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Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

David Wright

No Big Deal - Til It’s Gone

Here the battle of, how do you say that again?

It's so much easier to say it from down there.

I even practiced it and looked up the pronunciation so I wouldn't get it wrong.

The British formed a massive invasion to take the French fort and the American colonies were fighting on the side of the British.

A young 23-year-old George Washington was an aide to the British general in charge, Edward Braddock.

The British outnumbered the French and Indian forces by almost 3 to 1, but the French and Indians ambushed the British forces and inflicted heavy casualties.

In panic and disarray, the British and colonial soldiers tried to retreat.

General Braddock was killed along with 500 of his soldiers.

Washington was in the thick of the battle, had 2, not just 1, but 2 horses shot out from under him and 4 bullet holes in his coat.

Yet Washington wrote a letter to his mother in which he describes the battle and their terrible defeat and remarks that he escaped without a wound, without a scratch.

Do you suppose God had plans for George Washington down the line?

Then we move on to July 2, 1776, The Declaration of Independence.

It was actually decided on and voted on July 2, but they had an official draft that was composed, and that didn't come until July 4.

You can declare your independence, But that doesn't make you independent, teenagers.

Some of you recall that Pastor Ferguson shared with us Some years ago this battle where George Washington moved his army to defend a key port city of New York shortly after that declaration of independence and as more British ships and Soldiers landed on Long Island the American forces found themselves greatly outnumbered 2 to 1 So the American army retreated and pushed back to the edge of the island with the East River at their back.

And the British wanted to settle in for a siege to try and reduce the loss of life.

But Washington and the Americans planned a daring evacuation, you might recall, at night to ferry the entire 9, 000-man army across the East River using every possible flatboat they could find.

During the night they left the campfires blazing so they didn't think that anything was going on, nothing suspicious, while they were trying to get everybody Off, off, off.

Most of the American army made it across during the night, but as dawn began to break, they could see not everyone would be able to evacuate.

But just then, a mysterious fog rolled in at that time, allowing the remaining troops to all safely retreat to the opposite shore.

Washington himself was the last person to get in the last boat that safely crossed the river.

And when the fog lifted, the British were amazed that all the Americans were gone.

9, 000 troops reserved to fight another day.

Washington would later write, the hand of providence, We don't use that word as much.

The manifestation of the foreseen care or guidance of God.

The hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all of this.

The morale in the American army was very low.

The term of service for most soldiers would expire at the end of the year.

Although most armies didn't fight during winter, Washington decided upon a bold plan to try and surprise the enemy garrison on Christmas night.

After a treacherous crossing of the Delaware River at night, and I believe that's the famous painting of that, the Americans surprised the Hessian soldiers and mercenaries and captured almost two-thirds of them.

And it's remarkable that only 5 American soldiers were wounded and not 1 died.

The commander of the Hessian soldiers was killed by a musket ball and they found a note from the loyalist spy warning of an attack from Washington in the coat of his pocket, but apparently he never read it.

This small but stunning victory re-energized the Americans and many soldiers signed on to continue the fight, believing now that they really could, in fact, win this war.

Story number 4, The winter of Valley Forge.

The overall fighting in the Revolutionary War was not going well for the Americans.

The British had taken and occupied Philadelphia, which was the colonial capital of America at the time, and the weary American army was on the verge of collapse.

And Congress didn't have any more funds to provide fresh supplies, and so many soldiers were without blankets or clothes or shoes.

It was in fact noted that you could tell where the army had been because the trail of blood through the snow." Washington did all he could to keep the army together.

He stayed with them during the difficult cold and freezing temperatures.

And during this difficult and desperate time, General Washington was observed kneeling in the snow and praying by himself and pouring out his heart to God for help and for strength.

It's largely believed that the will and resolve of Washington kept the army together during that difficult time.

In the spring of 1778, Washington received some much needed help with supporting generals, and France agreeing to join the Americans, and so on.

And The war began to change in favor of the Americans.

Fast forward now, if you will, to the burning of Washington DC by the British in the War of 1812.

That's where we get our national anthem is from the War of 1812, the Star Spangled Banner, even though it was a battle that took place in 1814.

And in August of 1814, the powerful British army marched on Washington, D.C., and the weak American army evacuated the city, left it wholly at the mercy of the British.

And they burned all kinds of buildings, pillaged everything, even broke into the White House, had the meal the President was supposed to have.

And as they were celebrating and destroying the city, a great storm rolled in.

Some think it perhaps could have qualified as a hurricane.

And during the storm, a tornado developed and headed straight for the British army.

It picked up soldiers and even cannons and threw them around.

The rainstorm lasted for hours and doused all the fires and smashed the British army.

And early the next day a British man was overheard talking to a lady and said, Have mercy, madam, is this the kind of storm to which you are accustomed in this infernal country?

And the lady answered, No, sir, this is a special interposition of providence to drive our enemies from our city.

And story number 6, again the war of 1812.

I believe this war lasted for what, 2 years and 6, 8 months, something like that?

William Miller, 1 of our founders, was influenced as a deist, the idea that God creates and then he just leaves.

But the Battle of Plattsburgh in September of 1814, he was serving as captain of the army.

And during that battle, a shell exploded within 2 feet of him and 3 other men.

And those other 3 men all sustained injuries, but he walked away unscathed." And that incident kept coming back into his memory and he began to believe in a God in heaven that had protected him from harm.

And further, the British forces outnumbered the Americans by a staggering 3 to 1.

And William Miller later wrote, it seemed to me that the Supreme Being must have watched over the interests of this country in a special manner and delivered us from the hands of our enemies.

So surprising a result against such odds did seem to me like the work of a mightier power than man." Would you tend to agree?

6 stories, 6 situations, 6 stories that literally could stand on their own and I know there's more of how God intervened, I believe, in allowing this country to form in the way that it did.

Why would God lead this country to independence?

Well I believe God wanted a place where there was true religious freedom.

You will know the truth and the truth will set you free God believes in freedom Freedom of choice freedom of thought freedom of decision We're Romans 14 verse 5 says Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

Not only freedom from those things, Or freedom of choice I should say but freedom from sin and bondage and addiction What did Jesus say in Luke chapter 4 he was quoting from Isaiah He says the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim the liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

The cross is the Statue of Liberty for me.

I believe God wanted a place where freedom could reign and his remnant people could grow and flourish.

A place where his truth could be rediscovered and established and eventually spread around the globe.

The Declaration of Independence says, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Friends, I believe God wants you to have life and liberty and the pursuit of true happiness, don't you?

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No Big Deal - Til It’s Gone

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