Good morning. My name is John Leland. I was born on May 14, 1754 in Grafton, Massachusetts, about 40 miles outside of Boston. One month after my 20th birthday, I repented of my sin, gloriously saved. Immediately, I began preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Two years later, I and my young wife, Sarah Divine, moved to Virginia And there I pastored the Mount Pony Baptist Church in Culpeper County. But two years later, in the providence of God, He would have me to move to the adjoining county of Orange, for God wanted me to become acquainted with the wealthiest landowner in the county, a family named Madison. While I was in Virginia, I spent 14 of the most remarkable years of my life I, as a Baptist pastor, became acquainted with many of the men who you call the founding fathers of this great nation of ours. I knew George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, George Mason, James Madison, and others of those notable Virginians who helped to establish this great nation of ours. But I also knew another group of men who might consider greater in the sight of God than those that I just mentioned. For I knew the Baptist pastors of Virginia, those men who gave this nation of ours religious liberty, what we called liberty of conscience. I knew John Weatherford. John Weatherford was arrested in the year of our Lord, 1773. and imprisoned for five months in the Chesterfield County Jail. And what was his crime? It was preaching and publishing the Holy Gospel without a license first obtained. You see, in colonial Virginia, as it was in most of the colonies, we had a state church. Ours was the Anglican Church. And one could not preach the Gospel unless he were licensed by the state. But we as Baptist pastors, We believe that our authority to preach, that our ordination to preach, that our license to preach didn't come from a man, but that it came from God Himself, and so preach we did. History has revealed to you that there were 42 Baptist pastors who were arrested and imprisoned in Virginia jailhouses for the crime of preaching without a license. On the Lord's Day, my friend being imprisoned, couldn't go to his congregation. So his congregation came to him, and he preached to them through the bars of the jailhouse window. There were those who did not like his preaching, though. Usually on the Lord's Day, as he preached, there was one man standing in the congregation with a drum in his hand. It was usually the town drunk sent there by the preacher of the established Anglican church, and he would beat on that drum during the preaching of God's Word. There would also, quite frequently, be a man on horseback, and he would gallop quickly in and among the congregation during the preaching of God's Word to frighten and disperse the people. But then on one occasion, when my preacher friend was preaching through the bars of the jailhouse window there in Chesterfield County, on that one Lord's Day, one wicked man came up close, hiding beneath the window, and when my friend filled with emotion and compassion, reached his arms through the grates of the jailhouse window while preaching the Word of God. That wicked one reached up and slashed at his hands and wrists and arms with a knife, drawing blood when they folded John Weatherford's hands in death." At the age of 69, or at the age of 93, after preaching the Gospel for 69 years, they noticed those white scars on his hands and wrists and arms. which he received from preaching so many years earlier. There was an up-and-coming attorney in those days who heard of the plight of Preacher Weatherford, came to his defense, argued his case in court, lost the case, but then paid his fine of five pounds in gold. And Weatherford did not know who paid his fine until 20 years later. That up-and-coming attorney was Patrick Henry. You see, when Patrick Henry said, give me liberty or give me death, he meant religious liberty as well. He defended many Baptist pastors who were arrested and imprisoned in Virginia jailhouses. I also knew John Waller, another preacher friend of mine. Waller was such a wicked man, before his conversion they called him Swearing Jack. He was one who would love to go to Baptist meeting houses for the purpose of disrupting the service. He would stand in the shadows of the outdoor meetings and throw apples at the preacher. He would love to find a hornet's nest. And in the evening when they went back to their hive, he would cut its branch carefully from the trunk, take it to the church house, and then cast it in among the worshipers. But his favorite trick, he later wrote, was to find a corn snake and to hide it in a bag under his coat. And then he would enter the church house. And then during the preaching of God's Word, He would delight in the squeals and the screeches and the screams of the girls and the women and the shouts of the men as He would bring out that serpent and torment them during the preaching of God's Word. But while He was disrupting Baptist meetinghouses, He later wrote that He was under conviction for eight months. And at God's appointed time, He became a preacher, a Christian, a preacher. A fearless preacher was He. In fact, He