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All nations contain history that has been kept from the people. America's Godly history is all around us, but because of intentional intervention into so many areas of our lives (including our churches), we are not even aware of most of it. In the beginnings of this nation, there were men and women who knew they were on a mission from their Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ. They did not live in fear. They lived according to the Ten Commandments and the Bible. They felt the passion of liberty, the demands of survival, the deepness of Godly fellowship, the comradery of neighbor defending neighbor, and the heartfelt patriotism of all. We cannot allow anyone to remove from God's people the heritage that so rightly belongs to us. As an American, we must do all we can to know the people, their words, the symbols of Israelite heritage, and the higher beliefs that brought them to this land. In his diary, Christopher Columbus stated: "It was the Lord who put it in my mind (I could feel His hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures...I am a most unworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolations since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous presence. For the execution of the journey to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied." Christopher (meaning "Christ Bearer") knew he had a mission from the Lord Jesus. It is interesting that our children are told that Christopher Columbus was only here to steal the gold from the people here, and make slaves of the Indians, to help him mine it. If that were true, why did he state in his last journey to America, from the island of Jamaica, dated July 7, 1503, that he did not even have a farthing for the offering. He was taken prisoner, weighed down with irons, stripped of his clothing, cruelly treated, and was not even given a hearing for something he was supposedly accused of. He was loyal to God and to his Queen and King in Spain until his death. That is how the real story goes. Another patriot, William Penn was an English nobleman whose father, Admiral Penn, aspired to a great military career for his son. At age 22, William was converted from Atheism to Christianity. He found himself imprisoned three times for preaching the Word of God. While serving a nine month term in the Tower of London, he dreamed of starting a colony in the new world, where biblical truths could be sought after, and you would be free from persecution. He and some of his followers, came over in 1681 on the ship "Welcome" and shortly founded "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania". (I would assume that the name of Pennsylvania for the state name came somewhat later.) His Bible and Psalter is in the Penn Mutual Collection, opposite Independence Hall. On the title page to his Psalter (book of Psalms), he had written: "Set forth and allowed to be sung in all churches, of all the people together, before and after morning and evening prayer, and moreover in private houses for their Godly solace and comfort, laying apart all ungodly songs and ballads: which tend only to the nourishing of vice and corrupting of youth." It is also interesting to note that also in his Latin Bible, the section that he most underlined is the Book of Exodus, which tells about the Israelites escape from Egypt. He possibly felt that the English Quaker exodus to America was likened to their Israelite forefather's exodus. In formulating his government, the first Constitution to Penn's Fundamental Constitutions of Pennsylvania clearly states the foundations of the colony as being Christian. Also William Penn in 1682 stated: "My purpose is to institute a civil government on the basis of the Bible and to administer it in the fear of the Lord, so to serve the truth and people of the Lord, that an example might be set to the nations." Have you ever heard that in your past history classes? We also see in the First Legislative Act in Pennsylvania in December 1682, it stated: "Whereas the glory of Almighty God and the good of mankind is the reason and end of government, therefore government in itself is a venerable ordinance of God..." On July 2, 1776, just after the founding fathers had voted on the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams stated: "We have this day restored the Sovereign, to whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising, to the setting sun, let His kingdom come!" On that same day, in his speech given to Congress, founding father John Adams, is quoted: "The second day of July , 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America, to be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival, commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty from one end of the Continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore..." President John Adams, when speaking to the Massachusetts Militia in 1798: "Our constitution was designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly and inadequate for the government of any other." The first session of Congress convened in September 7, 1774, opening the session in prayer was Jacob Duche, a rector of Christ Church, reading Psalms 35 in its entirety. John Adams wrote: "I have never heard a better prayer..it stirred the bosom of every man present." The first Congress members proudly proclaimed that they were Protestant Christians, insistent on maintaining their freedom of religion. Adams, who was our second president, but first president in the White House, wrote to Abigail (his wife) in November 1800, incorporating a beautiful prayer: "I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this House and All that shall hereafter Inhabit it, May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof." (meaning under the White House roof) The first lady, Abigail Adams, in a letter to her husband (who she considered her best friend), gives us a glimpse into her character and virtue. She encourages him to fulfill his duty to the nation, even if it meant personal loss to herself. "My much loved friend: I dare not express