CHRISTMAS IS FOR REAL

How Archaeology Has Confirmed Luke's Account of the Virgin Birth

Of the 4 gospels, Luke gives the most detailed account of the Nativity and mentions Mary 12 times, more than any other biblical writer. In addition to the birth of Christ, he also gives special, detailed attention to the birth of John the Baptist and many see his gynecological interests to be a result of his training as a physician.

At the beginning of his gospel, Luke, whom Paul calls “the beloved physician” in Colossians 4:14, indicates that he has made a thorough investigation of the things about which he is writing, including the virgin birth. This investigation included his utilization of eyewitness accounts of the events described.  He writes,

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that were fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught (Luke 1:1-2).

Luke spent extended periods of time with Paul in Jerusalem and Judea and would have had opportunity to interview those closest to the events described, including Mary herself. There is no reliable information on how long Mary lived, but some traditions say she lived as much as 24 years or longer after the resurrection.

The detail Luke presents about the virgin birth does indicate that he has derived his information from a primary source, either Mary herself or someone to whom Mary had relayed the intimate details of the event.

Luke Gains a Reputation for Accuracy

At one time, it was thought that Luke was mistaken concerning the events he portrayed surrounding the birth of Christ (Luke 2:1-5). Critics argued that there was no census and that everyone did not have to return to their ancestral home. They also pointed out that Josephus had dated the governorship of Quirinius of Syria, whom Luke mentions, as beginning in A.D. 6, too late for the birth of Christ.

In every case, however, modern archaeological discoveries have proven the critics to be wrong. In the case of Quirinius, it was found that he actually served two separate terms as governor, the first beginning around 7 B.C., which fits perfectly with the time of Christ's birth. The accuracy of Luke as a historian was confirmed by the famous historian, A.N. Sherwin-White, who carefully examined his references in Luke/Acts to 32 countries, 54 cities, and nine islands, finding not a single mistake (Hyatt, Christmas Is For Real, 9).

The late F. F. Bruce, one of the most respected of New Testament scholars, noted that where Luke has been suspected of inaccuracy by modern critics, archaeology has again and again proved Luke to be right and the critics wrong (Hyatt, Christmas Is For Real, 8).

Sir William Ramsay is Convinced

The archaeological affirmation of Luke as a world-class historian, accurate in the minutest details, began with Sir William Ramsay (1851-1939), a world-renowned archaeologist and Oxford professor. Ramsay, an agnostic, set out to scientifically disprove the Bible, but his archaeological investigations carried him to a completely different conclusion.

Ramsay was a product of the skeptical, German higher criticism of the 19th century.  He believed the New Testament to be an unreliable religious treatise written in the 2nd century by writers far removed from the events described. Ramsay decided he would demonstrate his thesis by retracing Luke’s account of Paul’s travels in Acts and doing archaeological excavations along the way.

Since, in his thinking, Acts was not written by the traditional author, but by a later writer who assumed his name, Ramsay was confident that he would discover many inaccuracies and falsehoods in the account.

However, after years of retracing Luke’s account of Paul's travels and doing careful archaeological excavations along the way, Ramsay completely reversed his view of the Bible and first-century history. He became convinced that Acts was written in the first century by the traditional author, and he acquired a very high regard for Luke as a historian. He wrote,

Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy, he is possessed of the true historic sense; in short, this author should be placed along with the greatest of historians (Hyatt, Christmas Is For Real, 10-11).

In 1896, Ramsay began publishing his discoveries in a book entitled St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen. The book caused a furor of dismay among the skeptics of the world, for its affirmation of the biblical record was totally unexpected. The evidence was, in fact, so overwhelming that many atheists gave up their atheism and embraced Christianity.

Over the next 20 years, Ramsay published other volumes showing how he discovered Luke to be accurate in the tiniest details of his account. In his book, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, he wrote,

You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian's and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment (Hyatt, Christmas Is For Real, 11).

Ramsay himself seems to have embraced the Christian faith, for he wrote, “I set out to look for truth on the borderland where Greece and Asia meet, and found it here [in the Book of Acts].

