Hebrews chapter 10, if you can find your place in your Bible there, Hebrews chapter 10, a beautiful passage, and it accentuates what Hayden was saying. In fact, the Lamentations passage is one that will show up in our presentation here as well. Do understand that not everyone agrees with what it is I'm about to say. Here's a headline from a recent blog posting. Thanksgiving glorifies the abhorrent colonization of indigenous peoples. And that article written by a group here Green Matters went on to say it's senseless that 46 million turkeys would be butchered every year for this kind of a holiday especially when there's all these vegan alternatives. Well you know the perspective of an article like that. But what we'd like to do is try to use Scripture as a guide and take a look historically at some things that you've heard of before now, but maybe a chance for us to explicate some of those themes, develop them a bit more in the short time we have left here. So if we were to title our presentation, it would be this, The Pilgrims, A Journey of Faith. And each of us is on a journey. And faith is perhaps the compelling component here for us. Thinking about faith, we'll get to the passage in Hebrews in just a little bit. By general definition, this is what I found when I looked it up, it's complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Now, that's a more secular, generic definition of the word. If you look at a biblical commentary, it would have a different emphasis, no doubt. But the notion is this, that you have to have that trust. That's a key factor here. Years ago, my wife and I were leading a missions team to West Africa, we've had opportunity to do that nine times. And we were taking a tour on our last day. We had a little time off just before we headed to the airport. We went to the famous swinging bridges. They say that these are among the top 20 most scariest bridges to traverse. And they're made out of ropes. It was two Canadian engineers, along with five Ghanaians, who used bow and arrows, and they fired these strings up into these tall trees that reach way above the canopy of the jungle there. And then they pulled larger ropes, and eventually they built 900, almost 1,000 feet of walkway. Now, when you step out on that thing, it begins to sway. And it is a bit intimidating, to be sure. We were told that they changed the ropes every six months. But between you, me, and the fence post, they looked older than that. But you know, there came a point where we had to have that trust, where we had to have that faith that that rope, those ropes and cables would hold us. You know, once I got past that point, it was exhilarating. It really was a lot of fun to walk along there. You have this beautiful magisterial view of the jungle, 130 feet below you, and you're swinging on a foot-wide apparatus with some side rails, to be short. One of our team members lost an SD card. you're not getting that back, 130 feet down. But you know, that to me illustrates the notion of faith, having faith in, that ability to just lean to trust. You've heard it illustrated in other ways. But let's see what Hebrews 10 has to say about this. It's a beautiful passage, those of you that are in the Bible area. You no doubt have studied this in more detail, perhaps, than others. It's talking about Christ being our priest. In verse 20, there's a beautiful pickup here, verse 21, rather. Without wavering, for He is faithful, that promise. It goes on to talk about having love, provoking one another. It's just a wonderful passage, but our focus today is that middle portion now, holding fast. I like that idea, without wavering. How is your faith today? How is my faith today? Faith in those times of desperation, in the time of calamity, catastrophe, or just faith in the daily, goings on. In today's discussion, we're going to take a look at the faith of the pilgrims. And that journey for them began years before they set sail on the Mayflower, made their way to America. But I want you, this Thursday, if the Lord brings it to your mind, as you're sitting down to that beautiful meal, many of you with family, others right here on campus, think about what it would be like to have just four ounces of bread for the whole day. That's one of the reasons why 18 of the mothers did not survive, because they were giving their allowance to their kids. That journey of faith for them was a tough one. And it was certainly one that was not a surprise to God. And that would be my point right up front. None of this caught God by surprise. He never makes mistakes. And you may wonder, why did they have to go through that heroin experience, that seizing experience? I think there's some answers that we can conclude. And then in your life, in my life, whatever burden. You've been asked the bear. You can never out you can never out ask God. He always has more faith in store. Whatever it is that you need. So our story begins here back in the late. Well how far back should we go. As you think about the religious dissension here that brought about the whole Pilgrim story, maybe we should take it back to the early 1500s. With the English Reformation that took place in the 1530s, there was a moving away from the Church of Rome, but it was not a genuinely, at the top levels at least. Henry VIII had no proclivities toward Protestantism at all. It is strictly for political purposes. But what man meant for a certain end, God meant for other ends. And so the English Reformation gets rolling here in the 1530s. And then by the time Queen Bess comes along, things begin to solidify. This is a little review of your history of Civ days for some of you older students here, upperclassmen. By the late 1500s, though, there was a desire to try to even clean up the Church of England. It smelled too much of potpourri, some said. It still had many of the outer forms of the Church of Rome about it. And this group, the Puritans, wanted to clean the church up from some of these accretions and all. In the process, they weren't willing to break with the church, but they wanted to try to address some of these