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To say that America WAS “the land of the free and the home of the brave” is a gross understatement. On the whole, America not only does not even resemble the free land it once was, but it has also lost the cognitive ability to even understand what a free land is supposed to look like.
The title of this column is the same as the title of my Independence Day message last Sunday. This column borrows from that address.
In my message, I reviewed the spiritual/Biblical and the constitutional/American principles that help define Liberty.
For example:
1. Freedom to speak truth
THERE is Liberty.
2. Freedom of unfettered worship
THERE is Liberty.
3. Freedom to peacefully assemble, protest and redress government
THERE is Liberty.
4. Freedom to keep and bear arms for self-defense
THERE is Liberty.
5. Freedom to be left alone in our associations and opinions
THERE is Liberty.
6. Freedom to be secure in our houses and effects
THERE is Liberty.
7. Freedom of personal privacy
THERE is Liberty.
These are not mere civil rights granted by government decree; they are Natural Rights endowed upon us by our Creator.
Our Revolutionary War was a Just War fought in defense of sacred principles that are enumerated in our Declaration of Independence:
*The principle of independence under God
*The principle that all men are created equal under the laws and privileges of God
*The principle that life, liberty and self-government are gifts from our Creator
*The principle that just government and authority are derived from the consent of the people
*The principle of self-defense against the threats against our lives, liberties and self-government
*The principle that resistance against tyrannical conspiracies is a moral right and duty
*The principle that death and killing are only honorable in the application and performance of just law, self-defense and the Natural rights and duties of men under the moral authority of their Creator
*The principle that when the Source of our liberties (God) is denied His proper authority and sovereignty (via the rejection of Natural and Revealed law), the basis for our liberties is destroyed
The Declaration begins:
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.
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.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
The Declaration ends:
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 Honour.
Indeed, the signers of America’s Declaration of Independence endured the sacrifice of toil and blood. Rush Limbaugh’s father, Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr., eloquently wrote:
Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, children or entire families. One lost his thirteen children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact.
Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826—50 years to the day of the Declaration—which must be regarded as God’s exclamation point of approval for their selfless endeavors, as they were the two men most responsible for bringing the Declaration into existence. Daniel Webster gave the eulogy for both men on August 2. Included in his remarks on that notable day were these words: “It [the Declaration of Independence] is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and independence forever.”
With all of the bashing and demonizing of America’s Founding Fathers from both the Left and the Right these days, I think it fitting to remember the words of our LORD, who said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:20)
We can know the manner of giant oak trees that were our Founding Fathers by the fruits of Liberty which they produced.
Please remember that there was a time when oppressed people all over the world would longingly speak of America and say, “THERE is Liberty!”
But THAT America is long gone.
Today the world sits in shocking anguish at how “America: The land of the free” could so quickly become “America: The land of war and oppression.” But the name of a country is not important. The important thing is the liberties that are protected by the country. As Jefferson wrote in the Declaration:
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
May God in His benevolent mercy grant a new generation of American patriots the honor of once again establishing the aforementioned principles of constitutionalism and Freedom in this land—whatever its name—to which oppressed people around the world can point with a fresh glimmer of hope in their eyes and say once more, “THERE is Liberty!”
P.S. Here are some of the important supplemental materials that we carry to help the American people—especially America’s Christians—understand the Biblical Natural Law principles of Liberty bequeathed to us by our courageous American Christian forebears:
Natural Law, Liberty & Government Package – 10 messages on 6 DVDs By Pastor Chuck Baldwin
The Rights Of The British Colonies Asserted And Proved (written in 1764) By James Otis
To Keep or Not To Keep: Why Christians Should Not Give Up Their Guns By Pastor Chuck Baldwin and Attorney Tim Baldwin
John Locke: The Second Treatise of Government (written in 1689)
Lex Rex: The Law And The Prince (written in 1644) By Rev. Samuel Rutherford
The Law (written in 1850) By Frederic Bastiat
George Washington’s Farewell Address (written in 1796)
© Chuck Baldwin
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