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Biblical Philosophy of History

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• The Lord's been so gracious to me in the last couple of weeks. I've got more messages than I can shake a stick at. And I'm really thankful. And I do want you to pray that the Lord will help me. I had someone call me a week or so ago and was really in dire straits about some answers. And so I gave him all the answers and I got to thinking, you know, that really needs to be taught. So I worked on that and got that finished.

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• Then something else came up. I worked on that and got that finished. So I'm just saying there's just so many that I'm eager to preach and want to preach. Today may be a little lengthy. So what I would like you to do is this. Listen carefully. I will quote a lot of scriptures. Some I'm going to ask you to turn to. You may write them down. I don't care. I'm just saying I want you to really grasp of what I'm going to be dealing with today.

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• OK, so let's open our Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy 32. The message today is entitled "A Biblical Philosophy of History." I have two subtitles: "Is History Relevant?" or "Why Should We Study History?" So basically, it is a biblical philosophy of history. So notice in Deuteronomy chapter 32, beginning there with verse 7, what God commands. He commands, "Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations, ask thy father and he will show thee, thy elders and they will tell thee."

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• "When the Most High divided the nations, their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds to the people according to the number of the children of Israel." There is indeed a biblical philosophy of history. History is not only necessary, it is not only relevant, it is absolutely necessary to understanding the eternal decree of God. We are told in the book of Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 11 that God has an eternal purpose, singular, which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thus we refer to that then as the eternal decree of God. His decree encompassed all things. There is absolutely nothing outside of the eternal decree of God. If anything can come to pass without God or without His divine decree, then God is not God. And whatever is beyond God and beyond the control of God, that thing then would be God itself. So we're forced then as Christians to confess and acknowledge that there is absolutely nothing beyond God and His decree. Moreover, since His decree was before the foundation of the world, it is indeed an eternal decree.

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• Now, you may pick up any theology book, especially systematic theology, and you will always find a section on the decrees of God. Now, we speak of the decrees of God. The Bible speaks of the decree of God. And the reason we speak of the decrees of God is because we can only think in succession, that is, one thought after another. God is not like that. To God, it is just one thought. And that one thought encompasses and entails everything that has ever come to pass that is present and that will ever come to pass because God has decreed everything that comes to pass in time and history. Therefore, he is able to think one thought, and therefore it is that one decree of God that encompasses absolutely everything. History is also linear. That is like a straight line. History has a beginning and history has an ending.

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• Whenever you hear someone talk about history repeating itself, history is not cyclical. It is not circular. It does not go round and round. And the reason we keep repeating ourselves is not because history is cyclical, because we don't listen and we don't learn and we keep committing the same sins and making the same errors. Therefore, we still reap the same judgments. But history is linear. That is, it has a definite beginning, that is at creation, and it has a definite ending that is at the end of the world. History is only applicable to us.

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• There is no past or future with God. With God, everything is one eternal present. We're concerned with the past, the present, and the future. But God knows the end from the beginning, because he has decreed both of them, and therefore they are both one eternal present with God. Isaiah 46 and verse 10 says this, "Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Listen to what the Bible says, "Declaring the end from the beginning." And when you get to Acts 17 or Acts 15, it is in verse 18, we read this: "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." Known unto God are all of his works. Everything God decreed in eternity comes to pass in time. Now, we are indeed concerned with the past, the present and the future, but we must know our past in order to obey our Heavenly Father and to understand that it is His eternal decree that comes to pass in time.

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• And once it comes to pass in time, it becomes known as history. So look back at verse 7 in Deuteronomy 32 and listen as I read this. "Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask thy father, and he will show thee. Thy elders, and they will tell thee. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel." So God then commands us to remember. So we must remember. We must consider. We must ask. We must be taught. God did something in time when he divided the nations, their inheritance.

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• Why did he do that? What does it mean? How does it apply to us? What are we to learn? What does it mean that God set the bounds of the people? The answer to all of these questions can only be learned by studying history. The Bible is a history book. Yes. There are 12 books of history in the Bible. But in reality, the entire Bible is a history book because the entire Bible speaks about either that which has come to pass or that which is going to come to pass in time. And once it comes to pass, it will be history. So we know then that the entirety of the Bible, since it will be fulfilled in time, is one big history book. And God then tells us that we must know and we must learn and we must teach.

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• I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 78. Psalm 78, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Watch Psalm 78. Psalm 78 and verse 1. God says this: "Give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us." Now watch.

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• "We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he has done." Now, let me stop right there. I want to read some more, but showing to the Lord his wonderful works that he's done, have all the wonderful works that God has done been recorded in the scripture? Of course not. God has done many wonderful works in Providence that are not recorded here. Now let's watch. "And all of his wonderful works that he had done, for he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children, that the generations to come might know them, even the children which shall be born, who should arise and declare them to their children, that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments." So here then is a passage where we are commanded not to hide the things of God from our children, but to continue to teach them and tell them all of the wonderful works of God that he's done.

