A Great Nation

A GREAT NATION

Psalm 33:12

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose

for his inheritance.”

(NIV)

What does it mean, “the people He chose for His inheritance”?

God chose to set apart a people who would belong to Him.

Humans normally do not get the opportunity to choose their

inheritance. When we inherit something, it is because a generous

benefactor considered us worthy to receive a prized possession. It

may be a piece of property, or jewelry, or furniture. But whatever

it is, we did not choose it for ourselves.

The Scripture says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,

the people he chose for his inheritance.” God made a choice

before the world spun into motion from His fingertips, before

mankind was created. God chose to set apart a people who would

belong to Him. He reminded the nation Israel, as recorded for us in

Deuteronomy 4:20, “But as for you, the LORD took you and

brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be

the people of his inheritance, as you now are.” Israel was to be

His inheritance by His choice. But Israel chose to serve idols, to

follow their own ways in unrighteousness rather than God’s

righteousness. Even though repeatedly reminded, the inheritance

God chose did not choose Him.

God still seeks for a nation to bless, a nation “whose God is the

LORD”, a people who recognize their chosenness and choose to

make Him Lord! Is America that nation? How does a nation make

that choice? How can America be a Great Nation?

G - GOOD

French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, after visiting America in 1831,

said, "I sought for the greatness of the United States in her

commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and

boundless forests--and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich

mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in

her institutions of higher learning--and it was not there. I looked for

it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution--and

it was not there. Not until I went into the churches

of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I

understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great

because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good,

America will cease to be great!"

"It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their own

independence upon the overruling power of God . . . and to

recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and

proved by all history, that those nations only are blest whose God is

the Lord." - Abraham Lincoln

R - Righteous

Peter Marshall, before the U.S. Senate said it ever so well in a

prayer many years ago. "Lord Jesus, thou who art the way, the

truth, and the life; hear us as we pray for the truth that shall make

all free. Teach us that liberty is not only to be loved but also to be

lived. Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books. It costs

too much to be hoarded. Help us see that our liberty is not the right

to do as we please, but the opportunity to please to do what is

right."

Understand three principles regarding “Righteousness”

• We are not righteous by nature…we are sinners.

• We do NOT become righteous by being good

• We are made righteous through Jesus Christ. 2 Cor. 5:21 “God

made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might

become the righteousness of God.”

Our forefathers understood righteousness. They knew that

righteousness was the catalyst to give birth to this nation of people

looking for freedom and liberty. They knew that just as CHRIST

paid the price for our liberty that they too would pay for

LIBERTY. Liberty and freedom has ALWAYS EXACTED A

PRICE.

It all began 226 years ago, when on July 4th, 1776, 56 brave men

signed the document known as “The Declaration of Independence.”

Do you have any idea what price these men paid for the

independence to live in a nation built on the Righteousness of God?

• Five were captured and tortured by the British before they died.

• Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned to the ground.

• Two lost their sons in the war.

• One had two sons captured.

• Nine fought and died from wounds or the hardships of the war.

• Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his

ships swept from the seas by the British navy. He sold his home to

pay his debts and died in rags.

• Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was