Independence, Dependent, Interdependent

The title of the sermon today, Independence, Dependent, and Interdependent. Independence, Dependent, and Interdependent. Today, the United States is celebrating Independence Day. On July the 4th, 1776, 55 freedom-loving men signed the famous Declaration of Independence. So what do we mean by this term, by the title here? So let's define our terms. Independence, the state of not having to rely on outside sources of substance. Self-sustaining, freedom from control, freedom from dependence and or control by another person, organization, or state. We use the word in the vernacular in the sense, well, she's a very independent person. She likes to do things for herself. He likes to do things for himself. Dependent, a family member, a family member, or other person who is supported financially by another, especially one living in the same house. So on the income tax returns, you have list your dependents. Those who receive the majority of their livelihood from you. A nation, a state, an organization, or institution that must rely on resources outside their boundaries and systems to sustain it. The United States now is dependent upon foreign oil. They're also dependent upon many other things that we might mention. Interdependent, relying on mutual assistance, support, cooperation, or interaction among constituent parts or members. In the vernacular, we say we depend on each other. So interdependent, that's what it literally means, depending on one another. And now the nations have been so organized through globalization that we are in an interdependent kind of world when it comes to the nations. God and Jesus Christ are the only two beings that have inherent immortality abiding within them. Now, some could say, well, the angels are immortal. They are spirit beings, but they are created beings. They began to exist at a point in time. If you'll notice now, John 5 and verse 26, we'll see that God and Jesus Christ have inherent life within them in John 5 and verse 26. John 5 verse 26. And he hath given him authority, on the reading of John 27, for as the father had life in himself, so hath he given to the son to have life in himself. So God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son are not dependent upon any other source for their being. On the other hand, the whole creation and living creatures depend upon God for their substance. Let's notice in Genesis 10 and verse 32, where God set the bounds and habitations of the nations. In fact, we could say that God is the author of sovereign nations. We call Genesis chapter 10 the table of nations chapter. In Genesis chapter 10 and verse 32, these are the families of the son of Noah after their generations in their nations, and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. So God is the one who set the bounds and habitations of the nations. Notice Deuteronomy 32 and verse 8. Deuteronomy 32 and verse 8. Deuteronomy 32 and verse 8. When the Most High divided to the nations, their inheritance. When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds for the people according to the number of the children of Israel. Remember now that the table of nations was set after the flood. Then the Apostle Paul in Acts 17, because we're talking about at the present time who has independence, who is dependent, and who is interdependent. So with that backdrop of God being the author of nations, let's go down to Acts 17 and verse 24. The background for Acts 17 is Paul appears in Athens and he goes to Mars Hill, the place where the great philosophers of the day assembled, and they would discuss the various issues of life, and many of them were there. That is, the audience and the philosophers to hear something new. So the Apostle Paul ventured there. Verse 22, it says, he stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, you men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious or another translation too religious.

For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. In case we miss some, we'll just put one out a marker for the unknown God, whom therefore you ignorantly worship him declare I unto you, the God that they didn't know.

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, and dwells not in temples, made with hands. Neither is worship with man's hands as though he needed anything. God is independent, having inherent life within himself. And so, the word had inherent life within himself, without father, without mother, without end of days, seeing he gives to all life and breath and all things. So we are dependent upon God for our life and our being and our sustenance. And he hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth, hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. Like we read from Genesis 10 and verse 32 and Deuteronomy 32 and verse 8.

That they should seek the Lord if happily they might feel after him, and find him though he be not very far away from us. For in him we live and move and have our being, as certain also of your own point said, for we are also his offspring. So it's very clear, and let's go to Hebrews chapter 1, it's very clear from the Bible that we are dependent creatures on God. There are only two truly independent beings in the universe at the present time. God the Father and Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 1 verse 1, God who at sundry times, different times, different manners, spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he had appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins and sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Who was it? As God speaks to Job and Job 38, where were you, Job, when I laid the foundations of the earth? When I hung the earth out there in space. Who was it that designed and planned all these laws so that the earth tilted on its axis at 23 point something degrees and rotating around the sun doesn't fly off into space. God made all of these things. Now, human beings can experience some degree of independence, but all human beings are dependent and interdependent. In order for a nation to be independent, it must possess all the necessary resources to sustain life. Now, many areas of the world possess the necessary resources to sustain life, but they don't have the infrastructure to really stand up and compete in today's world.

