“Objects of the most stupendous magnitude, measures in which the lives and liberties of millions, born and unborn are most essentially interested, are now before us. We are in the very midst of revolution, the most complete, unexpected, and remarkable of any in the history of the world.”
To Richard Stockton, one of the new delegates from New Jersey, Adams was “the Atlas” of the hour, “the man to whom the country is most indebted for the great measure of independency….He it was who sustained the debate, and by the force of his reasoning demonstrated not only the justice, but the expediency of the measure.”
Even though contributions were made by others, such as Adams and Franklin, the words of the Declaration of Independence were Thomas Jefferson’s. It was Jefferson who had written them for all time:
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.
The following video is from the HBO series, ‘John Adams’. Watch this video with great appreciation for what God, in his providence, accomplished for this country in 1776. Happy 4th! I join together with you as we all celebrate our freedom and independence.
On July2, Congress finally adopted a resolution in favor of independence, and on July 4 approved the Declaration of Independence. John Adams sat on the committee appointed to draft the document and had himself encouraged Thomas Jefferson to write the original draft, which was accepted with some modifications. As is typical of John Adams, he recognized the historical significance of the event but was just slightly off in his analysis of how it would be remembered – he was convinced Americans would always celebrate July 2 as “the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.
John writes to his wife Abigail from Philadelphia July 3, 1776:
The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even although We should rue it, with I trust in God We shall not.
Many consider Jonathan Edward only as a theologian and pastor and give no credence to the fact that he was constantly concerned with the spread of the gospel around the world. They see his deep commitment to Calvinism and the sovereignty of God as a hindrance to his missionary vision. However, from the time he was a pastor of a small congregation in New York from 1722-23, his missionary zeal has been a flame in his heart. Edwards reflects on twenty years prior in his Personal Narrative, written probably in 1740. He notes of his early days as a believer:
I had great longings for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom in the world. My secret prayer used to be in great part taken up in praying for it. If I heard the least hint of anything that happened in any part of the world, that appeared to me, in some respect or other, to have favorable aspect on the interest of Christ’s kingdom, my soul eagerly catched at it; and it would much animate and refresh me.
…I very frequently used to retire into a solitary place, on the banks of Hudson’s River, at some distance from the city, for contemplation on divine things, and secret converse with God; and had many sweet hours there. Sometimes Mr. Smith and I walked there together, to converse of the things of God; and our conversation used much to turn on the advancement of Christ’s kingdom in the world, and the glorious things that God would accomplish for his church in the later days.
Private prayer, conversation with others, and mediation were avenues by which Edwards gained a heart for the spread of the gospel around the world. His Calvinism spurred him to trust enough in the complete sovereignty of God to accomplish the missionary purpose. Edwards was a theologian, pastor, revivalist, and missionary.
James M’Gready was called to Logan County in south Kentucky in the late 1700’s. In the summer of 1798, as he reported, there was some movement among the congregations in Logan County, he wrote, ‘a very general awakening’. The spirit of prayer deepened and twelve months later it was apparent that a powerful work of conversion was in progress. At the Red River communion services at the end of July 1799 ‘many of the most bold and daring sinners of the country were brought to cover their faces and weep bitterly’. A month later the same ‘heart-piercing conviction’ was in evidence at services at Gasper River, some individuals being so overcome with emotion that they fell to the floor.
Much more was to follow: M’Gready wrote:
The year 1800 exceeds all that our eyes ever beheld on earth. All the blessed displays of Almighty power and grace, all the sweet gales of the divine Spirit, and soul-reviving showers of the blessings of Heaven which we enjoyed before, and which we considered wonderful beyond conception, were but like a few scattering drops before a mighty rain, when compared with the overflowing floods of salvation, which the eternal, gracious Jehovah has poured out like a mighty river, upon this our guilty, unworthy country. The Lord has indeed shewed himself a prayer-hearing God: he has given his people a praying spirit and a lively faith, and then he has answered their prayers far beyond their highest expectations.
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M’Gready’s Short Narrative of the Revival of Religion in Logan County, in the State of Kentucky, and the adjacent Settlements in the State of Tennessee, from May 1797, until September 1800 was published in four installments in the New York Missionary Magazine, 1802.
"It is a mercy that our lives are not left for us to plain, but that our Father chooses for us; else might we sometimes turn away from our blest blessings, and put from us the choicest and loveliest gifts of his providence." - Susannah Spurgeon
My name is Dustin Benge. I am the pastor-teacher of First Baptist Church of Jackson, Kentucky, a reader, writer, blogger, Master's student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and above all, lover of the Lord Jesus Christ. To find out more please visit the About page.