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• Many of those wonderful works are recorded in the Bible. Others are recorded in other history books, but we are required to teach them. So let's ask the question, what is history? By the way, the word history is literally from the Greek historia. And it's literally just about brought down from the Greek to English letter by letter. So the word history literally means inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation.

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• Hence, history, then, is the discovery, the collection, the organization, and the presentation of information about past events that enables one to make applications to present situations and present circumstances. Let me spell it out like this. An understanding of the past demonstrates the work of God in time. I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 21. And look, if you would, at verse 32, Matthew 21, verse 32. We're talking about the work of God in time, which eventually becomes history. Notice in Matthew 21 and verse 32.

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• Our Lord says this to the Pharisees, "For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him." Now watch carefully. "And you, when you had seen it, repented not afterwards that you might believe."

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• Now look at that verse very closely. He said the publicans and the harlots believed him. That is, they repented. They believed John. And then our Lord says this, "And you, when you had seen it, you repented not." What is Christ doing? Christ is holding the Pharisees accountable and responsible to profit from the work of God in the lives of other people. "And you, when you saw it," in other words, here was something that you saw, you knew it was real, you knew it was genuine, you knew it was the work of God. And he says, I'm holding you responsible to learn from what happens in the lives of other people. History teaches us exactly how God has worked in the lives of men and women in the past.

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• And let me point out the fact there is no such thing as a division between secular history and religious history. All history is religious because God is the author of it and it comes to pass in time. And nothing comes to pass in time except that which God has ordained. But it's not just simply the lives of men and women that we're to profit from. We're to also profit from all the works of God in time.

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• Without turning there, may I remind you of Amos chapter 4, where God chastised Israel by drought, famine, locusts, plagues, war and supernatural interventions, yet they did not repent. And if you were to take the time to read Amos chapter 4, when God brought each one of these judgments upon them in succession, one after the other, after each judgment God said this, "Yet you have not returned to me, said the Lord." What? God brought a judgment in time which became history. And then he said, "Yes, you've not returned to me." What does that mean? Was Israel not responsible to profit from that which God had done to them in time? Are we not responsible to profit from that which God did to Israel in time, knowing that if we commit the same sins and fail to repent, we'll have the same judgments? Are we responsible to profit from that which God brings to pass in nature? Well, he certainly held Israel responsible for that in Amos chapter 4, but you'll remember Joel chapter 1. God sent plagues of locusts, caterpillars and palmerworms as his judgments.

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• That is, the crops were destroyed. They were devastated. They were eaten up. Are we responsible to learn from crop failures and agricultural disasters and insect plagues? The answer is yes. Why? There's no such thing as luck, chance, fate or fortune in a world that is ruled by God. Nothing comes to pass in time except that which God has ordained in eternity. Are you listening? And when God brings it to pass in time, it is for a specific reason.

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• I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Job chapter 37. Job 37. And I want you to notice, if you would please, all this weather. And boy, howdy are we having weather. Droughts. Floods. Heat. Yeah, look in Job 37, beginning there with verse 9, Job 37, verse 9. The scripture says, "Out of the south cometh a whirlwind, and cold out of the north."

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• "By the breath of God, frost is given, and the breadth of the waters is straightened. Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud, he scattereth his bright cloud, it is turned round about by his counsels, that they may do whatsoever he commanded them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it, drought, frost, hail, whatever. He causeth it to come, whether for correction or for his land or for mercy." Wow.

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• Let me ask you a question. Are we responsible to learn from meteorological and climatological events? And the answer is yes. Nothing happens by chance. God says whatever weather he sends, it is either for a blessing or for chastisement or for mercy. By the way, our word meteorology is straight from the Greek as well. Meteoros is the Greek word which means lofty, high, above, or in the sky.

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• And logia is logic or study. So meteorology then is simply the logical study of that which comes from above or that which comes from the sky. Does God control that which comes from the sky? The answer is yes, he does. I just read it to you in Job 37. But listen to this in Jeremiah 14 in verse 22. Jeremiah asked, "Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rains?" By the way, the word vanities here means idols. So he's asking, "Are there any among the idols of the Gentiles that can cause rain?"

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• "Or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou he, O Lord our God? Therefore, we will wait upon thee, for thou hast made all things." What is Jeremiah saying? Only God controls the weather. Only God can give rain. Only God can send water from the sky. That's all. So the study and teaching of history will always be important because it is a compendium of all events and people that have brought us to where we are today.

