TODAY ON TRUTHS THAT TRANSFORM.
WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS LIBERTY.
AND HE TAKES OFF HIS BLACK CLERICAL ROBE.
UNDERNEATH HE HAS THE UNIFORM OF A CONTINENTAL OFFICER.
WELCOME TO TRUTHS THAT TRANSFORM,
A PRODUCTION OF CORAL RIDGE MINISTRIES.
I’M PASTOR ROB PACIENZA.
THIS WEEK WE CELEBRATED AMERICA’S 248TH BIRTHDAY.
WE ALL KNOW THAT THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
WAS SIGNED ON JULY THE FOURTH, 1776.
BUT YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO KNOW HOW INSTRUMENTAL CHRISTIANS AND
CHRISTIANITY WERE TO THAT EFFORT.
ON TODAY’S PROGRAM, WE’LL TRACE THE KEY CONNECTION BETWEEN
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM AND POLITICAL FREEDOM.
AND WE BEGIN WITH A LOOK AT THE ROLE OF MINISTERS
IN THE BATTLE FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.
THIS INCLUDES THE STORY OF TWO BROTHERS WHO WERE PASTORS
AT THE TIME OF AMERICA’S BREAK WITH GREAT BRITAIN.
TOGETHER THEY PROVIDE A WINDOW INTO THE QUESTIONS FACED BY
CHRISTIANS WHEN IT COMES TO GOVERNMENT, FREEDOM,
AND INVOLVEMENT IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE.
OUR OWN DR. JERRY NEWCOMBE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
OF THE PROVIDENCE FORUM, HAS MORE.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT VOICES FOR LIBERTY
IN THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE WERE THE CLERGYMEN..
IN PARTICULAR THE CLERGYMEN OF NEW ENGLAND.
THEY PREACHED LIBERTY.
PASTORS WERE ACTIVELY INVOLVED AT THE ORIGINAL PART OF LEADING
TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
AND TO THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, BECAUSE IT WERE,
IT WAS PASTORS WHO WERE CHOOSING TO LEAD MANY OF THEIR
CONGREGATIONS OUT ONTO THE BATTLEFIELD.
ONE OF THE EARLIEST VOICES FOR INDEPENDENCE WAS
REV. JONATHAN MAYHEW OF WEST CHURCH, BOSTON.
HE DIED IN 1766, LONG BEFORE THE CONFLICT REALLY HEATED UP.
AFTER THE UNJUST STAMP ACT WENT INTO EFFECT IN 1765,
REV. MAYHEW DENOUNCED THE KING, FROM THE PULPIT.
“COMMON TYRANTS, AND PUBLIC OPPRESSORS,
ARE NOT ENTITLED TO OBEDIENCE FROM THEIR SUBJECTS,
BY VIRTUE OF ANY THING HERE LAID DOWN BY THE INSPIRED APOSTLE.
THE KING IS AS MUCH BOUND BY HIS OATH NOT TO INFRINGE
THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE,
AS THE PEOPLE ARE BOUND TO YIELD SUBJECTION TO HIM.
FROM WHENCE IT FOLLOWS THAT AS SOON AS
THE PRINCE SETS HIMSELF ABOVE THE LAW,
HE LOSES THE KING IN THE TYRANT.
HE DOES, TO ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, UN-KING HIMSELF.”
-REV. JONATHAN MAYHEW
THIS IS REMINISCENT OF A PHRASE FROM THE HUGUENOTS, THAT IS,
FRENCH CALVINISTS, FROM A CENTURY BEFORE.
“RESISTANCE TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD"
THIS WAS A PHRASE THOMAS JEFFERSON LIKED TO USE.
PREACHING ON POLITICAL SUBJECTS WAS NOTHING NEW
TO THE MINISTERS OF NEW ENGLAND.
ELECTIONS WERE USUALLY ANNUAL EVENTS,
AND BEFORE THE BALLOTS WERE CAST,
A MINISTER WOULD PREACH AN "ELECTION DAY" SERMON.
