2007 Issue 4-5 - Here We Raise Our Ebenezer at Jamestown Virginia - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/11/2019 2007 Issue 4-5 - Here We Raise Our Ebenezer at Jamestown Virginia - Counsel of Chalcedon

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ere

We Raise

Our benezer at

Janaestovvn \Tirginia

Joseph lI1 orecrqft III

Oorne thou

1i'oun(;

ql' every blessing, Tune

my

heart

t:o

sing thy grace;

Strea7ns qf nwrcy never ceasi'ng, GaJl.fbr songs qf loudest praise.

Teach rne sorne m.elodiO'l.I.8 sonnet, 8wng by fla1nirl fj ton,fj'l.Les abc) oe;

Praise

(;he

nwunt

11rn

fixed

upon

it,

1I1rntnt: qf

Clod

redeern'i-ng love

.flere I raIse nw Ebene:z:;er; I-fitheT by ( ; h ~ help I'm. corne;

And 1hope, by thY good pleasu.re, 8qfe{v to ctrT'ive

at:

lunne.

Jesus

sOlf ght

1ne when

a

s t r a , f l l J e 1 ~ rVa:nd'rin,g/rorn the/old qf Goel:

He

to

1 eSCUe

nw.fiorn.

da/nger. h. t;eTposed

his pTeo'ious blood.

o

to

gnwe

ho'w g-reat: a debtoT Daily

I'm.

constraIneel to be,

Let that gn-ice

1UYW, li ?-e

a,fetter, Bind 111[V 'teJanci'1ing hem t

to

thee.

Prone to w a n d e 1 ~ Lonl,

lfeel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

HeTe:

1ny

heart, tahe

and

sea.l it, Seal it;for

thy

co'urts above.

TRINITYliYMNAL, p. 400

King David was a

student

of

history. Thinking about God s

wonderful aots

in the

history of

God s people enoouraged hinl

in

his own struggles. He wrote

songs of God s viotories so those

people might oontinue down

through their generations to

glorify God and to work for the

advanoe of God s kingdOln over

all the earth. Here are David s

own words in Psahn145:

I lIm:ll extol

You, n ~ v

God, 0 I{ing

And I 'will bless

Ybu,r

na1ne jore'ver

and

eve1:

/Eve1)' da.V I 'lQ,,ill bless Ybu.,

And I 'will pra:ise Your

narne

OTeVe1

and

e've?:

A[a,king the Ncxti01is Ghrist s Disciples

reat

is

the LORD, and

high(y

to

be

pra

ised;

And IIis greatness is

unsearohable.

One

geltera,t,1:on

shall praise

Your 'W01' ?,S to a.nother,

And shall deelare

Ibu1

rnight.y acts,

On

the glorious splendor

qf'

Your rnajesty,

And on }70'u.'1'

'(Q)onde1jul

're'orhs,

J 'teJill m.editate.

And

1nen shall speak qf the

power

q/

Your awesome aots;

.And I'12-,ill tell

qf

Yonr gl'eatness.

rthey shall eager(y utter

the m.enuny

oj

bU1

abundant

goodness,

And

shaJI shont O:xf11l(V

qf

Ihnr righteousness.

Th.e

LORD is graeiou,s

and

m

erO'fiu1;

Blow to anger

and

great;

1:n,lovingkind1tess.

The LORD is good to all,

And His nwroies

(t'1'e

o'ver all I-fls 'work.s.

All

YonT

W01 hs

stwJl gi've

thanhs

t;o

1o.u

0

LORD,

.luut l iJur

god(V

ones

shctll bless Yhu..

They sh,all speah qf the

glory

qf

Your h'i:ngdol1 L,

And

talk

qf 1'fJu.1" p O l e e l ~

To ma./?'e

known

to the sons

27


2/17

8

Here

e

Raise

Our

Ebenezer

qf men

Yi:n l :r n ~ i h t y

acts,

And

the

glO J:Y

ql the majesty

ofYowr ]?ingdom.

Y ntr

kingd01n is an

e verlasting kingdorrt,

.A.nd Your dorn/tnion endwres

thnntghou,t ll genenxtions.

We have

gathered here

today

to fulfill the prophecy of

this

psalm: to

praise

our God for

His works from one generation

to

another

to declare His

mighty acts to

meditate

on

the

glorious splendor of

His majesty, to tell of His

greatness to give thanks

to

Him and

to

speak

of

the

glory of His

kingdom and

of

His power, to

make known

to

our children the

glory

and

majesty

of His everlasting

kingdom that

endures

throughout all generations.

For

never

has God s

undeserved

goodness,

grace

and

mercy been more

unforgettably

displayed

than

in the

founding of

Jamestown

Virginia.

Furthermore

God said

in

Proverbs 22:28 and

23:10-12-

Do

not

move the

ancient

landmark

which your fathers

have set. -- Do

not

move

the

ancient landmark or

go into

the

fields of

the

fatherless; for

their

Redeemer

is strong; He

will plead

their

case against

you. Apply

your heart

to

discipline, and

your

ears

to words of knowledge.

The LORD sub-divided

the

Land

of

Promise

among

the

Twelve Tribes of Israel

with

each

allotment having

distinct

boundaries. These allotments,

sovereignly

distributed

by

the

LORD, were to

remain in

the

various

tribes and in the

families of

their descendants.

Therefore, these boundary

markers,

or

land-marks

were

sacred,

because

the Law

of the Lord says: You shall

not

move

your

neighbor s

boundary mark which the

ancestors have set,

in your

inheritance which you

shall

inherit in the land

that

the

LORD

your

God gives you

to possess. --

Cursed

is he

who moves

his

neighbor s

boundary

mark. And all

the

people

shall

say, Amen,

Deuteronomy 19:14; 27:17.

Centuries

later the

prophet

Hosea applied

these

laws

and

proverbs to

his situation in

5:10-

The princes

of

Judah

have become like those who

move a

boundary; on them

I

will

pour out

y wrath like

water. The political leadership

of

Judah

was breaking down

the

antithesis between

right

and

wrong, truth and

falsehood, Jehovah and Baal;

and thereby

encouraging

the

people

to

evil and apostasy.

Our culture like Hosea s, is

busy

tearing

down

the ancient

landmarks that commemorate

the

display of God s grace

and

power

in our

heritage.

t

is

ignoring

and

reinterpreting

what God

has

done in

our

history to

bring us

where we

are today.

This

revision of

history has

as

its

purpose

to

leave

the impression with our

youth that history is on the

side of anti-christianity

rather

than

Biblical Christian ity.

You and I

must

resist and

overcome all

attempts

of

our

culture to

cut

itself loose

from the past, from solid

historical precedents

and

milestones, like the founding of

Jamestown as a

beachhead

of

Christianity in

the

new world,

from

tried

and

proven guides

in truth and

ethics,

such

as

the

Protestant Reformation

and

English

Puritanism in

the 16th

and

17th centuries,

and

from

the

absolute moral

standard

of God s law. Today s

western culture

has

broken

down the

barriers

between

right and wrong, between

God

and

false gods; and in

doing this it is murdering

Western Civilization.

The

removal of

the

old

landmarks

of history,

truth

and morals

has

been the major

goal of humanistic education,

politics and

jurisprudence in

the

20th and 21st

centuries.

The old landmarks

are

being replaced with

new

re

interpreted

and

relativistic

ones; and relativistic

landmarks are

not

landmarks

at

all. With

the

old ones

removed and

the

new ones

in

place, all is fluid, nothing

is certain right is wrong,

heaven is hell, God is Satan.

These Biblical texts call us

not only to resist the removal

of the old landmarks

but

also

to work diligently to

maintain

them in our

generation,

in

our

sons

and our

grandsons

generations. We

must

work

to preserve them as the

foundation upon which our

posterity can build

their

future.

