God Gives Us the Victory

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Like Pastor Welch, I also enjoy Independence Day. Like him, I also have “a blast” each July 4. If you missed this, Pastor Welch mentioned this in his June 21 sermon.

Welcome to July! This July will be much different than the July’s of the past. But, one thing is for certain, we have the sure and certain hope of eternal life by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord!

Some years ago, I visited Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. Of all the historical sites I visited over the years with my family, this site really affected me. In past years, I have visited Revolutionary War sites, Civil War sites, Arlington National Cemetery, presidential homes and Washington, D.C. sites. But, this trip to Fort McHenry put all those historical sites into perspective for me.

“O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

These are the words of our National Anthem, known as “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which Francis Scott Key (click here for more on Key) wrote on September 14, 1814 after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812 — known as the “Second Revolutionary War” or the war to keep our independence.

Key was inspired to write this poem as the large United States flag remained flying triumphantly above the fort as “the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air.” This flag “gave proof” that the United States was still “there.” You see, if this battle had a different outcome, it is very likely that the United States would have been re-taken by the British.

Being at Fort McHenry touched me so much. Even though the original flag is no longer flying there, I was at the place where America remained America. If you would like to see the original Fort McHenry flag, it is at the Smithsonian American History Museum in Washington, D.C. And, I have seen that flag too, as it still stands with bomb holes and all tattered and torn. But, the “flag [is] still there”!

The forgotten third stanza of “The Star-Spangled Banner” praises the One who won the victory at the Battle of Baltimore: the one true God. Key writes, “Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause is just, And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’”

Key also wrote a popular hymn titled “Before You, Lord, We Bow” (LSB 966). This hymn praises the one true God for our republic.

Before You, Lord, we bow,

Our God who reigns above

And rules the world below,

Boundless in pow’r and love.

Our thanks we bring

In joy and praise,

Our hearts we raise

To You, our King!

The nation You have blest

May well Your love declare,

From foes and fears at rest,

Protected by Your care.

For this bright day,

For this fair land —

Gifts of Your hand —

Our thanks we pay. (LSB 966, stanzas 1-2)

Text: Public domain

Some years after the War of 1812, a Frenchman named Alexis De Tocqueville (1805-1859) came to the United States. He noticed that the American Revolution was far different than the French Revolution. So, what made the two different? In France, the revolution removed all religious influence upon the French society. Everything changed. France wiped away their entire culture and started anew. This caused chaos and much strife in France. But, in the United States Christianity remained an integral part of the American society. Yes, the United States was a new country, but the United States didn’t wipe itself clean from its foundation.

In Tocqueville’s book that was given the title “Democracy in America”, he wrote what made the United States different was that the religious atmosphere remained. But, he did warn that if Christianity’s influence wavered, the United States would become like France, where the only hope for the people is found in government, rather than in Christ’s Church.

Tocqueville tells where the United States was and may be heading if Christianity’s influence goes away.

But, don’t let your hearts be troubled, as Jesus says. We are all called by God to live in this time and place. As Christ says, we are to acknowledge Him, and this isn’t always easy, as we may be betrayed by the ones we love, because of our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Thanks be to God, when we remain faithful to Him, He will acknowledge the faithful to God the Father and we receive eternal life with Him! In Christ alone, we have received eternal freedom from the bondage of sin.

As it was during the Battle of Baltimore, freedom looked bleak for the United States. The same doubt was upon the hearts of Christ’s disciples on that Good Friday as they saw their Lord stretched out upon the cross. But, like God who gave the United States the temporal victory at the Battle of Baltimore as the flag was still there, God the Father also gave us the eternal victory through the resurrection of His Son. Since Jesus lives, all who trust in Him are given eternal life all by grace through faith in Him!

In Christ, Pastor Adelsen