AMERICA, A CHRISTIAN NATION

THE BLESSED NATION
The title of the message today on this memorial day weekend is "The Blessed Nation." In Psalms 33:12-22 King David wrote these words about a blessed nation. I'll give you a simple outline as I read them:
I - HE ADDRESS THE PEOPLE OF THE NATION 12-15
12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
13The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
14From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
15He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
II - HE ADDRESS THE KING OF THE NATION 16-17
16There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
17An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
III - HE ADDRESS THE GOD OF THE NATION 18-19
18Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
19To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
IV - HE ADDRESS THE SPIRIT OF THE NATION 20-21
20Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
21For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
22Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

The world "blessed" means to be joyful and happy. A nation, a church, a people that truly is blessed will cause others to desire to have what they have and to become what they are.
In this message we will look at three thoughts taken from verse twelve.

I - A Blessed Nation -Ps 33:12a
II - A Blessed God -Ps 33:12b
III - A Blessed People -Ps 33:12c

I - A Blessed Nation -Ps 33:12a
The Lord promised to bless the nation who would make Him their God.
In the begging of our nation Benjamin Franklin challenged our forefathers to build this nation on the principles of the Word of God.
It seemed to be an unusual proposal but nearly everyone present in the founding meetings of this country were Christians, not by word but by life style.
Franklin said, "The nation that would do so, would become the greatest nation in the world."
Our Christian forefathers chose to base our constitutional principles upon God's holy word and the rest is history. No country was so blessed, so quickly as America.
Our country was blessed because it was built on three eternal building blocks:
1. The Prayers of Christians
2. The Principles of God's Word
3. The Person of Jesus Christ