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• If we know where we are and where we came from, then we actually know where we are in the present. If we are unaware of the persons and events that have made us into what we are today, then we are ripe for destruction. I want to give you a couple of quotes. I want you to listen. This first one is very interesting. Milan Kundera said this: "The first step in liquidating a people

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• is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history, then have someone write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long, the nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was."

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• Now, listen to that again. The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memories. Destroy its books, its culture, and its history. Then have someone else write new books. Do you realize that General Patrick Cleburne, who was killed at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, understood this principle because he was saying that we had to make an all-out effort in the South to win the War of Northern Aggression. Here's why. Listen to what he said. "Surrender means the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy, that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers. We will learn from Northern school books their version of the war."

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• "Will be impressed by all the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision." Has it not come to pass? All you have to do to destroy a people is destroy their history. General Cleburne was right. It has happened to us. We have been completely inundated, and we have totally swallowed the northern view of history. Absolutely and totally. And when you erase a people's culture and memory and history, you destroy people.

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• Now, those who have been and are in positions of authority and are in rebellion to God understand this simple truth. It was Karl Marx who said, "People separated from their history are easily persuaded." People separated from their history are easily persuaded. Joseph Stalin said, "Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past." And Adolf Hitler said, "The big lie is a major untruth uttered frequently by leaders as a means of duping and controlling the constituency."

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• Well, you say, "Brother Weaver, I don't have too much time for history. I mean, I live in the present. And I've got the future to worry about. And history is a study of the past. And given all the demands of time in the present and being concerned about the future, why bother with the past?" The answer is simple. We must study history in order that we may profit from the lives, the wisdom and the mistakes of others. If I can study and learn in a few hours, or even a few days or maybe even a week, what it's taken someone else a lifetime to learn, I'm much better prepared for that which is to come.

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• And do you realize that our Lord commanded us to do exactly that? Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to the book of James chapter 5. James chapter 5. And notice if you would, verses 10 and 11. James 5 verses 10 and 11. Look what he says. James 5 verses 10 and 11. "Take my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering, affliction and patience."

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• "Behold, we count them happy, which endure. You've heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy."

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• Now, let me ask you a question. Had you just rather read the book of Job and learn the principles, or would you rather go through what Job went through? Had you rather just read the book of Jeremiah and see what Jeremiah suffered, or had you rather go through everything that Jeremiah went through? I could apply that to Robert E. Lee. I could apply that to Oliver Cromwell. I could apply it to any believer in history. I could apply it to any wicked man in history. And you'll see why just momentarily. But look in the book of Hebrews. Just turn back a few pages. Hebrews 11. And look, if you would please, beginning there in verse 32. Hebrews 11, verse 32. This is what Hebrews 11 is all about. And I'm skipping most of this, but beginning with verse 32, "And what shall I more say?"

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• "For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barak, and of Samson, of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, 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. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourging, yea, moreover, bonds of imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn asunder. They were tempted. They were slain with a sword."

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• "They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and the caves of the earth."

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• Now, my question is, had you just rather read Fox's Book of Martyrs and learn from that, or you want to experience it yourself? Would you not rather read a book on the Scottish Covenanters? Or had you rather be thrown in the Tower of London, in a dungeon, and then taken out, drawn and quartered? You see what I'm saying? This is exactly what, "Take my brethren, the prophets," learn. It's what he's telling us.

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• Matthew Henry, who died in 1714, the commentator said this: "The remains of good and great men like Elijah's mantle ought to be gathered up and preserved by their survivors. That is, their works follow them in the reward of them. They that stay behind may be in their benefit." So we ought to gather up all the good and great works of godly men, so we who stay behind, we who are still alive, may profit.

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• We could apply those words to Peter, to Paul, to James, and John, and a host of others. We could also apply those words to Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Robert L. Dabney, a host of others who lived in the 19th century, and any other century as well. I love what Macaulay said, the historian, listen carefully. He said, "A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestry will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered by remote descendants." Here it is again, "A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestry will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered by remote descendants." Again, I say that we have to study history in order that not only we may profit from the lives, mistakes and the wisdom of others, but also that we may see the handiwork of God in time. R.J. Rushdoony said this about history, and if you don't get anything but the first line, get it.

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• "History, therefore, is not the outworking of impersonal forces, but a personal conflict between the forces of God and anti-God, Christ and anti-Christ, with the ultimate victory assured to God and His Christ. The Bible as a whole presents a view of history as conspiracy, with Satan and man determined to assert their right to be gods, determining good and evil for themselves. From beginning to end, this is the perspective of Scripture, and only a willful misreading of it can lead to any other position."

