Worship Service 7/5/2020 click here
7/5/2020
The Christian Heritage of America
Psalm 22: 27-31
God Established The United States
Romans 13:1-2 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
The Constitution Was Written Understanding Rulers Are Ministers
They believed that they should not only serve those over whom they were to exercise authority, but that the ruler is a servant of God! They wrote the Constitution knowing that rulers are God’s ministers serving, not only God, but those over whom they were to govern.
Romans 13:3-4 For rulers are…ministers of God to thee for good.
Ministers Are Not Lords Over The People, They Are Servants To The People
1 Peter 5:2-3 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers–not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you…
John 13:13-16 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master… (includes governmental servants!)
Excessive Authority Needs To Be Replaced
Whenever any form of government becomes destructive… it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it & to institute new government…when a long train of abuses & usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce us under absolute despotism, it is our right, it is our duty, to throw off such a government, …The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries & usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states.
The Founders Knew From The Bible That All Authority Ultimately Comes From God
John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
John Adams Letter to Benjamin Rush There can be no legitimate government but what is administered by the Holy Ghost. There can be no salvation without it. All that is without it (God’s Spirit) is rebellion & perdition.
Most Of Those Who Drafted & Ratified The Constitution Were Protestant Bible Believing Christians
The Constitution was written by a group of men most of whom either claimed to be Christians outright or stated that they believe in the God of the Bible. None were atheists – most claimed to be Christians and were not shy in their convictions. The evidence of history is so weighty in this matter only hundreds of passing years and deliberate revision could obscure it! Almost all were Protestant Christians; Charles Carroll of Maryland & Thomas Fitzsimons were the only Non-Protestant signers.
The Founders Recognized That God Is The Giver Of Human Rights & Liberties
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.
These rights were derived not from a government that was transitory, but from a Governor who is eternal. It is the role of government to defend these rights & not to dilute or remove them.
The Founding Fathers Beliefs Are In Print
- Patrick Henry “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.” “The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”
- Samuel Adams The right to freedom is the gift of the Almighty. The rights of the colonists as Christians may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institution of The Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.
- President John Adams The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of government with the principles of Christianity.
- Benjamin Rush -Signer of the Declaration of Independence — My only hope of salvation is in the infinite, transcendent love of God manifested to the world by the death of His Son upon the cross.
- Richard Stockton –Signer of the Declaration of Independence—I think it proper here to subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the Being of God, the universal defection and depravity of human nature, and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Savior…
- John Adams The Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more of my little philosophy than all the libraries I have seen.
- Thomas Jefferson “I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.
Christians Should Place Christians In Leadership
- John Jay-1st Chief Justice- Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.
- Samuel Johnston-Continental Congress -…any who are not professors of the Christian religion, should never be elected to the office of President or other high office, (unless) the people of America lay aside the Christian religion altogether, (then) it may happen.
America’s Form Of Governance Was Seen As Direct Fulfilment Of Biblical Prophecy
John Quincy Adams 1837 Fourth of July address at Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Why is it that next to the birthday of the Savior of the World, our most joyous & 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 corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity & gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets…?
The American Revolution of 1776 vs The French Revolution of 1789.
The American Revolution appealed to the Sovereignty of God,
The French Revolution was founded on the sovereignty of man.
The French movement was a product of Voltaire’s philosophy which specifically attempted to replace Christianity with man’s reason as the ultimate standard.
The French revolution was a disaster. Anarchy & tyranny reigned with 40,000 people being murdered, the favorite method being the guillotine.