During the American Revolutionary War there was a great deal of patriotic courage shown by many whether on the battlefield or in the halls and meeting rooms of those buildings with the political and economic leadership of the then forming nation which was planning the necessary move. There was very little media covering the actual battle, and so the valor shown on the battlefields is pretty much limited to George Washington and maybe just a few others.

Much of the sacrificial service given to win that war was made by the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. They had very much to lose. Most of those men had a great deal of higher education. They had substantial material wealth derived from thriving business ventures, and they had solid large families. But by signing that document they voluntarily set themselves up as fair game in the dangers of what the British rightfully used as a traitorous sedition.

Most of those men and their families paid dearly. Except for the flowery signature of John Hancock, you probably cannot remember but one or two others of the 56 signers' names, but all 56 knew that when they signed that document they might have very well been signing their own death warrant. But they were willing to lay down their lives to be free.

Because of the inherent dangers of signing, the signers' names were kept secret for six months in order to give them time to get things at home in order and to flee to wherever they felt they might be safe. Twenty-four of them were lawyers and judges. Nine of them were plantation owners. The rest were notable, but from other business fields. From the point of their signing becoming known, they lived as vagabonds, fleeing and in hiding always in some state of apprehension that they would be found, tried, and put to death as traitors.

The deaths of nine of them were directly attributable to the war. Others died from lingering illnesses and injuries that took place during the war. And some, though not put to death, were nonetheless tortured, and the homes of just about every one of them was ransacked and burned.

Now even if they had not been directly harassed, what they committed their lives to triggered long periods of separation from their loved ones, as was the case with John and Abigail Adams, as he attempted to give direction and to find financial resources for the military effort that the Continental Army under George Washington might use.

You may be unable to quote a single line of the Declaration, but those signers knew from the tenor of the times, as well as the lofty and challenging statements contained within the Declaration, that they were lighting the fuse to the explosion that would blow the lid off an already tense relationship between the two countries.

There is one line in the final paragraph of the Declaration of Independence that I hope you would never forget, because it has direct application to us. It should be remembered, because, with our declaration we believe in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and thus followed that up with baptism. We committed ourselves to a covenant that calls for unswerving loyalty to Him. That line in the Declaration says, "We mutually pledge each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

Our war is not a bloody one. It is not a conflict involving bombs and rifles, but a conflict over control of our mind, our heart, and is direction of our attitude and conduct.

May you pledge yourself wholly to the cause of Christ! Fight the good fight of faith!

 Have a great summer!

Eternal Gain 

I Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹ In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

It is fascinating how at the end of this text Paul talks about building a foundation, building a house somewhere in eternity. It's metaphorical, yet speaks to the fact that we can take hold of what is true life. Many people today say they are looking for "the good life". Other people today are so confused and so morally adrift; they are saying, "I need to find out what is "a good life", not "the good life." But Paul goes one step further. He says, if you understand how to be a good steward of what God has given you, and don't let what you possess, possess you, you will learn about "the true life".

An old story tells of a wealthy man who getting on in years called in a faithful employee, who had been with him a long time. He gave this trusted employee some surprising instructions. He said, "I am going on a world tour. I will be gone for a year. While I am gone I want you to build me a house. I have already purchased the lot. Here's the check that will cover all the expenses. I want you to take this money and build a nice house. Draw up the plans yourself and do it extremely well. I will see you when I get back." So the old man departed and the employee went to work. With shrewd purchasing he cut corners at several points in the construction process. He used inferior materials at every opportunity, especially at those places that wouldn't be easily seen. Finally the house was completed and he produced a beautiful, exterior shell that covered a shoddy piece of workmanship. He lined his own pockets with several thousand dollars that he had save by cutting corners. After all he thought to himself, the old man wouldn't know the difference. He would never miss the money. So what if the house wasn't that well constructed, he wasn't going to be living in it that long anyway. The first day back from the trip the old man wanted to see his house and so they drove there and as they were driving he said to his trusted employee, "You may have wondered why I wanted you to build this house." "Yes I did" the employee admitted. The old man said, "Because I have a really nice house already." "I know you do," said the employee. The old man said, "Well you have been a faithful assistant for all these many years, I wanted to find a way to show you my appreciation. Here are the keys. The house is yours." What kind of spiritual house are we building with the money that God has entrusted to us? That's really what Paul is talking about. Because in 19 he says, "they will lay up a treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age. That you might take hold of life that is truly life." You know he is talking to rich folks. Some of us may excuse ourselves on that count, but when you consider that the United States has 85% of the world's wealth and only 6% of the population, it is no wonder people are flocking to our shores. I think in some sense, we are all to listen to what Paul is saying, because God has blessed us beyond what most experience. And you will notice that the beginning of the passage and at the end and at the part that we skipped, Paul approaches his instructions on giving against the backdrop of eternity. In verse 7 he says, "We brought nothing in to this world, we're not taking anything out of it either." In verse 12 one of the verses we skipped he tells Timothy to take hole of the eternal life to which you were called. Verse 14, "keep the command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus." In Verse 15, "which God will bring about in his own time" you see Paul is tying all of the sense of giving against the backdrop of eternity. And of course what we already read. The foundation of the coming age and in Verse 17, "instruct those who are rich in his present world." You know it is not the end, it's just the present. Everybody has two types of bank accounts, those that they know about, and one that they don't know about. Jesus said it himself, "Don't store up so much in the ones that we know about, store up in heaven." So many people think about retirement planning, but very few think about expirement planning. Jesus and Paul were talking about expirement planning