So, some of those necessary resources that a nation should provide for her people are food, clothing, shelter, water. Those are absolute necessities. It also means cultivatable land, a favorable climate, or a food supply from the seas, as in the case of the Eskimos and a few other ethnic groups. You have to put food on the table. You have to have water. You have to have shelter. You need clothing. The United States possesses more of the necessities for a high standard of living than any nation on the face of the earth, and we talk about the blessings of the United States of America. Thus, the United States could be, and at one time was, the most independent nation on earth. Yet, with each passing day, we become more and more dependent and interdependent. And we'll talk about what that means. We lost our independence a long time ago, and it's debatable whether or not we were totally independent at any time. It took five years of bloody battles against the British forces of King George III, the colonial armies under the generalship of George Washington, five years of bloody battles to attain American independence when Cornwallis eventually surrendered at Yorktown, and that with the aid of the French. France helped the United States a great deal during the Revolutionary War, what we call the War of Independence. However, the Founding Fathers were celebrating Independence Day, but the Founding Fathers left one legacy not celebrated on Independence Day, which affects all of us, and that is the national debt. Was there a national debt after the War of Independence? Yes, there was. The United States went into the red the first time in 1790 when it assumed 75 million in the war debts of the Continental Congress. Alexander Hamilton, the first Treasury, U.S. Treasurer, Secretary, he said the following quote, a national debt, if not excessive, will be to us a national blessing. What a blessing that is.

Since then, the nation has been debt-free only for one short period of time, from 1834, sometime in 1834, sometime in 1835. And guess who was president at that time, and why we could be debt-free at that time. After the war, Washington and his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, knew that the 13 states, while politically independent, were dependent upon Europe for the necessities of their national life. At this point, the U.S. had not developed the infrastructure or the goods necessary to feed and clothe and take care of a nation. As we noted earlier, without French ships and guns, French muskets and troops, and also money, it would have been very difficult, and maybe even doubtful, whether or not the colonial forces could have defeated the British. At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, both Washington and Hamilton were determined to make America's political independence permanent, and they began to try to cut the umbilical cord from Europe. In the Constitution that came out of that convention, the states were prohibited from imposing any tariffs on the products of other states. So you have interstate commerce. Intrastate is within the state, and interstate is between the states. So we have interstate commerce. To this day, we don't have tariffs when you take goods from Texas to Louisiana, vice versa, thus creating the greatest common market in history. Now, it's arguable that the United States of Europe today has a greater common market than the United States, and perhaps their GNP might surpass the United States, and maybe it already does, but it would be very negligible. EU now consisting of 27 member states. Now, secondly, the U.S. government was empowered to raise revenue by imposing tariffs on foreign goods, that is goods coming into the country from another country, but explicitly denied the power to impose taxes on the incomes of American citizens. In the early United States, there was no income tax.

Now, the president and politicians cry, free trade, free market systems, supply and demand economics, self-regulating markets. These are the ways to economic prosperity. We must have free trade with very few regulations, and some of that is why we are where we are economically. Globalization and world community are the watchwords of the day. Most Americans are not aware, and if aware, have not accepted the reality of globalization. In simplest terms, globalization means that the world's economics are linked together. The elite have created a system in which the nations are dependent and interdependent on each other.

Take the manufacture of automobiles. Some parts, electronics, may be manufactured in Taiwan, South Korea, the engine perhaps manufactured in Japan, going in a German car, Volkswagen. Then, perhaps, it's assembled in Mexico, and so on it goes. You could take most any major product that you want to name, and it would be somewhat a similar scenario. Now, in the meantime, Americans are taxed and controlled more and more with each passing day. We have become, again, a dependent nation. We borrow from Europe and Japan to defend Europe and Japan's access to oil in the Middle East. One of the great weaknesses of Europe is that they have very few natural resources when it comes to oil and gas. Much of their heating oil, heating and gas, comes from Russia. Just this past winter, as you remember, there was a battle between Russia and Germany with regard to heating oil or natural gas. We borrow from the Chinese to buy Chinese goods. I'm going to borrow money from you to buy what you have to sell. The way the Chinese offset this is that they hold our treasury bills, which is really an IOU in a sense that we promise to pay them if they cash it in. We are as dependent on foreign borrowing as we are on foreign oil with China and Japan holding billions in treasury notes. According to the Treasury Department, which updates the number to the penny every few days, the national debt on Wednesday of this past week was $11,518,472,742,288. Essentially, rounded off this $11.5 trillion.