We

are encouraged

in

this task because

our

texts tells

us

that

God s almighty power

is engaged for

the

protection of

the

old landmarks, and those

proud

and

powerful people

in

The (}ounsel qf Chaleedmt


3/17

church,

school

and state

who

reinove and r e ~ i n t e r p r e t the

old landmarks will

not

only

find that they are no Inatoh for

the God of truth

and

history,

they

also set themselves

at

peril

by their evil designs.

We have come here to reolahn

an old landmark by celebrating

and erecting a

monument

to declare to the world for

generations the greatness

of

our

God

in

the founding

of JaInestown, Virginia.

By

the

way, my favorite

historical marker

in

Georgia

is

in

Macon, Georgia outside

the

front door of

the

First

Presbyteri an Church. The

Inarker informs all passers

by

that after AppOlnatox, Union

General Jaines 'Vilson required

the oitizens of Macon to

gather

in

First Church for a

Thanksgiving service that

the war was over and that the

Yankees had won. He

ordered

the

pastor

of the

church

to

lead

the

service,

but

he refused

beoause of the nl0ckery of the

occasion. Then, the Inarker

infonns us that Rev. Franois

R.

Goulding led

the

service

which

consisted of his reading Psahn

37 For they

that carried

us

away oaptive required of us

a song ..

How

oan we sing the

Lord's song in a foreign land ..

Ereoting monuments and

historioalmarkers

to oelebrate

the hand

of God

in the

lives

of Inen

and

women in our

history is essential to the

preservation and advance of

Christian civilization down

through our generations. 'Ve

have

seen

this to be

true tit11e

and again

in

the history of

God's people in the Bible.

lYlaking

the

NaLio'ns Ghrist's Disciples

First, remember ,,,hen God

tested AbrahaIn's faith in

the

pr01l1ised seed

by

ordering

hitl1

to sacrifice Isaac on an

altar on Mt. Moriah, Genesis

22? Do you reinember ,,,hat

Abraham

did after God

stopped hitl1 from offering his

son

and

provided a

ranl to

be

sacrificed as a

burnt

offering

in his place?

Then

Abrahaul

called the naIne of that place,

"The LORD will prOVide,

(Jehovah Jireh), as it is said

to

this

day,

In

the mount of

the LORD it will be provided,

Genesis 22:14. And

because

Abrahanl

passed

his test, God

oonfinned His promise to

hinl by saying, "By Myself I

have sworn," says the LORD,

"because you have done this,

and have

not

withheld

your

son, your only son, indeed I

will greatly bless you, and I

will greatly nlltltiply your

seed

eneI11ies. And

in

your

seed

all

the nations of the earth shall

be blessed, beoause you have

obeyed

My

voioe, 22:16-18.

By

giving that plaoe of

sacrifice the naIne, Jehovah

Jireh, AbrahaIl1 was

COnll11eI11orating

the great

deliverance Jehovah

had

provided for his son. Jehovah

provided. Jehovah's provi sion

took care of everything

This oonllnelnorative naIl1e

continued to affect generations

of Abraham's

desoendants. t

beCaIl1e a proverbial

phrase

in

Israel: The LORD will prOVide.

It taught the people of

God

to

expeot something yet to COlne.

God would continue to provide

for theIn;

but

supreI11ely

He would provide for

their

salvation by the

sending

of His

Son, Jesus, the Messiah, to be

the

substitutionary

sacrifioe,

turning away God's wrath

.L-R: A ~ U t

Friedrich k erey, Joe : Bechy 1rwecntJ't

as the

stars

of the heavens,

and as the

sand

which is on

the seashore;

and your seed

shall possess the gate of their

and saving

thenl

fr0111 their

sins, so that through faith in

Hinl they might be oounted

as righteous before God.

9


4/17

Here

e

Raise Our benezer

Then

God encouraged obedient

Abraham

by

reaffirming His

promise

to

him that through

the

sacrifice and resurrection

of

Jesus

Christ, typified

in

the

"sacrifice

and

resurrection

of

Isaac, the whole world would

experience

the blessings of

salvation

in

fulfillment of

God's covenant: and in your

Seed

all the nations of

the

earth shall be blessed.

What

a landmark What a

brilliant thing

Abraham did

that

day

by

naming that location

"Jehovah Jireh,"

because by

that

landmark-name, Abraham

preached the gospel of Christ

to generation after generation

Second, do you remember

the

wrestling match between

Jacob

and the Angel of the

LORD recorded

in

Genesis

32?

God crippled Jacob

that

day to humble him, and to

teach

him

that he had

better

be

more concerned with Jehovah

than worrying about Esau.

This place was of

such

significance to Israel that Jacob

commemorated the place of his

encounter with

God

by naming

it

Peniel, for

he

said, "I have

seen God face to face, yet my

life

has

been preserved," 32:30.

Penier'

means the

Face of

God." Having encountered

the Jiving God and survived

meant that he

could now face

Esau and

his approaching

army and

not

turn away

in

fear. By giving

this

place the

Qommemorative name of Peniel,

Jacob, now Israel, is making

sure

that

the memory of God's

grace should never

perish

from Jacob's descendants.

Third, the LORD miraculously

parted

the Jordan

River to

enable the

armies

of Israel

commanded

by Joshua to

enter Canaan to conquer

it,

Joshua

3:13f.

That

was

an

unmistakable

sign of

the

LORD's

continuing presence

with His people.

In

spite of

the

past

forty years of failures

on

the

part of Israel, the LORD is

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just

as faithful to His people

at

the Jordan

River, as He was

to His people at the Red Sea.

The passing of time and the

sins of Israel did

not

cause

God's mercy to wear

thin

or

grow old. f this were not

true,

Jamestown would never have

been permanently settled.

In Joshua 4:1 after Israel

had completely crossed the

Jordan

River "on

dry

land,"

the LORD

told Joshua:

Take for yourselves twelve

men

from the people, one man from

each tribe,

and

command them,

saying, "Take up for yourselves

twelve stones from here out of

the middle of the Jordan, from

the place where the priests' feet

are

standing firm, and carry

them over with you, and lay

The Counsel of Ghalcedon


5/17

them

down

in the

lodging plaoe

where you will lodge tonight."

So Joshua oalled the twelve

men Wh0111 he had appointed

fr0111 the sons of Israel, one l11an

fl 0111

eaoh tribe;

and

Joshua

said to them, "Cross again to

the

ark

of the LORD your God

into the l11iddle of the Jordan,

and eaoh of you take up a stone

on his shoulder, aooording to

the

number

of

the

tribes of the

sons of Israel. Let this be a

sign among you, so that

when

your ohildren ask later, saying,

'What do these stones mean

to you?' then

you

shall say

to

them, 'Beoause

the

waters of

the Jordan were out off before

the ark of the oovenant of the

LORD when it orossed the

Jordan, the ,vaters of the Jordan

were out off.' So

these

stones

shall be00111e a l11emorial to

the sons of Israel forever."

These menlorial stones, or

historioall11arker, would

be

"a sign

al110ng

you." The

Hebrew word for "sign" also

means 111el11orial, and its

pri111ary

purpose was for

future generations: Let this

be a sign

al110ng

you, so that

when your ohildren ask later,

saying, ""That do these stones

mean

to you?' then you shall

say to thel11, 'Beoause

the

waters of

Jordan

were out off

before

the ark

of

the

oovenant

of

the

LORD

when it

orossed

the Jordan

.. " God's aots

of salvation on His people's

behalf must be perpetuated

in the mel110ry of ooming

generations, so our desoendants

will remel11ber with loving

refleotion and faithful aotion

the

display of God's graoe

in

behalf of

their

anoestors.

Then, in Joshua

4 : 2 0 ~ 2 4

we

aking the Nations Ghrist s Disciples

read that the twelve l11em,orial

stones whioh

they

had

taken

frol11

the

Jordan

River were

set

up

again

at

Gilgal,

the

first plaoe Israel oal11ped

after

orossing

the

o r d a n ~

(20)

And

those twelve

stones

which

they had taken

fr0111

the

Jordan, Joshua

set

up at Gilgal.

