WEBVTT 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:04.559 It is good to be back with you again. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:08.960 And this is Fourth of July weekend, and this is another world's record that we set tomorrow. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.679 229 years under the same piece of paper. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:13.039 No nation's ever done that. 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:18.000 There's 182 nations in the United in the world right now, 182 nations of the U.N. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:23.199 We are the only nation that does not have a revolution every 20 or 30 or 50 years. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:25.519 And that's a blessing we often take for granted. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:27.120 So this is a time of celebration. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:29.839 It's been a time of celebration since the very beginning. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.200 And you know, it used to be back in the old days, we even celebrated the 4th of July with sermons. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:38.079 And this is a sermon from 211 years ago. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:42.799 It's from 1794, but we had sermons on the 4th of July. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:46.640 Now, that seems to be an appropriate way to celebrate it at least then. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:01:02.560 But today, as Pastor Brady said, we have so much of the separation of church and state stuff that it's kind of told us that, well, you know, government's a secular institution, and that's why it's always remained as well as it has, is because it's been secular, and you religious people really don't need to be involved in it, and we don't need to see your Ten Commandments out. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:04.640 And you know, this kind of stuff that goes on all the time. 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:07.599 So within that framework, is that the intent? 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:08.799 Is that what was designed? 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:12.799 I mean, 4th of July, should that have been celebrated religiously with sermons? 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:22.000 Well, if you go back to the original 56 guys who signed that declaration, I find it striking that John Adams, and John Adams is one of the guys who literally drafted the declaration. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:28.959 John Adams, on the day that they approved the Declaration of Independence, July the 4th, he wrote his wife Abigail two letters. 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:31.439 Now, Abigail was in Boston, that was their home. 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:37.680 He was in Philadelphia, but he faithfully corresponded with Abigail throughout eight years of the American Revolution, telling her what was happening. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:38.799 It's a great set of letters. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:45.200 It's a very touching, you really see just love and family and appreciation these guys have, the sacrifices they made. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:48.000 But on the day that they approved the declaration, he wrote her two letters. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:50.319 The first letter was short, sweet, it was concise. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:52.159 He said, Abigail, we have done it. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:53.680 We've separated from Great Britain. 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:55.439 We're now a free, independent nation. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:58.400 The second letter was later in the day, and it was a lot longer. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:00.159 It was a lot more pensive and thoughtful. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:04.000 He said, Abigail, he said, I've been thinking about what we've done today. 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:09.120 He said, as I think about what we've done today, he said, How will future generations see what we've done? 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:10.479 Now, that's pretty wise. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:16.240 I mean, not many of us think about what we do in a day and say, what will future generations think about what I've just done? 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:18.080 But he actually did that on that day. 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:22.960 And he decided that probably future generations like us would want to celebrate the 4th of July. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:30.719 As he told Abigail, he says, I'm apt to believe that this day, the 4th of July, will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:33.680 Future generations probably going to celebrate what we've done today. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:37.120 And then he started thinking, is that the right thing to do? 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:39.599 Should we celebrate what we've done today? 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:42.319 And he decided that, yeah, that's probably the right thing to do. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:46.400 As he said, he said this day ought to be commemorated as a day of deliverance. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.199 We ought to celebrate it, but look how he said we should celebrate it. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:53.360 He said we should celebrate it with solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:55.840 Now that was the intent for the Fourth of July. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:02.800 That it be a day of celebration, but it be a day of celebration with solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:05.680 That is so foreign from the minds of most Americans today. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:12.159 You know, the concept in the world of a 4th of July is fireworks and a six-pack at the lake. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:15.199 And that's not necessarily what they intended at all. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:16.479 It was a day of deliverance. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:17.680 And it used to be that way. 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:19.439 And this man is John Quincy Adams. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:20.639 He's another founding father. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:22.240 He was a president of the United States. 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:24.319 He was 17 years in the House of Representatives. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:25.599 He was a foreign diplomat. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:29.039 He has a long, long history of service to America. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:33.360 And by the way, you remember the famous Massachusetts Minuteman Lexington Concord? 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:40.639 John Quincy Adams, when he was only eight years old, had his musket out there with Massachusetts Minutemen fighting off the British. 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.439 So at the age of eight, he was already fighting for his country. 