On the night of April 18, 1775, a Brigade of over 700 British soldiers, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Smith, were marching toward Lexington, with “hostile design”.  These were the coming “Red Coats” who were the reason for Paul Revere’s midnight ride, and the subject of his cries of alarm on that night.  The British soldiers arrived in Lexington, Massachusetts, early in the morning of April 19, 1775, and were met by the valiant and brave militia of that town – about 70 men lined up against over 700 in defense of liberty.  All of the militia men were from the church in Lexington, whose pastor was Jonas Clark.

 “Disperse, you rebels!”, commanded one of the British officers, “Lay down your arms!”  At the head of the militia men stood their valiant Captain John Parker.  Captain Parker bravely instructed his men, “Do not fire unless fired upon…  but if they mean to have a war…  Let it begin here!” 

A year later, in April 1776, Jonas Clark gave a sermon on remembering that eventful morning a year prior.  In that sermon, he said:

“May this day be remembered, to the glory of God, and our own instruction and improvement, so long as we live.”            

Pastor Jonas Clark, referring to April 19^th

The Battle of Lexington

 For this reason, and in recognition of the heroic actions of those brave patriots in Lexington that morning, I wanted to publish this article today, April 19, 2024, the 249^th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington.  In his 1776 sermon, Pastor Clark said the British killed 8 of their men that morning, and an additional 10 were wounded.  He attributes the small number of losses to “Divine goodness” but is also clearly affected by the loss of these men from their number, even a year later when he delivered the sermon.  (Read Pastor Jonas Clark’s full sermon here)

If we are truly going to honor the contributions of these brave patriots, we need to understand what they were trying to do.  In Proverbs 24, we read a significant Bible verse:

My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change: For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?           

Proverbs 24:21-22

According to this verse, we should not be engaged in trying to change our form of government.  On this anniversary of that historic day on April 19, 1775, a question I think we need to ask is, “Were these people given to change?”  What were our forefathers trying to accomplish?  Were they trying to overthrow rightful government?  I think it is important to ask (and answer) this question, because the answer will also be immediately relevant to today’s task of fighting the direction our country is moving.    

In a great little book entitled Sir William Blackstone & The Common Law, by Dr. Robert D. Stacey, on page 70, the author summarized the observations of nineteenth century French historian Frederick Gentz and said, “From the colonists’ perspective, they were fighting to preserve a system of law and liberties, not to overthrow one”.   When I read this portion of Dr. Stacey’s book, I wanted to stand up and cheer.  Our founders were fighting to preserve the rights they enjoyed as Englishmen.  These legitimate rights had been established and recognized through the preceding centuries of British history.  It was King George who was looking to change things – and without legitimate jurisdiction to do so.  So, in the context of Proverbs 24, it was King George who was “given to change”, and who should expect “calamity to rise suddenly”. 

Not Given to Change

I find this point critically important to the current conversation in our country.  Those who hate our form of government and would move us away from our Constitution and to Marxism often make conservatives out to be the revolutionaries.  However, all we want is for our government officials to honor and obey the very Constitution they swore to uphold when they accepted their office.  We are not given to change!  The other side is!  Our Constitution is the rightful form of government for this country which is why Article 6 requires all of our officials – regardless of political party – to swear an oath to support it.  Our Constitution will naturally protect us against Marxism and other evils.  However, that requires our officials to honor their oaths and stick to our proper form of government. 

Those officials who do not honor the Constitution, or respect the limits it sets on government, are seeking to overthrow our rightful, Constitutional form of government and establish a different government.  They are given to change…  not us.  Our founders wanted to preserve rightful liberties they enjoyed as Englishmen.  We want to preserve our precious form of American Constitutional government. 

Look again at the short quote above from Pastor Jonas Clark about April 19^th. It is taken from his April 1776 sermon which was given 2 and a half months before even the Declaration of Independence.  It says, “May this day be remembered, to the glory of God, and our own instruction and improvement, so long as we live.”  Consider, however, how the quote continues.  If we keep reading, he goes on to say…

“But this is not by us alone, that this day is to be noticed.—This ever memorable day is full of importance to all around—to this whole land and nation; and big with the fate of Great Britain and America.—From this remarkable day will an important era begin for both America and Britain. And from the nineteenth of April, 1775, we may venture to predict, will be dated, in future history, THE LIBERTY or SLAVERY of the AMERICAN WORLD, according as a sovereign God shall see fit to smile, or frown upon the interesting cause, in which we are engaged.”                                                                                                                                         

Pastor Jonas Clark

April 19, 1775 turned out to be the mark of Liberty for America as we went on to see how a sovereign God smiled upon this country throughout the War for Independence, as well as countless times through our subsequent history.  Once again, however, those who are given to change are at our door.  Once again, Captain Parker’s rallying cry goes out.  Once again, we will see whether God will smile on us and whether this April 19th will lead us toward the Liberty of our rightful form of government, or toward the slavery of Marxism that those who hate our Constitution seek to institute. 

“Do not fire unless fired upon…  but if they mean to have a war…  Let it begin here!” 

Captain John Parker, Lexington, April 19, 1775

Let’s Celebrate- Find mugs, t-shirts, and stickers in our store that proudly proclaim with Capt. John Parker, “Don’t fire unless fired upon…”