1. We have a blessed nation because of... The Prayers of Christians
Let me give you some examples:
a. George Washington would often write his prayers in a prayer book and then meditate on them as he communed with God. When he was a young man in 1752, he prayed, “O most glorious God, in Jesus Christ…let me live according to those holy rules which Thou hast this day prescribed in Thy holy Word… direct me to the true object of worship, Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life."
b. Before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, upon which there were hundreds of meetings between 1774 and 1776, all of those meetings began in prayer. All 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence were professing Christians. They spent three hours in prayer alone, just before the signing.
c. Eleven years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in in 1787, representatives met in Philadelphia to write the Constitution of the United States. After several weeks of no progress, Benjamin Franklin, now, 81-years-old, arose and addressed those who were weary and confused.
He said this, “In the beginning of the contest with Britain (he was referring to the Declaration of Independence), when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection.”
“Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered.”
“All of us who were engaged in the struggle remember the frequent instances of God’s providence and power through prayer.”
“Have we forgotten this powerful friend?”
“Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”
“I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proof I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable than an empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this.”
“I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning.”
These, our forefathers, who wrote the Constitution of the United States, bowed in prayer to Almighty Jehovah God in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.
-They did not have a prayer meeting inviting all religions of this world.
-They rejected the Hindu faith. They rejected the Muslim faith.
-They even rejected the Church of England which our forefathers left because of the traditions of the church that imprisoned them. Our forefathers wanted freedom to worship Jesus Christ.
1- Our nation was a blessed nation because of the prayers of Christians
2 - Our nation was a blessed nation because of... The Principles of God's Word
Here are a handful of examples out of thousands of what our forefathers thought of the Holy Bible.
a. In 1620 when the Pilgrims sailed for America, they sailed for the purpose of establishing a government based on the Bible. The New England charger signed by King James stated their purpose, “..to advance the Christian religion for the glory of God Almighty…
b. When the Pilgrims landed Governor Bradford wrote, “being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, we fell upon our knees and blessed the God of heaven…”
c. The Rhode Island Charter of 1683 states, "We submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords and all those perfect and most absolute laws He has given us in His Holy Word."
d. In 1777 England ceased shipping Bibles to America due to the Revolution. The Congress of the United States was notified and recommended that 20,000 Bibles be ordered from Holland, Scotland and elsewhere in the world.
Each year new Bibles were sought for. Finally, in 1781 Robert Aitken, a publisher, petition congress to let him print the Bibles in America. And in 1781, 20,000 copies of the "Bible of the Revolution” came off the press. It was a small Bible that would fit in the pocket of a soldier. It was 4X6.
e. From 1620 till 1870's the main textbook of our country was the Bible.
1 - Our country was a blessed nation because of prayers of Christians,
2 - Our country was a blessed nation because of the principles of the Bible and lastly...
3 - Our nation was a blessed nation because of... The Person of Jesus Christ.
George Washington, John Adams, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and all who signed the Constitution of the United States did not pray to Allah. They did not worship Confucius. They did not bow to Mohammed. They did not pray to Mary or a saint. They prayed to God the Father through Jesus Christ.
We were a diverse nation but we had one God. America was a Christian nation, founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ.
If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will become a nation without God.
Many of our forefathers spoke of Jesus Christ in their writings. They worshipped Jesus Christ. They wrote gospel tracks about the Lord Jesus Christ and they died for the freedom of this country so the Gospel of Jesus Christ could be shared with the generations to be born in America.
And so they were willing to sacrifice their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor for a cause greater than life, freedom.
Erwin Lutzer tells this story in one of his books: In the first 300 years of Christianity, Christians suffered greatly for their faith. A Roman leader by the name of Alexander declared it was a time to put to rest the persecution of the Christians. He vowed to the Christian people that he would take Jesus Christ and make an image of him and put him in the Pantheon and make him a god like all the other great gods of Rome and the Christians cried, "No way." Thus ,the Christians continued to suffer and die under the whip of Rome.
One day, the antichrist will offer the same idea to this world.
Why did these earlier Christians not take the compromise? They knew our Lord has no equal. He sits above all gods. Jesus Christ sits alone as God. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. There is none but Him.
He is higher, greater, more glorious than man's futile image of some Greek or Roman god. He is One God to be worshipped.
--What made America a blessed nation? We had Christian leaders that feared and loved and reverenced the God of heaven, Jesus Christ and built our country on Bible principles and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
--We were a Christian nation that prayed to one God and worshipped one God. We believed in one book and we worshipped one Savior.
Listen: Many of you will ask, "Then why are we so far from God today? There has been many wars fought and many lives taken, but the greatest war waged, that has destroyed not just lives but the souls of men is a war called "the propaganda war."
Propaganda is a means of persuasion, in an attempt to influence a people by emotions (fear or pity), attitudes (bias or unbias), opinions or actions of a ideological, political or religious belief by using one-sided messages. Those who use propaganda leave out facts, tell half truths and justify lying.
Though America was a country founded on Jesus Christ, the people of our country has fallen to believe the propaganda of the unsaved.
Let me give you a few examples:
a. One great propaganda lie today that is destroying America is "diversify and be tolerant of everybody and everything. Accept everybody's belief, accept everyone's lifestyle, and let's all united and get along." That is not taught in the Bible.
Jesus did not teach that. Jesus said, "Come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean things and then I will receive you." He did not say join up. He said separate.
b. Another deadly misconception is "all religious roads will take you to heaven, so unite together."
The Bible teaches there is one God and one way to Heaven and that way is through Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me."
This may shock you but had I been invited to go to the National Day of Prayer in Washington DC this past April, I would not have gone. Why?
For one reason, there were 220 religions represented from Jews to Muslims and Hindu to Catholics to Protestants.
Pope Benedict XVI told a gathering of Jewish, Muslim and other religious leaders, "Followers of all religions must "stand together in defending and promoting life and religious freedom everywhere."
Jesus did not tell the religions of His day, you stand for your religious beliefs and I'll stand for mind and we will all strive to live in religious freedom. He said to the religious people of the world in John 8:44, "Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do."
That doesn’t sound to tolerant to me.
If you listen to the media today, you would think that the Muslim religion is just another religion and the terrorist are just a few fanatics within.
I want you to know that the Koran is the Muslims Bible. It states that those who will not convert to the Muslim religion are infidels.
Jews and Christians are classified as unbelievers and infidels.
The propaganda media tells you that is not so. Let me read to you from the Koran:
Allah is an enemy to unbelievers. - Sura 2:98
On unbelievers is the curse of Allah. - Sura 2:161
Slay them wherever ye find them... - Sura - 2:191
Allah has cursed the unbelievers and proposed for them a blazing hell. - Sura 33:60
Now listen to what Jesus says about unbelievers in Matt 5:39, ""..whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."
He said, “They that live by the sword shall die by the sword.”
He said, “Forgive and you shall be forgiven.”