was jailed more than any of us. On four occasions, John Waller was jailed for preaching without a license. Once, in the year of our Lord, 1771, while he was conducting a service in Caroline County, in walked the sheriff and the preacher of the established Anglican Church and a few others. They came to the front. Waller was leading in a hymn. A whip in the hand of the clergyman slashed across the pages of the hymnal. Waller continued to sing. At the conclusion of his song, he closed his book. And when he opened his mouth in prayer to God, the preacher of the established Anglican Church thrust the butt end of a whip into his mouth to silence him. And the sheriff of Caroline County and the others dragged him to the street where the sheriff gave him 20 lashes with a horse whip. And what was his crime? It was preaching and publishing the Holy Gospel without a license first obtained. After his beating, when commanded not to teach and to preach in Jesus' name, he stood to his feet, did what the apostles did in the book of Acts when commanded not to teach and preach in Jesus' name. He stumbled back into the church house, opened his Bible, and he preached his message. I also knew James Ireland. Another preacher friend of mine. Ireland was a large man, 19 pounds less of 300. But he was arrested and imprisoned in Culpeper County. His crime? Yes, preaching without a license. Imprisoned on the Lord's Day, he couldn't go to his congregation. So his congregation came to him as well. As they traveled those dusty, dirty roads, they sang that grand old Baptist hymn. As we journey, let us sing. Praises to our heavenly King! They came and assembled themselves, and He preached to them also through the grates of the jailhouse window. There were those who did not like His preaching as well. One night, two men came with five pounds of gunpowder, placed it under the cell window, tried to blow them up. It didn't work. He preached again. On another occasion, men came with a great pile of brush, and they brought Indian pepper. And they started a fire and they fanned the flames and the smoke in the cell window to try to suffocate him. It didn't work. He preached again. Even the jailer would try to discourage my friend by casting drunken rowdies in the same cell with him. But he would preach the next Lord's Day with all the more fervor and conviction. On one Sunday morning, while he was preaching through the bars of the jailhouse window there in Culpeper County, degraded men on the outside, carried a table up close, stood on it, and Ireland later wrote, they made their water in my face. They urinated in the face of God's preacher. I also knew David Barrow, another preacher friend of mine. He was baptizing in the river, as was the practice in our day, when he noticed twenty ruffians coming at him from the other shore. And they grabbed a hold of him and they cast him under the water and they said, Now do you believe? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Well, my preacher friend did not lose his sense of humor because when he came up out of the water, he said, Yes, I believe. You're about to drown me. But they didn't. It wasn't a popular thing to be a Baptist, nor a Baptist preacher in colonial Virginia. We were the sect everywhere evil spoken of. But It was because of the preaching of God's Word by these fearless Baptist pastors that men began to be interested in a new idea, and that being religious liberty. It was also because of the preaching of God's Word that men were introduced to another new concept, and that being a limited government. Doesn't the Bible say, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And it was because of the preaching of God's word by these fearless Baptist pastors and a few others that men began to be interested in these new ideas of a limited government and religious liberty. When did this idea of religious liberty begin? I believe it began way back in the late 1300s with a man by the name of John Wycliffe, who translated the Scriptures into the language of the people so that those who could read could read it for themselves. They could hear it preached in their own tongue. And in hearing the Word of God and reading it, they desired more liberty. Wycliffe was a teacher at Oxford University. He's called the Morning Star of the Reformation. But then this idea of religious liberty took root Over in Germany, it was on October 31, 1517, that Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, and a great movement began which swept Europe called the Reformation. And once again, this precious book, the Word of God, getting into the hands of the common man. He was reading it. Those who could read it were hearing it preached in his own tongue. And in hearing the Word of God and reading it, he desired more and greater liberty. Back in Old England in 1611, the King James Version of the Bible was completed, and once again the Word of God in the hands of the common man, reading it, and he desired more and greater liberty. I submit to you that the freest peoples ever on God's earth have been Bible-reading people. There was one in Old England that took this idea of religious liberty seriously. One John Boynion