Is America Exceptional?

Well, today I want to preface my sermon by saying that what I'm going to speak about today, I think, well, at least I found it very encouraging to remind myself of some of these things that we learned from the Bible. These are very disquieting times. You can't help but turn on the radio or see the TV and just feel just a big dose of negativity. Statues being ripped down, rioting going on, people that are good people, solid citizens, being accused of all sorts of terrible things. This is a very upsetting time for us.

And so what I'm going to talk about today, I think, it's not necessarily anything you haven't heard before, but it's very encouraging to remember these things, to remember what is in God's Word. To step back, as I think we've heard many times, to step back and remember the big picture. That phrase goes way back some decades, at least for me. The title of my sermon today is, Is America Exceptional?

Is America Exceptional? Now, the United States just recently, a few weeks ago, celebrated its 244th birthday, birthday of American independence. And we know, if we remember our history books, we went to school and they still taught these things. That in July 4th, 1776, delegates from 13 British colonies got together and signed the Declaration of Independence, formally declaring their separation from Great Britain.

But how many Americans today give serious thought and appreciation for God's part in the unique founding and development of the United States? Until the 20th century, most Americans commonly and readily believed in divine providence. That's what they used to call it.

They believed that God ruled the nations. If you turn back with me to Acts 17, verses 26-27, we will find a scripture that does declare just that idea. And you probably remember it. Acts 17, verses 26-27. In here, Paul writes, he, referring to God, Acts 17, 26, Paul writes, Now, many people, perhaps not as many as before, still do believe this scripture, and rightly so. Though we may hear Americans generally speak less of divine providence, we do hear more often this phrase being used called American exceptionalism. Now, the term American exceptionalism refers to the uniqueness of the United States' founding ideals and principles in individual liberty, private property rights, and equal justice for all, and also of its special role in the world in human history.

That's a definition that comes from americanexceptionalism.org. American exceptionalism promotes these ideals and values which America was founded upon and which America has striven to live up to and exemplify. And it makes no claim of America ever being a perfect nation. It's accused of that, that idea of American exceptionalism. But it has not claimed that somehow America is a perfect nation. In fact, from the same website, americanexceptionalism.org, the writers write, The values of the United States' founding were always about aspirations, not claims of national perfection.

Through freedom, this nation aspired to foster greatness among its people. And other nations began to adopt some of our principles, they write, and they benefited accordingly. And it concludes their description of their beliefs by saying, Unfortunately, beginning early in the 20th century, many thinkers from other nations and within the United States began to characterize America and its traditional values as an impediment to progress, an impediment to progress and to human thriving. It's quite a change from seeing America's exception. Now, not everyone believes in American exceptionalism. Many call it a ludicrous idea.

Others call it plain old-fashioned backward thinking. Now, Michael Medved is a conservative commentator and author. He describes this, well, their view of America, their negative view of America this way. He writes that from a globalist perspective that equally honors every culture, the very idea that the United States enjoys and deserves a special position and character among the nations of the earth seems not only dubious, but dangerous in their opinion. So who is right? Who's right? In the history of the world, is the United States truly exceptional?

Is there anything unique about its founding and development that does suggest God's divine favor? Well, to address those questions today, we will consider a few events recorded in America's history and some events recorded in the Bible.

Ultimately, today, we will be reminded of the true source of our nation's uniqueness. That is God. God and his faithfulness in keeping his promises. God keeps his promises. And again, I've entitled the sermon, Is America Exceptional? Now, as I developed the answer to that title, I want to first spend a little time considering some facts from American history.

So let me lay some groundwork here for my answer. Many historians recognize that America is exceptional. You can find a number of books about that, although they generally can't explain why. They see the evidence that something different happened with America, but they can't quite explain why. So take, for example, Professor Walter McDougal's observation about the United States. In the very first line of his book entitled, Freedom Just Around the Corner, A New American History, he wrote this in 2004, McDougal makes this rather bold statement.