issues. But there came a group who said, you know, there's no hope. You cannot rectify this situation. We just need to separate. A group called the Brownists. Now, chances are, most of us haven't heard much about the Brownists. Who it is we have heard are the successors to that movement, the separatists. And that's where our story begins today. It actually begins in a sense in 1604. That was the year that a guy named Guy Fawkes decided he was going to add some pyrotechnic variety to the scene. He didn't like the king, and so he planted 30 barrels of gunpowder under the parliament room where the king was going to be addressing parliament. And the plan was to detonate that at just the right time. That would take care of James the first. He was a very strong advocate of Catholicism by the way. Well his plot to blow up the kingdom as it were came up a little short. Someone tipped off the authorities. He was found. He was executed. Took him four days to kill him. I'll let you fill in the blanks as to how that came down. Well, here's what followed. There was this great emphasis to crush any dissent, anyone that did not toe the line, anyone that did not march to the drumbeat, so to speak. And that's where the separatists come into the story. One historian observed it this way. The scruby congregation was a remnant in the 17th century that was willing to pay the price of practicing holy Christian self-government in a day when the trend would be to be dependent upon centralized government. In other words, their sense, their conscience told them as they read Scripture that the church ought to be an independent, autonomous entity, not beholden to this hierarchy and all. And they were willing to pay the price. They took a stance on that because they were convinced by Scriptures that that was the correct view. Another historian, well-known historian, observed that these pilgrims were the spiritual fathers of this country. So we have a headline that says that they introduced colonialism, and they were the modern day, they were the first terrorists to come to the new world. Well, both can't be right at the same time in the same place. So we need to sort this out. Let me introduce you to Pastor Robinson. Chances are, if I did a poll here today, just went about the room with a microphone, what do you know about Pastor John Robinson? If you're like me, you'd probably give a blank stare until I began preparation for this. I would argue that Pastor John Robinson is probably the most influential pastor on this country's history who never stepped foot on the shores here. Pastor John Robinson. We go back to Scrooge to tell the story, but one historian observed this about him. His influence in terms of inspiring his flock, training them, helping them, guiding them, helping them to practice what they saw inscription on was instrumental. For those that are inclined, he wrote a three-volume series. His sermons have been reduced to printed form. Tremendous depth. John Robinson, a name that most of us wouldn't know of. And yet, the Lord used him in a tremendous way as these folks were about to launch their faith journey. Go with me back to Scrooby. You've been there before now. In a sense of irony, as King James was making his way down in 1603 to become the King of England, he stopped in at Scrooby for a change of horses, a little refreshment. And it's said that one of the fellows that held the horse's reins was a young tyke named William Bradford. So you have, in one sense, the denizens of hell and those that are going to bring persecution. They're going to be branding cheeks and cutting noses and clipping ears, making life so miserable. Here he is in his carriage, and this humble little boy, orphaned at age seven, is holding the reins. The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of hell, right there on the king's highway in Scrooge. Little did folks know what was going to transpire in the next five to seven years. That was 1603. Fast forward to 1607. The persecution's already beginning. William Brewster happened to be pretty well established. He leased this estate, and he was the postmaster. He was the bailiff. He said, hey, you can meet at my house. So they were already being harried out. They weren't allowed to meet in official church buildings and all. But he gave permission. And he had enough standing in the village that the authorities didn't dare step in and stop him just yet. I mentioned William Bradford in passing. Here's the house in which he was born. By age seven, both parents deceased. By age 18, he's saved. He's in this church and doing a great work. But his life was a tough one. He's the one whose wife will drown early on after they arrive in the new world. I'll see if I can mention that part of the story if time permits. But the heavy hand of persecution was being felt. How strong was their faith? That's the question I ask. And then let it echo in your heart chambers. How strong is my faith? Am I willing to hold that rope? Do I have that trust that God will provide? The faith for the daily activities, the faith for the devastating things that might come our way. Well, these were years of conflict, and it was a tough situation. Some of you Perhaps I've heard this illustration before now. Maybe others have not. Eagles are just beautiful birds of God's creation. Just this week, I had a chance to, after my speaking engagement, to take a little tour of the St. John's River. And there's a beautiful bald eagle right there. And then the thing flew away so gracefully and all. You may know this, others may not, that when these eagles mate, they mate for life. They have more common sense than some people. There was a park ranger once who found an eagle with a trap on its leg, and its partner was bringing fish to it. How about that? They mate for life. They'll build their nests, oftentimes here in the West especially, up in those craggy edges, the precipice drops away. There are a few natural predators for an eagle because, among other things, an eagle can fly straight into the sun. Few birds can do that. And as long as nothing gets between the eagle and the sun, S-U-N, it's relatively safe. If something does block, then it can become a bird of prey itself. How about that? There's a wonderful illustration right there. So they'll build these beautiful nests, some of them six feet in diameter before they're finished. They'll line them with politically incorrect things like rabbit fur and whatnot. And those little eaglets, when they hatch, It's the ideal Edenic life. I mean, it's the life of socialism. Mom and dad bring food. They partially digest it and regurgitate it right into their mouths. Have you ever seen a nest of birds and maybe you make some noise nearby and all their mouths open simultaneously? That's the little eaglets. And they begin to grow. And those pin feathers give way to flight feathers. But they have no inclination to leave the nest. They're perfectly comfortable where they are. But God in his creative ability gave the mama eagle certain instincts. And so at a certain point, she begins thinning the nest. She begins pulling those rabbit furs back. Now it's a little less comfortable. Some of those briars are jagging through. It's a little more discomforting, you might say. And as the account goes, if those baby eagles don't get the hint, there comes a point where the mama eagle will shove them over the edge of the nest. And down, down toward that precipice, they tumble, head over talons, and smack. For millions of years, this is what, no, that's not what happened, actually. That's what evolution would want us to believe. But actually, the mama eagle, she's watching with an eagle eye. As that eagle, it's tumbling, she will swoop down, capture him on the nap of her neck, back to the heights, and dump him again. I call it eaglet torture. They just go through this routine until somewhere along the way in that little bird brain of his, the idea comes, just put your wings out. Just put your wings out. Once that little eagle has spread his wings, he doesn't have to flap. He doesn't have to strain. Those currents coming off the face of that mountain will just lift him to the heights. Here's the point. He would never be free if the nest hadn't been thin. He was content to stay right there in the nest, but now he's far freer. He has the whole vistas at his command because someone was willing to thin the nest. I would propose to you that the pilgrims were going through a nest thinning process here. Eventually, they were able to evacuate, as it were. They were pushed out of the nest, quite literally. The husbands were arrested, imprisoned. I mentioned some of the physical torture that they sustained. Wives and kids were left destitute. Not once, twice, but three times they tried to escape. And finally, they were effective, made their way first to Amsterdam, where part of the group began to stray theologically. So Pastor Robinson said, no, we're not going down that road. We're going to stay true to the principles of God's word. So they migrated from Amsterdam to Leiden. spelled differently than what you're familiar with, perhaps. But here's where that group that came to be called the separatists settled down, brand new lifestyle. They'd been farmers. Now they had to learn how to do textiles. They had to adapt to a whole new lifestyle, so to speak. But they were willing to do this because they knew in the home country they could not practice in good conscience. They were loved by the neighbors. They were hard workers. They were ingenious. They were industrious. But they had a concern. They were losing their kids. These are their words. Many of the children influenced by these conditions and the great licentiousness of the young people of the country. Now, the Dutch were not ultra-worldly at that point. But according to the strict standards that the separatists had, they didn't call themselves pilgrims, by the way. They called themselves saints. But the standards they had, they felt like their kids were being compromised. Look at this last sentence, if you can see it from where you're seated, that they were getting the reins off their neck. They were not following what mom and dad's advice had been. The parents that you have were given to you by God, even if they're not saved. and you do well to listen to their advice, to take it into account, and not just to thumb your nose at that. That was their concern that their kids were drifting in a different direction. They added this observation, they saw that whatever banks the Dutch had against the inroads of the sea, that would be the dikes that had been built and put in place, they had not sufficient ones against the flood of manifold profaneness. And they saw their kids being dragged away, and so they prayed. In fact, they had prayer sessions. This was a long, arduous process. They were searching their hearts. Is this what we need to do? It's such a gargantuan step. This is a massive step of faith to leave everything that we know and hold dear. After a time of prayer, they came to the conviction this was what they had to do. So they contracted for a ship called the Speedwell. This is a lesser-known part of the story. The Speedwell did not speed along well. Let's put it that way. It was a small ship, about 60 tons or so, and there just was not enough room for all of the separatists. John Robinson, the pastor, had made the observation, if more stay than go, I'll stay with them until they can come along. If more go than stay, I'll go with that group to America. Well, he stayed because the majority could not fit on the ship. He died, unfortunately, in 1625, never made it to the New World. But his influence was decidedly felt. along the way. They had a prayer session, Bible reading. They were just seeking the Lord in supplication and all. They say that as they went to the ship to board, there was such a scene that the locals paused alongside the wharf, and they too were crying as they saw these folks hugging and praying and getting ready for this massive step. We have to hasten on here. So they made their way to England, and there they met up with another group called strangers. So you have the saints or the separatists. Those are the ones that really were under the leadership of John Robinson. And now you have another group of Puritans that joined in in order to make enough for the journey. You've heard of the main flower, no doubt. It's a beautiful ship. It weighed 180 tons compared to the 60-ton vessel. 