“THERE IS PROBABLY NO GROUP OF MEN IN HISTORY,
LIVING IN A PARTICULAR AREA AT A GIVEN TIME,
WHO CAN SPEAK AS FORCIBLY ON THE SUBJECT OF LIBERTY
AS THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTERS
OF NEW ENGLAND BETWEEN 1750 AND 1785.” -FRANKLIN P. COLE
THE CLERGYMEN WERE DISDAINED FOR THE MOST PART
BY THE CROWN APPOINTEES.
THE CROWN ALSO HALTED TOWN HALL MEETINGS,
A TRADITION PRACTICED IN NEW ENGLAND
VIRTUALLY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.
BUT OPPOSITION TO BRITISH TYRANNY BY THE AMERICAN CLERGY
WAS NOT EXCLUSIVELY A NEW ENGLAND PHENOMENON.
“THE PHILADELPHIA MINISTERS
‘THUNDER AND LIGHTEN EVERY SABBATH’
AGAINST GEORGE III’S DESPOTISM.” -JOHN ADAMS.
THE CHURCH WAS OFTEN THE HUB OF SOCIETY IN THOSE DAYS.
AND THE PULPIT WAS GENERALLY NOT SILENT ON ISSUES
RELATED TO GOVERNMENT, SINCE MOST OF THE COLONIES,
AT LEAST IN NEW ENGLAND,
HAD BEEN STARTED BY MINISTERS OR
PURITAN LEADERS 150 YEARS BEFORE.
AS CONFLICT BETWEEN BRITAIN
AND THE AMERICAN COLONISTS BEGAN TO BREW, BRITAIN
BLAMED MANY OF THE MINISTERS FOR REPORTEDLY STIRRING UP TROUBLE.
THEY EVEN HAD A DERISIVE NICKNAMED FOR THESE MINISTERS
THE BLACK ROBED REGIMENT,
SO NAMED BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF THEIR ROBES.
BUT IT WAS NEVER AN OFFICIAL REGIMENT.
THE BLACK ROBED REGIMENT WERE PASTORS WHO WERE ACTIVELY
INVOLVED IN LEADING THEIR.. THEIR MEN INTO BATTLE.
IN FACT, 19TH CENTURY AUTHOR JOHN WINGATE THORNTON WROTE,
“TO THE PULPIT, THE PURITAN PULPIT,
WE OWE THE MORAL FORCE WHICH WON OUR INDEPENDENCE.”
AN INTERESTING EXAMPLE OF A CLERGYMAN
HELPING DURING A BATTLE TOOK PLACE IN NEW JERSEY,
WHERE THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS FACED AN AMMUNITION CRISIS.
AND KEEP IN MIND THAT HYMNALS OFTEN USED IN THOSE DAYS
CONSISTED OF THE SONGS OF ISAAC WATTS.
THE RIFLES WERE OLD MUSKETS WHERE YOU WOULD PUT IN GUN
POWDER AND STICK A WAD OF PAPER, SHOVE IT DOWN A BARREL,
AND THEY WOULD STICK A LEAD BALL
AND THEN YOU WOULD STICK IN MORE PAPER,
SHOVE IT DOWN THE BARREL.
AS THEY WERE FIGHTING THE BRITISH,
THEY RAN OUT OF THE WADDING.
AND THAT’S WHEN THE MINISTER SAVED THE DAY.
SO, HE RUNS INSIDE THE CHURCH, GRABS THE HYMNALS,
WHICH WERE WHICH WAS WRITTEN BY WATTS,
AND BROUGHT THEM OUT AND THREW THE
HYMNALS TO THE MILITIA THAT WERE FIGHTING AND SAID,
“USE THESE HYMNALS, GIVE ‘EM WATTS BOYS.”
NOT ALL THE MINISTERS, OF COURSE,
AGREED WITH PARTICIPATING IN POLITICS OR IN THE WAR EFFORT.
AN INTERESTING CONTRAST ON THIS POINT COMES WITH THE
TWO MUHLENBERG BROTHERS, REARED IN THE LUTHERAN TRADITION.
JOHN PETER GABRIEL MUHLENBERG WAS A PASTOR
OUT OF WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA.
AND IN 1776, HE PREACHED A SERMON
FROM ECCLESIASTES, CHAPTER 3.
AND WHAT HE SAID WAS: THERE IS A TIME FOR PEACE,
THERE IS A TIME FOR WAR, NOW IS THE TIME TO FIGHT.
