God Has A Plan
What do Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Ben
Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston
have in common?
They were the committee when Congress passed a
resolution asserting the Independence of the United
Colonies back in 1776.
Ben Franklin said in the convention that met to
draw up the constitution: "I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I
live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth .. That God governs
in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without
his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We
have been assured in the sacred writings, that except the Lord build the
house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. And I also
believe that without this concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political
building no better than the builders of Babel.
They were the committee when Congress passed a
resolution asserting the Independence of the United
Colonies back in 1776.
Ben Franklin said in the convention that met to
draw up the constitution: "I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I
live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth .. That God governs
in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without
his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We
have been assured in the sacred writings, that except the Lord build the
house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. And I also
believe that without this concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political
building no better than the builders of Babel.
So Paul too, according to acts 17:24-28, in his address to the
Athenians gathered to hear him in the court or the areopagus, reminded
them that God had made all the nations of the world out of one original
race of men and that all the epochs of every nation's history were fixed
by his divine hand.
We call this holiday Independence Day. We know that as a result of
the proclamation of this day the American colonies were separated from
their mother country, and this new nation was given birth becoming
"independent".
First of all, God has a unique plan for us. According to Jeremiah,
God has a plan to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope
and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, says
the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a
hope."
Government, we might agree, is of God. But government is not a
thing that exists in-and-for itself. Man is not the tool, or puppet of the
state. Man is not for the state. The state is for man. We must remember
that mankind is the crown of creation. Therefore we are not made for
the sake of the state.
So, secondly, government is of God, only when it does the things for
which it was instituted - only when it seeks to suppress evil and rewards
the upright, and works for the good of all. When this process is reversed
- when it becomes an instrument of oppression and thwarts the common
good - then government is perverted and becomes an instrument of evil
and should be opposed.
Hear these words of 1 Samuel 12:14-15: "If you will fear the Lord and
serve him and hearken to his voice and not rebel against the commandment
of the Lord, and if both you and the King who reigns over you will follow
the Lord your God, it will be well; but if you will not hearken to the voice
of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand
of the Lord will be against you and your King."
So third, if God is forsaken, in either church or state, there can be no
long continued peace or prosperity. Surely this is the history of the entire
Bible - where God is not first, where God's love is not priority, there can be
no peace.
If the rights that are proclaimed in the declaration of Independence are
not God-given - then they are vulnerable to whatever more powerful force
may overtake them.
Fourth then, the strength of our "freedom" lies in the conviction that it
is the right of the human spirit - not the privilege granted by any government.
It was not against King George that the colonists rebelled - it was
against the taking away of freedom. The freedom they demanded was not
merely the freedom that was their due as Englishmen. It was not the freedom
granted by the whims of King and Parliament - but the freedom they
understood God had given.
It is this - which makes the course of human events described in the
declaration as divine course - a movement not of politics - but of the spirit.
We have a faith that the spirit of freedom is ours because it is God-given.
Fifth, so we are called back to a consecration of our nation's Independence
that includes the commitment of our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred
honor. Remember how Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address
said: "We cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hollow this
ground. It is for us - the living - rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished
work which they -who fought here - have thus far so nobly advanced."
That is our challenge today. Our country from it's founding, has been
established on these principles. The freedom our citizens have died for are
God-given freedoms.
We forget that God is at work behind the human activity. It is our firm
belief that this nation is under the living God (despite the actions of some
people). It is right that we should pray for our government and all those in
authority - that this nation can continue under God - and that we might
recognize that God will continue to smile upon our undertakings if we are
faithful to God.
-Pastor Starkey
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