Gtcotr/ss070421
It is certain, that God governs in the affairs of man.
In a moment we will discover who made that quote famous. But for now, let’s
read a verse from the Book of Psalms.
Psalms 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the
LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
On July 4, 1776, 56 Brave men signed a Declaration of
Independence and brought birth to a new nation which was dedicated to
the truths they all held to be self-evident. Today, 245 years later, we are not
left to guess what they intended or by whose authority they acted. Thankfully, their
writings have been preserved and stand and they provide testimony as to what our
founding fathers intended. Some imagine our founding fathers’ ideals to be out
of touch with the realities of this generation.
Yet I submit this in evidence that what the United States of America has achieved under the umbrella of these self-evident truths makes us the greatest nation of any generation since the days of Solomon, the last King of the united 12 Tribes of Israel. The preserved writings of those individuals God used to birth and build this great nation perfectly fit together to tell the one true story of the founding of America.
There is no other nation on earth today, nor has there been in the lifetime of anyone alive today, a nation so great, a nation which holds such opportunity, a nation so safe, so prosperous, so giving, and so forgiving as the United States of America. This is evidenced in the fact that people from every custom, culture, race, ethnicity, color, kind, and belief, want desperately to come to America and live and enjoy the freedoms we hold so dear and protect so aggressively.
Success is more than a one
step process and at times it is a long, lonely,
and difficult road. I am proud to be an American and I am among the most
fortunate people in the world to live in the land of the free and the home of
the brave. A place where I have been guaranteed:
- ·
Freedom to worship the God I trust
in the way I believe is right.
- ·
Freedom to speak my mind in private
or public without the fear of reprisal.
- ·
Freedom to lawfully and peacefully
assemble and to redress my grievances, even against the government, in a public
forum.
- ·
Freedom to protect myself from
governmental encroachment and tyranny.
- ·
Freedom to feel secure in my person,
papers, houses, and effects, from unreasonable searches and seizures.
- ·
Freedom to not be compelled to be a
witness against myself in any criminal court, or to not be put in jeopardy of
life or limb twice for the same offense, or to be deprived of my property
without due process and just compensation.
- ·
Freedom to be given a speedy trial
in front of an impartial jury of my peers in the place where the offense is
alleged to have occurred, and provided the nature of the charges against me,
the opportunity to gather witnesses and present a defense, and to be faced by
my accusers.
- · Freedom from being required to pay excessive bail, fines, or be subjected to cruel or unusual punishment for any crime alleged or proven to have been committed by me.
I could go on and on about the freedom to vote, freedom from slavery and involuntary servitude, freedom to attend the school of my choice, live in the neighborhood of my choice, work in the field of my choice, earn a reasonable salary, eat and drink whatever I can afford, and be free to raise my family and pursue my dreams without respect to my race, color, creed, national origin, gender, religion, public opinion, or the prejudices of others.
Thank God for the United States of America. We are truly a nation blessed by God. No wonder why people from every country in the world want to come and live in America. How did this happen? How did we get to be such a great nation? It started with the foundation upon which we were built …
Allow me to read two sentences, one from the beginning and one from the end of the Declaration of Independence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness.
This self-evident truth has guided our nation to take necessary steps to right the wrongs, change laws, and mandate equality. We have a long-standing history of doing better with each step as a nation.
The last sentence of that July 4, 1776, Declaration signed by these 56 men
reads:
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each
other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
The Declaration of Independence describes the two things it took to build the
nation God has used for the last 245 years. There are two truths upon which the
Independence of our nation depends:
- ·
Dependence on God
- ·
Dependence on each other
- ·
Trust in God
- · Trust in each other
The Declaration of Independence was
not the first time men were willing to risk their lives for this divine plan of
God we know as The United States of America.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus wrote this in his
“Book of Prophecies”. Let me read it as you consider his heart and the call of
God which on his life.
It was the Lord who put into my mind – I could feel His
hand upon me – the fact
that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies … All who heard of my
project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me … There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy
Spirit, because he comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the
Holy Scriptures … For the
execution of the journey to the Indies I did not make use of intelligence,
mathematics, or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had
prophesied … No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our
Savior, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His Holy service … the fact that the Gospel must still be preached to so many
lands in such a short time – this is what convinces me.
(Columbus’ Memorials: Columbia
University; Washington DC; I-10 in California; >20 Cities & 7 Counties,
plus numerous streets in the USA.)
