Revelation Themes and Eschatological Applications

Black Robed Regiment

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2022-07-05

Synopsis: John Weaver surveys the courageous pastors of the American Revolution, known as the Black Robed Regiment, who preached, prayed, and fought for liberty. He argues that these ministers were essential leaders in the war, boldly resisting tyranny and training their congregations in both theology and self-defense. Weaver laments the decline of such manly, principled preachers today and calls for a return to pulpits that proclaim truth without fear, linking national recovery to the recovery of courageous pastoral leadership.

[John Weaver] If you'll look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Hebrews chapter 11, and let's begin reading there with verse 32. And notice if you would what the scripture says, although I will not be expounding this passage, I'm certainly going to be using the truth of this passage. Hebrews 11, and notice if you would beginning there with verse 32. And what shall I more say, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of the lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped

[John Weaver] the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in flight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead race to life again and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. You know, just from this passage, you can understand at least a couple of truths. Number one, God does use men. He's named them here and all through the Bible, God uses men. Secondly, we have to understand that when God uses men. It is not for the glory of the man that he used, but for the glory of God that used the man. And thirdly, we have to understand that there is consequently a call on each of us.

[John Weaver] As these men in Hebrews chapter 11 to be strong and to quit ourselves like men, we're going to find as we study history, the pastors were quite different back then than they are today. They were members of what were known as the Black Robed Regiment. This name was given to the ministers who sparked, who fought in, who prayed for and advanced the war for independence, sometimes called the Revolutionary War. These men all wore long flowing black robes, which were symbols of their office and symbols of their authority. Consequently, they were referred to as the Black Robed Regiment.

[John Weaver] And it was these preachers that were despised. They were hated. They were eagerly sought by the British. There's a price placed upon their heads. And when they were captured, they were despicably treated, many times thrown into prison, and sometimes they were even murdered. The name of Pastor Moses Allen of Georgia was frequently cursed by the Tories. He was more obnoxious to them than the leaders of the Patriots. and most deadly threats were issued against Moses Allen.

[John Weaver] In fact, his enemy said that this rebel Parson did more injury to the cause of the king than a dozen colonels. I have a message on Moses Allen. The title of the message is the damnedest rebel in Georgia, and that is exactly what the English called him because he was indeed quite a man and he stood up to the English, and consequently, when Savannah fell, that means his church and his home in Midway, Georgia, were burned to the ground out of retaliation.

[John Weaver] He himself was captured and was put on a prison ship. And there on that ship, it was disease and starvation and all kinds of ill treatment given to those individuals. And so Moses Allen then endeavored to minister to those men there as best he could until he had an opportunity to escape. Now, when he did escape, he had to dive from the ship into the water and swim to shore. His escape was good. But the truth of the matter is he had been so mistreated and so ill treated He did not really have the energy and the strength to do everything that he needed to to swim to the other shore. And consequently, he drowned.

[John Weaver] Therefore, some of the men who were prisoners called out for the British to bury him, to show you the contempt they had for these preachers. They said, we'll take care of him. And so they sent a boat over full of British soldiers who took their feet and stomped him in the mud and left his limbs sticking up for the buzzards to take. So it was men like Pastor Moses Allen that nursed the flame of piety and the love for civil liberty. These men preached, they prayed, and they fought for liberty. Many of these men went into the army as chaplains. Others stirred the people with great patriotic messages which swell the ranks of the army. Others still showered the enemy with tracts and with sermons and pamphlets, and some even entered the army and took up temporal arms and fought alongside the other soldiers.

[John Weaver] It was these patriots, it was these preachers, that taught their hearers to reject with utmost abhorrence the divine right of kings, passive obedience and non-resistance. Further, They not only preached and taught this, but they preached it so thoroughly they inculcated these truths into their hearers. They taught that our rights and our liberty and our freedom were from God and God alone. And they also taught that it was the duty of government to maintain these rights and to also follow God's law and God's orderly way.

[John Weaver] So the pastors during the American Revolution were everywhere. You find them hooded at Valley Forge. You find them facing the storm and the wintery march on Trenton. You find them covered with the smoke of conflict in Bennington. You find them standing under the enemy's fire at Yorktown. At Lexington, three pastors actually fought as common soldiers. You will find them everywhere. It does not matter what expedition they went on, no matter how strenuous, no matter how arduous, no matter how tiring, these men were there. These pastors were the leaders in this war.

[John Weaver] They were the spiritual magistrates that taught their people and led their people, not only in praying and preaching, but also in fighting. Let me give you a good illustration of their bravery and their courage. Some of you have heard of Pastor Gad Hitchcock. In order to understand this, you must understand what an election sermon was. In those days, no one could take an office unless he got preached to.

[John Weaver] In other words, it was the pastor's responsibility to talk to the civil magistrate and tell him what God required of him. And at the same time, they would also preach to the people and tell them what God also required of them. Well, Gad Hitchcock then was called upon to give an election sermon to the new governor. that King George III had commissioned. He found, as he got there, that the new governor was none other than General Gage himself, who had come with an army to subdue the colonists. And so here, General Gage is sitting in the governor's chair with his men standing behind him And Gad Hitchcock preaches from Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 2 that says, when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when the wicked bear rule, they mourn. And listen to the words of just part of the sermon that Gad Hitchcock preached before General Gage. He said.

[John Weaver] If I am mistaken in supposing plans are formed and executing subversive to our natural and shorted rights and privileges, and incompatible with every idea of liberty, then all America is mistaken with me. Our continued complaints, our repeated humble but fruitless, unregarded petitions and remonstrances, And if I may be allowed the sacred illusions, our groanings, which cannot be uttered, are at once indications of our suffering and the feeling sense we have of them.

[John Weaver] Now, listen to what he says. He's talking to General Gage. Let the governor in his chair of state hear it. We not only mourn, but with groanings that cannot be uttered, and all because the wicked bear rule. The castle cannot shelter him from the scorching thunderbolt. Families are divided. Brother is arrayed against brother and friend against friend. Society is cut loose from its moorings and hate and consternation reign on every side. And all because the wicked bear rule. Listen up. King George may say the evils that produce this state of things are imaginary. But I tell you, says Gad Hitchcock, and I will tell the tyrant to his face. It's because the wicked bear rule.

[John Weaver] Can you imagine a preacher today? saying that to the new governor. Can you imagine a preacher today saying that before the President of the United States? You see, it was these pastors who really and truly preached liberty and freedom and they were bold and they were brave and they were courageous and they did not care who was in front of them. They were going to speak the truth. The British were extremely aware of the authority and the influence that these pastors had, and they were also upset that this authority and influence was on the side of independence. It was not on the side of King George, and they called it rebellion.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something very quickly. Do you must understand that rebellion is only to lawful authority? If there is no lawful authority, there is no rebellion. So I could look at Pastor Brink's wife and I could say, woman, get up and give me a glass of tea. Wow. She could look at me and say, now, wait a minute, Brother Weaver, if you ask me kindly, I'll be glad to do so.

[John Weaver] But don't be ordering me around. And I look at her husband and I say, well, the problem with your wife is she's just rebellious. No, she's not rebellious. Why? Because I have no lawful authority over her. I'm not her husband. I'm not her pastor. You see what I'm saying? If there is no lawful authority, there is no rebellion. There is only resistance. Resistance is to usurp an unlawful authority. So she could really say to me, and say it very kindly, Brother Weaver, I don't have to obey you. You're not my authority. You're not my head.

[John Weaver] If you ask me, I'll be glad to do it. No, if you're going to order me, I'm just not going to do it. That's not rebellion, that's resistance. And so here, although the English referred to the war as rebellion, just like the War of 1861 to 1865, do you know what the official records are titled? The War of Rebellion. The War of Rebellion. Rebellion can only be the lawful authority.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you. In 1774, the governor of Massachusetts refused the request of the Massachusetts General Assembly to appoint a day of fasting and prayer. Here is the excuse he gave for not appointing a day of fasting and prayer. The governor said the request was only to give an opportunity for sedition to flow from the pulpit. In other words, here he taught and was thinking and stating that the preaching and teaching of the truth of God's word was sedition. And then, of course, he not only did that, but he was against what you and I would call liberty and freedom.

[John Weaver] And he was for slavery and tyranny. Let me tell you something. I do not care how government calls our actions rebellion when they are not in rebellion. All of the governmental proclamations, all of the governmental sanctions, all the governmental indictments do not change truth. They do not change righteousness and they do not change justice. They may defame it. They may denounce it. They may deny it, but they cannot destroy it because God's word is truth. And the scripture says forever, O Lord, is thy word settled in the heavens.

[John Weaver] So truly, you must understand. that these English would view all the colonial people as servants and as slaves, and it was rebellion because they would not believe or act upon the unconstitutional orders that were given them by Parliament. By the way, The colonists were never under Parliament to begin with. They had their own legislatures. Parliament had absolutely no authority over the colonists whatsoever. And so it was resistance and not rebellion.

[John Weaver] Dr. Timothy Dwight, who is an author, theologian, chaplain, and president of Yale University, urged that a Declaration of Independence from England be publicly stated before it was ever done. Here is what he said, I urged in conversation with several gentlemen of great respectability, firm wigs, and my intimate friends, the importance and even the necessity of a declaration of independence on the part of the colonies. For myself, I regarded the dies cast and the hope of reconciliation vanished and believed that the colonists would never be able to defend themselves unless They renounced their dependence upon Great Britain." So here, Dr. Timothy Dwight is calling for a declaration of independence before it was ever, ever done. It was Dr. Jonathan Mayhew who was the originator of the phrase, a more perfect union.

[John Weaver] In fact, Robert Treat Payne called Mayhew the father of civil and religious liberty in Massachusetts and in America. It was John Adams who called him the morning gun of the revolution. It was August the 25th, 1765 that Mayhew preached a sermon against the Stamp Act from Galatians chapter 5, verses 12 and 13. And of course, this sermon was full of divine truth and also demands for resistance to tyranny.

[John Weaver] George Bancroft, the great historian, and if you ever get the opportunity to buy Bancroft's History of the United States, you need to do so. But here's what Bancroft said about Jonathan Mayhew. Whenever or whoever, says Bancroft, repeats the story of the revolution will rehearse the name of Mayhew. He spent whole nights in prayer for the dangers of his country. Light dawned on his mind on a Sabbath morning in July 1766.

[John Weaver] He wrote to Otis, that is James Otis, saying, you have heard of the communion of the churches. While I was thinking of this in my bed, the great use and importance of the communion of the colonies appeared to me in a striking light. Would it not be decorous in our assembly to send circulars to all the rest expressing a desire to cement a union among ourselves? A good foundation has been laid by the Congress of New York.

[John Weaver] It may be the only means of perpetuating our liberties. The suggestion of a more perfect union for the common defense originated with Mayhew. And this was the first public expression of that feature of the Union that has been the glory of the American Republic. And it came from a clergyman on a Sabbath morning under the inspiration of heaven as he lay in bed. Yes, pastors in those days were real leaders.

[John Weaver] They were the movers and the shakers of the revolution. I want to give you very quickly just a few of them. Then I'm going to slow down and concentrate on three or four of them. But Dr. John Woodhull, who was the pastor of the Freehold Presbyterian Church of New Jersey, he was one of the most active patriots in his day. And on one occasion, when he went out to fight with the enemy, every man in his parish went with him, without exception, except one old man who was so feeble he could not go with the pastor.

[John Weaver] And he bid them Godspeed and asked God's blessing upon them. And then there was Dr. David Ely of Huntington, Connecticut, who was so surrounded by Tories. And yet he preached resistance to tyranny and he preached it so powerfully and so effectively that the Tories near him said that when the war was over, they were going to hang him from the oak that was nearest his church building. Wow.

[John Weaver] It did not stop him. Joseph Fish of Duxbury, Massachusetts. was 76 years of age when George Washington called upon him to speak and encourage people to join the fight for liberty and freedom. And here's what Joseph Fish said, were it not that my nerves were unstrung and my limbs enfeebled with age on such a call as you have, I think I should willingly quit the desk, put off my priestly garments, buckle on the harness and with trumpet in hand hasten the battle. And of course, a number of people did indeed heed the call of Washington under the preaching of Joseph Fish.

[John Weaver] Then there was Jonas Stearns of New Hampshire. He went to a meeting where they were discussing what to do in New Hampshire. He had four sons. When he came back home, his sons asked him what happened. And here's what he said in giving his report. He said, if the call succeeds, it will be a great blessing to our country. But if it should fail, your father's head will soon be a button for a halter. And then he sent his four sons into the army, bidding them to fight valiantly for freedom.

[John Weaver] And then, of course, there was John Mills of Delaware. He was a preacher and he Right before the Declaration of Independence was signed, he preached a series of messages from First Kings 12, verse 16, when the Israelites said, What portion have we in David to you, tenso Israel? And he likened the colonies into the Israelites. And he's excited on the fact that we have no more portion in Great Britain.

[John Weaver] We need to learn to take care of ourselves. And of course, there was Dr. David Caldwell of Pennsylvania. whose house was plundered. Everything was stolen from it. And then his library and his house, what was left, were burned to the ground. And then he was hunted down like a felon just simply because he sided with liberty and freedom. Dr. Thomas Reed of the same state in 1776 shouldered his musket and went out to battle with 40 or 50 men from Philadelphia.

[John Weaver] And he aided Washington in defeating General Howe. And the next year, this same preacher happened to help save Washington at Elk Ferry because he knew the lay of the land and was able to guide Washington to safely. There was Jonas Stearns of New Hampshire as well. There was Thomas Reed. There was Dr. Robert Davidson of Maryland. And by the way, he preached the message from First Chronicles, chapter five and verse 22.

[John Weaver] For many fell down slain for the war was of God. There was William Gilmore and William Graham of Paxton near Harrisonburg, who saw the backwardness of his young men and failing to enroll in the militia. And so he stepped forward and had his name enrolled in order to embarrass his young men, to get them to come and sign up for the militia as well. There was John Steele of Cumberland, Pennsylvania. who served as captain and led the advance company of 900 men.

[John Weaver] And here's a man who often preached with his musket by the pulpit, ready to defend himself because they had threatened, the English had threatened to kill him over and over. There was Azelro to make the militia of his parish fight. You know what Azelro did? During the battle, he stood and exposed himself to fire, fire from the enemy. Everyone was begging him to step down. Pastor, get down, get down. No. I'm staying here until you vow that if I fight, you will fight. And they all admitted, yes, we will follow you and we will fight.