(21) And he said

to

the

sons

of

Israel, "When your children

ask

their fathers

in

tit11e to

COl11e, saying,

hat are

these

stones?' (22) then you shall

inforI11

your ohildren, saying,

'Israel orossed this Jordan

011

dry

ground.' (23) For

the

LORD your God

dried

up the

waters of the Jordan before

you until you

had

orossed, just

as the LORD

your

God had

done to the Red Sea, whioh

He dried up before us until we

had

crossed; (24) that all

the

peoples of the

earth

l11ay know

that

the

hand of the LORD is

l11ighty,

so that you

l11ay

fear

the LORD your

God

forever.

'hat

was

the

signifioance

of this pile of stones , this

historioalmarker,

this ancient

landl11ark? Our

text

says

that

it

served two purposes.

Its first purpose was

to

tranSl11it

the

knowledge of our oovenant

heritage to future generations

in order that they

l11ight

have a

l11el11ory and

a sound

foundation on whioh

to

develop

what was begun by

their

fathers

and

nl0thers. lt11agine a godly

Israelite taking his children

to

the

twelve stones

at

Gilgal

and saying: "Look

These

stones were taken up out of the

Jordan. I was there. I saw

it

happen," Then

the

grandfather

would tell the grandchild, and,

though the people gradually

died off, the story would go on.

Here e Raise Our benezer

We

should

always

be

"piling

up

l11el11orial

stones to

retnind coming generations

of the work of our God in

previous generations. Our

posterity

l11USt be

firI111y

and

knowledgeably rooted in

the PAST so they can l110ve

Victoriously into the FUTURE,

being

obedient

to

Christ

in

the PRESENT. People without

a sense of history, without

roots, are often recklessly

and

irresponsibly present

oriented," with no

regard

for

oonsequenoes in the future.

The seoond

purpose

of

these stones was to tell the

world's nations

that Jehovah

is

uniquely

different fronl

all

other

gods, whioh nlen

worship. He real ly exists. He

is the living God. He is the

Ah11ighty, sovereign God,

who lives with His people

and who governs the world

to

guarantee the fulfillnlent of all

His pr0111ises

in

and anl0ng His

people. He governs the world

for the

sake

of His people.

Here in

Joshua : 2 ~ 2 4

is a

propheoy

that,

as God's people

faithfully l11ark

and

declare

the

l11ighty aots of God in

their

history

shOWing His

oovenant faithfulness, all the

people of the earth will know

the providential hand of God

in

the

life and history of His

people, and will fear the LORD

your

God forever.

This

pr0111ise

looks beyond

the

geographical

boundaries of

Canaan and

the

ethnio qualities of Israel to a

day when l11en and nations, of

vast ethnio

and

geographical

backgrounds, will know

and

fear Jehovah

in

Christ. We

have gathered

here today

hUl11bly to beseeoh God

to

31


6/17

Here

l Ve

Raise O ur Ebe ne.zer

be

faithful

to this

promise

in

the lives of our children.

Fourth, in

I Samuel

7: 2

we

see another incident

of raising

historical markers

celebrating

God's goodness to His

people-

Then

Samuel took a stone

and set t between

Mizpah

and

Shen,

and named it

Ebenezer, saying, Thus far

the LORD

has

helped us.

The remarkable

victory of Israel

over the Philistines could

not

be

allowed to

sink

into oblivion.

Therefore

Samuel

also

erected

a

monument,

a memorial

stone, to

commemorate

God's

mighty

acts

in

Israel's behalf

in order

to

instruct

and

encourage future

generations.

The marker did not

contain

the names of

the

heroic dead,

but

the

name of the living

God of grace who delivered

Israel. Therefore, the stone

was

named,

Ebenezer,

which

means

stone of

the

Helper,

because

Jehovah is

their

help

and

their shield, Psalm 115:9-11

The

erection

of the memorial

stone

was

an

expression of

gratitude for God's help, and

a

permanent monument

to

perpetuate

the

memory of His

help. But it was much more.

The

phrase,

Thus

far,

in

Samuel's

statement,

Thus

far

has the

LORD helped

us,

implies

an

unbroken

succession of interventions

and deliverances by God

in

the history

of Israel, thereby

linking

the present events

with Israel's past, forming

a witness to

the

enduring

faithfulness

and

mercy of a

covenant-keeping God.

But

there

is

something

strange

about this

phrase, considering

the

immediate circumstances.

How could Samuel have

forgotten

about

the

most recent

tragedies

at

Shiloh:

the

capture

of

the ark

of

the

covenant

by

the Philistines,

the death

of

Eli,

the

high priest, and his

two sons, along

with

the wife

of

one

of them,

and

the victory of

the Philistines plundering and

destroying Shiloh,

with

such

severity that

it

was given the

name,

Ichobod, i.e., the glory of

God

has

departed?

How could

Samuel have

erased an entire

chapter

from Israel's history?

With all

this

fresh

on

his mind,

how could

he

honestly say,

Thus far has the

LORD helped us?

Samuel knew

And it

appears

that

there was

more need

for chastenings

in order

for God's people to

accomplish the goals to which

God

had

called them. Happy

are

those

people, who full of

confidence

in the

faithfulness

and

love of God,

can take

a

similar view of His providentia l

dealings with them.

With all the apparent defeats

and

set-backs God's people

have experienced in

the

20th

Century

and early

21st

Century, we can still

face

the

future confident of

victory, still declaring

to

the

all this. Even in

the midst

of

the

devastation

at

Shiloh,

the Lord

was helping

them,

helping them to

know themselves

and

their

sins,

and helping

them

to know the bitter

Rev. JoewloTecnift Douglas Phillips

fruit

and severe,

but

just, punishment of sin. He

was helping

them

to achieve

the great purpose for which He

had

called them: to keep alive

the

knowledge of

the

one, true

God

and His worship, until

the

great messianic promise

should

be

fulfilled,

when Christ

would come

in whom

all

the

families of

the

earth were to be

blessed.

The links in this

long

chain

of divine interventions

implied

by

Samuel's

thus

far were not all of

the

same

kind. Some were

in

the form

watching world: Thus far

has

the

Lord helped us, for

our

God does

not

change.

In

I Samuel 7:3-4, Samuel

calls Israel to national

repentance- If

you return to

the LORD with all your heart,

remove

the

foreign gods

and

the

Ashtaroth from among you

and

direct your hearts to the

LORD and serve Him alone;

and

He will deliver you from

the hand

of the Philistines.

So

the

sons of Israel removed

the

Baals

and

Ashtaroth

and

of merciful deliverances, others served

the

LORD alone.

were in the form of chastenings.

Through the

Spirit-empowered

The

Counsel

ql lhalcedon


7/17

preaching

of

S3ll1uel, Israel

repented

and experienoed

true national revival. She

abandoned her idolatry,

destroyed the monUl11ents

conll11enlOrating idolatry,

and

gave herself to the servioe and

worship of Jehovah.

'Vhat

a

great day this was Israel was

beoOl11ing, by God's graoe, what

God had oalled her to be: a

faithful nation in oovenant

with

her

Lord and Savior.

The 'Vestminster Larger

Oateohisnl

Q 108 on the

seoond oOl11mandment lis ts

as

one

of

the

duties

required

of us by

that

oonll11andment:

aooording to eaoh one's plaoe

and

calling, removing .. all

nlonUl11ents of idolatry.

The

phrase , nl0numents of idolatry,

refers to any mOntll11ent,

plaque, historioall11arker,

institution, publication or

practice

that

preserves

the

nlenl0ry of that idolatry

or

that l11ight seduce people

to

return

to it. This

nleans

that

it

is

the

God-given duty

of individuals, fanlilies,

churches, conll11unities

and nations to

re1110ve

all

nl0nUl11ents of idolatry fr0111

a culture, according to eaoh

one's plaoe and calling,

lawfully, and not

in

a reckless

or an irresponsible l11anner.

