A sailor on the Mayflower, not one of the Pilgrims, boasted about his health and mocked the sickly Pilgrims. Then, he got what was coming to him. We must learn the lesson his fellow sailors learned: to thank God for all things.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thanks for being here. I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. I have one final Thanksgiving message and then after that we'll move on to our one month long analysis of the movie It's a Wonderful Life, which we saw on Thanksgiving night. Last year was the first time we watched It's a Wonderful Life from start to finish. And if you asked me two years ago if I've ever seen It's a Wonderful Life, I'd be like, oh yeah, definitely. 

I've seen it because I've just seen bits and pieces my entire life. But that doesn't cut it. That's not the whole thing. Seeing bits and pieces of It's a Wonderful Life is not the same as seeing the movie It's a Wonderful Life. And it's my favorite movie, and it's incredible, and I want to encourage you to watch it now and not wait until Christmas. Because if you watch it on Christmas Eve, you kind of miss, you miss a whole month of opportunity to really reflect on it throughout all of Christmas. 

So go watch It's a Wonderful Life right now with the whole family. It's amazing, and we will do more It's a Wonderful Life analysis. I wasn't kidding, by the way. Not a month, of course, but I'll sprinkle it in now. But I have one final Thanksgiving message just about the pilgrims. We can talk about all the time, but what's going on here is some people sent some stuff from the old world to the new world and it didn't make it. 

So William Pierce wrote a letter back to the people who sent it and they said, we lost all your stuff. I don't know if we lost it or you lost it. It just got lost. Just the way it goes. So here's what he said. Dear friends, you may know that all your beaver and your books of your accounts are swallowed up in the sea. 

Your letters remain with me, and shall be delivered, if God bring me home. But what should I more say? Have we lost our outward estates? Yet a happy loss, if our souls may gain. There is yet more in the Lord Jehovah than ever we had yet in the world. Oh, that our foolish hearts could yet be waned from these thoughts. 

here below, which are vanity and vexation of spirit. And yet we foolishly catch after shadows that fly away and are gone in a moment. Would you have had that mentality if you were traveling to a new world with nothing but an ax and a Bible? God, well, all the stuff you sent over, it's gone. But anyway, it's great. It's a happy loss if our souls may gain. 

And if God has ever decided to bless you with any good things, which are all the things you have, you better not be boastful. William Bradford wrote this. He said, I may not omit here a special work of God's providence. There was a proud and very profane young man, one of the seamen. So remember there were 102 guys on the boat, but 61 of them were not Puritans or the separatists. They were the crew, 61, most of them. 

So one of the young men of a lusty, able body, which made him the more haughty. He would always be contempting the poor people in their sickness and cursing them daily with grievous execrations. It's an execration. Making fun of an angry denouncement or curse. Just making fun of the old sick people and did not let to tell them that he hoped to help to cast half of them overboard before they came to their journey's end. So he'd mock them for being sick and say, I can't wait to throw you overboard when you finally die. 

You're not going to make it. You're so weak. And to make merry with what they had. Stop complaining. Be strong like me. And if he were by any gently reproved, knock it off, he would curse and swear most of the time. 

But, okay, so you're with me on the scene here, right? You got 41 of these Puritans, these pilgrim separatists having a tough time, 66 days over the ocean and six more months off the coast, dying. This guy's making fun of them. But if it pleased God before they came half seas over to smite this young man with a grievous disease of which he died in a desperate manner, and he was himself the first to be thrown overboard, Thus his curses light on his own head, and it was an astonishment to all his fellows, for they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him. " So it's all the all the other not Puritans were like, oh, they're not be like that guy. I wonder if that's one of the reasons why they ultimately signed the Mayflower Compact. 

I'm like, well, these guys seem to have something special helping them out along the way. So I hope you brought the pilgrims into your Thanksgiving celebration. They're wonderful people. And this is who we came from. And we can't forget it. And I was reading Deuteronomy 8 the other day, and I thought of this story from William Bradford that we just shared. 

Deuteronomy 8 says, every commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and test to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know what manna is. not that man shall not live by bread alone but man lives by every word that proceeded from the mouth of the lord your garments did not wear out on you nor did your foot swell these 40 years you know incredible that is 40 years of walking your sandals never wore out your feet never your knees never hurt Clothes didn't wear out. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. Man shall not live by bread alone. 

