“Thus saith the Lord GOD; ‘This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions. And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up Mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad; Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran. And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side. And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side. And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward. The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side. So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance,’ saith the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 47:13-23
Thursday
Jesus On the Matter of Judging
“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” ~Jesus (Luke 6:37-38)
Jesus is the Fulfillment of Scripture
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” …‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.'” ~Jesus (Luke 4:18-21)
God Created
God Created
Genesis 1:1
1. The Bible is all about God; His Son; His Spirit and God’s work in the world and the universe.
2. The Bible always assumes the existence of God without doubt.
3. The Bible is the only authority for God that we have.
4. According to Hebrew scholars this first verse is made up of seven Hebrew words; from which we can see seven key truths (from the HCSB Study Bible)
I. GOD EXISTS (Heb. 11:6).
II. GOD IS ETERNAL AND EXISTED BEFORE THE UNIVERSE WAS MADE (Heb. 1:10-12).
III. GOD IS THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THE BIBLE.
IV. GOD HAS DONE WHAT NO ONE ELSE CAN DO; HE CREATED FROM NOTHING.
V. GOD IS MYSTERIOUS; ONE, TRINITY, INVISIBLE, IMMUTABLE, OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT, OMNIPRESENT; AND UNEXPLAINABLE.
VI. GOD IS CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH – ALL THAT IS (Psalm 33:6, 9; Heb. 11:3).
VII. GOD IS INDEPENDENT OF HIS CREATION – CREATION IS DEPENDENT UPON HIM (Acts 17:28).
Application –
i. We in our existence owe it to the One who created us.
ii. God in His mercy came down to us in the person of His Son, and died for our sins.
iii. The Creator dying on a part of His creation, for His creation, to have fellowship and life with Him.
iv. Mankind; The human race is dependent upon our Creator; He is not dependent upon us.
v. Glorify God by receiving His one and only gift for reconciliation with Him – Jesus Christ death on the cross.
-Tim A. Blankenship
A message preached at Carr Lane Baptist Church in January 2011
Blessed are The Eyes that See, and The Ears That Hear What Jesus Says
“Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, ‘By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” ~Jesus (Matthew 13:11-17)
Jesus, the Holy Spirit and His Teaching
“These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” ~Jesus (John 14:25-27)
Jesus and the Sabbath Day
“Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” ~Jesus (Matthew 12:1-8)
You Are of More Value
“But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man be come. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.” ~Jesus (Matthew 10:23-33)
Jesus Is In the Boat
“And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us: we perish.’ And He saith unto them, ‘Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?’ Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, ‘What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!'” Matthew 8:23-27
The Son of God Glorified
“Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, He said, ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.’ Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was. Then after that saith He to His disciples, ‘Let us go into Judaea again.’ His disciples say unto Him, ‘Master, the Jews of late sought to stone Thee; and goest thou thither again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.’ These things said He: and after that He saith unto them, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.’ Then said His disciples, ‘Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.’ Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.’ Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with Him.'” John 11:1-16
The Good News of the Kingdom of God
“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.’ Now as He walked by the sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, ‘Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.’ And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed Him. And when He had gone a little further thence, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway He called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after Him. And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day He entered into the synagogue, and taught. And they were astonished at His doctrine: for He taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.” Mark 1:14-22
Hearing God’s Word
“Which of you convinceth Me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. …I have not a devil; but I honour My Father, and ye do dishonour Me. And I seek not Mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.” ~Jesus (John 8:46-50)
Through the Bible in a Year – Planned 110313
Counting Joy
James 1:1-4
We must realize that if we are to count joy…
1. IT WILL BE A PURPOSEFUL DECISION (v. 2).
“Count” = consider, command (with authority), have the rule over.
2. WE DO NOT HAVE A DECIDING FACTOR IN WHICH TRIALS WE WILL GO THROUGH
“Temptations” = trials, a putting to proof, adversity
A. That is the decision of the Creator;
B. Sometimes bad decisions we make (‘Fall into divers temptations’ v. 2).
3. WE CAN ALWAYS TRUST THAT THESE TRAILS WILL WORK OUT PATIENCE IN OUR LIVES (v. 3).
“Patience” = endurance, constancy,
4. WE CAN LOOK FORWARD TO OUR PATIENCE BEING PERFECT LACKING NOTHING (v. 4)
“Perfect” = complete, growth (mental and moral character)
-Tim A. Blankenship
This is the outline for the message I had prepared for Sunday November 03, 2013; but I had a heart attack on November 01 putting me in the hospital for the weekend.