Archaeology has, indeed, affirmed the Biblical historical record. William F. Albright (1891-1971), the renowned archaeologist and late professor of Semitic languages at John Hopkins University, also began his career as a skeptic. But after years of archaeological investigations in the land of the Bible, he wrote,

The excessive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, certain phases of which still appear periodically, has been progressively discredited. Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details and has brought recognition to the Bible as a source of history (Hyatt, Christmas Is For Real, 11-12).

Our Faith Has a Solid Historical Base

The evidence begs the question that if Luke was this careful to get his facts right about names, places, events, and dates, can we not be confident that he was just as careful to get his facts right concerning the more important things about which he reported, such as the virgin birth of Jesus Christ?

When some skeptics insisted that the virgin birth was a hoax, the noted Greek scholar, Professor John A. Scott, reminded them of Luke's training as a physician and his reputation as a historian. Pointing to his attention to detail and accurate reporting, Scott declared, "You could not fool Doctor Luke."

With such overwhelming evidence for the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, it raises the question as to why there remains so much skepticism and unbelief about this event and other miracles recorded in the Bible. This question was answered by Yale archaeologist and professor, Dr. Millard Burrows, who said, "The excessive skepticism of many liberal theologians stems not from a careful evaluation of the available data, but from an enormous predisposition against the supernatural."

In other words, the barrier to faith is not an intellectual one, but a heart that is committed to unbelief. Any honest seeker who will lay aside their biased presuppositions and consider the historical evidence will also experience the affirming witness of the Holy Spirit in their heart and will know that Jesus Christ was truly born of a virgin. And if that part of the story is true, then we can have confidence that the rest of the story is true as well.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s book, Christmas Is For Real, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. Dr. Hyatt is also the author of 1726: The Year that Defined America, which documents how the 18th century Great Awakening had a direct bearing on the founding of America and the abolition of slavery.

THE AMAZING VISION THAT BROUGHT THE PILGRIMS TO THIS CONTINENT

I was presenting the "Revive America" seminar at the Abounding Grace Christian Church in Schenectady, New York. As I was preparing the message on the Pilgrims, I had a clear inner sense that I was to have the audience repeat after me the two reasons they gave, in the Mayflower Compact, for coming to the New World. 

So, at the appropriate time that evening, I projected the Mayflower Compact on the big screen and asked the audience to repeat after me their two reasons for coming to this land. We all said together, not once, but twice,

“For the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.”

At the end of this presentation a young man came to me with his face aglow and excitement in his voice. He said,

I am attending the community college here and taking a course in early American history. Just this week the professor told us that the Pilgrims did not come for religious reasons but for monetary reasons.

He paused and then exclaimed, “But there it is in their own words!”

This young man’s testimony was another stark example of how America’s history is being revised and the element of faith being removed. This is serious, for as George Orwell said, “Whoever controls the past, controls the future.”

The Reasons They Came

The words we had repeated are part of the opening statement of the Mayflower Compact. It reads, “Having undertaken for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith . . . a voyage to plant the first colony in northern Virginia.”

William Bradford, who served as governor of Plymouth for over thirty years, stated this same vision in his memoirs written later in life. He shares this as part of his explanation as to why they decided to leave Holland and come to the New World.

First of all, he tells how they were not satisfied with their lot as foreigners and second-class citizens in Holland. They were also concerned that many of their children were being led astray by undesirable influences in the Dutch culture. He then said,

Lastly (and which was not least), a great hope and inward zeal they had of laying some good foundation, or at least to make some way thereunto, for the propagating and advancing of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world; yea though they should be but even as stepping-stones unto others for the performing of so great a work (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 22).

Although we have often heard that the Pilgrims came to escape religious persecution in the Old World, that is only part of the story. The rest of the story is that they were drawn here by a proactive missionary vision to take the gospel where it had not been heard.

Others Came for the Same Reason

The thousands of Puritans that followed the Pilgrims to New England over the next twenty years came with a similar vision. This is obvious from the constitution of the United Colonies of New England formed in 1643 to arbitrate land disputes and provide a system of mutual defense for the many towns that were springing up. The opening statement of the constitution reads,

Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy the Liberties of the Gospel in purity and peace (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 31).