[John Weaver] And then he stepped down. Here's a man of courage, Charles McNight of Shrewsbury, on account of his devotion to the cause of liberty and his sons on the battlefield. Not only everything he had was burned to the ground, but he was thrown into prison and treated like, I'd say, worse than a savage. Samuel Clentock sent four of his sons in the battle. Only one returned alive, Dr. Hisakai Ripley of Washington. John Martin, after praying with his soldiers at Bunker Hill, seized a musket and fought with them until the end of the battle. And then he preached from them from Nehemiah chapter four and verse 14.

[John Weaver] And I said in the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of people, do not be afraid of them. These are just a few men. Let me give you one more Nathaniel Bartlett of reading. He was a chaplain to General Putnam, who I'll mention a little bit later. He was accustomed to make his parochial rounds with a musket on his shoulder. And he, too, preached with a loaded weapon in the pulpit because of all the English who were dying to get their hands upon him so that they might kill him.

[John Weaver] Now, most of these pastors were really ready and willing and able to fight. They were encouraging their people to fight. But not everyone originally had the intestinal fortitude to want to fight. There was one pastor, Payson of Chelsea, and J.T. Headley gives an account of him in his book, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution. And he says this there, too, was the amiable and learned patient of Chelsea.

[John Weaver] He was so averse to bloodshed and all the horrors of war that he felt it his duty to preach patience and even submission. His bolder and more resolute brethren took such umbrage at this that they refused to allow him to preach in their pulpits. They wanted no conciliatory doctrines taught to their people. Now, listen to this. The brutal outrage at Lexington transformed this peaceful scholar and meek divine into a fiery, intrepid soldier, and seizing a musket, he put himself at the head of a party and led them forward to attack.

[John Weaver] The gentle voice that had long spoken only words of peace suddenly rang out like a prophet of old. A body of British soldiers advancing along the road, he poured into them such a destructive volley that the whole were either slain or taken captive. He was a man of peace and conciliation until the first blood of the Patriot was drained on the ground, and then he became a soldier par excellence.

[John Weaver] Time certainly would not allow me to tell you of all of these men, and there were many, many more. So I want to just single out about four of them and talk to you about these men. First of all, there's this patriot pastor by the name of Thomas Allen.

[John Weaver] Now, you remember, I talked about Moses Allen earlier, but Moses happened to be Thomas's brother. Thomas Allen. Was quite a man. When the English converged upon and covered the hills at the Battle of White Plains, sometimes known as Ticonderoga. The colonists were basically outnumbered and outgunned. And Thomas Allen knew that. And so he decided that what he needed to do was preach a message to his men and to all who would listen and to encourage them to fight because They were outnumbered and outgunned. I want you to listen to just part of his sermon. Here's what he said.

[John Weaver] Valiant soldiers, younger, pointing to the enemy in his sight, are the enemies of your country who have come to lay waste and destroy and spread havoc and devastation through this pleasant land. They are enemies hired to do the work of death. They were Hessians hired by George III defied in this land. He said their enemies hired to do the work of death and have no motive to animate them in their undertaking. You have every consideration to induce you to play the man and to act the part of valued soldiers. Your country looks up to you for its defense.

[John Weaver] You are contending for your wives, whether you or they shall enjoy them. You are fighting for your children, whether they shall be yours or theirs, your houses and lands, and for your flocks and herds, for your freedom, for future generations, for everything that is great and noble on account of which only life itself is worth a fig. You must, you will abide in the day of trial.

[John Weaver] You cannot give back while animated by these considerations. Suffer me therefore on this occasion to recommend to you without delay to break off your sins by righteousness and your iniquity by turning into the Lord. Turn ye, turn you, you ungodly sinners, for why will you die? Repent, lest the Lord come and smite you with a curse. Our camp is filled with blasphemers and resounds with the language of the infernal regions.

[John Weaver] Oh, that officers and men might fear to take the holy and tremendous name of God in vain. Oh, that you would now return to the Lord, lest destruction should come upon you, lest vengeance overtake you. Oh, that you were wise, that you would understand your latter end. I must recommend to you the strictest attention to your duty and the most punctual obedience to your officers. Discipline, order and regularity are the strength of an army.

[John Weaver] Valued soldiers, Should our enemy attack us, listen, I exhort and conjure you to play the man. Let no danger be too great. Let no suffering appear too severe for your encounter, for your bleeding country. God's grace assisting me. I'm determined to fight and die by your side rather than flee before our enemies or resign myself to them. I prefer death to captivity. Ever remember your unhappy brethren.

[John Weaver] now made prisoners at Fort Washington, whose blood now cries to heaven for vengeance and shakes the pillars of the world, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not charge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Rather than quit this ground with infamy and disgrace, I prefer leaving this body of mine, a corpse on the spot. I must finally recommend it to you and urge it on you once again and again.

[John Weaver] In time of action, keep silent. Let all be hushed and calm, serene and tranquil, that the word of command may be distinctly heard and resolutely obeyed. And may the God of heaven take us all under his protection and cover our heads in a day of battle and grant us his salvation. Did you hear what that preacher said? I'd rather fight and die right now than run or be captured.

[John Weaver] I'll leave my body, a corpse on the spot. Wow. You know what happened? After this tremendous sermon and this great preaching and this great encouragement. The colonial leaders decided to retreat. Oh. Thomas Allen was crushed. How could such happen? After the retreat, he and the Berkshire militia went back home. A little bit later, General Stark sent out a call for the Berkshire militia. They marched all day and into the night on the 16th of August during a downpour, a deluge of rain. They got into camp where General Stark was early in the morning. Pastor Allen wanted to make sure that nothing was going to happen now, like it happened at Ticonderoga. So he went in to see General Stark.

[John Weaver] I suppose he woke him up. I don't know. But when he went in, he said this, General Stark, the Berkshire militia have been summoned to the field without being allowed to fight. Now, if you don't give them a chance to fight, they will never turn out again. General Stark. Instead of being upset at what we would call the impotence of the young preacher, was rather amused. Because he himself was a hero and he liked to spunk in this preacher, and he looked at the pastor and he said, well, do you prefer to march now while it's dark and raining? Pastor Allen said, well, no, not right at the morning moment. And General Stark said, well, if the Lord give us a blue sky and sunshine tomorrow, I promise you, I will give you your cup of fighting. You will be able to fight. And if I don't give you that, I will never call you out again. And sure enough, the next morning, the sun was up, the sky was blue.

[John Weaver] And the enemy began forming all their columns. and getting in positions. The Berkshire men looked at Pastor Allen and said, well, it looks like we will go and be able to fight today. Yes, said Pastor Allen, we're going to have our fun at it, but we're not ready yet. He said, let's just bow in prayer and ask for the Lord's blessing and help and protection. And they prayed. You know what Pastor Allen did next?

[John Weaver] When all the Hessians were in place, he ascended on a little hill and stood on a stump in his long flowing black robe, and he called to the Hessians to surrender and save this effusion of blood. And he promised them good turns if they would go ahead and surrender now. And their answer was volleys of musket balls being shot at him. One went through his hat, but he was not hit.

[John Weaver] And so he stepped down and of course, the battle had been commenced as they were fighting. He noticed that one of his brothers was a little bit slow at shooting and not really able to shoot well. And so he looked at his brother and said, Joe, he said, I'll tell you what you load. And I'll shoot you just keep these muskets loaded. And so that's exactly what happened. And when the battle was over and the colonial army had won, there was a charge. And guess who is in leading the charge? It was Pastor Allen. He was the first one of the breastworks. And then he heard the exalting cry victory from all of the colonial soldiers. And of course, once the Hessians had surrendered and or run away.

[John Weaver] What he did was he found medic horses that had panniers of wine and other things upon them. And so he took the medicine and then began to not only doctor his people. But also the fallen Hessians as well. After the battle was over and after this was done. He had to rush back in order that he might preach to his people on the Lord's Day. And of course, by this time, many at home had heard that Pastor Allen had fought.

[John Weaver] And so one of his men came up to him and he asked this question. He said, Pastor Allen. He said, I heard that you fought like a common soldier. Is that true? Pastor Allen responded, yes, I did it. It was a very hot, close battle and it became every patriot to do his duty. Well, but. The parishioner said, Pastor Allen, did you kill anybody? Pastor Allen said, well, I don't know whether I killed anybody or not, but I noticed a certain bush. And there was. A flame of fire coming from that bush, and every time it came, one of our men fell. He said, I don't know that I killed anybody. But I aimed at that bush and fired and I put out that flash. So, yes, he did kill the man.

[John Weaver] Do you realize that Pastor Thomas Adams lived till 1810 and he died of natural causes at age 68? Where are men like that today? Where are men like that today? Everyone has heard of old Naphtali Daggett. He was the pastor, president of Yale College. He instructed all of his students of the right of resistance to tyranny. And that we were not to obey a tyrant. Well, in 1779, General Tyrone, with 2,500 soldiers, landed five miles from West Haven The little college had to be quickly broken up because they were going to be overrun with English soldiers just shortly. So 100 of the young men volunteered to take their arms and go and try to retard the advance of the British troops until the little college in the town could evacuate. Well, there's confusion in the street, obviously. Until finally the hundred young men had their arms and the fife and drum started playing and they marched off toward the British. As they got a little way out of town, all of a sudden they heard the clatter of hoofs beating on the sod and they looked back and here came old Dr. Daggett.

[John Weaver] in his long flowing black robe on his black mare with a long fouling piece in his hand. And as he passed the young men, they cheered and hollered. But Dr. Daggett did not look to the left or to the right. He kept heading right straight for the British. He finally found a little hill. He rode up that little hill. had his mare tied and began to reckon order the situation. By this time, these young men had hit the advance party of the British soldiers. And so these young men poured such a volley of fire into this advance of the British soldiers that they turned and ran back to the main body of troops. And these 100 young men were chasing them until all of a sudden they realized now we're confronted with 2,500 troops.

[John Weaver] And so now they had to turn and get out of there. And as they passed the hill, there's a retort of a Muslim loader. And they looked up and there was old Dr. Daggett aiming that long fouling piece into the British army. At first. The British kind of ignored it, but all of a sudden, those bullets kept finding their way into their ranks and men started falling. So finally, one of these officers told a man, take some men, go up and see what's going on up on that hill. And when they got up to the top of the hill, there stood old Dr. Daggett reloading his muzzleloader. To the British soldier, it was rather amusing.

[John Weaver] He couldn't believe his eyes. And so he looked at Dr. Dackett and he said, why, you old fool, you. What do you think you're doing? Dr. Dackett replied, exercising the rights of war, son, exercising the rights of war. He said, you old rascal. He said, if I let you go, will you promise never to fire on His Majesty's troops again? Dr. Daggett, still loading, said nothing more likely, son, nothing more likely. So then they took Dr. Daggett, forced him down the hill, forced him to march in front of them.

[John Weaver] And treated him so badly that although he lived. Within 16 months after that, he died of all the mistreatment and maltreatment that was given to him. Yeah. Dr. Dackett, Naphtali Dackett. And then, of course, there's John Witherspoon, who is a pastor, patriot, congressman, president of Princeton College. Did you know that it was John Witherspoon and also Roger Sherman who are responsible for the hard money clauses in the Constitution of the United States?

[John Weaver] No state shall make anything but gold and silver as legal tender. And Congress shall have the power to coin money, not print it, but coin it because it was to be of gold and silver. When the declaration was written and was presented before Congress. Some men were hesitating on putting their signature to it. Everyone knows the story of John Hancock, but. John Witherspoon, when he saw that some men were hesitating, arose and said this, Mr. President, that noble instrument on your table, which ensures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pin in this house.

[John Weaver] He will not respond to his accents and strains. Every nerve to carry into effect his provisions is unworthy of the name Freeman. And although these gray hairs must descend into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather they should descend thither by the hand of the executioner that deserted this Christ as the sacred cause of my country." He said, I'm willing to die. One timorous man made the objection.

[John Weaver] Well, I don't think that we are right for such a declaration of independence. And John Witherspoon jumped up and responded, sir, we're not only right, we are rotten. And of course, it was signed. Jonas Clark, everyone knows about Jonas Clark. He was the pastor at Lexington. Clark. Had taught and trained his parishioners and civil disobedience and resistance to tyranny. In fact, Adams and Hancock often found asylum in Pastor Clark's house.

[John Weaver] The people that sat under his ministry were so thoroughly indoctrinated by his teaching that his instructions are now in the legislature. Yes, They're embodied there now in writing. But it was between the hours of 12 and one when the word was received that the British were on their way. And so Pastor Jonas Clark had the bell rung. And men began to gather on the church green. 150 of them.

[John Weaver] They had their names enrolled and their names were called out. And here before morning stood the pastor and 150 of his men in the starlight waiting for the battle. The great question of Hancock and Adams was this. Will these men fight? I mean, these were farmers, these were mechanics. They're going to be facing the trained and drilled troops of England. Will these men fight? Jonas Clark responded. They will fight. For this very hour, I've trained them.

[John Weaver] And they will die if necessary. I want you to stop and think about that. He's only trained them theologically. He not only trained them practically, he also trained them militarily. Yes, they were going to fight. When the British got there that morning and they began to issue the commands, throw down your weapons, throw down your weapons, disperse you rebels, disperse. And they did not. And then the sound of the muskets.

[John Weaver] When the battle was over, seven stalwart men from Pastor Clark's church lay dead, many others wounded. Jonas Parker, who is the strongest wrestler in Lexington, had said that he would never run from the British. He was shot. and bayoneted at the very spot that he had taken. He did not run. And then, of course, there was old Caleb Monroe, whose gray hairs had been turned into blood. And there was Caleb Harrington, who was shot running up the church steps Why was he running up the church steps? Because there was more powder in the church building and he was running to get more powder for the men. And he was shot dead on the church steps. We always hear of Lexington Green, but we never even hear of what we call the church green. It was Clark who was moved, obviously, by the loss of his men and the men that were wounded.

[John Weaver] But yet at the same time, He said this, from this day will be dated the liberty of the world. Everyone knows about the shot heard around the world. What many people do not know, it was Jonas Clark, the pastor that had taught and trained these men. I've got two messages on the biblical doctrine of self-defense. We don't understand all the customs that we have. When I was a boy and I was raised in church, we went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night and any other night there was a meeting, we were there. And I always noticed that men sat on the ends of the pews and when I got to be grown, I sat on the end of the pew. And you know that when the service is over, the pastor always goes to the back and greets everybody and shakes their hand.

[John Weaver] You say, well, that's normal. No, no, no. Listen, if all you want to do is greet the pastor, shake the hand, you can walk up front as easily as he can walk to the rear. Those were customs from here. Because when the colonial men went to church, they stacked their arms in the middle of the aisle. And the men sat on the edges of the seats, the ends of the seats, so if Indians or the English came along, they could grab their weapons without falling over their women and children. And how about the pastor? The pastor had the best gun in town. He was usually the best shot.

