Belonging And Redemption

We trace a line from covenant love to the New Covenant, then into gratitude, history, and courage. Scripture frames marriage, conscience, and civic memory, culminating in a WWII story and presidential calls to read the Bible.

• covenant love as belonging in marriage
• Hebrews 9 and redemption of the conscience
• Psalm 107 on rescue, praise, and providence
• honest history strengthens faith and freedom
• PFC Melvin Earl Biddle’s valor as a model of duty
• presidential endorsements of Scripture for service members
• truth as the standard that orders life and nation
• practical calls to pray, read, and prioritize spouse

If you get a chance and you're looking for a family-friendly middle-grade fantasy series, I would humbly recommend Countryside. And if you feel like you're getting something out of the podcast, you have $3 a month or $5 a month to support it, I would greatly appreciate that as well. You can find it on the Buzz Sprout website. There's a donation page there for the podcast.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome, Gratitude, And Opening Prayer
• 2:36 Making Time For God And Spouse
• 3:30 Song Of Solomon And Marital Belonging
• 6:00 Hebrews 9 And The New Covenant
• 9:19 Psalm 107: Rescue, Gratitude, And Providence
• 13:14 History, Faith, And National Memory
• 14:14 PFC Biddle’s Valor And Sacrifice
• 17:13 Presidents On The Bible And Truth
• 19:27 Christianity As Transformative Standard
• 21:02 Closing Resources And The Lord’s Prayer

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. Sure do appreciate y'all joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others and tell others about it, thank you for those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast. Thank you very much. Very grateful for your prayers. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace, and your forgiveness of sins through the merit of your son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for all your many blessings, Father. The ones we admit and the ones we don't. Thank you for the people that listen to the podcast. Father, please be with them and their families. God, bless them, surround them with your angels. Help us to truly love your son and to follow his commands each day. To love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive us when we fail, Father. Forgive us all our sins. Be with those who are hurting and alone, those who are injured and sick. Be with those who are abused. Help us to help down in whatever way we can. Be with our leaders here in America. And around the world. And the nations where people are listening. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Help them to rule in fear of you, Father. Be with our leaders in the pulpit as well. Pastors and priests. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Be with our military, our law enforcement firefighters, and uh comfort them wherever they are. Keep them safe, bring them home safe to their families. Be with our farmers and our ranchers. Fishermen.

SPEAKER_01: 2:22

Give them bountiful crops and harvests and herds. And guide my words here, Father, please. Your son's name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_00: 2:36

Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to pray, to talk to him, to listen to? Have you made time just to be quiet, be still? And if you're married, have you made time for your spouse? Do they know without a doubt that they're your second priority each day, or do they wonder or know really based on your actions that they come behind sports, behind social media, behind workouts, behind TV, behind work, behind whatever else it is, folks, children, parents, front? There's nothing else that should be in front of our spouse besides God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Marriage verse verses for today Song of Solomon, chapter six, mutual delight in each other. Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned that we may seek him with you? My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of balsam, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and gather lilies. I am my beloved, and my beloved is mine, he who pastures his flock among the lilies. You are as beautiful as Terza, my darling. As lovely as Jerusalem, as awesome as an army with banners. Turn your eyes away from me, for they have confused me. Your hair is like a flock of goats that have descended from Gilead, your teeth are like a flock of ewes which have come up from their washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost her young. Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate behind your veil. There are sixty queens and eighty concubines and maidens without number, but my dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother's only daughter. She is the pure child of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed, the queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying, Who is this that grows like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, the full moon, as pure as the sun, as awesome as an army with banners? I went down to the orchard of nut trees to see the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vine had budded or the pomegranates had bloomed. Before I was aware my soul set me over the chariots of my noble people. Come back, come back, O Shulamite, come back, come back, that we may gaze at you. Why should you gaze at the Shulamite as at the dance of the two companies? I don't think we remember often enough as Christians that when we decide to get married that we belong to our spouse. Song of Solomon, you hear it again here, I am my beloved, and he is mine. We belong to each other. Right. Hebrews chapter 9, verses eleven through 28. So Christ has now become the high priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood, not the blood of goats and calves, he entered the most holy place, once for all time, and secured our redemption forever. Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people's bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds, so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under the first covenant. Now when someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead. The will goes into effect only after the person's death. While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect. That is why even the first covenant was put into effect with the blood of an animal, for after Moses had read each of God's commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats along with water and sprinkled both the book of God's law and all the people using hyssop branches and scarlet wool. Then he said, This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you, and in the same way he sprinkled blood on the tabernacle and on everything used for worship. In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood, for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. That is why the tabernacle and everything in it which were copies of things in heaven had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals. For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf, and he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the most holy place year after year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now once for all time he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice. And just as each person is destined to die once, and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out. Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south. Some wandered in the wilderness lost and homeless, hungry and thirsty, they nearly died. Lord help, they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress. He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live. Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery. They rebelled against the words of God, scorning the counsel of the most high. That is why he broke them with hard labor. They fell and no one was there to help them. Lord help, they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom, he snapped their chains. Let them praise the Lord for his great love, and for the wonderful things he has done for them. For he broke down their prison gates of bronze, he cut apart the bars of iron. Some were fools, they rebelled and suffered for their sins. They couldn't stand the thought of food, and they were knocking on death's door. Lord helped they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death. Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts. Some went off to sea in ships, plying the trade routes of the world. They too observed the Lord's power and action, his impressive works on the deepest seas. He spoke and the winds rose, stirring up the waves. Their ships were tossed to the heavens and plunged again to the depths. The sailors cringed in terror. They reeled and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wit's end. Lord help, they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves. What a blessing was that stillness, as he brought them safely into harbor. Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation. He changes rivers into deserts and springs of water into dry, thirsty land. He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands because of the wickedness of those who live there. But he also turns deserts into pools of water, the dry land into springs of water. He brings the hungry to settle there and to build their cities. They sow their fields, plant their vineyards, and harvest their bumper crops. How bless how he blesses them? They raise large families there, and their herds of livestock increase. When they decrease in number and become impoverished through oppression, trouble, and sorrow. The Lord pours contempt on their princes, causing them to wander in trackless wastelands, but he rescues the poor from trouble and increases their families like flocks of sheep. The godly will see these things and be glad, while the wicked are struck silent. Those who are wise will take all this to heart. They will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord. Proverbs twenty seven eleven. Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad, then I will be able to answer my critics. I think this last verse, verse forty-three in Psalms, those who are wise will take all this to heart. They will see in our history the faithful love on the Lord of the Lord. I think the longer I do this podcast, the more I see the reason that the left doesn't want real history taught in the nation, and why it's so important to teach real history of our country, because it strengthens your faith to see how often throughout the history of our nation God has stood beside us and how many other people acknowledge that fact. It's very strengthening, convicting. And so, of course, people that want to separate our nation from God wouldn't want that history there for us to learn from.