Whenever Israel experienced

periods of Spirit-produced

revival

and

reformation

by

the

'Vord

of

God,

such

nl0numents dedicated to

"religious pluralisnl" were

rel11oved,

II Chronicles

15:8-

19; II Ohronicles 31:1; II Kings

18:4-7; II Ohronicles 23:16-17;

II Chronicles

34:2-7, 33. There

can be

no comprOl11ise. The

expunging of these nlonUl11ents

of idolatry must

be

total.

1t1. xhing the ations Ghrist 8 isciples

God alone is God,

and

He

will

not

share His glory with

another . He denlands of

us

that

we

become

"wholly and

only" His. Our forefathers

dedioated

us

to

the triune

God by oovenant time and

again.

Our

republio was

frol11

its beginning dedicated to the

God of

the

Bible, and if ,ve

dedioate ourselves to another

god, or fail tD give

Hh11 the

worship and service He is

due, God will dedicate us to

destruotion, as He

has

done

to nlany peoples

in the

past.

All nl0nUl11ents of idolatry

are to

be

taken do,vn for two

reasons: they re111ind and they

nl0ve. They renlind

in

that

they preserve

the l11el11ory

of

idols in people's nlinds.

They

allow people to rel11el11ber

those things that ought

not

to

be even n3l11ed

an

ong us, but

should lie

buried in the eternal

darkness of silent oblivion."

George Gillespie, A DISPUTE

AGAINST THE ENGLISH

POPISH OEREMONIES

OBTRUDED UPON THE

CHUROH OF SOOTLAND.

They nl0ve

in

that

they

often

nl0ve people to turn back to

the

idolatry of hUl11anisnl and

statisnl. These renlinders

not

only allow

the l11el11ory

of

the

superstitions

they represent

to continue anlong

the

people,

but l11any

th11es

that

l11el11ory,

imagination

and

curiosity

seduce people to reSUl11e

the

superstition and idolatry,

DeuteronOl11Y

7:25-26; 12:29 .30.

The

point

is

that in

order for

nl0ntll11ents conll11el11orating

God's l11ighty acts to

accOl11plish

their purpose,

all

I11DnUl11ents

conll11el11orating

idolatry nUlst be discredited

Here n e Raise UT

Ebene:..--;er

and

rel11oved.

Our

God will not

share

His glory

with

another

Therefore,

in

I

S3l11uel

7:5-6, Sal11uel

oalled for a

publio assel11bly for national

confession, repentance, and

oovenant renewal

with

o -

Then Sal11uel said, Gather

aU

Israel to Mizpah, and I will

pray

to the LORD for you." And

they gathered to Mizpah,

and

drew water and poured it

out

before the LORD,

and

fasted

on

that

day,

and

said there,

"'Ve have

sinned

against the

LORD." Four iI11portant

things

happened

at

that gathering:

1).

The prayer of S3ll1uel

in

which

he interceded

before

God

in

behalf of His people

that

He would

return in l11ercy

and

grace to His

undeserving

people; (2).

The

draWing

and

pouring

out .of water

before

the

LORD

by

Israel. Obviously

this

sYl11bolized

the

people's

pouring

out

of

their hearts

like water

in

confession of

sin and repentance

before

the

LORD.

t

was

an act

of

deepest

hUl11iliation before

the LORD. (3).

The

fasting

of Israel on that day, giving

additional expression

to her

humiliat ion for

her

sin, her

Willingness to repent, and

her

desire for forgiveness

and

restoration

by

God.

4).

The national oonfession of

sin, which ,vas a

gathering

up

and sunll11arizing of

the

confessions and rededications

of the entire nation. This

corporate confession of

sin

l11ay have

been

siI11ilar to that

corporate and twice daily

confession of sin

in

J3l11estown

at

every changing of

the guard

during

the

adl11inistration

of Sir ThOlllas Dale:

33


8/17

4

Here Raise Owr Ebeneze r

And

thou our

Father

of all

mercies, that

hast called us

unto thee, hear us

and

pity

thy

poor servants, we have indeed

sinned

wondrously against

thee through

our

blindness

of mind,

prophaneness

of

spirit, hardness of heart,

self love, worldliness, carnal

lusts, hypocrisy, pride, vanity,

unthankfulness, infidelity,

and

other

our

nature

corruptions,

which being bred in us, and

with us, have defiled us even

from

the

womb, and

unto this

day, and have broken

out

as

plague sores into

innumerable

transgressions

of all

thy

holy

laws, the good ways whereof

we have willfully declined,)

and

have

many

times displeased

thee, and our own consciences

in

choosing those things

which

thou hast

most justly

and severely forbidden us.

And besides all this we have

outstood

the

gracious time

and means

of our conversion,

or

at least

not

stooped

and

humbled

ourselves before thee ,

as we ought, although we have

wanted none of those helps,

which

thou

vouchsafest

unto

thy wandering

children

to fetch

them home withal, for we have

had

together with

thy glorious

work, thy word calling upon is

without, and

thy spirit

within,

and have been solicited by

promises, by threatenings, by

blessings, by

chasti

sings and

by

examples,

on

all hands:

And

yet

our

corrupted spirits

cannot

become wise before

thee, to

humble themselves,

and

to take heed as we ought,

and wish to do. Wherefore 0

Lord

God, we do acknowledge

thy

patience

to have been

infinite and incomparable, in

that

thou hast been able

to

hold thy hands from revenging

thy self upon us thus long, and

yet pleasest to hold

open

the

door of grace, that might

come

in

unto

thee

and be saved.

And now 0 blessed Lord God,

we are desirous

to

come

unto

thee, how wretched soever

in

our selves, yea our very

wretchedness sends us

unto

thee with whom the fatherless,

and

he that has no helper

finds mercy, we

come

to thee

in

thy

Son's name not daring

to

come

in our own:

In

his

name that came for us, we

come

to

thee,

in

his

mediation

whom

thou has

sent: In

him

o Father,

in

whom thou hast

professed thyself to be well

pleased, we come unto thee,

and do most humbly beseech

thee to pity us, and to save us

for thy mercies sake in him.

After this day of public

repentance,

Israel, a revived

nation, experienced victory in a

third war with the Philistines, I

Samuel

7:7-14.

Having

already

defeated

them in

battle, the

Philistines invaded Israel.

When the Israelites heard of

it, they were fearful, but they

did not act out of fear, they

acted in faith in the LORD. At

this point in her history, Israel

was in a different spiritual

condition than she was earlier

when

she suffered defeat

at

the hands

of the Philistines.

The

situation

could

not

have

been more different. They

requested Samuel to pray for

them-Do

not

cease to cry

to the LORD our God for us,

that He may save us from the

hand of the Philistines, 7:8.

Samuel responded

by

offering

a burnt offering to the LORD,

because

without the shedding

of blood

there

is no forgiveness

of sins,

and

then proceeded to

intercede

in

prayer with God

for Israel-and Samuel cried

to the LORD for Israel, and

the

LORD answered him,

7:9.

And

then,

what happened next

is thrilling: Now Samuel was

offering up the burnt offering,

and

the Philistines drew near

to battle against Israel. But the

LORD thundered with a great

thunder

on

that

day against

the Philistines

and

confused

them, so

that they

were

routed before Israel,

7:9,10.

To

commemorate

this massive

defeat of the Philistines in

answer to Samuel's prayer

for spi ritually revived Israel,

Samuel took a stone and set

it between Mizpah and Shen,

and named it Ebenezer, saying,

"Thus far the LORD has helped

us,"

7:12.

The result of this

famous incident was

that

the

Philistines were subdued and

they

did

not come

any more

within

the border

of Israel.

And the hand

of

the

LORD

was against the Philistines

all the days of Samuel, 7:13.