He says, the creation of the United States of America is the central event of the past 400 years. He then explains why he says that with this time traveler's example, I think we like the idea of what would it be like traveling back in time and comparing then to now. And that's what he does here. Let me continue reading. And so he writes, if some ghostly ship were transported in time from the year 1600 and into the present time, that crew would be amazed by our technology and the sheer numbers of the ship's size. But the array of civilizations would be recognizable. There is today, as there was back then in 1600, a huge Chinese empire run by an authoritarian but beleaguered bureaucracy.

There is still a Russian empire pulsing outward or inward to proportion to Moscow's projection of its whole world. There is still a vast Islamic crescent hostile to infidels but beset by rival centers of powers. And there is still a dynamic, more or less Christian civilization in Europe aspiring to unity but vexed by its dense collection of nations and tongues. He continues, the only continent that would truly astound the Renaissance time travelers, again from 1600, would be North America.

North America in 1600 was a primitive and nearly vacant, as late as 1607, but which today hosts the mightiest, richest, most dynamic civilization in history, a civilization, moreover, that perturbs the trajectories of all other civilizations just by existing.

That's what he wrote. That's amazing when you think about that. In a mere 400 years, which is not long in the history of human civilization as we understand it, in a mere 400 years the United States came into existence and then surpassed far older civilizations, many of them which are still around, and then to become the world superpower. And the United States still holds that rank as of now. And so, McDougall, anyway, finds something quite extraordinary about the rise of the United States. Now, let me continue to develop some more support to the answer I will have to the sermon.

I'd like to also share with you a few well-documented historical events that led to the United States' prominence as a superpower, both materially, militarily, economically, and culturally as well. Some of these you learned about back in school. For example, the Louisiana Purchase. I'm sure all of us have heard about that. In 1803, if President Thomas Jefferson hadn't persisted in negotiating with France to accept Napoleon's totally unexpected and rather bizarre offer of purchasing its territory of a Louisiana, that would be all 828,000 miles for $15 million.

The United States would not have so cheaply doubled its size or so easily acquired such great future wealth and international power. For a mere 3 cents an acre, that was back then in 1803, nowadays you'd have to cough up 41 cents an acre. Wouldn't that be neat? Nowadays, 41 cents an acre.

Back then, it was just 3 cents an acre. The United States acquired the territory for 15 future states. Regarding this amazing purchase, historian Charles Seramie observes that, to have been given such an imperial gift as Louisiana territory must have convinced many of the seriously faithful then that nature's design for the planet included a special role for America.

And that's a quote from Michael Medved's book. In that book, I should tell you, I'm quoting from. His book is entitled, The American Miracle, Divine Providence and the Rise of the Republic. He has a second book in that series. Now, let's talk about something a little closer to home and dear to our hearts, many of us, the Texas acquisition. In 1836, if General Sam Houston and his Texian army, Texian army, of 900 soldiers had not attacked the much larger Mexican army of 1700 soldiers, at a battle of San Jacinto, the state of Texas would not likely exist today.

That would impact us, wouldn't it? The Texians killed 630, won a 200 and captured 730 of the Mexican army, including General Santa Ana, the president of Mexico. In fact, Houston didn't realize they'd captured the president until they brought this man they found out in the woods, out in the prairie, and they brought him to the prison camp and suddenly the other soldiers started saying, El Presidente! El Presidente! Gave him away. That too was rather fortunate, wasn't it?

So they killed 600, wounded 200, captured 730, including General Santa Ana, the president of Mexico. In astounding contrast, the Texian casualties were only 9 dead and 21 wounded out of 900 soldiers.

