Latest / Admonition Podcast / Never Declare Independence - Aaron Cozort - June 28, 2026
Transcript
- 0:01Good morning.
- 0:06In just a few short days, America will celebrate its two hundred and fiftieth birthday, in a sense.
- 0:19For two hundred and forty-nine days and few or four hundred two hundred and forty nine years and quite a number of days ago, the Congressional Congress wrote a declaration.
- 0:35It began the unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political
- 0:47bands.
- 0:48Which 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 entitle them.
- 0:59A disdecent respect to the opinion of mankind requires that they should declare the cause which impel them to the separation.
- 1:08We hold these truths to be self evident.
- 1:12That all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- 1:23That 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
- 1:33destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government.
- 1:41Laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such forms as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.
- 1:55The individuals who wrote these words wrote them, many of them being those who believed firmly in the God of the Bible, many of them representing constituents and individuals in
- 2:13their home states that believed firmly in the God of the Bible, and believed that because God exists, rights exist.
- 2:25Because God exists, there's someone higher than the government.
- 2:31And because God exists, there's someone higher than the king.
- 2:38Wanna read you another short passage.
- 2:47This comes from a song, country music song.
- 2:51Johnny Cash sang years ago.
- 2:53I thought maybe it might be a good lead in to the thoughts of our lesson.
- 2:59I do encourage you, if at all possible, to be back this afternoon.
- 3:03Cause today's lesson is really kind of a two part lesson.
- 3:08We're going to talk about this idea of independence this morning.
- 3:13This afternoon we're going to talk about what do God's people do when their nation falls?
- 3:20And of the two lessons, I suggest that perhaps the second one is the more important.
- 3:27But Johnny Cash wrote sang song years ago.
- 3:31I walked through a county courthouse square on a park bench, an old man was sitting there.
- 3:37I said, your old courthouse is kind of run down.
- 3:39He said, nah, it'll do for our little town.
- 3:43I said, your old flagpole has leaned a little bit, and that's a ragged old flag you've got hanging on it.
- 3:50He said, have a seat, and I sat down.
- 3:52Is this your first time to our little town?
- 3:54I said, I think it is.
- 3:56He said, I don't like to brag, but we're kind of proud of that ragged old flag.
- 4:02You see, it got a little hole in that flag there when Washington took it across the Delaware, and it got powder burned the night that Francis Scott Key sat watching it
- 4:13writing, Say can you see?
- 4:16It got a bad rip in New Orleans when Packingham and Jackson tugging at its seams and it almost fell at the Alamo beside the Texas f Texas flag, but
- 4:27She waved on though.
- 4:28She got cut with a sword at Chancellorville.
- 4:31She got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
- 4:33There was Robert E.
- 4:34Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg, and the South Wind blew hard on that ragged old flag.
- 4:40On Flanders Field in World War I, she got a big hole from a Bertha gun.
- 4:45She turned blood red in World War II.
- 4:48She hung limp, and lo, a time or two.
- 4:52She was in Korea, Vietnam, she went where she was sent by her uncle Sam.
- 4:56She waved from our ships upon the briny foam, and now they've about quit waving back here at home.
- 5:04In her own good land she's been abused, she's been burned, dishonored, denied, and refused, and the government for which she stands is scandalized throughout the land.
- 5:15And she's getting threadbare, and she's wearing thin.
- 5:19But she's in good shape for the shape she's in, 'cause she's been through the fire before.
- 5:25And I believe she can take a whole lot more.
- 5:28So we raise her up every morning, we take her down every night, we don't let her touch the ground, and we fold her upright.
- 5:37On second thought, I do like to brag, because I'm mighty proud of that ragged old flag.
- 5:47You know, when you think concerning this nation that we live in.
- 5:54It is a nation with a present time.
- 5:58It is a nation that we can look at and say, well, there's a lot of problems with this nation that we live in.
- 6:07There's problems in the government, there's problems in the cities, there's problems in the states, there's problems in the counties, there's problems in the homes, there's
- 6:17problems in the schools, and all of those statements would be true.
- 6:24But as you consider what gave birth to this nation, what gave birth to this nation was a desire based upon the knowledge of the existence of God, that people should have a right
- 6:44to worship and serve their God and serve their homes and their families in equity.
