Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Tomorrow we will be celebrating a crucial period in the history of our country, the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Now I realize that when you bring up the subject of the Fourth of July most people hardly give a thought to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

People look at it as a time to have a family get-together, or go to the lake, maybe cook up some hot dogs, and then after it gets dark, blow some things up.

But today, as we look back to 1776, I want you to realize it was a very dangerous course that each of those founding fathers took.

Those who signed the Declaration of Independence were committing themselves to an insurrection against the King of England and the sitting government.

As John Adams signed.

he said, "Whether we live or die, sink or swim, succeed or fail, I stand behind this Declaration of Independence.

And if God wills it, I am ready to die in order that this country might experience freedom."

This was the kind of patriotism which led men, armed with little more than hunting rifles, to engage in battle with the most powerful nation in the world, Great Briton.

This decision to declare their independence from England was not easily nor hastily decided.

Even though they lived on another continent in the colonies they were English citizens.

As English citizens they felt they deserved the same rights & privileges that any Englishman enjoyed back in their home country.

After all, it was their ancestors who, a few centuries earlier, had risen against the unjust & dictatorial rule of King John & forced him to sign the Magna Carta, the "Great Charter" establishing the rights of the common man & limiting the power of the King over them.

But over a period of a few years King George began to ignore all that as far as the American colonies were concerned.

And it wasn't long until oppressive taxes & regulations were beginning to make their lives unbearable.

When they complained about their treatment, King George sent troops and declared martial law.

Public protests were put down by military force and those who dissented were silenced and even more laws which they considered "intolerable" were enacted.

On February 22, 1770, a crowd of protesters gathered outside of Ebenezer Richardson’s house.

Richardson was a customs agent, a tax collector.

Richardson became frightened and fired a shot into the crowd.

An 11 year old boy named Christopher Snyder was struck and killed.

Most historians identify Snyder as being the first American killed in the Revolutionary War.

The publicity around Snyder’s killing fueled public outrage that 11 days later, resulted in the killing of 5 people when British soldiers fired into a large crowd of protesters.

The colonists called it the “Boston Massacre,” the British called it the “Incident on King Street.”

You can see that particular perspectives were not too much different then, than they are now.

Conflicts continued to grow in severity resulting in more full scale battles between colonial militias and British forces until we had a full-blown Revolutionary War.

Meanwhile, it was during this time of conflict that Patrick Henry, the fiery patriot from Virginia, gave his famous speech before the Virginia Provincial Convention.

This is how he concluded his speech:

"Three million people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.

"Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.

There is a just God who presides over the Destiny of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battle for us.

The Battle, sir, is not to the strong alone, it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.

"Besides, sir, it is now too late to retire from the contest.

There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery.

Our chains are forged.

Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!

…

"Gentleman may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace.

The war has actually begun!

Our brethren are already in the field!

Why stand we here idle?

"What is it that gentlemen wish?

What would they have?

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?

Forbid it, almighty God!

"I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."

Many of our forefathers paid a terrible price in the Revolutionary War, but they finally they won the victory so that you and I might be citizens of this "land of the free and home of the brave."

But what we tend to overlook, is that in declaring their independence from England, our forefathers made an equally bold “Declaration of Dependence” upon Almighty God.

In the very beginning of our nation, our forefathers boldly declared their dependence upon God.

Declare Your Dependence on God

We must declare our dependence on God, but we aren’t the first nation to do that.

At another crucial moment in history, as the people of Israel were preparing to enter the land that God had promised to them, Moses told them,

Our Founding Fathers were careful to acknowledge the Creator.

The 2nd paragraph of the Declaration of Independence begins with these words:

"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."

Again, the closing words of their Declaration solemnly states: "With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence (that's God), we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Here we see in this document, written by our forefathers, that they were clearly declaring their dependence upon God.

We all know the turmoil that we see in the world today.

Pandemics, wars, inflation, high prices, all kinds of financial uncertainties, and at the same time it seems strong efforts are being made to eliminate the acknowledgment of the deep and abiding faith of the founders of this nation had in God.

The four-fathers knew God had blessed this nation to form against overwhelming odds.

Yet today people would have you believe that the founding of this country was entirely separated from the faith that the founders had.

I love reading about those figures in history who committed themselves so passionately to a cause that they believed in.

Thomas Jefferson who was the 3rd president of the United States and a signer of the Declaration of Independence said, "God who gave us life gave us liberty.

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 of 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..."

John Adams who was the second president of the United States and a signer of the Declaration of Independence said, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.

I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.

Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company: I mean (it would be) hell.

The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity.

Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited.

What a utopia – what a Paradise would this region be!

I have examined all religions, and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world.”

Patrick Henry, one of the ratifiers of the constitution said, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here."

Although the book of Deuteronomy was written over 3,400 years ago, the warnings found there could very well apply to the United States today.

In the 8th chapter of Deuteronomy, beginning with vs. 7, Moses told the people that he was bringing them into a good land, with water and fruit and then in verse 10:

10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

The Lord has proven to the people of Israel that they could depend on Him, but He also issues them a warning to:

Be Careful to not Forget God

The testimony of history has made it abundantly clear that not only nations, but also individuals, need to heed that warning.

The greatness of a nation is not measured by its military power or national wealth.

Righteousness & justice are the determining factors.

Solomon, the wisest of men, said:

And what is happening in the United States today?

To a great extent, our modern objectives have become success, status, and notoriety.

These are followed closely by self-indulgence, comfort and pleasure.

We all know the song, "I've gotta be free," but sometimes our proclaimed freedom has become the very thing that enslaves us.

In Titus 3:3, Paul says,

This is the enslaving and deceiving nature of sin.

People who are caught up in sin think they are free, but in reality, they are enslaved by sin.

Go to the drunkard lying in the street.

Take his bottle and say, “I set you free from alcoholism.”

What is he likely to say?

He will say I am not a slave to anyone or anything, now give me back my bottle.

Remember the case of The Prodigal Son.

He went to his father and said, "I want to be free.

Give me my inheritance now so I do what I please with it.

He traveled to a far country, reveling in his newfound freedom.

But his freedom didn’t last very long.