Now that battle only lasted 18 minutes. Yeah, it lasted 18 minutes. And Sam Houston not only destroyed the enemy army, he also won and ended the entire war. And as Michael Medved notes, he says that 18 minutes of battle had ensured that Texas would remain American in culture and language. And not to be ignored is the acquisition of California. If a little-known American diplomat in 1848, February 1848, had not hung in there and persevered to end the Mexican-American War at the peace treaty, a peace treaty that would cede Mexico's western territory to the United States, California might not be a state. Now, I know some may say something about that, but we shouldn't. California is a wonderful place. We've been there and are very important to the nation.

But there's also this. If he hadn't hung in there on February 2, 1848, and get that treaty signed, there's also this amazingly, an unbeknownst to the Mexican and American governments signing that treaty in February 1848.

A few days before they signed that treaty, now, of course, it took a long time for war to get around. It wasn't until seven months later that they caught word of something really incredible that had happened in California. Just days before the treaty was signed, gold nuggets were discovered at Sutter's Mill in California.

The famous California gold rush had begun, but they didn't know it at the time. If Mexico had known of that gold, they would never have signed that treaty. In a book entitled Seizing Destiny, 2007, Richard Kluger, the author, notes this irony. He states, Spain had owned California for three centuries and let it drowse in the sun. Mexico had owned California for three decades, and likewise left it fallow.

Scarcely a week before California passed formally into the hands of the United States, gold was found there, sparking not one of history's most spectacular examples of wealth creation. Was there ever a more manifest sign than Americans enjoyed providential favor and had been destined to possess the best part of the continent from sea to sea? Pretty amazing. Now these are just three accounts. There are many others, and there are other writers that have, you know, delved into those old dusty volumes of history to find these facts. Many of these things we don't hear in school or talked about, but these are facts. These are documented. And these are just a few of the amazing, well, coincidences, of course, from American history. But they were foundational to the United States becoming the superpower it is today. Now were these events, like many others, we could look at just mere coincidence, or they just mere dumb luck.

Well, I think one or two instances of good fortune might be ascused as chance, but numerous fortunate events, such as a pattern. A pattern suggests a design, just like we see this in creation, don't we? And a design points to a designer, to some enabling force. Earlier generations of Americans attributed such events to God's divine providence. They firmly, and it seems with good reason, believed that God guided the nation. Now today, many Americans claim to be far more enlightened than our predecessors, than our great-great-great-grandfathers and others. Far more enlightened than Americans of old, modern-day Americans, especially those of more secular and progressive thought. They reject outright any notion of God's guiding hand in the affairs of the nation. Instead, they argue that the wealth and power of the United States is due to Americans being greedier than any other nation ever known. That's why we're so blessed. Of course, Michael Medved doesn't agree with that point, but he does describe their viewpoint this way. He writes, In a progressive viewpoint, that's what makes America exceptional. Our greed, ruthlessness, and immorality. Of course, that is a problem we have in America. I do not deny it. Now, it is true that the history of the United States includes some terribly awful dark chapters, and we're still living because of the sins of our fathers, we might say. Such as slavery, the cruel exploitation of many peoples. But the fact is, when you back up and look at the entirety of human history, such evil is not exceptional in the United States. That is not unique to the United States. Such human evil has occurred and continues to occur throughout this world in every human nation, we might argue. Like all nations, America was and is made up of flawed and sinful human beings. But those who reject the idea of God and of his providence still can't quite explain the pattern of all these happy coincidences that we find in American history. And I would also add this, though. Even those who do believe in American exceptionalism, even those who do believe that God has given special favor to the United States, they still don't quite understand why. They can't explain why God has done so. The most vigorous proponents of American exceptionalism don't truly know why America is exceptional. Do you? Do you know why?

