This morning we'll take a break from our Ephesian study and do a little biblical foundation to see if there's a biblical warrant for our American Revolution and the American Civil War. I think we can see that in the Old Testament with Solomon's son, Rehoboam. And if we'll look in 2 Chronicles in chapter 10, we'll look at verse 10 or chapter 10 and then in the first four verses of chapter 11, I think we can establish a biblical warrant as to why the United States seceded from the British Union and also why the southern states seceded from the Union in the United States. We can see that from the revolt against Rehoboam and to why Rehoboam was considered a tyrant, which was also parallel to King George in the 1700s. But as Greg Singer says from a theological professor in Atlanta, they still revolted against the king. So it's kind of a moral dilemma. Can we really establish the warrant for us going to war? I think there's a yes and there's a no. We'll see this from the scriptures and we have to also go to Romans chapter 13. So as we look in the scriptures, we'll see what does the Spirit say to us. And in 2 Chronicles chapter 10 we read, And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. This is after Solomon had passed away. So it happened when Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, heard it, for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon, he had been cast out, that Jeroboam returned from Egypt. Then they sent for him and called him, and Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, Your father Solomon made our yoke very heavy. Now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which you put on us, and we will serve you. So we said to them, come back to me after three days. And so the people departed. Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders, which he should have done, who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, saying, how do you advise me to answer this people? And they spoke to him, saying, if you're kind to this people, you please them and you speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever. But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders. And he consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him, his buddies. And he said to them, What advice do you give me? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten the yoke which your father put on us? Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it light. Thus you shall answer them, My little finger will be thicker than my father's waist. And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I'll chastise you with scourges. So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, Come back to me the third day. Then the king answered them roughly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders. And he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges. So the king did not listen to the people. For the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill his word which he had previously spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to him, For to them the people answered, saying, What share do we have with David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to your tents, O Israel, secede. Now see to your tents, thus say to your own houses, O David. So all Israel departed to their tents and seceded. But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah. Then King Rehoboam sent Hadorah, who was in charge of revenue, but the children of Israel stoned him with stones. They sent the IRS and they stoned him. And he died. Therefore, King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and fled to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. Now, when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin 180,000 chosen men who were warriors to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. But the word of the Lord came to Shemiah, the man of God, saying, Speak to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah, and Benjamin, saying, Thus saith the Lord, You will not go up to fight against your brethren. Let every man return to his house. Let them go, for this thing is from me. Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord and turned back from attacking Jeroboam. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this weekend where we as Americans celebrate the birth of our country. Lord, I pray that we will return, as we saw in our Puritan prayer this morning, what they established as the right to free religion, the right to worship you. Lord, I pray that we will hear from you, hear from heaven, forgive me as a sinner, Lord, because there are many, and I pray that you will just give me the unction of the Holy Spirit, and that we will hear from heaven, and let's see Jesus in him only. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. As we've read, you all know by now, I like to read a whole lot of Bible. It's more important than what I say. God's Word lasts forever. Isaiah 55 says that His Word goes forward and does not come back void unto Him. There's a lot of... One sermon that really captivated me, and I've never ever heard another preacher do this. If you're familiar with who John Piper is, He has a message called, If My Words Abide in You, and I think it was from 2000 and something. But for 15 solid minutes, he speaks Scripture from memory. And I have never in my life heard a preacher stand up and recite Scripture from memory. The Word of God. Ezra in chapter 9, and also Nehemiah, gives us an example of what the Old Testament preachers used to do. They would stand up and read the law for hours on end, and the people stood and listened. Where we have come in preaching today is far removed from what they used to do. What we ought to do, I think, in my own opinion, is we ought to read the Word. Because that's the most important thing. And how do we see, even in this weekend