These New England Puritans had a similar missionary vision as the Anglicans who first settled Virginia. On April 29, 1607, the Jamestown settlers disembarked at Cape Henry, near modern day Virginia Beach, and erected a seven-foot cross they had brought from England.

They then gathered around the cross for a prayer service in which they dedicated the land of their new home to God. In his dedicatory prayer, their chaplain, Rev. Robert Hunt, declared, “From these very shores the gospel shall go forth, not only to this New World, but to all the world.”

Original Vision of the Founding Fathers

It is clear that the earliest immigrants to America came with a vision for a land of liberty from which the gospel would be taken to the ends of the earth. That missionary vision did not die but is clearly seen in statements by many of the Founding Fathers. Consider the following.

George Washington, in a meeting with chiefs from the Delaware Indian tribe, encouraged them to learn, “above all, the religion of Jesus Christ.” And in a prayer journal he kept while in his twenties, the following prayer is recorded.

Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind, and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 132).

Benjamin Franklin, in a 1756 letter to George Whitefield, in which he proposed that they partner together in founding a Christian colony on the Ohio, gave a missionary reason for the project. He said,

Might it not greatly facilitate the introduction of pure religion among the heathen, if we could, by such a colony, show them a better sample of Christians than they commonly see (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 137).

John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, issued a Prayer Proclamation while serving as governor of Massachusetts. The Proclamation included a call to pray for world evangelism, exhorting the citizens to pray,

To the spreading of the true religion of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, in its purity and power, among all the people of the earth” (Hyatt, 1726: The Year thatDefined America, 173).

James Madison, chief architect of the Constitution and America’s fourth president, voiced his opposition in 1785 to a bill that he perceived would have the unintended consequence of hindering the spread of the Gospel. He said,

The policy of the bill is adverse to the diffusion of the light of Christianity. The first wish of those who enjoy this precious gift ought to be that it may be imparted to the whole race of mankind (From Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance, 1785).

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and America’s third president, took money from the federal treasury to send a missionary to the Kaskaskia Indian tribe and to build them a chapel in which to worship. He wrote,

Of all the systems of morality that have come under my observations, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus. I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 149-50).

May the Vision to be Restored

This Thanksgiving we can be thankful for the vision and sacrifice of those early pilgrims and patriots. We are enjoying liberties and blessings because of their vision and sacrifice.

The original American vision was that it be a land of individual and religious liberty and place where the gospel would have free course and would spread from here to the ends of the earth. This Thanksgiving let’s pray for that Original American Vision to be restored.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's book, 1726: The Year that Defined America, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. This book documents how the Great Awakening had a direct bearing on both the founding of America and the ending of slavery on this continent. He is the founder/director of the "1726 Project" whose purpose is to educate about the nation's overt Christian birth out of Spiritual Awakening.

WHY EVERY AMERICAN FOUNDER WOULD EXIT THE MODERN DEMOCRAT PARTY

In 2019 the Democrat National Committee (DNC) unanimously passed a resolution affirming atheism and declaring that neither Christianity or any religion is necessary for morality and patriotism. With this embrace of atheism and moral relativism, the Democrat party severed ties with America’s founders.

There was not a single atheist among America’s founders. Although some had questions concerning certain components of Christian doctrine, all believed that only Christianity provided the spiritual, moral, and philosophical underpinnings for a stable and prosperous nation.

If alive today, every American founder, from George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, would exit the Democrat party.

George Washington

In his Farewell Address, after serving two terms as the nation’s first president, George Washington warned against the very direction being taken by the Democrat Party. He counselled the young nation to guard against separating freedom from faith and supposing that national morality could be maintained apart from Christian truth. He said,

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion [Christianity]. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 165).

When the founders use the word “religion,” they are speaking of Christianity; and notice that Washington says that Christianity and morality are not something to be “tolerated” in the new nation, but are “indispensable” for the nation’s success.

If alive today, Washington would certainly exit the modern Democrat party.