AND HE TAKES OFF HIS BLACK CLERICAL ROBE.
UNDERNEATH HE’S HAS THE UNIFORM OF A CONTINENTAL OFFICER.
HE HAS AN ALTAR CALL AND THREE HUNDRED MEN OF HIS CHURCH
AND THE SURROUNDING CHURCHES KISS THEIR WIVES GOODBYE,
AND THEY RIDE OFF TO BECOME THE EIGHTH VIRGINIA REGIMENT.
BUT PETER MUHLENBERG WAS NOT THE ONLY PREACHER
IN THE MUHLENBERG FAMILY.
IN FACT, HE HAD AN OLDER BROTHER
NAMED FREDERICK WHO DIDN’T AGREE WITH PETER.
DURING THIS TIME, HE GETS LETTERS FROM HIS BROTHER,
FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG,
A PIETIST PASTOR IN NEW YORK SAYING,
YOU ARE GETTING INVOLVED IN THINGS,
WHICH AS A PREACHER, YOU HAVE NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO.
AND JOHN PETER WRITES BACK TO FREDERICK,
ACCUSING HIM OF BEING A TORY, BRITISH SYMPATHIZER.
FREDERICK WRITES BACK AND SAYS HE CANNOT SERVE TWO MASTERS.
GUNFIRE
THEN THE BRITISH INVADE NEW YORK BURN FREDERICK'S CHURCH.
HE DECIDES THAT HE NEEDS TO GET INVOLVED.
HE IS ELECTED TO CONGRESS,
HE'S ELECTED THE FIRST SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE,
THE FIRST SPEAKER OF THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
IS LUTHERAN, PASTOR FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG.
PIETISTIC, NOT INVOLVED, TURNED, GETTING INVOLVED.
AND WHAT DID THEY PASS IN THAT FIRST SESSION OF CONGRESS WITH
FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG AS THE SPEAKER AND JOHN PETER
THERE, THE FIRST AMENDMENT.
WHAT A TURNAROUND FOR FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG,
AS TO WHETHER PASTORS SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE.
IT WAS MANY OF THE PASTORS WHO CHOSE TO LEAD THEIR MEN
OF THE THEIR CONGREGATIONS ONTO THE BATTLEFIELD. AND...
AND FROM WHAT RESEARCH THAT I HAVE STUDIED,
MANY OF THEM WOULD SOMETIMES LEAVE ON THEIR CLERICAL ROBES
TO MAKE SURE THAT IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE,
THEY WOULD KNOW WHERE THEIR LEADER WAS.
SO, THE PASTOR LITERALLY WAS ONE OF THOSE LEADERS.
JOHN ADAMS IN 1814, MAKES AN INTERESTING DECLARATION.
HE SAYS THIS: HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR PASTORS,
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN WON.
“MEN LIKE PHINEAS, MEN LIKE ELIJAH,
ELIJAH WHO SLEW 400 PROPHETS AVAIL”
THUS, SOME OF THE MINISTERS DURING THE TIME OF INDEPENDENCE
ESPECIALLY THE CONGREGATIONAL AND THE PRESBYTERIAN ONES
PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN STIRRING AMERICA ON TO LIBERTY.
EVEN THE KING OF ENGLAND SAID, IF WE JUST ARREST THE MINISTERS,
KNOWN AS THE BLACK-ROBED REGIMENT,
WE WOULD END THIS RABBLE-ROUSING
BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IT WAS THE PREACHERS,
WHO'D PREACH GOD'S WORD TO THE CONGREGATIONS,
AND THEN AROUSE THEM UP TO TURN REBELS.
BASICALLY, WHAT THEY WERE DOING WAS PREACHING THE WORD OF GOD.
YOU DEFEND YOURSELF. YOU DEFEND YOUR FAMILIES.
YOU DEFEND WHAT YOU'RE LIVING FOR.
WE ARE MOVING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN A POSITIVE DIRECTION.
WHERE CROSSES WENT DOWN THEY’D COME BACK UP.
WHERE 10 COMMANDMENTS WERE PUT IN CLOSETS THEY’D COME BACK OUT.
THE LANDMARK SUPREME COURT RULING CONFIRMED THAT
IT IS NOT UNCONSTITUTIONAL TO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD IN PUBLIC LIFE.
