Written by Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas on Friday, 31 May 2013. Posted in Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas, Opinion

Jesus describes two categories of men in this poor-fallen world, one camp is wise and the other is foolish. How can we distinguish the one from the other? The wise hears and applies the Word of God to his life. The foolish does not.

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” -Jesus

In our modern age it has become quite vogue for our nation to accept without question or discernment the philosophy of relativism. Relativism is a belief system that pervades much of our culture, government, and schools. Its premise is based on the fallacy that all ideas, philosophies, and religions are of equal value. According to relativism, there is nothing that is superior in knowledge, wisdom, and understanding and nothing inferior. All ideas are of equal value and all cultures have merit. So, if some cultures teach “love thy neighbor as thyself” and some cultures practice eating their neighbors who, are we to judge the values and practices of others? After all, all roads (no matter how perverse, bloody, deceptive, and false) lead to God and heaven, right? WRONG! Dead wrong!

My friend, in this life, it is self-evident that not all belief systems are of equal value. In a sane world, people who love their neighbors and people who eat their neighbors would never be considered the same in value. One is superior and beneficial to society, while the other is indeed, inferior and should be condemned. In fact, if all ideas, philosophies, and belief systems were granted equal status, what, if anything, would be considered valuable to man? To help clarify this point, the example of precious metals may help. The concept is “rarity determines value.” In other words, if gold, silver, and precious jewels were accessible as rocks, they would lose their worth. It is the scarceness of these precious metals that adds to their luster. This proposition is also true when it comes to the Bible, the Word of God.

Many religions and so-called enlightened philosophies either claim divine inspiration or conventional wisdom in an attempt to answer man’s eternal questions; questions, such as, “Why am I here?” “Where did I come from?” “What am I to do with my life?” and the most plaguing of all “What happens to me after I die?” Most religions and philosophies of men were established to try and answer these daunting questions that torment men’s minds. Each believes its writings to be sacred, true, or one that provides reliable answers to solve man’s quest for meaning in this vain, fleeting life. But are their claims objectively true? The answer is a resounding NO!

It is self-evident that there are concepts in the human experience, such as, truth and lies, honesty and deception, time honored principles and falsehoods. The burning issue is where in this crazy, confused, and mixed-up world can we find a reliable guide to distinguish between these conflicting traits that run rampant in the human condition? 

Modernism

The philosophy of modernism was the underlying worldview that produced the “Enlightenment” period in history. As liberalism permeated the church, it sought to bring the traditions of the church into a closer relationship with Roman/Greco classical traditions, science, and the social, secular views of its era. It devalued the supernatural and the objective standards of God’s moral laws. Instead, modernism exalted the rationality of man.

Man, therefore, apart from divine revelation could through reason alone obtain “truth,” even divine “truth” and establish a moral code for society. This pursuit inevitably led to seeking a “utopian” world order. The promise, however, was short lived. The deadly fruit of the French Revolution shattered much of the promise of modernism. The goddess of reason replaced the self-evident truth of the Bible and heads literally rolled as the guillotine ushered in the reign of terror.

Modernism spawned other ideologies and political systems as well. All of them, without exception, have been destructive to man’s existence. Communism, Fascism, and Nazism, to name a few, all embraced aspects of modernism to justify their brutality in their pursuit of world domination and socialistic utopia. 

Post Modernism

With the abject failure of modernism, instead of humbling ourselves and returning to the God of all truth, mankind jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Because modernism could not address nor satisfy the deep needs of the human soul, it left a destructive void. The starvation of the soul and the moral bankruptcy it produced paved the way to our present era and the philosophy of post-modernism. This new philosophy rejected the claims of modernism that mankind is progressing by the use of rationality and reason. These were merely cultural biases masquerading as science. Thus, post modernism embraced pluralism, relativism, diversity, tolerance, and multi-culturalism, which characterizes much of our contemporary society. According to this worldview, there is no such thing as objective rationality, reason, or reality. These are mere myths that plague the minds of men.      

Thus, post-modernism rejects any notion of a reliable, objective, or universal standard. Since there are no moral absolutes, making judgments are no longer necessary nor welcomed. Written words have no meaning other than what the reader subjectively desires them to represent. Reality is in the mind of the beholder. Opinions, no matter how absurd, carry as much value as evidence. This ineffectual mentality is known as deconstructionism.