- 6:54In justice, in liberty and in freedom.
- 7:02All of those are Old Testament and New Testament concepts.
- 7:08All of those are ideas and ideals that are formulated not in the thoughts of human psychology and not in human philosophy, but in the words of Scripture.
- 7:23And there were things going on in that day and time from which a group of colonies determined that they needed independence from a king in England.
- 7:37I'm gonna pause for a moment and ask Micah, Will you bring my notebook that's sitting on the pew there and bring it up to me?
- 7:43'Cause that's got my sermon notes in it.
- 7:47And I'll get most of them right, but I might leave one or two out.
- 7:50Thank you, son.
- 7:54My wife will tell you if I forget, if she's not around, sometimes I'll leave my head behind.
- 8:01Snap screwed on.
- 8:04I want to spend some time with you this morning thinking about three things.
- 8:11As we consider this birthday of America's independence, three things from which we must not declare independence.
- 8:22As you think concerning the words that those individuals wrote 250 years ago, they made it clear that they weren't just revolting.
- 8:34They weren't starting j as a matter of fact, they weren't starting a revolution.
- 8:41They were simply out of respect declaring why they could no longer remain under the authority of a certain king.
- 8:53And so they were declaring their independence with respect.
- 9:00By writing it down.
- 9:04But three things from which we must not declare independence.
- 9:08Turn to Acts chapter seventeen.
- 9:13In Acts chapter seventeen
- 9:16Paul is standing in Athens.
- 9:21And he is discussing with the philosophers of the day, the people of the day who gathered in their time to there at Mars Hill discuss the new things that they heard, the the new
- 9:34ideas that they learned, about the new gods that they could worship and follow.
- 9:43And so Paul stood, verse twenty two, in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious.
- 9:52For I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God.
- 10:01Therefore the one whom you worship without knowing him I proclaim to you.
- 10:08God who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he worshipped with men's hands as though he
- 10:18needed anything, since he gives to all life, breath, and all things.
- 10:24And he has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.
- 10:36So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being,
- 10:48as also some of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring.
- 10:56Therefore, since we are the offspring of God.
- 10:59We ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising.
- 11:07Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness
- 11:16by the man whom he has ordained, he has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead.
- 11:25Paul makes it clear whether it be a nation, whether it be a people, whether it be any of humanity, no matter who they are or where they live, they cannot declare independence from
- 11:45God.
- 11:49Paul said there in verse 28, for in him we live and move and have our being.
- 11:58This nation could exist without the influence and the authority of the King of England.
- 12:04But not one of us can exist without the authority and the influence of God in heaven.
- 12:13And yet many through time have attempted to declare independence from God.
- 12:21They have attempted to argue that they do not need a God, they do not need a spiritual being, they do not need an authority of power greater than themselves.
- 12:30They can live of themselves and by themselves.
- 12:36But they cannot.
- 12:40None of us can.
- 12:44More so than just in our physical lives.
- 12:48Truly we cannot declare independence from God in our physical lives in this physical world, for it will cease to exist if he ever determines that it will.
- 13:00But even more so in our spiritual lives, turn to John chapter seventeen.
- 13:07In John chapter seventeen, Jesus, as he was preparing to go into the garden, preparing to be betrayed, preparing to be crucified for our sins, prayed to the Father.
- 13:20In John chapter 17 and verse 1, Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you.
- 13:28As you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him.
- 13:36And this is eternal life.
- 13:41Jesus gives us a definition, a defining picture of eternal life.
- 13:51He says, and this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
- 14:02Jesus makes it clear in our spiritual lives we may not have eternal life while declaring independence from God.
- 14:14For eternal life is fellowship with God.
- 14:20It is knowing who God is, knowing Him in a personal way in eternity.
- 14:31John would write further in first John chapter three.
- 14:39Passage which I firmly believe is directly tied to the statement that Jesus made in John 17.
- 14:47And in first John chapter 3, he says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God.
- 14:56Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him.
- 15:00Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we
- 15:09We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
- 15:15John tells us that not only can we not declare independence from God and have eternal life, but rather that eternal life will be with the Father and with the Son, and we will
- 15:29see them as they are.