[John Weaver] And the reason he walked to the door because he was the under shepherd. He carried his weapon with him. He opened the door. He looked out to make sure there were no Indians and no British around. And when he deemed all safe, then the men came out with their weapons and then the women and children. So a lot of our modern day customs we get from these men and we don't even realize it. Alice.

[John Weaver] Earl Morse, I think is her name, wrote a book, The Sabbath and Purity in New England. You need to read the book. You'll find out about a lot of the customs and habits that we have today came from our colonial ancestors. And then, of course, there was Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg. There's so much on Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, but he was the pastor of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Dunmore County, Virginia.

[John Weaver] He preached a message in his long flowing black robe from Ecclesiastes chapter three. There's a time of peace and a time of war. And we preach that message that afternoon. He had already set it up. When he got through preaching, he threw off his black robe and there he stood in full military uniform. And he pointed to a young man who had a drum And the young man started drumming because he was recruiting to go fight.

[John Weaver] In defending his actions, here's what he said. I'm a clergyman, and it's true. But I'm also a member of society as well as the poorest layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man. Shall I then sit still and enjoy myself at home while the best blood of the continent is spilling? Heaven forbid it. Do you think if America should be conquered, I should be safe? Far from it. And would you not rather fight like a man than die like a dog?

[John Weaver] The cause is just and noble. Were I a bishop, even a Lutheran one, I should obey without hesitation. And so far from thinking that I am wrong, I'm convinced it is my duty so to do, a duty I owe to my God and to my country. Where are the men like that today? I have a message. I preached many years ago, it's just entitled, Come Thou Peaceably.

[John Weaver] When you read first Samuel, chapter 16, little Samuel, the sweet prophet, hmm, is going to Bethlehem to offer a sacrifice. And before he gets there, the people send out a committee to meet him and they ask him Comest thou peaceably? I thought, what a question to ask a preacher. What a question. Can you imagine today a preacher walking up a city council or county council and before he can get in the room? There's a number of men coming out to the preacher and say, preacher, are you coming in peaceably? Why would they ask Samuel, comest thou peaceably? Read 1 Samuel chapter 15. Because Samuel had just taken a sword and hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord. That's why. That's why.

[John Weaver] You know, when I was a boy. At least pastors, ministers were respected. I was raised in the South. I was raised on the farm. A lot of farmers smoked. I have seen farmers smoking a cigarette. And the pastor walk up, you know what they would do, they would take the cigarette out of their mouth, put it behind their back, take their fingers and pinch it out. As long as the pastor was standing there speaking to them. And they weren't trying to hide it, he knew they smoked, but out of respect for him. They did. Put it behind their backs. I'm just simply saying back then. There's more respect today, folks don't respect preachers and they insult them, they hate them. You know why? Because most preachers, they are not men. They don't know how to fight. They will not fight. They cannot fight. They won't stand.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something, and I believe this with all of my heart. We will never get our country back until we get our preachers back. And truly, I believe that the troubles that we're facing in this country basically can be laid at the foot of the pulpit. Because preachers have been fearful. And unwilling to preach the truth, come what may. Most churches are in debt up to their eyeballs. And if they really preach the truth, then people get mad and leave, and now they're left with a sinking fund payment and they'll lose their property.

[John Weaver] You look at the men that were alive and around fighting in 1776. I'm talking about preachers. You look at the men in 1861 and 1865, and then you look at the preachers today, and I think you're going to see a vast, vast, difference, a vast difference. You remember when God took Elijah up into heaven in a whirlwind and Elisha picked up his mantle. He went back to the river and he took Elijah's mantle and he smoked the water and said, where is the Lord God of Elijah?

[John Weaver] And the waters parted hither and thither. We could change that question. We could ask, where are the Lord God's Elijah's? Where are men willing to be men? Willing to study. Willing to stand. willing to pray, willing to preach, willing to sacrifice everything for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the kingdom of God. If we want our country back, we need to get our pulpits back. We need to get men who will proclaim the truth and stand for the truth. The Black Robed Regiment were men who preached, prayed and fought. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I ask for your blessing and your help. I pray, Lord, that you would indeed teach us, encourage us, embolden us. Help us, Lord, to stand. And having done all, Lord, to stand. Our flesh is weak and we need thee and we need thy blessing and thy spirit and thy power. We ask for a fresh anointing. We ask for a double portion of thy spirit. We ask, Lord, that you would awaken us.

[John Weaver] And instill a royal backbone in us. And enable us to be what we should be. For your honor and your glory, in the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen.

Black Robed Regiment

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	7822234934497
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation Themes and Eschatological Applications
Genre	Sermon
Date	2022-07-05
Dictation Name
Book	Book 141: Revelation Themes and Eschatological Applications — Chapter 18
Source Timed Segments	80

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: God Uses Men for His Glory

Weaver reads Hebrews 11:32-35 and emphasizes that God uses men, not for their own glory but for His, and that there is a call on each believer to be strong.

If you'll look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Hebrews chapter 11, and let's begin reading there with verse 32. And notice if you would what the scripture says, although I will not be expounding this passage, I'm certainly going to be using the truth of this passage. Hebrews 11, and notice if you would beginning there with verse 32.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 11:32-35

"And what shall I more say, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of the lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection."

You know, just from this passage, you can understand at least a couple of truths. Number one, God does use men. He's named them here and all through the Bible, God uses men. Secondly, we have to understand that when God uses men, it is not for the glory of the man that He used, but for the glory of God that used the man. And thirdly, we have to understand that there is consequently a call on each of us,

as these men in Hebrews chapter 11, to be strong and to quit ourselves like men. We're going to find as we study history, the pastors were quite different back then than they are today. They were members of what were known as the Black Robed Regiment. This name was given to the ministers who sparked, who fought in, who prayed for and advanced the war for independence, sometimes called the Revolutionary War. These men all wore long flowing black robes, which were symbols of their office and symbols of their authority. Consequently, they were referred to as the Black Robed Regiment.

The Black Robed Regiment Defined

The Black Robed Regiment was the name given to ministers who sparked, fought in, and prayed for the Revolutionary War, wearing long black robes as symbols of their office.

And it was these preachers that were despised. They were hated. They were eagerly sought by the British. There's a price placed upon their heads. And when they were captured, they were despicably treated, many times thrown into prison, and sometimes they were even murdered. The name of Pastor Moses Allen of Georgia was frequently cursed by the Tories. He was more obnoxious to them than the leaders of the Patriots, and most deadly threats were issued against Moses Allen.

The Cost of Pastoral Patriotism: Moses Allen

Pastor Moses Allen was hated by the British, captured, mistreated on a prison ship, and drowned attempting escape; his body was desecrated by soldiers.

In fact, his enemy said that this rebel parson did more injury to the cause of the king than a dozen colonels. I have a message on Moses Allen. The title of the message is "The Damnedest Rebel in Georgia," and that is exactly what the English called him because he was indeed quite a man and he stood up to the English, and consequently, when Savannah fell, that means his church and his home in Midway, Georgia, were burned to the ground out of retaliation. He himself was captured and was put on a prison ship. And there on that ship, it was disease and starvation and all kinds of ill treatment given to those individuals. And so Moses Allen then endeavored to minister to those men there as best he could until he had an opportunity to escape. Now, when he did escape, he had to dive from the ship into the water and swim to shore. His escape was good. But the truth of the matter is he had been so mistreated and so ill treated he did not really have the energy and the strength to do everything that he needed to to swim to the other shore. And consequently, he drowned.

Therefore, some of the men who were prisoners called out for the British to bury him, to show you the contempt they had for these preachers. They said, "We'll take care of him." And so they sent a boat over full of British soldiers who took their feet and stomped him in the mud and left his limbs sticking up for the buzzards to take. So it was men like Pastor Moses Allen that nursed the flame of piety and the love for civil liberty. These men preached, they prayed, and they fought for liberty. Many of these men went into the army as chaplains. Others stirred the people with great patriotic messages which swelled the ranks of the army. Others still showered the enemy with tracts and with sermons and pamphlets, and some even entered the army and took up temporal arms and fought alongside the other soldiers.

The Preaching and Influence of the Black Robed Regiment

These pastors taught rejection of the divine right of kings, that rights come from God, and that government must maintain those rights; they were present at every major battle.

It was these patriots, it was these preachers, that taught their hearers to reject with utmost abhorrence the divine right of kings, passive obedience and non-resistance. Further, they not only preached and taught this, but they preached it so thoroughly they inculcated these truths into their hearers. They taught that our rights and our liberty and our freedom were from God and God alone. And they also taught that it was the duty of government to maintain these rights and to also follow God's law and God's orderly way.

So the pastors during the American Revolution were everywhere. You find them huddled at Valley Forge. You find them facing the storm and the wintry march on Trenton. You find them covered with the smoke of conflict in Bennington. You find them standing under the enemy's fire at Yorktown. At Lexington, three pastors actually fought as common soldiers. You will find them everywhere. It does not matter what expedition they went on, no matter how strenuous, no matter how arduous, no matter how tiring, these men were there. These pastors were the leaders in this war.

They were the spiritual magistrates that taught their people and led their people, not only in praying and preaching, but also in fighting. Let me give you a good illustration of their bravery and their courage. Some of you have heard of Pastor Gad Hitchcock. In order to understand this, you must understand what an election sermon was. In those days, no one could take an office unless he got preached to.

Bold Preaching Before Tyrants: Gad Hitchcock and Others

Gad Hitchcock preached directly against General Gage, declaring that the people mourn because the wicked bear rule; other pastors like John Woodhull and David Ely also exemplified courage.

In other words, it was the pastor's responsibility to talk to the civil magistrate and tell him what God required of him. And at the same time, they would also preach to the people and tell them what God also required of them. Well, Gad Hitchcock then was called upon to give an election sermon to the new governor that King George III had commissioned. He found, as he got there, that the new governor was none other than General Gage himself, who had come with an army to subdue the colonists. And so here, General Gage is sitting in the governor's chair with his men standing behind him. And Gad Hitchcock preaches from Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 2 that says, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when the wicked bear rule, they mourn." And listen to the words of just part of the sermon that Gad Hitchcock preached before General Gage. He said,

"If I am mistaken in supposing plans are formed and executing subversive to our natural and chartered rights and privileges, and incompatible with every idea of liberty, then all America is mistaken with me. Our continued complaints, our repeated humble but fruitless, unregarded petitions and remonstrances, and if I may be allowed the sacred allusion, our groanings, which cannot be uttered, are at once indications of our suffering and the feeling sense we have of them." Now, listen to what he says. He's talking to General Gage. "Let the governor in his chair of state hear it. We not only mourn, but with groanings that cannot be uttered, and all because the wicked bear rule. The castle cannot shelter him from the scorching thunderbolt. Families are divided. Brother is arrayed against brother and friend against friend. Society is cut loose from its moorings and hate and consternation reign on every side. And all because the wicked bear rule." Listen up. "King George may say the evils that produce this state of things are imaginary. But I tell you," says Gad Hitchcock, "and I will tell the tyrant to his face. It's because the wicked bear rule."

Can you imagine a preacher today saying that to the new governor? Can you imagine a preacher today saying that before the President of the United States? You see, it was these pastors who really and truly preached liberty and freedom and they were bold and they were brave and they were courageous and they did not care who was in front of them. They were going to speak the truth. The British were extremely aware of the authority and the influence that these pastors had, and they were also upset that this authority and influence was on the side of independence. It was not on the side of King George, and they called it rebellion. Let me tell you something very quickly. You must understand that rebellion is only to lawful authority. If there is no lawful authority, there is no rebellion. So I could look at Pastor Brink's wife and I could say, "Woman, get up and give me a glass of tea." Wow. She could look at me and say, "Now, wait a minute, Brother Weaver, if you ask me kindly, I'll be glad to do so."

But don't be ordering me around. And I look at her husband and I say, "Well, the problem with your wife is she's just rebellious." No, she's not rebellious. Why? Because I have no lawful authority over her. I'm not her husband. I'm not her pastor. You see what I'm saying? If there is no lawful authority, there is no rebellion. There is only resistance. Resistance is to usurp an unlawful authority. So she could really say to me, and say it very kindly, "Brother Weaver, I don't have to obey you. You're not my authority. You're not my head."

"If you ask me, I'll be glad to do it. No, if you're going to order me, I'm just not going to do it." That's not rebellion, that's resistance. And so here, although the English referred to the war as rebellion, just like the War of 1861 to 1865, do you know what the official records are titled? The War of Rebellion. The War of Rebellion. Rebellion can only be to lawful authority.

Now, let me show you. In 1774, the governor of Massachusetts refused the request of the Massachusetts General Assembly to appoint a day of fasting and prayer. Here is the excuse he gave for not appointing a day of fasting and prayer. The governor said the request was only to give an opportunity for sedition to flow from the pulpit. In other words, here he taught and was thinking and stating that the preaching and teaching of the truth of God's word was sedition. And then, of course, he not only did that, but he was against what you and I would call liberty and freedom. And he was for slavery and tyranny. Let me tell you something. I do not care how government calls our actions rebellion when they are not in rebellion. All of the governmental proclamations, all of the governmental sanctions, all the governmental indictments do not change truth. They do not change righteousness and they do not change justice. They may defame it. They may denounce it. They may deny it, but they cannot destroy it because God's word is truth. And the scripture says, "Forever, O Lord, is thy word settled in the heavens."

So truly, you must understand that these English would view all the colonial people as servants and as slaves, and it was rebellion because they would not believe or act upon the unconstitutional orders that were given them by Parliament. By the way, the colonists were never under Parliament to begin with. They had their own legislatures. Parliament had absolutely no authority over the colonists whatsoever. And so it was resistance and not rebellion. Dr. Timothy Dwight, who is an author, theologian, chaplain, and president of Yale University, urged that a Declaration of Independence from England be publicly stated before it was ever done. Here is what he said, "I urged in conversation with several gentlemen of great respectability, firm Whigs, and my intimate friends, the importance and even the necessity of a declaration of independence on the part of the colonies. For myself, I regarded the die cast and the hope of reconciliation vanished and believed that the colonists would never be able to defend themselves unless they renounced their dependence upon Great Britain." So here, Dr. Timothy Dwight is calling for a declaration of independence before it was ever, ever done. It was Dr. Jonathan Mayhew who was the originator of the phrase, "a more perfect union."