Based upon post-modernism, modern man is left to his own devices to try and make sense of the human condition. It promotes the idea that each individual can construct their own truth system, which is no better or worse than any other, regardless, if it agrees with corresponding reality or not. Whatever floats your boat, gets you through life, and works for the individual will suffice. The mantra of the day is “I’m ok, you are ok, and everybody is ok, ok?” If this is true, where is the long awaited Nirvana? How do we account for all the suffering, misery, death, and decay that still stalk men and drive them into the abyss of despondency, despair, and destruction? 

The modern world also tries to convince men that Christianity is merely one of the world’s “major” religions. Popular bumper stickers suggest that “God is too big to fit in anyone’s religion.” Some mistakenly believe that God is like the top of a mountain and there are different paths (religions) that lead to the same summit.

When Islam attacked America, the West immediately “preached” this universal message. The god of Islam, Allah, was the same God that Christian’s worshipped. It may be a different religious practice, but inevitably leads to the same universal deity.  

Obviously, for anyone to compare the Triune God of the Bible to the god, Allah, suffers from major disillusionment. To think that Islam is a “religion of peace” and follows the same god that Christianity follows is patently absurd. One has to suspend all reason, logic, history, and rationality to make such an outrageous comparison. Tragically, it has become the politically and religiously correct response to the war against Islamic terror. In fact, while in office, President Bush stated, “I also condition it by saying freedom is not America’s gift to the world. It’s much greater than that, of course. And I believe we worship the same God (speaking of Muslims and Christians).”

Truth with a Capital T

Biblical Christianity claims to be the truth with a capital T. Some may reject that claim, but minimally, it is important to know that the Bible itself makes this assertion. It is not just “a” truth out of “many” truths that run to and fro throughout the earth. No, it alleges to be the only objective source of truth. Thus, any idea, philosophy, or teaching that does not originate or agree with the Bible is condemned as lies, idolatry, and deceptions that will surely lead nations to ruination and condemn the eternal souls of men.

Jesus stated:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:7-10).

It is probably this truth claim more than any other that raises the ire of our post-modern, multi-cultural, diverse, politically correct, and tolerant age that inspires rage against Christianity. Those who cling to the notion that all lifestyles, religions and worldviews have equal validity, cringe at the mere thought. According to them, the only real sin in this world is to disapprove of someone else’s view, religion, or moral choices. They honestly believe if Christianity was eradicated from the world, peace, harmony, and brotherhood would finally be achieved. One would think that the bloody twentieth century would have dispelled that notion as atheistic “isms” unleashed massive atrocities that murdered millions of innocent people.

Thus, accusations against Biblical Christians abound. Enemies of the cross love to hurl ad hominem arguments to avoid the content of the Gospel message by discrediting the messengers. Names like homophobes, born-again bigots, anti-choice zealots, and superstitious, ignorant fools proliferate as the world deludes itself into believing that “God is too big to fit in only one religion.”     

In the midst of this push for religious inclusion, however, Jesus preached exclusion. He stated emphatically, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6).” Today, even popular preachers tremble to admit or repeat this statement by our Lord. Knowing it will provoke a hostile response in our crooked and perverse nation.  

Regardless, of the man-pleasing pursuits by some preachers, Jesus testified, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad (Matthew 12:30).” He warned, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels (Matthew 8:38).” In fact, He not only positively declared sole ownership of true salvation, but condemned all other religious competitors as thieves and robbers. With these statements and others besides, Jesus smashed all pretense at neutrality, relativism, and the idol of tolerance which America and the world bows before today.

C.S. Lewis commenting on the uniqueness of Christ in a world full of religions stated:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher (He would not be a true prophet either). He would either be a lunatic on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg or he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. 

Truth is Paramount

A good friend of mine, Rev. Flip Benham, National Director of Operation Save America, commenting on the nature of truth, penned these important words, “The truth of what one believes is far more important than how much he believes it.” This is a significant statement. Thus our beliefs, no matter how sincere, do not determine truth. It is the truth, specifically God’s Word that must determine man’s belief. For example, those who boarded the Titanic sincerely believed it wouldn’t sink. History records they were sincerely wrong.