Technically, we are at the mercy of foreign lenders. So why doesn't the U.S. collapse on itself?

With such a national debt, with such a dependence on China, Japan, and the other countries, we could say, oh, that is the $64,000 question. Of course, way back when that quiz show was on the $64,000 question, that was a lot of money. Today, it's a million dollars. The answer lies in this story. There's an old monkey tale from Africa that is very pertinent to the world's financial system. Before we talk about the monkey tale from Africa, let's read Revelation 18. Revelation 18. Revelation 18.

Now, I know that a lot of people think well, and perhaps there will become a greater and more complete fulfillment of this in some other way. But at the present time, we are where we are. And we do see a world in which globalization is a watchword of the day. And as we'll read later, a quote from Tony Blair, it's not just in the field of economics. It also reaches into many other areas. As we've already mentioned, in a sense, we have been the protectors of Europe and their petroleum. We have been the protectors of Japan and their petroleum. We're the ones, mainly. Now, the British have been the second greatest ally in our efforts in Kuwait and also in Iraq and now in Afghanistan. But in Revelation 18, verse 1, And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven having great power, and the earth was enlightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon, the greatest fallen has fallen, has become the habitation of devils and the whole of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations, it didn't exclude any if all means all, for all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed great through the abundance of her delicacies.

All nations, that's the point I want to... All nations are now participating in this system. And in fact, we have developed a system in which basically, of course, President Bush got around this to some degree by developing what he called a pre-emptive strike doctrine. And that's what happened in Iraq. We don't have to wait, according to this doctrine, for another nation to attack us, which is contrary to what the U.S. had done for decades, but that we will do pre-emptive striking or a strike if we see that our national security is at risk. But even there, he went to the U.N., and there were several, several meetings, and in the U.N. passed various resolutions concerning that Iraq must do certain things. When it comes to the current, the main problems on the table right now are North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and the Middle East. That is, Israel and the Arabs. But we don't take action without first going to the U.N. And after long drawing out this and that and the other sanctions and whatever, some action may be taken. Afghanistan and Iran, I mean Iraq were somewhat the exceptions. We had been attacked on 9-11. The tale of how the native hunters, this is the monkey tale, use a special jar to catch wild monkeys. When a monkey sees a hunter approaching, he instinctively climbs up the nearest tree. The hunter then places an earthen jar at the base of the tree, along with a handful of rice inside the jar. Then he walks away and hides behind a nearby tree. Eventually, the monkey climbs down from the tree and curiosity takes over. He smells the rice inside the jar, instinctively shoves his hand inside to grab a handful of rice. The hunter is watching the scene immediately walks toward the monkey. The monkey sees the hunter coming but discovers that he cannot pull his hand out from the jar while his fist is holding to the handful of rice. He cannot put these two facts together. As the hunter gets closer and closer, the monkey struggles frantically trying to escape, but in vain he cannot escape because he won't let go of the handful of rice. In the end, the result is quite predictable. The monkey is caught, along with the original handful of rice in the jar, and apply that to the nations, the corporations, and individuals today struggling to survive. The rice is the credit or monkey of the government or the banks. GM cannot let go of the rice. They do, they'll go under. Neither can Chrysler. Neither can, probably, while General Electric might survive. General Electric owns NBC, and NBC has become somewhat of the voice organ for the Obama administration. The GE is very heavily involved in the alternative energy. So the system is designed by the financial, the financial system is designed to capture all the monkeys. Nations, corporations, individuals, they are trapped in the debt credit cycle, and they think they cannot let go of the monkey. They think they cannot let go of the monkey. They think they cannot let go of the debt credit cycle. And they think they cannot let go of the rice because if they do, what are they going to do? How are they going to survive? So who is the author of this system? Well, of course, it is Satan. So as we look at the world today, if we look at the nations on this day, this very meaningful day in the land that I dearly love, the United States of America, we must not forget that great spiritual warfare is being waged in high places and who the ultimate enemy is. Let's go to Ephesians 6, verse 10. Ephesians 6 and verse 10. In Ephesians 6, verse 10, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, 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. Satan is still on his insatiable quest to be worshipped, and eventually, everyone whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life will worship the false prophet, the beast, the beast system, who are energized by Satan the devil. In Revelation 13, verse 8, let's go there. Revelation 13, verse 8. And you'll note that one of the key factors that has to do with controlling the people at that particular time will be economic, inability to bind self.

