July 4, 2010
Sermon # 844 .
When Righteousness Rules
Introduction:
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration
of the thirteen United
States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — 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 Christian Life and Character of the Signers
The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States. Pp146-170
- Selected Quotes
II. The freedom we enjoy will remain only as long as men of character are elected and hold their offices.
ILL: The Defeats of the Jewish State.
A. Under David
2 Samuel 11:18 - 25 (NKJV) 18Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war,
19and charged the messenger, saying, "When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king,
20if it happens that the king's wrath rises, and he says to you: 'Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?
21Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?'—then you shall say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.'"
22So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him.
23And the messenger said to David, "Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate.
24The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also."
25Then David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab: 'Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.' So encourage him."
- The army of David is defeated
- Leaders are dead
- Why did Joab, the general, add, "Uriah the Hittite is dead also"?
- Because David was committing adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, and the lust was all David cared about!
ILL: When Presidents or Congressmen are having affairs, sin clouds their judgment.
B. At Ai
Joshua 7:10 - 11 (NKJV) 10So the Lord said to Joshua: "Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?
11Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.
ILL: Israel was defeated because of greed! So long as politicians can buy offices or get rich from government positions, America will be judged. (In today's advertising, one has to be rich or have great resources to be elected)
- The fall of the American economy is a judgment of God because we have elected unethical men and kept them in office.
- The destruction in the Gulf is a judgment because of the same thing. (Greed)
Character Counts!
2 Samuel 23:1 - 4 (NKJV) 1Now these are the last words of David.
Thus says David the son of Jesse;
Thus says the man raised up on high,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel:
2 "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
'He who rules over men must be just,
Ruling in the fear of God.
4 And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
Like the tender grass springing out of the earth,
By clear shining after rain.'
Proverbs 29:2 (NKJV) 2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.
We need to turn back to the "Declaration" and to the Constitution.
ILL: Rehoboam wanted to "change" Israel
2 Chronicles 10:8 - 16 (NKJV) 8But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.
9And he said to them, "What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?"
10Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us'—thus you shall say to them: 'My little finger shall be thicker than my father's waist!
11And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!'"
12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, "Come back to me the third day."
13Then the king answered them roughly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders,
14and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!"
15So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill His word, which He had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:
"What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Every man to your tents, O Israel!
Now see to your own house, O David!"
So all Israel departed to their tents.
A. Rehoboam rejected the past because he was prejudiced against it.
B. Rehoboam rejected the past because of his pride.
("I know what's best for the people – they do not know – so I'll force it on them!"}
C. Rehoboam should have listened to the old way (old men) because their way had stood the test of time, had made Israel prosperous, and was the way of righteousness.
Conclusion: The result of Rehoboam was a divided Israel into Israel and Judah: a weakened nation, less prosperous nation.
America had better return to her roots - the framers of the Declaration and Constitution – "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