What

a remarkable story I

hope w will never forget

it In fact, I

pray that

as we

raise this commemorative

monument to

the

courageous

founders of Jamestown,

Virginia, that beginning in

this place we will see similar

things

happen

to

us

and

to

our beloved nation: renewed

repentance, Spirit-produced

revival and reformation,

victory over our enemies and

the resounding defeat

and

removal of antichristianity

from the borders of our nation

to the praise

and

glory of

the God of the Bible besides

The

ounsel

qf C;halcerlon


9/17

Wh0111 there is no other god.

We have come here today

in thanksgiving to God to

conllllelllorate

and

celebr(lte

the good hand of God in the

lives of the

men

and women

who first settled Jalllestown,

Virginia. As John Tyler, the

tenth president of the United

States, and who,

later

in

life, was elected to represent

Virginia in the Congress

of the Confederate States

of Alllerica, said,

in

1857,

in

his speech at

the

250th

anniversary

celebration of

the

settling of Jamestown:

The 111elllory of a glorious

ancestry

should

be

kept

bright in

the recollections

of their posterity; and their

noble daring in the cause of

civilization, and brave resolves

in favor of freed0111 should

be

recounted from generation

to

generation. -- f there ever

v{ere 111en worthy to be held

in

relllelllbrance,

they

were those

who

settled

this now flourishing

country,

and

incorporated with

its

very

soil

the

principles of

hUlllan

right-what wonderful

results have arisen fr0111 that

event which we have 111et here

to celebrate? A snlall body

of 111en planted on this spot

the

seed

of a mighty el11pire.

It sprung up, its growth at

first sickly, and often near

perishing, but finally it grew

and

flourished

until

at

this

day

millions of

the hUl11an fal11ily

shelter under its

branches,

and

its leaves are

watered

by the dews of two oceans.

--

hat

if the inscriptions on

the

nl0nUl11ents erected over

the

dead be rendered illegible

by til11e and the nl0ntll11ents

the111selves be in fragnlents;

lHaJ? ing

the ]\fa tions

Christ s

Disciples

yet

is there a glory enCircling

those ruins, and

arising

f1 0111

the earth on

which those

adventurers trod,

which

decay

cannot reach, and which

the

lapse of

centuries can

only

111ake

more

il11posing.

Vve

are

here to do

them

reverence, and

in

the silent

language of

the

heart to utter thanksgiving and

praise to our Heavenly Parent

for the great benefits which,

under his good providence,

their hardy

and successful

adventures have conferred

upon us and upon the world.

Here Hre Raise Our Ebenezer

through two

hundred

and fifty

years;

and

il11plore

that Great

Being who so often

and

signally

preserved

thenl

through

trials

and difficulties, to continue

to

our

country

His

protecting

guardianship and care.

Let us be absolutely

clear

about what we have C0111e

here

to COnll11e1110rate celebrate

and 111emorialize for future

generations: the ah11ighty,

undeserved

and

sovereign

grace

of the triune God nlanifested

-- I-Iere 3111id

the

graves of our

ancestors, we renew

our

pledges

to

those

principles of self

govenll11ent, which have been

consecrated by their eXal11ples

in the settling of

Janlestown,

Virginia. What happened here

and what its consequences have

been in this

continent

were the

results

not

of the desserts of the

111en

who first arrived

here

in

1607 and thereafter, but of the

e Promote

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35


10/17

6

Here

Raise

Otlr Ebene. 0er

sheer

grace of God to

undeserving sinners. When

you

study the good history

books

about

Jamestown,

and

many are available, nothing

could be more obvious.

When

you read

about this

settlement

and

its

history, or walk around

its landscape remembering

what has grown from this

place, all you will be able to

say over and again is: Praise

God for His grace Praise

God for His mercy Praise

God for His goodness Praise

God for His power Praise

God

for His wisdom Praise

God for His amazing grace

We praise God that

Virginia and

New England were permanently

settled by English

Puritans

and

not

by the French who settled

much of

Canada or the

Spanish

that settled

the Caribbean,

Central

and South America,

whose anti-Protestant religion

always produces tyrannies

and cultures of superstition.

We praise God for the vision

he

gave men like Richard

Hakluyt,

more

responsible

than

any

man

in his time for

the

English colonization of

the America, that led to

the

establishing of the Virginia

Company responsible for

the founding of Jamestown.

Haklukt said in 1584:

Wee shall

by

plantinge [in

America] inlarge the glory

of

the

gospel. ..and provide a

safe and sure place to receave

people from all

partes

of

the

worlds

that

are forced to flee

for

the

truthe of Gods warde.

We

praise God for the first

charter of the Virginia

Company in 1606 that

spelled out

the purpose

for

the settling of Virginia:

We,

greatly commending, and

graciously accepting of, their

Desires for the

Furtherance

of so noble a Work, which

may, by the Providence of

Almighty God,

hereafter tend

to

the Glory of His Divine

Majesty,

in

propagating of

Christian

Religion

to

such

People, as

yet

live in Darkness

and miserable Ignorance

of

the

true Knowledge and

Worship of God, and may in

time bring the Infidels and

Savages, living in those parts,

to

human

CiVility,

and

to a

settled and quiet Government;

DO, by

these

our

Letters,

Patents, graciously accept

of,

and agree to,

their

humble

and well-intended Desires.

We praise God for the

Virginia Company's added

statement A True and Sincere

Declaration," spelling

out

the

The ounsel

qf

Ghalced(Ht


11/17

principal

and

main end

of

the settling

of

Virginia:

[The settlers] were first to

preach and baptize into the

Christ ian religion, and by

propagation of

the

Gospel, to

recover

out

of

the

arms of

the

Devil, a nUlllber of poor and

miserable souls, wrapt up

unto

death

in

a11110st invincible

ignorance;

to

endeavor the

fulfilling an accomplishment

of the

nUl11ber of the

elect

which shall be gathered fr0111

all corners of the

earth

..

We praise God for Captain

John SI11ith without whon1

J al11estown would have died

in its birth. God used hiIll to

keep the original inhabitants

of JaIllestown frolll self

destructing from 1607 to

1609. He

protected then1

fron1 the Powatan Indians. He

established commerce with

the Powatans, obtaining food

fr0111 then1 to keep the people at

Jal11estown alive. John Sn1ith

spent n10nths exploring and

mapping the Chesapeake region

and conducting both diplO111acy

and hard bargaining with the

Powatans. During the one

year

that

he served as leader

of the colony,

John SI11ith

brought order and discipline to

JaIllestown, impleillenting the

policy: 'He who will

not

work,

shall not eat.' - Bill Potter, THE

HISTORY OF JAMESTOWN

THE PROCEEDINGS OF

THE ENGLISH COLONIE OF

VIRGINIA, written in 1612,

says of John Smith's character

after his departure from

JaIllestown: Thus we los t hin1

that, in all his proceedings,

made Jus tice his first guid, and

experience his second; ever

hating basenesse, sloth, pride

MaJdng the

Nfl tions Ghrist s Disciples

and

indignitie n10re than any

dangers; that

never allowed

l110re

for hiIllselfe than his

souldiers with hhll;

that

upon

no danger would send then1

where he would not lead thelll

hhllselfe;

that

would never see

us want [lack] what

either

had,

or could an

111eans

get for us;

that he

would rather

want

[do

without] than borrow, or starve

than not pay; that loved actions

n10re than words, and

hated

falsehood and [cowardace]

worse than death; whose

adventures were

our

lives

and whose loss our deaths.

His writings

are peppered

with

statel11ents

that

ren1ind us

of Stonewall

Jackson

and his

finll faith in the sovereignty

and providence of God. He

speaks of God as the absolute

disposer of all hear ts, who

by

l11eans

of the settlers ships

and guns, caused then1 [the

Indians] to retire. Sicknesses

in Jal11estown

on

one occasion

he

attributed to the fact of

God being angry

with

us

and therefore plagued us with

such

faIlline

and

sickness.