AND THERE IS SOMETHING YOU AND I CAN DO RIGHT NOW
TO RESTORE GOD TO PUBLIC PLACES.
A FEDERAL JUDGE BANISHED THE GRANITE 10 COMMANDMENTS MONUMENT
FROM THE ALABAMA SUPREME COURT BUILDING IN 2003
BUT YOUR SIGNATURE ON OUR
RESTORE THE 10 COMMANDMENTS PETITION
WILL HELP PERSUADE THE ALABAMA SUPREME COURT TO
RETURN GOD’S LAW TO PUBLIC DISPLAY.
GO TO CRM.TV TODAY TO SIGN THE PETITION.
HELP US MOVE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN A POSITIVE DIRECTION.
IF YOU STAND YOU’VE GOT THE FREEDOM, WE’VE GOT THE MOMENTUM
AND I THINK WE CAN TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK.
BUT THAT’S GOING TO DEPEND UPON THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY.
PLEASE SIGN THE RESTORE THE 10 COMMANDMENTS PETITION AND
TOGETHER WE WILL LIFT UP CHRIST IN AMERICA AS LORD OF ALL.
AS YOU’VE JUST SEEN, THE PASTORS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES
DID NOT CONSIGN THEIR FAITH TO A PRIVATE, ETHEREAL
REALM THAT WAS REMOVED FROM THE REAL WORLD THEY LIVED IN.
SOME OF THEM MAY HAVE BEEN SLOWER TO UNDERSTAND THAN OTHERS
BUT THEY GOT BUSY AND ACTED.
AND THEY DID SO NOT IN SPITE OF THEIR BIBLICAL CONVICTIONS,
BUT BECAUSE OF THEM.
THERE IS A STRONG CONNECTION BETWEEN
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM AND POLITICAL FREEDOM.
AND AMERICA’S HISTORY PROVIDES PERHAPS
THE CLEAREST EXAMPLE OF IT.
MY PASTOR AND MENTOR, DR. D. JAMES KENNEDY EXPLAINS,
IN HIS MESSAGE, “THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY.”
“WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS LIBERTY.”
OUR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE SAYS THAT WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS
TO BE SELF-EVIDENT THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL AND
THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN
INALIENABLE RIGHTS AND AMONG THESE ARE LIFE AND LIBERTY.
NEXT TO LIFE ITSELF, THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALITY
DESIRED BY MEN IS LIBERTY.
AND, OF COURSE, THAT IS A CONSTANT THEME
THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE.
I ONCE MENTIONED TO PEOPLE THAT MANY DON’T REALIZE THAT.
YOU MIGHT EVEN SAY THAT THE BIBLE IS ABOUT LIBERTY,
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT.
WHAT IS THE OLD TESTAMENT,
THE STORY OF THE FALL OF MAN INTO SLAVERY,
GOD’S DELIVERANCE OF THEM,
THEIR BEING TAKEN INTO THE BONDAGE OF EGYPT,
AND GOD, AT LENGTH BRINGING THEM OUT
AFTER 430 YEARS OF THAT GALLING SLAVERY.
AGAIN, FALLING INTO IDOLATRY IN THEIR OWN LAND
AND BEING TAKEN AWAY BY THE BABYLONIANS
INTO SEVENTY YEARS OF CAPTIVITY,
ONLY TO BE DELIVERED AGAIN.
AND ALL OF THIS BUT MERE FORESHADOWINGS
OF THE GREAT DELIVERANCE AND THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR, JESUS CHRIST,
WHO CAME TO DELIVER US FROM BONDAGE UNTO FREEDOM,
FROM SLAVERY UNTO LIBERTY, TO SET FREE THE SLAVES
AND THOSE THAT ARE IMPRISONED.
BUT LIBERTY IS SOMETHING THAT WE SO MUCH TAKE FOR GRANTED
THAT WE DON’T THINK OF IT TOO MUCH.
IT’S LIKE THE AIR WE BREATHE.
UNTIL IT IS TAKEN AWAY FROM US,
WE ARE OFTEN COMPLETELY UNCONSCIOUS OF IT.