was arrested during the 1660s and imprisoned for 12 years in the Bedford City Jail in what was his crime? Preaching without a license. While imprisoned, he wrote a book. Perhaps you've heard of Pilgrim's Progress. It's been translated into over 200 languages to this day. But finally, This idea of religious liberty washed ashore over here in America in 1620 with the coming of a people we call the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims came seeking religious liberty. You see, there was no religious liberty in England. They had a state church there, the Anglican church. They went to Holland for a while, but they found that there was a state church there as well. Back to England they went, and finally they came to America seeking religious liberty. The Puritans after came seeking religious liberty. But it was only 16 years after the pilgrims arrived that one named Roger Williams had to flee Salem, Massachusetts for his life. Why? He was a Baptist. He believed differently than they. He fled down to the area that's now Rhode Island, founded Providence Plantation, and in his colony, he allowed religious liberty to all. And then he founded what they claimed to be the first Baptist church in America. Oh, by 1659, just 39 years after the Pilgrims arrived, They were hanging Quakers in Massachusetts. So much for religious liberty. Oh, a hundred years after the pilgrims arrived, America was a very wicked land. There was fighting and gambling and drunkenness and immorality. Chances were if a young lady went to get married, she was already with child. Young people in those days would practice something called night walking. Drinking, immorality, wicked things. It was during the 1720s that Benjamin Franklin, as a young man, decided not to go into the ministry. Why? He wrote that he saw no hope for Christianity. You see, a hundred years after the pilgrims arrived, most of the colonies had established state churches. And when you have a state church, you have more state and less church. But during the 1720s, when Benjamin Franklin was giving up on Christianity, a young Dutch Reformed preacher by the name of Theodore Friedlinghausen stepped off the ship in New York Harbor and began preaching in northern New Jersey, hard sermons on specific sin. He preached repentance. He preached salvation. He preached church discipline. By the way, he started the prayer meeting service. And a great movement began, which swept America, called the Great Awakening. Friedlinghausen influenced Gilbert Tennant to preach. one of our early evangelists in these colonies of ours. By the way, his father started the old Log College of New Jersey, made out of logs. It's now Princeton University. But Gilbert Tennant preached a famous sermon in those days called, The Dangers of an Unconverted Ministry. You see, the churches were full of members that didn't even know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. The Great Awakening took root up in New England. It was in 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut that Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon called, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. But finally a powerful preacher came from England, one whose voice it was said could be heard a mile away when he preached the Word of God. It was George Whitefield who came to America making seven trips here between the years about 1740 and 1770 when he died here, and he read the Great Awakening all up and down the eastern seaboard. Not too many people know this, but on more than one occasion, George Whitefield spent the night in the home of Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. And Franklin said, just as King Agrippus said to the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 26, Thou persuadest me to be a Christian." But there's no record that he was ever born again. But he was influenced by the preaching of God's Word, as were so many of our founding fathers. A man would learn to read in colonial America. Why? Because he felt it was his duty to read the Bible. The New England Primer One of our early textbooks to teach reading in these 13 colonies of ours, the 1763 edition, taught the ABCs like this. A. In Adam's fall, we sinned all. B. Heaven defined the Bible mind. C. Christ crucified, for sinners died, and all the way through Z, equating a letter of the alphabet, men had a knowledge and understanding of God's word in colonial America. There was a study done of 10,000 of the personal correspondents of our Founding Fathers. And that study revealed that when they quoted from another source in their very own personal letters, that 34% of the time they quoted directly from the Word of God. Even Benjamin Franklin, that wicked man that he was, was influenced by the Scriptures. Years later at the convention in Philadelphia, When tempers flared and they couldn't get together to write that document called a Constitution, it was old Benjamin Franklin who said, gentlemen, if God's eye is on a sparrow that falls from heaven, certainly his eye is on a nation that arises. Let us pray. And pray they did. And they gave us a Constitution. On June the 12th, 1776. Just a few weeks