There it is, Deuteronomy 8. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of your Lord your God to walk in his ways and to fear him. Do we fear the Lord? For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, fountains and springs that flow out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates. I don't love pomegranates, but I guess if you were back then, pomegranate would be pretty special. A land of olive oil and honey. 

A land in which you will eat bread without scarcity. See Harry, here's how boastful I am. God's like, I will bring you to a land of pomegranates. I'm like, I don't really love. That's the kind of cuties. 

I love cuties. 

Cuties are good. 

I have cuties instead of pomegranates, the averils or whatever those things are. They're kind of like you chew them and you don't really get a lot of burst of flavor. And then it's kind of like, it's like a seed inside of it. It's not that impressive, but hey, whatever God, whatever you want to give me. A land of olive oil and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity in which you will lack nothing. A land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 

When you've eaten and are full, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which he has given you. " That's what's true for us today. When you are eaten and you are full, every time that God provides and everything you have is God providing, then you should bless the Lord your God for everything that he has given us. We should break down every line of Deuteronomy 8, but the point is everything comes from God. God will protect you, provide for you with manna. Everything you have is manna. 

What's manna? Manna is everything you have and everything you earned is because God gave you manna to earn it with. He gave you the ability to... earn it. This radio show I have, this is not from me. Well, I'm very good at the radio. 

If I ever do anything good, it's only because God gave me the ability to do a thing. But even if I do good, if no one listens to it, then that's, and that's not up to me. I can't decide if anyone, if you decide to listen to this right now, that's all God. Everything, it's entirely 100 % in every way, all God. And then if you lose it all, will you still praise God? That's the story of Job, and that was the story that I first shared here with the pilgrims. When they're like, ah, we lost our stuff. 

Yet it's a happy loss if our souls may gain. One last part of Deuteronomy 8 verse 11, beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, his judgments, his statutes, which I command you today. Lest when you have eaten and are full, and you have built beautiful houses and dwell in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied. Gosh, this is today. Did you eat a big Thanksgiving meal? Do you have a nice house that's safe? 

Do you have things, herds and flocks, nice TV, whatever, nice car, your silver and your gold are multiplied, your stock market's doing well, and all that you have is multiplied. When your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, who brought you from the life of sin you were living in, from the house of bondage, who led you through that great and terrible wilderness in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water, who brought water for you out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and that he might test you to do good in the end. Then you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth. It is wonderful to have wealth and flocks and health like the sailor on the maple leaf. 

had. 

But we better not boast that God had nothing to do with it, because he had everything. MikeSlater . Locals . com. For the transcript and commercial, free website, MikeSlater . Locals .com

John Adams Thanksgiving Proclamation reads, "I HAVE therefore thought fit to recommend that Wednesday the Ninth Day of May next be observed throughout the United States, as a day of Solemn Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer". Humiliation? What is humiliation and why is this a part of Thanksgiving? 

Welcome to Politics by Faith. 

Morning. 

Just woke up, I'm still sleeping. Thanksgiving Eve morning. Billion things to do. Took like so much food, but it's great. Hope you have a nice Thanksgiving week. Want to share what I was just reading this morning. 

Luke 1 46. This is Mary after Gabriel told her that you're going to have a kid. Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For he has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant. For behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me. 

And holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. Would this be a good, would this be good to read at the Thanksgiving table? Reading the prayer of this girl praising God. This might be right. Uh, where did I leave off? 

Let's go here. 

And holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. And he's put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. 

He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. And he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. So I'm going to relate this to our pilgrims because it's Thanksgiving Eve, but also to us because we're pilgrims. 

We're pilgrims. 

I live in Nashville, but Nashville is not my home. I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. I think of that all the time. Just a passing through. I think about that a lot. 

The angels backing me from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. This is not our home. So we're all pilgrims and our pilgrims from the old world to the new. They deeply understood that as well. My soul magnifies the Lord. Magnify is a great word, but it's an interesting word, magnify. 

Other translations have exalt. The Greek here means to deem or declare great. to esteem highly, to extol, laud, celebrate. " It wasn't about her, it was about God. God, my soul exalts you, esteem celebrates, declares great you. My spirit has rejoiced in God, my savior. 

She knew she needed a savior. Holy is his name. His mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown great strength with his arm, scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. Our pilgrims so deeply understood being humbled and humility. Our founding fathers and generations after, they would call Thanksgiving a day of fasting and prayer, but also of humiliation. 