PEOPLE GO FOR DAYS WITHOUT EVER THINKING
ABOUT AIR THAT THEY BREATHE,
UPON WHICH THEIR LIFE, FROM MOMENT TO MOMENT DEPENDS.
WELL, TODAY WE DO WELL TO REMEMBER THAT LIBERTY
AND THE PRICE THAT WAS PAID FOR IT.
THOSE WHO STRUGGLED AND FOUGHT AND BLED AND DIED THAT WE MIGHT
ENJOY SOMETHING WHICH WE MOSTLY TAKE FOR GRANTED
THE LIBERTY THAT WE AS AMERICANS KNOW SO WELL.
IF WE EVER ARE GOING TO KNOW TRUE LIBERTY AS INDIVIDUALS OR
NATIONS, IT IS GOING TO BEGIN WHEN WE ARE DELIVERED
FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW.
THE LAW KILLS, THE BIBLE SAYS; THE LAW CONDEMNS,
THE LAW CONTAINS WITHIN IT A CURSE.
“CURSED IS EVERYONE THAT CONTINUETH NOT
IN ALL THINGS THAT ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW.”
WOULD YOU WANT TO BE CURSED BY ALMIGHTY GOD?
WELL IF YOU FAIL TO KEEP ONE SINGLE POINT OF THE LAW,
YOU ARE UNDER THAT CURSE.
HAVE YOU KEPT THE WHOLE LAW?
I HAVE!
I AM HAPPY TO SAY TO SOME OF YOU THAT EVERY JOT AND TITTLE,
IN HEART AND MIND AND SOUL, I HAVE KEPT OR
TO BE MORE ACCURATE, MY SUBSTITUTE,
JESUS CHRIST HAS KEPT FOR ME.
HE, VICARIOUSLY, IN MY PLACE, OBEYED EVERY ONE OF GOD’S
COMMANDMENTS-THE ONLY PERSON WHO EVER HAS.
AND HE ENDURED THE CURSE OF MY BREAKING THE LAW UPON THE CROSS.
IN HIS LIFE, HE OBEYED IT FOR ME.
IN HIS DEATH, HE ENDURED THE CURSE IN MY PLACE.
AND IT IS ONLY IN CHRIST THAT
THE CURSE OF THE LAW IS DONE AWAY.
IT IS ONLY IN CHRIST,
THAT WE ARE DELIVERED FORM THE GUILT OF SIN.
CHRIST NOT ONLY DELIVERS US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW AND FROM
THE GUILT OF SIN, BUT HE ALSO DELIVERS US FROM THE DOMINION
OF SIN.
THE SCRIPTURE SAYS, “SIN SHALL NOT HAVE DOMINION OVER YOU.”
NOW, MANY PEOPLE DON’T THINK THAT IT DOES.
THAT IS ONE OF THE INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT THE LOST CONDITION.
MAN DOESN’T REALIZE THAT HE IS ENSLAVED TO SIN.
AND YET HE COMES TO KNOW IT WHEN HE TRIES TO FIND DELIVERANCE
FROM IT.
HOW MANY PERSONS WHO HAVE FOUGHT THAT THEY REALLY HAD NO PROBLEM
WITH ALCOHOL UNTIL THEY TRIED TO GIVE IT UP.
THEN THEY FOUND THEY WERE SHACKLED BY THAT SIN.
WITH CRAMPING, GALLING, SHACKLES THAT THEY COULD NOT BREAK.
AND EVERY EFFORT ONLY MET WITH FAILURE AFTER FAILURE WHAT CAN
DELIVER YOU FORM THAT BONDAGE?
NOTHING BUT CHRIST.
AH, DEAR FRIEND, HOW MANY PEOPLE I HAVE KNOWN WHO HAVE FOUND
RELIEF, HAVE FOUND DELIVERANCE AT THE CROSS.
THEY HAVE ASKED TO BE SET FREE BY THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR AND
THEY HAVE BEEN SET FREE, AND THEY HAVE HEARD THAT
“EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION”: “SIN SHALL NOT HAVE DOMINION
OVER YOU.” CHRIST HAS BROKEN THE BONDAGE OF SIN.
CHRIST HAS BROKEN THE POWER OF SATAN TO HOLD US IN HIS THRALL
AND TO KEEP US UNDER HIS DOMINION.