As well, a little more than 100
years after Christopher Columbus sailed to America, there were those who
formed, wrote and adopted The First Charter of Virginia, April 10, 1606,
which included:
… for the furtherance of so noble a work which may by
the providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the glory of His Divine
Majesty, in propagating of Christian religion to such a people, as yet live in
darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, …
In 1620, The Mayflower Compact included such
wording and reason for the undertaking of these adventures:
… having undertaken for the glory of God and
advancement of the Christian faith …
1639, The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
contained:
… the Word of God requires … an orderly and decent
government established according to God, to order and dispose of the affairs of all people … to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus which we now profess … the truth of the said Gospel is now practiced among us …
On July 4, 1775, one year before the signing of the Declaration of
Independence, General George Washington’s Orders,
as commander of the Armies of the Revolution, were thus:
The General most earnestly requires and expects a due
observance of those articles of war established for the government of the Army
which forbid profane cursing, swearing and drunkenness. And in like manner he
requires and expects of all officers and soldiers not engaged in actual duty, a
punctual attendance of Divine services, to implore the blessing of heaven upon
the means used for our safety and defense …
On July 7, 1787, 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin rose and spoke in an attempt to
break the 5-week deadlock of the Constitutional Convention, by imploring these
men to stop, pray and seek Divine guidance. In his argument he offered:
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live,
the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that God Governs in the
affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his
notice, is it probable that an empire cannot rise without his aid? We have been
assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that "except the Lord build the
House they labour in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I
also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political
building no better, than the Builders of Babel:
John Adams, signer of the Declaration of
Independence, the first Vice President of the United States, and the Second
President of the United States, a diplomat without equal, wrote in a letter:
The Holy Ghost carries on the
whole Christian system in His truth. Not a baptism, not a marriage, not a
sacrament can be administered but by the Holy Ghost.
There is no authority, civil or religious – there can be no legitimate
government – but what is administered by the Holy Ghost.
There can be no salvation
without it. All without it is rebellion, perdition, or, in more orthodox words,
Damnation.
Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence and a framer of the Bill of Rights wrote:
I am grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, he has conferred on my beloved country.
Thomas Jefferson, credited with writing the bulk
of the Declaration of Independence, who was also a signer of the Declaration
and went on to become the Third President of the United States, 1801 – 1809,
wrote in 1816:
I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of
the doctrines of Christ.
He would explain such doctrines in a later letter:
The Doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the
happiness of man.
1. That there is only one God, and He all perfect.
2. That there is a future state of rewards and punishments.
3. That to love God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself, is the sum
of religion.
Thomas Jefferson wrote that letter in 1822, the same year in which a woman named Araminta (Minty) Ross was born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland. Around 1844, Minty married a man named John Tubman and later took on her mother’s first name, Harriet.
In 1849 Harriet Tubman escaped slavery and made her way to Philadelphia where she worked hard at odd jobs and saved her money. Harriet, General Tubman as she became known, made 13 perilous trips back into slave states and guided more than 70 enslaved men and women to freedom through what became known as the underground railway.
Before passing away in 1913, Harriet Tubman said:
It wasn’t me, it was the Lord. I always told him, “I trust to you. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,” and He always did.
Harriet trusted and supported President Abraham Lincoln and she faithfully served in the Union Army for no pay at that time. Harriet believed that if President Lincoln obeyed the Lord, the union would win the war, and she wanted to help make that happen.
One of the three men most
responsible for the content of the Constitution of the United States of America
and the first Supreme Court Justice as appointed by President George
Washington, was John Jay. He wrote in a letter
dated October 12, 1816,
Providence has given to our people the choice of their
rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our
Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.
It is still evident in this day that God guides in the affairs of man. And:
Psalms 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the
LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
What is the nation? We are the nation. Therefore our nation is a Christian
nation … we the people! More there be with us than be against us.
According to Pew Research Center, www.pewforum.org, the population of the United
States of America is currently:
·
70.9% Christian
·
5.9% Non-Christian faiths
·
22.8% Unaffiliated
· 0.4% Don’t know
We are a Christian nation and blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah.
As we celebrate the signing of the
Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America
today, let’s not forget the lives, work and wishes of our founding fathers and
the undeniable faith of the mothers of our nation. They trusted in Jesus Christ
and believed that if we obeyed the Lord, He would bless our land.
In conclusion this morning I have but Two Challenges directly from God’s Word
and from those faithful who have gone on before us:
1.
Put
your trust in God. (He is not finished with us
yet!)
2. Trust those who have put their trust in God. (United by faith.)
Happy Birthday America … God bless
us all!
