — “But in Me is thine help”. It is not to man we are to look for help in our present situation — for our situation is beyond the help of man — but to the Lord Himself, who is able to deliver the nation that looks to Him in her time of need. The history of Israel and Judah teaches us that when they looked to the Lord they were delivered, but when they relied upon their own wisdom and strength they were overcome by their enemies. There is hope for Britain yet, if only the nation will turn to the Lord in repentance. But before she will do this, she must be brought to an end of her own resources. Our leaders today are looking to Europe to save us — poor blinded Europe that cannot save herself! How long are these vain thoughts to lodge within us? There is a remedy provided. There is One who has an arm of power, and who is able to lift up the nation from the dunghill, and restore righteousness and truth and peace to her once again.
What a day it would be in Britain, if the leaders in Church and State were found confessing their own helplessness, and their need of divine help and deliverance. A change of government cannot remedy matters. Things have gone too far for that. We need divine help — the help of the Most High in our degenerate state. But is He ready to help such a nation as ours? What did He say to Israel of old? It was this: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” And is the Lord not as true to His Word now as He was when he uttered these words to Solomon? He is the same God still, merciful and long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth? And does He not hear the groanings of His people still, who cry day and night to Him? “He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.” Has He not a remnant yet in the land who fear His Name, and who plead with Him not to remove His candlestick out of the land? His ear is open to hear the cry of the poor and needy who call on Him to build up His Zion in their midst and who plead His own promise of a time when He will arise and have mercy upon Zion. In her present low state she is a reproach, but the Lord will yet build her up and make her glorious.
Let us not despair, notwithstanding the low state to which we have fallen as a nation. The Lord can take glory to Himself in restoring to our land the years that the locusts have eaten. When the Lord shall build up Zion, we are told in His holy Word that He shall appear in His glory. What a day it will be when Britain as a nation is brought to the feet of Immanuel, to be found there learning of Him. How glorious will His Church be then in Britain — in Scotland and England and Ireland and Wales! What times of refreshing will be experienced from the presence of the Lord. For such times we are to look and pray, remembering what the Psalmist said: “Thou art the God that doest wonders.” Let our eye be on Him who commands the blessing for His Jacob, and we will not look in vain. With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible. As one year is about to close and another about to open, may it please the Lord to turn our captivity as the streams in the south, and pour us out a blessing that there be not room enough to receive it.