The Dependence Of Independence Series

* Tomorrow, we will celebrate 235 years since some great men signed a document which could have been their very death warrant.

* That document begins with “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.”

* This document is said to have served as a moral statement that has guided this nation for 235 years.

* Notice the touchstone of this document, a God and creator who gifted mankind with rights and responsibilities.

* From that is where our country has drifted. We have fallen to the temptation of placing a higher priority on the created than upon the Creator.

* These men viewed themselves as very common representatives of mankind, but they felt they had a chance to join in on one of God’s great works in the world.

* John Adams wrote his wife during the drafting of the Declearation of Independence.

* In that letter, he said.

* “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”

* And, so, as a nation, we began; with a foundation stone, a reliance on God our creator.

* Our nation was founded not only on surrender to His lordship, but based upon His view of the value of the individual.

* Our nation was based on the love of God, so great for a fallen people, He sent His only Son to take our punishment.

* It was based on the idea that there was no man, woman, boy or girl that was so low they could separate themselves from the His reign and righteousness, nor could they outreach His love and grace.

* What has gone so terribly wrong?

* Today, I often hear great pride in our nation, but for the wrong reasons.

* I often hear pride in humanity and our accomplishments.

* So many messages have crept into the Church that exalt the “creature instead of the creator”.

* “You can do whatever you set your mind to do.”

* “Wish it. Dream it. Do it.”

* Our message to new graduates is often about opportunity.

* The message sounds good, often sounds right.

* Pro 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

* From the earliest moment, a young child dreams of independence and self-assurance.

* Much of our education system fortifies this search without God.

* Yet something inside us calls for freedom; true freedom that we cannot find on our own.

* We hear the call for independence, but we do not grasp its meaning.

* Joh 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

* Today, I want us to look at man’s quest for independence when it went so badly wrong.

* Our hope is that we can glean from it the meaning of independence.

* You see, true independence only comes from a dependence upon God.

Gen 11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."