John Adams

In a 1798 speech to the officers of the Massachusetts Militia, John Adams stated the common belief of the founding generation that civil liberty and Christian morality are inseparable. The loss of Christian morality, they believed, would inevitably lead to the loss of civil liberty. Adams declared,

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . .. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious [Christian] people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 168).

In a letter to his cousin, Zabdiel Adams, a minister of the Gospel, Adams exhorted him concerning his vital role in the new nation. He wrote,

Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 164-65).)

It is obvious that John Adams would be completely out of sync with the modern Democrat party and its embrace of atheism. There is no question that if alive today he would join Washington in exiting the Democrat party.

Thomas Jefferson

This belief in the power of Christian morality is why Thomas Jefferson included the teaching of Christianity in a federal treaty he negotiated with the Kaskaskia Indian Tribe. This treaty stipulated, among other things, that federal funds be made available to pay for a Christian missionary to work with this tribe and for the building of a Christian church in which they could worship (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 149).

Jefferson demonstrated his high regard for Jesus Christ by closing all presidential documents with the words, “In the year of our Lord Christ.” He also said, “Of all the systems of morality that have come under my observations, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus.”

Yes, Jefferson believed Christian morality to be necessary for a stable and peaceful society. If alive today, he would join Washington and Adams in exiting the Democrat party and its embrace of atheism, secularism, and moral relativism.

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin, considered one of the most nonreligious of America’s founders, returned to his Puritan/Christian upbringing through his close friendship with George Whitefield, the most famous preacher of the Great Awakening. As a result, he was in complete agreement that Christian morality was necessary for restraining the worst in human nature and society.

This was made clear in his letter to the well-known Deist, Thomas Paine, in response to a manuscript Paine had sent him in which he challenged the idea of a prayer-answering God and other aspects of orthodox Christianity. Franklin refused to print the book, and in strong language, urged Paine not even to allow anyone else to see it. He wrote,

I would advise you, therefore . . . to burn this piece before it is seen by any other person; whereby you will save yourself a great deal of mortification by the enemies it may raise against you, and perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance. If men are so wicked with religion [Christianity], what would they be if without it (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 138).

On June 28, 1787, the Constitutional Convention was about to be suspended because of unresolved dissension. Franklin, now 81 years of age, rose to his feet and addressed George Washington, the Convention’s President, with these words,

How has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly appealing to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible to danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. I have lived, sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business (Hyatt, 1726:The Year that Defined America, 141-42).

Like the other founders, Franklin would have nothing to do with the modern Democrat party and its rejection of God and the teachings of Christianity.

Benjamin Rush

Yes, faith and freedom were married in the thinking of America’s founding generation. Civil liberty, they believed, could not exist apart from Christian morality. Benjamin Rush, a member of the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, also made this clear when he declared,

The only foundation for a republic is to be laid in Religion [Christianity]. Without this there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 163).

Let the Exit Begin

Can you see it? A mass exodus of the founding fathers from the atheistic Democrat party. If we value the principles and freedoms on which our nation was founded, we should be following them as quickly as possible.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's book, 1726: The Year that Defined America, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. Eddie is also the founder of the "1726 Project," dedicated to educating the American populace about this nation's overt Christian origins out of the Great Awakening.

HUMILITY: THE MISSING INGREDIENT IN OUR QUEST FOR ANOTHER GREAT AWAKENING

“What lack I yet?” was the question the rich young ruler asked Jesus, after declaring that he had kept all the commandments (Matthew 19:20). Jesus gave him an answer he did not like, and he went away sorrowful.

Many years ago, I asked the Lord that same question, “What lack I yet?” The answer came back, “True humility.” If the modern church asked that same question regarding a Great Awakening, I suspect the answer would be, “True humility.”

This is confirmed by the fact that in the conditions listed for a national healing in II Chronicles 7:14, humility comes first. God said, If My people who are called by name will humble themselves . . ..

