11.22.08
We Are Pilgrims
2 Peter 1:2-4
The Pilgrims, who celebrated
the first thanksgiving in
So they decided to leave
On Sept. 6, 1620 the Pilgrims
set sail for the
The long trip was cold and damp
and took 65 days. Since there was the danger of fire on the wooden ship, the
food had to be eaten cold. Many passengers became sick and one person died by
the time land was sighted on November 10th.
The long trip led to many
disagreements between the "Saints" and the "Strangers".
After land was sighted a meeting was held and an agreement was worked out,
called the Mayflower Compact, which guaranteed equality and unified the two
groups. They joined together and named themselves the "Pilgrims."
On
March 16, 1621, what was to become an important event took place, an Indian
brave walked into the
His name was Samoset and
he was an Abnaki Indian. He had learned English from the captains of fishing
boats that had sailed off the coast. After staying the night Samoset left the
next day. He soon returned with another Indian named Squanto who
spoke better English than Samoset. Squanto told the Pilgrims of his voyages
across the ocean and his visits to
Squanto's importance to the
Pilgrims was enormous and it can be said that they would not have survived
without his help. It was Squanto who taught the Pilgrims how to tap the maple
trees for sap. He taught them which plants were poisonous and which had
medicinal powers. He taught them how to plant the Indian corn by heaping the
earth into low mounds with several seeds and fish in each mound. The decaying
fish fertilized the corn. He also taught them to plant other crops with the
corn.
The harvest in October was very
successful and the Pilgrims found themselves with enough food to put away for
the winter. There was corn, fruits and vegetables, fish to be packed in salt,
and meat to be cured over smoky fires.
The Pilgrims had much to
celebrate, they had built homes in the wilderness, they had raised enough crops
to keep them alive during the long coming winter, they were at peace with their
Indian neighbors. They had beaten the odds and it was time to celebrate.
The Pilgrim Governor William
Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to be shared by all the colonists and
the neighboring Native Americans. They invited Squanto and the other Indians to
join them in their celebration. Their chief, Massasoit, and 90 braves came to the
celebration which lasted for 3 days. They played games, ran races, marched and
played drums. The Indians demonstrated their skills with the bow and arrow and
the Pilgrims demonstrated their musket skills. Exactly when the festival took
place is uncertain, but it is believed the celebration took place in
mid-October.
The following year the Pilgrims
harvest was not as bountiful, as they were still unused to growing the corn.
During the year they had also shared their stored food with newcomers and the
Pilgrims ran short of food.
The 3rd year brought a spring
and summer that was hot and dry with the crops dying in the fields. Governor
Bradford ordered a day of fasting and prayer, and it was soon thereafter that
the rain came.
Triumph of Individualism: The Real Story behind
Thanksgiving
Paul
Schmidt writes that the first Plymouth Colony Pilgrim's Thanksgiving was a
celebration of the triumph of private property and individual initiative.
William
Bradford was the governor of the original Pilgrim colony, founded at
The results
were disastrous. Communism didn't work any better 400 years ago than it does
today. By 1623, the colony had suffered serious losses. Starvation was
imminent.
The
results: a bountiful early harvest that saved the colonies. After the harvest,
the Pilgrims celebrated with a day of Thanksgiving -- on August 9th.
Unfortunately,
William Bradford's diaries -- in which he recorded the failure of the
collectivist system and the triumph of private enterprise -- were lost for many
years. When Thanksgiving was later made a national holiday, the present
November date was chosen. And the lesson the Pilgrims so painfully learned was,
alas, not made a part of the holiday.
Happily,
This Thanksgiving season, one of
the many things we should be thankful for is our free market system
(imperfectly realized as it is). And I'm also grateful that there are
increasing numbers of Americans who are learning the importance of free
markets, and who are working to replace government coercion with marketplace
cooperation here in
Ayn
Rand
What Is the Basic Issue in the World
Today? The basic issue in the world today is between two principles:
Individualism and Collectivism. Individualism holds that man has inalienable
rights which cannot be taken away from him by any other man, nor by any number,
group or collective of other men. Therefore, each man exists by his own right
and for his own sake, not for the sake of the group. Collectivism holds that
man has no rights; that his work, his body and his personality belong to the
group; that the group can do with him as it pleases,
in any manner it pleases, for the sake of whatever it decides to be its own
welfare. Therefore, each man exists only by the permission of the group
and for the sake of the group.