The nineteen Muslims who crashed airplanes into our buildings and brought America to its knees, sincerely believed they were serving their god, Allah. Their belief brought many innocent people to an untimely death. If these murderers could come back from the dead, they would reveal a horror much worse than the Twin Towers collapsing. Rather than joining 72 virgins as promised by the religion of Islam, they would scream of the torments of hell. Instead of entering a paradise, they find themselves in a place of eternal damnation from which they can never escape. They can’t even commit suicide again to be released and no belief in the Koran will deliver them from the severe consequence of the lies they believed. 

The Sure Basis of Truth

In the midst of these deceptions, the Word of God teaches that Jesus is truth personified (John 14:6). Jesus, in turn, acknowledged God’s Word is the truth. John 17:17 states, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. John 16:13 declares, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” The Church has been designated as the pillar and ground of truth. 1 Timothy 3:15 records, “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” 

Based upon this mighty foundation of truth, Pastor Adrian Rogers admonished:

It is better to be divided by truth, than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than to speak a lie that will comfort and then kill. It is better to be hated for telling the truth, than to be loved for telling a lie. It is better to stand alone with the truth, than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately die with the truth, than to live with a lie.

Truth is truth, whether no one believes it and a lie is a lie, no matter how many believe it. This is why the truth claims articulated in the Bible are crucial for the welfare of man, for it is truth alone that has the power to liberate. John 8:31, 32 states, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Continuing in this line of thought Jesus concluded, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (John 8:36).”  It is God’s truth contained in His inspired Word that has the authority to break the chains of sin and bondage within that are reinforced by the lies, vain philosophies, and false religions without.

The Truth of the Bible is Self-Authenticating

The Bible further teaches that all Scripture is inspired or God-breathed. 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 states, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” In other words, when God exhaled, His word went forth and it is alive and full of power to transform the souls of men. It is in the time-honored truths contained in the 66 books of the Bible where God’s wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are revealed and whether we believe it or not; they are more valuable than silver, gold, and treasures of every sort. 

The God who created us and the Savior who died for us chose to record His Word, Will, and Way in one book and one book alone. Again, this drives home the concept that rarity determines value. Out of all the books in the world, there is only one where God’s revelation can safely be discovered. It is in the “Indestructible Book” called the Holy Bible.

Many of the world’s hammers have been broken upon the anvil of its sacred contents. Many a tyrant, dictator, and oppressor of men have vainly tried to burn it, ban it, and destroy its holy revelation. They are all dust and God’s Word marches on as conqueror and conquering the hearts of men.

The Bible is a self-authenticating book as well. It was written over a fifteen hundred year period by forty human writers from various vocations and writing styles, in three different languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, and in three different continents. Its origins, compilations, and canonization were preserved by God’s superintendence. Its divine message is self-attesting. From Genesis to Revelation God’s eternal decrees move history towards faithfully fulfilling God’s redemption plan for men and nations. The Scriptures reveal that God’s Word came by holy men of old as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:20, 21). His Word as His Person and Kingdom is not of earthly origin. It all comes from above. God, therefore, does not need man’s opinions or approval to validate His Word. The creature can never stand as judge over the Creator or His holy, inspired Word.  

Unfortunately, today, many believe that we can. We are taught that what we think, our opinions, cultural trends, experiences, science, and reason can trump the authority of God’s Word. Man is thus left to construct his own brand of truth apart from the revelation of God’s objective truth contained in the Bible. As a result, God’s Word becomes mere wax to fashion and form in the hands of sinful humanity to conform to our modern day culture and practice. If one plays with fire, however, one will be burned.

As a result of this folly of becoming a law and god unto ourselves, we are hurling ourselves against the unchanging, immutable, and inerrant Word of God. The hard lesson, however, is we can’t break God’s Word and His moral law indefinitely, it eventually breaks us. Jesus warned, “And whosoever shall fall on this stone (speaking of himself) shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder (Matthew 21:44).” This accounts for much of our woes, such as, divorce, unruly children, abortion, homosexuality, pornography, governmental tyranny, unjust laws, economic anguish, and false religions that are flourishing and defiling us today. 

Noah Webster, the father of American education, declared:

The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all of our civil constitutions and laws….All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.

