Week 2 – America’s Godly Heritage by Pastor Mark Cowart
Why is it important for you to understand the godly foundation of America? Well, I believe we can take back what has been stolen by the “deconstruction’, the falsifying of our history, by standing for truth. I’ve seen the effects of a revived church on a nation.
In Uganda, a country I have had the opportunity to minister in a number of times, I witnessed the changes that happened when Christians there drew near to the Lord and stood in the gap for their nation. After a bloody history of dictators, witchcraft and terrorists, things turned around when the believers rose up in the authority of Christ.
America is unique, because our very foundations are Christian. But, the omission of that fact in currently accepted accounts of our founding has led to historical blindness. I liken this to a physical malady that causes loss of sight due to nutritional deficiency. Not getting an accurate history weakens and confuses us.
There has been a lot of confusion regarding the role of church leaders in government, for example. In my study of America’s beginnings, I found out there was actually a “Black-Robed Regiment” in that founding era. I first heard of this in a 3-page article written by David Barton that included 101 footnotes! That should give you some idea of how thoroughly documented this research is.
The unique term is a backhanded British reference to the activist clergy of the Revolutionary era, coined in a comment that “if it hadn’t been for the Black-robed regiment, we’d have won the war.” They were that influential. The war for independence was really a resistance to the tyranny of King George over the American colonists. These pastors got in the fight first with the Word of God from their pulpits.
Our founding fathers were, for the most part, church-going men. They took these truths with them into their work to establish the government for the rebel colonies. They knew resistance to tyranny is obedience to God, that our rights come from God, not the government.
You see, if people are misled and think that their rights come from the government, then what the government gives, it can take away. I’ve actually heard a news commentator say this. But, if our rights come from God, then nobody can rightfully take them away unless we surrender them.
In the Preamble (introduction) to the Declaration of Independence, is written:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
God gives those rights. We are born with them.
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. II Corinthians 3:17 NKJV
The inscription on our “Liberty Bell” from Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is from Leviticus 25:10:
Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.
That is why America is such a crown jewel that the devil wants to destroy, because God raised us up to be a city set on a hill – to carry the Gospel, literally, to the ends of the earth. So, the revisionists have removed these facts from the record to confuse and disorient us.
Peter Marshall and David Manuel concluded, in The Light and the Glory, that there is a need to set the record straight on our nation’s history. From the very words of the founders in their journals, letters, speeches and other writings, we find out directly from the people who pledged their “lives, … fortunes and …sacred honor…” (in the concluding statement of the Declaration of Independence), what they truly believed in and upon whom they steadily relied.
There are thousands of such documents preserved in various locations. In David Barton’s book, Original Intent, he thoroughly documents what the Constitution means. It is clear, if you are willing to read these first-person accounts of their inspiration, and then embrace the truth of it.
However, there are, and have been for some time, those people who are out to fundamentally transform America. Part of their devilish strategy is to alter the historical record to exclude the role of the Almighty in the account. By the grace of God, we have been given a reprieve right now, as gifted scholars apply their talents to right this.
They are finding that, at the same time that we no longer know our heritage as a country, we also no longer have the vision that our founding fathers had for a nation that is free. From this far-reaching inspiration, they forged a constitution that created a government that fostered phenomenal growth and prosperity.
In The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle that Changed the World, by W. Cleon Skousen, we are invited to “discover the 28 Principles of Freedom our Founding Fathers said must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desire peace, prosperity, and freedom. Learn how adherence to these beliefs during the past 200 years has brought about more progress than was made in the previous 5000 years. These 28 Principles include The Genius of Natural Law, Virtuous and Moral Leaders, Equal Rights–Not Equal Things, and Avoiding the Burden of Debt.”
This came from looking closely at the writings and quotes of the early Americans who built this nation. There this author saw the evidence of divine wisdom given to these believers, so that the country they established has far exceeded any other in wealth, in creativity, in military strength, etc. How is it we have leap-frogged over 5,000 years of history to become this nation that people flock to?
Alexis de Tocqueville came from France in 1831 to give a first-hand account of the American phenomenon in his book, Democracy in America. He traveled the land to find out what makes this country strong, what gave this advantage. As I’ve said, this “exceptionalism” does not make us better than anyone. It puts greater responsibility on us.
Why do we need an accurate understanding of our nation’s heritage and godly founding?
Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34 NKJV
It is not Republicans or Democrats that exalt a nation. It is righteousness that exalts a nation. Our forefathers warned us about having two political parties, that this would set us against each other. And, we have watched that happen.