before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, there was a very important bill that was approved in Virginia. It was called the Virginia Declaration of Rights. It consisted of 18 points, and one of those points gave us a measure of religious liberty in Virginia. No longer then were we fearful of being persecuted for preaching without a license. But the state church was still considered the state church. They still took our tax dollars from us to pay the preacher's salary of the Anglican church. They made fun of our children, calling them illegitimate because they didn't recognize our marriages. But at least we had a measure of religious liberty in Virginia. The author of that bill, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, was a friend of the Baptist whose name was George Mason. You ought to become acquainted with Mr. Mason. He was a friend of your Baptist forefathers. Many of you, perhaps, have been to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. Well, the next plantation south of that is called Belvoir. It was the home of Lord Fairfax, who England during the Revolutionary War. It's now Fort Belvoir. Perhaps some of your parents spent some time there in the military. But the next plantation south of that is called Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason. You ought to stop by and pay Mr. Mason a visit sometime. He was a friend of your Baptist forefathers, and his home is open to the public. A few years later, another friend of the Baptist submitted another bill that would have totally disestablished the Anglican Church in Virginia. But not too many people paid attention to Mr. Thomas Jefferson's bill. Well, why? Well, by then there was a war going on for our independence from England. But when the war concluded in 1781 and the peace was signed in 1783, once again the debate over religious liberty took forefront in Virginia. Tom Jefferson's bill was resurrected, and I'm very pleased to say that it was on January the 19th, 1786, that Tom Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Liberty was finally approved. And that totally disestablished the Anglican Church in Virginia. And we finally had complete religious liberty, 150 years after religious liberty was granted in the colony of Rhode Island. The very next year, though, there was a meeting called for in Philadelphia. Delegates assembled from all of the colonies except Rhode Island. Why? to amend the Articles of Confederation, which were not very successful in governing these newly independent colonies. They found that it was hopeless to amend the Articles, and so they put them aside, and they wrote a new system of government called a Republic, and a new document called a Constitution. But in that new Constitution, there was not one statement in it about religious liberty. What do you think we Baptists in Virginia thought of our new Constitution? Here we had just struggled for decades to win religious liberty? Were we about to put ourselves under a federal Constitution that did not have any statement in it about religious liberty? No! I, as a Baptist pastor, wrote a list of ten objections to the Constitution, and I published them. This was back in the time of our nation's history, when America was bitterly divided over the Constitution. There were those who were for the Constitution called Federalists, and those who were against the Constitution were called Anti-Federalists, and we took the side of the Anti-Federalists. I'll not have you to believe that everyone who attended that meeting in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 approved of the Constitution. Of the 55 men who assembled together, only 39 signed it. Our good friend George Mason of Virginia was there. He angrily refused to sign the Constitution, saying he'd sooner cut off his right arm than put it to that document. Why? Because it had no statement about religious liberty. It had no statement about individual rights. And thirdly, he feared that the federal courts would become too powerful. A wise man indeed. In fact, Tom Jefferson called George Mason the wisest mind of the age. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts refused to sign the Constitution. He later became Vice President of the United States of America. Edmund Randolph of Virginia refused to sign the Constitution. He later became Attorney General of the United States of America. Samuel Chase and Luther Martin of Maryland grew weary of the Convention and opposed the Constitution and went home early. Samuel Adams and John Hancock, this same John Hancock who signed the Declaration of Independence in such large script that the King of England could read it without his spectacles, they refused to support the Constitution. Richard Henry Lee of the famous Lee family of Virginia, This same Richard Henry Lee, who years earlier at the Continental Congress made the motion that these colonies ought to be free and independent of England, he refused to support the Constitution. Patrick Henry didn't even attend the convention. He said that he smelt a rat. But a majority of the delegates approved of it. And so it was sent to the several colonies for its ratification or