I know we've talked about this word in the past in this podcast a couple of times. A day of humiliation. It's like, well, what do you want me to do? Like go do embarrassing things? No, it's a day to really, truly, deeply recognize how nothing you are compared to the glory and power of God. and how you're capable of nothing, nothing on your own. 

To begin to understand how deeply our pilgrims knew this, let me quote from Jonathan Edwards. He was after the pilgrims. of course, but he was the leader of the Great Awakening in our country. He said, "...humility may be defined to be a habit of mind and heart corresponding to our comparative unworthiness and vileness before God, or a sense of our own comparative meanness." Meanness means like lowly state. You're in the lowest state. 

You're comparative meanness in his sight. This is a sermon he gave called The Spirit of Charity and Humble Spirit. "...humility may be Doth primarily and chiefly consist in a sense of our meanness as compared with God, or a sense of the infinite distance there is between God and ourselves. We are little, despicable creatures, even worms of the dust, and we should feel that we are as nothing and less than nothing, in comparison with the majesty of heaven and earth. Such a sense of his nothingness Abraham expressed when he said in Genesis 18 27, Behold, now I've taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes. When I read that, I can feel within me, and perhaps you feel the same, like, oh, that's so dramatic. 

Dust and ashes. Abraham said it. It's in the Bible. But even now, it's like, no, I'm great and mighty. It's like, no, you're nothing. Without God, Jonathan Edwards said, there's no true humility without somewhat of this spirit. 

For however sensible we may be of our meanness as compared with some of our fellow creatures, we are not truly humble unless we have a sense of our nothingness as compared with God. Our pilgrims, when they traveled to the new world, They traveled there with complete humility, knowing that they were capable of nothing on their own. Therefore, why is this important? Therefore, all the glory goes to God. If you think you're great and something, if you think you're something and then good things happen, you're like, ah, God, thanks for the assist or man, I did a lot. I did a lot of good. 

work there. I'm really pretty great. And you see how that goes down the road. You need total, complete humility. Again, as our founders would say, humiliation, a day of humiliation, recognizing how lowly we are and how incredible God is. This is William Bradford. 

Well, yesterday we talked about Ezra 821, their total reliance upon God. The pilgrims, that's their pastor, talked about Ezra as they were embarking on the ship to head off. William Bradford, thus out of small beginnings, greater things have been produced by his hand that made all things out of nothing. Right? So God, he's so incredible. He can make something out of nothing and look at the great things he did with us all by his hand and, and gives being to all things that are, and as one small candle may light a thousand. 

So the light here kindled has shown unto many, yea, in some sort to our whole nation. Let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise. A psalm that our pilgrims do intimately. Praise the Lord. Psalm 112, 1. Praise the Lord. 

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. His offspring will be mighty in the land. The generation of the upright will be blessed. Let's get back to Mary here. The ending. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. 

As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever, God keeps his promises. God doesn't forget. God's mercy isn't because we're great. It's not our merit. We don't deserve it. Hence it being called grace. 

It only speaks to God's character, not ours. Only God made his covenant with Abraham. He put Abraham to sleep. This should give us incredible hope. Even Mary, Mary, when this happened, is like, oh, yes. 

First of all, she knew God's promises, and she praised God, trusted God. This should give us incredible hope as well. Trust Him. God loves you. I think of God protecting the pilgrims who made it here, and God saving me, and also protecting my marriage, my children. Whatever you're grateful for today and every day, thank God for it. 

It's only because of Him. Our souls magnify the Lord. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow. MikeSlater . Locals . com. Transcript, commercial fee on the website. MikeSlater .

Imagine the scene of the Pilgrims departing Holland. If you were their pastor, what advice would you give? Fortunately, we know what John Robinson wrote these brave Pilgrims. Their pastor recited Ezra 8, a beautiful parallel to our Pilgrims.

Welcome to Politics by Faith, our Thanksgiving week edition. I want to read a little bit from John Robinson. John Robinson was the leader of the Puritans in Holland before they set sail to the New World. So they were in England, and then they went to Amsterdam for about 12 years to flee the king and persecution there. And then they said, this isn't good enough because Amsterdam is corrupting our youth. So we're going to go to the New World. 

I want to read two things here. The first is, a description of the departure from William Bradford. And then I want to read from a letter that John Robinson wrote to the Pilgrims, the Puritans. They called themselves separatists back then. So he wrote a letter to his fellow separatists who were off on the journey. Let's start with William Bradford's account of leaving. 