The truth is apart from Jesus and His Word, sin, Satan, and this illegitimate world system that is in rebellion to God’s loving rule will offer mankind many “answers” and choices to determine truth for ourselves. Every single one of them, if embraced and believed, will rob us of our God-ordained destiny here on earth and damn our eternal souls. 

What is Truth?

Two thousand years ago, a Roman political leader, Pontius Pilate, once asked a critical question. He asked it of a Man who claimed to be truth incarnate. He asked it of the very One whom the Bible describes as the Word of God become flesh (John 1:1-14). He asked it of Emmanuel, which is interpreted “God with us” (Matthew 1:23)!

What was this question that suddenly transformed Pontius Pilate from a civil magistrate to a philosopher when confronted with the claims of Christ? The Bible records this question as “What is truth?” This particular question came in response to Jesus’ assertion before the Roman magistrate, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice (John 18:37).”       

How about you, my friend, are you seeker of truth? Do you even think truth is possible in our post-modern age? Which voice are you hearing today?  Is it the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, or the voice of a stranger (John 10:1-15)? One voice leads to freedom and redemption, the other to lies and damnation. Jesus declared, “Ye search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me (John 5:39).” It is in the Scriptures alone that we find the voice of the Good Shepherd to lead and guide us through the various challenges, struggles, and ordeals of life.

One final word of admonishment as it pertains to the truth of God’s Word. Jesus taught:

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:24-27).

Jesus describes two categories of men in this poor-fallen world, one camp is wise and the other is foolish. How can we distinguish the one from the other? The wise hears and applies the Word of God to his life. The foolish hear, but refuses to apply truth to his life. Both are privy to the same message, plus the same storms of life that beat upon their lives, but the outcome is radically different. The wise will stand and the foolish will fall. 

Based upon this premise, I strongly recommend and encourage you to read, study, believe, and apply the word of God to your life. It is alive and full of power to transform you from the inside out. Saving faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). It has the power to not only save your soul, but guide your life, and preserve your eternal spirit unto God’s heavenly Kingdom. It is the only hope you have and the only hope you will ever need.

When men and nations lose the capacity of self-government under God and lose the moral fortitude to correctly handle freedom, the civil government will put down moral anarchy by establishing a tyranny.

After the Fall of man, freedom both internally and externally, became scarce. The typical state of affairs in mankind’s bloody history was tragically tyranny. It became the natural condition if man was left to follow his own devices. As one studies this line of understanding in history a certain pattern emerges. This pattern was brilliantly comprehended by Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor in 1787. He stated:

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

• From bondage to spiritual faith;
• From spiritual faith to great courage;
• From courage to liberty;
• From liberty to abundance;
• From abundance to complacency;
• From complacency to apathy;
• From apathy to dependence;
• From dependence back into bondage

Is it just a coincidence that Americans discovered a while back that they can tap into the government dole, the rise of the Obama administration, and the threat of tyranny today? I think not. According to Mr. Tyler, it is directly connected.

Much of Israel’s history in the Old Testament records a similar cycle. The book of Judges in particular demonstrates a repetitive sequence that transpired over and over again. God’s people would start well in faith and obey the commandments of the Lord. As a result, they were blessed coming in and going out. No enemy could stand before them. Foreign armies would come out against them one way, but they would flee before Israel seven ways (Deuteronomy 28:6, 7).

Eventually, however, God’s people would descend into apostasy, which led to national oppression. Tyranny, unjust laws, and foreign occupying forces became their lot in their vain, fleeting lives. There was a direction connection between their spiritual and moral state and the litany of woe they experienced. In their distress, they would cry out to the Lord, repent of their idolatries, and experience God’s deliverance. Graciously, the Lord would roll back the dark clouds of oppression and allow the sunshine of freedom to once again dawn upon His people. Until, of course, they were tempted to forsake God and violate his commandments once again in their pursuit to be just like the pagan nations that surrounded them.

Rev. Flip Benham, National Director of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America gave this insightful commentary of the book of Judges as it relates to our day. He writes:

We are witnessing in America today a change of epic proportions. Though this change began decades ago, God has given us a visible manifestation of a paradigm shift that has fully arrived. Barack Obama is that sign. He is a judgment from Almighty God shouting in our ears that we have chosen to cast the God of the Bible, the God of our Pilgrim Forefathers, and the God of our Founding Fathers, to the ground. Yes, Barack Obama is a sign from God Himself that we have chosen to abandon Him and His laws for new gods and a new set of laws. Many call this change, liberation – God calls it rebellion.