with their independence, and the birth of our nation, when we celebrate the separation from England, or from the tyrant, how do we see that biblically? And I think reading through here, we see why the people of Israel revolted from the tyrant of Rehoboam. Well, how many times did America send emissaries to King George? How many times did Ben Franklin go and say, lighten the load on us. Cease the taxes. If you will lighten the load on us, we will serve you forever. That's the same language we see right here in 2 Chronicles. If it weren't for the idiot in England, we would still be under a king. And we would understand what it is to be under a monarch. And you all have heard me speak long enough about, I wish we knew what it was to serve a king. Because we would understand, when God is a king, he's not a politician. We understand who is in the seat of authority. And when we get into Romans 13, we'll see why. Speak to this people, he consulted the elders first. If you remember back in the Old Covenant, when Moses was seated over everybody, judging everyone, and his father-in-law, Jethro, said, appoint elders to judge. Rehoboam did the right thing to begin with, to consult the elders. My position, I would consult you. You all are my elders. And I would consult you too. And I need to listen. And you see Rehoboam's fault here, that he did not listen to the elders. The folks that have been around long enough have got some wisdom. And we need to listen. I was reading a proverb yesterday in chapter 4. And one sentence that stuck out to me. Wisdom is the principal thing. We go to those who are older than us to find wisdom. Both have experience. And those of you that have served in the armed forces, I thank you very much, because we wouldn't be here today if you hadn't. And I thank you. And as we see in 2 Chronicles, why they could have revolted while we have the American Revolution and the American Civil War. Of course, what we're taught in public school is not the real history. The winners always write the textbooks. If we look at the Civil War, you can see how religious the generals were, even Jefferson Davis himself, who had a black boy adopted into his family, and when the Union Army came through, They took him. We're not taught that in school, but the history's there. The American Revolution was also a very religious war. Samantha read to me the Declaration of Independence on the way down here. And you could hear the exact same language in Jefferson's voice, though he was a deist, spoken here in 2 Chronicles 10. We sent emissaries. How many times have we been over here asking you to lighten our load? And we see the same thing in our tyrannical government today. If we were to read the Declaration of Independence in Congress today, somebody would probably get kicked out. Because we see the same tyranny in our taxation, in our government regulation, the EPA, and all those other things that we see today. The same tyrannical ideas were going on under Ray Aboa. My father's little pinky, or my pinky will be thicker than my father's waist. That's a lot of taxation. That's a lot of oppression. What ought we to do as Christians? Is there a biblical warrant for the war? I think so. But, as Singer says, they also revolted against the king. So let's look at Romans chapter 13. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God. And the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority, resists the ordinance of God. And those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Then do what's good, and you will have praise from your authority. For the civil magistrate is God's deacon. It says minister in our English Bible, but the Greek is deacons, diakonos. to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath upon him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake. For because of this, you also pay your taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due, taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, and honor to whom honor. Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Sounds like we've got a conundrum, doesn't it? Because the war, of course we know about the Boston Tea Party. Taxation without representation. But you can see the parallel. We must, however, obey our authorities. But the war obviously was from God. And as I've mentioned a couple of times, one thing that has really stuck out in my mind because we see our responsibility and God's sovereignty almost in clash with one another. But as a wise man told me, I have to work like it's all up to me and believe like it's all up to God. The folks that founded this or formed this country, the Great American Experiment, understood what authority was. But they wanted to worship God as well because they understood His ultimate authority as His kingship. Are we taxed heavily? We are. Jesus paid his taxes as well, if you remember that, when he went to the fish in the sea to pay his taxes. Whose picture is on that little coin? Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Render to God the things that are God's. It also comes back to a heart matter. If you are kind to these people and please them and speak good words to them, if you are a good ruler, They will be your servants forever. But, Graham Boehm rejected the advice of the elders and listened to the young men. Our problem today, in our situation, is that we, at my age, listen to people my age. We don't listen to our elders. We don't have any idea what it is to submit to authority. God has established three different spheres of government. Number one is the family unit. And we saw a breakdown of that just recently in PCUSA. Family units, man and wife. Number one, we can see that between God and his church. Man and wife. Number two, you've got civil magistrate, which we've seen here in Romans 13. That's God and government. The civil magistrate is the one that wields the sword. That's