These two principles are the roots of two opposite social
systems. One of the basic issues of the world today is choosing between two
systems.
The basic principle of the
- that these rights belong to each man as an individual—not
to "men" as a group or collective;
- that these rights are the unconditional, private, personal, individual
possession of each man—not the public, social, collective possession of a
group;
- that these rights are granted to man by the fact of his birth as
a man—not by an act of society;
- that man holds these rights, not from the Collective nor for
the Collective, but against the Collective—as a barrier which
the Collective cannot cross;
- that these rights are man's protection against all other men;
- that only on the basis of these rights can men have a society of
freedom, justice, human dignity, and decency.
The Constitution of the
God has been so
very gracious to us, in allowing us to live in a land of freedom; a land that
protects individual rights, and individual conscience. It’s also a land that encourages each of us
to work hard, apply ourselves, and to take personal responsibility for our
success or failure. Truly
But we know
that it won’t always be this way. The
Bible tells us that in the last days the powers that be will work together to
try to get people to WORSHIP a certain way.
The American dream will no longer be possible apparently, for we read in
Revelation 13:11-18:
Then I saw another beast coming
up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the
first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to
worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even
makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs
which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell
on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and
lived. 15 He was
granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image
of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image
of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and
slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except
one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is
wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it
is the number of a man: His number is 666. Revelation
13:11-18
This lamblike
beast that comes up from the earth is the
Then he said to me, “The waters
which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and
tongues. Revelation 17:15
The Bible tells
us that the first beast, or harlot, receives a deadly wound and that the deadly
wound is healed. The second beast—the
lamblike beast that comes up from the earth—becomes the enforcer of the MARK OF THE BEAST.
This country will not always be a free country; a land of personal
freedom and responsibility. It will
undergo a major personality change.
And so the point
of this message today is to remind us that WE HAVE MUCH IN COMMON WITH THE
PILGRIMS OF THE 1600s. WE ARE PILGRIMS
AS WELL. WE TOO WILL HAVE TO FLEE FROM
THE RELIGIOUS MANDATES AND INTOLERANCE OF THE GOVERNMENT. WE TOO WILL HAVE TO FIND OUR OWN WAY. WE TOO WILL HAVE TO BRAVE THE STORM. WE TOO WILL HAVE TO REMAIN TRUE TO OUR
PRINCIPLES, AND TO THE WORD OF GOD.
WE ARE PILGRIMS, VERY MUCH SO.
Right now is the
time to practice following God and getting used to His ways and His truth. Just like the currency experts, you have to
become so familiar with the GENUINE article that you can detect any variation
from it. We need to know our Bibles
better than we know our college football team.
We need to be more familiar with the things of God than we are with the
reality TV shows or the stock market or the Top 40.
A pilgrim knows
he’s just passing through. A pilgrim
knows she’s got to take one day at a time, and ask God for guidance
constantly. A pilgrim has convictions,
and he doesn’t let go of those convictions.
A pilgrim stands on principle, no matter what, no matter how tough it
gets, no matter who says what, no matter what popular opinion says.
God wants us to
remember that we are pilgrims. God is
the Giver of everything good. He has
always provided for our needs, and He will continue to do so. HE WILL NOT LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US!!
Some of us have
lost people we love. Loved ones have
been laid to rest—sometimes prematurely.
But we will see them again! They
still belong to God; He still remembers their name. He won’t ever forget them. And if they have accepted the Lord Jesus
Christ, and surrendered to Him, you can be sure that you will see them again,
in a much happier place!!
Jesus has
promised to come again, and it won’t be long, my friends.
But like the
pilgrims that have gone before us, we too will come face to face with the
difference between Collectivism and Individualism. There will come a time in our land when we
will feel the pressure to sacrifice our convictions for the sake of the collective good—the national good.
Now, there are a
few here and there who thrive under pressure.
Maybe they’re just fooling themselves.
Most of us do not like pressure.
Most folks would just as soon not have pressure. But let me tell you—WE ARE GOING TO BE PUT IN
A PRESSURE COOKER IN THESE LAST DAYS!!
