Transcript

Stephen McDowell looks at some miracles during the American Revolution

>> Stephen McDowell: Welcome to America's Providential History Podcast, where we talk about the real story of America and explore the hand of God in our history. Now, here's your host, Stephen McDowell. Hello. Glad you're joining us for this edition of America's Providential History Podcast. Today we will be looking at some more miracles during the American Revolution. Last week, we began to, look at how God's hand was involved in the American Revolution. God supernaturally moved on the behalf of the colonists in order to support the cause of American, liberty. Now, during the first two years of the war for independence, the Americans had been had seen a few successes, but many defeats. But in both successes and defeats, God performed miracles. Last week we mentioned how in the defeat at Long island and the miraculous retreat from Long Island, God was at work using the weather and other events to assure that Washington's army was not captured and the war ended. But then we also saw how God moved in the victory at Trenton with Washington's secret crossing of the Delaware River. So as you, as we go into the summer of 1777, prospects of any more successful battles look grim. With little hope of overall victory in the war. By September, the army had been driven back out of New York, out of New Jersey, and had even lost the the strategic Fort Tigot and Daroga in upstate New York. On September 11, Washington was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine in Delaware. And here The Americans had 200 soldiers killed, 500 wounded, and 400 captured. Ten days later in Pennsylvania, there was another 300 soldiers killed or wounded and 100 captured at the Paoli massacre. The American army was suffering from fatigue due to long marches, little food, lack of clothing and lack of other supplies. In a few months, when they marched into Valley Forge for winter quarters, Washington would write that being without shoes, their marching through frost and snow might be traced by the blood from their feet. The British not only ran the army out of New York and New Jersey, but forced the Congress to flee Philadelphia. They captured that city on September 26. One delegate, John Adams, wrote, the prospect is chilling on every side. Gloomy, dark, melancholy and dispiriting. Only 20 members of Congress remained together, gathering one day in York, Pennsylvania, to consider whether there was any hope of success and to see if they should even continue the struggle for liberty. Now, one of the men who was present at the Congress was Samuel Adams. He's known as the father of the American Revolution because he had been working for many, many years for the cause of liberty, and he was a delegate from Massachusetts. now he earned that Title father of the American revolution, for his bold guidance of Massachusetts in resisting the tyrannical action of England from before the time of the stamp act in 1765. And so the king had been well aware of Adam's leadership and what the king thought was a rebellion. He even placed a large bounty on his head and sent troops to capture him. Samuel suffered much in the cause of liberty, as so many of the founders and signers of the declaration did. He was driven from his home, which was vandalized so badly by British troops, he couldn't even live in it. He was separated long periods of time from his family. Many of his friends were killed. And if America lost the war, he would face the same fate as them. Now, earlier in the war, British officer had offered Adams immunity and the chance to make peace with the king of England if he would only recant his views. And his reply shows his faith. He said, sir, I trust I have, long since made my peace with the king of kings. No personal consideration shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of my country. Now, Adam's faith in God and his faith in the cause of liberty were greatly needed that day in late September 1777. Now, there they were. Remember, it was the remnants of the congress, the continental congress, that were forced to flee Philadelphia. They were in York, Pennsylvania. Adams was one of those trying to rally the troops that there is hope, that all is not despair. And so he spoke to them, and he said, gentlemen, your spirits appear oppressed with the weight of the public calamities. Your sadness of countenance reveals your disquietude. A, patriot may grieve at the distress of his country, but he will never despair of the commonwealth. Our affairs, it is said, are desperate. If this be our language, they are indeed. If we wear long faces, long faces will become fashionable. The eyes of the people are upon us. The tone of their feelings is regulated by ours. If we despond, public confidence is destroyed. The people will no longer yield their support to a hopeless contest, and American liberty is no more. But we are not driven to such narrow straits. Though fortune has been unpropitious, our condition is not desperate. Our burdens, though grievous, can be borne. Our losses, though great, can be retrieved through the darkness which shrouds our prospects. The ark of safety is visible. Despondency becomes not the dignity of our cause, nor the character of those who are its supporters. Here we see the encouragement of one man, One man of faith. One man who stands up and believes can have a great influence and he's speaking to these delegates, encouraging them. He goes on to say, let us awaken then and events a different spirit, a spirit that shall inspire the people with confidence in themselves and in us. A spirit that will encourage them to persevere in this glorious struggle until their rights and liberty shall be established on a rock. We have proclaimed to the world our determination to die free men rather than to live slave. We have appealed to heaven for the justice of our