In Revelation 13, verse 8, And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear to hear, let him hear.

Verse 11, I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb. He spoke as a dragon. So he comes in very peacefully, as it talks about in Daniel chapter 8. He corrupts the people through peace and through prosperity. That's Daniel 8. I'm not turning there. He exercises all the power of the first beast before him, causes the earth and them which dwell there into worship, the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He does great wonders so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. He deceives them to dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live. He had power to give life. And this word here, you should look up the word life for yourself and see what it really means. He had power to give life under the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he caused all both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to receive a mark in the right hand or in their foreheads. And notice how economics plays a key role, that no man might by ourselves save he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. And the number of the name is given, the 666. You know, Satan has not been deterred from his insatiable quest to thwart the plan of God to break prophecy, to become the object of worship, and with that, the ultimate goal of destroying humankind. His plan continues to move along, seemingly unabated. Who stands in the way? Who will really unveil? Who will tell it like it is? Who will witness to the world what this system is really all about, where we are and where we're going? Never forget, on the other hand, there's always comfort for the people of God that Satan can only do what God allows him to do. Let's notice Col. 1, verse 13.

Lest we think, or lest you think, that this is just completely negative and we are without anything. We've already read where to put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand, and that's the only way you are going to stand. By putting on the whole armor of God as described in Ephesians 6. In Col. 1.13, "...who hath delivered us from the power of darkness..." Satan is the prince of the power of the air. He's the prince of darkness "...and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him are all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible, invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is beginning the first born from the dead, that he might have the preeminence. So, Satan can't do anything that God doesn't allow, and the demons can't do anything that God doesn't allow. But greed, jealousy, the lust for power, is a powerful seductress. You know, it seems that God placed a hedgerow around the United States for decades. The U.S. enjoyed a modicum of independence, but greed and the lust for power seems to have turned things around. Let's briefly go to 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6.

1 Timothy chapter 6.

Verse 6, But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. In the grave, the dead know anything. They don't know anything.

And having food and raiment, let us be there with content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation, and a snare into many foolish and hurtful lust, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil. The love of money, the wrong desire, the wrong use.

What is the bottom line? The bottom line is the bottom line. So if we can't make a big enough profit for our shareholders in the U.S. using U.S. labor, we will ship it abroad. We'll send it to India. We'll send it to other places, Pakistan, Taiwan, and other areas where the wages are a pittance compared to those in the U.S. And so are the standards of living there. Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Verse 17. Charge them that are rich in the world, that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches.

Of course, billions upon billions have been lost in recent times. People have been saving for 20, 30 years for their retirement. There are people in their 60s and 70s. The retirement is gone because retirement funds have fallen into default for one reason or another. Trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. The Bible makes it clear that in the last days, the rich will be oppressing the poor, and the cries of the oppressed is one of the elements that moves God to intervene. No, this is not a do-gooder sermon about redistribution of wealth. The Bible says what it means and means what it says. But who is left holding the bag while the banks are bailed out and their credit obligations are matched? What about yours? Let's notice James chapter 5.

James chapter 5 and verse 1. James 5, 1, Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl, for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, your garments are moth-eaten, your gold and silver is cankered. The rest of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days. Now note, here's the key verse. Verse 4. Behold the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud cries, and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the turtle of Sibaweth. God hears, God knows, God is aware. And just as Israel cried out for deliverance in Egypt a long time ago, God eventually sent a deliverer through Moses and Aaron.

Goes on to talk about how they lived in pleasure and nourished themselves. Verse 6. You have condemned and killed the just, and he does not resist you.

Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and have long patience for it until he receives the early and the latter rain. Verse 10. Take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy, which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the Talos in the end the result of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and tender of mercy.

Satan appeals to greed, to jealousy, the lust for power.

That is inherent in every human being. He appeals that to seduce the sons of men, and many of the men who set out to make a mark in this world and make the world a better place to live are oftentimes driven by good intentions. But apart from God, all our righteousness is its filthy rags. Satan hates sovereign nations. Satan hates independent nations and individuals. Over the millennium centuries, we have seen and we hear of war and rumors of war, kingdom against kingdom, nation against nation. We see that, hear about it today. But all of these wars did little to return the people to the Tower of Babel.

