Proverbs
14:34 “Godliness
makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people. (NLT) / Righteousness
exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. (NKJV)
Last
weekend, the wife and I attended the Sunday Worship service at the Little
Church in the Pine, in Bass Lake, California over the Memorial Day weekend. Pastor
Herk Rolff reminded us that God finds regular people and raises them to the
task at hand in history. American Founding Father Patrick Henry is known by
most people for one phrase: “Give me
liberty or give me death.”
Liberty is defined as freedom from
restraint, in a general sense, and applicable to the body, or to the will or
mind. The body is at liberty, when not confined; the will or mind is at
liberty, when not checked or controlled. A man enjoys liberty, when no physical
force operates to restrain his actions or volitions. Natural liberty consists
in the power of acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control,
except from the laws of nature. It is a state of exemption from the control of
others, and from positive laws and the institutions of social life. This
liberty is abridged by the establishment of government. Civil liberty is the
liberty of men in a state of society, or natural liberty, so far only abridged
and restrained, as is necessary and expedient for the safety and interest of
the society, state or nation. A restraint of natural liberty, not necessary or
expedient for the public, is tyranny or oppression. Civil liberty is an
exemption from the arbitrary will of others, which exemption is secured by
established laws, which restrain every man from injuring or controlling
another. Hence the restraints of law are essential to civil liberty. Political liberty
is sometimes used as synonymous with civil liberty. But it more properly
designates the liberty of a nation, the freedom of a nation or state from all
unjust abridgment of its rights and independence by another nation. Religious liberty
is the free right of adopting and enjoying opinions on religious subjects, and
of worshiping the Supreme Being according to the dictates of conscience,
without external control – Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.
America was founded on the Christian
faith, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the sovereignty of God (who intervenes
over the affairs of mankind and leads a nation to its destiny). The depravity
of mankind is that we are all sinners, but the Believer is saved by grace
through faith. The Bill of Rights (which Patrick Henry was instrumental in
establishing) protects individuals centered in God righteousness and begins with our first Right – Freedom of
Religion.
.
.
Our 1st
President of the United States of America, George Washington wrote: “Of all the dispositions and habits which
lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports.
In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to
subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the
duties of Men and citizens. The mere
Politician, equally with the pious man ought to respect and to cherish them. A
volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity.
Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for
life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the
oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let
us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained
without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined
education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us
to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious
principle.” Similarly, our 2nd
President of the United States of America, John Adams wrote: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral
and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Let's continue Pastor Herk's Memorial Day message on the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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