II - A Blessed God -Ps 33:12b
Psalms 33: 12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
Look at the word, “God.” A person’s “god” is an object, a hobby, or a deity that, that person depends upon, desires, and is dedicated too.
A person looks to his "god" for protection, provisions and peace.
A person’s “god” is the entity a person’s bows before, weeps before, loves and adores.
A person gives most of their time, attention, talents and treasures to his god. A person lives to please and serve his "god."
Therefore, blessed is the person whose God is Jehovah.
"Blessed be the Lord thy God" is used often in the Bible and refers to God being holy and righteous and sacred and virtuous.
Jehovah God of the Old Testament is the Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament.
The Bible does not say "Blessed is the nation who accepts all gods of all religions. It doesn't say, "Blessed is the nation that is tolerant of sin and evil and wickedness.
For God to be Lord of a nation, a nation must accept the God of the bible who is holy and just and righteous and virtuous.
George Washington said, "It is substantially true that virtue and morality is necessary for our government to succeed."
Samuel Adams said, "It is not possible that any state can remain free, where virtue is not supremely honored."
John Adams said, "Virtue must be the underlay beliefs of our democracy we will be destroyed as human nature is corrupted."
Of the 1st 46 charters established in the United States of America, including North Carolina we find in each of its contents these words, “We establish this colony for the spreading of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
America is suffering today because most of the people have lost virtue. Virtue is honesty, morality, integrity, truthfulness. Isaiah 5:20 says, "Woe to those who call good evil and evil good."
We are living in a day from our President to our politicians to the press, to most people in our country, statistics shows corruption and deceit.
These, our leaders to not "bless God." They do not see Him as holy and virtuous. Sadly, most of our leaders in our country today are unsaved, building our nations on the sands of time.
The bias Media will not to print the truth. So, you ask, "How do we know truth?"
Jesus said, we must know the Bible, for it is truth.
He said to know people, inspect their fruit, not their words.
Over the past fifty years in America, there has been an all out assault against Christianity. There has been an all out assault against prayer and the Bible principles and righteousness.
-- In 1962 prayer was deemed unconstitutional.
--Then, Bible teachings was completely thrown out of education.
-- And the Ten Commandments were removed from the walls of the public educational buildings of America.
It was not the vote of public opinion but the corruption in the press and political leadership of this country.
America was founded as a Republic. That means America was a system of self-government by the consent of the governed.
Our country, founded on God, was slowly becoming a humanistic country bent on the whims of the minority and not the majority. Thus, as far back as the fifties and sixties, America ceased to be a Republic.
With Bible principles no longer being taught to our children, Marxism, humanism and evolution became the main teachings in our schools.
The main reason for these teachings was to encourage the youth of America to turn away from Bible principles. Now, that that has happened. The next step is to socialize America. We are there!
The youth of the sixties cried "freedom from God and government." Today, that cry is costing America their freedom.
You see the Bible was a measuring stick for American children and adults for 200 years. It brought God's blessings to America.
When it was removed from the lives of our children, man's heart became his own measuring stick.
The great danger is the eternal God of the universe declares that the "heart is deceptive above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it."
John Jay, the first Supreme Court Justice in American history was a Christian. He said, "A man who was not a believer had no business making decisions in the political affairs of this country."
The statesman and the godly founders of America have died off. We have mostly politicians running our country. It is no secret that most of them lie. And the clique today is, "I misspoke." No friend, to misspeak is to tell a lie.
These politicians have no knowledge of what this country was built upon. They do not want the Bible, prayer or Christ to be exalted in America.
I have agreed and disagreed with many presidents. But, President Obama, really troubles me. What I am about to say is my opinion based on the fruit of his life, not the words he speaks.
His words are propaganda.
His fruits reveal he is anti-Christian, anti-American, anti-constitution and anti-Israel.
His fruit reveals he does not believe in America as a Republic. He is a socialist who hopes to socialize America with his Totalitarianism form of government.
An example of anti-America took place, when our Senator Obama, in 2008 would not cross his heart when the National Anthem was sung when everyone else on the platform did. That told me he was anti-American.
An example of anti-Constitution is what has happened the past months with Arizona.
Over the last few weeks, President Obama and many of his followers have refused to honor their oaths of office, which involves keeping the constitution of the United States of America. It is their constitutional requirement is to enforce existing laws.