rejection. The Constitution was quickly approved by the colony of Delaware. They now have on their tags the first state. A few other colonies approved of it, but then the Constitution was sent to the colony of Rhode Island, where they had now been enjoying religious liberty for 151 years. In Rhode Island, they decided to have a freeholders election, allowing all of its citizens the right to vote yea or nay on the Constitution. When the ballots were counted, Rhode Island rejected the Constitution by a vote of more than 10 to 1. The Constitution was sent to your colony here of North Carolina, where they decided to have a convention, where they would elect delegates from around the colony to meet at the Capitol side the fate of the Constitution. Nearly 300 delegates were elected. They debated the Constitution. They voted. But it was years earlier, in 1755, that a Baptist pastor by the name of Shubel Stearns left Hampshire County, Virginia, traveled down to the area that's now near Asheboro, and founded the first Baptist church in the colony, the Sandy Creek Baptist Church, with just a handful of members. During the next 14 years before he died, that church grew to 606 members. And during those years, it ordained and sent out 120 Baptist pastors who established churches all over the Carolinas. When the delegates voted in North Carolina, those favoring the Constitution were 86. Those opposing it were 186. The Constitution was rejected. The Constitution went to the colony of South Carolina, where the call went out in the legislative body even to call a constitutional convention. General Sumpter, the Revolutionary War hero, opposed the Constitution. There's now a fort by the name of Sumpter, who also had a prominent place in American history. But in South Carolina, the legislative body voted 76 to 75 to have a constitutional convention where the Constitution was finally approved. The Constitution was sent to the colony of Pennsylvania, where in convention it was approved by a vote of 46 to 23. The Constitution went to the colony of Massachusetts, where they opposed it vigorously up there. And in convention, the Constitution was approved by a vote of 186 yes to 168 no. The Constitution was sent to the colony of New York, where they had a very heated political debate. Sir John Jay and Alexander Hamilton were the leading Federalists, and the Anti-Federalists were led by Governor George Clinton. And in New York, the Constitution was narrowly approved. The vote was 30 yes to 27 no. But all eyes were turned to Virginia. What would Virginia do with the Constitution? Virginia was the largest colony. Virginia was the wealthiest colony. Virginia was the most influential colony. Virginia was the largest populated colony. What would Virginia do with the Constitution? In Virginia, we decided to have a convention as well, where we would elect delegates from around the colony to meet in Richmond during the month of June, 1788, to decide the fate of the Constitution. I, John Leland, was running as an anti-Federalist delegate in Orange County, Virginia. My opponent, the Federalist, was James Madison. James Madison was in Philadelphia when he received a letter from his father that said, James, you ought to come home now. You're about to lose the election for your own constitution in this district. His own constitution? Well, yes. James Madison's called the father of the U.S. Constitution. His ideas were responsible for much of it. He was one of the driving engines behind the force of the convention there in Philadelphia. He hurried home. Before he did, though, he confided to a friend that if John Leland opposes me, then I am beaten. He hurried home. He got as far as Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to turn west to go to his home in Orange County. While in Fredericksburg, he was handed a letter from a Captain Joseph Spencer. who was also a Baptist pastor. And in that letter, Captain Spencer said, Mr. Madison, in so much as the Reverend Leland's home is on your way home, I suggest that you stop by and spend a few hours in his company, which he did. He came to my home, knocked on the door. Sally Devine told him I wasn't there, but that I was in my praying place. And James Madison found me in an oak grove, and it was under a huge oak tree that God used a 34-year-old Baptist pastor to convince a reluctant James Madison that amendments were needed to the Constitution, most specifically a religious liberty amendment before the Baptist would support him and the Constitution in the coming election. I had that promise from James Madison. I withdrew from the race and supported him. There is now a roadside park in Orange County, Virginia at that site called the Leland Madison Memorial Park. The election was held in our district. A Colonel Barber was on the ballot. He was an anti-federalist. He received 55 votes in our district. A Mr. Gordon was on the ballot as well. There's now a Gordonsville in Orange County, Virginia. He received a few under 100 votes. And James Madison was elected, with my help, only receiving a few over 100 votes. The delegates assembled in the month of June, 1788, in Richmond to decide the fate of the Constitution. They