WE ARE GONNA FEEL THE PRESSURE LIKE WE NEVER HAVE BEFORE!! AND THAT PRESSURE COOKER WILL TRY TO COOK US
INTO CONFORMITY—CONFORMITY TO THE LAWS OF THE LAND—LAWS WHICH ARE
WELL-INTENTIONED—BUT WRONG, AND AGAINST THE WILL OF GOD. AND IF WE DON’T COOPERATE WITH THE
COOKIN’—AND WE DON’T COOPERATE WITH THE PRESSURE—WE WILL BE THREATENED WITH
IMPRISONMENT AND EVEN DEATH!!
NOW THAT’S
PRESSURE!!
We haven’t SEEN
pressure yet, my friends. We must hang
on to individual conviction; individual responsibility.
Now, there are
times when it’s good to give a little, for the sake of the common good. A little compromise becomes important in
certain situations—like marriage, the family, the team, or your platoon on the
battlefield, etc. BUT GOD NEVER WANTS
YOU OR ME TO COMPROMISE FOR THE SAKE OF THE COMMON GOOD WHEN HIS REVEALED WILL
IS BEING TRAMPLED!! THAT’S NOT THE KIND
OF COMPROMISE THAT IS GOOD FOR US.
That principle
works well in all situations—like when your friend wants you to do something
that you know full well is wrong. It
violates God’s Word, and it would require you to ignore your own
convictions. So you don’t do it. He’s your friend, but not your master.
You see, only a
MASTER can rightfully tell us how to order our lives. No one else has the right to interfere with
the MASTER’S plans for us.
You remember
that Joseph was sold into slavery by his own jealous brothers. His whole life was turned upside down. New environment, new role, different clothes,
different do, different everthing. Now
in a foreign land with no one telling him what’s right and wrong . . . how
would he act?
Potiphar’s wife
tried to get Joseph to do some thing he knew was wrong. He remembered who his Master was, and that
his Master wanted him to remain pure and to be true to Him no matter where he
was. No one was watching, except
Potiphar’s wife.
Joseph fled the
scene of evil and temptation. Then his
life got even worse. He ended up in jail
for a while. But he knew in his heart
that he had done the right thing.
Sometimes there
are consequences to the good decisions we make.
Our friends may not want to be around us when we take a stand for
right. The Bible says that someday we
could end up in prison or even worse—face death—simply because we chose to obey
the Master.
A pilgrim does
get concerned about consequences for doing what’s right. A pilgrim just keeps going forward and does
what the Master says.
Jesus tells us,
“And I say to you, My friends, do
not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they
can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has
killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” Luke
12:4, 5
The only one we should fear is the Master,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He has the power
to save, and the power to utterly destroy.
He is full of love for us, and wants more than anything to save us and
to bring us to heaven to be with Him forever.
Individual responsibility. How do we act when no one is watching? Do we still operate according to conviction,
according to God’s will? Do we even have
convictions in the first place?
Merriam-Webster definition of
“conviction”:
the state of being convinced of
error or compelled to admit the truth; a strong persuasion or belief
That’s what
Joseph was—he was CONVINCED that she was wanting him to do something that was
WRONG. He was COMPELLED to admit the
truth—
“How then can I do this great
wickedness, and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9
You know—we
would save ourselves SO MUCH TROUBLE if we would remember Joseph’s words. When we’re tempted to do evil, or depart from
God’s will in the slightest way—say these words of Joseph—How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin
against God? How can I hurt God? How can I hurt His Son, who has given His
life for me?
That’s the POWER of conviction. Conviction is a STRONG PERSUASION to do what
is right.
A pilgrim
mentality is needed for these last days, my friends. We are temporary flesh. We are merely passing through this
dominion. We need to get back to the
basics of life. Hard work, strong faith,
timeless values, determination to please God and obey Him.
To survive, we
need a PILGRIM MENTALITY. We need
CONVICTION in a world of moral relativism.
IF WE DO NOT LIVE ACCORDING TO CONVICTION, CONVICTION WILL SOON DIE, AND
NO ONE WILL EVEN LOOK FOR IT.
At this
Thanksgiving season, let us keep in mind that we are to be truly thankful for
all that God has done for us. Let us
remember that we are pilgrims, and that we owe God our allegiance, our love,
our devotion, our praise. Let us rejoice
that He has given us the freedom to think and act as individuals. Let us show our gratitude to Him by living
according to principle, according to His Word.