How can Satan and world leaders return the peoples of the world to the Tower of Babel?

In some ways, these wars and rumors of war fanned the flames of nationalism and patriotism. So how do you get people to return to the Tower of Babel? Return to the Tower of Babel, not even far a shot.

Perhaps some insight can be gleaned from the motivation of the people to build the first tower.

If you would turn to Genesis 10.

Perhaps we can glean some insight from the motivation to build that first tower.

They were fearful that they would be scattered abroad, not able to make it on their own. Like they didn't want to be independent. They wanted to be dependent. They traded independence for dependence and interdependence. Today, we're trading independence for dependency and interdependency. You're just beginning to see the tip of the iceberg, as it were. Genesis 10, verse 1, these are the generations of the sons of Noah. Shem, Ham, and Japheth, under them were sons born after the flood.

Now we go to verse 6, the sons of Ham list those. We're particularly interested in Cush.

Then it lists the sons of Cush.

And then in verse 8, Cush begat Nimrod. Cush was Noah's grandson. Nimrod was Noah's great-grandson.

Cush begat Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Eternal. And many commentaries bring out that he set himself up in the place of God, like the Beast Power is going to do at the end of this age. We read already from Revelation 13.

Wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter, before the Eternal, and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. Babylon, Babel, and Erech, and Akkad, Calna, in the land of Shinar.

Now we go to chapter 11.

We've already read how that God set the bounds and habitations in the last verse of chapter 10. So the nations were to go out to these various inheritances. According to the number of the children of Israel, I think there are 70 nations based on the name of the Son of the Son who forget and so on, that are named there in Genesis 10.

Genesis 11.1. The whole earth was of one language, one speech. It came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found the plain in the land of Shinar. We've already read that Nimrod's kingdom that he built Babel and the land of Shinar, and they began to dwell there. And they said one to another, Go let us make brick and burn them thoroughly.

And they had brick for stone, slime for mortar.

They said, Go let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach into the heaven. Of course, there are various theories with regard to the height of the tower. Some said, Well, they want to build it so high that a flood couldn't destroy it again. Some said, Well, they knew that the spiritual power was in the heaven, so let's get as close to heaven as we can.

Let us make a name lest we be scattered abroad. So it's in opposition to God's commandment to go and colonize the earth according to the table of nations where God set the bounds and habitations. Lest we be scattered upon the face of the earth. The Eternal came down to see the city, the tower, the children of men. Behold, the Lord said, The people is one.

Now, unity, based on the right thing, is a wonderful thing. God's Spirit is a mighty, unifying force, and the people of God are being unified in the truth. But unity that is not based on the truth is something else.

YHWH, at the end of the age, is going to some degree through force, unify the peoples of the world, and they're going to worship Him. Everyone whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life. God said they are as one. They have one language. This they began to do. Now, nothing will be restrained from them, which they've imagined to do. As you saw in the video clip, now man is exploring the heavens. The headquarters for that exploration project, leading the world in it, NASA, located very near here. So the Lord went down. He confounded the languages, that they may not understand another speech. So the Eternal scattered them abroad from there upon the face of the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore, it's called Babel, or Babel, because the Lord did confound the languages of the earth, and from there did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of the earth. And that's why you find in ancient history books, you find the so-called legends and tales of the no-Asian flood. It's all over the earth, because those people went out from Babel. So Nimrod promised them security and protection if they would give their allegiance to him. But God made them choose independence. He scattered them abroad. And as we've already mentioned, God is the author of sovereign nations. So in order to bring the peoples of the world back to the Tower of Babel, you must make the peoples of the world dependent and interdependent. So how do you make the peoples of the world dependent and interdependent without firing a shot? Well, it's back to the tale of the monkey. The hand is in the jar full of rice, and you can't get your hand out of the jar and have the rice.