God's favor towards the United States, and I know many of you know this, but it's good to remember, God's favor towards the United States is because of the promises he made to Abraham, and to Abraham's descendants now nearly 4,000 years ago. God is faithful. He is trustworthy. He keeps his promises. He keeps his promises. So now let's put aside human history and look more closely at what the Bible says. Let's turn your Bibles back to where we started in the sermon at. In Genesis 22, and let's review how God's promises to Abraham relate to the United States right now in the 21st century. In Genesis 22, here we read about Abraham. During his long life, Abraham had learned to walk humbly and obediently with God. He learned to trust God completely. So when God commanded him to sacrifice Isaac, the son of promise whom God had given to him and Sarah in their old age, they were well in their 90s. Pretty incredible. That was a miracle. When God had given him that son of promise, he fulfilled his promise then when God said, sacrifice Isaac, he did not question God. He did not question God. He responded faithfully. He obeyed. Let's begin reading Genesis 22, verse 9 through 12. And speaking again, Mr. Nozzle mentioned this, kind of left off where I'm going to pick up and vice versa. It kind of worked out well. Genesis 22.9, the servants coming with Abraham and Isaac, referring to them, then they came to the place in which God had told him, and Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order, and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! And so he said, here I am. And he said, do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. It's pretty incredible. So we learn Abraham's action proved that he trusted God totally. His absolute trust and faith pleased God. And so Abraham proved worthy of becoming the father of the faithful and of the many who would believe and obey God. Now in return, God promised to Abraham physical and spiritual blessings. Let's look now starting in verse 15, and we'll read verse 18. Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of the heaven and said, By myself I have sworn, that's an important phrase, by myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, blessing I will bless you and multiply, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, and your seed, all the nations of the earth, shall be blessed. Because you have obeyed my voice.

Now these promises are primarily physical blessings, blessings of nearly limitless descendants and material wealth of great national and international power. But verse 18 signifies the promise of spiritual blessing, a wellness upon all humanity through the descendants of Abraham. And of course, we understand that that blessing was fulfilled and is being fulfilled through Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the Christ. Now in verse 15, again God's words there, By myself I have sworn are very important. You see, they signify that God unconditionally committed himself to bring about all the promises he had made to Abraham in his descendants. That meant that God's promises now depended upon God, no longer upon Abraham. God would fulfill the physical and spiritual promises he had made, and so he has been doing, and so he will continue to do.

Now God also renewed his promises to Abraham's descendants. We can also read that. Let's look at Genesis 26. Genesis 26, verse 3 through 5. Here God is speaking to Isaac.

Genesis 26, verse 3 through 5. God tells Isaac, I will give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven. I will give to your descendants all these lands, and in your seed the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Also, Genesis 28. Genesis 28, verse 13 through 14.

Here God is speaking to Jacob. Genesis 28, verse 13 through 14. And behold, the Lord stood above it, this pile of rocks, and the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you in your descendants. Also, your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south, and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

And so again, we find the echoes of God's promise given to Abraham of physical and spiritual blessings towards all humanity as well.

Let's turn back a little bit further now, a bit farther to Genesis 48. Genesis 48, verses 14 through 19. Genesis 48, verses 14 through 19. Here we find Jacob, also known, of course, as Israel, blessing his grandsons. Now, if you want to know more and all the fill-in details, this is not an advertisement, but maybe it is, go back and read this booklet. The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. In fact, if it's been a long time or a few years, even since you've read this booklet, I highly encourage you to read this before the fall Holy Days. There's much information here, much good news, much encouraging news here. And I'm just kind of skating along a certain thread of this good news.

Now, Genesis 48, verses 14 through 19. As I said, here we find Jacob, Israel, blessing his grandsons. Through Jacob, God passed the national and material blessings of his promises to the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh. And these are the sons of Joseph. Let's look at verse 14, and we're kind of cutting into a larger narrative here. Verse 14, Verse 17, Now when Joseph, who's standing nearby, their father, when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. So he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. Of course, he had crisscrossed his arms, his hands. And so when he wanted to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head, the right hand would typically go on the head of the firstborn. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this one is firstborn. Put your right hand on his head. But his father refused and said, I know, my son. I know. I know what I'm doing.