cause, and in heaven have we placed our trust. Numerous have been the manifestations of God's providence in sustaining us in the gloomy period of adversity we have had. And now he's quoting the Scripture. We have had our cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. We have been reduced to distress, and the arm of omnipotence has raised us up. Let us still rely in humble confidence on him who is mighty to save. Good tidings will soon arrive. We shall never be abandoned by heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection. And so Adams declared, good tidings will soon arrive in his address to encourage those members of the Continental Congress. And that statement was certainly prophetic. For is not long after this that one of the most significant battles in history took place. One military historian calls it one of the seven most important battles of all time. Because on October 17, 1777, British General John Burgoyne was defeated by colonial forces under the command of Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York. And when General Washington heard of it, he called it a signal stroke of Providence. And as Sam Adams had mentioned in his speech to encourage the Continental Congress, the arm of omnipotence, was evident in the victory prior to Burgoyne's surrender. It was intended that the British General Howe marched north to join Burgoyne's 11,000 men at Saratoga. But in haste to leave London for a holiday, Lord north forgot to sign the dispatch to General Howe to telling him to go join Burgoyne. And that dispatch was pigeonholed and not found until years later in the archives of the British Army. So this inadvertence, plus the fact that contrary winds kept British reinforcements delayed at sea for three months, totally altered the outcome of Saratoga in favor of America. Now, you might ask, well, why was this battle so significant? Why would that gentleman call it one of the seven most important battles of all time? That's because this victory turned the tide of the war. Now, it brought some military booty, 27 pieces of artillery, and thousands of small arms and ammunition. But more importantly, it brought great encouragement to the nation. After receiving details of the victory, the president of the Congress, Henry Lawrence, wrote, the glorious intelligence is now extending from city to city, diffusing joy in the heart of every loyal American. But of the greatest importance and, the reason it was one of the seven most important battles of all time was that France decided to become an ally of America because now they thought, well, these Americans might win this conflict. They might defeat our longtime arch enemy, England. And so it might be favorable for us to enter into the war to assist the, Americans because France was always looking at a way to get, at the English. So France would later send much needed money and troops and especially much needed navy, which secured the ultimate victory for the new United States. Well, Samuel Adams was thrilled with these good tidings which were brought about by God's providence. God miraculously moved in these events. Why?

Sam Adams supposed Congress would recommend a day of thanksgiving during American Revolution

Because he was supporting the cause of American liberty. Sam Adams wrote to Samuel Savage in Massachusetts, Our sincere acknowledgments of gratitude are due to the supreme disposer of all events. I suppose Congress will recommend that a day be set apart throughout the United States for solemn thanksgiving. Now, he supposed that because the Congress had been doing that and did it throughout the American Revolution. During the American Revolution, from 1775 to 1783, the Congress proclaimed at least 15 days of prayer and fasting, or prayer and thanksgiving. And as we've covered in a, in a previous America's Providential History podcast, that wasn't unusual because the states and colonies had been doing that for generations and generations, proclaiming days. In fact, they proclaimed from 1620 to 1813 just a new England government's civil governments proclaimed over 1/3 days of prayer and fasting and prayer and thanksgiving. So that's why Adams supposed Congress would recommend such a day, because they had done it before, they will do it after this. And they did recommend such a day, adopting on November 1st a resolution drafted by a committee of three, which included Sam Adams proclaiming, Thursday, December 18th is a day of thanksgiving to God. So this day for solemn thanksgiving and praise was set aside so that, and I'm going to read to you some of this proclamation for a day of thanksgiving to show you the heart of these founders of America, this Continental Congress, these men who were the leaders in this cause of American independence, that they relied upon God, they put their trust in God, as we mentioned last podcast last week, how in God we trust is our official national motto. And this proclamation and the proclamations they issued throughout the war, throughout their history, colonial times, and the early generations after we became a nation. But in that proclamation, they set aside a day so that with one heart and one voice, the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor. And that together with their sincere acknowledgments of kind offerings, they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favor in their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God through the merits of Jesus Christ mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance. Just to pause here. This, by the way. You know, some people today say our founders were a bunch of deists, that they just used general religious terminology. They weren't really true genuine believers in the Christian faith. But here we see in their official proclamation, not only they mention Jesus Christ, but they appeal to the merits of Jesus Christ for his atoning work