Signs of Pride in the Modern Church

The opposite of humility is pride. The middle letter of pride is “I” and in pride the “I” or ego becomes central and we look for ways to lift ourselves in the eyes of our contemporaries. Pride has many symptoms but one of the most obvious is an unhealthy love of titles.

I will never forget picking up a Christian tabloid in a large metro area on the east coast where I was ministering. As I turned the pages, I was astounded at all the bishops, archbishops, prelates, apostles, covering-apostles, presiding-apostles, jurisdictional-apostles, etc. One person even had a full-page ad filled with a large photo of herself with a caption underneath that read, “Her Super Eminence, Apostle ___.”

I thought to myself, “Can these people be followers of the One who humbled Himself and washed the feet of His disciples, a task reserved for servants and slaves in that culture?” Can they be followers of the One who admonished His own disciples not to be like the haughty Jewish leaders, saying,

But all their works they do to be seen of men. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, and to be called by men “Rabbi, Rabbi.” But you, do not be called “Rabbi” for One is your Teacher, the Christ and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth “father,” for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. (Matthew 23:6-9).

The Call to Humility in the Founding of America

In the many calls to prayer before and after the First Great Awakening, the word “humiliation” was almost always used. For example, the Continental Congress proclaimed December 11, 1776 as a day of “solemn fasting and humiliation” in which all Americans were admonished to plead with God for His assistance in their fight for freedom (Hyatt, 1726: The Year thatDefined America, 116).

By humiliation, they did not mean a groveling or self-flagellation, but an acknowledgement of their own human inadequacy and their desperate need for God’s assistance. This is how they understood Matthew 5:3, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This attitude of humility carried over into the founding of the nation and in Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution the founders forbade the granting of honorific titles of nobility by the U.S. government. They also forbade any government employee from receiving an honorific title from a foreign government without the consent of Congress.

In other words, in the United States of America, there would be no “Lord so and so” or “Lady so and so.” There would be no Dukes or Duchesses and no Barons or Baronesses. There would be no “His Majesty” or “Her Majesty.” Aristocratic titles were banned and the playing field was leveled. 

Is there not a lesson here for the church?

Humility and the Azusa Street Revival

The leaders of the Azusa Street Revival understood the importance of this Christian virtue and exhibited a humility seldom seen in the modern church. This, no doubt, is a major reason God used them to change the course of church and world history.

Meeting in a dilapidated old building that had most recently been used as a stable and a warehouse, the attendees sat on rough board benches with no backs. There was no raised platform and no special, reserved seating. Everyone was on the same level.

The pulpit was a stack of wooden shoe boxes. William Seymour, the recognized leader of the revival, spent most of his time sitting behind the pulpit with his head inside the top shoe box in prayer. There was no pretense or show and the leaders made clear that such would not be tolerated.

The December 1906 issue of the Apostolic Faith, the official publication of the revival, carried a rebuke of two of the most famous charismatic ministers of the day, John Alexander Dowie and Frank Sanford, who had exalted themselves as special end-time apostles and prophets. Conerning the revival they were enjoying, the leaders at Azusa wrote, 

There is no pope, Doweism, or Sanfordism, but we are all little children knowing only Jesus and Him crucified. This work is carried on by the people of Los Angeles that God has united by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

From this humble setting a revival swept the world and changed the course of the church and world history.

A Lesson from the Healing Revivals

Gordon Lindsay, one of the most prominent leaders of the divine healing revivals of the 1940s-50s, declared, "As one rises higher and higher in spiritual power and blessing . . . he must ever seek to become lower and lower and lower and lower." This statement was born out of his observation of the tragic collapse of the lives and ministries of several men who had been powerfully used of God in healing and deliverance ministries.

In each case, Satan’s door of entry into the person’s life seems to have been an inflated idea of his own importance. Instead of humbling themselves before God, they became enamored with their own success. And instead of moving on to greater displays of God’s glory and power, they were brought down because of their pride and arrogance. 1 Peter 5:5 says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Bowing Down Before the Lord

In 1999, I sat in a "Revival Now" conference and experienced an overwhelming urge to bow down before the Lord. I struggled with this, for no one else was bowing down. In fact, people were going forward and standing in a long line as they waited to receive prayer from the pastor and guest speaker.

