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The Christian Declaration of Independence

The United States Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is an interesting historical document. In it, the colonists of the American Colonies of the British Crown, declare their intention to break away from the rule of that country and unite to form their own nation. I won't include the entire list of grievances that they had here, but it is instructive to look at the start and the end of the document in relation to our lesson today.

An abbreviated excerpt

 

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.

... Long list of grievances appears here...

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

 

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

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 Honor.

 

And with that declaration, the roots of a new country began.

The State of the World

You are probably asking, "What does all this have to do with Christians?" Well, as Christians, we have all signed our very own Declaration of Independence against the powers of this world.

Who is the chief ruler of the planet? It is none other than Satan himself. He was originally in control of the planet, but lost out when he tried to overthrow God in heaven (see Isa. 14:9-15). When God created Adam and Eve, it was His intention that they have new dominion over all of His creation (Genesis 1:26; Ps. 8). Adam was originally created in a station even higher than the angels. Some unknown amount of time later, Adam chose to sin and fell from God's planned position for him. With the fall, dominion reverted back to Satan.

When Satan tempted Christ in the early part of His ministry on Earth, it would not have been a temptation unless he could have actually delivered on his temptation. What was that portion of the temptation? Let's read from:

Matthew 4:8-11

4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

It should be noted that at this time the kingdom's of the world included the Roman Empire, which showed the scope of Satan's influence that he could promise to give Rome to Jesus if He would worship him. Jesus closed the matter by quoting scripture. This is always a good defense against the wiles of the enemy.

 

What other scriptures speak of Satan's control of the world - well there are many. One of the best is:

Ephesians 6:12

6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

The flesh and blood people that are carrying out the schemes of the enemy are merely his agents. In most cases, they don't even realize that they are not acting of their own free will. They are pawns being moved to do all sorts of things frequently against the will of God in order to advance Satan's plans.

 

There are other scriptures where you can read about the battles going on in heaven among spiritual forces in control of Earthly kingdoms. An example is in Daniel where the angel Gabriel which was coming to see him and help him understand his visions was hindered until another angel, Michael was free to come and help him in his battle against the prince of the kingdom of Persia. It wasn't a short delay... it was a delay of 21 days. (Daniel 10:12-14)

So be clear that Satan has a firm overall grip on the world. That doesn't mean he is more powerful than the Godhead: God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. If God chooses to intervene for a believer in a situation, then he isn't more powerful than that Spirit filled believer either for that period of time. Paul and Silas were loosed from prison walls much earlier than Satan wished. But remember that God didn't save the martyrs in the early New Testament times, and there have been many Christians who have been killed over the succeeding centuries because they refused to do evil in the sight of God to please the local rulers or simply because the name of Christ and all who are associated with Him are anathema to the world and the world's religions that do not follow Christ in general.

Realize then that Satan does wield influence in this world, from the leaders down to the peons. They are tied to him just as the American Colonists were to the British Crown in 1776. Many people (and perhaps most people) don't like what they do that is against their conscience (the Holy Spirit talking to them and trying to keep them from doing wrong). But most continue to go the way of the world because the way of the world seems easier. The forces of the enemy are just as intimidating as the British Regular army was to most of the world in 1776. The decision to buck the world and start following God's path can be a scary one to people who don't understand God's power and promises. God Himself has made clear that the way of the righteous is the easier path, both in the short and certainly the long term. The wicked lose out.

A few brave souls in every group of people declare their independence from the forces of Satan. They do so when they accept Christ as their Savior. Sometimes when the forces of Satan seem so powerful, the thought of doing this is scary. And yet, the power of God is greater than anything the world can create when we walk in oneness with the Master. Like the original author of the Declaration of Independence, we, as Christians need to fully make known that the way of the existing ruler of this world is destructive to the people. He has done countless evil things in the sight of God and has helped to bring mankind down to an ever lower place than God intended him to have.

We need to declare our independence. Let's borrow from the original and write our own, keeping in mind that the battle is worldwide and not just within our borders. I am cognizant that just as the King of England was blamed in 1776 for everything his government promulgated whether at his direct command, originating as his idea, or dreamed up by the Legislature on their own, that some of the things listed here may not be directly instituted by Satan. They may have come about solely via the work of fallen man. This declaration is not meant to unfairly shift the blame from man for all that mankind has done wrong in the world on their own.