why we have prison. And then we have taxes to support those things. But also we have the church. The sword is not given to the church. The sword is given to the civil magistrate. But the church, or the sword, or the magistrate does not have the right to serve the table. There are certain spheres that each one has. And we can see that definitely played out off of the Old Testament. That's what the theocracy was. Though I'm not theocratic. I do have a respect for God's law, and we remember the term theonomy, which came up in the 70s and 80s. But theonomy is not necessarily a bad thing. Because we do have respect for the law of God. And if we continue in Romans 13, you see that the owe no one anything, but whoever loves one another has fulfilled the law. Verse 9 says, for the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not lie, you will not covet. If there is any other commandment, all are summed up in this, namely, you will love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And how many times I think that I've said myself, I wish I understood what holiness is. When we read the commandments, we see the entire holy, moral character of Almighty God that's in our commandments. Our founding fathers understood what it was to not covet, to not lie, to not steal, to not cheat. And then also in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 11, it says, Be quiet and be steady to make sure that you live a quiet life. Work with your hands and that you may give to somebody who has need. We saw that in Ephesians also in chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4. Work quietly. Our founding fathers wanted to have a nation where we could work. And that's why when you see the greatest generation, I wish I was a part of that. I think Tom Brokaw wrote a book called The Greatest Generation. Is that not the World War I folks? And those coming out of the World War II? I wish that we could have that today. And I hope that God will restore to us, to my generation and the ones behind me, the same kind of mentality that we see here. They stood on something. And when they revolted against the king, simple though it may have been, but it was from God, they stood on the fact they understood what tyranny was and what they ought to do as men and women. Are we willing to stand upon the truth instead of cowering before those what the almighty dollar can say? These men understood. And I hope that we will one day. And as we consider that on their Independence Day weekend, this is not just some political rally or some 4th of July sale event, just like we've turned Thanksgiving into Black Friday event and Christmas into all kinds of savings. Do we remember what these holidays are about? The lives that were sacrificed so that we could be sitting here today, non-persecuted. We still live in the greatest country on earth right now. We're still the freest country on earth right now, though it's broken. It's time for us to stand up and do something about it. Our race is not yet finished. And it's so neat for me to come in and bring fruits of my garden and share with you all, and you all share the fruits for me. It's very neat to see this as we are together in Christian community and fellowship. The people here understood that as well in 2 Chronicles. And Paul speaking to the Romans, looking in the face of Caesar, in the face of Nero, One of the worst, next to Caligula, the worst emperors ever to walk on the planet. And we think about Marcus Aurelius being some kind of super philosopher, but he instituted new tactics in torturing Christians in the Colosseum in about 126 A.D. What do we do in the face of that? Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Thus saith the Lord, you will not go up and fight against your brethren. Let every man return to his house, secede, for this thing is from me." If we understand the American Civil War and the American Revolution and their fundamentals, it's not just a little parade and fireworks. And I was kind of distressed when I watched the parade on Saturday because all I noticed was a whole bunch of our political guys coming down. The guys had run for office now. Every other vehicle was a parade slogan. Vote for this, reelect this guy. Had nothing to do with the war of independence from the tyrant to establish a more perfect union. And if I can remember right, our first sentence of the Declaration, when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one particular people to dissolve their political bands with another because of oppression, 2 Chronicles. We can see it in the Bible. But the problem is though, the moral dilemma, they revolted against the king. But we can see both sides. Now I'm not trying to leave us in a quandary. But let's think about it, because this thing does come from the Lord. If we had not had the American Revolution, we would not be here today. And if we would look through the history of the Presbyterian Church, you'll find that the same line was drawn between Northern Presbyterian and Southern Presbyterian as it was in Union and Confederate. The Southern Church, the PCUSA, which used to be the conservative branch. PCA came out in the 70s. We were the last bastion of hope. 1930s, OPC was formed, coming out of the liberal Church of the North. The Civil War was a religious war, it wasn't just about slavery, that's what they tell us in school. But they don't ever tell us that Jefferson Davis, his black adopted son, whom Jefferson Davis himself called a son, sat at his dinner table, was ripped from his mother's breast when the Union Army came in. And they also don't tell us that Ulysses Grant did not free his slaves until the war was over. Everyone to your house. And then we have General Robert E. Lee as our commanding general. I know this is Independence Day about the revolution, but I'm kind of hung up on our religious war in the South. Because they