In fact, Robert Treat Paine called Mayhew the father of civil and religious liberty in Massachusetts and in America. It was John Adams who called him the morning gun of the revolution. It was August the 25th, 1765 that Mayhew preached a sermon against the Stamp Act from Galatians chapter 5, verses 12 and 13. And of course, this sermon was full of divine truth and also demands for resistance to tyranny. George Bancroft, the great historian, and if you ever get the opportunity to buy Bancroft's History of the United States, you need to do so. But here's what Bancroft said about Jonathan Mayhew. "Whenever or whoever," says Bancroft, "repeats the story of the revolution will rehearse the name of Mayhew. He spent whole nights in prayer for the dangers of his country. Light dawned on his mind on a Sabbath morning in July 1766."

He wrote to Otis, that is James Otis, saying, "You have heard of the communion of the churches. While I was thinking of this in my bed, the great use and importance of the communion of the colonies appeared to me in a striking light. Would it not be decorous in our assembly to send circulars to all the rest expressing a desire to cement a union among ourselves? A good foundation has been laid by the Congress of New York." "It may be the only means of perpetuating our liberties." The suggestion of a more perfect union for the common defense originated with Mayhew. And this was the first public expression of that feature of the Union that has been the glory of the American Republic. And it came from a clergyman on a Sabbath morning under the inspiration of heaven as he lay in bed. Yes, pastors in those days were real leaders.

They were the movers and the shakers of the revolution. I want to give you very quickly just a few of them. Then I'm going to slow down and concentrate on three or four of them. But Dr. John Woodhull, who was the pastor of the Freehold Presbyterian Church of New Jersey, he was one of the most active patriots in his day. And on one occasion, when he went out to fight with the enemy, every man in his parish went with him, without exception, except one old man who was so feeble he could not go with the pastor. And he bid them Godspeed and asked God's blessing upon them. And then there was Dr. David Ely of Huntington, Connecticut, who was so surrounded by Tories. And yet he preached resistance to tyranny and he preached it so powerfully and so effectively that the Tories near him said that when the war was over, they were going to hang him from the oak that was nearest his church building. Wow.

Resistance vs. Rebellion: A Biblical Distinction

Weaver explains that rebellion is only against lawful authority; resistance to unlawful authority is not rebellion, applying this to the colonists' actions against Parliament.

Let me tell you something very quickly. You must understand that rebellion is only to lawful authority. If there is no lawful authority, there is no rebellion. So I could look at Pastor Brink's wife and I could say, "Woman, get up and give me a glass of tea." Wow. She could look at me and say, "Now, wait a minute, Brother Weaver, if you ask me kindly, I'll be glad to do so."

Key Figures: Mayhew, Dwight, and the Call for Union

Jonathan Mayhew originated the phrase 'a more perfect union' and preached against the Stamp Act; Timothy Dwight urged a declaration of independence early on.

Dr. Timothy Dwight, who is an author, theologian, chaplain, and president of Yale University, urged that a Declaration of Independence from England be publicly stated before it was ever done. Here is what he said, "I urged in conversation with several gentlemen of great respectability, firm Whigs, and my intimate friends, the importance and even the necessity of a declaration of independence on the part of the colonies. For myself, I regarded the die cast and the hope of reconciliation vanished and believed that the colonists would never be able to defend themselves unless they renounced their dependence upon Great Britain." So here, Dr. Timothy Dwight is calling for a declaration of independence before it was ever, ever done. It was Dr. Jonathan Mayhew who was the originator of the phrase, "a more perfect union."

Profiles of Courage: Thomas Allen, Naphtali Daggett, John Witherspoon, Jonas Clark

Detailed stories of four pastors: Thomas Allen fought at Bennington and killed a Hessian; Naphtali Daggett fired on British troops alone; John Witherspoon signed the Declaration and urged others; Jonas Clark trained his men and they fought at Lexington.

Now, you remember, I talked about Moses Allen earlier, but Moses happened to be Thomas's brother. Thomas Allen was quite a man. When the English converged upon and covered the hills at the Battle of White Plains, sometimes known as Ticonderoga, the colonists were basically outnumbered and outgunned. And Thomas Allen knew that. And so he decided that what he needed to do was preach a message to his men and to all who would listen and to encourage them to fight because they were outnumbered and outgunned. I want you to listen to just part of his sermon. Here's what he said.

"Valiant soldiers, yonder," pointing to the enemy in his sight, "are the enemies of your country who have come to lay waste and destroy and spread havoc and devastation through this pleasant land. They are enemies hired to do the work of death. They were Hessians hired by George III defiled in this land." He said, "Their enemies hired to do the work of death and have no motive to animate them in their undertaking. You have every consideration to induce you to play the man and to act the part of valiant soldiers. Your country looks up to you for its defense." "You are contending for your wives, whether you or they shall enjoy them. You are fighting for your children, whether they shall be yours or theirs, your houses and lands, and for your flocks and herds, for your freedom, for future generations, for everything that is great and noble on account of which only life itself is worth a fig. You must, you will abide in the day of trial."

"You cannot give back while animated by these considerations. Suffer me therefore on this occasion to recommend to you without delay to break off your sins by righteousness and your iniquity by turning unto the Lord. Turn ye, turn you, you ungodly sinners, for why will you die? Repent, lest the Lord come and smite you with a curse. Our camp is filled with blasphemers and resounds with the language of the infernal regions." "Oh, that officers and men might fear to take the holy and tremendous name of God in vain. Oh, that you would now return to the Lord, lest destruction should come upon you, lest vengeance overtake you. Oh, that you were wise, that you would understand your latter end. I must recommend to you the strictest attention to your duty and the most punctual obedience to your officers. Discipline, order and regularity are the strength of an army."

"Valiant soldiers, should our enemy attack us, listen, I exhort and conjure you to play the man. Let no danger be too great. Let no suffering appear too severe for your encounter, for your bleeding country. God's grace assisting me, I'm determined to fight and die by your side rather than flee before our enemies or resign myself to them. I prefer death to captivity. Ever remember your unhappy brethren," "now made prisoners at Fort Washington, whose blood now cries to heaven for vengeance and shakes the pillars of the world, saying, 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?' Rather than quit this ground with infamy and disgrace, I prefer leaving this body of mine, a corpse on the spot. I must finally recommend it to you and urge it on you once again and again."

"In time of action, keep silent. Let all be hushed and calm, serene and tranquil, that the word of command may be distinctly heard and resolutely obeyed. And may the God of heaven take us all under his protection and cover our heads in a day of battle and grant us his salvation." Did you hear what that preacher said? "I'd rather fight and die right now than run or be captured." "I'll leave my body, a corpse on the spot." Wow. You know what happened? After this tremendous sermon and this great preaching and this great encouragement, the colonial leaders decided to retreat. Oh. Thomas Allen was crushed. How could such happen? After the retreat, he and the Berkshire militia went back home. A little bit later, General Stark sent out a call for the Berkshire militia. They marched all day and into the night on the 16th of August during a downpour, a deluge of rain. They got into camp where General Stark was early in the morning. Pastor Allen wanted to make sure that nothing was going to happen now, like it happened at Ticonderoga. So he went in to see General Stark.

I suppose he woke him up. I don't know. But when he went in, he said this, "General Stark, the Berkshire militia have been summoned to the field without being allowed to fight. Now, if you don't give them a chance to fight, they will never turn out again." General Stark, instead of being upset at what we would call the impudence of the young preacher, was rather amused. Because he himself was a hero and he liked the spunk in this preacher, and he looked at the pastor and he said, "Well, do you prefer to march now while it's dark and raining?" Pastor Allen said, "Well, no, not right at the morning moment." And General Stark said, "Well, if the Lord give us a blue sky and sunshine tomorrow, I promise you, I will give you your cup of fighting. You will be able to fight. And if I don't give you that, I will never call you out again." And sure enough, the next morning, the sun was up, the sky was blue.

And the enemy began forming all their columns and getting in positions. The Berkshire men looked at Pastor Allen and said, "Well, it looks like we will go and be able to fight today." "Yes," said Pastor Allen, "we're going to have our fun at it, but we're not ready yet." He said, "Let's just bow in prayer and ask for the Lord's blessing and help and protection." And they prayed. You know what Pastor Allen did next? When all the Hessians were in place, he ascended on a little hill and stood on a stump in his long flowing black robe, and he called to the Hessians to surrender and save this effusion of blood. And he promised them good terms if they would go ahead and surrender now. And their answer was volleys of musket balls being shot at him. One went through his hat, but he was not hit.

And so he stepped down and of course, the battle had been commenced. As they were fighting, he noticed that one of his brothers was a little bit slow at shooting and not really able to shoot well. And so he looked at his brother and said, "Joe," he said, "I'll tell you what, you load and I'll shoot. You just keep these muskets loaded." And so that's exactly what happened. And when the battle was over and the colonial army had won, there was a charge. And guess who is in leading the charge? It was Pastor Allen. He was the first one over the breastworks. And then he heard the exulting cry "Victory!" from all of the colonial soldiers. And of course, once the Hessians had surrendered and or run away,

what he did was he found pack horses that had panniers of medicine and other things upon them. And so he took the medicine and then began to not only doctor his people, but also the fallen Hessians as well. After the battle was over and after this was done, he had to rush back in order that he might preach to his people on the Lord's Day. And of course, by this time, many at home had heard that Pastor Allen had fought. And so one of his men came up to him and he asked this question. He said, "Pastor Allen, I heard that you fought like a common soldier. Is that true?" Pastor Allen responded, "Yes, I did it. It was a very hot, close battle and it became every patriot to do his duty." "Well, but," the parishioner said, "Pastor Allen, did you kill anybody?" Pastor Allen said, "Well, I don't know whether I killed anybody or not, but I noticed a certain bush. And there was a flame of fire coming from that bush, and every time it came, one of our men fell. He said, I don't know that I killed anybody. But I aimed at that bush and fired and I put out that flash." So, yes, he did kill the man.

Do you realize that Pastor Thomas Allen lived till 1810 and he died of natural causes at age 68? Where are men like that today? Where are men like that today? Everyone has heard of old Naphtali Daggett. He was the pastor, president of Yale College. He instructed all of his students of the right of resistance to tyranny, and that we were not to obey a tyrant. Well, in 1779, General Tryon, with 2,500 soldiers, landed five miles from West Haven. The little college had to be quickly broken up because they were going to be overrun with English soldiers just shortly. So 100 of the young men volunteered to take their arms and go and try to retard the advance of the British troops until the little college and the town could evacuate. Well, there's confusion in the street, obviously, until finally the hundred young men had their arms and the fife and drum started playing and they marched off toward the British. As they got a little way out of town, all of a sudden they heard the clatter of hoofs beating on the sod and they looked back and here came old Dr. Daggett,

in his long flowing black robe on his black mare with a long fowling piece in his hand. And as he passed the young men, they cheered and hollered. But Dr. Daggett did not look to the left or to the right. He kept heading right straight for the British. He finally found a little hill. He rode up that little hill, had his mare tied and began to reconnoiter the situation. By this time, these young men had hit the advance party of the British soldiers. And so these young men poured such a volley of fire into this advance of the British soldiers that they turned and ran back to the main body of troops. And these 100 young men were chasing them until all of a sudden they realized now we're confronted with 2,500 troops.

And so now they had to turn and get out of there. And as they passed the hill, there's the report of a musket loader. And they looked up and there was old Dr. Daggett aiming that long fowling piece into the British army. At first, the British kind of ignored it, but all of a sudden, those bullets kept finding their way into their ranks and men started falling. So finally, one of these officers told a man, "Take some men, go up and see what's going on up on that hill." And when they got up to the top of the hill, there stood old Dr. Daggett reloading his muzzleloader. To the British soldier, it was rather amusing.

He couldn't believe his eyes. And so he looked at Dr. Daggett and he said, "Why, you old fool, you. What do you think you're doing?" Dr. Daggett replied, "Exercising the rights of war, son, exercising the rights of war." He said, "You old rascal." He said, "If I let you go, will you promise never to fire on His Majesty's troops again?" Dr. Daggett, still loading, said, "Nothing more likely, son, nothing more likely." So then they took Dr. Daggett, forced him down the hill, forced him to march in front of them.

And treated him so badly that although he lived, within 16 months after that, he died of all the mistreatment and maltreatment that was given to him. Yeah. Dr. Daggett, Naphtali Daggett. And then, of course, there's John Witherspoon, who is a pastor, patriot, congressman, president of Princeton College. Did you know that it was John Witherspoon and also Roger Sherman who are responsible for the hard money clauses in the Constitution of the United States? "No state shall make anything but gold and silver as legal tender." And "Congress shall have the power to coin money," not print it, but coin it because it was to be of gold and silver. When the declaration was written and was presented before Congress, some men were hesitating on putting their signature to it. Everyone knows the story of John Hancock, but John Witherspoon, when he saw that some men were hesitating, arose and said this, "Mr. President, that noble instrument on your table, which ensures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house."

"He who will not respond to its accents and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions is unworthy of the name Freeman. And although these gray hairs must descend into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather they should descend thither by the hand of the executioner than desert this just and sacred cause of my country." He said, "I'm willing to die." One timorous man made the objection. "Well, I don't think that we are ripe for such a declaration of independence." And John Witherspoon jumped up and responded, "Sir, we're not only ripe, we are rotten." And of course, it was signed. Jonas Clark, everyone knows about Jonas Clark. He was the pastor at Lexington. Clark had taught and trained his parishioners in civil disobedience and resistance to tyranny. In fact, Adams and Hancock often found asylum in Pastor Clark's house.

The people that sat under his ministry were so thoroughly indoctrinated by his teaching that his instructions are now in the legislature. Yes, they're embodied there now in writing. But it was between the hours of 12 and 1 when the word was received that the British were on their way. And so Pastor Jonas Clark had the bell rung. And men began to gather on the church green. 150 of them. They had their names enrolled and their names were called out. And here before morning stood the pastor and 150 of his men in the starlight waiting for the battle. The great question of Hancock and Adams was this. "Will these men fight?" I mean, these were farmers, these were mechanics. They're going to be facing the trained and drilled troops of England. "Will these men fight?" Jonas Clark responded. "They will fight. For this very hour, I've trained them."

"And they will die if necessary." I want you to stop and think about that. He's only trained them theologically. He not only trained them practically, he also trained them militarily. Yes, they were going to fight. When the British got there that morning and they began to issue the commands, "Throw down your weapons, throw down your weapons, disperse you rebels, disperse." And they did not. And then the sound of the muskets.