The One to Know
“Ye both know Me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, whom ye know not. But I know Him: for I am from Him, and He hath sent Me.’
…’Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto Him that sent Me. Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.” ~Jesus (John 7:25-36)
The Teaching of the Father
“Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall be all taught of God.’ Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save He which is of God, He hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” ~Jesus (John 6:43-51)
Heaven’s News – Building in the Kingdom
“Not every one that saith unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works?’ And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.’ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” ~Jesus (Matthew 7:21-27)
Heaven’s News – No Room for Show in the Kingdom
“Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, ‘They have their reward.’ But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” ~Jesus (Matthew 6:16-18)
From George Orwell’s “1984”
Power & Tyranny—George Orwell (1903 – 1950)
Following World War II, persons on both sides of the Atlantic were doing a good bit of soul-searching. The “war to end all wars” (World War I) had been nothing of the sort, and in many ways set a trajectory for World War II. British intellectual George Orwell wrote poignantly about the nature of power, particularly the danger of centralized power.
In the following quotation, taken from Orwell’s classic novel, 1984, penned in 1949, the hero, Winston Smith, is being interrogated and tortured by the epitome of government power and tyranny, O’Brien. Throughout the book Winston has been able to avoid punishment, even though he has “come alive” and has realized that something is radically amiss with his culture and with the all-knowing and all-powerful “Big Brother.” He has sought to live a somewhat independent life, ignoring at least some of the dictates of the tyranny under which he lives. But he eventually is caught, and O’Brien, in the midst of torturing him, explains to Winston something of the nature of political tyranny and power. Though not a Christian, Orwell’s insights are bracing.
The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness; only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just round the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?1
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| 1 | George Orwell, 1984 (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1949; New York: New American Library, 1984), 217. Citations are to the New American Library edition. |
Heaven’s News 100313
“Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” ~ Jesus Matthew 4:10 (KJV)
Urgent!!!
“Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ‘Jeremiah, what seest thou?’ And I said, ‘I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, ‘Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.'” Jeremiah 1:11-12 (KJV)
There are a few times the almond tree, and rod are mentioned in Scripture. Aarons rod was an almond rod (Numbers 17:8) Other times the word “Almond” is used in the Old Testament are found in Genesis 43:11; Exodus 25:33, 34; 37:19, 20; Ecclesiastes 12:5, and our text today.
Four of those are references to the actual tree or fruit or to an article made in the likeness of an almond, such as a bowl.
Aaron’s rod budded showing life; it was also evidence that Aaron was God’s appointed man for the time.
The prophet has been called to proclaim the Word of God to a sinful and rebellious people. He has been told by God, that he has been known by Him even before he was conceived in the womb of his mother. Jeremiah the prophet has been told to speak every word God puts in his mouth.
Now comes the time to check his vision. “Jeremiah, what do you see?” (1:11) “I see a branch of an almond tree.” If a man is going to proclaim the Word of the Lord GOD, then he must be able to see what God is about to do, or at least what he desires to do.
Here is what God says about the seeing of the almond tree branch. “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word”. (v. 12)
The almond tree was an early tree. It wakened from its dormancy earlier than any other tree. The thing Jeremiah saw God used to tell him that the Word of God was going to be done just as God declared it through him, and it would be very quickly. It would be earlier than any other.
The message of God’s Word would be faithfully preached by the prophet, but not without sorrow and pain. There would be no delay. Jeremiah must hasten to the work of his ministry.
Just how close are we to the time we will see the fulfilling of the final prophecies of the Word of God. They are at the door. Jesus could return for His Bride at any moment. Do not delay to call on His name in repentance for sin, and trust completely in Him for salvation.