While

l11any

others died, John

SI11ith

hhllself recovered

fr0111

an

extrel11e sickness only

by God's assistance. The

Indians were n10ved to

trade

with the settlers thereby saving

thel11 fr0111 starvation because

dG

d

please 0 to l110ve

thel11 to do so. (All of these

references

are

fr0111

Sll1ith's

book, A TRUE RELATION.)

John SI11ith's last will and

testaIllent states: First, I

conllllend Illy soul

into

the

hands of Ahllighty God Illy

l11aker, hoping through

the

Iller its of

Christ

Jesus Illy

Redeel11er to receive full

Here

e

Raise

ur

benezer

rel11ission of all n1y sins,

and

to

inherit

a

place

in

the

everlasting kingd0111.

We praise God for Pocahontas,

daughter of the

great

el11peror of

the

Powatans,

Wahunsonacock, for the n1ajor

role she played

in

the survival

of

the

fledgling J aIllestown. As

a young girl she rescued John

Sll1ith

fr0111

death at the hands

of

her

own people, by placing

herself

between

Sn1ith and his

would-be killers. She would

bring food

fr0111 the

Powatans

to J aIllestown when

they

were

on the verge of starving. She

warned J aIllestown of

Indian

attack. She was converted to

Christ,

took

the naIlle Rebecca,

111arried John Rolfe, for whon1

we also

praise

God, visited

England, including

the

king

and queen,

bore

a son,

Th0111as,

and

through hhll

descended

generations of fatll0US and

influential leaders

in

the young

Al11erican. Through her n1any

descendants today, Pocahontas

lives

on

in

Al11erican history.

John Sn1ith said of her

that

next under

God

[she was]

the instrul11ent to preserve

this colony fron1

death,

faIlline, and

utter

confusion ..

God

l11ade

Pocahontas.

Vve praise God for the early

preachers of

the

gospel God

sent

to Jal11estown. For the

first fifteen years they were

all English Puritans, who

preached and taught

fr0111

the

Geneva Bible,

translated

frolll the original languages

into English, with a running

conllllentary on each page,

by n1en1bers of John Knox's

English Puritan congregation

in Geneva, Switzerland, during

the l11inistry of John Calvin.

37


12/17

ere We

Raise

Our EbenezerI'

The Geneva

Bible came to

Jamestown

with

John

Smith,

Robert Hunt

and the others

in 1607.

In

1609, William

Strachey, secretary of

the

Virginia Company, arrived

in

Jamestown, and

quoted from

the

Geneva

Bible

in

writing

his history

of Virginia. Pastor

Alexander

Whitaker, who

came

to

Virginia

in

1611, used

the

Geneva

Bible as documented

in

one of his sermon manuscripts.

The

first

preacher in Jamestown

came to America

with

the

very

first settlers. He was Anglican

Puritan

minister, Robert Hunt,

1568-1608. He planted

the

first Protestant Church in

America. In

the

early months

of Jamestown's life, he

spent

much

time preaching to

the

men, praying

with them,

breaking

up many

quarrels

among them, and making peace

between

them. It

was sa id of

him:

Many were the mischiefs

that

daily sprung up from their

ignorant

spirits;

but

the good

doctrines

and

exhortations of

our

Preacher Minister Hunt

reconciled them

.. Another

said

of

him

after a fire

had

destroyed

all his possessions

in 1608: Good master

Hunt

lost

all his library, and all that

he

had but

the

clothes

on

his

back,

yet

none ever did see

him

repine at

his

loss... Yet we

had

daily Common Prayer morning

and evening, every Sunday

two

sermons

and

every

three

months the

Holy Communion

till

our

Minister died.

When the

first settlers landed

on the

Virginia

beach on

April 26, 1607, Pastor Hunt

called for three days of prayer

and

fasting in repentance for

sins

and in prepara tion for

dedicating

this new land

to

God. - Jamestown: Where

America Became a

Christian

Nation, www.christianlaw.org.

His first convert to

Christ

among

the Indians

was a

person

named Navirans, who

was of great

assistance

to

the

early settlers. After his

death

in July

1608,

John Smith

said

of him that till he could

not

speak, he never ceased

to his utmost to animate

us

constantly

to persist; whose

soul, questionless, is with God.

He composed a prayer for

the

colonists

that

was prayed

morning

and evening:

Almighty God ..we beseech

Thee to bless

us and

this

plantation which we and our

nation

have

begun

in

Thy

fear

and

for

Thy

glory ..

and

seeing

Lord,

the highest

end

of

our

plantation

here

is

to set up

the

standard and display

the

banner

of

Jesus

Christ, even

here where Satan's throne

is, Lord

let

our

labour be

blessed in labouring for the

conversion of the

heathen

..

Lord sanctify

our

spirits and

give

us

holy

hearts, that

so

we

may be Thy

instruments

in this most

glorious work.

The second

two

preachers

were

Anglican

Puritans

Richard

Bucke and William Mease.

Pastor Bucke arrived

in

1609

and remained there until

1620.

He

described the

settlers as

poore gentlemen, tradesmen,

serving men,

libertines

and

such like,

ten times

more fit

to spoil a commonwealth,

than either begin one, or

but

helpe to

maintain

one. Praise

God for

the

manifestation of

His

unmerited

grace

in the

founding of Jamestown.

Other

ministers, carefully

chosen

by the

Virginia

Company, were

sent

to

the

Jamestown environs in

those early years. Some of

their

names were Nicholas

Glover, William Wickham,

Thomas Bargrave, Samuel

Macock, George Keith

and

Patrick Copeland.

The

most

famous preacher

in

those early years for which

we praise God is Alexander

Whitaker, a Presbyterian

dissenter, who came to

Jamestown

in

6 with

the

new governor, Si r Thomas

Dale. He

pastored

the

new

settlements of New Bermuda

and

Henrico

City,

where

his

expository

and practical

preaching

was

distinguished

by

the

distinctives

of English

Puritanism.

His

ministry

in

Virginia

extended

from 1611

vlercy l\ {orecra t

to 1617,

during

which time

he

was

known

as the apostle

to the Indians. In his

famous sermon, written in

1613,

entitled

Good News

From Virginia, which had

a great effect in England

in

encouraging more people to

colonize Virginia for the glory

of God, he said that the survival

of Jamestown in its beginning

was evidence

that

the finger

of God

hath been

the only

true worker here;

that

God

The C:ounsel of Ghf'tleeclon


13/17

first showed us the place, God

first called us hither, and

here

God by His special Providence

hath

111aintained us."

Under Governor Thomas

Dale's leadership

and

with Captain

John

Rolfe's

encouragement, Alexander

Whitaker taught Pocahontas

how to read, discipled her

in

the Christian Faith from

the

famous Geneva Bible.

He

had

her 111emorize the Apostles'

Creed,

the

Lord's Prayer, the

Ten Conl111andnlents and the

questions and answers

of

a

short

Calvinistic cateohisl11.

In the early spring of 1614,

he

eXa111ined

the credibility

of her profession of faith in

Christ, heard her renunciation

of

paganisnl and baptized

her fronl a baptisnlal

made of a tree

trunk.