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• Now, what did he say? History is not some impersonal force. It is the great and grand conflict between God and Satan, between Christ and Antichrist. Do we wish to avoid the mistakes, sins and errors of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Lot and a multitude of others? If so, we must study their lives. Do we need and do we wish to emulate their virtues, their obedience, their godliness? If so, we must study their lives. The same would apply, however, to Stalin, to Hitler, to Mao Zedong, and a host of others of their ilk, if we want to avoid their mentality, if we want to avoid their sins. We must understand, listen carefully, an unbiblical mindset in order that we may avoid it.

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• I never will forget when I was in college, I had a class on philosophy. I despise that class. I thought to myself, I'm here to study the Bible. What do I need to know what Plato and Socrates and Aristotle said? You know, I thought this is a bunch of junk. They're ungodly. Unsaved. Why should I learn? And, you know, it took me several years after I was out of university, when I was studying, that I really found out, yes, there is a biblical philosophy. And yes, I need to know what these other guys said and understand their errors so that I can refute those errors from the word of God. There is indeed a biblical philosophy, we've got to understand the unbiblical mindset as well. If we want to understand a biblical mindset, we need to study not only the Scripture, but men like Lee and Jackson and Cleburne, Cromwell, Stewart, Ewell and a host of others and discover what made them great and how it was that God used them and then apply those same principles and precepts to

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• our lives. Let me ask you, is it important for you to know that Kings Ahab, Manasseh and Jeroboam were wicked, vile and mass murderers? Is that important for you to know? These men made war upon their own citizens. Do they deserve respect and honor and recognition? What would you say? Of course not. Why would you say they did not deserve respect and honor and dignity? Well, there's a biblical answer. Romans 13, verse 7 tells us that we are to give honor where honor is due. So if a person is dishonorable and living dishonorably and doing dishonorable things, we have no right or reason to honor him. Right? Isn't that correct?

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• If you want to be honored, that means you must live an honorable life. Obviously, Ahab and Manasseh and Jeroboam and a host of others were very dishonorable wretches. Ah. You think that same truth might apply to William Tecumseh Sherman, Philip Henry Sheridan, and a host of other soldiers, quote unquote, politicians. Do you think that same principle would apply? How would you know whom to honor and who to disregard if you did not study history? How would you know who was a mass murderer and who was not a mass murderer if you did not study scripture? How would you know whether one warred according to the principles of the Word of God? Or if he warred contrary to the Word of God if you did not study history?

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• As well as the Bible. Let me tell you why I could not and would not ever try to honor either Sheridan or Sherman. Sherman wrote to General Grant at the end of January 1865 and he said this. Listen carefully. "Our method of warfare is different from that in Europe. We're not fighting against enemy armies, but against an enemy people, both young and old, rich and poor, must feel the iron hand of war in the same way as organized armies."

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• "In this respect, my march through Georgia was a wonderful success." What did he just say? I didn't fight against an army. I fought against non-combatants. I fought against women and children. I fought against old men. Again, Sherman said this, "The government of the United States has in North Alabama any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war. To take their lives, their homes, their lands, their everything because they cannot deny that war does exist there and war is simply power unrestrained by constitution or compact. To the persistent secessionists, why, death is mercy and the quicker he or she is disposed of the better." What did he just say? Kill the women, kill the men. You don't have to be in the army. You don't have to be in the military. Why, to the persistent secessionist man, woman, boy, girl? Why, death is mercy. And the quicker he's disposed of the better. In a July 31st, 1862 letter to his wife, Sherman wrote, listen to what he said.

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• "The war will soon assume a turn to extermination, not of soldiers alone. That is the least part of the trouble, but the people. There's a class of people, men, women and children who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order." What did he say? Kill men, women, and children. Again, he said this. This is before he started his march through Georgia. He said, "Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless to occupy it. But the utter destructions of its roads, houses and people will cripple their military resources. I can make the march and make Georgia howl." What did he say? We're going to kill the people, men, women, and children. Doesn't matter. You know, what a lot of people do not know is after the war was over, Sheridan and Sherman went out West to take care of the Indians. General Sherman said this, quote, "The more Indians we can kill this year, the fewer we will need to kill the next. Because the more I see the Indians, the more convinced I become that they must either all be killed or maintained as a species of pauper."

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• "Their attempt at civilization is ridiculous." And then he said this, "We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to the extermination of men, women and children." And by the way, when Union soldiers went into Indian camps, they shot down old men, women, and children who were not even armed. Philip Sheridan was just as bad as Sherman. And General Grant was over them and he was just as bad as Sherman and Sheridan.

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• He was a cigar-smoking drunk whose administration was filled with corruption. But Grant gave Sheridan an order to destroy the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. So General Sheridan then systematically looted, burned, and destroyed crops, homes, barns, and everything that he could find. And finally, he reported to General Grant that even a crow flying over the Shenandoah Valley would have to take his rations with him. There was nothing left.