When the battle was over, seven stalwart men from Pastor Clark's church lay dead, many others wounded. Jonas Parker, who is the strongest wrestler in Lexington, had said that he would never run from the British. He was shot and bayoneted at the very spot that he had taken. He did not run. And then, of course, there was old Caleb Monroe, whose gray hairs had been turned into blood. And there was Caleb Harrington, who was shot running up the church steps. Why was he running up the church steps? Because there was more powder in the church building and he was running to get more powder for the men. And he was shot dead on the church steps. We always hear of Lexington Green, but we never even hear of what we call the church green. It was Clark who was moved, obviously, by the loss of his men and the men that were wounded.

But yet at the same time, he said this, "From this day will be dated the liberty of the world." Everyone knows about the shot heard around the world. What many people do not know, it was Jonas Clark, the pastor that had taught and trained these men. I've got two messages on the biblical doctrine of self-defense. We don't understand all the customs that we have. When I was a boy and I was raised in church, we went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night and any other night there was a meeting, we were there. And I always noticed that men sat on the ends of the pews and when I got to be grown, I sat on the end of the pew. And you know that when the service is over, the pastor always goes to the back and greets everybody and shakes their hand.

Customs Rooted in Defense: Seating and the Pastor's Role

Weaver explains that men sat on aisle ends to access weapons, and the pastor walked to the rear to check for danger, customs originating from colonial self-defense.

You say, "Well, that's normal." No, no, no. Listen, if all you want to do is greet the pastor, shake the hand, you can walk up front as easily as he can walk to the rear. Those were customs from here. Because when the colonial men went to church, they stacked their arms in the middle of the aisle. And the men sat on the edges of the seats, the ends of the seats, so if Indians or the English came along, they could grab their weapons without falling over their women and children. And how about the pastor? The pastor had the best gun in town. He was usually the best shot.

And the reason he walked to the door because he was the under shepherd. He carried his weapon with him. He opened the door. He looked out to make sure there were no Indians and no British around. And when he deemed all safe, then the men came out with their weapons and then the women and children. So a lot of our modern day customs we get from these men and we don't even realize it. Alice Morse Earle,

I think is her name, wrote a book, The Sabbath in Puritan New England. You need to read the book. You'll find out about a lot of the customs and habits that we have today came from our colonial ancestors. And then, of course, there was Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg. There's so much on Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, but he was the pastor of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Dunmore County, Virginia.

Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg: From Pulpit to Battlefield

Muhlenberg preached from Ecclesiastes 3, then removed his robe to reveal a military uniform and recruited men to fight, declaring it his duty to God and country.

He preached a message in his long flowing black robe from Ecclesiastes chapter 3. "There's a time of peace and a time of war." And he preached that message that afternoon. He had already set it up. When he got through preaching, he threw off his black robe and there he stood in full military uniform. And he pointed to a young man who had a drum. And the young man started drumming because he was recruiting to go fight. In defending his actions, here's what he said. "I'm a clergyman, and it's true. But I'm also a member of society as well as the poorest layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man. Shall I then sit still and enjoy myself at home while the best blood of the continent is spilling? Heaven forbid it. Do you think if America should be conquered, I should be safe? Far from it. And would you not rather fight like a man than die like a dog?"

"The cause is just and noble. Were I a bishop, even a Lutheran one, I should obey without hesitation. And so far from thinking that I am wrong, I'm convinced it is my duty so to do, a duty I owe to my God and to my country." Where are the men like that today? I have a message. I preached many years ago, it's just entitled, "Comest Thou Peaceably?"

The Need for Manly Preachers Today

Weaver laments the lack of courageous preachers, linking national decline to fearful pulpits, and calls for men who will preach, pray, and fight for truth.

When you read 1 Samuel, chapter 16, little Samuel, the sweet prophet, hmm, is going to Bethlehem to offer a sacrifice. And before he gets there, the people send out a committee to meet him and they ask him, "Comest thou peaceably?" I thought, what a question to ask a preacher. What a question. Can you imagine today a preacher walking up to a city council or county council and before he can get in the room, there's a number of men coming out to the preacher and say, "Preacher, are you coming in peaceably?" Why would they ask Samuel, "Comest thou peaceably?" Read 1 Samuel chapter 15. Because Samuel had just taken a sword and hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord. That's why. That's why.

You know, when I was a boy, at least pastors, ministers were respected. I was raised in the South. I was raised on the farm. A lot of farmers smoked. I have seen farmers smoking a cigarette. And the pastor walk up, you know what they would do, they would take the cigarette out of their mouth, put it behind their back, take their fingers and pinch it out. As long as the pastor was standing there speaking to them. And they weren't trying to hide it, he knew they smoked, but out of respect for him, they did put it behind their backs. I'm just simply saying back then there's more respect. Today folks don't respect preachers and they insult them, they hate them. You know why? Because most preachers, they are not men. They don't know how to fight. They will not fight. They cannot fight. They won't stand.

Let me tell you something, and I believe this with all of my heart. We will never get our country back until we get our preachers back. And truly, I believe that the troubles that we're facing in this country basically can be laid at the foot of the pulpit. Because preachers have been fearful and unwilling to preach the truth, come what may. Most churches are in debt up to their eyeballs. And if they really preach the truth, then people get mad and leave, and now they're left with a sinking fund payment and they'll lose their property. You look at the men that were alive and around fighting in 1776. I'm talking about preachers. You look at the men in 1861 and 1865, and then you look at the preachers today, and I think you're going to see a vast, vast difference, a vast difference. You remember when God took Elijah up into heaven in a whirlwind and Elisha picked up his mantle. He went back to the river and he took Elijah's mantle and he smote the water and said, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?"

And the waters parted hither and thither. We could change that question. We could ask, "Where are the Lord God's Elijahs?" Where are men willing to be men? Willing to study. Willing to stand. Willing to pray, willing to preach, willing to sacrifice everything for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the kingdom of God. If we want our country back, we need to get our pulpits back. We need to get men who will proclaim the truth and stand for the truth. The Black Robed Regiment were men who preached, prayed and fought. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I ask for your blessing and your help. I pray, Lord, that you would indeed teach us, encourage us, embolden us. Help us, Lord, to stand. And having done all, Lord, to stand. Our flesh is weak and we need thee and we need thy blessing and thy spirit and thy power. We ask for a fresh anointing. We ask for a double portion of thy spirit. We ask, Lord, that you would awaken us.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Courageous Pastoral Leadership

Summary: The Black Robed Regiment pastors were bold, fearless leaders who preached truth to power, fought alongside their congregations, and were willing to die for liberty.

Evidence: Weaver recounts multiple pastors who faced death, preached before hostile governors, and took up arms, such as Gad Hitchcock telling General Gage 'I will tell the tyrant to his face. It's because the wicked bear rule.'

Resistance to Tyranny as a Biblical Duty

Summary: The colonists' resistance was not rebellion because Parliament had no lawful authority over them; resistance to unlawful authority is biblically justified.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'If there is no lawful authority, there is no rebellion. There is only resistance.' and explains that the colonists had their own legislatures.

The Pastor as Defender and Trainer

Summary: Pastors not only preached but also trained their congregations theologically and militarily, prepared to physically defend their flocks.

Evidence: Jonas Clark said of his men, 'They will fight. For this very hour, I've trained them.' Weaver notes that pastors often had the best guns and were the best shots.

The Decline of Manly Preaching

Summary: Modern preachers are often fearful, unwilling to preach truth, and lack the courage of their colonial forebears, contributing to national decay.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We will never get our country back until we get our preachers back.' and laments that most preachers 'are not men. They don't know how to fight.'

God's Sovereignty in Using Men

Summary: God uses men for His glory, not theirs; the call to be strong and quit like men is rooted in Scripture.

Evidence: From Hebrews 11, Weaver notes, 'God does use men... it is not for the glory of the man that He used, but for the glory of God that used the man.'

Liberty as a Gift from God

Summary: Rights and freedom come from God alone, and government's duty is to maintain these rights according to God's law.

Evidence: Weaver states the pastors 'taught that our rights and our liberty and our freedom were from God and God alone.'

Key Arguments

The American Revolution was a righteous resistance, not rebellion.

Summary: Because Parliament had no lawful authority over the colonies, their resistance was justified; rebellion only applies to lawful authority.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'Rebellion can only be to lawful authority... the colonists were never under Parliament to begin with.'

Pastors were the indispensable leaders of the Revolution.

Summary: The Black Robed Regiment pastors sparked, sustained, and fought in the war; their influence was greater than military officers.

Evidence: Moses Allen's enemy said he 'did more injury to the cause of the king than a dozen colonels.'

Bold preaching is essential to liberty.

Summary: Preaching truth to power, even at personal risk, is a pastoral duty; silence enables tyranny.

Evidence: Gad Hitchcock preached against General Gage, and the governor of Massachusetts refused a fast day to prevent 'sedition from the pulpit.'

The church must recover manly, fighting pastors.

Summary: National recovery depends on pulpits filled with men who will preach, pray, and fight for truth without fear of consequences.

Evidence: Weaver declares, 'We will never get our country back until we get our preachers back.'

Self-defense is a biblical and historical practice of the church.

Summary: Colonial church customs like seating arrangements and the pastor's role at the door originated from the need for armed defense.

Evidence: Weaver describes men sitting on aisle ends to grab weapons and the pastor checking for danger before dismissing.

Scripture References

Hebrews 11:32-35

Context: Read at the opening to illustrate that God uses men for His glory and calls them to be strong.

Proverbs 29:2

Context: Gad Hitchcock preached from this verse before General Gage, declaring that when the wicked bear rule, the people mourn.

Galatians 5:12-13

Context: Jonathan Mayhew preached a sermon against the Stamp Act from this passage.

1 Kings 12:16

Context: John Mills preached a series from this verse, likening the colonies to Israel and insisting they had no portion in Great Britain.

1 Chronicles 5:22

Context: Dr. Robert Davidson preached from this verse, 'for many fell down slain, for the war was of God.'

Nehemiah 4:14

Context: John Martin preached from this verse after fighting at Bunker Hill, telling the people not to be afraid.

Ecclesiastes 3

Context: Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg preached from this chapter, emphasizing 'a time of peace and a time of war,' before revealing his military uniform.

1 Samuel 16

Context: Weaver references the question 'Comest thou peaceably?' asked of Samuel, connecting it to Samuel's earlier execution of Agag in chapter 15.

1 Samuel 15

Context: Mentioned as the reason Samuel was asked if he came peaceably, because he had hacked Agag to pieces.

Psalm 119:89

Context: Quoted to affirm that God's word is settled forever, despite governmental proclamations.

Revelation 6:10

Context: Alluded to in Thomas Allen's sermon: 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not avenge our blood?'

Historical References

Moses Allen

Context: Pastor in Georgia, hated by Tories, captured, escaped a prison ship but drowned; his body was desecrated by British soldiers.

Gad Hitchcock

Context: Preached an election sermon before General Gage, boldly declaring the people mourn because the wicked bear rule.

Jonathan Mayhew

Context: Originator of the phrase 'a more perfect union'; preached against the Stamp Act; called the morning gun of the revolution by John Adams.

Timothy Dwight

Context: President of Yale, urged a declaration of independence before it was made, believing reconciliation was impossible.

Thomas Allen

Context: Pastor who preached a fiery sermon at White Plains, fought at Bennington, and killed a Hessian sniper.

Naphtali Daggett

Context: President of Yale, fired on British troops alone, was captured and mistreated, dying within 16 months.

John Witherspoon

Context: Pastor, congressman, president of Princeton; signed the Declaration and urged others, saying 'we are not only ripe, we are rotten.'

Jonas Clark

Context: Pastor at Lexington who trained his men theologically and militarily; his congregation fought and died on Lexington Green.

Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg

Context: Pastor who removed his robe to reveal a military uniform and recruited soldiers, declaring it his duty to God and country.

George Bancroft

Context: Historian who wrote about Jonathan Mayhew's role in originating the idea of a more perfect union.

Important Quotes

If I am mistaken in supposing plans are formed and executing subversive to our natural and chartered rights and privileges, and incompatible with every idea of liberty, then all America is mistaken with me.

Significance: Gad Hitchcock's bold opening to his election sermon before General Gage, asserting colonial grievances.

I urged in conversation with several gentlemen of great respectability, firm Whigs, and my intimate friends, the importance and even the necessity of a declaration of independence on the part of the colonies.

Significance: Timothy Dwight's early call for independence, showing pastoral leadership in the political sphere.

I'm determined to fight and die by your side rather than flee before our enemies or resign myself to them. I prefer death to captivity.

Significance: Allen's personal commitment to fight alongside his men, demonstrating pastoral courage.

Mr. President, that noble instrument on your table, which ensures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house.

Significance: John Witherspoon's urging to sign the Declaration, showing his pivotal role in the founding.

From this day will be dated the liberty of the world.

Significance: Jonas Clark's prophetic statement after the Battle of Lexington, recognizing its global significance.

I'm a clergyman, and it's true. But I'm also a member of society as well as the poorest layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man.

Significance: Peter Muhlenberg's defense of his decision to fight, blending pastoral and civic duty.

Discussion Questions

How does the distinction between rebellion and resistance apply to current issues of government overreach?

Context: Weaver argues that rebellion is only against lawful authority; resistance to unlawful authority is justified.

In what ways can pastors today emulate the courage of the Black Robed Regiment without taking up physical arms?

Context: The sermon highlights pastors who preached boldly and trained their congregations; application may differ today.

What does it mean for a pastor to 'train' his congregation as Jonas Clark did, and how might that look in a modern church?

Context: Clark trained his men theologically and militarily; Weaver suggests this involved both doctrine and practical readiness.

How should Christians balance the call to peace with the duty to resist tyranny, as seen in the transformation of Pastor Payson?

Context: Payson initially preached submission but became a fierce soldier after Lexington; Weaver presents this as a model.

What role does the pulpit play in preserving national liberty, according to this sermon?

Context: Weaver asserts that national troubles can be laid at the foot of the pulpit due to fearful preaching.

Applications

Cultivate pastoral courage

Summary: Pastors must be willing to preach truth regardless of consequences, even if it costs them financially or socially.

Evidence: Weaver laments that most churches are in debt and pastors fear preaching truth because people might leave.

Train congregations in biblical worldview and self-defense

Summary: Churches should teach both theology and practical readiness, following the example of colonial pastors who trained their men.

Evidence: Jonas Clark said, 'For this very hour, I've trained them,' referring to both theological and military preparation.

Resist unlawful authority

Summary: Christians must discern when government oversteps its God-given bounds and resist such usurpation, not as rebellion but as faithfulness.

Evidence: Weaver explains that resistance is to usurp an unlawful authority, using the example of a wife resisting a non-husband's orders.