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:54.719 And by the way, one of the untold stories up there with the Minutemen is the fact that even though very few individuals were killed that day and shot at Lexington in that original battle, shot heard around the world. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.759 Lying on the ground there, you have both black and white patriots. 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:04.319 One of the stories of the American Revolution we just don't deal with today is the fact that black and white fought side by side in the American Revolution. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:06.159 We didn't have segregated unions back then. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:10.800 We no longer talk about the fact that the hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill was a black patriot, Peter Salem. 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:17.120 The hero of the Battle of Groton Heights was a black patriot, Jordan Freeman, the hero of the Battle of Yorktown was a black patriot, James Armstead. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.560 We just don't deal with that part of our history anymore, but that's part of our history. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:22.560 But back to John Quincy Adams. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:29.519 John Quincy Adams, when he was, and by the way, he's one of only two founding fathers who lived long enough to have a picture made of him. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:32.399 This is the picture that was made of him when he was 71 years old. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:36.720 But John Quincy Adams, at this point in his life, is a member of the House of Representatives. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:37.680 He's already been president. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:39.680 Now he's sitting in the House of Representatives. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:44.480 And on July the 4th, 1837, he gave this speech. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:49.199 Now we own 70,000 documents from before 1812, and this is one of the originals. 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:53.120 And in this speech that he gave, we're just about to enter our 62nd year. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:05:01.279 Now we're doing 229 years tomorrow, but he was about to enter the 62nd year since the 4th of July, and he gives this public speech. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:03.759 And in this oration, he starts it with this question. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:07.519 He says, Why is it, friends and fellow citizens, that we are here assembled? 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:15.600 Why is it that entering on the 62nd year of our national existence, you've asked me, a citizen from a former age, to address you? 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:18.879 And he says, All right, here we are in the 4th of July, we've got this big crowd. 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:20.639 How come you want me to speak to you? 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:21.680 And he answers it. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:24.480 He says, Because I'm old enough to remember what went on back there. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:29.360 I saw it with my eyes, and you're wanting an eyewitness to tell you about it, and that's why you asked me. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:30.959 And then he asks the second question. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:43.759 He says, Why is it that next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, now that's Christmas, why is it that next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, that our most joyous and our most venerated festival occurs on this day? 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:49.920 Why is it that next to Christmas, our next biggest holiday in America is Fourth of July? 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:51.759 Why are those our top two holidays? 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:53.199 Listen to his answer. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:55.040 He says, is it not? 00:05:55.279 --> 00:06:03.439 Because in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation, 4th of July, is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior, Christmas. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:08.240 It forms a leading event, 4th of July forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:14.639 Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission on earth? 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:18.319 That it laid the cornerstone of human government and the first precepts of Christianity? 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:25.759 And on he went for the next 61 pages saying, well, the reason those two holidays are our top two holidays in America is we essentially celebrate the same thing. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:29.759 On Christmas, we celebrate what Jesus Christ did for the world through his birth. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:35.439 On the 4th of July, we celebrate what Jesus Christ did for America through the Declaration of Independence. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:41.600 Now, we don't think of the Fourth of July as one of our top two religious holidays, but it used to be that way. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:45.360 You see, what we get today is a steady diet of a different kind of information. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:53.759 As a matter of fact, if you want to Google and do some searching on the internet tomorrow, you'll find typical editorials that always come out on the 4th of July every year. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:57.759 I collect these things talking about how that America was founded as a secular nation. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:06:59.759 Well, you you've got editorials like this one. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:00.399 This one. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:02.959 The authors of the Declaration were enemies of Christ. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.439 That's the kind of thing that'll be running in the papers tomorrow. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:07.600 Here's another one that runs nationally. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:10.079 The founding fathers were not Christians. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:11.120 Big emphasis on it. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:19.439 And so what we're told is these guys were secular, and that's what's made us special, and we don't need these religious principles, and this is not a religious day, and we don't need religious celebrations. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:23.519 But you see, they only get away with that because we really don't know who these guys are anymore. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:37.680 I mean, we look up there and we can recognize two or three of those guys, but the chances that we would know that that man is John Dickinson, or the chances that we would even know what John Dickinson, who one of the writers, the guys who wrote the declaration, the chances that we would even know what he said are pretty slim. 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:39.279 Let me show you what John Dickinson said. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.519 By the way, the founding fathers were prolific writers. 