For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” — Esther 4:4 (New King James Version)
Ministers in the church pulpits played a vital role in this nation’s founding era. In fact, many of the well-known sermons of the Revolutionary War period are still available to us today. While reading a book that deals with the faith this nation was founded upon, I read a chapter that spoke of a sermon that had a powerful impact on the New England area even years after it was preached. So powerful were the words that it was continually reprinted and shared.
Dr. John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794), was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Jersey. He was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration. Photo courtesy of David B. King/Creative Commons
This was not an unusual occurrence, for the men in the pulpit were influential in the founding of America and the freedoms we enjoy today. They pressed the truth of God’s word into the hearts of the populous. In fact, during the Revolutionary War, in both Britain and America, ministers were so powerful that they were referred to as the “Black Regiment of the Revolution” because of the black clerical garb they wore in the pulpit. They stirred the hearts of their congregants with the word of God, promoting zeal and action.
Part of the reason for their sway was because most of the well-educated men in each community were usually the ministers. Today, ministers no longer have the corner on education — natural or spiritual. In our culture every single born-again believer has the power to learn and be taught the things of the word through media and access to information online. Each has the power to influence others with the power of the word.
In the same way that the ministers of that era led the way to a changed nation today, the body of Christ can lead this nation back to the biblical foundations on which it was established. This is the responsibility of each of us as followers of Christ. We have the advantage of the Holy Spirit to give us knowledge of the word. If we effect change in the hearts of the people around us, we will bring about real spiritual change to this nation.
As a country we have arrived at a place and time when the clock of God is winding down. Like Esther, we are each one here for “such a time as this.” What shall we do with this moment? It is time for us who know Jesus and the power of his word to become the Black Regiment of today.
— J. Todd Hostetler