We

praise God for using Lord

De La Warr, Sir Thomas West,

the new governor,

in

1610 to

abolish conl111unal farming

and to provide for

the

private

ownership of property and

free enterprise. With that,

the

situation greatly inlproved

in

Jamestown, as we would

expeot. \Ve also praise God

for His providential rescue

of

Ja111estown

by Lord

De

La

Warr earlier

that

year. In the

winter of 1609-1610, known

as the Starving Time," of the

nearly 500 colonists left by

John

S111ith,

when he

departed

for England

in

September,

1609, only 59 were alive six

months later. The rest had died

of

starvation

and

starvation

related diseases. The situation

was bec0111ing desperate, and

so,

the

settlers determined to

abandon

Ja111estown

and return

to England. S0111e wanted

lv/aJdng th

N(l.tions Ghrist s Disciples

to

burn

down Jamestown,

but others kept that frol11

happening. The weary and

hungry

settlers got on boats

and

sailed to

the

nl0uth of the

Ja111eS

River, where

they

were

l11et by Lord

De

La Warr

and

his three ships well-supplied

with food and

other

necessities,

whioh ships had been dat11aged

in

a ston11 off the coast of

Ben11uda, and then repaired

there. The joyous settlers

returned to

Jal11estown with

the

new arrivals with Lord De La

Warr

and

began again. God was

not

through

with Janlestown

We

praise God for Sir Th0111as

Dale, governor

of

Ja111estown

fr0111 1610-1611, and for

his

oourageous attenlpt to establish

Janlestown on

the Puritan

principles of the preaching of

the

Word of God, devotion to

Christ, obedience to Biblical

Law for

the

glory of God and

fervent prayer to God. Let

e give one

eXa111ple

of his

laws

that

brought order

and

discipline to Ja111estown's

chaos and

111isery,

along with

parts

of a prayer that

he

required the

conl111anding

officer

to

pray

at

the changing

of

the

guard on

the

nlorning

and

evening

of

every day.

In Dale's "Laws Divine, Morall

and

Martiall," which S0111e have

referred

to

as

the

first

written

111anifestations of conlnl0n

law

in

A111erioa,

we read: .

First, since we owe our highest

and SUpre111e

duty,

our

greatest,

and all our allegiance to Hinl,

fr0111

Wh0111 all power

and

authority is derived, and flows

as

fr0111

the first,

and

only

fountain,

and

being especial

soldiers,

i111pressed

in this

sacred cause, we nlust alone

He1e

We Ra.ise

GU1 Ebeneze1

expect our

success

from Hi1n,

who is only

the

blesser of

all good attel11pts, the King

of kings, the Conl111ander

of conl111anders,

the

Lord of

Hosts, I do

strictly

c0111111and

and chaTge all Captains and

Officers, of

what

quality

or nature soever,

whether

oonll11anders in the field,

or

in

the town, or towns, forts or

fortresses,

to

have a

care

that

the Ah11ighty God be duly and

daily served,

and

that

they

call upon their people to hear

Sen11ons, as that also they

diligently

frequent

Morning

and

Evening

prayer

the111selves

by

their

own

exe111plar and

daily life, and

duty

herein,

encouraging others thereunto,

and

that

such, who shall

often

and

Willfully

absent

themselves, be duly

punished

according

to

the nlartial

law

in

that case provided.

The follOWing is the conclusion

of

the

prayer Dale wrote to

be read

twice a day

upon

the

changing of the guard:

o Lord we

earnestly

beseech

thee

to

receive us into

thy

favor and protection, defend us

fr0111 the delusion of the devil,

the 111alice of the heathen,

the invasions of our enel11ies,

and nlutinies and dissentions

of our own people, knit our

hearts

altogether in faith and

fear of thee, and love one to

another, give

us

patience,

wisd0111

and constancy to go

on

through

all difficulties and

temptations, till

this

blessed

work be acc0111plished, for

the honor

of

thy nat11e, and

glory of

the

Gospel of Jesus

Christ:

that

when

the

heathen

do know

thee

to be their God,

and Jesus Christ to be their

9


14/17

Herre

{tVe

Raise Our Ebene zer

salvation,

they

may say, blessed

by the

King

and

Prince of

England, and blessed by the

English

nation, and

blessed

forever

be the most

high God,

possessor

of

heaven

and

earth,

that

sent

them amongst us ..

We

praise

God

for the

persevering and ordinary men

and women in

Jamestown

that

kept it alive through the

years so

that, by God's grace,

it would

become the

cradle

of

this

American Republic."

We praise God

for

the third

charter of the Virginia

Company

in

1618, giving

the people of Vi:r:ginia the

freedom to elect their own

representatives

and

legislate

their own laws. And we praise

Him for

the

first representative

republic

in

North America that

charter established in

1619,

at

a time

when the

Stuart despots

were

trying to

move England

deeper and deeper

into tyranny.

Now we

know that

from

those

humble roots has grown the

greatest representative republic

in

the

world,

based on

the

United

States

Constitution.

We

praise

God

for Sir Edwin

Sandys, who was most

responsible for the change to

representative government

in

James town. He was a

prominent

Puritan

leader

in

the

House of Commons

in Parliament, and also the

treasurer

of the Virginia

Company in

1619. His vision,

influenced by Richard Hakluyt,

was informed

by

Jesus' Great

Commission to His Church

recorded

in

Matthew 28 that

calls us to make the world's

nations

Christ's disciples,

and

by the Creator's Dominion

Mandate

in

Genesis 1:28

that

calls

us to

build civilizations

founded on God's Word.

Sandys understood that to have

a prosperous and successful

colony, it

must

be more than

a commercial enterprise.

t must be a

permanent

settlement

populated with

men,

women

and

children-

families, devoted to Christ,

His Word, the converting of

the

Indians to Christ,

and

the building of a Christian

civilization

in

i r g ~ n i a

The ournal o Modern Ministry

Jay Adams, General Editor, started in

May

2004 with two issues,

and continues

in

2006 with three issues planned each year.

In it

are articles

in

the following areas: Editorials, Issues, General

Ministry, Counseling, Preaching, Medicine, Cults and Reviews.

lYear- 24,

2Year- 45,

3Year- 64

Subscribe

:for

yourself

or

give a gift subscription to your pastor

The

section editors include John Street, Lance Quinn, Lou Priolo, Bill Slattery, Steve Vogel M.D., Kevin Backus

and Donn Arms. This extraordinary group

of

ministering author-editors also solicit articles from the finest men

known today for their uncompromising biblical emphasis, and receive from lesser known writers articles they

believe worthy of publication.

To subscribe: www timelesstexts com

The

Counsel qf Ohalcedon


15/17

We praise God for

the

Powatan

boy named Chanco, who had

bec0111e a Christian and saved

Jal11estown frol11 extinction.

On

March 22, 1622, the

Great Massacre took plaoe,

during which

the

Powatans

under the leadership of Ohief

Opechancanough, attaoked

the

villages

surrounding

Jat11estown, slaughtering 347

of the

1240

people living in

Virginia. The Great Massaore

would have been even worse,

were

it

not for Chanoo, who

warned Jamestown and

the

nearby plantations, so

they had

time to

prepare

for defense.

As a result

the

Powatans were

unable to invade Jamestown

and

the

nearby

plantations.

One early historian wrote:

"The slaughter

had

been

universal, i God had not

put it into

the

heart of an

Indian

.. to reveal it.

..

"

In summary, we praise God

for

the

legaoy Jat11estown

Virginia

has

left

us,

aooording

to Douglas Phillips in his

article, "'Vho will win the

war on Anlerioa's history?"

Jal11estown was a courageous

attelupt

to oarry out the

Great

Con11uission

in

North Amerioa.

Jaluestown was a hard-fought

attelupt to

build a civilization

on

the

Word of

God

oomprised

of English people and Indians.

Jaluestown was the first

penuanent

settleluent in

North Amerioa

to

establish

a legal system based directly

on God's law in the Bible.

Jatuestown was the first

attelupt to

establish a

representative republic

in

North

Aluerioa,

which

was

the

model of the U.S. Constitution,

NIa.king

the ations

Ghrist's Diseiples

finding its origin in

the

Hebrew Republio of

the

Old

Testaluent and the Presbyterian

ohuroh government in

the

New Testament.

'Vhile

the

legacy of ..

Jaluestown is not

without

bUl11PS

and

warts,

the

lasting

influence of

the

settlement

would ohange the

world-and

dratuat ically for

the

better.

Before the arrival of these

Protestant

Christians and

the successful plan ting of

the

first

penuanent

English

settleluent, North Aluerica

was d01uinated by

warring

tribes engaged in denlonic

aotivities, like paganism,

cannibalism and ritual

torture.