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:43.360 They all have volumes of writings. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:54.480 And John Dickinson said this He says, Rendering thanks to my Creator, to him I resign myself, humbly confiding in his goodness and in his mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:57.279 That doesn't sound like an enemy of Christ. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:00.079 I mean, it just doesn't quite fit that. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:01.439 Nor does this man. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:02.800 This is Robert Treat Paine. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:08.160 Robert Treat Payne was a minister of the gospel, one of the many ministers of the gospel who signed the Declaration of Independence. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:11.279 He was even a chaplain of the military during the American Revolution. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:12.480 Look at his declaration. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:23.519 Robert Treat Paine says, I express my adoration of the Supreme Being and full belief of his forgiving mercy revealed to the world through Jesus Christ, through whom I hope for never-ending happiness in a future state. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:25.759 That's a very evangelical declaration. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:32.320 You also have this man, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the final surviving sign of the Declaration of Independence, the last of the 56 to die. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:40.240 He says, On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation, and on his merits, not on any works that I've done in obedience to his precepts. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:41.840 That's Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:45.120 By grace are you saved through faith and not of works, lest any man should boast. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:47.039 A very evangelical declaration. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.080 And then you have Sam Adams, the father of the American Revolution. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:51.360 Look at his declaration. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:56.000 He says, I rely upon the merits of Jesus Christ for pardon of all my sins. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:59.840 I mean, these are very evangelical, but see, we don't know these guys today. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:01.279 We don't know who John Dickinson is. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:03.840 We don't know who Robert Treepane or Charles Carroll is. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:04.559 Here's another one. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.000 This man is the Reverend Dr. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:09.360 John Witherspoon, another of the many ministers who signed the declaration. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:11.200 Look at his declaration. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:21.600 John Witherspoon said, I entreat you in the most earnest manner to believe in Jesus Christ, for there is no salvation in any other, which is a quote from Acts 4.12. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:30.080 He says, If you are not reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, if you are not clothed with the spotless robe of his righteousness, you must forever perish. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:31.919 Whoa, that's a sermon. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:35.360 You know, but this is the language that we had from these kind of guys. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:38.159 This is what the signers of the Declaration believed and said. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:39.600 And even this man, this is Dr. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:40.480 Benjamin Rush. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:41.039 Now, Dr. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:45.279 Benjamin Rush is the man who started the Sunday school movement in America, started in 1791. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:50.639 He also started the first abolition society in America, did it as an act of civil disobedience against King George III. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.240 That's one of the reasons he got involved in the revolution so we could end slavery. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:57.120 He also is the man who started the first Bible society in America. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:58.320 Look at his declaration. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:06.399 He says, My only hope of salvation is in the infinite, transcendent love of God manifested to the world by the death of his son upon the cross. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:09.679 Nothing but his blood will wash away my sins. 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:12.080 I rely exclusively upon it. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:14.559 Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.879 Now, these are enemies of Christ, not by a long shot. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:24.879 You see, we're often told they are, but we buy that, and so many people across America buy that because we don't know our history. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:26.320 We used to know our history. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:29.360 We used to spot any one of those 56 and tell you about them. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:33.679 Matter of fact, in our public schools, we used to teach all 56 of those. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:37.519 This is an old 1848 public school textbook called Lives of the Signers. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:38.639 We used it for generations. 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:43.360 It went through every one of the 56, went through their faith, went through their character, went through their family, went through all. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:44.480 We don't study anymore. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:47.440 Now we've reprinted it, it's outside, but we used to know these guys. 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:52.480 But not only did so many of them have the strong individual faith in Christ, they had a strong collective faith. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:59.360 And you'll find that the first time that that collective group of guys got together in Congress was September the 7th, 1774. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:03.200 And when they got together, they opened with prayer, and it was not a dinky little prayer. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:07.600 According to historical records, the opening prayer session in Congress ran for three hours. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:10.960 Now, wouldn't it be cool to get Congress to pray for three hours now? 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.120 I mean, that would be real cool. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:21.360 And somehow our atheist agnostic deist founding fathers prayed for three hours at the beginning. 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:27.919 And this man, Silas Dean, said that after that time of prayer, he said even the stern old Quakers had tears running down their cheeks. 