The "The Devil made me do it" defense won't hold up when you stand before God. Each person bears ultimate responsibility for the actual carrying out of each evil act that they do, regardless of whether the temptation originated from their fallen nature or at the direct instigation or suggestion of the forces of evil. So to be fair, since Satan was instrumental in the fall of man, please accept that such references made here may reflect only a second level of responsibility through the sin that was leashed upon mankind via his initial, primary assault on Adam and Eve. Accept that in these cases the guilt could come from:

James 4:17

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

This argument should apply to the forces of evil just as it does to Christians. If Satan and his forces haven't actually dreamed up some of these evils, then they have certainly not joined the fight against them in any visible way. They get to share in the blame much as government leaders get to share in the blame when some low level peon makes a mistake that the world perceives as evil. Where such plans and acts (directly his or indirectly his) are recorded in scripture, I've included those links.

 

The Christian Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and higher station to which the Promises of God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind and a recognition of the Commands of God 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.--The world claims that they secure these rights, via their institutions and non Christian religions among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any institution or religion of man becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to join another institution which lays its foundation on the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible's principles and organizes its powers in such form, as to God shall seem most likely to effect their eternal Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that man's institutions and religions long established will not be changed for light and transient causes until Christ sets His throne in Jerusalem; 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 institution, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of Christians; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Living. The history of the present King of the World, Lucifer, is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over Christians. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. Although all are ultimately offenses against God, they are Classified for easy review.

Offenses directly against God

 

  • He has attempted to equate himself with God (Isa. 14:13)
  • He has sent his angels to corrupt the blood line from Adam to Christ in an attempt to prevent Christ's coming (Gen. 6:4).
  • He tempted Christ (Mt. 4:1-11) and tried to destroy Him and His ministry on earth (Mt. 2:16 and many others).
  • He tried to destroy Him on the cross and failed (Mt. 27:45-50).

 

Offenses directly against mankind

 

  • He has subverted mankind, causing man to fall from God's planned position and duties (Gen. 3)
  • He makes accusation against us before the throne of God, wagering against our failures without God's protection. (Job 1-2)
  • He kept those who had died looking forward to Christ locked away in paradise, but his plan failed with Christ's resurrection from the dead (Mt. 27:51-54; Eph. 4:8-10).

  • He has actively tried to confuse and mislead mankind with the goal of ensuring they will join him in eternal torment at death, by planting the false beliefs:

    • that there is no God
    • that if there is a God, it is some impersonal something out there that is not interested in its creation
    • that if God does exist, He is no different than any other gods that mankind has created
    • that if any religion must exist that all are equal or that the ones he controls are better than God's and that all can lead to eternal salvation
    • that there is no life after death (that the life on earth is all that matters)
    • that once you've been saved, you can do anything you want
    • that you can be good enough on your own to make it to heaven
    • that good works will save you
    • that God wouldn't send anyone to Hell
    • that the Bible is not God's Word
    • and many other lies and falsehoods against the God of Truth and His Church.

    Mt. 13:19; 2 Cor. 4:4

  • He has stirred up lies and confusion about what the Bible actually says about subjects of no consequence to its eternal purpose among people who have never read the Bible in order to attempt to make the Bible an object of ridicule.
  • He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies of demonic forces.
  • When Jesus Christ returns for His church, he is preparing a long list of lies and deceptions to point those left behind to any other explanation for their disappearances but 1 Thes. 4:13-18 and what is to come from Revelation 4-22 and studies on them to keep the people deceived.
  • He is at this time preparing his final attempt to wrest the world from God which will fail. He is readying a man who will take over under his control and be an absolute ruler who will require worship. All in his jurisdiction who do not take his mark will not be able to buy and sell, and will be martyred if they cling to Christ and refuse to worship the image of the beast (Rev. 13:14-14:11).

 

Offenses against the Christian church

 

  • He tried to destroy the early church by using the Jewish leaders to bribe the Roman guards into lying about what had happened at the tomb (Mt. 28:12-15).
  • He has opposed the spread of Christianity and the restoration of worship as God expects from His people.
  • He has destroyed churches and other places of worship, sometimes killing and torturing all Christians found in them by burning them alive while trapped in churches, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people and their efforts to expand God's kingdom.
  • He has erected a multitude of New Religions which are not based on the Holy Bible nor on the Godhead, and sent hither swarms of religious leaders and followers to harass our people, and eat out their substance and confuse those who adhere to no religion. Their beliefs are actively promulgated to our children under the names of learning about other cultures or diversity training, but he has actively opposed equal time for Christianity.
  • He has actively promoted passive churches that put up a show of Christianity but which are such in name only and never preach a sin and salvation message.
  • He has attempted to direct people away from Churches and Denominations where the Holy Spirit was allowed to operate freely.
  • He has attempted to erase the history of the work of the Holy Spirit through the centuries from people's minds in order to cause Denominations to teach that it was only for the early church and keep its power from being manifested in believers around the world today.
  • He has caused denominations and groups to add their own books to the Bible that are not in harmony with its teaching and to promote those books above the Bible.
  • He has actively tempted the leaders of the Christian church and leaders in Christian families at every opportunity trying to tear down the work of God by the weakness of mankind.
  • He has made particular leaders popular among the church members who preach and teach that what God calls not-white is white and what God calls white is black and moved them to places of power in some denominations.

