Isaiah 43:1-7
What God Says to America (Part 1)
Why God Has Blessed America
There are several difference in the Old and New Testaments.
1. The emphasis of the Old is the law. The emphasis of the New is grace.
2. The worship in the Old was at the temple. The worship in the New is at a
church.
3. God desired animal bodies in the Old. He desires our bodies in the New.
But one difference that I have only recently considered is that God spoke to a
nation in the Old (Israel,) and He speaks to individuals in the New.
This chapter, like the book it is taken from and the Old Testament which it is
a part of is directed to the nation of Israel. You can see that…
\\#1\\ God speaking says I… "created thee, O Jacob…."
\\#3\\ God calls Himself "the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior…."
The message that God gives in this chapter then is directed to a nation, the
nation of Israel; but I want to redirect it for our New Testament worship to
the nation of America, and more specifically, to each individual sitting in this
sanctuary this morning.
Please understand that I know that Israel and America are two different and
distinct nations. I am not attempting to replace Israel with America. God has
made certain promises and stated certain prophecies which are Israel’s and
Israel’s alone; however, I believe God has a personal message to our nation and
to the people that make up this nation today.
Now, notice what God says to America.
I. \\#7\\ I have created you for My glory.
A. Notice that the pronouns record this as having come from the mouth of
God.
1. Jehovah God says that He made the nation of Israel.
a. Anyone who knows the Old Testament would have to say that is
so.
b. God took Israel when Israel was just an individual man with his
wife, Abram and Sarai, and He called them, promised to
multiply them, give them land, and make of them a might
nation.
c. The Old Testament is largely a record of God doing just that.
2. Might I say that anyone who knows American history would have to
say that Jehovah God did that for America as well!
a. The facts of American history are being altered, but some of
us are old enough to remember how history was taught in years
gone by!
b. We remember the story of the pilgrims coming to America in
1621, in search of a new land in which they could worship
God as they chose.
(1) Read the Jamestown Colony Charter of 1606-07.
(2) the Mayflower Compact of 1620,
(3) the Connecticut Fundamental Orders of 1638-39,
(4) the New England Confederation of 1649,
(5) the New Haven and Connecticut constitutions of 1662.
http://www.essentialchristianity.com/pages.asp?pageid=21917
(6) For that matter, read the constitutions of every state
in the Union.
(a) Even the State of Hawaii wrote in their 1959
constitution preamble…
"We, the people of Hawaii, grateful for Divine Guidance, and mindful of our
Hawaiian heritage and uniqueness as an island State, dedicate our efforts to
fulfill the philosophy decreed by the Hawaii State…."
(b) And the State of Alaska began their 1959 constitution
with the words…
"We the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and
pioneered this great land…."
(c) If you don’t believe that both of those state
legislatures intended the Jehovah God of the Bible
and His Son, Jesus Christ, then you are just plain
willfully ignorant because the rest of the union of
states would have never let them join the union
in 1959 if they had meant any other deity!
c. And there can certainly be no doubt which God our founding
fathers meant for they carved His name and His words into
stone with every new government building and monument they
built!
3. There is NO doubt that God honored the intentions and prayers
of those early Americans and made America as surely as He had made
Israel centuries before.
a. Those early Americans fought weather, isolation, hunger,
disease, and hostile Indians to settle this land.
(1) Did the Americans always do right?
(2) No. We know there was mistreatment of both the Indians
and the African peoples.
(3) I, like most every America of today, am sorry for that.
(a) The human race is made of sinners.
(b) It was sinful to steal people from other lands and
make them slaves in this land.
(c) It was sinful to kill the wild animals that roamed
this land for sport and convenience.
(d) It was sinful to force the Indians onto small
reservations.
b. However, our national sin does not diminish the fact that God
took a people…
(1) …with no skill or resources,
(2) …who were surrounded on every side by countries which
wanted to seize the land,
(3) …and who were under tyrannical rule and raised up a
mighty nation!
B. But get the purpose. God created these nations for His GLORY!
1. God did not create Israel (nor America) that they may do as they
will, but for HIS glory.
2. I believe that, in the end, God creates all nations for His glory;
however, I think God has different ways to get glory from some
nations.
a. God explained why He raised up Pharaoh and Egypt.
Exodus 9:14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and
upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none
like me in all the earth.
15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with
pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.
16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my
power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
b. God raised them up to get glory, but the glory was to come
by making them powerful and then destroying them.
c. No doubt, there are other nations who are raised up to bring
glory to God in that manner.
3. I believe God raised up both Israel and America to show what He
could do with a people who would worship Him.
a. There is no doubt that this is what God intended for Israel.
(1) God gave them His Word, a priesthood, and prophets to
help them do right, not to lead them to destruction.
(2) He had been long suffering with them.
(3) Even when He sent judgment, He always reclaimed them—as
is evidence by the fact that they again possess at least
a small portion of their Promised Land today.
b. I believe there is no doubt that is what God intended for
America.
(1) We joke about churches being on every block in the South,
but it is true.
(2) No where in the world has the Christian faith been so
boldly proclaimed, so abundant, and so reverenced as in
America.
(3) For 200 plus years, the gospel has heralded across this
country and from this country to the world.
4. Yet, having such a well-defined and evident purpose means that once
these nations cease to perform their purpose, they are no longer
an asset to God but a liability.
a. Israel ceased to bring God glory and is paying a high price for
their sinfulness.
(1) Their land and right to exist was taken away from them.
(2) As a disinherited people, a nation that no longer existed,
they were still despised and persecuted.