- 15:36We are to be eternally blessed in a home in heaven.
- 15:44We must not declare independence from God.
- 15:50In Ephesians, Paul would write in Ephesians chapter two.
- 15:59And he would write to this church, and he said, And you he made alive.
- 16:04Now Paul wrote concerning our physical existence, or spoke concerning our physical existence there at the Areobagus and said that in him we live and move and have our being.
- 16:17But as he writes to the church at Ephesus, he's not talking about their physical being.
- 16:21He's not talking about their physical life.
- 16:23He is talking about their spiritual life, and he says, And you he made alive.
- 16:29Who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit who now works in
- 16:39the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
- 16:48children of wrath just as the others.
- 16:51But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us.
- 16:56Even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ, for by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places
- 17:05in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding great exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
- 17:15For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any one should boast, for we are his workmanship created.
- 17:25in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
- 17:36We cannot declare independence from God, for our spiritual life was created in God and by God.
- 17:48Our spiritual existence and our salvation and our hope for eternity
- 17:54abides exclusively, singularly in God.
- 18:01For salvation is his gift.
- 18:04It is not earned, it is not merited, it is received because it was given.
- 18:13But we as Christians, we as those who have died to the world and died to sin and risen to walk in newness of life, Romans chapter six, verses three and four, in that watery grave
- 18:25of baptism, as it is described there, have risen to walk in newness of life, and now we are his workmanship prepared for good works.
- 18:37It is not enough to say I pledge allegiance to God.
- 18:42If you don't don't then do the works that He's given you to do.
- 18:47It's easy to pledge allegiance to a nation.
- 18:51The nation doesn't require much of you except show up, pay taxes.
- 18:57Follow the law, don't get kicked out.
- 19:02It's pretty easy to pledge allegiance to a king, so long as he doesn't tell you to go to war.
- 19:10But God's commitment when you pledge allegiance to the Lord, when you confess the name of Christ, Romans chapter ten, verses nine and ten, is a commitment to live every single day
- 19:25doing the work God has prepared you to do.
- 19:32But you cannot, you must not declare independence from God.
- 19:40But Paul, as he writes here in Ephesians chapter two, makes it clear that it is not just God the Father that we must hold allegiance to.
- 19:50But rather that God gave life to us in Christ Jesus.
- 19:58And that we must hold allegiance to Christ.
- 20:03Turn to Colossians.
- 20:05Paul would write to the church at Colossae in Colossians chapter one and beginning in verse 15.
- 20:10And he would write to them, and he says, He is the image of the invisible God, speaking of Christ, the firstborn over all creation.
- 20:19For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were
- 20:28created through him and for him.
- 20:31And he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
- 20:35And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence.
- 20:43God the Father makes it clear you cannot have independence from Christ and allegiance to God.
- 20:54That God has put all things, as the Hebrew writer would state, under his feet.
- 21:04As Paul would write here in Colossians, he has made him to be head over the body, the church, who is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead.
- 21:14If we desire a home in heaven, if we desire an eternity with God, if we desire a salvation from the sin and the iniquity in this world, then we must not declare independence from
- 21:26Jesus Christ.
- 21:29Paul would go on, verse 19, for it pleased the Father that in him all the fullness should dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to himself, whether by him, excuse me, reconcile
- 21:43all things to himself, by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
- 21:51And you who are once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled.
- 22:01Paul says there was a time where you had independence from God.
- 22:06Because you were in a state in which you were lost.
- 22:12You were in a state in which you were succumbing to the wickedness of this world and you were involved in those things which God says, I will have no fellowship with them.
- 22:29John would write in first John.
- 22:32That God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
- 22:41To declare independence from God, to declare independence from Christ is to declare, I will walk in darkness and do not the truth.
- 22:55But Paul will go on, and he will write, and you who were once alienated and enemies in your mind, by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through
- 23:11death, to present you holy and blameless, and above reproach in his sight, if indeed you
- 23:25Continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which pa I,
- 23:40Paul, became a minister.
- 23:44Paul makes it clear that in order to remain in fellowship with God, in order to remain one who is in allegiance to God, in order to be one who is in fellowship with God and not
- 23:58independent from him, but one and unified with him, you must not declare independence from the gospel.