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• I know you've heard the old adage, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian." That anecdote was told concerning Sheridan during his campaign against the Indians. Commander-in-Chief Tesawee, or Silverknife, reputedly told Sheridan in 1869, "Me Tesawee, me good Indians." To which Sheridan is said to have replied, "The only good Indians I ever saw were dead." Hence, it came down, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian." Sherman and Sheridan killed civilians, women, and children, not only in the South, but in the Indian tribes after the war was over. Now, why do I need to know these facts? So that I may know whether they deserve honor and recognition or not. So that I may know whether they thought according to the Bible or not. And when you look at what they did, and when you read Deuteronomy 20 verses 19 through 20, and when you read 1 Samuel 15 and verse 6, you will find that these men made war contrary to the Bible.

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• God forbids you to make a war against creation, and God forbids you to make a war against non-combatants. And yet they did exactly that. So how in the world can you know whether Sherman and Sheridan were the good guys or the bad guys unless you study history and unless you know the Word of God? I've been asked, and I know others probably have been asked as well, one simple question. Here's the question. Why is the war of northern aggression relevant? Why study something that happened 150 years ago? That's a pretty good question. Why study something that happened 150 years ago? I can answer that question.

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• with a host of other questions. If one thinks that the War of 1861 to 1865 is irrelevant because it happened so long ago, I'd like you to answer the following questions using the same logic. Why should we study or know about the War of 1776 to 1783? It's even further back in time. Why was the War for American Independence important? What were the causes? What were the issues?

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• What were the principles involved? Is there a connection between the principles and the issues of 1776 and 1861? Why did our founding fathers resist and fight against George III? Were the same principles of 1776 involved in the War of 1861? Let me ask further, why should we know anything about Jamestown, the Pilgrims, or the Puritan fathers? What is 1607 and 1620 got to do with anything today? Were there causes, issues and principles involved that are still connected to 1776 and finally again in 1861? How about this question?

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• Why did the Mayflower sail from Holland? Who was on board that ship and why? What is the significance of the Mayflower Compact? Is it relevant today? Very obviously, 1620 is a whole lot further off than 1861. Is it relevant? By the way, let me ask this question. Who gets to determine whether something is relevant or not relevant? Who sets himself up as the judge of history and determines what should be studied and what should not be studied? Who has the authority to say that something happened in a certain period of time is irrelevant? Why would something in 1861 to 1865 be irrelevant when something in 1620 would be irrelevant or would be relevant? So who gets to say?

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• Who is going to bring God's acts in time and in providence to their own bar of human reasoning and puny understanding. I want you to look in Romans 11. Romans 11. Notice if we're beginning there, verse 33. Romans 11, verse 33. Look what the Apostle Paul writes. Romans 11, verse 33. Paul says, "Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out! Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?"

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• Now watch: "For of him, and through him, and to him are just a few things." Oh, that's not what it says, is it? "For of him and through him and to him are just certain subjects of history that someone determines are relevant." No. "For of him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." Now I want you to watch. Verse 36 says it all. "For of him," that is originally, "and through him," that is providentially, "and to him," that is ultimately, "are all things." Why? The answer is because all things only have meaning in relationship to God. All things only have meaning in relationship to God. He ordained them all. Nothing comes to pass in time except that which God ordained in eternity. He is the sovereign God. Now watch. If you deny God's absolute sovereignty, if you try to say that of Him and through Him and to Him are not all things, then you may safely decide what has meaning and what does not have meaning.

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• And you then may bring God's sovereign providence to your bar of human reasoning and human understanding. And you can sit in counsel against God. So I'm just trying to ask the questions, I'm trying to use the same logic, if someone says that the war of 1861 to 1865 is irrelevant, why should we study something over 150 years ago? I just asked. Was it important to know about 1607 and 1620? Was it important to know about 1776? How about this one?

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• Did the Solemn League and Covenant brought out by the Covenanters have any impact upon America? Understandably, the timeline from 1638 to 1688 seems like a very, very long time ago. What possible connection could something in the 1630s and 1640s and 50s and 60s and 70s and 80s have anything to do with us today? Well, you've got to remember those Scottish Covenanters were Presbyterians. And those Presbyterians in Scotland were fighting despotism and tyranny. And it was their fight that had a decided effect and result upon America. In fact, those Scots Presbyterians persevered in a biblical framework and a biblical reference in regards to tyranny and despotism. And consequently, guess what?

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• Many of their descendants settled in the southern states. Hmm. I wonder if that had anything to do with 1776. I wonder if it had anything to do with 1861. And the answer is yes. In 1776, Horace Walpole, who was the Prime Minister of England, said of the colonies, listen carefully, he said, "Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson." And he was talking about John Witherspoon, who happened to be the president of Princeton University and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. So he says, "Because America has run off with the Presbyterian Parson." In England, the war for independence was known as the Presbyterian Rebellion.

