God's Personal Message to America # 2

God's Personal Message to America # 2

2. The Exalted Nation is Safe. Another sub-meaning of the word "exalt" is "to raise high as an inaccessible fortress, out of the reach of danger." Psalm 32:7 "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble, thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Psalm 119:114 "Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word." Many nations have been destroyed by their enemies or by God Himself through natural disasters. Plagues, pestilence, war, and unbelief have destroyed many countries. But America celebrates her 225th birthday this July 4th. What a testament to God's protection and preservation!

3. The Exalted Nation is Strong. Another shade of meaning of the word "exalt" is "to triumph over enemies." A mere glance at the history of America will reveal the hand of God's protection watching over us in war and in peace. Think of the odds of the colonies defeating the most powerful nation in the 18th century world, the British Empire. Yet, it happened. We take for granted our victory in the Revolutionary War. We assume that our power then resembled our power today. Not true! It was a miracle from God that America gained her freedom from England. Why did the Civil War not tear this nation apart? Could it have been the protection of God? In World War II, America took on much of the world essentially single handedly and assured freedom throughout the globe. There was a time when our citizens proudly said, "America has never lost a war!" We must give God the glory for past victories for He has protected us. Psalm 144:1 "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

III. The Revolt of a Nation  "...but sin..."

We now come to the depressing aspects of God's promise to "any nation." As surely as righteousness exalts a nation, sin destroys it. God says so in the very same verse! Today, many people want a "buffet-style" religion. They want a God who is mericiful, loving and kind. The God of Christianity fulfills that desire. But the God of mercy and love is also the God of judgment and damnation. People turn away from such a God. But here is the problem. This verse is a couplet, having two parts. The parts are opposite and contrasting. But one cannot be accepted without the other. They stand together as a testimony of God's unapproachable holiness. The truth is that God WILL judge sin! He will not wink at it, forget it, or misplace His records. To understand this truth, let us examine the meaning of the word "sin."

1. Sin is an Undisciplined Aim. To sin is "to miss the mark, as an archer misses his target." Psalm 2:1 "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the children of men." Mankind is bound to fail, seeing we are only flesh. But our sinful nature is not an excuse. Missing God's mark is the result of an undisciplined aim, a careless shot at God's perfection. America does not demand greatness of itself anymore. We do not honor what is good and right. Contrariwise, we honor and reward the evil and the froward. Look at our culture. The "bad guy" is now the norm; the "good guy" is the potential hypocrite who bears watching. A fitting illustration can be found in the sporting world. Former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker made international headlines when he spoke out against homosexuals and other perverted lifestyles in a magazine. He was assailed as intolerant and a bigot. His teammate, Chipper Jones, was engaged to be married, but impregnated a Hooter's waitress and reportedly tried to talk her into an abortion. She refused, had the baby, and Jones' fiance called off the marriage. Yet Chipper Jones was sought out by the media to comment on Rocker's verbal transgressions. The "bad guy" has been turned into the "good guy". Such is society's undisciplined aim at righteousness.

2. Sin is an Unwise Assurance. Another meaning of "sin" is "to stumble, to err from the path." Again, it seems that we have a built in excuse. Which of us has not stumbled from the path through no fault of our own? It is human nature to fail, to stumble. Our stumbling and erring from the path comes from a false assurance, a careless attitude. America has taken for granted the blessings of God, assuming that he will continue to bless and protect us in spite of our sin. Psalm 59:12 "For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride."

~Robert L. Cobb~

(continued with # 3)