(a) The worse attacks upon Israel came while they did not
exist as a nation.
(b) They have been persecuted by some of the greatest
nations-the Turks, Spain, Italy, and of course,
Germany.
(c) The Catholics and Muslims religions have sought to
destroy them.
(d) They exist as a nation today primarily because Great
Britain and the United States have stood beside them
out of gratitude for their aid in World War I & II;
but as that generation fades so does that support.
(e) While you and I know how the last chapter for Israel
will come out, we do not know how many more chapters
of suffering they will have to endure until that
last chapter is written.
b. So, I fear, will America become a disinherited people as they
loss sight of their purpose before God?
(a) God made America and made this country for the
purpose of bringing Him glory.
(b) Overall, it has.
(c) It is up to our generations to be certain that it
continues to do so.
II. \\#4\\ You are precious in God’s sight and loved!
A. God is again the Speaker.
1. Obviously, He is again speaking to Israel.
a. God mentions countries that He had brought down for Israel’s
sake.
(1) \\#3\\ Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba-All countries south
of Israel.
(2) Although God does not detail how these countries were
brought down, it is implied that God allow these nations
to suffer so that Israel might be spared.
b. Why would God do that?
(1) Because Israel was precious to Him.
(2) God loves Israel.
2. Has God not put down other nations that America might prosper?
a. Ask England, the former Soviet Union, the Germans, and the
Japanese.
b. Up until America became double minded about winning wars, there
was no country that could match her military power and might
and few even dared to try.
c. Few countries would even attempt an attack on a single America
for fear of America’s reprisal.
B. Why has God given America such might?
1. It is because America was precious in His sight. God loved
America.
2. And why God not love a country who chose Him above all gods.
a. Israel and God had a unique relationship, but it was a
relationship begun when God chose Israel.
b. The United States of America is a country that chose God.
(1) Israel worshipped God because God told them to.
America worshipped God because they chose to.
(2) Israel feared God because they had seen His rebuke.
America feared God because they wanted His power.
(3) Israel reverenced the Word of God because of miracles and
plagues. America reverenced the Word of God because they
believed it.
(4) Israel had preachers and prophets because God sent them.
America had preachers because they asked God for them.
(5) Israel gave tithes and offerings because it was commanded.
America gave tithes and offerings because of love.
(6) Israel honored the Levites because of the Law.
America honored God’s servants because of respect.
(7) Israel honored the Lord’s day under threat of death.
America honored the Lord’s day with gladness and praise.
(8) Israel, which was supposed to be a nation of priests,
hoarded God for themselves.
America freely sent the gospel all around the globe.
c. Why wouldn’t God love America?
(1) Not that this country was ever perfect.
(2) Not that this country was ever completely saved.
(3) Not that any country could earn God’s respect.
(4) But why wouldn’t God love a people who loved Him?
3. The only thing that breaks my heart is that as America was free to
chose God so America is free to reject Him!
a. Many of us have wondered why God has not already moved against
America.
b. Yet, if we consider that there is still a large percentage of
people in this country who chose God, it should not surprise
us that God is still showing us mercy.
c. Perhaps He is not our Strong Tower and Defender as He once
was, but He still blesses us.
d. I do not know how much longer these blessings will be ours,
but I do believe this nation has been precious to God and
that God has loved it.
III. \\#10\\ You have a calling.
A. Still God speaks in the first person to Israel.
B. God lists three things that He had called Israel to do for Him.
1. \\#10\ They were to be His witnesses.
a. God desires a people to bear record of who He is and what He
has done.
b. God wants people to declare that He is…
(1) …God \\#12\\.
(2) …the powerful One \\#13\\.
(3) …the Holy One and Redeemer \\#14\\.
(4) …the Creator \\#15\\.
2. \\#10\\ They were to be His believers.
a. Israel was to be the people that believed God when no one else
would.
b. This faith would allow God to demonstrate His power.
c. It would give God a place to work through, if you please.
3. You are my understanders.
a. I know that is poor grammar, but God wanted a people to
understand who He is and what He does.
b. Don’t think that God must have understanding or be hurt or
lonely, because that is not the case.
c. However, since a lost person cannot accurately comprehend God
or His actions, God wants someone who can point the lost in
the correct direction.
C. When Israel refused to do these things for God, God removed them and
established the church to do them.
1. Even so, America, as it was a nation which had chosen God has been
privileged to help carry out these tasks.
2. And by the way, America did a fairly job of representing God to a
lost and dying world.
3. Sure, Christians were the force behind what America did, but
I have heard how the entire country…
a. …put that statement "under God" into our Pledge of
Allegiance.
b. …gladly taught their children in churches, from the Bible, and
prayed before each day of school.
c. …called national days of prayer and fasting when problems
came up.
d. …relied on the wisdom of God’s Word in dealing with matters
of international commerce, national law, divorce, and selling
of obscene materials.
e. As a nation, stores were closed on Sunday.
f. These and other examples were not just works of the church,
they were choices of a nation.
D. The nation believed in the things of God, witnessed on His behalf,
and understood who God was and what they needed to do to be
pleasing unto Him.
Now, this is where I am stopping this message. It is our Fourth of July, our day
to celebrate our nation’s birth and independence; and, in this morning worship, I
want to emphasize how blessed we are and why. We are blessed because God created
this nation, because He loves this nation, because we are precious in His sight,
and because we have fulfilled an important calling.
If you and I want this nation to continue to be blessed, we must turn it back to
its roots. What made America great is what will keep America great.
Let us pray for our America and ourselves.
<Outline
Index> <Close Window>
