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“And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

~ Revelation 4:9-11

            On July 4, 1776 , the United States declared independence from Great Britain .  A formal document was drafted—The Declaration of Independence.  This document enumerated many grievances.  Essentially, King George III had broken his treaty with the colonies.  They were deprived of just judgment.  They were taxed heavily without representation.  They were oppressed by an aggressive military presence.  Ultimately, they had no proper redress.  So, they declared their independence from Great Britain , but did so by declaring their dependence upon God.

            The Declaration of Independence was written in the spirit of the Magna Charta.  In this document, written over 500 years before 1776, the Englishmen appealed to a higher power than that of the king.  The people acknowledged the supreme, transcendent authority of God, and that even kings must be held accountable.  Similarly, the founding fathers affirmed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights” (The Declaration of Independence).

            They wrote of self-evident truths.  “Self-evident” means evident without proof or reasoning; does not need to be proven.  They mentioned inherent rights.  “Inherent” means innate or naturally pertaining to; cannot be separated from.  They also wrote of inalienable rights.  “Inalienable” means they cannot be legally or justly alienated from them; they cannot be transferred to another.  This affirmation was the thesis of The Declaration of Independence.  They appealed to their Creator as the sole, supreme authority over the universe and all that is contained therein.

            From our text, I wish to declare our dependence upon God as His created beings.  In so doing I affirm: We hold precious truths in this text to be self-evident, that God has created all men alike for His own glory; that He has given to them certain inherent and inalienable rights; that they also must acknowledge Him, giving Him the glory, honor, and thanks due unto His Name.  From the text, I wish to set forth firstly, the self-evident truths and secondly, the inalienable rights.

            What I have thus far written is from the introduction to a message I preached entitled: “The Declaration of Dependence.”  In remembrance of our own national holiday, I am offering the audio of this message.  You may download or listen to the message here.

Your Servant for Jesus' Sake,

Jeff Short