to you, at three hundred miles distance, how ardently I long for your return...And whether the end will be tragical, Heaven only knows. You cannot be, I know, nor do I wish to see you, an inactive spectator; but if the sword be drawn, I bid adieu to all domestic felicity, and look forward to that country where there are neither wars nor rumors of war, in a firm belief that through the mercy of its King (Jesus), we shall both rejoice there together.." Thomas Jefferson, known as the Champion of Religious Freedom, voiced his opinion in his Second Inaugural Address (also known as his Prayer for Peace): "...I shall need, too, the favor of that Being, in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessities and comforts of life.." In another letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush in 1803, he voice his opinion on religion: "...To the corruptions of Christianity, I am indeed opposed, but not the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian in the only sense in which He wished anyone to be, sincerely attached to His doctrines in preference to all others..." Many today, label Thomas Jefferson as a "deist" or anti-Christian. He was an advocate of freedom from religious dictation. He felt that "religion" was a concern purely between our God and our consciences, in that we were accountable to God only, and not to priests or other clergy. He said that it is in our lives and not from just our words, that our religion must be read. He denounced tyranny from the Anglican state-church dictatorship, using as his reference, a Scripture written by Paul. _ 1 Timothy 2: 5 · "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (King James Version) James Madison, the chief architect of the constitution, stated: "We have staked the whole of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind to govern themselves...according to the Ten Commandments of God." Mr. Melville, who wrote Moby Dick, said in one of his books: "We Americans are the peculiar, chosen people--the Israel of our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world..." Could Mr. Melville have known about his godly heritage? Do you think that he knew he was an Israelite? President Andrew Jackson on March 4, 1837 said: "You have the highest of human trusts committed to your care. Providence has showered on this favorite land, blessings without number, and has chosen you as the guardians of freedom, to preserve it for the benefit of the human race. May He who holds in His hands the destinies of nations, make you worthy of the favors He has bestowed, and enable you with pure hearts and hands and sleepless vigilance, to guard and defend to the end of time, the great charge He has committed to your keeping." In the Mayflower Compact, which was a charter binding themselves to work together for their common Christian faith and common good. It was the beginning "of government of the people, by the people, for the people." "In the Name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, defender of the faith, etc., having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civic body politic..." One of our national monuments to our forefathers in Plymouth, is a statue called "Faith". The poem read at the dedication of the monument on August 1, 1889, by John Boyle O'Reilly, reads: "This Monument, where Virtue, Courage, Law, and Learning sit Calm Faith, above them, grasping Holy Writ; White hand upraised o'er beauteous trusting eyes, and pleading finger pointing to the skies." Towering high in its majestic splendor, the central figure is Faith. She stands upon a main pedestal, one foot resting upon a replica of Plymouth Rock, and holds an open Bible in her left hand. Her right hand points heavenward. Four smaller, seated figures represent the Christian values and principles, as shared by the Pilgrims themselves. They are Morality, Law, Education, and Liberty. Morality: holds the Ten Commandments in her left hand and the Scroll of Revelation in her right hand. She is flanked with an Old Testament Prophet on one side and the Evangelists on the other. Law: tempered with Justice on the one hand, and Mercy on the other. Education: represented with the Wisdom of maturity on one side and Youth following Experience on the other. Liberty: accompanied by Peace on one side and the Overthrow of Tyranny on the other. The main pedestal has four polished facades. Two of these bear the names of the Mayflower Pilgrims, while another bears the inscription: "National Monument to the Forefathers, Erected by a grateful people in remembrance of their labors, sacrifices and sufferings for the Cause of Civil and Religious Liberty." Not far from Plymouth Rock, another moving statue is that of a Pilgrim woman standing next to a tall granite fountain. She portrays the courage and Christian virtues exemplified by Pilgrim wives, who stood firm in their faith, withstanding great trials and tribulations for the cause of Christ. The woman is holding a Bible in her right hand. The inscription on the fountain reads: "They brought up their families in sturdy virtue and a living faith in God without which nations perish." Every generation has experienced brokenness, grief, bloodshed, and wars to preserve freedoms and liberties. Because of the disobedience and waywardness of the people, the nations have suffered over and over. We keep repeating the mistakes of our ancestors, never learning from them. It is our opportunity and mission to replant our Godly roots, sowing the seeds of Christendom back into our soil; soil that has been bought with the blood of those Christians gone on before. It is our responsibility to educate others, producing a harvest of Godly men and women, ready to serve King Jesus, family, and country. We can make a difference. We can do something, one at a time or as a group. We are assured of a happy ending with our Sovereign Lord if we seek after the wisdom and knowledge He gives, with a passion for the truth. In the future, your life and your words, could be the ones that other patriots will quote to their fellow citizens. |
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