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• An ardent colonial supporter of George III wrote home and he said this, "I fix all the blame for these extraordinary proceedings upon the Presbyterians. They have been the chief and principal instruments in all these flaming measures. They always do and ever will act against government from the restless and turbulent anti-monarchial spirit which has always distinguished them everywhere." Ah, so the Presbyterians were known for fighting against tyranny.

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• They did not like the monarchy. Well, I hope some of you at least know about D'Aubigné. Merle J.H. D'Aubigné was a Frenchman. He wrote a history of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. There are two volumes, you can get them from Banner of Truth, on the history of the Reformation in England. I remember years ago, Alice and I were going to read through those two volumes, and we were going to just read a little bit each night before we went to bed. And we ended up reading both books in just a couple of weeks.

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• We couldn't put them down. I mean, they were so riveting. But D'Aubigné, who wrote, I think the set that I've got in my library, the old set, something like eight or 10 volumes. But D'Aubigné, who wrote the history of the Reformation, said this: "Calvin, John Calvin, was the founder of the greatest of republics. The pilgrims who left their country in the region of James I and landing on the barren soil of New England founded populous and mighty colonies were his sons, his direct and legitimate sons."

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• "And that American nation, which we have seen growing so rapidly, boasts as its father, the humble reformer on the shore of Lake Leman." What did he just say? John Calvin was the founder of America through his teaching. I suppose since someone would relegate the War of 1861 to 1865 as irrelevant because it was 150 years ago, I suppose no one would understand the biblical philosophy of history that's necessary to grasp the importance of the year 1492.

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• Would you consider that as relevant as well? Why would you even study the life of Christopher Columbus? Why did he seek a new world? And why was he willing to risk his life in discovery? Why would an Italian be sailing under the auspices of a Spanish king and queen? What was his main desire? Did he wish to conquer for Christ? What were his words? What did he say? If you think 1492 is irrelevant because it happened so long ago, how important would you consider the year of 1215? And what in the world has 1215 got to do with us today? Why is it important to learn about King John and Runnymede?

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• Have you ever heard of the Magna Carta? One of my favorite stories is the American tourists were in England. They were at Runnymede. And the sign said, "King John signed the Magna Carta here, 1215." The American looked at his watch and said, "You know what, we missed it by 45 minutes." That's about how ignorant we are of history. But how important is that? Here these nobles wrested this Magna Carta, this great charter of liberties from King John. Wow. Do you realize? It is from the Magna Carta that we have a number of our rights enshrined in our Constitution, and most of our rights that are not enshrined in that Constitution came to us from the Magna Carta through common law. Now, 1215 is important.

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• And if you don't understand what happened in 1215, you'll never understand what happened in 1776, and you'll never understand what happened in 1861. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. And if you try to say something is irrelevant because it's 150, 200 years ago, I would ask you this question. How would you then explain the birth of Christ 2000 years ago? Obviously, time does not make principles and truth irrelevant. Principles and truth are timeless, principles do not die, they do not have funerals, a principle from the war of northern aggression is just as true as a principle from the American War for Independence. A principle from 1215 is just as important as a principle from 1861.

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• It was President Jefferson Davis who said this, listen carefully, "The principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it may be at another time in a different forum." May I submit to you for your consideration the very issues that plague America today are the very same issues that are causing unrest and division today are exactly the same issues that caused that unrest and division in 1776 and in 1861. We've got the same problem.

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• I could ask this facetiously and I shall. Wow, was there at least just one principle from the War of Independence that would apply to the War of Northern Aggression in 1861? Well, according to Horace Greeley, there would be one. Horace Greeley was an ardent abolitionist. He was also a founder of the New York Tribune. And he said this on December the 24th, 1860, "If it, the Declaration of Independence, justified the secession from the British Empire of three millions of colonists in 1776, we do not see why it would not justify the secession of five million Southerners from the Federal Union in 1861." Horace Greeley was not a lover of the South. But he said if the principle from 1776 is true, it will be true in 1861 as well. There are many principles that connect 1776 and 1861, and I was being facetious when I said, "Is there just one?"

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• And obviously, the same right of secession is applicable today, although it is hotly debated and hardly understood by most people. Secession was a peaceful solution to political problems in which Lincoln and the northern states were denying and destroying the Constitution. It was President Jefferson Davis who said this, "I love the Union and the Constitution, but I'd rather leave the Union with the Constitution than remain in the Union without it."

