Our troubled nation plunged deeper into moral depravity recently when the United States Senate failed to confirm a bill that would have protected the innocent lives of newborn infants who survive a failed abortion.
With every Democrat except three voting no, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act introduced by Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., was defeated in what I believe is nothing short of endorsing infanticide.
The bill would have simply provided prompt care of the child to the same degree as “any other child born alive” and would have penalized abortion providers who failed to do so. “Picture a baby that already has been born that is outside the womb, gasping for air,” Sasse said on the Senate floor just before the infamous vote.
This is the inevitable outcome of a culture that devalues life created in the image of God, and rages against God and His sovereign rule (Psalm 2). When Roe v. Wade became the law of the land in 1973—completely opposed to the law of God—beautiful, precious babies fell into the hands of sadistic butchers.
And lawlessness only leads to more lawlessness. Although the original Supreme Court rulings in 1973 gave great leeway to the “health of the mother,” most abortions were performed during the first trimester of the mother’s pregnancy. Then just a few months ago, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam callously described how a mother and physicians could collectively decide the fate of a child who survived a failed abortion. Now, with this recent vote, the U.S. Senate, the great legislative body of America, has declared it will do absolutely nothing to give proper medical care to an abortion survivor.
Shame on them!
President Trump was right that “this will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress. … The Democrat position on abortion is now so extreme that they don’t mind executing babies AFTER birth.”
Such is the appalling descent into once unimaginable moral territory when a nation, a culture, turns away from God. When that happens, there’s only one way to go—down into moral anarchy, where everyone does “what is right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25, NKJV). Just look at what happened to Old Testament Israel, which despite its privileged and blessed position, ultimately was taken into captivity to pagan nations due to its disobedience.
That’s why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is our only hope.
When the Gospel is preached and men and women repent of their sins and turn to Jesus Christ in sincere faith, an amazing transformation occurs. Hardened hearts are replaced with new desires to obey and follow God in every area of life. Moral darkness is replaced with the light of God’s truth and beauty.
However, our nation has slipped so far down the slippery slope of immorality and idolatry that I believe it will take a massive revival and move of the Holy Spirit to turn it around, as was witnessed in the Great Awakening. It has happened before, and I believe it can happen again because God delights in doing what seems to be the impossible.
It was the powerful, Biblical preaching of George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards that ignited the Great Awakening. Hundreds of thousands heard both proclaim Christ. Whitefield visited Harvard and Yale, and Edwards briefly became the president of Princeton University, before he died in 1758 at age 54. The Spirit of God moved mightily and sovereignly as the Gospel swept across the Northeast, transcending denominational differences and igniting passionate evangelism.
Next month, I will be preaching the Gospel across the Northeast United States, the very region where the Great Awakening occurred. In a period of just 11 days, I will be proclaiming the Good News in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.
It’s the 2019 edition of Decision America. Last year I preached in 10 cities in California, where total attendance reached 50,000. We also held the Decision America Pacific Northwest Tour in Washington and Oregon, where 70,000 people took part. We prayed for our troubled country and encouraged everyone to become involved in some fashion in local school boards or county commissions, and to vote for political candidates who most closely aligned with Biblical values. Thousands gave their lives to Christ. It was powerful.
I saw the Spirit of God move wonderfully during my recent six-city tour of Australia. The weather was hot—it was 90 degrees and humid in Darwin—but that didn’t stop the crowds from packing out stadiums and venues to listen to the Gospel message. In all, nearly 60,000 people attended, and thousands made life-changing decisions for Christ.
Along the way, I met a number of folks who were saved during my father’s Australian tour in 1959. They recalled the power of the Gospel message as my father preached on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ—what the Apostle Paul called “of first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3). It’s all God’s doing, and to Him alone belongs all the glory and praise. “The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation” (Cf. Romans 1:16), and it doesn’t need the help of any man.
So pray for us here at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in the coming days, that we would continue to boldly preach Christ and Him crucified. It’s what we’ve been doing for more than seven decades, and what we will continue to do for as long as God gives me breath and strength. My son Will is continuing this tradition as well. He recently had a series of meetings in Manila, where more than 19,000 people surrendered their hearts to Christ in faith and repentance.
And pray for our country. Pray for revival. We desperately need it. God can do it.
The Scripture Quotation marked NKJV is taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version.