 

Offenses propagated through governments

 

  • He has affected to render the Government independent of and superior to God.
  • He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by creating his own laws and regulations that seem right to mankind but which are at odds with Almighty God, seeking to call what God calls not-white, white, and what God calls white, black.
  • Where the basic moral laws that God established are equivalent to the civil laws that the Governments have instituted for common law and order to function, he has substituted those of man, tearing down any references to the basis that the modern laws are formed on.
  • He has created Governments and Judges who do his bidding and are dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
  • When the local laws were deemed insufficient to stop the work of God, he has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to the requirements of God the Father as described in the Holy Bible, giving his Assent to their attempts to destroy God's work.
  • He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance to further God's work on the Earth and has hindered it wherever possible.
  • He has refused to permit cooperation between Government and Christians unless they agree to terms that are at odds with everything that makes them Christian, even if their work has proven to produce better results than secular methods.
  • He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from where they live and worship for the sole purpose of fatiguing them when trying to advocate changes to the evil he chooses to promote.
  • He has caused Governments to use sleight of hand moves to limit the work of God by passing amendments and riders on must pass and unrelated legislation.
  • He has obstructed the conversion of people to Christianity by banning the manufacture, translation, sale or free distribution of the Holy Bible both locally and in far off lands by declaring parts of the history that it records happening thousands of years ago to be hate speech, discriminatory, or out of touch with contemporary warped morals while at the same time making filth easily available via the Internet, the airwaves, and the printed page; by banning prayers in public places but without restricting any foul language that anyone wants to speak or write; by ridiculing the people who profess the Christian belief while lifting up those who promote false religions; by limiting what Christians may say and do in a public arena, and by limiting how they can freely assemble.
  • When a leader he controls has had to appear to show support for a Christian church, he has caused the leader to pick the most stagnant, dying, lethargic, hopeless denomination and church possible to try to present Christianity in the worst light possible.
  • He has plundered our denominations and churches, taking items and buildings made and built by free will donations of the people over centuries for his own use.
  • For creating special laws against Christians or treating Christians as threats to the state organizations in order to exact particularly cruel penalties for gathering together to worship God.
  • He has Quartered spies in some countries among the secret Christian churches to try to destroy the work God is doing in closed lands and has protected them when they gave false testimony, by a mock Trial, from any punishment for harassing Christianity:
  • He has begun attempts to impose Taxes on us without our Consent and in violation of fundamental rights because Christians dare to exercise their first amendment rights to take a stand against public officials who seek to do things which are against Christianity, regardless of the individuals political identification.
  • He has in many cases deprived us, of the benefits of Trial by Jury of our peers, by not picking Christian juries.
  • He has transported us to distant places to be tried for pretended offenses away from our family and support structure.
  • He is continually seeking to disarm the people of the world so there will be no opposition to the evil that he continually perpetrates, both by criminals (since the police forces can't be everywhere at once) and by governments (since their armies are stretched thin and under control of the governments). He has laughed as crime rates rose as this happened, knowing that in the future it will be that much easier to get the people of the world to worship him.
  • He has moved at every opportunity to make man dependent on their government for their very survival rather than on themselves, their family, and God.
  • He has increasingly pressured his government's leaders to band together and form alliances and organizations, ceding their hard fought status as independent countries to the will of a handful of global manipulators in preparation for his rule through the antichrist.

 

Offenses in the business realm

 

  • He has led manufacturers to cause their factories to run 24x7x365 to produce goods that people rarely need in such quantity in the name of efficiency and cost savings.
  • He has led stores to stay open 24x7x365 so that people will never need to plan ahead or wait a day to purchase an item.
  • These acts, in turn, cause Christians who want to be in church and non-Christians who need to be in church to not be available when services are in session due to work needs.
  • He has promulgated the lie that people don't have to work for companies that do these things, while tying such people to their jobs by frequently unpaid tethers like e-mail, cell phones, beepers, pagers and other means.
  • Both at work and at home he has glorified the pursuit of money over the pursuit for God's work.
  • After Christ has returned for His Church, he is planning to cut off all Trade and commerce with all parts of the world unless you have a special mark that will guarantee you will not have eternal life.

 

Offenses in the leisure realm

 

  • He has scheduled school, college, professional, and other sports events to occur on Sunday so people will have other reasons to not attend God's church.
  • He has caused his media to create his own twisted variants of the Bible and Biblical history and caused people to believe that what they are seeing is actually what the Bible declares in order to obstruct the work of the God.
  • He has caused his media to promote lifestyles that aren't pleasing to God and to denigrate Christian lifestyles.
  • He has opposed modesty at every turn, seeking to debase God's creation further.
  • He has sought at every turn to cause mankind to become addicted to mind numbing drugs or alcohol to further reduce the chances that the people will ever turn to God.
  • He has promoted actors, singers, and sports figures as role models to draw attention away from Godly examples of Christian living.

 

Offenses against Christians individually

 

  • He caused many early church leaders to be executed (Acts 7:54-60 for first).
  • He has caused the media to trumpet our failings when Christians stumble.
  • He has caused the media to fail to give credit at all for the good that Christianity does around the world, or to bury such credit in fine print on an inside page where it won't be seen.
  • He has spread seeds of discord and disharmony among Christians in an attempt to destroy God's work from within.
  • He has killed Christians, ravaged our families, destroyed their homes and destroyed their livelihoods.
  • He has, even in these times, attempted to force our fellow Christians to renounce the name of Christ or see friends and family tortured or killed.
  • He has battled against each new Christian convert to try to draw them back to his side and away from God.

 

General character flaws

 

 

Our Response

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury or ignored. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of the people of this world.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our non-Christian brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by the powers of the world to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our salvation and election to live as Christians. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the church of Jesus Christ, 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 the planet Earth, solemnly publish and declare, That these Christians are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent People; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the forces, temptations, and lies and deceits of Satan, and that all connection between them and Christians, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent Christians, they have full Power to join in the ongoing War against the powers of darkness, accept God's Peace, contract Alliances with other Christians, convert the unbeliever, and to do all other Acts and Things which Spirit Filled Believers 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 Honor.

William H. Haller

Our Country

It is quite astounding how well the language originally used against the king of England in 1776, can be applied directly today against Satan. Each person who signed that document in the subsequent weeks had already made the decision to flee tyranny, just as Christians have made a decision to flee the evils of the world for Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. The figurative signing of the declaration then, and now, is simply an acknowledgment of how black what we have left behind really is.

This is not an denigration of our country. The United States of America is one of the best countries to live in on the entire Earth, whether you are a Christian or not. Never forget, however, that Satan is at work to destroy Christianity everywhere. Every fundamental right that our forefathers wrote in the Bill of Rights to our Constitution is under attack where it gives any advantage to Christianity or the People as opposed to the Government. We need to be ever vigilant to try to keep the country moving toward the direction that God wants and away from the direction that Satan wants. Most politicians would have to admit this basic truth, but they'd be sure to add some yeah buts since their jobs would be at stake.

The United States and its Freedoms are actively opposed by Satan. If he could bring down the United States, much of the funding and missions support for the rest of the world would dry up and his work everywhere else would be that much easier.

Keep in mind that we don't fight flesh and blood. Just as Gabriel and Michael did battle with the forces of Satan who were in control of Persia, even so there are battles going on above our heads and out of our sight today in the heavenly realms. Pray without ceasing for God's will to be done in your lives and in our country. Pray that He will open doors to get others to sign their own copy of the Declaration of Christian Independence from the World and move into the joys of the Lord. He has many promises for those who follow Him, and His promises are always Yea and Amen if you meet their preconditions.

The consequences are eternal. If you die without accepting Christ as your Savior to let His sacrifice on the cross be your sin offering for the sin that you were born with and the sin that you committed, you are going to end up in the Lake of Fire, just like Satan is. You see, in the end he loses. He thinks he can win, but God has decreed otherwise, and what God says goes. If you haven't accepted Christ as your Savior, now's the time.

After the Declaration of Independence was signed in August, the Revolutionary War continued. After the war was won, came the United States of America. After the Christian Declaration of Independence was signed came the Rapture of the Church and the Tribulation. After the war was won at Armageddon (in about the same time frame as the Revolutionary War), came Christ's Kingdom on Earth. I can't tell you when the Rapture will happen, but after I wrote that sentence I saved the document before continuing. I truly believe we are in the last days of Satan's control over God's creation.

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