came from all over the colony, they did. By the way, George Washington wasn't there. He was the leading Federalist of the land, but he decided not to attend. Tom Jefferson wasn't there either. At least he approved of the Constitution, but he was minister to France. The whole weight of defending the Constitution fell upon the shoulders of a 37-year-old James Madison, who, by the way, graduated from what is now Princeton University in 1771, having studied as his major course, theology, taught by the wise and respected Dr. Witherspoon. As a young man, James Madison wanted to attend the College of William and Mary in Virginia, where his uncle was president. But his parents said, no, that place has the reputation of being a party school. Besides, we want you to receive a proper theological education, which he did. James Madison's theological education didn't hinder him from even being president of the United States. They assembled from all over Virginia, they did, to debate the fate of the Constitution. On one occasion, One inconsequential detractor dared to suggest to the Mr. George Mason, Sir, the public notices your vehement opposition to the Constitution and concludes that because of your age you have lost your wits. George Mason was only 64 years old at the time, but he replied by saying, Sir, if you had lost your wits, the public wouldn't notice. Debate the Constitution they did. On one occasion, a very popular Patrick Henry delivered a speech lasting more than seven hours in which he listed all of his objections to the Constitution, and every one of them were refuted by the man with a theological education. At the end of June, the delegates voted. Those opposing the Constitution were 79. Those favoring it were 87. The Constitution was approved in Virginia. with the promise of a Bill of Rights. The very next year, because the Constitution had been ratified by a majority of the colonies, there had to be another election. It was the law of the land. And James Madison was running in that election to fulfill his promise that he made to me and the Baptist, that he would work diligently for a religious liberty amendment to the Constitution. I went out and campaigned for my friend James Madison. We made quite a pair as we traveled together. I was well over six feet tall. In fact, they called me the mammoth preacher. Did you know that there were some tall men in colonial Virginia? Did you know that George Washington was about six feet four inches? Tom Jefferson was about six feet three inches. Have you heard of Ethan Allen? Not the furniture store ladies. But Ethan Allen of the Green Mountain Boys, a giant of a man was he, about 6 feet 8 inches and a hard cursing one as well. But we made quite a pair as we traveled together, I being well over 6 feet tall and James Madison becoming our shortest president. He was only 5 feet 4 inches and weighed 120 pounds. Rumors had circulated that Madison was no longer a friend of religious liberty. In fact, the governor at that time, Patrick Henry, who was an anti-Federalist, practiced gerrymandering. He drew the election district to include as many Baptists in it as he could to see the Federalist Madison defeated. I went out and campaigned for my friend James Madison. As I say, rumors had circulated that Madison was no longer a friend of religious liberty. I had to convince a preacher friend of mine, George Eve, of the Blue Run Baptist Church that his congregation needed to support James Madison. That election was held for the House of Representatives. James Madison received 1,308 votes. His opponent, the Anti-Federalist, received 972. A fairly close election. Perhaps you've heard of his opponent. the Anti-Federalist James Monroe. He was elected to Congress. Over 200 amendments were considered to the Constitution. They were debated in the House, the Senate, the Senate, and the House. Finally, 12 amendments were approved by Congress, which were sent to the several states for their ratification or rejection. And I'm very pleased to say that Virginia became the last state necessary to approve ten of those amendments which took place on December the 15th, 1791. And that was called our Bill of Rights. And James Madison kept his promise. For the very first amendment, the very first part of the first amendment states, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Finally, a religious liberty statement in our federal Constitution. That same year, I moved back to Massachusetts. Why? To work against the established congregational church in that colony. You see, the First Amendment didn't say anything about disestablishing any of the state churches. It just said that there wouldn't be any federal interference in religion. When I went back to Massachusetts, my friend John Adams told me, you'd sooner change the solar system than disestablish the church in Massachusetts. But I worked on it, and I lived to see the day 42 years later. It wasn't until 1833 that Massachusetts became the last state to disestablish its state church, and we finally then had complete religious liberty throughout all of America, finally. I conclude with this story. During the election of 1800, my old friend Tom