So being ready to depart, they had a day of solemn humiliation. their pastor taking his text from Ezra 821. It's great. He gave a sermon on the boat. We'll get to Ezra in a little bit, but, uh, Ezra 821. And that at Yee River by Ahava, I proclaimed a fast that we might humble ourselves before our God and seek of him a right way for us and for our children and for all our substance. 

Upon which he spent a good part of the day, very profitably and suitably to their present occasion. The rest of the time was spent in powering out prayers to the Lord. with great fervency, mixed with abundance of tears. " How about that? Powering out prayers. That sounds very like modern evangelical. 

We're going to power some prayers in 1620. And the time came, excuse me, the time being come that they must depart. They were accompanied with most of their brethren out of the city and to a town sundry miles called Delfishaven, where the ship laid ready to receive them. So they left Delfishaven. goodly and pleasant city, which had been their resting place near 12 years. And they knew they were pilgrims and looked not much on those things of the city, but lift up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits. 

When they came to the place, they found a ship and all the things ready. And such of their friends as could not come with them followed after them. And Sundry also came from Amsterdam to see them ship to take the leave of them. That night was spent with little sleep by most. but with friendly entertainment and Christian discourse and other real expressions of true Christian love. The next day, the wind being fair, they went abroad, aboard, and their friends with them were truly doleful. 

Sad was the sight of the sad and mournful parting, to see what sighs and sobs and prayers did sound amongst them, what tears did gush from every eye, and pithy speeches. " I don't know what this word is. I'm reading this from the old English. Pithy speeches pierced each heart. Pierced! P -E -I -R -S -T, and pithy speeches pierced each heart. That sundry of ye Dutch strangers, and stood on ye key as spectators, could not refrain from tears. 

Yet comfortable and sweet it was to see such lively and true expressions of dear and unfeigned love. But the tide, which stays for no man, calling them away, were thus loath to depart, the revered pastor falling down on his knees, and they all with him, with watery cheeks, commended them with most fervent prayers to the Lord and his blessing. And then with mutual embraces and many tears, they took their leave one of another, which proved to be the last leave to many of them. I love doing the best I can to imagine what that scene looked like. I want to read some of this letter that their pastor, John Robinson, sent with the Pilgrims. Some advice. 

And though I doubt not that in your godly wisdom, you both foresee and plan for your present state and condition, initially and together, individually and together, I still thought it my duty to add some further encouragement to those who are already running, not because you need it, but because I owe it to you in love and duty. First, as we daily renew our repentance before God, especially for our known sins and generally for those unknown, so the Lord calls us in a special way at times of such difficulty and danger as you now face to search more deeply and reform our ways before him. So amazing. Of course, we need to repent of our sins, the ones we know and the ones we don't, but especially in times of danger and difficulty where we're clearly in God's hands, it's all the more reason to repent. to repent, and reform our ways before him, lest he call to mind sins forgotten or unrepented, and take advantage against us, leaving us to be swallowed by one danger or another in judgment. But on the other hand, when sin is removed by sincere repentance, and its pardon sealed upon a man's conscience by his Spirit, great will be the security and peace in all dangers, sweet the comforts in all distress, with happy deliverance from all evil, whether in life or in death. 

That's what happened to the Pilgrims. Praise God. So he goes on. I love this scene here. He encourages everyone to work well together. And this relates to Ezra, which we'll get to in a minute. 

Because Ezra 821 is what this pastor, Robinson, read. quoted from memory when they were about to embark, and it ties in very nicely. But here's one piece of advice. Carefully, work together carefully to provide in that your common work, you unite common affections truly bent on the general good, avoiding as a deadly plague, all withdrawnness of mind for private gain. Avoid it like the plague. or singular desires in any way, let every man repress in himself and the whole body and each person all private respects that oppose the general convenience. 

Just as men are careful not to have a new house shaken with violence before it's well settled and the parts firmly knit, so I beseech you, brethren, to be more careful that the house of God, which you are and are to be, be not shaken with unnecessary novelties or opposition when first settling. Lastly, since you become a political body using civil government amongst yourselves, and are not furnished with any persons of special eminence above the rest to be chosen in office. So you're not going with any political people, like the governor is not going with you. Let your wisdom and godliness appear not only in choosing persons who love and promote the common good, but also in yielding them all due honor and obedience in their lawful administration. Do not judge them. This is so good. 