On this occasion we need

to hear again the powerful

words frolu the nineteenth

century

of one of

the greatest

of all Virginians, Robert

L.

Dabney. His foous in these

words was

the

"new South"

that

was

the result

of

the

'Val'

Between

the

States,

but

,ve

can

apply his words just as

aptly

to the

history of Jaluestown,

VA

and her detractors.

[In disluissing

the

anit110sities

and failures of

the

past, Iuake

sure

that you] retain all that

was true in its principles

or

ennobling

in

its exanlple.

There

are

those

..who eXclaitu:

Let us bury the dead past. Its

issues

are

antiquated,

and

of

no Iuore prac tical signifioance.

Let us forget the passions of

the

past. Te are

in

a new

world. Its new questions alone

ooncern us." I rejoin: Be

sure

that

the

fonuer issues

are

really dead before

you

bury

theIu

There are

issues

which

oannot die ,vithout

the death

of

the

people, of their honor,

their

civilization

and their

greatness. Tal{e care

that

you

do not

bury

too

nluch,

'hile

burying

the

dead pa st;

that

you do not bury

the inspiring

memories [of

those

great

tnen

and

w01nen] whose actions,

whether successful or

not,

are

the eternal glory of your

[nation]; the

influence

of their

virtues, the guiding precedents

of their histories. -- 'Vill

you

bury true history whose yeaTS

are those of the God of truth?

[Do not] allow the d01ninant

party to teach [your children] a

perverted history

of

the past

..

This is a I11istake of \vhioh

you

are in in11ninent peril. "Tith

all

the astute

activity of [their

position], our [antichristian]

oonquerors strahl

every nerve

to pre-occupy the ears of

all AI11ericans

with the

false

version of affairs

\vhich

suits

[their purposes]. 'Vith a

gigantic sweep of [deliberate

untruthfulness], this

literature

aims

to

falsify

or

I11isrepresent

everything. .. Its sheets C0111e

up, like the frogs of Egypt, into

our

houses,

our bed chaI11bers,

our very kneading troughs.

Now

against

this deluge of

perversions I solet11nly

warn

[young people],

not

for

our

sakes, but for their own. [Be

careful

not to

believe ,vhat

is ,vritten down] by the pen

of slanderous history.

It

is

essential

to

your future

that

you shall

learn

the

history of the past truly.

Our age

presents the strange

instanoe

of a nUI11erous party,

who think they

can cirCUI11vent

the resistless forces of truth

by systeI11atically I11isnaI11ing

facts and fallacies, who are

deliberately building a whole

41


16/17

Here We

Raise Our

EbeTLezer

system of empire on the

substitution of light for darkness

and darkness for light, of good

for evil and evil for good, cal ling

that

master

in

our

government

which was servant, that

patriotism which

was treason,

and

that treason which was

true,

law-preserving patriotism,

and

that

aggression which was

righteous

defense.

f

you

wish

to

be buried

deeper

than

thrice

buried Troy

beneath

the

final

mountains of

both

defeat and

shame, go

with

these architects

of

detraction.

They are but

arraying

themselves

against

the

unchangeable

God who

has

said:

The lying tongue is but for a

moment, but the lips of

truth

shall be

established

forever.

TheNew

South

by Robert L.

Dabney in

his DISCUSSIONS,

Vol. IV given

at

Hampton Sydney

College

in

1882, reprinted

by Sprinkle

Publications,

Harrisonburg, VA 1979.

So then, we gather today

on

this

historical

occasion-and

I

trust

you can feel the importance of

this day

for

the

future-to

praise

God for the display of His grace,

wisdom and power in Jamestown

in

the early 17th century, and

for

the

legacy

it has

bequeathed

us. May God have mercy on

us for how we have

neglected

and despised that legacy. May

He

be merciful

to

us

by giving

us renewed

dedication

to

the

preservation

and

development

of that legacy down

through

our

future generations.

And so, in conclusion: I

cannot

stand on

this precious

ground without crying out:

sic semper tyrannis. And

I leave

you with the

words

of

Pastor

William

Cranshaw

in

his preface to Alexander

Whitaker's

famous sermon:

Good News from Virginia

Go

forward in [Christ's] name

and

by the strength of

the

Lord

our

God,

and rest

assured

that

His goodness will either raise

you more

strength

or

will

make

the

strength you have already

able to prevail. Be not therefore

faint-hearted, but remember it

is God's cause you have taken

in hand.

t may therefore

be hindered,

but

cannot be

overthrown. f we then were

so base as to betray or forsake

it, God

whose

it is will

stir

up

our

children after us and

give

them

that good

land to

enjoy,

which we are

not

worthy of, and

which

nothing but

our

sins and

sluggishness can keep from us.

Let

us not therefore to our own

shame

leave so blessed a work

to them that follow us, lest the

ensuing ages say of us, Why

was

there

such a prize put

into

the hands of fools who

had

not

hearts to take it? (Proverbs)

Stand

to

it

therefore

and be

not wanting to yourselves, and

God

will

never

be wanting

to you

nor

it, till His blessed

providence

hath brought

it to

pass

that

men

shall say, God

hath

made

His ways known

upon earth, and His saving

health

amongst

all nations:

and

blessed

by the Lord

God

of

Virginia, world

without

end.

.Joe 1Horecrajt

III

Ghalcedon Presbyterian Gh:u:rch

}umlnin/J, G A

J1..tne 8,

2 7

Soli

Deo Gloria

J he Counsel qf Ghalcedon


17/17

rologue

For the

400th

Jubilee Celeb1 at-ion

of

the

first

per manent settle l1wnt

qf

the

English

at

Jam,estown,

Virginia - .1607-2007

This is

an eleven

page p o e n ~

filshioned

in, the style

of

IJongjellow and

Tennyson

u lwse poem,s

mj'

1 a n r 1 : k ( , t h e 1 ~

Elihu lJira1n

Anderson

Presbyte1 ian m,iniste1

and

sohool teaohe?;

and

rny deu?

m,othe'1; Anita Anderson, Belohe?; teacher and '[(I)rite?; taught I1W to love as a ohUd. It is a st01)

telling poem,. I hope it blesses those who read it and excites thei1 inte1 est in our /Jodb' herita,ge a,s

f, nation Rebecoa BeloheT Morecrajt

God's sovereign Ineroy still stands

finn --

His graoe will ne'er grow old

Who led our fathers to this land four-hundred years ago

A glory rests

on

graves forgot, as tales fronl ruins

re

told.

The

h nd

of Providenoe revealed as wondrous works unfold.

We

raise our Ebenezer here, in Janlestown,

on

this shore.

Stones of renlenlbranoe will we lay

--

nlay skeptios doubt

no

nlore

this true reoounting

of

our past, not reoonstructed lore;

we

oelebrate

our

heritage

nd

draw froln history's store.

The Great Conlnlission stirred

these

nlen to leave

their

native lands,

traversing wild Atlantio seas to Janlestown's silver strand.

Genevan

dust

poured from

their

shoes the ground on which they'd stand

to build a Christendom on law, not tyranny's demands.

Not all were brave

--

they were nlere men; oft failure followed fear.

When food was gone and savages came, death's loathsome face loomed near.

Starvation nd strange illnesses

sn tched

helpless souls th t year.

Their ship of

st te

survived

the

waves, for

t the

heInl, God steered.

These stories, rich with strange events the h nd of Prov'dence Inade

are fit for fireside telling

or

for sununer's restful shade.

Come sit with one who lived by grace, to tell h is own grandson,

a true, first-hand, true relation how

this

nation was begun.

We ponder Providenoe awhile as evening lanlps are hung

and garner hope through history. COlne, see what Godh s done

RemeInber

nd

Persevere

... to be continued

1Y.fahing the Ncxtions CJhrist s Disoiples

4

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2007 Issue 4-5 - Here We Raise Our Ebenezer at Jamestown Virginia - Counsel of Chalcedon

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