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:33.679 And John Adams said that not only did they pray that morning, but they studied four chapters of the Bible that morning in Congress. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:42.080 Now he wrote Abigail a long letter showing, talking to Abigail, how the fact that God had even spoken to them directly, giving them a rhema word out of one of those chapters. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:46.559 He told Abigail, he said, Abigail, he said, I must beg you to read that psalm. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:49.519 Read the 35th Psalm to your friends, read it to your father. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:58.799 See, the 35th Psalm really was pertinent to what was happening because just that morning they had learned that they were under attack in Boston, is being bombed by the British, Charleston is being burned. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:00.399 And this is 1774. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:02.159 We're still all British citizens. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:05.759 What that means is our own army, our own Navy is attacking us. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:06.799 We don't have a defense. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:08.320 We don't have a second army. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:09.600 We don't have an American army. 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:10.879 We're still British citizens. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:12.559 We're two years away from separation. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:14.159 So this is a big concern. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:17.840 What defense do you have when your own army and navy attacks you? 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.639 And that's why Psalm 35 was so pertinent that morning. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:21.679 It's a great Psalm to read. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:26.399 You might want to read it after the service this morning, but it essentially says, God, they've attacked us without cause. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:30.960 And Lord, unless you come intervene, they will destroy us, but you'll intervene because of your name. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:32.320 It was just a great psalm. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:33.440 He said, I want you to read it. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:35.279 Then I want you to read it to your friends. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:36.960 Then I want you to read it to your father. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.399 Now her father was the pastor of their church, Reverend William Smith. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.200 And he says, Look, you've got to see what God showed us this morning in Congress. 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:47.039 I want you to read it, then show everybody else and show it to your dad and let him show it to the church. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:49.919 See, this is a thing where God really spoke to them. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:57.120 And on top of that, he also told Abigail, he said, Abigail, he says, we've appointed a continental fast, a day of fasting and prayer. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:06.000 He says, millions would be up on their knees at once before their great creator, imploring his forgiveness and his blessings, his smiles on American Council and Arms. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:11.679 He said, Abigail, can you imagine the impact of having millions of Americans praying and fasting? 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:18.639 And by the way, Congress issued 15 different, throughout the revolution, 15 different calls, national calls to prayer. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:23.200 Now, they would start with a day of prayer and fasting, and they would list out, we need to pray about this. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:25.600 Boston's under bombardment and Charleston's burn. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:28.080 They would go through and say, pray and fast about all these things. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:31.840 And you'll find that three or four months later, they would come in with a day of prayer and thanksgiving. 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.480 They would say, Hey, you remember how we prayed and fasted a few months ago? 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:35.919 Look how God has answered the prayers. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:36.559 Look what's happened. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:39.360 And so they would go through all the victories and all the good things that happened. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:44.639 So they were very faithful that when they sought God for help, they went back to thank God for having answered the prayers. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:48.720 Now, this is one of this is the first time in Congress that they've sought God for help. 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:52.879 First time they called, and this is the very beginning, day of prayer and fasting. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:58.080 Well, John Adams wrote Abigail a letter about six weeks later and said, Abigail, you're not going to believe what's happening. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:00.399 Remember that day of fasting we had about six weeks ago? 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:05.759 He said, since then, he said, Colonel Smith and a group of his men have captured a British fort and a British garrison. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:10.879 Now, that kind of seems impressive, but then again, you've got to remember that we really didn't have an army back then. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:12.480 Now we're trying to start an army. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:18.639 But to be a colonel in the American military, you know what it took to be a colonel in the American military back then when we were starting the Continental Army? 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:23.360 If you wanted to be a colonel in the American military, what you did was you got a bunch of your neighbors to enlist. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.639 And when you got a bunch of people to enlist, if you brought them, you could be their colonel. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:28.879 And so that was the way you get to be a colonel in the military. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:30.960 You brought a whole bunch of folks with you to enlist. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:39.279 So when he says Colonel Smith and a group of his men captured this British fort, what he's really saying is Farmer Smith and a bunch of his neighbors have just taken a British fort. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:40.559 Now that's impressive. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:43.039 Because we're not trained military, but they are. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:49.600 And then he said, Abigail, he said, we've even captured a 20-gun British man of war and a 64-gun British man of war. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.559 And that's really impressive considering we didn't have a Navy. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:54.399 Well, we kind of had a Navy. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:02.799 If you ever get to go to Washington, D.C., go to the Smithsonian Museum, Museum of American History up on the third floor, they have the American Navy sitting up on the third floor. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:04.559 It's the gunboat Philadelphia. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:10.480 And our gunboat back then, our Navy, wasn't much more than a rowboat with a cannon in each end. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:13.840 And I mean, literally, uh, here's the gunboat Philadelphia. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:17.919 You know, and as a matter of fact, here we are attacking the British Navy. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:23.519 You know, that's that just has to scare the British to death to see that coming at them, you know. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:27.759 So we've captured a 64-gun British man of war and a 20-gun British man. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:28.960 What's going on here? 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:30.720 John Adams thought he knew. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:36.080 He says, it appears to me the eternal Son of God was operating powerfully against the British nation. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:37.120 Yeah, I guess so. 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.600 I mean, it's obvious to them that God was weighing in. 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:41.120 And see, this is what we used to know. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:47.360 By reading their writings, by reading the accounts, by knowing what had happened back then, man, we saw God all over the place. 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:51.519 The things that happened didn't even make sense except for God having done them. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:57.919 Now, this is, they had individual faith, they had collective faith, but you know, that faith also affected their character. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:15:59.440 And it should for us too. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:03.200 If we have a strong, deep Christian faith, it should affect the way we behave. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:04.799 And we see that collectively. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:08.559 We see that particularly, and look what the scripture says about character. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:12.240 This is a great passage you probably recognize at Romans 5, verses 3 and 4. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:16.960 It says, pressure, affliction, and hardship, and boy, did they have plenty of that in the American Revolution. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:27.039 I mean, we hear about Valley Forge, but Valley Forge is what happened every winter because we were always under equipped, always undersupplied, always undermunitioned, always understaffed, we were always under everything. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:31.600 It says pressure, affliction, and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:37.679 If you can make it through the trials of pressure, affliction, hardship, you'll come out with endurance. 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:43.200 And if you can come out with endurance, it says, and endurance develops maturity of character. 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:45.440 That is approved faith and tried integrity. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:50.639 If you can go through all that stuff, if you can keep your Christian focus on it, you're going to come out of that thing with character. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:53.840 And character is nothing more than approved faith and tried integrity. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:55.919 Now, that word integrity is a big word in the Bible. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:59.120 If you want to have some fun, do a Bible study on the word integrity. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.080 Get on your computer, type in the word integrity, pull up all the verses. 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:05.599 Look at how God really focuses on that word integrity. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:06.799 Here's a great example. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:13.759 1 Chronicles 29, passage says here, I know my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:16.640 See, one of the things that God wants to do is He wants to have integrity checks. 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:19.359 So He'll test your heart to see if there's integrity there. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:22.079 We get those kind of integrity tests from time to time. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:23.759 But what in the world is integrity? 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:27.599 I mean, would we even recognize integrity if it came up and bit us on the ankle? 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:29.039 I mean, what does integrity look like? 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:29.680 And Dr. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:32.960 Benjamin Rush gives a great definition of integrity. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:38.000 He says integrity is a strict coincidence between thoughts and words and actions. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:43.200 Integrity is when what you think and what you say and what you do are all the same. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:52.720 When there's a consistency between the inside and the outside, now I deal in politics a lot, and it's very common for political people to say and do the right thing, but not really believe the right thing. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:56.240 But they do it because the constituents wanted, or they got so many letters or contacts. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:57.279 That's not integrity. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:02.480 Integrity is in what you think, what you say, and what you believe are consistent across the board. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:09.039 And we used to teach that what happened on the 4th of July was the greatest collective example of integrity in American history. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:18.640 Because if you look at the Declaration of Independence these guys signed, they announce to the world that they're separating from Great Britain, and then these 56 guys say, now, we're willing to give it everything we've got. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:19.920 And they say that literally. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:25.920 I mean, you look at the clause there, it says, and for the support of this declaration, we've announced that we're going to become an independent nation. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:34.880 For the support of this declaration, and with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:38.720 They said, guys, we're just telling you, we're going to become a separate independent nation. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:42.079 And the 56 of us have pledged to make that happen. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:47.359 Now, those and they pledged to the point they said, we're willing to give our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor. 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:49.279 And then they signed it, just like it's a contract. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:56.400 So this is a contract, and being that contract, if you want to see integrity, you simply pull off any name off that contract. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:11.599 You pull off over here on the left, George Walton or Button Gwinnett, or you go across to Thomas McKean, or you go across to uh uh to Samuel Chase, Lewis Morris, you just keep going across the names, and you start saying, All right, you promise to give your life, fortune, and sacred honor. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:19.359 And by the way, when King George III got that declaration, he was not a happy camper, because these are a bunch of his citizens saying, we're going to overthrow you. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:24.720 So here you have 56 citizens, and the day before they signed this declaration, they had all been British citizens. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:32.559 The day after they signed it, they're now American citizens, but they don't have an army, they don't have a navy, and yet 56 of them, and they weren't all rich by a long shot. 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:38.720 You had Sam Adams, who was so poor that his neighbors had to take up a collection to get him a suit so he could go to Congress when he got elected. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:45.359 You had rich, you had poor, you had school teachers, you had ship owners, you had businessmen, you had everything under the sun there. 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:47.359 It was a great collection of America. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:53.519 And you have these 56 saying, we're going to put our personal resources into beating the world's greatest military power. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:56.880 Now there's really nobody that thinks that can happen in the rest of the world. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:01.759 I mean, you look across the world, the rest of the world thought this was a pipe dream, that this would not happen. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:02.960 But these guys believed in it. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.000 But when King George III gets this, he responds immediately. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:15.279 He considers this an act of treason, so he immediately dispatched 25,000 top British troops to America to find those 56 and kill them. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:20.559 If they could find those 56 and hang them, destroy them, execute them, he could stop that movement. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:23.680 So those 56 guys were in trouble. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:24.880 I mean, there's no question about it. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:30.000 No army, no navy, and now they got 25,000 trained soldiers looking for them to kill them. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:36.720 So if you want to see if they have integrity, you take any of the names off the list and see what happens when they came face to face with an opportunity to keep their word. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.480 I mean, here's the British coming after them. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:43.839 They got a great opportunity to sacrifice their life, and they say, well, you know, I don't see that I gain that much. 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:48.640 I'm only one person out of several million in American, and what good does it do to the nation if I get killed? 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:56.240 I mean, my wife depends on me, and I've got the kids, and I just don't see where it really helps that much if I get killed over this thing. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:02.160 That's not integrity, because your thoughts and your words and your actions have to be, have to coincide. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:03.279 They have to be consistent. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:07.839 And this is where we find some amazing stories out of the American Revolution dealing with integrity. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:09.279 Let me take you through a few real quick. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:10.880 Let me take you, for example, to this man. 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:12.000 This is Robert Morris. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.160 Robert Morris, a strange name. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:16.880 I wonder if anybody recognizes that name around here. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:21.920 Robert Morris had maybe one of the most difficult tasks in the American Revolution. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:27.519 And by the way, before I tell you about Robert Morris, I do have to tell you something that happened in exchange between two individuals up here. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:30.400 These two individuals, uh, Benjamin Rush, I told you about Dr. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:31.279 Benjamin Rush. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:34.960 Benjamin Rush was a great friend of John Adams, who circled there on the screen. 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:42.160 And Benjamin Rush kept a diary of what happened on the day they signed the declaration, because the day they signed the declaration, it was a very somber time. 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:48.640 Fifty-six British citizens are putting their name on a document that they know will get them killed if this doesn't work out. 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:51.920 If God doesn't show up in this, they're all dead men, and they know that. 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:59.759 So as they went to sign the declaration, they every account says that as they were going to the table, that the only thing you heard was Charles Thompson, the Secretary. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.880 Of Congress calling them by name to the table. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:13.440 He would say things like, Samuel Chase, Maryland, and then you'd hear the footsteps going across the wood floor, and then you'd hear the scratch of the pen on the parchment, and then they'd go back. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:19.920 Then he'd say, Samuel Huntington, Connecticut, and you'd hear those steps again across the floor, and then you'd hear the scratch on the parchment. 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:20.480 That was all. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:24.480 Nobody was saying anything because it's a really somber time because they're all signing their death warrant. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:28.319 The only comment made that day was between two individuals, and it was recorded by Dr. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:30.960 Benjamin Rush, who told John Adams about it after the war. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:32.160 He said, Do you remember what happened? 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:34.079 And those two individuals were these two. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:35.359 This is Benjamin Harrison. 00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:39.279 Now, Benjamin Harrison, among the 56 signers of the Declaration, he's from Virginia. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:40.960 He was the largest man there. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:43.920 He was a big, huge, strong guy. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:48.559 They said he could pick up a keg and move it where it might take three or four normal guys to move something. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:50.000 He was really powerful. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:53.680 On the other end of the spectrum, you had Elbridge Jerry of Massachusetts. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:56.960 Now, Elbridge Jerry was a tiny, frail guy. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:58.880 He was less than five feet tall. 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:03.759 He did not weigh a hundred pounds, and he was so small, they used to kid him about how small he was. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:08.000 They said, Elbridge, good thing you're from Massachusetts, because you guys don't get strong winds up there. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:10.400 If you ever got a strong wind and blow you away, we'd never find you again. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:11.599 We don't know where you didn't. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:13.839 So they kidding him about how small he was. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:24.400 And so what had happened was these these the only comment made that day when they signed the declaration between these two, but it shows you their understanding of their commitment to keeping their word. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:25.759 They knew what was at stake. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:26.319 As Dr. 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:38.960 Benjamin Rush said, he says, John, he said, do you remember the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up one after another to the table of the President of Congress to subscribe to what was believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants? 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:40.559 Remember how quiet it was that day? 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:42.559 Because we knew we were signing our death certificate. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:44.400 If God didn't show up, we're in trouble here. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:52.480 He said, the silence and gloom of the morning were interrupted, I well recollect, only for a moment, by Colonel Harrison, the big guy of Virginia, who said to Mr. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.119 Jerry at the table, the little guy, and you can see it in your mind's eye. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:24:03.440 Jerry's up there, he's just about to scratch his name on the parchment, and just as he starts to put his pen down, the big guy has something to say, and it's the only thing said all day. 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:04.640 And what did he say? 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:07.759 He says, I shall have a distinct advantage over you, Mr. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:10.559 Jerry, when we're all hung for what we're now doing. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:18.319 He says, From the size and great weight of my body, I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body, you'll dance in the air an hour or two before you're dead. 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:26.240 When they hang you, you won't even die. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:28.319 You don't weigh enough to be hung. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:36.000 Only comment, and as Benjamin Rusty said that this speech procured a transient smile, but it was soon seceded by the solemnity with the whole business. 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:40.319 I mean, we laughed for a minute and we thought, but you know he's right, we're all going to get hung for this. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:45.200 See, they knew exactly what they were going into, and that's where it's so cool to see these names. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:47.279 As I started to tell you, Robert Morris here. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:51.039 And Robert Morris, I think, had one of the most difficult jobs in the American Revolution. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:53.440 He was named the financier of the American Revolution. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:59.279 That is, after they separated from Great Britain, they said, Robert, would you run down to the bank and get us a loan on our new revolution? 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:02.640 Now, the chances of getting a loan on that revolution are slim to none. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:04.160 Nobody believes that this can happen. 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:07.839 As a matter of fact, we went three years in the American Revolution with no funding. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:11.279 Nobody would give us any funds to do this because nobody believed we could win. 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:18.000 After three years, we'd racked up some battles, and then France and Holland and some others started saying, Well, you know, maybe they can do this after all. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:21.279 So we started getting, but where did the funding come from for the first three years? 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:22.720 It came out of his pocket. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:24.000 Generous guy. 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:28.480 He was a wealthy man, and he took two million dollars and put in the American Revolution. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.160 By the way, two million two hundred years ago is a ton of bucks. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:36.319 And it was not like he had 40 million and gave us two million, so it's no skin off his back. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:38.319 No, he gave us everything he had. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:39.680 And how do we know that? 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:52.400 Because back then, you know, what Robert did was he gave us all the cash, and then he had some assets, and he had some properties and he had some possessions, and he hawked all that to get cash when we ran out of the first cash, and he gave us the cash off what he'd hawked. 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:57.519 But the law back then says that when it comes time for that stuff to come out of hock, if you can't pay for it, you go to prison. 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:01.359 And you stay in prison until you can pay for it, which is kind of a silly way to do it. 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:03.599 How do you earn a living to pay for it if you're in prison? 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:05.359 But nonetheless, that's what the law was. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:10.319 So he'd given us all the cash, he had hawked everything, given us that cash, it came time to pay. 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:15.359 This guy, this founding father, spent his latter years in debtor's prison. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:20.319 He didn't have enough money left to keep food on his own table, to keep clothes on his own back. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:24.319 This is a guy who gave his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:27.599