Recover manly, fighting Christianity

Summary: Men in the church should embrace their role as defenders and leaders, willing to sacrifice for truth and liberty.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'Where are men willing to be men? Willing to study. Willing to stand. Willing to pray, willing to preach, willing to sacrifice everything.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T16:23:01Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T07:03:33Z

Clean Transcript

Black Robed Regiment

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

If you'll look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Hebrews chapter 11, and let's begin reading there with verse 32. And notice if you would what the scripture says, although I will not be expounding this passage, I'm certainly going to be using the truth of this passage. Hebrews 11, and notice if you would beginning there with verse 32. "And what shall I more say, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of the lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped
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the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection." You know, just from this passage, you can understand at least a couple of truths. Number one, God does use men. He's named them here and all through the Bible, God uses men. Secondly, we have to understand that when God uses men, it is not for the glory of the man that He used, but for the glory of God that used the man. And thirdly, we have to understand that there is consequently a call on each of us,
#2 | 0:39 to 1:22 | cleaned
as these men in Hebrews chapter 11, to be strong and to quit ourselves like men. We're going to find as we study history, the pastors were quite different back then than they are today. They were members of what were known as the Black Robed Regiment. This name was given to the ministers who sparked, who fought in, who prayed for and advanced the war for independence, sometimes called the Revolutionary War. These men all wore long flowing black robes, which were symbols of their office and symbols of their authority. Consequently, they were referred to as the Black Robed Regiment.
#3 | 1:23 to 2:05 | cleaned
And it was these preachers that were despised. They were hated. They were eagerly sought by the British. There's a price placed upon their heads. And when they were captured, they were despicably treated, many times thrown into prison, and sometimes they were even murdered. The name of Pastor Moses Allen of Georgia was frequently cursed by the Tories. He was more obnoxious to them than the leaders of the Patriots, and most deadly threats were issued against Moses Allen.
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In fact, his enemy said that this rebel parson did more injury to the cause of the king than a dozen colonels. I have a message on Moses Allen. The title of the message is "The Damnedest Rebel in Georgia," and that is exactly what the English called him because he was indeed quite a man and he stood up to the English, and consequently, when Savannah fell, that means his church and his home in Midway, Georgia, were burned to the ground out of retaliation.
#5 | 2:41 to 3:16 | cleaned
He himself was captured and was put on a prison ship. And there on that ship, it was disease and starvation and all kinds of ill treatment given to those individuals. And so Moses Allen then endeavored to minister to those men there as best he could until he had an opportunity to escape. Now, when he did escape, he had to dive from the ship into the water and swim to shore. His escape was good. But the truth of the matter is he had been so mistreated and so ill treated he did not really have the energy and the strength to do everything that he needed to to swim to the other shore. And consequently, he drowned.
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Therefore, some of the men who were prisoners called out for the British to bury him, to show you the contempt they had for these preachers. They said, "We'll take care of him." And so they sent a boat over full of British soldiers who took their feet and stomped him in the mud and left his limbs sticking up for the buzzards to take. So it was men like Pastor Moses Allen that nursed the flame of piety and the love for civil liberty. These men preached, they prayed, and they fought for liberty. Many of these men went into the army as chaplains. Others stirred the people with great patriotic messages which swelled the ranks of the army. Others still showered the enemy with tracts and with sermons and pamphlets, and some even entered the army and took up temporal arms and fought alongside the other soldiers.
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It was these patriots, it was these preachers, that taught their hearers to reject with utmost abhorrence the divine right of kings, passive obedience and non-resistance. Further, they not only preached and taught this, but they preached it so thoroughly they inculcated these truths into their hearers. They taught that our rights and our liberty and our freedom were from God and God alone. And they also taught that it was the duty of government to maintain these rights and to also follow God's law and God's orderly way.
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So the pastors during the American Revolution were everywhere. You find them huddled at Valley Forge. You find them facing the storm and the wintry march on Trenton. You find them covered with the smoke of conflict in Bennington. You find them standing under the enemy's fire at Yorktown. At Lexington, three pastors actually fought as common soldiers. You will find them everywhere. It does not matter what expedition they went on, no matter how strenuous, no matter how arduous, no matter how tiring, these men were there. These pastors were the leaders in this war.
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They were the spiritual magistrates that taught their people and led their people, not only in praying and preaching, but also in fighting. Let me give you a good illustration of their bravery and their courage. Some of you have heard of Pastor Gad Hitchcock. In order to understand this, you must understand what an election sermon was. In those days, no one could take an office unless he got preached to.
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In other words, it was the pastor's responsibility to talk to the civil magistrate and tell him what God required of him. And at the same time, they would also preach to the people and tell them what God also required of them. Well, Gad Hitchcock then was called upon to give an election sermon to the new governor that King George III had commissioned. He found, as he got there, that the new governor was none other than General Gage himself, who had come with an army to subdue the colonists. And so here, General Gage is sitting in the governor's chair with his men standing behind him. And Gad Hitchcock preaches from Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 2 that says, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when the wicked bear rule, they mourn." And listen to the words of just part of the sermon that Gad Hitchcock preached before General Gage. He said,
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"If I am mistaken in supposing plans are formed and executing subversive to our natural and chartered rights and privileges, and incompatible with every idea of liberty, then all America is mistaken with me. Our continued complaints, our repeated humble but fruitless, unregarded petitions and remonstrances, and if I may be allowed the sacred allusion, our groanings, which cannot be uttered, are at once indications of our suffering and the feeling sense we have of them."
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Now, listen to what he says. He's talking to General Gage. "Let the governor in his chair of state hear it. We not only mourn, but with groanings that cannot be uttered, and all because the wicked bear rule. The castle cannot shelter him from the scorching thunderbolt. Families are divided. Brother is arrayed against brother and friend against friend. Society is cut loose from its moorings and hate and consternation reign on every side. And all because the wicked bear rule." Listen up. "King George may say the evils that produce this state of things are imaginary. But I tell you," says Gad Hitchcock, "and I will tell the tyrant to his face. It's because the wicked bear rule."
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Can you imagine a preacher today saying that to the new governor? Can you imagine a preacher today saying that before the President of the United States? You see, it was these pastors who really and truly preached liberty and freedom and they were bold and they were brave and they were courageous and they did not care who was in front of them. They were going to speak the truth. The British were extremely aware of the authority and the influence that these pastors had, and they were also upset that this authority and influence was on the side of independence. It was not on the side of King George, and they called it rebellion.
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Let me tell you something very quickly. You must understand that rebellion is only to lawful authority. If there is no lawful authority, there is no rebellion. So I could look at Pastor Brink's wife and I could say, "Woman, get up and give me a glass of tea." Wow. She could look at me and say, "Now, wait a minute, Brother Weaver, if you ask me kindly, I'll be glad to do so."
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But don't be ordering me around. And I look at her husband and I say, "Well, the problem with your wife is she's just rebellious." No, she's not rebellious. Why? Because I have no lawful authority over her. I'm not her husband. I'm not her pastor. You see what I'm saying? If there is no lawful authority, there is no rebellion. There is only resistance. Resistance is to usurp an unlawful authority. So she could really say to me, and say it very kindly, "Brother Weaver, I don't have to obey you. You're not my authority. You're not my head."
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"If you ask me, I'll be glad to do it. No, if you're going to order me, I'm just not going to do it." That's not rebellion, that's resistance. And so here, although the English referred to the war as rebellion, just like the War of 1861 to 1865, do you know what the official records are titled? The War of Rebellion. The War of Rebellion. Rebellion can only be to lawful authority.
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Now, let me show you. In 1774, the governor of Massachusetts refused the request of the Massachusetts General Assembly to appoint a day of fasting and prayer. Here is the excuse he gave for not appointing a day of fasting and prayer. The governor said the request was only to give an opportunity for sedition to flow from the pulpit. In other words, here he taught and was thinking and stating that the preaching and teaching of the truth of God's word was sedition. And then, of course, he not only did that, but he was against what you and I would call liberty and freedom.
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And he was for slavery and tyranny. Let me tell you something. I do not care how government calls our actions rebellion when they are not in rebellion. All of the governmental proclamations, all of the governmental sanctions, all the governmental indictments do not change truth. They do not change righteousness and they do not change justice. They may defame it. They may denounce it. They may deny it, but they cannot destroy it because God's word is truth. And the scripture says, "Forever, O Lord, is thy word settled in the heavens."
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So truly, you must understand that these English would view all the colonial people as servants and as slaves, and it was rebellion because they would not believe or act upon the unconstitutional orders that were given them by Parliament. By the way, the colonists were never under Parliament to begin with. They had their own legislatures. Parliament had absolutely no authority over the colonists whatsoever. And so it was resistance and not rebellion.
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Dr. Timothy Dwight, who is an author, theologian, chaplain, and president of Yale University, urged that a Declaration of Independence from England be publicly stated before it was ever done. Here is what he said, "I urged in conversation with several gentlemen of great respectability, firm Whigs, and my intimate friends, the importance and even the necessity of a declaration of independence on the part of the colonies. For myself, I regarded the die cast and the hope of reconciliation vanished and believed that the colonists would never be able to defend themselves unless they renounced their dependence upon Great Britain." So here, Dr. Timothy Dwight is calling for a declaration of independence before it was ever, ever done. It was Dr. Jonathan Mayhew who was the originator of the phrase, "a more perfect union."
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In fact, Robert Treat Paine called Mayhew the father of civil and religious liberty in Massachusetts and in America. It was John Adams who called him the morning gun of the revolution. It was August the 25th, 1765 that Mayhew preached a sermon against the Stamp Act from Galatians chapter 5, verses 12 and 13. And of course, this sermon was full of divine truth and also demands for resistance to tyranny.
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George Bancroft, the great historian, and if you ever get the opportunity to buy Bancroft's History of the United States, you need to do so. But here's what Bancroft said about Jonathan Mayhew. "Whenever or whoever," says Bancroft, "repeats the story of the revolution will rehearse the name of Mayhew. He spent whole nights in prayer for the dangers of his country. Light dawned on his mind on a Sabbath morning in July 1766."
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He wrote to Otis, that is James Otis, saying, "You have heard of the communion of the churches. While I was thinking of this in my bed, the great use and importance of the communion of the colonies appeared to me in a striking light. Would it not be decorous in our assembly to send circulars to all the rest expressing a desire to cement a union among ourselves? A good foundation has been laid by the Congress of New York."
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"It may be the only means of perpetuating our liberties." The suggestion of a more perfect union for the common defense originated with Mayhew. And this was the first public expression of that feature of the Union that has been the glory of the American Republic. And it came from a clergyman on a Sabbath morning under the inspiration of heaven as he lay in bed. Yes, pastors in those days were real leaders.
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They were the movers and the shakers of the revolution. I want to give you very quickly just a few of them. Then I'm going to slow down and concentrate on three or four of them. But Dr. John Woodhull, who was the pastor of the Freehold Presbyterian Church of New Jersey, he was one of the most active patriots in his day. And on one occasion, when he went out to fight with the enemy, every man in his parish went with him, without exception, except one old man who was so feeble he could not go with the pastor.
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And he bid them Godspeed and asked God's blessing upon them. And then there was Dr. David Ely of Huntington, Connecticut, who was so surrounded by Tories. And yet he preached resistance to tyranny and he preached it so powerfully and so effectively that the Tories near him said that when the war was over, they were going to hang him from the oak that was nearest his church building. Wow.
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It did not stop him. Joseph Fish of Duxbury, Massachusetts, was 76 years of age when George Washington called upon him to speak and encourage people to join the fight for liberty and freedom. And here's what Joseph Fish said, "Were it not that my nerves were unstrung and my limbs enfeebled with age on such a call as you have, I think I should willingly quit the desk, put off my priestly garments, buckle on the harness and with trumpet in hand hasten to the battle." And of course, a number of people did indeed heed the call of Washington under the preaching of Joseph Fish.
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Then there was Jonas Stearns of New Hampshire. He went to a meeting where they were discussing what to do in New Hampshire. He had four sons. When he came back home, his sons asked him what happened. And here's what he said in giving his report. He said, "If the call succeeds, it will be a great blessing to our country. But if it should fail, your father's head will soon be a button for a halter." And then he sent his four sons into the army, bidding them to fight valiantly for freedom.
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And then, of course, there was John Mills of Delaware. He was a preacher and right before the Declaration of Independence was signed, he preached a series of messages from 1 Kings 12, verse 16, when the Israelites said, "What portion have we in David? To your tents, O Israel!" And he likened the colonies to the Israelites. And he insisted on the fact that we have no more portion in Great Britain.
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We need to learn to take care of ourselves. And of course, there was Dr. David Caldwell of Pennsylvania, whose house was plundered. Everything was stolen from it. And then his library and his house, what was left, were burned to the ground. And then he was hunted down like a felon just simply because he sided with liberty and freedom. Dr. Thomas Reed of the same state in 1776 shouldered his musket and went out to battle with 40 or 50 men from Philadelphia.
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And he aided Washington in defeating General Howe. And the next year, this same preacher happened to help save Washington at Elk Ferry because he knew the lay of the land and was able to guide Washington to safety. There was Jonas Stearns of New Hampshire as well. There was Thomas Reed. There was Dr. Robert Davidson of Maryland. And by the way, he preached the message from 1 Chronicles, chapter 5 and verse 22.
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"For many fell down slain, for the war was of God." There was William Gilmore and William Graham of Paxton near Harrisonburg, who saw the backwardness of his young men in failing to enroll in the militia. And so he stepped forward and had his name enrolled in order to embarrass his young men, to get them to come and sign up for the militia as well. There was John Steele of Cumberland, Pennsylvania, who served as captain and led the advance company of 900 men.
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And here's a man who often preached with his musket by the pulpit, ready to defend himself because they had threatened, the English had threatened to kill him over and over. There was Azel Roe. To make the militia of his parish fight, you know what Azel Roe did? During the battle, he stood and exposed himself to fire from the enemy. Everyone was begging him to step down. "Pastor, get down, get down." "No. I'm staying here until you vow that if I fight, you will fight." And they all admitted, "Yes, we will follow you and we will fight."
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And then he stepped down. Here's a man of courage, Charles McKnight of Shrewsbury, on account of his devotion to the cause of liberty and his sons on the battlefield. Not only everything he had was burned to the ground, but he was thrown into prison and treated like, I'd say, worse than a savage. Samuel Clentock sent four of his sons into the battle. Only one returned alive. Dr. Hezekiah Ripley of Washington. John Martin, after praying with his soldiers at Bunker Hill, seized a musket and fought with them until the end of the battle. And then he preached to them from Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 14.
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"And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them." These are just a few men. Let me give you one more: Nathaniel Bartlett of Reading. He was a chaplain to General Putnam, who I'll mention a little bit later. He was accustomed to make his parochial rounds with a musket on his shoulder. And he, too, preached with a loaded weapon in the pulpit because of all the English who were dying to get their hands upon him so that they might kill him.
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Now, most of these pastors were really ready and willing and able to fight. They were encouraging their people to fight. But not everyone originally had the intestinal fortitude to want to fight. There was one pastor, Payson of Chelsea, and J.T. Headley gives an account of him in his book, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution. And he says this there, "There, too, was the amiable and learned Payson of Chelsea."
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"He was so averse to bloodshed and all the horrors of war that he felt it his duty to preach patience and even submission. His bolder and more resolute brethren took such umbrage at this that they refused to allow him to preach in their pulpits. They wanted no conciliatory doctrines taught to their people." Now, listen to this. "The brutal outrage at Lexington transformed this peaceful scholar and meek divine into a fiery, intrepid soldier, and seizing a musket, he put himself at the head of a party and led them forward to attack."
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"The gentle voice that had long spoken only words of peace suddenly rang out like a prophet of old. A body of British soldiers advancing along the road, he poured into them such a destructive volley that the whole were either slain or taken captive." He was a man of peace and conciliation until the first blood of the Patriot was drained on the ground, and then he became a soldier par excellence.
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Time certainly would not allow me to tell you of all of these men, and there were many, many more. So I want to just single out about four of them and talk to you about these men. First of all, there's this patriot pastor by the name of Thomas Allen.
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Now, you remember, I talked about Moses Allen earlier, but Moses happened to be Thomas's brother. Thomas Allen was quite a man. When the English converged upon and covered the hills at the Battle of White Plains, sometimes known as Ticonderoga, the colonists were basically outnumbered and outgunned. And Thomas Allen knew that. And so he decided that what he needed to do was preach a message to his men and to all who would listen and to encourage them to fight because they were outnumbered and outgunned. I want you to listen to just part of his sermon. Here's what he said.