Bowing down is an outward expression of humility and as this urge continued, I finally turned and bowed at my seat. As soon as my knees touched the floor, I heard the Holy Spirit speaking in a very vivid manner. He said,

I am going to be doing some incredible things in the days ahead, and when you see My power and My glory, this is to always be your posture. You are to bow down and acknowledge that I Am the Sovereign Lord of this universe.

It is Time For Us to Humble Ourselves

Yes, I am convinced that Biblical humility is the missing ingredient in our prayers for another Great Awakening. Let us, therefore, humble ourselves before the Lord. Let us acknowledge our complete inadequacy apart from Him. Let us acknowledge how desperately we need Him at this time in our history.

He has promised to answer with floods of His Spirit and presence (Isaiah 44:3). He has promised to hear our prayers, forgive our sins, and heal our land (II Chronicles 7:14).

Dr. Eddie Hyatt has a long history as a pastor, revivalist, and professor of theology. His book, 1726: The Year that Defined America, documents how the Great Awakening had a direct bearing on both the founding of America and the abolition of slavery on this continent. His books are available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.

THE AMAZING LEGACY OF THE PILGRIMS

Four hundred years ago, on November 11, 1620, a small band of Christian reformers landed at Cape Cod in what is now the state of Massachusetts. These “Pilgrims” had left everything to pursue their vision of a restoration of New Testament Christianity and the establishment of a free society where they could live out their faith without government interference.

In his memoirs, William Bradford, who served as governor of Plymouth Plantation for over 30 years, described their first act upon setting foot on American soil. He wrote,

They fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof (Hyatt, The Pilgrims, 31-32).

The Changing Story of the Pilgrims

Sadly, the true history of the Pilgrims is being revised by secularist historians who are removing the story of their faith. This was made real to me some time ago when I presented the “Revive America” seminar at the Abounding Grace Christian Church in Schenectady, New York. This is a PowerPoint presentation that documents the overt Christian origins of America out of the Great Awakening.

As I was preparing the presentation on the Pilgrims, I had a clear inner sense that I was to have the audience repeat after me the two reasons they gave, in the Mayflower Compact, for coming to the New World.

So, at the appropriate time that evening, I projected the Mayflower Compact on the big screen and asked the audience to repeat after me their two reasons for coming to this land. We all said together, not once, but twice: “Number one, for the glory of God; Number 2, for the advancement of the Christian faith.”

At the end of this presentation a young man came to me with his face aglow and excitement in his voice. He said,

I am attending the community college here and taking a course in early American history. Just this week the professor told us that the Pilgrims did not come here for religious reasons but for monetary reasons. BUT THERE IT IS IN THEIR OWN WORDS!

This young man’s testimony was another stark reminder of how America’s history is being revised and the element of faith being removed. This is serious, for as George Orwell said, “Whoever controls the past, controls the future.”

Let’s Preserve Their Legacy

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who spent 8 years in a Russian labor camp, wrote, “To destroy a people you must first sever their roots.” We must not allow an American generation to be severed from its Christian roots. The true story of the Pilgrims must be preserved for this generation and for those to come.

The Pilgrim Legacy

The Pilgrims’ love of religious liberty more than life itself has endeared them to the hearts of generations of Americans. Indeed, we can thank the Pilgrims for the First Amendment to the Constitution, which begins with these words, “Congress shall make no law concerning the establishment of religion or hindering the free exercise thereof.”

When Patrick Henry, in a 1775 speech advocating independence from Great Britain, declared, “Give me liberty or give me death,” he was expressing a Pilgrim, and American, value.

We can also thank the Pilgrims for our national holiday called “Thanksgiving.” We can thank them for beginning a tradition of national days of prayer. We can thank them for the national motto, “In God We Trust,” not that they formulated the motto, but that they lived it out in ways that impacted succeeding generations. Indeed, we can thank them that America became known around the world as a land of faith and a Christian nation.