So we keep the hand in the jar and try to fill it with rice through the credit system. So the way you do it is through economic globalization and dependency on fossil fuels. Of course, to say this is simple, but many factors in addition to this have come to bear in making the world into the so-called global community. Once again, great motivating factor, jealousy, greed, and lust for power. Why weren't alternative energy solutions pursued with great urgency after the oil embargo, the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s? Remember Jimmy Carter declared the energy situation the moral equivalent of war. Why have so many U.S. corporations outsourced or manufactured through foreign nations? Why have they even outsourced service and technical support to foreign countries so that we talk to John or Jim in India, whose name you cannot pronounce? It definitely is not John or Jim or George. If there is no emerging New World Order, what is global governance all about? The answer is a profit margin. Who are the movers and shakers promoting global government, you ask? So obviously, the bankers are there. They're the heavyweights behind some of this, along with the politicians. Remember, you cannot create a global economy without a global government to manage, to oversee it, and to control it. The Bank of International Settlements, located in Switzerland, to a large degree, is the one who manages this. All you have to do is go on the internet and look up Bank of International Settlements. In fact, you can just put the acronym BIS, and you will get quite an education. In a letter written to Colonel E. Mandel House, he was one of Roosevelt's favorites, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the author of the New Deal, some have compared President Obama to Roosevelt.

In that letter, President Roosevelt writes, quote, The real truth of the matter is, as you know, and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government of the U.S. since the days of Andrew Jackson. That was in the 1830s, when we had no national debt. Old Hickory did his best to rid the United States from the death grip, that the international bankers were beginning to exert on the country. He may have been the last president to actually oppose the bankers. In discussing the bank renewal bill with the delegation of bankers in 1832, Jackson said, quote, Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time, and I'm convinced that you are using the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country, what we would call commodities today. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposit from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin 10,000 families' lives. That may be the case. But that is your sin. Should I let you go on, you will ruin 50,000 families. And that would be my sin. You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God I will rout you out. In the United States, for a brief period of time, had no national debt. Unfortunately, international bankers proved themselves to be too formidable for Jackson, and in 1913, with the collaboration of Woodrow Wilson, the Federal Reserve was created. While they created an independent central bank, the Federal Reserve was created. While simple to control the financial system of the U.S. and have the audacity to call it the Federal Reserve. It's a private institution in which that has been given far more power in recent days. The U.S. government has been given far more power in recent days. The U.S. government has been given far more power in recent days. The U.S. government borrows from the Federal Reserve at the going rate. We print the Treasury note, it goes to the Federal Reserve, then we borrow it back by issuing Treasury bills that we promise to pay interest on in the future.

So this is one of the main reasons why it's difficult to forgive our national debt. We didn't borrow it from ourselves, we borrowed it from the Federal Reserve, yet we printed it and called it Treasury notes.

This is one of the greatest scams in all of history.

So why do we borrow from the Chinese and Japanese? Why do we bail out the banks and foreclose on individuals? We could go on and on, but hopefully you get the picture. All of this is the cut off your nose and spite your face. England's Prime Minister Tony Blair said recently, well, this was quite a time ago, around 2000, quote, We're all internationalists now. We're all internationalists now, like it or not, he says. He continued saying, on the eve of a new millennium, we're now in a new world. We need new rules for international cooperation, new ways of organizing our international institutions. He also said, today, the impulse toward interdependence is immeasurably greater. We're witnessing the beginning of a new doctrine of international community. And you'll hear that term more and more as time goes on. International community, the global village. In 1999, Tony Blair said, globalization has transformed our economies and our working practices, but globalization is not just politics. It is also political and security phenomena. All of these factors diminish national sovereignty and individual sovereignty. So, as I stated earlier, day by day, we become more dependent and interdependent.

And world leaders are boasting about and bragging about all of this louder and louder as time goes on.

Are we aware? Yet, in the good old USA, the land of the free and the home of the brave, our people have more infatuation with the death of Michael Jackson. I've never seen anything like that, and neither have you.

I mean, Elvis didn't even get that, but neither did the presidents of the United States.

More infatuated with the death of Michael Jackson, than they are concerned with the continuing loss of national sovereignty and independence. Yet today, we will celebrate Independence Day. Yet, the very people who are destroying national sovereignty, they'll go out to these meetings today. They'll pair a few lines, meaningless words that they don't really mean, and continue to do the work of the devil.

Yeah, I'm telling it like it is, and hopefully, he who hath an ear to hear will hear.