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"Valiant soldiers, yonder," pointing to the enemy in his sight, "are the enemies of your country who have come to lay waste and destroy and spread havoc and devastation through this pleasant land. They are enemies hired to do the work of death. They were Hessians hired by George III defiled in this land." He said, "Their enemies hired to do the work of death and have no motive to animate them in their undertaking. You have every consideration to induce you to play the man and to act the part of valiant soldiers. Your country looks up to you for its defense."
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"You are contending for your wives, whether you or they shall enjoy them. You are fighting for your children, whether they shall be yours or theirs, your houses and lands, and for your flocks and herds, for your freedom, for future generations, for everything that is great and noble on account of which only life itself is worth a fig. You must, you will abide in the day of trial."
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"You cannot give back while animated by these considerations. Suffer me therefore on this occasion to recommend to you without delay to break off your sins by righteousness and your iniquity by turning unto the Lord. Turn ye, turn you, you ungodly sinners, for why will you die? Repent, lest the Lord come and smite you with a curse. Our camp is filled with blasphemers and resounds with the language of the infernal regions."
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"Oh, that officers and men might fear to take the holy and tremendous name of God in vain. Oh, that you would now return to the Lord, lest destruction should come upon you, lest vengeance overtake you. Oh, that you were wise, that you would understand your latter end. I must recommend to you the strictest attention to your duty and the most punctual obedience to your officers. Discipline, order and regularity are the strength of an army."
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"Valiant soldiers, should our enemy attack us, listen, I exhort and conjure you to play the man. Let no danger be too great. Let no suffering appear too severe for your encounter, for your bleeding country. God's grace assisting me, I'm determined to fight and die by your side rather than flee before our enemies or resign myself to them. I prefer death to captivity. Ever remember your unhappy brethren,"
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"now made prisoners at Fort Washington, whose blood now cries to heaven for vengeance and shakes the pillars of the world, saying, 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?' Rather than quit this ground with infamy and disgrace, I prefer leaving this body of mine, a corpse on the spot. I must finally recommend it to you and urge it on you once again and again."
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"In time of action, keep silent. Let all be hushed and calm, serene and tranquil, that the word of command may be distinctly heard and resolutely obeyed. And may the God of heaven take us all under his protection and cover our heads in a day of battle and grant us his salvation." Did you hear what that preacher said? "I'd rather fight and die right now than run or be captured."
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"I'll leave my body, a corpse on the spot." Wow. You know what happened? After this tremendous sermon and this great preaching and this great encouragement, the colonial leaders decided to retreat. Oh. Thomas Allen was crushed. How could such happen? After the retreat, he and the Berkshire militia went back home. A little bit later, General Stark sent out a call for the Berkshire militia. They marched all day and into the night on the 16th of August during a downpour, a deluge of rain. They got into camp where General Stark was early in the morning. Pastor Allen wanted to make sure that nothing was going to happen now, like it happened at Ticonderoga. So he went in to see General Stark.
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I suppose he woke him up. I don't know. But when he went in, he said this, "General Stark, the Berkshire militia have been summoned to the field without being allowed to fight. Now, if you don't give them a chance to fight, they will never turn out again." General Stark, instead of being upset at what we would call the impudence of the young preacher, was rather amused. Because he himself was a hero and he liked the spunk in this preacher, and he looked at the pastor and he said, "Well, do you prefer to march now while it's dark and raining?" Pastor Allen said, "Well, no, not right at the morning moment." And General Stark said, "Well, if the Lord give us a blue sky and sunshine tomorrow, I promise you, I will give you your cup of fighting. You will be able to fight. And if I don't give you that, I will never call you out again." And sure enough, the next morning, the sun was up, the sky was blue.
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And the enemy began forming all their columns and getting in positions. The Berkshire men looked at Pastor Allen and said, "Well, it looks like we will go and be able to fight today." "Yes," said Pastor Allen, "we're going to have our fun at it, but we're not ready yet." He said, "Let's just bow in prayer and ask for the Lord's blessing and help and protection." And they prayed. You know what Pastor Allen did next?
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When all the Hessians were in place, he ascended on a little hill and stood on a stump in his long flowing black robe, and he called to the Hessians to surrender and save this effusion of blood. And he promised them good terms if they would go ahead and surrender now. And their answer was volleys of musket balls being shot at him. One went through his hat, but he was not hit.
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And so he stepped down and of course, the battle had been commenced. As they were fighting, he noticed that one of his brothers was a little bit slow at shooting and not really able to shoot well. And so he looked at his brother and said, "Joe," he said, "I'll tell you what, you load and I'll shoot. You just keep these muskets loaded." And so that's exactly what happened. And when the battle was over and the colonial army had won, there was a charge. And guess who is in leading the charge? It was Pastor Allen. He was the first one over the breastworks. And then he heard the exulting cry "Victory!" from all of the colonial soldiers. And of course, once the Hessians had surrendered and or run away,
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what he did was he found pack horses that had panniers of medicine and other things upon them. And so he took the medicine and then began to not only doctor his people, but also the fallen Hessians as well. After the battle was over and after this was done, he had to rush back in order that he might preach to his people on the Lord's Day. And of course, by this time, many at home had heard that Pastor Allen had fought.
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And so one of his men came up to him and he asked this question. He said, "Pastor Allen, I heard that you fought like a common soldier. Is that true?" Pastor Allen responded, "Yes, I did it. It was a very hot, close battle and it became every patriot to do his duty." "Well, but," the parishioner said, "Pastor Allen, did you kill anybody?" Pastor Allen said, "Well, I don't know whether I killed anybody or not, but I noticed a certain bush. And there was a flame of fire coming from that bush, and every time it came, one of our men fell. He said, I don't know that I killed anybody. But I aimed at that bush and fired and I put out that flash." So, yes, he did kill the man.
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Do you realize that Pastor Thomas Allen lived till 1810 and he died of natural causes at age 68? Where are men like that today? Where are men like that today? Everyone has heard of old Naphtali Daggett. He was the pastor, president of Yale College. He instructed all of his students of the right of resistance to tyranny, and that we were not to obey a tyrant. Well, in 1779, General Tryon, with 2,500 soldiers, landed five miles from West Haven. The little college had to be quickly broken up because they were going to be overrun with English soldiers just shortly. So 100 of the young men volunteered to take their arms and go and try to retard the advance of the British troops until the little college and the town could evacuate. Well, there's confusion in the street, obviously, until finally the hundred young men had their arms and the fife and drum started playing and they marched off toward the British. As they got a little way out of town, all of a sudden they heard the clatter of hoofs beating on the sod and they looked back and here came old Dr. Daggett,
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in his long flowing black robe on his black mare with a long fowling piece in his hand. And as he passed the young men, they cheered and hollered. But Dr. Daggett did not look to the left or to the right. He kept heading right straight for the British. He finally found a little hill. He rode up that little hill, had his mare tied and began to reconnoiter the situation. By this time, these young men had hit the advance party of the British soldiers. And so these young men poured such a volley of fire into this advance of the British soldiers that they turned and ran back to the main body of troops. And these 100 young men were chasing them until all of a sudden they realized now we're confronted with 2,500 troops.
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And so now they had to turn and get out of there. And as they passed the hill, there's the report of a musket loader. And they looked up and there was old Dr. Daggett aiming that long fowling piece into the British army. At first, the British kind of ignored it, but all of a sudden, those bullets kept finding their way into their ranks and men started falling. So finally, one of these officers told a man, "Take some men, go up and see what's going on up on that hill." And when they got up to the top of the hill, there stood old Dr. Daggett reloading his muzzleloader. To the British soldier, it was rather amusing.
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He couldn't believe his eyes. And so he looked at Dr. Daggett and he said, "Why, you old fool, you. What do you think you're doing?" Dr. Daggett replied, "Exercising the rights of war, son, exercising the rights of war." He said, "You old rascal." He said, "If I let you go, will you promise never to fire on His Majesty's troops again?" Dr. Daggett, still loading, said, "Nothing more likely, son, nothing more likely." So then they took Dr. Daggett, forced him down the hill, forced him to march in front of them.
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And treated him so badly that although he lived, within 16 months after that, he died of all the mistreatment and maltreatment that was given to him. Yeah. Dr. Daggett, Naphtali Daggett. And then, of course, there's John Witherspoon, who is a pastor, patriot, congressman, president of Princeton College. Did you know that it was John Witherspoon and also Roger Sherman who are responsible for the hard money clauses in the Constitution of the United States?
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"No state shall make anything but gold and silver as legal tender." And "Congress shall have the power to coin money," not print it, but coin it because it was to be of gold and silver. When the declaration was written and was presented before Congress, some men were hesitating on putting their signature to it. Everyone knows the story of John Hancock, but John Witherspoon, when he saw that some men were hesitating, arose and said this, "Mr. President, that noble instrument on your table, which ensures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house."
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"He who will not respond to its accents and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions is unworthy of the name Freeman. And although these gray hairs must descend into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather they should descend thither by the hand of the executioner than desert this just and sacred cause of my country." He said, "I'm willing to die." One timorous man made the objection.
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"Well, I don't think that we are ripe for such a declaration of independence." And John Witherspoon jumped up and responded, "Sir, we're not only ripe, we are rotten." And of course, it was signed. Jonas Clark, everyone knows about Jonas Clark. He was the pastor at Lexington. Clark had taught and trained his parishioners in civil disobedience and resistance to tyranny. In fact, Adams and Hancock often found asylum in Pastor Clark's house.
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The people that sat under his ministry were so thoroughly indoctrinated by his teaching that his instructions are now in the legislature. Yes, they're embodied there now in writing. But it was between the hours of 12 and 1 when the word was received that the British were on their way. And so Pastor Jonas Clark had the bell rung. And men began to gather on the church green. 150 of them.
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They had their names enrolled and their names were called out. And here before morning stood the pastor and 150 of his men in the starlight waiting for the battle. The great question of Hancock and Adams was this. "Will these men fight?" I mean, these were farmers, these were mechanics. They're going to be facing the trained and drilled troops of England. "Will these men fight?" Jonas Clark responded. "They will fight. For this very hour, I've trained them."
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"And they will die if necessary." I want you to stop and think about that. He's only trained them theologically. He not only trained them practically, he also trained them militarily. Yes, they were going to fight. When the British got there that morning and they began to issue the commands, "Throw down your weapons, throw down your weapons, disperse you rebels, disperse." And they did not. And then the sound of the muskets.
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When the battle was over, seven stalwart men from Pastor Clark's church lay dead, many others wounded. Jonas Parker, who is the strongest wrestler in Lexington, had said that he would never run from the British. He was shot and bayoneted at the very spot that he had taken. He did not run. And then, of course, there was old Caleb Monroe, whose gray hairs had been turned into blood. And there was Caleb Harrington, who was shot running up the church steps. Why was he running up the church steps? Because there was more powder in the church building and he was running to get more powder for the men. And he was shot dead on the church steps. We always hear of Lexington Green, but we never even hear of what we call the church green. It was Clark who was moved, obviously, by the loss of his men and the men that were wounded.
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But yet at the same time, he said this, "From this day will be dated the liberty of the world." Everyone knows about the shot heard around the world. What many people do not know, it was Jonas Clark, the pastor that had taught and trained these men. I've got two messages on the biblical doctrine of self-defense. We don't understand all the customs that we have. When I was a boy and I was raised in church, we went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night and any other night there was a meeting, we were there. And I always noticed that men sat on the ends of the pews and when I got to be grown, I sat on the end of the pew. And you know that when the service is over, the pastor always goes to the back and greets everybody and shakes their hand.
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You say, "Well, that's normal." No, no, no. Listen, if all you want to do is greet the pastor, shake the hand, you can walk up front as easily as he can walk to the rear. Those were customs from here. Because when the colonial men went to church, they stacked their arms in the middle of the aisle. And the men sat on the edges of the seats, the ends of the seats, so if Indians or the English came along, they could grab their weapons without falling over their women and children. And how about the pastor? The pastor had the best gun in town. He was usually the best shot.
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And the reason he walked to the door because he was the under shepherd. He carried his weapon with him. He opened the door. He looked out to make sure there were no Indians and no British around. And when he deemed all safe, then the men came out with their weapons and then the women and children. So a lot of our modern day customs we get from these men and we don't even realize it. Alice Morse Earle,
#70 | 48:06 to 48:34 | cleaned
I think is her name, wrote a book, The Sabbath in Puritan New England. You need to read the book. You'll find out about a lot of the customs and habits that we have today came from our colonial ancestors. And then, of course, there was Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg. There's so much on Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, but he was the pastor of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Dunmore County, Virginia.
#71 | 48:38 to 49:06 | cleaned
He preached a message in his long flowing black robe from Ecclesiastes chapter 3. "There's a time of peace and a time of war." And he preached that message that afternoon. He had already set it up. When he got through preaching, he threw off his black robe and there he stood in full military uniform. And he pointed to a young man who had a drum. And the young man started drumming because he was recruiting to go fight.
#72 | 49:10 to 49:47 | cleaned
In defending his actions, here's what he said. "I'm a clergyman, and it's true. But I'm also a member of society as well as the poorest layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man. Shall I then sit still and enjoy myself at home while the best blood of the continent is spilling? Heaven forbid it. Do you think if America should be conquered, I should be safe? Far from it. And would you not rather fight like a man than die like a dog?"
#73 | 49:51 to 50:27 | cleaned
"The cause is just and noble. Were I a bishop, even a Lutheran one, I should obey without hesitation. And so far from thinking that I am wrong, I'm convinced it is my duty so to do, a duty I owe to my God and to my country." Where are the men like that today? I have a message. I preached many years ago, it's just entitled, "Comest Thou Peaceably?"
#74 | 50:28 to 51:03 | cleaned
When you read 1 Samuel, chapter 16, little Samuel, the sweet prophet, hmm, is going to Bethlehem to offer a sacrifice. And before he gets there, the people send out a committee to meet him and they ask him, "Comest thou peaceably?" I thought, what a question to ask a preacher. What a question. Can you imagine today a preacher walking up to a city council or county council and before he can get in the room, there's a number of men coming out to the preacher and say, "Preacher, are you coming in peaceably?" Why would they ask Samuel, "Comest thou peaceably?" Read 1 Samuel chapter 15. Because Samuel had just taken a sword and hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord. That's why. That's why.
#75 | 51:07 to 52:08 | cleaned
You know, when I was a boy, at least pastors, ministers were respected. I was raised in the South. I was raised on the farm. A lot of farmers smoked. I have seen farmers smoking a cigarette. And the pastor walk up, you know what they would do, they would take the cigarette out of their mouth, put it behind their back, take their fingers and pinch it out. As long as the pastor was standing there speaking to them. And they weren't trying to hide it, he knew they smoked, but out of respect for him, they did put it behind their backs. I'm just simply saying back then there's more respect. Today folks don't respect preachers and they insult them, they hate them. You know why? Because most preachers, they are not men. They don't know how to fight. They will not fight. They cannot fight. They won't stand.
#76 | 52:08 to 53:22 | cleaned
Let me tell you something, and I believe this with all of my heart. We will never get our country back until we get our preachers back. And truly, I believe that the troubles that we're facing in this country basically can be laid at the foot of the pulpit. Because preachers have been fearful and unwilling to preach the truth, come what may. Most churches are in debt up to their eyeballs. And if they really preach the truth, then people get mad and leave, and now they're left with a sinking fund payment and they'll lose their property.
#77 | 53:26 to 54:09 | cleaned
You look at the men that were alive and around fighting in 1776. I'm talking about preachers. You look at the men in 1861 and 1865, and then you look at the preachers today, and I think you're going to see a vast, vast difference, a vast difference. You remember when God took Elijah up into heaven in a whirlwind and Elisha picked up his mantle. He went back to the river and he took Elijah's mantle and he smote the water and said, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?"
#78 | 54:14 to 54:55 | cleaned
And the waters parted hither and thither. We could change that question. We could ask, "Where are the Lord God's Elijahs?" Where are men willing to be men? Willing to study. Willing to stand. Willing to pray, willing to preach, willing to sacrifice everything for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the kingdom of God. If we want our country back, we need to get our pulpits back. We need to get men who will proclaim the truth and stand for the truth. The Black Robed Regiment were men who preached, prayed and fought. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I ask for your blessing and your help. I pray, Lord, that you would indeed teach us, encourage us, embolden us. Help us, Lord, to stand. And having done all, Lord, to stand. Our flesh is weak and we need thee and we need thy blessing and thy spirit and thy power. We ask for a fresh anointing. We ask for a double portion of thy spirit. We ask, Lord, that you would awaken us.
#79 | 54:57 to 56:47 | cleaned
And instill a royal backbone in us. And enable us to be what we should be. For your honor and your glory, in the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen.
#80 | 56:49 to 57:01 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T16:23:01Z

