1. AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

2. INTRODUCTION
William Penn wrote, “"Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."

3. “Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] the LORD; [and] the people [whom] he hath chosen for his own inheritance” (Psa. 33:12).
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34).

4. I. AMERICA WAS ESTABLISHED ON CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALS

5. George Washington
“Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
"It is impossible to rightly govern without God & the Bible."

6. John Adams
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with passions unbridled by morality and religion."

7. "Religion & virtue are the only foundations, not only of republicanism and of all free government, but of social felicity under all governments and in all the combinations of human society."

8. Thomas Jefferson
"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever."

9. John Quincy Adams
"The greatest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."
"No book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied, and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible."

10. "Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the Foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?"

11. II. NATIONS ARE PRESERVED IN THE FEAR OF GOD

12. The Court System Instills This Fear
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.

13. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.  

14. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing” (Rom. 13:1-6).

15. This Passage Teaches Us
(1) Government gets power from God (vs. 1).
(2) Cause of fear for evil behavior (vs. 3).
(3) A servant of the people for God’s blessings (vs. 4).
(4) An avenger for evil deeds (vs. 4).
(5) Able to collect taxes for service render (vs. 6).

16. The Executive Branch Rises or Falls Based Upon The Lord’s Will
“It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness” (Prov. 16:12).

17. “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will” (Prov. 21:1).

18. It has been said that America has never been a Christian nation, or that our founders were a bunch of atheists, agnostics, and deists. But consider the facts. At least 50 of the 55 framers of the U. S. Constitution called themselves Christians. Every single American president has referenced God in his inaugural address.

19. Every one of the 50 state constitutions calls on God for support
Every one of the 50 state constitutions calls on God for support. The Supreme Court, in 1892 after an exhaustive 10- year study of the matter, said: "This is a religious people. This is a Christian nation." Even today, the Supreme Court opens each session with the verbal declaration, "God save the United States of America."

20. III. NATIONS ARE PRESERVED BY THEIR FAITH IN GOD

21. Matthew Spalding, author of We Still Hold These Truths: Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future, says, "Of the many influences that shaped the American concept of liberty, the first and most formative was faith." Indeed, America was the first country in all of history that was deliberately formed to protect and promote religious freedom. Our founders rightly noted that people don't give people freedom — God does.

22. Mankind was saved by the righteousness of Noah and his family!
Israel was saved by 2 righteous souls: Joshua & Caleb!
Sodom and Gomorrah would have been saved if only 10 righteous were found.

23. Brethren, our country has not fallen because of the faithful saints that reside in this country!
“O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer” (Psa. 31:23).

24. IV. WHAT CAN CHRISTIANS DO TO SUPPORT AMERICA?

25. 1. Pray
“Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved” (Rom. 10:1).

26. 1 Tim. 2:1-4, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

27. 2. Participate
“Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work” (Tit. 3:1).
Support those politicians that stand for Christian principles (vote).

28. CONCLUSION

29. Abraham Lincoln
"Unless the great God who assisted [President Washington], shall be with me and aid me, I must fail. But if the same omniscient mind, and Almighty arm, that directed and protected him, shall guide and support me, I shall not fail ... Let us pray that the God of our fathers may not forsake us now."

30. From President Abraham Lincoln`s Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer, April 30, 1863: "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown.

31. But we have forgotten God
But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

32. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self- sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."