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• It's important to see and understand how biblical principles are played out in time and history. It's important to see the end of those who deny and disregard those principles. God is not mocked. We must study history to observe the hand of God in time. Remember that God has ordained in eternity that which comes to pass in time and history. I want you to turn very quickly to the book of Titus, Titus. Titus, if you would look in Titus chapter 1 at verses 2 and 3, look quickly, Titus 1, verses 2 and 3. Let me show you God's eternal decree and how something comes to pass in time, Titus 1, verse 2, "In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began." Here is an eternal decree in reference to salvation. He promised it before the world began. Verse 3, "But hath in due times manifested His word through preaching which is commanded in me according to the commandment of our God and Savior." Notice, "He hath in due time" that which God ordained in eternity came to pass in time.

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• I want to just make one last point, and I want you to think with me. Someone has observed that history is a waste of time. In fact, there is a famous man who said history is bunk. I forget who he was. I don't know if it was Henry Ford or somebody. Somebody said history is bunk. Well, I've heard people say history is a waste of time. We need to be preaching the gospel. My question would be, whose interpretation of the gospel are we to be preaching? Your interpretation of the gospel or that which the Bible proclaims is the gospel. Usually, when someone says, "Well, you just need to be preaching the gospel," what they're saying is you need to preach what I think you need to preach. That's what they're saying or what I believe. Someone states, "Well, the gospel is very simple."

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• "It's the good news of Jesus Christ and His salvation." I certainly agree that is an aspect of the gospel and it is a very vital one and a very pivotal one. It is a very important one. However, the word gospel comes from the Greek word euangelion, which literally means good news or good tidings. Let me ask you a question. Is not all of God's word good news? Is not all God's acts of providence and time good news and good tidings? Well, of course, so many people will take a passage like 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 2, where the Apostle Paul said, "For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." "Well, brother, that's what we ought to preach. Jesus Christ and Him crucified." I understand that. But you need to read the context in which Paul said that, because in the context of 1 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul is pitting a biblical philosophy against a humanistic, worldly, fleshly philosophy. He's pitting biblical wisdom against man's wisdom. For instance, he said in 1 Corinthians 2, verses 4 and 5, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

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• What's he saying? My preaching of Christ and Him crucified is a biblical philosophy and it's contrary to humanistic philosophy. So the phrase "Christ crucified" speaks of a biblical philosophy as opposed to a man-made humanistic philosophy. All you've got to do is read Paul's sermons in Acts 13 and Acts 17, and you will find that his sermons are full of history and philosophy. He does not just simply deal with Christ crucified.

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• Oh, if you'll turn very quickly in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, because this is usually something that is thrown up whenever you preach anything other than what someone wants. But look in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 3, the Apostle Paul said this, "For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scripture, and that he was buried, that he rose again the third day, according to the Scripture." Now, I've heard people say, "Now, 1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4 is the gospel in a nutshell. Christ died for our sins, according to the Scripture, and Christ was raised from the dead, according to the Scripture."

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• Well, let me ask you a few questions. Here's my question. Was not Christ prophesied according to the Scriptures? Was Christ not born according to scriptures? Did Christ not live according to the scriptures? Did he not fulfill the law of God according to the scriptures? The answer is yes to all of those things. Why would Paul just say, "I'm teaching the death and the resurrection of Christ"? What you have to do is read everything in context. If you were to read 1 Corinthians 15 verses 12 through 27, you would find that there were some in the Corinthian church who were denying the resurrection of Christ. And all Paul is doing in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is emphasizing that aspect of Christ that the Corinthians were denying. Are you listening? The gospel is not facts about Christ. Christ is the gospel. You can believe that Jesus Christ lived, died, buried and was raised from the dead and still die and go to hell because it's just facts. Facts do not save. Christ saves. It's not facts about Christ that is the gospel.

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• It is Christ who is the gospel. Anything and everything that pertains to Christ is the gospel. Do you know what the Bible says in Proverbs 11, verse 31? Listen to this. "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in this life, much more the wicked in the sinner." Is it not good news that God is going to bless His people in this life? Is it not good news that God will deal with the wicked in this life as well as in eternity? Of course.

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• How about Romans 8:28? "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." Do all things work together for our good in time and in history or just in eternity? Is it not good news that Jesus Christ foils His enemies and makes everything work together for our good? Is it not good news that Haman is hanged on his own gallows? Is it not good news that the wicked fall in the very pit that they have dug? Is it not good news that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church? Is it not good news that God grants his people victory in time and history? Look at Cromwell. Look at Lee. Is it not good news that Christ is on his throne and that He overrules all the desires and all of the plans of the wicked and the ungodly? Is it not good news that Christ is in absolute and total control? Is it not good news that Jesus Christ exercises dominion over everything?