In a time when so many consider themselves “entitled” to a certain lifestyle and look to the government to make it happen, the Pilgrims remind us that only God can fulfill our deepest desires. By carving out a life alone in the New England wilderness, they also remind us of characteristics such as ingenuity, resilience, and self-reliance.

The Pilgrim legacy even includes our constitutional form of government. The historian, Benjamin Hart, says,

What Abraham Lincoln described as government “of the people, by the people and for the people,” was inherited from a tradition beginning with the Congregationalist Protestant settlement in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the 1620s (Hyatt, The Pilgrims, 54).

Our Spiritual Ancestors

Dr. Samuel Eliot Morrison, late professor of history at Harvard University, referred to the Pilgrims as "in a sense the spiritual ancestors of all Americans, and pioneers" (Hyatt, The Pilgrims, 58).

With 2020 being the 400-year anniversary of the Pilgrims’ landing at Cape Cod, I thought it appropriate to present an overview of the Pilgrims that highlights their faith, godly vision, and impact on America. This overview is found in the book, The Pilgrims, available from Amazon and at www.eddiehyatt.com.

Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt has a long history as a pastor, revivalist, and professor of theology in many parts of the world. His present commission is to call America back to its roots in Christian truth and Spiritual Awakening. His book, 1726: The Year that Defined America, makes the case for America's birth out of Christian values and the First Great Awakening. His books are available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.

THE RESURRECTION PRINCIPLE AND THE 2020 ELECTION

During a time of prayer on Saturday, I asked the Lord for an encouraging word for those I would be addressing in a Sunday morning live stream. I knew that many were troubled and sad at the media reports that Joe Biden would be the next president of the United States.

The request for an encouraging word was hardly out of my mouth when there dropped into my mind a word God gave me at a devastating time in my life around 42 years ago. I sensed an immediate lift in my spirit, and I knew it was the message God wanted me to share.

A Life-Changing Word from God

About two years into our marriage and ministry together, Sue and I lost everything. We lost our place to live. We lost the place where we were having meetings for the congregation and ministry we were planting in eastern Canada. Everything was gone. The God-given vision and mandate had died.

In the midst of this devastation we sat on a park bench with two friends lifting our hearts in prayer. I remember their 5-year old daughter, Cara, sitting with us and praying in tongues.

Suddenly, out of my innermost being, those rivers of living water that Jesus spoke about in John 7:37-39 began to flow, and I began praying in tongues. I realize that we charismatics have learned to pray in tongues on cue—at the drop of a hat. Such prayers, however, are usually from the neck up and powerless.

This was prayer that I could feel flowing out of my spirit. And all the time I was praying, I could hear the words, “Don’t be afraid of death because I Am the Resurrection.” I recognized these as the words, in part, that Jesus spoke to Martha just before he raised her brother, Lazarus, from the dead (John 11:25).

I knew that the Lord was telling me not to fear the death of the vision and mandate He had given. I knew He was telling me that it would be brought back to life, not by my scheming and planning, but by His resurrection life and power.

A resurrection did occur in our lives and ministry. A yielding to God, a determination not to quit, a step of obedience, and resurrection power flowed forth. The ministry that came forth was not the same as before; for it came forth in His resurrection power and in ways we could never have planned or strategized.

Resurrection and the 2020 Elections

I am not going to presume to say how the 2020 election will eventually turn out. But I know that when I asked the Lord for a word of encouragement for those who are discouraged about the election, He reminded me of those words He spoke so many years ago.

Even apart from the election, I am convinced that in the days ahead we will see His resurrection life and power break forth on different fronts. Victory will come forth out of defeat. Life will emerge out of death. Success will arise out of failure. His words still ring true, “Don’t be afraid of death because I Am the Resurrection.”

Dr. Eddie Hyatt has a long history as a pastor, revivalist, and professor of theology in many parts of the world. His book, 1726: The Year that Defined America, provides the basis for America returning to her founding principles and seeing another Great Awakening. His books are available on Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.

THEIR IRRATIONAL OPPOSITION TO DONALD TRUMP

Evangelical leaders like John Piper and Beth Moore are warning evangelicals about voting for Donald Trump. Should they not, instead, be warning their followers about the Democrat Party's official rejection of God and America's founding values?

Psalm 33:12 says, Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD and Psalm 9:17 warns, The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God.

America’s founders believed this, and all agreed with James Madison, chief architect of the U.S. Constitution, when he wrote,

The belief in a God All Powerful, wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities impressed with it (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 111).

The DNC Rejects God

Sadly, the Democrat Party has rejected the God of the Bible and America’s founders. In 2019, for example, the Democrat National Committee (DNC) unanimously passed a resolution affirming atheism and declaring that neither Christianity nor any religion is necessary for morality or patriotism.

On August 24 of 2020, the DNC doubled down on their rejection of God by passing another resolution praising the values of the "religiously unaffiliated." This resolution was championed by the Secular Coalition of America, an organization that lobbies on behalf of atheists, agnostics, and humanists on public policy.

The Democrat Party’s rejection of God has drawn no criticism from party stalwarts such as Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Kamala Harris, or Joe Biden. We can only assume that they support the statement of the DNC that God and Christianity are not needed for the nation’s success.

This should come as no surprise since the Democrat Party, for some time, has supported the removal of Ten Commandment displays, crosses, and other Christian symbols from public property. When President Obama spoke at Georgetown University, a Catholic institution, he demanded that the Christian symbol behind the podium where he was to speak be removed.

The Democrat Party has officially turned its back on the America that is, “One Nation under God.” They have rejected the America whose national motto is “In God We Trust.” In its place they want to build a secularist, Marxist, socialist utopia.

Donald Trump Embraces God

To the surprise of many, Donald Trump has gone in the opposite direction as the Democrat Party. He openly acknowledges God and Christ and has no reservations about public prayers and Christian declarations.

For example, in a cabinet meeting that was broadcast live, Trump sent the mainstream media into a frenzy when he asked Ben Carson to open the meeting in prayer. Mike Pence has said that it is normal for Trump, at the beginning of a cabinet meeting, to turn to him or one of the cabinet members and ask them to open in prayer.

I know that many of you doubt the integrity of his actions in this regard. I once shared those same concerns. I am now convinced it is real. According to James Dobson, Trump was led to Christ in early 2016 by a Christian businessman. Dobson says that he prayed a prayer committing his life to Christ.

That should not be hard to believe given Trump’s open acknowledgments of God and his defense of Christian values and religious liberty. 

At a large Trump rally in Florida, First Lady Melania Trump opened by leading the massive crowd in reciting the Lord’s Prayer. In another large rally, someone passed out and those close by began praying for the person until the medics arrived. Trump put his speech on pause and affirmed the ones who were praying. Suddenly, the vast crowd burst forth singing “Amazing Grace.” It was a surreal moment!

At Easter 2020, the president gave an inspiring address to the nation from the Oval Office in which he gave glory to God and acknowledged the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He then invited a black pastor, Bishop Harry Jackson, to read the Scriptures and pray. Jackson prayed a powerful prayer for America from the Oval Office and ended it “in the name of Jesus Christ.”

I cannot imagine any of the above happening at a Joe Biden rally, or any Democrat rally.

Their Irrational Rejection of Trump

Those few evangelicals who oppose Trump seem to be denying the very grace of God that they preach. Yes, Trump is a flawed human being. Yes, he often comes across as arrogant and braggadocious. Is God’s grace not sufficient for Trump and his human deficiencies?

Trump’s compassion is seen more in his actions and policies than his words. Just last night I listened to a young black man, who had just been released from prison, giving sincere thanks to the president for his prison reform policies that had allowed him to go free. There are a multitude of such examples in his presidency.

The idea that a “Christian” should sit this one out or vote for Joe Biden because they do not like the president’s personality and tweets, is shallow, irrational, and denies the sovereign grace of God at work in Donald Trump and America.

This article was derived in part from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's book, 5 Reasons I Changed My Mind About Donald Trump. He is also the author of 1726: The Year that Defined America, which documents how the Great Awakening (1726-70) had a direct bearing on the founding of America and the end of slavery on this continent. His books are avaialable from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.