The statement, “When people forget God, then tyrants forge their chains,” is attributed to Patrick Henry* by some sources. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32 NASB)
If we don’t remember that God gave us this liberty, we will hand the keys of our future to a savage people who will overthrow us. When you don’t know the value of something, you don’t treat it properly. You esteem it lightly.
Our friend, Peter Daniels, was given a gift of a plain little bowl at an exclusive international dinner. He gave it to his daughter to feed her cat and found out later it was an ancient artifact from the Ming Dynasty.
Something far beyond what you and I can ever grasp or fathom is the gift of this nation, not only to us but to the entire world. In this government, God has exemplified righteous liberty.
And you know, America is NOT a democracy. I grew up saying it was, and I was wrong. I had heard it taught and didn’t understand it. All these statements on TV that the President is going to “destroy our democracy” are using it as a buzzword, based on this error.
What we are, in fact, is a “constitutional republic” with a limited democratic process. In fact, John Adams clearly stated it. The last thing our founding fathers wanted was a democracy like ancient Greece. History had given ample evidence for his belief. He said this in a letter to John Taylor, December 17, 1814 (National Archives).
“Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a Democracy yet, that did not commit suicide.”
Even though we are not a democracy, we have been moved away from the anchor of the Constitution. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land which is stable, fixed. Democracy is the will of the people which can be capricious, changeable as the wind. Without careful respect to the Constitution, laws are voted in that basically lack the foundation of the Word of God.
Without knowing godly foundation, we will “commit suicide” as a nation. We’ve watched this beginning to happen. I’ve said it this way. We are suffering from national “Alzheimers” right now. History is the memory of a nation. It is His story. Because Americans have forgotten where we came from, we don’t know who we are, and we are confused, trying to do futile things.
We have an opportunity right now to recover ourselves. The time is short. We have to “make hay while the sun shines”, as I often say.
As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
John 9:4 NIV
Patrick Henry also said this: “ It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity and freedom of worship here.”
We have the opportunity now to share in the exhaustive research done by our historian brethren in documenting our godly heritage. Every one of us and our children need to look into the writings I’ve referenced.
The American Story by David and Tim Barton is in a new expanded edition. Anything you want to verify has a footnote, a historical document preserved somewhere in our public record. You can also access these if you want to dig that deep. This is not just opinion.
For example, Christopher Columbus has been much maligned by the deconstructors of history, but we find in his writings that he was a God-fearing man. The word “Christopher” means Christ-bearer. He said in his journal, “It was the Lord who put in my mind (I could feel his hand upon me.) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. 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 (see below). I have found the sweetest consolation since making it my whole purpose to enjoy his marvelous presence.”
Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name…. I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. - Isaiah 49:1 & 6 NKJV
From a letter Columbus wrote: “I prayed to the most merciful Lord concerning my desire, and he gave me the spirit and the intelligence for it. He gave me the abundant skill in the mariners’ arts, an adequate understanding of the stars, geometry and arithmetic….Who can doubt this fire was not merely mine, but also of the Holy Spirit, who encouraged me with a radiance of marvelous illumination from his sacred holy scriptures.”
Has that been taught of late in schools? Absolutely not. The reason is the enemy does not want us to know that America was not an afterthought with God. It wasn’t something that accidentally happened. But literally, just like all of our lives, God knew all from the foundation of the world.
“Vision is starting what God has already completed.”- Myles Munroe
God has taken the time to design every one of our lives, and He has written a book about us. He has a purpose and destiny for each of us in that of this country of which we are citizens. In spite of what we have allowed to happen, with expelling God from our schools and the public square, moral decline on every hand, and rampant lawlessness, He is giving us another chance.
Of note, in the writings of our founding fathers, when you see the word “religion”, they were referring to faith in Christ. They mention it often as the foundation for all they believed for this nation. We have to get back to where we understand the Word of God to us in Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation….” As you take up your part in this battle, a careful study of the true history of your nation will go a long way toward reviving and restoring to you the vision God has for America.
Pray this over your life:
Father, right now we come into agreement that we are coming back into a divine alignment with our destiny as a nation. Thank you, Lord, that you have spared us from falling under tyranny, and you’ve given us another chance. Help us to rise up, stir ourselves and the gifts of God within us, and stand in the gap, as we humble ourselves, pray, seek your face and turn from our wicked ways. According to your Word, your will be done, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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