SPEAKER_01: 14:08

Is that right? Yeah, I think that's right.

SPEAKER_00: 14:14

Earl, Melvin Earl Biddle, Private, First Class, World War II, First Squad, Second Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment. U.S. Army, December 22nd, 23rd through the 24th, 1944, between Soy and Houghton, Belgium. He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy near Soy, Belgium on 23rd and 24 December, 1944. Serving as lead scout during an attack to relieve the enemy encircled town of Houghton, he aggressively penetrated a densely wooded area, advanced 400 yards until he came within range of intense enemy rifle fire, and within twenty yards of enemy positions, killed three snipers with unerring marksmanship. Courageously continuing his advance an additional two hundred yards, he discovered a hostile machine gun position, and dispatched its two occupants. He then located the approximate position of a well concealed enemy machine gun nest and crawling forward threw hand grenades which killed two Germans and fatally wounded a third. After signaling his company to advance, he entered a determined line of enemy defense, coolly and deliberately shifted his position and shot three more enemy soldiers. Undaunted by enemy fire, he crawled within twenty yards of a machine gun nest, tossed his last hand grenade into the position, and after the explosion charged the emplacement, firing his rifle. When night fell, he scouted enemy positions alone for several hours, and returned with valuable information, which enabled our attacking infantry and armor to knock out two enemy tanks. At daybreak, he again led the advance and when flanking elements were pinned down by enemy fire, without hesitation made his way toward a hostile machine gun position, and from a distance of fifty yards killed the crew of two supporting riflemen. The remainder of the enemy finding themselves without automatic weapon support fled panic stricken. PFC Biddle's intrepid courage and superb daring during his 20-hour action enabled his battalion to break the enemy grasp on Houghton with a minimum of casualties. Accredited to Anderson, Madison County, Indiana, not awarded posthumously, presented October 12, 1945 at the White House by President Harry S. Truman, born November 28, 1923, Dellville, Delaware County, Indiana, died December 17th, 2010, Anderson, Indiana. Buried Anderson Memorial Cemetery, Anderson, Indiana. It's hard to even believe that's a real story, isn't it, folks? How do we not know some stories of these men? And we know so many things about so much that matters so little. I've got three quotes for you today. The first is by Noel Webster. He produced in 1833 America's first modern language Bible. I think it was titled A Revision of the Authorized Version of the English Bible. This was about five years after he had finished Webster's dictionary. The Bible is the chief moral cause of all that is good and the best corrector of all that is evil in human society. The best book for regulating the temporal concerns of men, and the only book that can serve as an infallible guide to future felicity, happiness. There was a inscription or a message from President Woodrow Wilson that was given to American forces. This book speaks both the voice of God and the voice of humanity, for there is told in it the most convincing of human experience that has ever been written. Take it all in. Take it all in all. Same thing in 1941. Bibles distributed to American forces on the front. There was a message from President Roosevelt from FDR. As Commander in Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries, men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the sacred book words of wisdom, counsel, and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspiration of the human soul. Very sincerely yours, Franklin D. Roosevelt. That's the difference between Christianity and every other religion, between the Bible and every other other religion, folks, uh, or religious book, is truth. It is the source of truth. And so even if you find yourself somebody has faith in a different religion or they choose to follow a different religion, any truth that's in that religion can't contradict what's in the Bible, can't contradict God, because then it wouldn't be truth. It's kind of like the analogy I think I used years ago on the podcast that if you took two individuals, you made carbon copies of them, and one didn't believe in God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and one did, right? The other one could believe in anything: atheism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mother Naturism, Satanism, nothing, communism, socialism. But they didn't believe in Christianity, and one that did. And they were copying carbon copy otherwise. The one that believed in Christianity is always going to be the better individual, the better husband, the better father, the better son, the better brother, or wife, mother, daughter, sister, the better citizen. Always the version that's a Christian is always going to be, without exception, the better version of those two carbon copies. If you get a chance and you're looking for a family-friendly uh middle-grade fantasy series, I would humbly recommend Countryside. There's two books in the series working on the third one. And if you feel like you're getting something out of the podcast, you have$3 a month or$5 a month to support it, I would greatly appreciate that as well. You can find it on the Buzz Sprout website. There's a donation page there for the podcast. I think that's it. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom of the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families, God bless your marriages, God bless America, God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world. Listen, folks, we'll talk to you all again real soon. Looking forward to it.