THE DECLARATlON OF INDEPENDENCE

"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him." ~ (Isaiah 51:1,2)

When it comes to celebrating this most American of holidays, it is interesting to note that our Founding Fathers didn't consider the 4th of July a holiday at all.  No, to them this day represented far more than just another festival to acknowledge in the myriad of special days that America honors.  According to John Adams, our second President, the 4th of July, "Ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty."    John Adams believed Independence Day was to be a Holy Day to be spent in thanksgiving to the Almighty for His mighty deliverance that He wrought on the behalf of our fledgling nation.

His son, John Quincy Adams, our 6th President, declared, "Why is that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day. Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the Progress of the Gospel dispensation? 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... "

According to Mr. Adams, it took the spread of Christianity 1,800 years to finally culminate in the establishing of America.  He believed the highest glory of the Revolution permanently linked the principles of Christianity with the principles of civil government.  He viewed the Declaration as the first social compact and governing document in the history of man to establish its foundation on the mission of Jesus Christ in the earth.  Obviously, America is dreadfully void of that perspective today.

Yes, there is much evidence that points to the fact that America is a unique nation amongst the nations of the earth.  It is evident that the land itself was preserved for a special purpose in God's Providence. Although America was prime "real estate" in the earth and filled with natural resources, it remained virtually untapped for thousands of years.  You do not see the pyramids of Egypt , the glory of Rome, nor the grandeur of Greece upon these shores.  Why was there no great civilization established here until after the Pilgrims came with an open book called the Bible and landed on Plymouth Rock?   If you can answer that question then you are on the road to understanding the vision for America and her destiny that stands in peril today.

Another unique mark that is exclusively American is the fact that we are the only nation on earth that was founded on a creed.  All the other nations on earth were essentially established by ethnicity, nationality, or race, not so with America.  Regardless of skin color or any other physical attribute that distinguishes human beings, what makes an American an American is a creed.  Specifically, the creed that is articulated in a document we call The Declaration of Independence.

Before we explore some vital points of that creed, we need to understand, whereas the Constitution is the letter of the law, (that has been twisted, bent, and perverted through judicial activism to subject Americans to legalized evil today) the Declaration is the Spirit of the Law.  The Declaration supplies the premises, the presuppositions, and the underlying principles that we have forgotten to the Constitution's harm.  You will see this clearly as we examine a few of those foundational principles contained within the Declaration that was to be the heart and soul to establish and sustain our Christian Republic called America.

On July 4th, 1776, the delegates of the Continental Congress voted to ratify the Declaration which began with these profound words, "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 entitles them."   Stop right there and hold the presses.  It is extremely important to understand and it cannot be emphasized enough that our Founding Fathers cited the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God as the sole basis for breaking ties with England and to become a separate nation in the earth.  To comprehend the magnitude of that particular phrase utilized by Thomas Jefferson, one must look to Sir William Blackstone who was the first one to coin that phrase.

Sir William Blackstone was a renowned English jurist who wrote the highly influential work called "Commentaries on the Laws of England " He was one of the most quoted sources, along with John Locke and Montesquieu in the founding of our nation.  The Bible itself, however, held the distinct honor of being the premiere source that out shined them all.   

Blackstone defined the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God as, "Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator, for he is entirely a dependent being ... And, consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his Maker for everything, it is necessary that he should in all points conform to his Maker's will ... this will of his Maker is called the law of nature. These laws laid down by God are the eternal immutable laws of good and evil . This law of nature dictated by God Himself; is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this... The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found in the Holy Scriptures ... {and} are found upon comparison to be really part of the original law of nature. Upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the law of revelation (Thomas Jefferson penned of nature's God as a substitute for the law of revelation) depend all human laws; that is to say, no human laws should be suffered to contradict these.

According to Blackstone who was the inspiration behind the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God, the creation itself testifies and teaches man that there is a Supreme Designer that created the universe.  The immutable laws contained within nature reveal a Creator that man is to be subject to by virtue of being a dependent creature.  Apparently, Blackstone was well versed in the Scriptures for Romans 1:20 and Psalms 19:1-3 verifies this truth.  But because man's reason is corrupted by sin according to Blackstone (and the Bible) the Lord did not leave revelation to chance.   No, He made a direct appeal to mankind through what Blackstone called the law of revelation which can only be found in the Bible. 

Due to man's rebellion against His Maker and His Holy Law, man suppresses the truth in unrighteousness and is prone to exchange it for a lie.  Therefore God sent His most perfect revelation of Himself to mankind via the second person of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that Jesus is the expressed image of God (Hebrews 1:3).  He was the Word (God's direct revelation to man) that was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.  That's why Jesus could say, "If you've seen me, you have seen the Father."  In other words, Jesus was the visible manifestation of the invisible God.  According to Blackstone, unless laws was based upon these two premises, the Law of Nature (creation) and the Law of Revelation (the Bible/Jesus) they were no laws at all and "no human law should be suffered to contradict these."