Jefferson was running for President of the United States. I was the only clergyman in the western part of the state of Massachusetts. I lived in Cheshire, near Adams, Massachusetts. pastoring the First Baptist Church there. But I supported Jefferson. The ballots were counted in our state, but Jefferson lost because of the influence of Boston. But he won the election that year in the House of Representatives. If you remember your history correctly, there were four candidates running, and the decision had to be made by the House of Representatives. And Mr. Jefferson was now President of the United States. I and my congregation, being mostly dairy farmers, and Tom Jefferson being a fond lover of cheese, we decided to make a great cheese in honor of our new president. We milked 950 cows, combined the milk, and made a great cheese in honor of our new president. In fact, there's a monument to that great cheese located next to the post office in Cheshire, Massachusetts. By the way, folks, that is the original big cheese. But I decided to accompany the great cheese to Washington, D.C. We put it on oxcart and shipped it over the Berkshire Mountains to Albany. Their place on the barge floated down the Hudson River to the Atlantic Ocean, around the Delmarva Peninsula, into the Chesapeake Bay and up the Potomac River to the new capital city of Washington. Everywhere that great cheese went, it gathered great crowds. and I had the opportunity of preaching to those people the gospel of Jesus Christ. At one port, a very wealthy merchant offered to purchase the cheese, but I wouldn't sell it. It was a gift to Tom Jefferson. When we arrived in Washington, I was greeted at the dock by my old friend, Tom Jefferson. He was delighted to see the cheese. In fact, we are told that that cheese graced White House dinners for the next three years. before it was cut into pieces and thrown in the Potomac River. But at the invitation of Tom Jefferson, I had the opportunity of preaching in the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States of America. And that invitation coming from one who supposedly said there ought to be a wall of separation between church and state? Nonsense! Jefferson didn't believe that. He did believe that the state ought to keep themselves out of the affairs of the church. But he didn't believe that religion or the church ought not to influence society or government. But my dear old friend, Tom Jefferson, my dear old friend, I won't see in heaven one day. Oh yes, Tom Jefferson read the Bible. But did you know that he cut out parts of it that he didn't believe in? He didn't believe in the miracles of Christ. He didn't accept Christ's deity. In fact, he called the book of the Revelation the writings of a maniac. But he read the Bible. Tom Jefferson also used to love to hear the Baptist pastors preach. We preached with such fervor and conviction. He heard the plan of salvation presented. But there's no record at all that he was ever born again. If he would have been, we would have written about it in our very own personal letters. But there's no record at all. Oh yes, Tom Jefferson had a sister who was a Baptist. Tom Jefferson even believed in religious liberty. In fact, before he died, he ordered that there be three things written on his tombstone. One, author of the Declaration of Independence. Two, author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Liberty. He called the struggle for religious liberty the severest political contest of his entire life. And the third thing written on his tombstone is founder of the University of Virginia, where he allowed the Word of God to be studied and taught. But my dear old friend, Tom Jefferson, I'll not see in heaven one day. Oh, young people here at Ambassador Baptist College, there are people all over America who read the Bible, They might have heard a Baptist pastor preach. They even might have had a sister or a relative who's a Christian. They may even believe in religious liberty and on occasion will write a letter to an elected official. But have they ever accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior? The majority have not. You have a great opportunity to reach even church people in America with the gospel of Jesus Christ. One other thing I leave with you, and that is during this time in America's history, there were not that many Baptists in all of the colonies, not compared to the other population. Oh, up in New England, there were about 500,000 Congregationalists. South of the Mason-Dixon line, there were about 500,000 Anglicans. There were about 400,000 Presbyterians, mostly on the frontier. There were about 200,000 German and Scandinavian Lutherans. And after that, just a handful of Quakers and Jews and Catholics and Methodists, and only about 10,000 Baptists or 20,000 Baptists in all of America. Even though your numbers may be small, as we consider the rest of the population in America this day, I trust that you will stand firm for this precious jewel of religious liberty and protect it. Stand firm for the Baptist faith. Be proud that your heritage is Baptist. Stand tall, raise the flag high, and never forsake the heritage that you have.