In Methods of Bible Study, R.A. Torrey says study each word, each phrase, each sentence and the context in which it was written.
Thomas Jefferson said, "To be a qualified voter, you not only had to know the law, but the will or intent of that law." In like manner, the preacher said to be a qualified voter, you had to know the law as written in the bible; i.e. know the bible and you had to know your history, or shall we say, have a classical education?
Let's examine what the Declaration of Independence says.
We hold --Who is we? "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States or 13 colonies."
Unanimous means all 13 Colonies agreed with this for it was ratified (ordained, established or made into a law on July 4, 1776. Am I smarter than they? Have I discovered some truth that contradicts or supercedes what they had? All truths run parallel. All facts run parallel. Truth cannot contradict truth. Facts cannot contradict facts. Truth is not negotiable and we are not given the option to believe it or not. What if I believe differently? Am I speculating or have I been deceived as Eve was?
If my forebears held onto these truths, must I? Levi had no choice, who being in the loins of his great-grandfather Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek.
We hold these truths --Beware! Truth is not a belief. Truth is an indisputable fact that we hold onto. We won't let go. We stand for, fight for, and will even die for, these truths.
Our college motto was: Seek the truth and pursue it.
I was on my way to get my mother out of bed – I had a plan that would have worked, but she died. When I found out, I beat the air in unbelief. Afterward, I pounded on Heaven's door and demanded of the Good Lord, "Don't ever let me live in an illusion again. I'm a big girl and can take the facts of life whatever that might be."
My prayer is that we all know beyond a shadow of a doubt what the truth is and that we live with the truth instead of a lie.
Truth is indestructible; therefore what was truth in 1776 is still truth today and will forever be the truth. In matters related to your soul, be very sure that you seek the truth until you find it and ever cling to the truth with your hold being.
To be self-evident -- Needs no proof or demonstration of accuracy, but evident to all. That is evident to all who have eyes to see or sense enough to acknowledge it.
All men were created –
“Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in His sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
If created, then we did not evolve and the theory of evolution is dead on arrival and without credence.
Beware: Anything before recorded history is mere speculation and the oldest recorded history that we have is the Bible. Also, in the '40's Revelation preachers was predicting the future. Bro. C. W. Naylor said.
“We should stop speculating about the future and start preaching Bible doctrine." (I agree.) Bro. H. M. Riggle said for everyone that believes in a millennium there was that many different theories.
Created equal -- No big I's and little U's. United we stand, divided we fall.
The Preamble in the Constitution:
We the people – through our representatives –
of the unites States (13 colonies)
in order to form a more perfect union,
to establish justice,
to insure or guarantee domestic Tranquility
(peace and happiness at home and in society),
to provide for the common defense,
to promote the general welfare
and to secure the blessings of liberty
unto ourselves and our posterity (our children)
we do hereby ordain and establish
this Constitution of the United States of America.
This means that every governing body, including yourself must work towards these six goals.
“Form a more perfect union. In his Farewell Address, Mr. George Washington said that sectionalism (slicing the pie, pitting powers) and the party spirit (better-than-thou attitude) would destroy the union and so it has. The most blatant one that I've noticed in the 2018 election is this; I am in office "for the working class." And who is the working class? The tradesmen? Professionals such as teachers, preachers, lawyers and the scientist don't work?
We are created equal. And endowed or showered upon us as if by rain. We didn’t ask for it nor merit it.
If created, who created us? All men were endowed by their Creator. Who was that Creator? “In the beginning, God created --.”
Which god? Our Creator was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is this Creator/God that we trust in. It is this Creator/God that we worship. What if some don’t? Elijah asked, “How long halt ye between two opinions? Let the God that answers by fire be thy God.” (1 Kings 18) Or shall we say, let the God that created you be your God?
With certain unalienable rights which were endowed to us by the same God that makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends the rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5)
Unalienable means that it can’t be transferred. In his 1801 Inaugural Address, Thomas Jefferson said,
“Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels, in the form of kings, to govern him? Let history answer this question.”
Inalienable means can’t be transferred, denied or taken away. But what if they are? Our Creator endowed us with these rights, eh? Did He leave it to chance that they be upheld? No. Laws were made from the beginning because seven of the Ten Commandments were established by Noah’s day. God wrote the Ten Commandments on tables of stone and then delivered them to the people. The Ten Commandments forbids (present tense) going beyond and defrauding self and/or others.
That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Why name only three? These three were being denied us by England and the Declaration goes on to list the many ways in which this was happening.
For example, Virginia was a province or state, if you please, and not a colony or territory as Massachusett. Virginia sent delegates to Parliament, but England held their meetings in out of the way places so that the Virginian delegates would have no say. Tut! Tut! Tut!
Are these truths universal? The Declaration says, “Let facts be presented to a candid world.” Candid means being honest even if it hurts or costly. Can we say it was presented to those who live with reality or with the givens or facts of life rather than in a dream world?
I rest my case and trust that I’ve sufficiently established the point that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is our Creator who gave us our rights and that He established laws to protect those rights.