100 feet long, three masks. And they were leasing this to help transport the supplies and the people. If you have a chance to visit Plymouth Plantation today and Plymouth Rock, you can see a reconstructed vessel that looks very similar to the original. Not a big vessel by our standards. 102 passengers on board. And most of them are going to spend a lot of time in that middle deck area. We'll come back to that. So they gathered all the materials. They had the two-ship flotilla. And they set sail in August. But because of bad leakage and all, they turned back. They had to chalk some of the speedwell's planking. The sails were causing the planking to warp, and it was just allowing the seawater to flow in. So they set out a second time, only to have to turn back yet again to Plymouth. And then from there, they said, you know what? This speedwell just won't work. So they had to combine. They had to leave a lot of butter behind. They had to leave a lot of supplies behind. 102 crammed on board that ship, and they set sail. We're making the story brief here to move forward. There were numbers of dangers that they would have to be aware of. Tuberculosis, smallpox, scurvy, bloody flux. You know that not one passenger died from those? God in his providence had seen to it that that ship was used to transport wine. And whenever a cask of wine would break open, it had a sanitizing effect. It made the ship COVID proof, so to speak. And so not a single, now one passenger did die and one was born. I'm a little ahead of the story here, but there were storms. There were other storms they had to face here and they were unleashed. Have you heard the story of John Howland? It's an incredible one. I'll squeeze it in. The clock's against us here today. They were basically committed to having to stay in this area about the size of a tennis court, five and a half foot high ceilings for most of the 66 days they were in route. So when did we start our college semester? Back in late August. So September, October, we're just past the 60-day mark by two weeks or so. Imagine having been on board a ship for that length of time, and you can't go outside, you can't breathe on your own. Picture the size of a tennis court, the singles section, times five and a half feet tall, and that's what you have. and drive you batty. Well, there was one fellow, John, here who could not stand that, John Hallen. And so against the captain's orders, he went above board, and he got washed over. So we now have man overboard. It just so happened, as lady luck would have it, there was a rope dragging through the sea behind the ship, and he managed to clasp hold of that. It was cold, frigid waters. They say that no matter what a person's BMI, they could only survive a short length of time in that kind of water. Somehow, the crew was able to get a boat hook into his clothing, and they pulled him ashore. Did you know that, wow, we've got lots of action here. More noise than we need probably. Three million people claimed John Howland as their forbearer. If he'd not been rescued that day, three million people, including some that you recognize by name here, would not have survived. How about the most harrowing moment of the whole trip was, this is where faith is being tested to the limit, is when the huge beam that supported the main mass cracked. And they talked of turning back or just being lost at sea altogether. But it just so happened that someone had an iron screw drag. I don't know if the foundry operator, the smelter who made that iron screw, had any idea. that he was actually helping to shape or forge the future as he made that iron screw. That literally saved the day. So they made it to the new world. We're short on time, so we're going to have to bypass some of this. But I do want you to get a sense of some of the challenges that they faced here as they look for a settlement. They needed a place that had water. and they needed certain character traits and all. Now, understand it was cold when they were searching and all. When they first got out, the temperature dropped below zero and they hit a snowstorm. They said that the salt spray froze in their coats and made them like iron. miserable conditions. But they finally found a place here where there was a good supply of potable water, rapidly flowing, so they could build a gristmill. And they also wanted something that would have some fish in it. So they found out in what they call now the town brook. What they didn't know, as they came ashore, is that a plague had swept through and killed every single Native American living in that area. The whole Pawtuxet village had been wiped out. We don't know for sure how the reaction might have been different than it was if those folks had been in place. There was a bit of a hostility at the time. I don't have the opportunity in this lecture or sermon to share how that the pilgrims treated the natives there very kindly, actually. Had a wonderful rapport, contrary to what some of those other notions would have for us here. But all of that to say, the Lord was directing and guiding, and he provided for them. I wanted to get to one other verse here in the short time that we do have left here. There's some beautiful passages that talk about the struggle, whatever it is you're facing right now, Job 13, 15, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. This is one that Hayden mentioned, Lamentations 322. It is of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed. Because of his compassions fail not, they are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. And so my challenge to you as we bring our remarks to a conclusion is to know that the same God who superintended over the events of the pilgrims is also superintending over us today. And so why curse the darkness when in fact you can light a candle.