He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. But truly, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations. And so again, we understand here, Joseph tried to switch Jacob's hands so his right hand rested on the firstborn, Manasseh. But Jacob objected, for he was obeying God's higher will. The first half of Jacob's words here in verse 19 reveals that the descendants of Manasseh, the elder son, would become a great people. But the descendants of Ephraim, the younger son, would become a multitude of nations. And so the descendants of both brothers would receive the physical blessings of numerous offspring, national, international power, and great material wealth. And what of that spiritual promise? Let's address that real quick. What about that spiritual promise to Abraham and his descendants? Well, that blessing would be through Judah. And we can see that if you turn now to Genesis 49, the next chapter, Genesis 49, verse 10. Here, Jacob foretold of Judah's descendants in verse 10, Genesis 49, 10. Jacob said that the preceptor shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh, Shiloh meaning tranquility, peace, rest, until Shiloh comes.

And to him shall be the obedience of the people. And so what this prophecy pointed to is Israel's future king. That was David at first, King David, and then later to the Messiah, also of Judah, and also a descendant of David, of course, Jesus Christ. Now, it's interesting that Genesis 49 includes Jacob's prophecies for all of his sons. And as verse 1 tells us, they foretell what shall befall you in the last days. Let's read that. Genesis 49, verse 1. And Jacob called his sons and said, Gather together that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days.

Last days, end times, it's... well, we would say it's happening right now, and as our evidence is going to show, we are living in the last days. We are living in the end times. And so now I'd like for us to stay here in chapter 49, but now let's read verses 22 through 26. Genesis 49, 22, 26. Here we read the prophecy for Joseph's descendants in the last days. This is in the last days. We read verse 22. Joseph is a fruitful bow in the last days, a fruitful bow by a well.

His branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him, and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. By the God of your Father, who will help you, and by the Almighty, who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breast and of the womb, the blessings of your Father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.

They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brothers. And so Jacob prophesied that the descendants of Joseph, that would be, then as well, in the end time, the descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim, that they would possess the choice, blessings, and resources of the earth. Now, I'm going to quote now from the United States and Britain Prophecy booklet, because it has a very clear description of what it explains what the prophecy is saying.

This is how we see it. Now I'm reading from the booklet, page 25 through 26. We write in our booklet, Joseph's descendants will live in a productive and well-watered and fruitful land. They will be a people who have greatly expanded their territory and influence politically, militarily, economically, and culturally. A people whose branches grow over the wall or beyond their natural borders. They will be a people that on occasion will be attacked by other nations but will generally be victorious.

Their triumphs will sometimes seem miraculous or providential. Sounds like some of the history pieces I read about the United States. But that's because Almighty God is their helper and source of blessing. They will be a people who live in an unusually favorable climate that easily supports their steadily expanding population. We write, they will enjoy the blessing of good crops, vast herds of livestock, and extensive natural resources such as stands of timber, valuable minerals mined from their soil. And then the booklet poses this question to the reader, and I'm going to share it with you.

The booklet says, where can we find the descendants of Joseph, the lost tribes of Ephraim and Asa? To find them, we must ask ourselves, which nations possess these blessings in our world? And so we look around today, which nations possess such blessings as described here now in the end time? Well, sitting here today, we know the answer. Ephraim, the multitude of nations, is Britain and its Commonwealth nations. It's not the superpower it used to be. Their time has come. They're on downward descent, it might seem.

They're not the great superpower. But Manasseh, that great people, is the United States, a great people. Britain and the United States, then, have been the recipients of God's promises and prophecies here afforded to Joseph, as recorded in Scripture. And again, something that was written nearly 4,000 years ago. And that excites me to think I'm sitting here in the United States growing up, and here's something. I know the Bible connects to me, but this connects me to something very ancient and profound, and how very exciting that is. Now, to be clear, God does watch over the affairs of all nations, as we read earlier in Acts 17. We also know that God loves all humanity.

We know that because what Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2, 4, he said, Paul wrote that God desires all, all people, to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. It's part of that spiritual blessing that had come through Abraham's descendants, a blessing through faith in Christ's sacrifice.

