Preacher's Sacrifice

Preacher's Sacrifice

The Ultimate Cost for Our Religious Freedom

The Bible says, "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:7-8)

The song sung by Lee Greenwood, "God Bless the USA" has a stanza which fall in-line with the truth proclaim by the author of the Book of Hebrews, "I am proud to be an American. Where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died. Who gave that right to me. And I'd gladly stand up next to you. And defend Her still today. Cause there ain't no doubt, I love this land. God bless the USA."

During the time of the Founding Era of laying the foundation of the Declaration of Independence there were mighty men whom the British called "The Black Rope Regiment." The American clergy who made up that group were courageous and fearless, they boldly proclaim the Word of God as it applied to life, whether spiritual or addressing the issues of the day such as, life in Christ, taxes, education, public policy, good government, or the military. During the Revolutionary War preachers fulfilled their Biblical call to publicly teach what the Bible says and they set the example on how to live out what they believed. Historical writings tell us: "There was a class of clergymen and chaplains in the Revolution whom the British, when they once laid hands on them, treated [the preachers] with the most barbarous severity. Dreading them for the influence - they wielded and hating them for the obstinacy, courage and enthusiasm they infused into the rebels, they violated all the usages of war among civilized nations in order to inflict punishment upon them" (T. Headley, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution (New York: Charles Scribner, 1864), p. 58.)

The preachers of the time of the Revolutionary War paid the high cost for their obedience to their call and for living out what they believed. There were great men of God like the Rev. Naphtali Dagget, President of Yale. "When the British approached New Haven to enter private homes, to desecrate property and belongings, Rev. Daggett offered stiff and at times single-handed resistance to the British invasion, standing alone on a hillside, repeatedly firing his rifle down at hundreds of British troops below. [After being] captured, over a period of several hours the British stabbed and pricked Pastor Daggett multiple times with bayonets. Local townspeople secured [Pastor] Daggett release, he never recovered from the wounds, which eventually caused his death."(National Black Robe Regiment, History of the Black Regiment; William Buell Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit: Trinitarian Congregation, (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1857), p. 482.) When the Rev. James Caldwell offered similar resistance in New Jersey, the British burned the church building he oversaw for the Lord, he and his family were murdered. (B.F. Morris, Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, Developed in the Official and Historical Annals of the Republic (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864) p. 350.) The British in their zeal to protect the British Anglican Church, abused, killed or imprisoned many other clergymen. (Daniel Dorchester, Christianity in the United States from the First Settlement Down to the Present Time (New York: Phillips & Hunt, 1888), p. 265.) Those faithful men of the Lord who Biblically guided the people they served "often suffered harsher treatment and more severe penalties than did ordinary imprisoned soldiers." (T. Headley, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution (New York: Charles Scribner, 1864), p. 58.) In the effort of persecuting freedom of religion, the British also burned churches in New York, Virginia and other parts of the country. (Daniel Dorchester, Christianity in the United States from the First Settlement Down to the Present Time (New York: Phillips & Hunt, 1888), p. 266. - p. 267)

America needs clergy who are courageous enough to publicly teach what God's has to say about the issues of the day, whether it is popular or not. We need mighty Bible teachers who will take their stand, rebuke, correct and guide Americans to understand, "Thus says the Lord."