Stand Up For God’s Principles

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(18) Then <the Sanhedrin> called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. (19) But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! (20) As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”’ (Acts 4:18-20); ‘Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!”’ (Acts 5:29); ‘When the wicked thrive, so does sin, but the righteous will see their downfall.’ (Proverbs 29:16)

The American Revolution was not a rebellion against God’s principles but a rebellion standing up for God’s principles.  The increasingly burdens and sufferings of the Americans at the hands of a tyrant, King George III, could not be stopped with reason or negotiation as these were tried with no success.  The British Empire was the preeminent power of the late 1700’s; it had the North American territories of the colonial states and Canada and controlled the Indian subcontinent and many ports around the world.  It was the largest economic power of the world, and had the most powerful navy and army during this time of the Empire ‘that the sun never sets on’.  How could the ragtag Colonists ever think they could defeat such a power as this?

The answer was in the Faith of the ‘3%’ taking an active role in standing up to the tyranny of the King of England.  The 3% figure comes from the estimation that of the population of the 13 colonies at the time of the Declaration of Independence was 2.5 million people (or roughly the population total that is in the Tampa-St. Petersburg metro area today).  Of those 2.5 million, the populace was roughly estimated to be 52% pro-independence, 48% pro-British, and only 3% of the 2.5 million, or 75,000 people, were of the pro-Independence camp that actively engaged in the Revolution. 

While many of the colonists were Christian, many were ‘Christian-but’ and would not ‘get involved’ or speak out in favor of their stance on either side.  Some were like the Quakers, who were very pacifistic in their Faith and refused to fight against tyranny, likely using Romans 13:1-7 as their backing.  They followed their convictions and should not be condemned for this stance.  Most simply were not wanting to give up that which they had or the comfort in what they had, regardless of their political leanings.

The 3% or 75,000 followed the call of the Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence. They saw that King George III ‘crossed the Rubicon’ from Godly rule to tyrannical rule. As Peter and John found in Acts 4 and 5, there is a time to stand up for the Lord and His Word and stand against the evils of tyranny.  When the line is crossed where human governance exceeds its authority by going against the authority of God, it is the duty of the Christian to stand firmly on the Word of God and denounce the evils of going against His Will.  The convictions of the 75,000 (including those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence) was as Peter, John and the Apostles who stood against the Sanhedrin to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus; it was standing up for the Righteousness of God’s Word against those who opposed it.

This was not without peril; many of the signatories suffered greatly in the stance, some losing their lives, some their families, some their fortunes – some of them lost everything.  Many of the other 75,000 suffered similar fates.  We can look at the examples of the Apostles and many others in Bible who also suffered the same way; all the Apostles suffered for their roles in providing the Gospel, and only John lived out his life to a natural death (although he was boiled in oil and then exiled to Patmos) while the others were executed by crucifixion or other slow, cruel methods meant to maximize their suffering.

The question is, do you want to face the Lord knowing you did what you believed was right in defending Him and His Word, or do you want to face the Lord knowing that you could have done more for Him and His Kingdom, but didn’t want to face the wrath of man?  For me, I will face the wrath and ridicule of man with the Faith to avoid the wrath of our Lord over my disobedience to Him, and His promise I’ll be welcomed with a ‘Well, done’ when I face him.