And though God has given special favor to the United States and Britain, it's important that we understand that neither the United States nor Britain received these exceptional national blessings because their people are superior to other people. Our nations have not received these blessings because we are superior in righteousness, because we are superior in character and intelligence, or in anything.

Of oneself alone, no human being is really exceptional. Well, one person, one human being, was exceptional. Of course, that is Jesus Christ. The exceptional blessings, then, upon Britain and the United States, these national blessings are due to Abraham's faith in God and God's commitment to keep his promises. It's because of God, not of ourselves, that we have received these blessings. And so God has been fulfilling his obligations for all these thousands of years. But now I want to ask us, and when I'd ask our nation and all the descendants of Israel for that matter, what obligations do the descendants of Israel have toward God? What obligations do the descendants of Israel have to God?

What does God desire and expect, then, of the people of the United States, Britain, and all the other nations' modern-day descendants of Israel? Let's be turning to Deuteronomy 7. A few places in Deuteronomy I'm going to have us turn to as we begin to draw towards the end of the sermon about the question, Is America Exceptional? Deuteronomy 7, verse 6-11. Here, I'd like for us to pay attention to these words.

Here we find God's words spoken through Moses and by Moses. In here, God is pleading with the children of Israel, His chosen people, those descendants of Israel. He's pleading with the children of Israel to believe and to obey Him. And these ancient words still speak to Israel's descendants in these last days. We read Deuteronomy 7, verse 6. God says through Moses, For you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

See, Israel had nothing to do with it. God chose them. Verse 7, The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples. But because the Lord loves you and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with the mighty hand. And He has redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Therefore, verse 9, therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.

And He repays those who hate Him to their face to destroy them. He will not be slack with Him who hates Him. He will repay Him to His face. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today to observe them. So it is clear that the descendants of Israel are obligated to keep God's commandments and way of life.

But we don't have to look too long or too far afield today to see that in the United States, the descendants of Manasseh, that that is not happening in our society today, in this end time. In Deuteronomy 8, 10-14, in Deuteronomy 8, verses 10-14, I'd also like for us to read and think about this somber warning again that God gave through Moses to His chosen people, a warning again that still speaks to Israel's descendants today.

Deuteronomy 8, verse 10, God said, And again, earlier Americans and generations used to do that. Some, yes, we still do today. Then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Verse 11, This is where it starts sounding familiar to maybe our ears here.

And when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, it pretty much covers everything. When your heart is lifted up, full of ourselves, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out to the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. Verse 19, Again, God is faithful to keep His promises. And these are promises we've just read. God is faithful to keep His promises. And God does desire that His people be faithful to believe in Him, that they be faithful to repent, that they be faithful to keep His commandments. Clearly, God expects His chosen people to humble themselves and to be as faithful to Him as was their ancient father, Abraham.

He expects His chosen people to be as faithful to Him as was and is their Savior and soon-coming King, Jesus Christ. That's what God expects. So the answer is America exceptional. Yes, America is exceptional, despite what we may hear. It's exceptional because of God's national blessings upon it. But those blessings are due to Abraham's faithfulness to God. And God's faithful commitment in keeping His promises. Now, to be truly exceptional, the United States needs to be faithful to God. They need to keep their obligation. America must turn to God and must repent and keep God's commandments and ways of righteousness. And then it will be a light to the nations that God would have it be and that God would have all the descendants of the children of Israel to be. And so Israel will be one day.

That's also a promise God has made. That's also a promise God has made. But that is a sermon. Actually, several sermons for another time.

Let us pray for our nation. It's in serious dire trouble. We are all in trouble. But we have hope in Jesus Christ. And we need to be living examples to let others know there is hope. All is not forlorn. All is not hopeless. Let us pray for our nation. Let us live according to God's way of life, faithfully. And let us pray for the coming of Jesus Christ.