We, in America, have become like a kite on a string that believes it can soar to the heavens if only it could break the chains of the confining string. Little does it realize that once the string is cut, all possibility for flight ceases. It is, after all, the string that enables the kite to fly…It was God, His Law, and His Son who enabled America to become great. God was the string that enabled the little kite called America to soar. It was His providential hand that made us free unlike any nation before us. It was His design that America would be “a shining city set on a hill” that the world might know that the Lord is God…But, as time passed; we forgot His many blessings and providences. We forgot the unseen hand that lifted us to these heights. We grew tired of Him. We were wearied by His moral constrictions. We desired to be free from Him, to do what we want. In essence, we became our own gods. Barack Obama said it best, “We are the people we have been waiting for. We are the change we have been looking for.” We changed gods, we cut the string!

We forsook God, the spring of living water, and hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns that could not hold water. This represents change at its worst. We became a law unto ourselves. We rejected God and His law and replaced Him with ourselves, doing what was right in our own eyes. The book of Judges puts it this way:

“After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt…They provoked the Lord to anger…In His anger against Israel the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them.” Judges 2:10-14.

Please note the italicized words. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. There was a standard that judged between good and evil. God was the author of that standard. When Israel strayed from Him, He judged them by sending raiders upon them (The threat of Islam anyone?). After suffering at the hands of these raiders, God’s people would become painfully aware of their sin, repent and cry out to God to save them. As soon as they cried out, God rescued them from the hands of their enemies. He immediately responded to the cry of repentance.

But there comes a dramatic change in the last five chapters of Judges. “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” Judges 17:6.  God’s people had become totally debauched with no standard at all. Everyone made up his own standard of what was good and evil. Everyone did as he saw fit. God could save His people from any enemy but He would not save them from themselves. They became as god. They cut the string.

This change represented the complete abandonment of Almighty God and His law. Though His Name was continually on their lying lips, their hearts were far from Him. It did not happen all at once, nor was anyone really aware that the change had taken place. But now there was no standard. Hosea calls this a “spirit of prostitution” that led them astray. There was no way to distinguish between good and evil. There was no king. There was no judgment. There was no judge. There was only everyone doing as he saw fit. Without judgment God can dispense no mercy, for no one knows to repent. Mercy triumphs over judgment indeed, but it cannot be dispensed apart from judgment.

Yes, universal change has come to America and it does not bode well. The election of Barack Obama is simply the culmination of the movement (rebellion) from One God (Jesus) and standard of Law (the Bible) to other gods and standards of law. It is a movement from content to form (having a form of godliness, but denying its power). It is a movement from justice to fairness (fairness is the greatest enemy of justice for it has no standard). It is a movement from creation of wealth to redistribution of wealth (from capitalism to socialism). It is a movement from biblical love to tolerance (biblical love demands we get involved and make judgments while tolerance sits back and demands we say nothing). It is a movement from character to performance (it doesn’t matter your character so long as you perform). It is a movement from individuality to uniformity (The unique image of God shoehorned into the uniform mantra of the state). It is a movement from liberty to bondage, from joy to despair, from life to death.  

In Psalm 2, the Lord sends out a warning to the kings and judges of the earth:

Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

This admonishment was heralded because men and nations decided to “take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.’” What is the Lord’s response to this foolish rebellion? “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure” (Psalm 2:4, 5).

The dirty little secret to the temper tantrum demonstrated by men and nations to God’s loving rule is the more they seek to break God’s bonds and cast his cords from them, the more the chains of tyranny are forged. Instead of being the kings of their castles, men and nations merely become wardens of their self-imposed prisons. No wonder this gives God pause to chuckle. They very thing that men deceptively believe to be their liberation actually works to secure their bondage to oppression. America is in the throes of this dilemma even as I write.