- 24:11We cannot have our lives separated from the gospel, for it is our hope.
- 24:18It is that by which He has purchased our redemption and washed us through water by the Word.
- 24:29We must not declare independence from God.
- 24:33We must not declare independence from Jesus Christ.
- 24:37We must not declare independence from the gospel.
- 24:42But we must also not declare independence from the church.
- 24:49Some having left the body of Christ, having left the church that belongs to Jesus Christ, have said, you know what, I I I think I'll keep Christ, and I'll keep God the Father, and
- 25:06I'll even keep a form of his gospel, but the church I don't want to have anything to do with.
- 25:15You cannot be unified with God, unified with Christ, and unified with the gospel and at odds with the church.
- 25:26Not because the church stands as an independent power, the church has not declared independence from God.
- 25:34Rather, because when you are in fellowship with God, you are in fellowship with all those who are in fellowship with God.
- 25:43And those who are in fellowship with God are those who have been bought, purchased, redeemed, and have been added by the Lord to the church.
- 25:53In Acts chapter 2, verse 47, we read that such as those who were being saved were added daily to the church.
- 26:04They were added when they were willing to repent of their sins and be immersed in water for the remission of those sins.
- 26:12They were added to the body of Christ.
- 26:15But we cannot and we must not declare our independence from the church.
- 26:20In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul will write concerning the body of Christ.
- 26:27For as the body is one and has many members.
- 26:31But all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
- 26:37For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit.
- 26:48For in fact the body is not one member, but many.
- 26:52If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?
- 27:01Paul looks at the visual illustration of our physical bodies and says, you know what?
- 27:05The foot looks at the hand and says, You know what?
- 27:07Since I can't be that hand which does so many great things, that articulates in so many different ways, that that writes books and that that that uh does all of these wonderful
- 27:18things and builds all these magnificent things, since I can't be the hand, I'm just going to declare independence from the body.
- 27:27Luckily it's a foot, it can walk away.
- 27:33But Paul says, no, that's not how it works.
- 27:37For we are all members of the same body.
- 27:44He goes on to say, if the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing?
- 27:49If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?
- 27:52But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
- 27:59And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
- 28:05But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
- 28:09Now some will come to this passage and they'll say, See, there's there's thousands of denominations, but it's one church.
- 28:19You can't get that from the book of Cor First Corinthians.
- 28:23How do I know?
- 28:24Well, long before he got into chapter twelve, we were in chapter one, chapter one, verse ten.
- 28:30Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined
- 28:43together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
- 28:46For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you.
- 28:52Now this I say, each of you says, I am of Paul, or we could say Luther.
- 28:58I am of Apollos, and we could call the Pope's name.
- 29:02Or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ.
- 29:05Is Christ divided?
- 29:07Was Paul crucified for you?
- 29:08Were you baptized in the name of Paul?
- 29:12Paul has already established there is no authority for divisions, which is, by the way, what the word denomination means.
- 29:20There's no authority for divisions in the body of Christ.
- 29:25First Corinthians chapter twelve isn't dealing with divisions, it's dealing with members.
- 29:31It's dealing with individuals in the church at Corinth.
- 29:36The context was the difficulties they were having over the miraculous gifts.
- 29:42And some of them wanted to be in charge, and some of them wanted a greater gift, and some of them thought they had a lesser gift.
- 29:49And Paul says: you can't have a body if all of you are a foot.
- 29:55And you can't have a body if all of you are an eye.
- 29:58And you can't have a body if all of you are a mouth.
- 30:04The members here are not churches, they're not denominations, they're Christians.
- 30:11And they're part of the same congregation.
- 30:15He says, And if they were all, verse 19, one member, where would be the body?
- 30:19But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
- 30:23The I cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the hand the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
- 30:30No much rather those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary, and those members of the body which think to we think uh to be less honorable, on those we bestow
- 30:41greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need.
- 30:48But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body.
- 30:58But that the members should have the same care for one another, and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, for if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with
- 31:08it.
- 31:08Now you are the body of Christ and members individually.
- 31:14And God has appointed these in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that, miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, varieties
- 31:26of tongues, are all apostles.