THAT IS TRUE FREEDOM.
THAT IS WHERE WE REALLY FIND THE FREEDOM OF THE SOUL.
AND THAT IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL NATIONAL FREEDOM.
IT IS HISTORICALLY TRUE THAT WHERE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
HAS GONE, WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD HAS GONE, FREEDOM HAS
FOLLOWED.
WHERE MEN’S HEARTS HAVE BEEN SET FREE BY THE GOSPEL, IT HAS NOT
BEEN LONG BEFORE THEIR NATIONS HAVE BECOME FREE AND FREE
GOVERNMENTS HAVE REPLACED TYRANNIES.
WE HAVE SEEN THIS WHEREVER THE PURITY OF THE GOSPEL HAS GONE IN
THIS WORLD.
AND THOSE NATIONS THAT ARE FREE TODAY ARE FREE BECAUSE OF THE
POWER OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.
IF WE WOULD KNOW FREEDOM-TRUE FREEDOM-THAT IS THE WAY WE WILL
FIND IT.
MANY IN OUR COUNTRY TODAY LOOK UPON RELIGION AS THE ENEMY OF
FREEDOM, AND EVEN ARE IGNORANT ENOUGH-BECAUSE OUR PUBLIC
SCHOOLS HAVE SEEN TO IT THAT THEY ARE IGNORANT OF THE TRUE
FOUNDING OF THIS NATION-THEY ARE IGNORANT ENOUGH TO SUPPOSE THAT
THEIRS ARE THE VIEWS OF THE FOUNDERS OF THIS COUNTRY.
THEY DO NOT KNOW THAT GEORGE WASHINGTON SAID, “IT WOULD BE
IMPOSSIBLE TO GOVERN RIGHTLY WITHOUT GOD AND THE BIBLE.”
OR ADAMS SAID, “IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO GOVERN WITHOUT GOD
AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.” SO, WE HAVE DONE GOD AWAY FROM THE
SCHOOLS AND PRAYER.
WE HAVE GOTTEN RID OF THE BIBLE IN OUR SCHOOLS.
WE HAVE GOTTEN RID OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, AND WE WONDER WHY
OUR COUNTRY IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY UNGOVERNABLE.
UNLESS A PEOPLE LEARN TO GOVERN THEMSELVES, IT IS NECESSARY THAT
AN EXTERNAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT GOVERN THEM FOR THEMSELVES.
“IF WE WILL NOT BE GOVERNED BY GOD,” SAID ONE, “WE WILL BE
GOVERNED BY TYRANTS” WILLIAM PENN.
AND THAT’S THE WAY IT IS.
AND WHEN PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE JESUS CHRIST IN THEIR HEARTS,
THEY ARE IN THE BONDAGE OF SIN; THEY ARE SHACKLED WITH EVERY
FORM OF IMMORALITY, UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND
UNGODLINESS, AND IT TAKES AN INCREASINGLY POWERFUL EXTERNAL
GOVERNMENT TO KEEP THEM FROM TEARING SOCIETY APART.
THAT IS WHY EITHER WE HAVE SELF-GOVERNMENT UNDER GOD, OR WE
WILL HAVE TYRANNY, OR ELSE A NATION CANNOT EXIST.
IT IS TURNED INTO AN ABSOLUTE JUNGLE.
“WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS LIBERTY.” AND, MY
FRIENDS, WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS NOT, THERE IS TYRANNY
AND THERE IS BONDAGE AND SIN.
HI, I’M JENNIFER KENNEDY CASSIDY.
AS YOU JUST HEARD FROM MY FATHER, THERE IS A CLOSE
CONNECTION BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND FREEDOM.
IT WAS BUILT INTO THE CULTURAL AND LEGAL FOUNDATION OF OUR
NATION, AND NOW THAT IT’S BEING LOST, OUR FREEDOM IS UNDER
SEVERE ASSAULT.
AS THE FOUNDER JOHN ADAMS ONCE WROTE,
AS OUR CULTURE HAS DRIFTED FURTHER AND FURTHER FROM A
FOUNDATION IN GOD’S WORD, WE CAN SEE THINGS UNRAVELING.