The famed detective novel writer and Christian thinker, G.K. Chesterton, implied, “If men would not subject themselves to the Ten Commandments of God, they would be subjected to the ten thousand commandments of men.” The historian from antiquity, Cornelius Tacitus, concurs, “The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.” Review all the laws on the books that micro-manage American life today to affirm the veracity of these statements. If added up, all the regulations, licenses, and bureaucratic policies would tower over our heads. If they physically fell upon us, the mere weight would crush us to powder. The lesson is clear. Rebellion against God, the breaking of his bonds, and the severing of his cords does not make us free (Psalm 2). It leads to bondage and civil despotism.

God’s law was established for three primary purposes. First, the commandments of God ultimately to lead us to Christ, our wonderful Savior. Galatians 3:24 states, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Where there is no law, however, there is no sin (Romans 4:15). Obviously, if there is no law and thus no sin, who in their right minds would see their desperate need for a Savior?

The law diagnoses our disease, while the grace of God is the prescribed cure. In other words, we do not keep the law to be saved. We are saved and therefore keep the law (Romans 3:31). We are not a people zealous for good works in order to be redeemed, but because we are redeemed, we are a people zealous to perform good works (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:14). This order is vital. Otherwise, we promote a false gospel that is compatible with every other religious system that basis salvation on the merits of men rather than on the merit of Jesus Christ alone (Titus 3:4-7).

Secondly, the law of God is to be the divine pattern by which the converted soul reorients his life. Once the saving grace of God has done its eternal work in the heart of man, the law of God serves as a measure of our obedience in Christ. Again, it is not the means of justification. It serves as a gauge to discern the progression of our sanctification in Christ. Obedience to the law for the believer provides evidence that our confession of faith and love towards God is authentic.

Jesus taught, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (John 14:21). The Apostle John reiterated this standard and provided us with a test to prove whether we truly know God, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3–4). Additionally, the Apostle Paul taught that true love, which does no harm to a neighbor, is the fulfillment of the law of God (Romans 13:10). It is clear from the Bible that apart from God’s law, man cannot know how to love God or others (Matthew 22:37-40).

Finally, the third purpose of the law of God concerns all earthly governments. The law of God is the eternal standard earthly governments must uphold to maintain their sacred trust and legitimacy. Without the law of God, there is no objective basis for good and evil. If governments refuse to uphold God’s law, they will end up calling good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20). This is a wretched betrayal of their calling as “Ministers of God” (Romans 13:4). It will end with civil government codifying evil into law, which inevitably leads to tyranny.

God’s law is binding upon all men at all times and in every nation. There may be a separation of church and state Biblically, but no man or government is separate from the authority of Almighty God (Romans 13:1; Matthew 28:18-20). The law of God reveals the righteous and holy nature of God Himself. It is therefore a vain thing to try and divorce God from His Law. Though God’s law is negative in nature, “thou shall not,” it provides the necessary parameters that protects true liberty. Whereas humanistic law is positive in nature. All the rules, licenses, regulations, etc. seek to force compliance from its citizens that the Lord, Himself does not demand. Jesus thundered against the misuse of God’s Law, which leads to legalism. He declared:

The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (Matthew 23:2-4).

Proverbs 28:2 reveals, “Because of the transgression of a land, many are its princes; But by a man of understanding and knowledge right will be prolonged.” Look at that passage closely, “For the transgression [lawlessness] of a land many are the princes: [bloated bureaucracies and the increased tyranny of civil government] but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.”

When a culture becomes lawless, it automatically enlarges the size and scope of civil government. Many rulers, more bureaucracy, increased regulations, and a plethora of laws will grow like weeds to suffocate the true vine of freedom. Why this deplorable condition? Simply stated, when men and nations lose the capacity of self-government under God (this is the historic American key to liberty) and lose the moral fortitude to correctly handle freedom, the civil government will put down moral anarchy by establishing a tyranny. 

Robert C. Winthrop, with incredible insight, articulated these principles. Winthrop was an American philanthropist and statesmen in the 1800s. He served as a congressman of Massachusetts and as a one-time speaker of the United States House of Representatives. In a speech to the Massachusetts Bible Society, Winthrop stated:

All societies of men must be governed in some way or other. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the Word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet. It may do for other countries and other governments to talk about the State supporting religion. Here, under our own free institutions, it is Religion which must support the State.

William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, who fought for true Christian tolerance, laid out before us the basis of this article, “”Men must be governed by God, or they will be ruled by tyrants.” