Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Intro: Our
Founding Fathers got together and wrote a document called The Declaration of
Independence. It started out like this…
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.
After listing their long line of grievances against the
Crown, they closed out this document with this statement:
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.
This history changing document was signed by 56 men that
mutually pledged their lives, their fortune and their sacred honor.
But long before our Founding Fathers put these words on a
document, the Bible was given to us to reveal to us that it is the will of our
Creator to have access to these very important elements – Life, Liberty and the Pursuit
of Happiness.
I. Life
Life began in Genesis 1.
The Scriptures tell us that –
·
Genesis
2:7 And the LORD God formed man of
the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul.
At that point in time, man became PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY
ALIVE.
But when man sinned, he died – spiritually.
·
Genesis
2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die.
But God – the Giver of life – made provision for man to not
just live physically, but to live spiritually.
For a man that is dead spiritually can never really live
physically.
Here are the words of Scripture concerning the SOURCE OF
LIFE.
·
John 5:40 And ye
will not come to me, that ye might have life.
·
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
·
John
20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
·
1 John
5:11
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son.
BOTTOM LINE: If
you don’t have Jesus – you don’t have life!
·
Ephesians
2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
·
Ephesians
2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,
(by grace ye are saved;)
·
Colossians
2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
II. Liberty
On March 23, 1775 at St. John's
Church in Richmond, Virginia, a young delegate stood to present his case that
there should be local and statewide armed militia; both infantry and cavalry;
to protect the citizens of Virginia from the impending threat of British
troops. He stood and with passion presented his reasons for raising an armed
militia. He closed out his passionate plea with these unforgettable words.
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as
to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I
know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me
death!”
Today, Satan has bound men, women, boys and girls in the
chains of oppression, slavery and bondage.
·
Galatians
4:3 Even so we, when we were
children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
It is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that people today
can truly be made free.
·
John 8:36
If the Son therefore shall make you
free, ye shall be free indeed.
·
2
Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that
Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
·
Galatians
5:1 Stand fast therefore in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage.
III. The Pursuit
of Happiness
·
QUOTE:
Most folks are as happy as they make up
their minds to be. - Abraham Lincoln
Our Founding Fathers believed that ‘THE PURSUIT OF
HAPPINESS” was an inalienable right.
However, they did not believe that it is the Government’s
job to insure that everybody is “HAPPY”.
They believed you had the right to PURSUE happiness.
But- most people are looking for happiness in all the wrong
places.
You won’t find happiness in the bottom of a bottle.
You won’t find happiness in an illicit sexual relationship.
You won’t find happiness in a drug induced state of being.
You won’t find happiness in a job, or money, or hobby, or
friends.
The Psalmist David said, “Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that
people, whose God is the LORD.” Psalms
144:15
Jesus told his disciples after a message on Christian
service in John 13:17 “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye
do them.”
