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THE SECRET OF AMERICA’S GREATNESS J. A. Lovell, D.D. REALLY, once you come to think about the matter, there is actually no secret about America's greatness, for when one studies the Bible and accepts its teachings, knowing that we are modern Israel living in the literal Kingdom of God on earth, it is made quite plain to him why America is one of the greatest nations in the world and enjoys all the blessings, physical, spiritual and financial, we have enjoyed throughout our history. To appreciate these truths, one must bear in mind that the majority of the teachings of the Bible are national, not personal. True, there are many statements in the holy Scriptures that are to be taken personally, but it is a fact the majority of the Bible teachings are directed toward a nation or a race of people-- Israel. Contrary to preconceived notions and traditional teachings, the Bible contains valuable information for the nation as to citizenship, immigration, laws dealing with marriage and divorce, economic matters, laws regarding the soil, and laws pertaining to our military activities. Make no mistake about it, America is great--great from the standpoint of financial wealth; greater, still, from the standpoint of spiritual influence and power; great as to size and population. No one who is honest and open-minded will deny the true greatness of America. Mind you, our greatness is not an accident. There are many good Biblical reasons why America is one of the greatest nations in the world. Below we want to give at least five of these Biblical reasons for our greatness, in the hopes it will help the reader to understand these matters more fully and completely: COVENANT: One of the secrets of America's greatness harks back to the covenants of Almighty God made with our forefathers, particularly the unconditional covenant God made with Abraham. Abraham, of course, was an Israelite; he was a Hebrew, not a Jew, as we have been taught. Thus, the unconditional covenant God made with him affects our land and race today, since we are of the seed of this great patriarch. Though this mighty covenant is familiar, we quote appropriate parts here just to refresh our minds with the importance of this divine contract between God and man. Gen. 12: 2, 3: “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families o f the earth be blessed.” Far from making us a super race, the object of God's partiality, the terms of this great covenant make us a servant race, a steward, if you please. Instead of our boasting about these matters, we had better be very humble about them, being dead certain that we are living up to our responsibilities as the covenant people of God, chosen as an instrument of service to bless and serve the non-Israel races of mankind, because of the many physical blessings that God has showered upon this nation. It is not an accident, then, that we have been able to lend more money to other nations throughout the world than any other country in existence. It surely is not an accident that through our lend-lease program, and other such agencies during the past two decades, that we have been able to help so many countries throughout the world--in fact, practically all of them. The Abrahamic covenant guarantees these things for Britain and America. It is our mission, then, to help others. However, we should be very careful about the manner and the extent of this help, which, due to shrewd and crooked politicians, has not been according to God's plan, we believe, during the past few years. PROMISE: Our national greatness can further be explained on the basis of God's divine promises regarding the Israel people, who were to become a great nation and company of nations in the last days. Read the following two verses carefully: Gen. 27: 28, 29: “Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.” Notice in these verses that God specifically promised to give to Israel the dew of heaven, or good climate and rainfall; the fatness of the land, meaning the oil, gold, metals found in the earth; prosperity regarding crops, including corn and grape juice. Other nations were to serve Israel. God is not slack concerning His promises. He has faithfully kept all of His unconditional promises to His covenant people, Israel. Shame on ministers and Bible students who believe that God has not kept these great unconditional promises which He made to a race of people called Israel! Little wonder they do not understand the Bible, God, America's greatness and world happenings in this critical hour. Once, Mrs. Lovell and I were on a 4,000-mile speaking tour. We promised our son, who was only ten years of age at that time, we would be back on the evening of April 27th, when he would be eleven years of age, in time to bring him a birthday gift and give him a birthday supper. Complications on the trip made it virtually impossible for us to keep that promise, but, loving our son, knowing we had never willfully lied to him or broken a promise, we drove nearly all of one night and all of the next night, without any sleep, and with very little to eat, just to keep that promise to our dear son. We did arrive, just in time for a birthday supper and to present our little gifts. He has never forgotten it. Surely if we love our children well enough to go to great trouble and expense to keep our promises, wouldn't Jehovah God come a lot nearer keeping His sacred promises to His people Israel? BIRTHRIGHT: We must not forget that we are enjoying many of our national blessings here in America because of certain blessings our forefathers inherited by virtue of their birth. Gen. 48: 16 - 19: “The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name o f my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth… And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.” By virtue of birth, in these Scriptures we learn that the descendants of Manasseh (whom we believe to be the basic stock of the American people today) were to become a great people, while Ephraim, his brother, would have descendants in a company of nations that would be even greater, So, by virtue of birthright, many blessings have accrued to the countries of America and Britain that never would have been ours otherwise. For the same reason, Isaac, Jacob and others received many blessings, according to the divine plan and purpose of Almighty God. We should not treat these things lightly, but should know them, appreciate them, and tell others about them with gratitude and thanksgiving. CIRCUMSTANCES: Gen. 28: 16 - 22: “And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and o f all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Because of a circumstance, Jacob, being in the land of Luz, having a vision one night and awaking from his sleep and making a covenant with the Lord, America and Britain have enjoyed many blessings they could not have enjoyed had it not been for this particular circumstance. The name of that sacred place was changed from Luz to Bethel, the word Bethel, of course, meaning God's House. God's House, naturally, at that time included what we know now as the land of Palestine. But, when God's people sinned and were removed from that particular land for seven times of punishment, He, because of His goodness and mercy, gave Israel another home in the Isles northwest of Palestine, which we know today as the British Isles. Later a segment of that group came to America, which we can truly call a part of God's House, where His people live today in a portion of the Kingdom of God. It is wonderful to live in God's House! While a student in the university, we went with a friend to visit some girl friends in Mississippi. One of the girls was the private secretary to the warden of the state penitentiary. We were to be her guests that weekend. When we arrived, about twelve people rushed out of the house to grab our bags, care for our car, take us to our rooms, shine our shoes, and take care of other matters. This shocked us, because we had never had such treatment. We had private rooms, private baths, and a person to wait on us at all times. Later we were called to dinner. We have never seen a bigger table with more food on it than that one. Still later we were given a chauffeur and a fine, expensive car and were driven to the nearby town, and all of our bills for the evening's entertainment were paid. The next morning we had a special pew reserved in the local church, where the warden and his official family always sat. In other words, we enjoyed these unusual blessings because of a circumstance, the circumstance in this case being that our girl friend was private secretary to the warden of the state penitentiary. Today the people of our beloved country enjoy many great blessings because of a circumstance that took place with Jacob many centuries ago. DEDICATION: Gen. 22: 8: “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering: so they went both of them together.” We will not tell the full story concerning Abraham's offering of his son Isaac. We will recall, however, that the father had placed his son, as much as he loved him, on the wood and was ready to slash his throat when a Voice from Heaven commanded him not to do it. Instead, God provided a ram for the sacrifice. But, as far as Abraham was concerned, his son was dead, having been completely dedicated to God, and, in this dedication, the entire posterity of Abraham was consecrated and dedicated to God; thus God was obligated to watch over them, protect them, and bless them down through the ages. That explains why no one has successfully invaded American territory in wartime, and that explains why we will not be destroyed by China in her all-out attempt to attack and destroy us in the very near future. America, likewise, has been blessed and protected because of Abraham's unselfish, sacrificial dedication! SERMON #10816, SECRET AMERICA’S GREATNESS __________ New Christian Crusade Church
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New Christian Crusade Church You may call us Monday, Wednesday or Friday at 601-749-8565 Last modified: Wednesday, 17 October 2007 |