WE CANNOT BE A FREE PEOPLE IF WE CANNOT GOVERN OURSELVES.
AND WE CANNOT GOVERN OURSELVES IF EACH PERSON IS MAKING UP
THEIR OWN TRUTH.
IF WE ARE TO SEE FREEDOM RECLAIMED AND DEFENDED IN
AMERICA, WE WILL NEED A RENEWED UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPORTANCE
OF GOD AND HIS PRECEPTS.
AND WE WILL NEED TO TEACH THEM TO OUR CHILDREN AND
GRANDCHILDREN, WHO ARE ONLY LEARNING A SECULAR,
MARXISM-INFLUENCED VIEW OF OUR NATION.
THAT’S WHY WE WANT TO SEND YOU THE DELUXE HARDCOVER EDITION OF
THE BOOK, GOD’S PROMISES FOR THE AMERICAN PATRIOT.
AS OUR THANKS FOR YOUR GENEROUS DONATION TO HELP THIS MINISTRY
DEFEND FREEDOM BY PROCLAIMING THESE TRUTHS.
GOD’S PROMISES FOR THE AMERICAN PATRIOT IS FULLY ILLUSTRATED
IN COLOR AND PACKED WITH INFORMATION AND INSPIRATION TO
GROW YOUR LOVE AND APPRECIATION FOR OUR BELOVED LAND’S GODLY
HERITAGE.
YOU’LL BE INSPIRED AND INFORMED, AND IT’S SURE TO FUEL YOUR
PASSION FOR AMERICA AND FOR OUR FOUNDATIONS.
AND IF YOU’RE ABLE TO GIVE A GENEROUS DONATION OF $40 OR
MORE, WE’LL SEND YOU THE BOOK PLUS THE CLASSIC DVD
DOCUMENTARY, ONE NATION UNDER GOD.
THIS SPECIAL VIDEO TOUR OF AMERICA'S RICH CHRISTIAN HISTORY
IS HOSTED BY MY FATHER, DR. D. JAMES KENNEDY,
AND WAS SHOT ON LOCATION IN THE HISTORIC CITIES OF
COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG AND YORKTOWN.
THE ENEMIES OF AMERICA TRY TO COVER UP OUR TRUE HISTORY AND
PORTRAY AMERICA AS AN ENTIRELY SECULAR NATION, BUT YOU’LL LEARN
THE TRUTH FROM SUCH NOTED EXPERTS AS AUTHOR PETER
MARSHALL; HISTORIAN DAVID BARTON, WILLIAM J. FEDERER,
AND MANY MORE.
THAT’S THE INSPIRING BOOK, GOD’S PROMISES FOR THE AMERICAN
PATRIOT AS THANKS FOR YOUR GENEROUS DONATION.
AND THE BOOK PLUS THE CLASSIC DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL, ONE NATION
UNDER GOD, HOSTED BY MY DAD, D. JAMES KENNEDY, AS THANKS
FOR YOUR GIFT OF $40 OR MORE.
THIS IS INFORMATION THE LEFT WANTS TO ERASE FROM SCHOOLBOOKS
AND OUR NATIONAL MEMORY.
BUT YOUR GIFT NOW SENDS THE TRUTH TO VIEWERS NATIONWIDE.
PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY-AND SHARE THESE RESOURCES WITH YOUR
CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, AND ANY STUDENTS YOU KNOW-SINCE THEY’RE
NOT LIKELY TO HEAR THESE VITAL TRUTHS ANYWHERE ELSE.
SIMPLY WRITE TO US AT:
OR CALL TOLL FREE:
OR GO ONLINE TO:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE CHURCH TO BE SPIRITUAL?
A KEY MISUNDERSTANDING ON THIS POINT HAS OFTEN LED TO AN
INEFFECTIVE CHURCH IN OUR DAY, AND A FAILURE TO LIVE OUT GOD’S
ROLE FOR US.
THE BIBLE SPEAKS REPEATEDLY ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL, AND HOW
IMPORTANT IT IS.
BUT BECAUSE GREEK PHILOSOPHY--BY WAY OF PLATO--HAS OFTEN ENTERED
INTO OUR THINKING, WE HAVE AN ONGOING TENDENCY TO THINK THAT
THE SPIRITUAL IS OPPOSED TO THE PHYSICAL.