- 31:28Are all prophets, are all teachers, are all workers of miracles, do all have gifts of healing?
- 31:33Do all speak with tongues?
- 31:35Do all interpret?
- 31:36But earnestly desire the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way.
- 31:43As Paul writes and introduces this idea of the problem and the struggle they were having, which will continue in chapter thirteen.
- 31:50as he discusses love.
- 31:52And he'll continue in chapter fourteen as he discusses the proper order of things in the worship assembly.
- 31:57He will make it clear you are all one body.
- 32:05There is no authority anywhere in Scripture to have an independent Christian.
- 32:14To have a Christian apart from a congregation.
- 32:19To have a Christian apart from the body of Christ.
- 32:23There's no authority in Scripture for independence from the church.
- 32:29There's no authority in Scripture for independence from the gospel.
- 32:36There's no authority in the Scripture for independence from Christ.
- 32:42There's no authority for independence from God the Father.
- 32:49Things from which we must not declare independence.
- 32:58Two hundred and fifty years ago.
- 33:02A group of men came together on behalf of a nation and declared, you know what?
- 33:10We need to declare independence from England and from a king because we've been abused, we've been mistreated.
- 33:22Our rightful position has been destroyed.
- 33:27It was unjustified, it was unwarranted, and it was unrepresented.
- 33:32And as a result, given that we know who's the creator of this world and who is not, we are declaring our independence from a king, from a tyrant.
- 33:48As we stand here today, some may say, I feel as though maybe God hasn't done everything that I need him to do.
- 33:56I I feel as though maybe God hasn't provided for me in the way that I think he should.
- 34:01I I feel as though he's he's done me more harm than he's done me good.
- 34:11Perhaps we need to better understand our relationship with God.
- 34:18For he's given you air to breathe, sunshine to allow things to grow, rain to water the earth.
- 34:27He's allowed you to live and move and have your being.
- 34:33And he's given you Jesus Christ His Son, His only begotten Son, that you might have the hope of eternal life at the very cost of His Son's life on the cross.
- 34:43What could you argue with that God hasn't given you?
- 34:49Some might say, well, you know that I I understand what God's given me, but the church, the church, the church has done me wrong.
- 34:57The church has not greeted me the way they should.
- 34:59The church has not held coddled me the way that they should.
- 35:02The church has not done this for me and that for me.
- 35:06Maybe it's time to explore what it means to be a member of the body of Christ and to understand what the church does for you rather what you do for Christ.
- 35:19But I can tell you this.
- 35:23You cannot hold allegiance to Christ outside of the church.
- 35:29You cannot have independence from the church and unity with God.
- 35:37There is one place where salvation is found.
- 35:41It is found in the place that Jesus said, I have come to build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
- 35:58If you have need of salvation from this world, from being alienated and separated from God,
- 36:04If you desire not to declare independence from God, but fellowship with God, you first have to be obedient to the gospel.
- 36:13You have to hear the word of God and believe that Jesus Christ is his Son, that He is God in the flesh, come in the flesh to die on the cross for your sins, because without Him
- 36:23there is no path to the Father.
- 36:24Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
- 36:26No man cometh unto the Father but by me.
- 36:31And having heard the word and believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you must repent of your sins, confess the name of Christ, and be immersed in water for the
- 36:39remission of your sins, dying to the old man of sin, no longer in allegiance with Satan, but rising to walk in newness of life, a new creature, a new creation, created in Christ
- 36:53Jesus, reconciled to God, not independent from our Lord, but unified with Him.
- 37:02Ready, anxiously awaiting when this life is over, to be able to dwell with him in eternity, for this is eternal life, to know the only true God and Jesus Christ his Son.
- 37:17And during your time on this walk, in this life, to dwell together with the body of Christ, the church, serving God, being workmen of his service.
- 37:32If you have need of the invitation of Christ, to put Christ on in baptism, you can do that this morning.
- 37:37If you're a member of the body of Christ and you've declared independence from God, from Christ, from the gospel, or from his church.
- 37:46May I suggest that you sue for a peace treaty, that you return once again to allegiance to God.
- 37:56If you have need of the invitation, why not come now?