Do not judge them by outward appearances, but as God ordinance for your good. Do not be like those fools who honor the fine coat more than the virtuous mind. or glorious ordinance of the Lord. " It's so good. Don't honor the fine coat over the virtuous mind. You know better that the magistrate bears the Lord's power and authority, honorably, however humble the person. 

And he ends with this. There are many other things, important things, I could remind you of, and earlier matters in more words, but I will not wrong your godly minds by assuming you're heedless. Many among you are able to admonish yourselves and others rightly. Therefore, these few things briefly, I earnestly commend to your care and conscience, joining with them my daily unceasing prayers to the Lord, that he who had made the heavens and earth, sea and rivers, whose providence governs all his works and especially all his dear children for good, would so guide and guard you in your ways, inwardly by his spirit and outwardly by his power, that both you and we, for and with you, may have reason to praise his name all our days. Farewell in him in whom you trust and in whom I rest. 

All unfailing well -wisher for your happy success in the hopeful voyage, John Robinson. " I love reading old letters. All right, so let's go to Ezra 8. So we have the Jewish exiles. Again, this is what John Robinson, leader of the Puritans, the separatists in Holland, this is what he decided is the most relevant piece of scripture to share with these pilgrims before they embark. Ezra 8, we have Jewish exiles returning from Babylon to Jerusalem. 

And Ezra gathers everyone at this river, Ahava, and he proclaimed to fast. Remember, Thanksgiving used to be a day of fasting and prayer. Now it's gluttony and football. It used to be a day of fasting. And Ezra and the Jewish exiles, they got together and they prayed to God. Pick up at verse 21. 

Then I proclaim to fast there at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road. Because we had spoken to the king saying, the hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek him, but his power and his wrath are against us. all those who forsake him. So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and he answered our prayer. " I love this so much because first of all, it's fasting, right? 

So fasting to focus like a single -minded devotion to God. That's the point of it. 

Why? 

To seek from him the right way. That's what Ezra wanted. That's what our pilgrims wanted. God, help us go the right way. Shouldn't we be asking the same thing? God, help. 

I want to go the right way. Everyone in our modern culture today, I want to go my way. No, we need to seek God's way. Literally, which way do you want me to go, God? And how do you want me to go there? Our pilgrims ask that constantly. 

But then the second part of the scripture, to not ask for protection from the king, because they already said that God will protect us. So there's like incredible danger on this journey, but he couldn't go back to the king and say, um, so we, like we said, we trusted God, but we really don't that much. You know, just be careful. Just be sure. Uh, you know, Do you mind if we get some of your people to protect, get some of your earthly protection? Cause we don't really trust our heavenly protection God that much. 

I mean, we do, but not, you're not real. I mean, a couple, couple military people can't hurt, right? So no, they couldn't do it. So they fasted and they prayed and God protected them. Our pilgrims, they couldn't have any protection. There was, there was no offer of protection from the King, fleeing the King. 

All they could do was ask God to protect them. And God did. And one more tie into the letter from Robinson. So Ezra gave all the gold and the silver and all the offerings for the house of our God to the priests. There are 650 talents of silver and we can go down the line, but it's millions and millions. of dollars, like tons and tons of like so much money, so much wealth on a very dangerous journey. 

And he gave it all to the priests and he weighed it. He weighed everything before they left. Here's what the Bible says. Then we departed from the river of Haba on the 12th day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us. And he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road. 

I think of our pilgrims being protected by the hand of God from storm. along the journey, 66 days, six months off the coast. So we came to Jerusalem and we stayed there three days. Now on the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the articles were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Merimoth, the son of Uriah the priest. So they weighed it before they left, they weighed when they got there. It was all there. 

This wasn't done to see who stole stuff. And it wasn't done to prove you were not bad. It was done to show how good they were. These priests were trusted with these valuable items and all of them were honorable in their handling of it. And the pilgrim parallel here is beautiful. Going on a journey, trusting God's hand to carry them. 

And as John Robinson encouraged them to be honest and good. This is the founding of our nation. Thanksgiving is as profound to our nation and to our history and to the history of the world as the 4th of July and the Declaration of Independence. The declaration happened because of this, because of who came to this nation and why they came here and how they came here. And I don't mean how, like on a boat, but how as in by the hand of God and they came here to be good. Praise God. 

I pray that we can emulate this. Everything we do. Mike Slater dot locals dot com. Transcript commercial free on the website. Mike Slater dot locals dot com.