Black Robed Regiment

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver surveys the courageous pastors of the American Revolution, known as the Black Robed Regiment, who preached, prayed, and fought for liberty. He argues that these ministers were essential leaders in the war, boldly resisting tyranny and training their congregations in both theology and self-defense. Weaver laments the decline of such manly, principled preachers today and calls for a return to pulpits that proclaim truth without fear, linking national recovery to the recovery of courageous pastoral leadership.

Introduction: God Uses Men for His Glory

Weaver reads Hebrews 11:32-35 and emphasizes that God uses men, not for their own glory but for His, and that there is a call on each believer to be strong.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 11:32-35

"And what shall I more say, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of the lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection."

The Black Robed Regiment Defined

The Black Robed Regiment was the name given to ministers who sparked, fought in, and prayed for the Revolutionary War, wearing long black robes as symbols of their office.

The Cost of Pastoral Patriotism: Moses Allen

Pastor Moses Allen was hated by the British, captured, mistreated on a prison ship, and drowned attempting escape; his body was desecrated by soldiers.

The Preaching and Influence of the Black Robed Regiment

These pastors taught rejection of the divine right of kings, that rights come from God, and that government must maintain those rights; they were present at every major battle.

Bold Preaching Before Tyrants: Gad Hitchcock and Others

Gad Hitchcock preached directly against General Gage, declaring that the people mourn because the wicked bear rule; other pastors like John Woodhull and David Ely also exemplified courage.

Resistance vs. Rebellion: A Biblical Distinction

Weaver explains that rebellion is only against lawful authority; resistance to unlawful authority is not rebellion, applying this to the colonists' actions against Parliament.

Key Figures: Mayhew, Dwight, and the Call for Union

Jonathan Mayhew originated the phrase 'a more perfect union' and preached against the Stamp Act; Timothy Dwight urged a declaration of independence early on.

Profiles of Courage: Thomas Allen, Naphtali Daggett, John Witherspoon, Jonas Clark

Customs Rooted in Defense: Seating and the Pastor's Role

Weaver explains that men sat on aisle ends to access weapons, and the pastor walked to the rear to check for danger, customs originating from colonial self-defense.

Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg: From Pulpit to Battlefield

Muhlenberg preached from Ecclesiastes 3, then removed his robe to reveal a military uniform and recruited men to fight, declaring it his duty to God and country.

The Need for Manly Preachers Today

Weaver laments the lack of courageous preachers, linking national decline to fearful pulpits, and calls for men who will preach, pray, and fight for truth.

Black Robed Regiment

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	7822234934497
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation Themes and Eschatological Applications
Genre	Sermon
Date	2022-07-05
Dictation Name
Book	Book 141: Revelation Themes and Eschatological Applications — Chapter 18
Source Timed Segments	80

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: God Uses Men for His Glory: Weaver reads Hebrews 11:32-35 and emphasizes that God uses men, not for their own glory but for His, and that there is a call on each believer to be strong.
The Black Robed Regiment Defined: The Black Robed Regiment was the name given to ministers who sparked, fought in, and prayed for the Revolutionary War, wearing long black robes as symbols of their office.
The Cost of Pastoral Patriotism: Moses Allen: Pastor Moses Allen was hated by the British, captured, mistreated on a prison ship, and drowned attempting escape; his body was desecrated by soldiers.
The Preaching and Influence of the Black Robed Regiment: These pastors taught rejection of the divine right of kings, that rights come from God, and that government must maintain those rights; they were present at every major battle.
Bold Preaching Before Tyrants: Gad Hitchcock and Others: Gad Hitchcock preached directly against General Gage, declaring that the people mourn because the wicked bear rule; other pastors like John Woodhull and David Ely also exemplified courage.
Resistance vs. Rebellion: A Biblical Distinction: Weaver explains that rebellion is only against lawful authority; resistance to unlawful authority is not rebellion, applying this to the colonists' actions against Parliament.
Key Figures: Mayhew, Dwight, and the Call for Union: Jonathan Mayhew originated the phrase 'a more perfect union' and preached against the Stamp Act; Timothy Dwight urged a declaration of independence early on.
Profiles of Courage: Thomas Allen, Naphtali Daggett, John Witherspoon, Jonas Clark: Detailed stories of four pastors: Thomas Allen fought at Bennington and killed a Hessian; Naphtali Daggett fired on British troops alone; John Witherspoon signed the Declaration and urged others; Jonas Clark trained his men and they fought at Lexington.
Customs Rooted in Defense: Seating and the Pastor's Role: Weaver explains that men sat on aisle ends to access weapons, and the pastor walked to the rear to check for danger, customs originating from colonial self-defense.
Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg: From Pulpit to Battlefield: Muhlenberg preached from Ecclesiastes 3, then removed his robe to reveal a military uniform and recruited men to fight, declaring it his duty to God and country.
The Need for Manly Preachers Today: Weaver laments the lack of courageous preachers, linking national decline to fearful pulpits, and calls for men who will preach, pray, and fight for truth.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

The American Revolution was a righteous resistance, not rebellion.

Because Parliament had no lawful authority over the colonies, their resistance was justified; rebellion only applies to lawful authority.

Weaver explains, 'Rebellion can only be to lawful authority... the colonists were never under Parliament to begin with.'

Pastors were the indispensable leaders of the Revolution.

The Black Robed Regiment pastors sparked, sustained, and fought in the war; their influence was greater than military officers.

Moses Allen's enemy said he 'did more injury to the cause of the king than a dozen colonels.'

Bold preaching is essential to liberty.

Preaching truth to power, even at personal risk, is a pastoral duty; silence enables tyranny.

Gad Hitchcock preached against General Gage, and the governor of Massachusetts refused a fast day to prevent 'sedition from the pulpit.'

The church must recover manly, fighting pastors.

National recovery depends on pulpits filled with men who will preach, pray, and fight for truth without fear of consequences.

Weaver declares, 'We will never get our country back until we get our preachers back.'

Self-defense is a biblical and historical practice of the church.

Colonial church customs like seating arrangements and the pastor's role at the door originated from the need for armed defense.

Weaver describes men sitting on aisle ends to grab weapons and the pastor checking for danger before dismissing.

Scripture References

Hebrews 11:32-35: Read at the opening to illustrate that God uses men for His glory and calls them to be strong.
Proverbs 29:2: Gad Hitchcock preached from this verse before General Gage, declaring that when the wicked bear rule, the people mourn.
Galatians 5:12-13: Jonathan Mayhew preached a sermon against the Stamp Act from this passage.
1 Kings 12:16: John Mills preached a series from this verse, likening the colonies to Israel and insisting they had no portion in Great Britain.
1 Chronicles 5:22: Dr. Robert Davidson preached from this verse, 'for many fell down slain, for the war was of God.'
Nehemiah 4:14: John Martin preached from this verse after fighting at Bunker Hill, telling the people not to be afraid.
Ecclesiastes 3: Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg preached from this chapter, emphasizing 'a time of peace and a time of war,' before revealing his military uniform.
1 Samuel 16: Weaver references the question 'Comest thou peaceably?' asked of Samuel, connecting it to Samuel's earlier execution of Agag in chapter 15.
1 Samuel 15: Mentioned as the reason Samuel was asked if he came peaceably, because he had hacked Agag to pieces.
Psalm 119:89: Quoted to affirm that God's word is settled forever, despite governmental proclamations.
Revelation 6:10: Alluded to in Thomas Allen's sermon: 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not avenge our blood?'

Historical References

Moses Allen: Pastor in Georgia, hated by Tories, captured, escaped a prison ship but drowned; his body was desecrated by British soldiers.
Gad Hitchcock: Preached an election sermon before General Gage, boldly declaring the people mourn because the wicked bear rule.
Jonathan Mayhew: Originator of the phrase 'a more perfect union'; preached against the Stamp Act; called the morning gun of the revolution by John Adams.
Timothy Dwight: President of Yale, urged a declaration of independence before it was made, believing reconciliation was impossible.
Thomas Allen: Pastor who preached a fiery sermon at White Plains, fought at Bennington, and killed a Hessian sniper.
Naphtali Daggett: President of Yale, fired on British troops alone, was captured and mistreated, dying within 16 months.
John Witherspoon: Pastor, congressman, president of Princeton; signed the Declaration and urged others, saying 'we are not only ripe, we are rotten.'
Jonas Clark: Pastor at Lexington who trained his men theologically and militarily; his congregation fought and died on Lexington Green.
Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg: Pastor who removed his robe to reveal a military uniform and recruited soldiers, declaring it his duty to God and country.
George Bancroft: Historian who wrote about Jonathan Mayhew's role in originating the idea of a more perfect union.

Important Quotes

If I am mistaken in supposing plans are formed and executing subversive to our natural and chartered rights and privileges, and incompatible with every idea of liberty, then all America is mistaken with me.

Gad Hitchcock's bold opening to his election sermon before General Gage, asserting colonial grievances.

I urged in conversation with several gentlemen of great respectability, firm Whigs, and my intimate friends, the importance and even the necessity of a declaration of independence on the part of the colonies.

Timothy Dwight's early call for independence, showing pastoral leadership in the political sphere.

I'm determined to fight and die by your side rather than flee before our enemies or resign myself to them. I prefer death to captivity.

Allen's personal commitment to fight alongside his men, demonstrating pastoral courage.

Mr. President, that noble instrument on your table, which ensures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house.

John Witherspoon's urging to sign the Declaration, showing his pivotal role in the founding.

From this day will be dated the liberty of the world.

Jonas Clark's prophetic statement after the Battle of Lexington, recognizing its global significance.

I'm a clergyman, and it's true. But I'm also a member of society as well as the poorest layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man.

Peter Muhlenberg's defense of his decision to fight, blending pastoral and civic duty.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the distinction between rebellion and resistance apply to current issues of government overreach?

[Context]

Weaver argues that rebellion is only against lawful authority; resistance to unlawful authority is justified.

[Question]

In what ways can pastors today emulate the courage of the Black Robed Regiment without taking up physical arms?

[Context]

The sermon highlights pastors who preached boldly and trained their congregations; application may differ today.

[Question]

What does it mean for a pastor to 'train' his congregation as Jonas Clark did, and how might that look in a modern church?

[Context]

Clark trained his men theologically and militarily; Weaver suggests this involved both doctrine and practical readiness.

[Question]

How should Christians balance the call to peace with the duty to resist tyranny, as seen in the transformation of Pastor Payson?

[Context]

Payson initially preached submission but became a fierce soldier after Lexington; Weaver presents this as a model.

[Question]

What role does the pulpit play in preserving national liberty, according to this sermon?

[Context]

Weaver asserts that national troubles can be laid at the foot of the pulpit due to fearful preaching.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T07:03:33Z