to forgive and blot out their sins. They recognize the work of Christ coming into the earth to shed his blood to purchase mankind so that we might be restored to our relationship to God and restored to the capacity to accomplish the mission he created, man in the beginning. So this is very specific, not just Christian terminology, but Christian understanding. So through the merits of Jesus Christ, they asked that God would forgive and blot their sins out of remembrance. Continuing going to quote from their proclamation that it may please him graciously to afford his blessing on the governments of these states respectively, and prosper the public counsels of the whole, to inspire our commanders, both by land and sea and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments under the providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all blessings, independence and peace. Again we see that they understood the providence of God. They spoke of the providence of God, how God moves to accomplish his plan and purpose for man. Hence the name of this podcast, America's Providential History. Providence. Providential is a term the founders used all of the time. But they understood its theological meaning that God super God's superintending care over his creation, directing events of history to accomplish his purpose. And so they recognized under the providence of Almighty God to secure for these United States the greatest of blessings, independence and peace. Continuing to quote from the proclamation that it may please him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the labor of the husbandman, that our land may yield its increase. So they're asking to pray and for God's blessing on our business, our economic affairs, because God is concerned with economic affairs and business. Then they go on and say, and we need to ask for God's blessing to take schools and seminaries of education so necessary for cultivating the principles of true religion, virtue and piety under his nurturing hand. And so next they prayed for education because, the purpose of education, as we've touched on in past podcasts, and we'll look at more in the future, is to transmit truth. Truth of who God is and what God is, is doing, truth that is in the scripture and revealed in God's creation. So they prayed that it's very important that we need to educate people for liberty, to be able to live in liberty. That's why they started schools and colleges to begin with. And then under his nurturing hand and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth in righteousness, peace and joy, and the Holy Ghost. So finally they prayed that the kingdom of God might advance. The kingdom of God is righteousness, it is peace, it is joy and the spirit of God as Paul defines it in Romans. You can see these people were very biblically minded individuals, understanding scripture, quoting many scriptures in this proclamation, recognizing the atoning work of Christ Jesus, the providence of God, and, and as you go and read many of these proclamations they issued over the years, you will see that these were not deists who were religious individuals. These were thoroughly biblically minded Christian individuals, individuals who during this great struggle for independence, relied upon God. They cried out to God individually, seeking God and corporately as well, acknowledging God's hand and moving supernaturally in events like we see here, and, crying out to him for his aid and assistance, as well. And so God miraculously moved during the American Revolution in all kinds of events in difficult times. And there were many difficult times in victories and God gave them many victories. And in the future, next podcast, future podcast, we will continue to take a look at some of the ways that God intervened. Remember George Washington wrote in 1778, looking back over the first three years of the war, he says that any man who does not recognize the hand of Providence in all these events is worse than an infidel that, that lacks faith and more than wicked. So we need to look at and know and understand and be taught God's hand in history. The reason most people, Americans today and most academics today, don't recognize the hand of Providence because they've never been taught it. They haven't read these proclamations, they haven't understood the heart and life of Men like Samuel Adams and George Washington and, and these leaders in our struggle for independence. That's why it's important that we learn this. That's why, I'm glad that you're joining us and listen to these America's Providential History podcasts, because in that way, when we learn the truth about history, we will acknowledge God, give thanks to God, cry out to God, and do what our national motto says. We'll put our trust in him personally, but we'll lead our family into that as well. And then we will lead our nation into that, because we need God's care, God's mercy, God's hand, just as it was expressed here in this proclamation. Well, I hope you can join us next week because we're going to continue to take a look at some miraculous events during the American Revolution. How God moved to give birth to the United States because it was part of his plan to surround and advance his liberty to all men and nations. And that's certainly been occurring in the last 250 years since America became a nation. So I hope you can join us again. If you'd like to read about these things, visit our website, Providence Foundation. Pick up some of our books, in particular America's Providential History, where we tell lots of these stories. You can also find that at, Amazon, and you can read many stories. You can read this particular incident as well. It's an article on our website of our Cloud by day and Pillar of Fire by night. And these events that occurred during the American Revolution. Well, hold hope you join us next week. God bless.