It's interesting to note the beliefs of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Well, some say 56, some say 55. I said 55 up front. Most profess to believe in God, but what God did they profess to believe in? The signers of the Declaration of Independence, nine of them of the 55, nine of them, about 16 percent, were Freemasons. Signers of the U.S. Constitution, the numbers involved, 39 signed the U.S. Constitution, 13 were Freemasons. Generals in the Continental Army, 74, 46 percent of the generals. Some people talk about the Masons, but is that really the problem? On one side of the spectrum, you have those who believe that virtually all the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Christians, and on the other side of the spectrum, you have those who contend that virtually all were Freemasons. I don't know exactly who did this research. I have a chart or table I got off the internet. That's what they say about the percentage. My grandfather was a Freemason. When I was a little boy, he was also Justice of the Peace, and I used to go in and look at his law books, and he had some of the paraphernalia of Freemasonry. So he was a Freemason, and he was a deacon in the Baptist Church. My wife's father was a Freemason, and he didn't have any religion, basically, until, I guess you would say, the last year or so of his life when he was practically on his deathbed, and he made some kind of profession of faith. We had a deacon in the Big Sandy congregation who was a Freemason, very involved. He told me about his experiences in Freemasonry. He was kicked out of the order when he closed his prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. He would not recant, and so he was kicked out. Now, belief in a higher power is expected, but not necessarily a belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But that aside, that debate aside, our historic teaching in the Church of God, if we went by our doctrine, who kept the Sabbath, who believed in the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, going to heaven, going to hell, keeping the Sabbath holy days, clean and unclean meats, and many other doctrines that you could name, none of these people were converted in that sense. Yet, many of them really believed in the Bible to the best of their ability and tried to do what it said. Now, there was at least one Sabbath keeper. Samuel Ward was the governor of Rhode Island. He was a Sabbath keeper, and there were several in the Newport, Rhode Island area, and you've probably seen Mr. Frank's presentation on early Sabbath keepers in America. And the basic headquarters was in Newport, Rhode Island. Samuel Ward nominated George Washington to head the Colonial Forces. In fact, his granddaughter, Julia Ward Howe, wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic. And I would want to sing that as a closing hymn today, but it's not in our hymnal. I do not know why. But nonetheless, let's look at the importance that was placed on the Bible in early America. Immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress voted to purchase and import 20,000 copies of Scripture for the people of this nation. Now, that's the Continental Congress.

Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American Revolution, is still remembered for his words, give me liberty or give me death. But what about the context in which Patrick Henry said these words?

185 is not called Battle Hymn of the Republic. It's called Mine Eyes and seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. I don't know why they didn't call it Battle Hymn. I guess it's because on the one hand, we glory military, and on the other hand, we condemn it in the church. But anyhow, let's sing that for the closing hymn. Not yet, though. On one side of the spectrum, we have those who claim various claims about the nation with regard to, was it really Christian? But here's the backdrop of when Patrick Henry uttered those famous words.

Let me get it from the beginning. An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that has left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle, sir, is not of the strong alone. 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. So that's the appeal. So that's the context in which Patrick Henry uttered those famous words.

In the following year, 1776, he wrote, it cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. In 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution. The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.

John Adams, our second president, also served as the chairman of the American Bible Society. He said this was the greatest honor and the highest calling that he had received. His son, John Quincy Adams, who was the sixth president of the U.S., also served as chairman of the American Bible Society. He said the highest glory of the American Revolution was this, it connected in one indissovable bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity. Calvin Coolidge, our 30th president, who's not held in very high regard by many of the United States, reaffirmed this truth when he wrote, The foundations of our society and our government rest as much on the teachings of the Bible, that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country. William Holmes McGuffey, the author of the McGuffey Reader, for over 100 years was used in the public schools. 125 million copies were sold. Lincoln called him the schoolmaster of the nation. Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly Christian, including the first Harvard University. Look at Harvard now. Harvard chartered in 1636. Every student, it says, must be pressed to study the Bible to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 1733, and therefore delay Jesus Christ as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. Yes, this is part of what Harvard was founded on. For over 100 years, more than 50% of all Harvard graduates were church pastors.