WE OFTEN THINK THAT THE SPIRITUAL IS SOME OTHER WORLD,
AND THE PHYSICAL IS THIS WORLD THAT WE’RE STUCK IN JUST FOR THE
MOMENT.
MANY HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD AND ABUSED JESUS’S WORDS WHEN HE
SAID, “MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD.” HE ISN’T DENYING THAT
HIS KINGDOM IS IN THE WORLD OR ON THE EARTH.
HE’S TALKING ABOUT ITS SOURCE, IT’S ORIGIN.
JESUS MEANS THAT THE SOURCE OF HIS KINGDOM IS NOT THIS SINFUL,
FALLEN WORLD.
THE SOURCE OF HIS KINGDOM IS THE POWER OF GOD.
BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, HIS KINGDOM IS HERE IN THIS FALLEN WORLD,
AND JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF THIS WORLD.
JESUS DID NOT COME PRIMARILY TO TAKE US AWAY FROM THIS EARTH.
HE CAME TO RECLAIM IT FROM THE SIN AND DEATH THAT HAS INFECTED
IT.
WHEN HE TAUGHT US TO PRAY, HE DIDN’T TEACH US THAT WE SHOULD
ASK TO BE REMOVED FROM THIS PHYSICAL WORLD TO A CLOUDY PLACE
OF NON-PHYSICAL SPIRITUALITY.
HE INSTRUCTED US TO PRAY FOR HIS KINGDOM TO COME ON THIS EARTH.
HE TAUGHT US TO PRAY THAT HIS WILL BE DONE HERE, AND FOR
THINGS TO BE DONE ON THIS EARTH AS THEY ARE DONE IN HEAVEN.
JESUS DIED IN THE BODY AND ROSE AGAIN SO THAT OUR BODIES COULD
BE RAISED.
HE WILL ONE DAY JUDGE NOT ONLY INDIVIDUALS, BUT NATIONS AND
KINGS.
WHY WOULD WE THINK THAT WE’RE NOT TO BE INVOLVED IN THOSE
THINGS?
SALVATION WILL NOT COME TO THE WORLD BY MEANS OF POLITICS.
BUT A SAVED, REDEEMED PEOPLE WILL ABSOLUTELY HAVE AN EFFECT
ON THE REAL, PHYSICAL, POLITICAL WORLD THAT WE INHABIT.
THAT’S BEEN TRUE THROUGH THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, AT
LEAST WHEN IT HAS UNDERSTOOD ITS ROLE AND GOD’S DESIGN.
CHRISTIANS INVENTED HOSPITALS, UNIVERSITIES, CONSTITUTIONAL
GOVERNMENT, MOST OF WESTERN LEGAL TRADITION, SCIENCE, AND A
HOST OF OTHER TANGIBLE GOODS BECAUSE THEY REALIZED THAT
SPIRITUAL IS NOT THE OPPOSITE OF PHYSICAL, BUT RATHER A GODLY WAY
OF LIVING IN THIS PHYSICAL, MATERIAL, GOD-CREATED WORLD.
IN THE APOSTLE JOHN’S VISION IN REVELATION, WHEN THE FINAL
TRUMPET SOUNDS, THE VOICES IN HEAVEN SHOUT,
THAT REIGN WILL NOT BE FULLY UNVEILED UNTIL CHRIST RETURNS.
BUT WE ARE HERE AS HIS REPRESENTATIVES ANNOUNCING THAT
THE WORLD IS HIS.
THAT’S WHY WE GET ACTIVE AND INVOLVED TO BE SALT AND LIGHT IN
OUR WORLD.
NOT SO THAT WE CAN SOMEDAY BE WHISKED AWAY WHILE THIS IS ALL
CRUMPLED UP AND THROWN AWAY.
BUT SO THAT WE BRING CHRIST’S RULERSHIP TO BEAR NOW IN
ANTICIPATION OF HIS RETURN AND REIGN.
THANKS FOR BEING WITH US TODAY.
IF YOU’RE EVER IN SOUTH FLORIDA, WE WELCOME YOU TO JOIN US IN
PERSON FOR WORSHIP RIGHT HERE ON SUNDAY MORNINGS AT CORAL RIDGE.
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