understood where we were. And I think that the Israelites were under the same thing. So the king did not listen to the people. The people wanted to serve their king. But because of tyranny, they couldn't. They understood the bureaucracy because they were not very far removed from God leading them through the wilderness and establishing his government. And that's how we really see God and government played out. God is king. We have rulers underneath. That's why we have a republic. We have representative heads. The king did not listen, for the turn of events was from God. That's a pretty hard statement to deal with, because the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. I think I've read that right in Proverbs, because it says that the heart of the king is turned any which way it wants, because the Lord is sovereign over it. And reading in Romans chapter 9, we see the sovereignty of God over Pharaoh. I've lost where I was. Verse 14, What shall we say then? Is there an unrighteousness with God? Going back to verse 11, for the children were not yet being born, talking about Jacob and Esau, having done any good or evil that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of him who calls. It was said to her, the older will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob, I have loved Esau, I have hated. And what shall we say, then, is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not. He said to Moses, I will have mercy upon whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion upon whomever I will have compassion. So that it is not from him who wills, nor of him who runs, but God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name may be declared on the earth. How long was God's name declared in America? Until what, 1963? When the ball got dropped? With Mattel no hair and prayer was taken out of school? Of course, we still live here in the Bible Belt. And I am amazed all the time that the folks that come from the North down to visit Bristol Caverns, and they say the first thing that comes to their mind is how many churches we see on every corner of the place. And I think we'll praise the Lord because that shows something about our morality here and where we consider. And when we think about our philosophy, God becomes first. We begin with Him. We can't fight the game with him. Also, we go back to our wars. And we see that from the revolution. This thing is from the Lord. That he might fulfill his word. Let's not mistake it. America does not have a covenant with God. But we wanted one. They tried to make one with it. Valley of Vision. As we read this morning. You all really need to read the Valley of Vision. The Puritan prayers that were poured out to Almighty God. When they came here. Leaving. Leaving and being kicked out of England. Starting the colonies here. Preaching the Gospel. And do you know where John and Edwards died? As a missionary to the Indians. Of smallpox. One of the greatest minds America has ever produced, and no one can argue with that, not even the people at Princeton and Harvard and Yale. They understand the mind of John Edwards. He died as a missionary to the Native Americans, giving them Jesus. I hope that we do that today. And I hope that our independents will understand that we are dependent upon God. That's true. independence. They say we are dependent upon Almighty God alone because we're depending on ourselves. Where do we go? Where do we end up? And I wonder, though, if we are really seeing, for there is no authority that exists except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by Him. Therefore, whoever resists the king, resists the ordinance of God and those who resist will bring judgment. on themselves. We do see biblical warrant for why we are where we are. But we still have a responsibility to serve the King. And Paul tells Timothy, serve those even though they are wicked rulers. For what good is it if you serve those whom you love? That was paraphrased. But it's still the same idea. What is it if you give somebody that you love less effort than somebody you don't. Where are we today? And I hope that we really consider that on this weekend where we celebrate the birth of our nation. And I really believe this is the greatest nation on earth. I would not want to change where I live for anything. But I hope that God will bless us again and pour out His Spirit upon us that we will understand where we came from and why we are still able to stand today. And we don't understand the grace that God gives us when the sun comes up and we last another day today. When the stock market hasn't completely fallen out. When our country still stands. And I hope that our prayers go up before Him, as it says in Revelation, that the incense, that it rises and it then is a sweet smelling aroma before God. And I hope I haven't confused anybody this morning. But let us see how we read our Bibles, and to see why men have responsibility to do what they have to do to make choices. Our fathers made a choice. And they made a godly decision, I believe, to resist the tyranny that was above them, and to stand upon the foundation of the Word of God. And when you read the Declaration of Independence, though it's Lacanian, the philosophy of Thomas Locke, and very deistic, it still has Christian undertones. And read your Constitution, read your legislation, and then read Leviticus. Our case laws are a very mirror of the Word of God and His commandments. Go to Washington DC, who do you see? You see statues of preachers. And how many Presbyterian elders were on George Washington's cabinet? All but two? Jefferson was one of them, he wasn't. What about George Winfrey? He was a signer of the Declaration. Presbyterian preacher. I think it's time to stand up. And I hope that we will. I have a brother today who's preaching at a USA church and he's preaching on marriage. In light of what just happened. And the guys at Reformed Baptist. A woman elder from the Presbyterian USA church asked him to come preach at a USA church. And he's preaching Ephesians 5, marriage. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Where are our convictions? These men had conviction. And I think that honestly, when they had the revolution and the civil war, they read 2 Chronicles chapter 10. This thing is from God. If you won't serve us, if you won't be a good king, goodbye. We will form our own nation. And we will serve God. And they did. And I think we're still enjoying the blessings of that and also from the Great Awakening. I hope that we revive today. So let's wake up and be thankful for our independence. For our nation. But our independence is dependent upon God. And I pray that we'll remember that. And I have to think about that every single day of my life. So let us feed on the mammoth. that comes down from heaven and stand on their convictions and be men and women of Almighty God. You all are not finished yet. You've still got a good race before you. You've got people like me to teach you. And I'll listen. I don't want to be like Ray Aboul and reject the advice of my elders. I did that for a long time and it ended me up in prison. I want to listen to my elders. So don't be afraid to get in somebody's face and put your finger in their face and tell them what they need to hear because we need it. No matter if they spit in your face or not. Tell them what they need to hear. We'll listen eventually. As Paul says, eventually every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Christ is Lord. Jesus says, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. So we lift him up. God's the one that makes the decision on whose heart He softens and whose heart He hardens. Our job is to preach Jesus. Our job is to stand on the convictions of the Word of God. So let's do it. I really hope I haven't made any confusions about where we are. But when you go back and read your founding documents of our country, parallel it with the Scriptures, It does kind of leave us with a question, though, because we read Romans 13. But I think that's what J.I. Packer calls the antinomy. Two truths, sovereignty and responsibility. How do we reconcile the two together? Because in our puny little minds, we can't reconcile it. We can't think it. It only comes together in the mind of Almighty God. But that's why we have responsibility. That's why I continue to think about working like it's all up to me and believing like it's all up to God. That's something that has really stuck with me over the last couple of months. And I hope that that will with you all as well, because how much it's changed the way I view things. And now how I read my Bible. And how I try to act out in public. And live my life. And understand how we got to this point where we are. And as we really do celebrate July 4th. And also then let's look at Memorial Day as well. And our other holidays that we have that are not just cookout holidays and take a break from business, but let us reflect on Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter. Though you see what our culture has done to them. What's the meaning behind them? We've got a problem in our schools today because a lot of professors say, well, I want to know the what. I want to know what happened in the war. I want to know the events that happened. I don't care about why they happened. Well, that's a problem because if you don't have the why it happened, you don't understand what happened. You do have the events, this guy killed another one, but why? Why did this happen? Why did we secede from the Union? Why did our Founding Fathers break away and dissolve their political bands from King George? Well, George, like Rehoboam, made his little finger thicker than the previous monarch's waste. And they stood on conviction. Now our science and our culture has also done the same thing to us. It's oppressing us. And we can see that through trying to take God out of every facet of public life today. We can't even speak Jesus' name in public anymore. Still do it. And if you want to get on Bristol Caverns website, you can see how many people don't like me because I talk about Jesus. So we'll see what happens. But I hope that our convictions will stand. And thank you all very much for serving, those of you who did. I hope one day I can do the same. If all goes according to plan, the Lord may give me an opportunity to serve. I hope you will. So thank you all very much for your patience. And continue. Don't be weary in well-doing, as Paul says. Let's stand. Stand on it. And go forward. We're not finished yet. The doors aren't closed. They're still here. The bills are paid. Let's keep going. Now's the time to really dig in. So let's go forward and do it. I love you all very much and I thank you for your time. And we'll continue on. So let's go before Him in prayer. Father, we do love You and we thank You for Your mercy. We thank You for Your Word. Though there are questions we have, though we see what seem to be contradictions, but they're not. Because we do read in Ephesians 1 that You work all things according to the counsel of Your own will. And we thank You that You have called us out of darkness into Your marvelous light. And we praise your holy name, Lord, and we thank you for the time that we have had this weekend, the weather you've given us, the cooling down of the period we've had from the heat, Lord, and for this celebration of our independence as a country and that we are a country that was once founded upon biblical principle and Christian ideas and our Judeo-Christian influence and traditions. And I pray, Lord, that you will help us to remember what those are and that you will return us back to you. Shine your face upon us, Lord, and we will be saved. And we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.