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John 8:32 And ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free
Suppose that sometime this week you heard in the news these announcements:
"The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has just issued this
statement: 'Divine Providence (that's God) has given to our people
the choice of their rulers, & it is the duty of our Christian
nation to select & prefer Christians for their rulers.'"
Secondly, "Inquiries by our reporters reveal that
almost every state legislature has now passed a law requiring all
elected officials to take this oath: 'I do profess faith in God
the Father, & in the Lord Jesus Christ His only Son… &
I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old & New Testaments
to be given by divine inspiration.'"
Thirdly, "Legislation was passed today in Congress
to affirm that, 'The Congress of the United States approves of &
recommends … the Holy Bible for use in the schools.'"
But the amazing thing is this: Every one of these statements is
historically accurate & factual.
It was John Jay, the first Chief Justice & "Father"
of the Supreme Court, one of the primary writers of our Constitution,
who wrote, "It is the duty of our Christian nation to select
& prefer Christians for their rulers."
It was the state of Delaware (along with most of the others),
which required officeholders to take an oath affirming their Christian
faith before they could take office.
And not only did Congress in 1782 approve the use of the Bible
in our schools, they even paid for them with tax dollars.
And, in 1844, when someone sued to remove them, the Supreme Court
ruled: "Why should not the Bible,
& especially the New Testament, be read & taught as a divine
revelation in the schools? Where can the purest principles of morality
be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?"
I. AMERICA WAS SETTLED BY PEOPLE LOOKING
FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The first thing right with America is that our earliest settlers
were people who came here primarily looking for religious freedom.
Other nations, for the most part, came into existence by conquest
for selfish & ambitious motives. But it was primarily in the
atmosphere of God, not gold, that America was born.
ILL. The hardy souls who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620
fled from tyranny & oppression. And in the Mayflower Compact
which they signed beneath the swinging lantern in the cabin of their
ship, they proclaimed that they had come to the new world for "the
glorie of God & the advancement of the Christian faith."
ILL. In the early colonies the first public building to
be erected was a church house & the first public exercise was
the worship of Almighty God. When sorrow came they gathered at the
church to appeal to God for help. When bountiful harvests filled
their barns they gathered at the church for thanksgiving to God.
"GIVE ME LIBERTY OR
GIVE ME DEATH" ~ Patrick Henry
The impassioned address before the Continental Congress by Patrick
Henry left no question as to the position of the speaker. As far
as he was concerned, "without freedom all that was left was
death." His choice was either or. It was straight up and down.
It was black or white. There was no middle ground. There was no
in between in the matter.
The choice was clear. Either you chose to secure liberty or die
in the process. You could not be neutral. Today, the choice in spiritual
matters is the same. You choose either to enjoy liberty or the shackles
of bondage, which is in, and of itself-death!
Jesus said that when the Son has set you free that you were free
indeed. There is no middle ground today. You have either been set
free from the bondage of sin and death or you are in bondage to
sin and ultimate death. There is not a neutral area.
Moses of old made it clear when he said,
Deut. 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against
you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing:
therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Joshua sided with his leader in announcing to the people,
Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD,
choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your
fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the
gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and
my house, we will serve the LORD.
Our Constitution guarantees to every man and woman the right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You have the right
spiritually
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