America's existing immigration laws states that a person cannot be in America without proper documentation. Our President says that he doesn't like the Arizona law and calls it misguided and wants our justice department to review it. Our President is anti-constitution.
Right before the mid-term election, a movie, that was made a year ago, is coming out in theaters called, "Machete." It pictures a brutal war against those in Arizona that will not give a free pass to illegal immigrants.
I don't mind people coming to America from any country in the world. But, they need to come legally.
Another vivid memory I have of Obama is a book he was carrying when a photo was taken of him. It was entitled, “The Post America World.” It was written by a fellow Muslim. It tells of the world after America crumbles.
When he says we are not a Christian nation but more like a Muslim nation, 100 years ago he would have been called a traitor., and rejected by the media, the politicians and the people of this great country. The reason today, he is accepted is because he is part of the propaganda machine to make America part of the one world government one day.
Americans are faced with an unresponsive and unaccountable one-party political system that rules all three branches of government. They have voted into law the Health Bill against the will of the people. That is anti-American.
The governing party has established a propaganda machine posing as a free press.
They run an educational program that teachers their socialistic and humanistic, anti-God views.
They hate Christianity, the Bible and righteousness.
They have been seduced by their hearts to worship materialistic gods.
1- They vote themselves raises.
2- They give themselves a paycheck for life.
3- They give to themselves a healthcare plan paid for by you and me, but feel they are too good to live by the healthcare plan the voted for the rest of America.
We got slack as Christians. We quit praying. We quit living by Bible principles and America began to roll in its luxuries. She has rollick in pleasures. She has revolted in morals and she is rotting in her sin.
We were once a blessed nation, but to stay blessed we must bless God. We must turn back to God with all our hearts.
The last point in Psalms 33:1 is...
III - A Blessed People -Ps 33:12c
Psalms 33: 12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
God chose Israel to be His people. They were to love Him, live for Him and be a light for Him in this world of evil.
Israel was to be faithful to God, but, they forsook God. God, then called His Church to be His faithful witness in these last days.
You that are saved, were not an afterthought of God. The Bible says in Ephesians 1 that God chose you before the foundation of the world.
God formed and allegiance with us. As He has been loyal and committed to us, we need to be loyal and committed to Him.
In 1892, Francis Bellamy wrote the Pledge of the Allegiance. Words were added and in 1954 we had this pledge, “"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all."
Two thoughts in our Salute to Flag:
1) Republic
He was reminding Americans that America was to be a Republic.
That means America was a system of self-government by the consent of the governed.
A Republic came with individual liberty, elected representatives and limited government.
A Republic was a government checked by balanced devices designed to stop tyranny, the three sections of government.
Today, we don't have a balance and check system in America. Today, one party controls all three branches.
In America our forefathers believed that after God, the individual came first. They believed that only by the consent of the governed, could government govern.
And then the purpose of a Republic was to protect man's life, liberty and property, not take it away.
2) Pledge
As a blessed people our pledge was not to a "flag" but the idea of what America was built upon, 1) The Prayers of the people 2) The Principles of God’s word 3) the Person of Jesus Christ.
America and Americans have been blessed from shore to shining shore with bounty and wealth and freedom and liberty, with prosperity and blessings because those who knew God blessed God..
I still love America because of what it was build upon and what it stood for.
If the people of America are to be blessed, they cannot go down the path of our present political leaders, the propaganda of the press or the direction of the president.
They must turn back to being a people of prayer, a people of principle and a people that worships the person of Jesus Christ.
******************
Proverbs 13;34, "Righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is a reproach to any people."
We must return to the Faith of our forefathers.
We must knee in humility and prayer.
We must go back to the cross.
The crisis is acute.
The danger is imminent.
Time is running out.
The choice is clear: Repent or perish, revival or ruin, Christ or chaos.

As your pastor, I ask from you this: I ask that you give to God and His Church, what our founding fathers gave to America.
They dedicated their lives to defend the Declaration of Independence.
They wrote and sign their names to a pledge that cost some of them their lives, all of them heartache and sorrow and many of them everything they owned.
They said, "with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor. The word sacred means blessed, or holy.
SO FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. WAKEUP AMERICA!