However, in 1947, there was a radical change of direction in the Supreme Court. Prayer was banished. In 63, Bible reading was outlawed. In 65, a student could not even bow his head in the cafeteria and pray audibly for his food. In 1980, Stone v. Graham outlawed the Ten Commandments in public schools. So it may be true that none of the founding fathers were true Christians, as we know true Christians, but the Bible, the Word of God, and its teachings helped form the education and moral values of this nation. But now God has been thrown out of governing and educational systems. The hedgerow has been removed. We now depend on military power to protect us. The total number of American military bases around the world in 2005 was 737, and the number of these overseas bases continue to go up. Under the guise of interdependence, the elite are creating a totalitarian rule over the sons of men without firing a shot. Oh, there are wars and hackling, but the noose that is around our neck is bound by rules and regulations that control our lives. You play by these rules, or you will not put bread on the table. How do you sell totalitarianism? And it's being sold to the American public today, and they're buying it.

How do you sell it? You sell it through pleasant, soothing words, organic, holistic, differentiated, harmonious, interdependent, diversified, tolerate, balanced, and sustainable.

Sustainable development is all the rage these days. You hear President Obama mention it quite a lot. Sustainable development was codified into international law during the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development, popularly known as the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The Secretary General and main organizer of the conference was Maurice Strong. According to his own book, titled Where on Earth Are We Going, he is a member of the executive committee of the Club of Rome. I want to talk a little bit about totalitarianism here today as we close, so you might better understand what is happening to our great nation.

Totalitarianism, in theory, is the doctrine that the state or the nation or the community is capable of a good different from that of the individual and not consisting of anything that individuals think or feel. In other words, the state is higher than the individual.

This goes back to Plato and Neoplatonism, that the average person is not capable of ruling himself. We need the elite to rule. This doctrine was especially advocated by the German philosopher Hegel, who glorified the state and thought that a community should be as organic as possible. In an organic community, he thought excellence would reside in the whole. An individual is an organism, and we do not think that it has separate parts or have separate goods.

If you have pain in the great toe, the whole body suffers. So in an organic society, good and evil will belong to the whole rather than the parts. This is the theoretical form of totalitarianism. It's taken on many forms, socialism, communism, of course, Marxism, socialism, communism, virtually the same, fascism. But in practice, it means that a certain group, having seized the apparatus of power, especially armaments, police, money, and the means of production, proceed to exploit their advantageous position to the utmost by regulating everything in the way that gives them maximum control over others.

The United States House of Representatives passed in recent days what is the carbon bill and cap and tax that you have a cap on the amount of carbon that you can consume, and when you consume more than that, you're taxed on it. And if you don't consume as much as you are delegated, then you can sell it to somebody else. This bill will cost United States taxpayers quite a lot. In concrete fact, when it is pretended that the state has a good different from that of the citizens, what is really meant is that the good of the government or of the ruling class is more important than that of other people, and such a view can have no basis except in arbitrary power.

The most obvious and inescapable fact of this so-called scientific technique is that it makes socially, theoretically, more organic. In other words, it becomes more and more powerful, increasing the interdependence of its various parts so that the corporations cannot exist without the government. The government cannot exist without the corporations going all the way down to the individual who cannot buy a home unless he can get a loan, cannot buy a car unless he can get a loan, and so it goes.

In practice, in the social arena, it means that society knows better how to raise your child than you do. Hence, we get books like Hillary Clinton. It takes a village to raise a child. She doesn't mean village in the sense that it used to mean that a parent's looking out for children in the neighborhood.

Contrary to that, it means the state knows what is best for your child. We will teach them the virtues of diversity and toleration at all points of view. We will not judge anyone based on sexual orientation, religion, etc. All cultures are to be equally respected and honored. As someone told me here before services today, who's experienced the system. If you had gone there today to baptize as a Muslim, you would have been welcome with open arms.

But you came as a minister of the living God. I began to, this man, the chaplain asked me, explained to me the theology of your position. I began to say, well, there's a vast difference between Protestantism and the United Church of God. The Sabbath is the starting point, the Holy Days, and he interrupted me.

And I said, you've interrupted me. I can't explain it. And he didn't want to get back to it. Eventually, the world will be melded into one harmonious world community, as we read in Revelation 13. In the meantime, the individual becomes subservient to the state. Receive the mark of the beast eventually, or you can't buy or sell.

So that's where we are in the good old USA today, as we celebrate Independence Day. There are none so enslaved as those who think they are free. There is only one true freedom offered to the sons of men, and that is the freedom that is obtained through the truth of God. Jesus Christ said in John 8, 32, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. So here we are on this Independence Day, knowing that we must lift our eyes to the hills and depend upon God for deliverance.