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• Is it not good news that He reigns supreme? Is it not good news that He is history? Because history is His story. He is the centerpiece of history. All creation, all acts, all events point to Jesus Christ. Is it not good news that Revelation 11:15 says, "...and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." Yes. Everything about Christ is the gospel, for Christ is the gospel. And what we need to do is to be encouraged in, by, and through history. And when we see what our sovereign God has done in time and in history, it's encouraging. And when you get down and when you get discouraged, it is the history of God's providential acts that will encourage us. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles. Psalm 44, Psalm 44. Notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 1, Psalm 44, verse 1, I love this passage, Psalm 44, verse 1. Look at it.

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• "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us what work thou didst in their days. In times of old, how thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them? How thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out? For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arms save them, but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor unto them. Thou art my God, O King. Or, Thou art my King, O God, command deliverances for Jacob." Now watch this. "We've heard with our ears. Our fathers have told us what work thou didst in their days and times of old." And then he tells how God drove out the heathen. That was not just the people fighting that got the victory. God gave them the victory. God enabled them. God provided for them. And then he said, "Thou art my King, O God, command deliverances for Jacob." Here's what he said. Watch this.

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• "We've heard everything that you've done. We know it's true. Our fathers have told us." And when you get to verse 4, here's a good South Georgia paraphrase: "Do it again, oh God, do it again. Do it again." The very thing that you've done in time past, do it again. I don't know about you, but I'm willing and ready for Him to do it again. I want victory in time and in history. I want to see the wicked overthrown. I want to see Babylon fall. I want to see God honored and the Lord Jesus Christ exalted and elevated. I want to see His law. I want to see Him reigning in His righteousness on His throne. Yes, do it again, O Lord.

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• Command deliverances for Thy people. Just a couple of illustrations or applications. The first one is this. All history is God's history. We see his hand in creation and all of nature, according to Psalm 19 and Romans 1. It is not unbiblical to study geographical or meteorological history or any history to discover the acts of God in time. In fact, one of these days, I'm going to bring a message just on this dear brother, Matthew Fontaine Maury. Matthew Fontaine Maury discovered the paths in the sea. Based upon his study of Psalm 8, where God said that there were paths in the sea and this believer said, "Well, if there are paths in the sea, if God said it, they've got to be there."

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• And so these ocean currents, these travel lanes for these ships, all this was brought out and taught by Matthew Fontaine Maury. He was nicknamed the pathfinder of the seas and the father of modern oceanography and naval meteorology. And later he was called the scientist of the seas due to the publication of his extensive works and especially his book, Physical Geography of the Sea in 1855. It was the first complete and extensive comprehensive book on oceanography to be published. And Matthew Fontaine Maury was also a Confederate naval officer. Here was a man who believed the scripture and applied the scripture, and he became known as the scientist of the sea. It is not unbiblical to study any war or any period of time, especially if we do it to see the hand of God, His principles and His truths and how they are applied. It is not unbiblical or ungodly to ascertain when you study history in a war who was right and who was wrong. Who obeyed God and who did not obey God? If our interest is to ferret out the principles and to be able to apply them to our life, it is right to study history.

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• And it is wrong not to study history. By the way, I just thought of a scripture. I think it's Psalm 111. Let me look there. Psalm 111. Yes, look at verse 2. Psalm 111 and verse 2.

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• Psalm 111 and verse 2. Look at this. Psalm 111 verse 2. "The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all of them that have pleasure therein." What? The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. So if you believe God has done some great work in time, in history, fine. Discover what that work is and apply it. The second application is this, we must remember that the gospel is good news. Are you listening? And that good news is not limited just to soteriology, the doctrine of salvation. It is true that Christ is our only salvation, our only hope. But Christ has done far more than save us. He's given us inheritance. And if you'll remember the latter portion of 1 Corinthians 3, he says, "All things are yours and you are Christ's." The Gospel is, dear friend, anything and everything concerning Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and God of Gods. He rules. He reigns. And any area that we may study and bring in subjection and submission to the Word of God, is right, because He is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and God of Gods, and He rules over how much?

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• Everything. All. Yes, there is a biblical philosophy of history. And that philosophy is based upon the Word of God. Father, we ask you in the name of Jesus Christ for your help, for your grace, for your mercy. Make us holy. Make us godly. Make us studious. Lord, help us to learn. Help us to apply. Help us, Lord, not repeat the same stupid mistakes and sins of our forefathers by not studying their lives. Help us, Lord, to see that God is not mocked, that whatsoever we sow will also reap. Lord, may we sow to the Spirit that we may of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Give us grace to serve Thee acceptably with reverence and Godly fear. In Thy name we pray. Amen. Amen.

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• This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, you may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abercorn, that's A-B-E-R-C-O-R-N Street, Suite 705, PMD 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406. Or give us a call at 912-925-0995.

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• You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:39:09Z