Our Spiritual Heritage
One Nation…for the Glory of God
by Kenneth Copeland
Why did the Pilgrims come to America?
What was in the heart of God concerning this place?
If you want to know the truth about the founding of our nation, go back to its original documents and the circumstances surrounding their creation. The truth may surprise you.
It has always been God’s plan to have a nation where the glory of God could be sown and nurtured, from which His glory could spread throughout the whole earth—where all people could praise the God of heaven and be protected from sin, sickness, demons, fear and all the curse that had come on the earth. This North American continent was the place He chose for the seed to be planted.
God picked a handful of people from different places to come here and plant the seeds of His glory. They were not racists or religionists. They were just believers.
In November 1620, a little ship called the Mayflower came to the shores of this continent. The people aboard had the glory of God and a prayer of faith in their hearts for a place where they could worship God in freedom. On board that vessel, these people entered into a covenant with God to establish the land of His dreams in the Name and in the blood of Jesus.
The Mayflower Compact is America’s first great constitutional document. It was signed in Cape Cod Bay before the ship’s inhabitants set foot on American soil. Here is some of what it proclaimed:
"In the name of God, amen. We whose names are underwritten…having undertaken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and the honour of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia…."
This wasn’t just any colony. It was, in the words of the Pilgrims themselves, “for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith.” In England they had suffered persecution for their religious convictions. That had led them to emigrate to Holland in search of religious freedom. After 12 difficult years there, they made the voyage to the New World to begin a colony for the glory of God.
I always come back to this when I hear people predict the doom of the United States like they have been doing for more than 220 years. I want you to know something about this country—it may go through some hard knocks, but it’s not going to fail. I can tell you exactly why. It’s protected under the Mayflower Covenant—a covenant established in the blood of Jesus between the Pilgrims and God. Because of it, God has had mercy on this nation in spite of all of us.
20 : BVOV
