Declaration of Independence
Vs. Declaration of Dependence
Scripture Philippians 2:5-11
THE
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
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…..
Speaking
of King George of England…
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our
coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large
Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and
tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a
civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens
taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become
the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their
Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections
amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers,
the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished
destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
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.
It had been proposed in draft form by the Committee of Five
(John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas
Jefferson) and it took two days for the Congress to agree on the edits.
Here is the price people paid for adopting and signing the
Declaration of Independence according to that great historian Chuck Norris.
At least 12 signers had their homes and property taken,
ransacked, occupied or burned. Philip Livingston lost several properties to the
enemy. John Hart’s farm was looted, and he had to flee into hiding.
Francis Lewis had his home and property destroyed. The enemy
then jailed his wife, and she was held for months before being exchanged for
wives of British soldiers.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader,
lost his ships and cargo to the British navy.
Thomas McKean wrote to John Adams in 1777 that he was “hunted
like a fox by the enemy, compelled to [move] my family five times in three
months.”
Five signers were captured by the British as prisoners of war
and had to endure deplorable conditions. One signer lost his son in the
Revolutionary Army, and another had two sons captured.
On Nov. 30, 1776, one signer, Richard Stockton, a lawyer from
Princeton and longtime friend of George Washington, was captured in the middle
of the night by loyalists and jailed by the British. Stockton endured months of
brutal treatment and starvation. (Over the six years of war, more than 12,000
prisoners died in prisons compared to 4,435 soldiers who died in combat.)
And that’s just a sampling of what
these men sacrificed, and why we honor what they did for us annually on
Independence Day.
Many men and women over 200 years ago
sacrificed much that we might live in a new country free of a tyrant king.
Celebrating our nation’s
Independence, I want you to consider the sacrifice of one man whose act of
valor gives us the freedom to become dependent on a great king and become
citizens of his kingdom. First let’s
consider the king:
Ps 145:1-7
I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name forever and
ever. Every day I will praise you and
extol your name forever and ever. Great
is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to
another; they will tell of your mighty acts.
They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will
meditate on your wonderful works. They
will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great
deeds. They will celebrate your abundant
goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
1 Tim 6:15-16
God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has
seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
Dan 2:20-21
"Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power
are his. He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them. He
gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
Jer 10:10
But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King.
Declaration of Dependence Upon God*
WHEN in the course of human events it
becomes necessary for a people to declare their dependence upon God, to
proclaim their allegiance to His Word, and to reaffirm their calling as
ambassadors of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, an appropriate response to God
requires that they should declare before humankind the causes which bind them
to this station.
THEREFORE, we, as the citizens of
heaven, inheritors of the incorruptible and unending Kingdom of God, children
of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone, members of the Church, both visible
and invisible, under Christ the Head thereof, hereby solemnly publish and
declare the following:
We declare our dependency on the one
true and living God, the Father Almighty, the Sovereign King, who is immortal
and eternal, infinitely perfect both in His love and in His holiness, who alone
is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, including this nation, and
who sustains and sovereignly rules over the United States of America;
We declare our dependency on the Lord
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the one true and living God, the Judge
of this nation, who being very and eternal God, of one substance and equal with
the Father Almighty, the one and only way to salvation through faith, and
together with whom we are heirs of God’s glory and Kingdom and all that is His;
We declare our dependency on the Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, divinely equal to God and Jesus Christ, eternally
proceeding from the Father and the Son.
We declare our dependency on the holy
Scriptures, the infallible Word of God written in the Old and New Testaments,
written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and has supreme authority in
all matters of faith, life, thought, and conduct, and which promises that if
God’s people humble themselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from their
wicked and sinful ways, then God will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and
will restore and heal their land;
THEREFORE, motivated and compelled by
our love for the United States of America and its people, in an age where
individualism, secularism, and relativism are heralded as a panacea, we declare
that the Triune God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ are the only hope for this
nation, the only answer to its ills, the only repairer of broken families, the
only salve of wounded souls, the only pacifier of angry hearts, the only
lasting comfort to the mourning, the only guide by which decisions and decrees
are to be determined, the only solution for racism, sexism, and class and
generational conflict, the only standard by which character and culture are to
be examined, the only solution for injustice and abuse, the only restorer of
the afflicted, the only foundation for all knowledge, wisdom and teaching, the
only authority by which all proclaimed truths are to be tested, and the only
rock on which all should stand;
And to this end, for the glory of God,
we appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our
intentions, and mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fervent prayers,
and our sacred honor.
© Jesus
Awakening Movement for America. All Rights Reserved. *First declared and signed
on July 2, 2008 at JAMA’s New Awakening 2008 National Conference in
Philadelphia, PA.
People have suffered from the very beginning to gain
our freedom for independence from a tyrant king. Jesus Christ suffered with the sin of the
entire world upon his flesh as he was murdered so that we could declare our
dependence on the King of kings and become citizens of his eternal living
kingdom – praise be to God and his son Jesus Christ!
Are you a signer on the Declaration of Dependence, and
willing to receive its benefits as well as going into battle for the sake of
your family and for those whom you will never know? If so, make your declaration by standing.
Your
attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being
in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in
human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and
became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
Therefore
God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11
Prior to the message we said these
pledges:
Flag of the United States
I pledge Allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible,
with Liberty and Justice for all.
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible,
with Liberty and Justice for all.
Christian Flag
I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag
and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands.
One Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again
with life and liberty to all who believe.
The Bible
I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's Holy Word,
I will make it a lamp unto my feet
and a light unto my path
and will hide its words in my heart
that I might not sin against God.