Our next stop along the way as we explore the Declaration is, "We hold these truths to be self-evident." Can you believe in this moral relativistic age in which we live that our Founding Fathers actually had the audacity to believe in a concept called truth?  Now truth by its very nature lends itself completely to the notion that there are such a things as moral absolutes.  It also by its very nature reveals and exposes falsehood, lies, deception, and error.

It is perhaps for these very reasons our Founding Fathers would not be accepted by our defiled culture today.  If  by some miracle they were brought back from eternity to present this view today to our 'enlightened" humanistic temples we call public schools, they would be mocked, ridiculed, and scorned.  Our government that they established on these time-honored principles would conspire to tar and feather them and run that out on a rail.  

America for the most part neglects studying the Declaration of Independence today.  In fact, in some segments of Ameria, there is an actual movement to outlaw the teaching of this precious founding document in our schools.  It seems that there is a concerted effort to keep hidden from our children that there are such things as self-evident truths.  Is that why we don't impress upon our children's character that there are moral absolutes, and a definite right and a definite wrong? 

No! we teach the kids to decide for themselves what is right or wrong with no standard except what their own greedy, selfish, and lustful hearts crave.  As a result, millions of American children are left to construct their own "truth" and values apart from the God of the Bible that our forefathers trusted in.  Can there be any doubt that this mentality has opened the proverbial Pandora's Box that is savaging our young today?  The school shootings, the blatant sexual immorality, and the vulgarity that are widespread amongst our youth are a direct result of rejecting the time honored wisdom of our Founding Fathers.  We have instead replaced them with a pagan, relativistic philosophy, one that is certainly polluting America today.

Our Founding Fathers believed in self-evident truth that was not based upon the subjective experience of fallen man, but on God's objective truth that is outside and authoritative over man.  Yes, they believed in truth because they longed for freedom.  They knew Biblically, you can't have freedom without truth, for only the truth can make you free (John 8:32).  America would do well to remember from whence she came and what those who birthed her believed in.

The next important phrase contained in the Declaration goes like this, "That all men are created equal; and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;"   Notice it doesn't say that man evolved into equality and by virtue of evolution that man has certain unalienable rights.  Why is it our Founding Fathers believed in creationism and not evolution, and yet, we can't even teach our children in America that they were created with with a God-given destiny, instead of being a cosmic accident?  Ideas have consequences, my friend.  Evolution has been the intellectual underpinnings of every atheistic, totalitarian government that has committed unspeakable crimes and atrocities against the very people they claimed to serve.

Communism, Fascism, and Nazism are just a few of those regimes that rejected the concept of Creator and opted for evolution as a support for their mass murder.  Their bloody history aptly displays the bitter fruit of an atheistic state that utilizes evolution as the intellectual underpinning to justify their horrific oppression.  After all, evolution teaches that the strong survive, so it is ethical to exploit, abuse, and destroy the weak to get what we lust for in life, right?  No! a thousand times no! 

We see this mentality so clearly manifest with the struggle over abortion.  Men use and abuse women by virtue of their superior strength and now women demand to have that same power and right to abuse someone weaker then themselves, their own helpless children.  God help us!  Christianity on the other hand teaches that the strong are to help the weak, not exploit them.  This Biblical concept is what made America great, but since we have officially rejected the Creator and creation that our Founding Fathers believed in we are now becoming what we fought against in World War Two.  We are using our superior strength, political clout, and finances to spew the filth of Hollywood, abortion, the feminist doctrine, and the homosexual agenda throughout the globe.  Is it no wonder Islam calls America the "Great Satan"?  Can we truly argue otherwise?

The Declaration goes on with these words, "That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (not a guarantee of happiness that the 'government as Savior' programs promise). That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."   Our Founding Fathers believed that man's rights came from God, the Creator, and that civil government was established to protect those rights. 

This is the clear teaching of Romans 13:1 which states, "Let every soul he subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God."   They understood what Americans today don't, God is the supreme authority and civil government is a delegated authority established by Him for His pleasure and for our benefit.  The Declaration then warns civil government, "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 a new government."   That is why we are crying out for a "Gentle Revolution" in light of this historical truth. Either we have a spiritual, godly, and moral revolution that lands America squarely back upon the "Rock" from which we were hewed, or I shudder to even think of the horrible consequence that may befall us.

Finally, our Founding Fathers made their appeal, "to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions... With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."   In the Declaration, the God of the Bible is acknowledged as Law-giver, the source of Law, Creator, the Source of life, the Supreme Judge, the highest authority, and the Protector of America's rights.  Without this revelation beating in the heart of every true American, then all the 4th of July represents is eating, drinking, and watching fireworks.

I pray that each of you that read this article will consider these historical truths as the righteous foundation upon which America stands.  Recognize that those foundations are beginning to crumble as we abandon God, our righteous heritage, and the principles that made us great.  Our history is being deleted or rewritten to further the "foes of our own household's" agenda.  We must therefore, look to the Rock that hewed us and the Patriarchs that bore us before it is too late.  GOD SAVE AMERICA !!!

IN KING JESUS' SERVICE,

Rusty Lee Thomas