The picture of the almond tree for Jeremiah was a message that God was going to perform His word quickly. We live in an era of time very similar to Jeremiah’s. It is a time for the preacher to preach the Word; not back away, nor soft pedal it; but deliver it with urgency. The time we have is short.
As Jesus Christ was on the cross, suffered, bled and died there that tree brings forth life. The message of Jesus is the message with urgency. Believe Him and live. Continue in unbelief and perish. That is the only choices we have.
Could it be that the cross was made from an almond tree?
W4CL – Holy Spirit
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14 (KJV)
We need not be fearful that God will not fulfill His Word. He has promised that He will finish what He has began (Philippians 1:6). There is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus (Romans 8:35-39). Best of all we have God’s “Earnest” payment that He will do it.
“Earnest” is a real estate term. One puts down an earnest payment as a guarantee of payment of a down payment on a house or land. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us as promise, evidence that He will complete what He has began in us. You will note too, that “Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise”.
In Christ we are a sealed document, that cannot be opened until it is delivered into the hand of the King. Please read Romans 8:9.
Words for Christian Living – Arabia
“For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: and profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.” Galations 1:13-17 (KJV)
Arabia is situated to the Northeast of Africa as a peninsula. Paul declares in Galations that this is the place to which he went following his call from Christ to follow Him. He makes it clear that his first call was to get to know the Lord Jesus better. He sought to learn of Him from Him, not the apostles, not what others had to say; but from Jesus alone. There was nothing about Arabia that had any appeal to it. He went to the wilderness. This seems to be very similar to Jesus’s going into the wilderness “to be tempted/tested” (Matthew 4:1-11).
Every Christian needs to learn more about Jesus, from Jesus Himself. The place to begin is with the Bible, God’s Word; and believe it, and live by it, as Jesus did, and continues doing. Your Arabia may just be your quiet time each morning in prayer and in the reading of the Bible. Make it daily, and at the same time each day.
It is most important that you hear what Jesus says of Himself. Then when you hear things that are contrary to what you have learned from God and His Word you will know that it is false.
Spend some time each day in your Arabia.
Words for Christian Living – Fear
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.” Psalm 27:1-3 (KJV)
What place does fear have in the life of a Christian and/or Christian living? One place; Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10). Someone has said, “If we fear God we need fear nothing else”.
The Psalmist tells us that the LORD is his light and salvation. If that be so, then whom does the Psalmist need to fear; or who does any Child of God need fear; or what do we need to fear?
We can be troubled on every side. Health, wealth (or lack of wealth worry about paying the rent, house payment, bills), personal attacks from others, even looming death may be one of the things that strike fear into our hearts. There is no benefit from this worry. Worry is nothing more or less than fear. God is our strength.
We need to hear the words of Jesus and trust Him…
“Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat? or, ‘What shall we drink? or, ‘Wherewithal shall we be clothed?’ (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:30-34 (KJV)
Words for Christian Living – Now
“We then, as workers together with Him, beseech also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 (KJV)
The most important word in the life of anyone is “Now”. God is not the “I was”, or “I will be”. He is “I Am” (Exodus 3:13-15). He is God now. Christian there is no more important time than the now.
If you are currently an unbeliever, but you know and believe there is God: He is drawing you to Himself. Now is the time to hear His voice and receive the finished work of His Son Jesus death on the cross as the atonement for your sins, believe Him and be saved today. No matter what you have done God’s forgiveness is greater than your sin.
Christian, Now is the time to start walking with Jesus our Lord and Savior new.
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence
07/04/1776
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 entitles 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 shown 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 governments. 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.
He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative Houses repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasion on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us in many cases of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to ren-der it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
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 the 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 alliance, establish commerce, and 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.
Signers of the Declaration of IndependenceNEW HAMPSHIRE: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
MASSACHUSETTS: John Hancock, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine
RHODE ISLAND: Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
CONNECTICUT: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
NEW YORK: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
NEW JERSEY: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
PENNSYLVANIA: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
DELAWARE: Ceasar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
MARYLAND: Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, William Paca, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
VIRGINIA: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
NORTH CAROLINA: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
SOUTH CAROLINA: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Authur Middleton
GEORGIA: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
The Fire and Hammer 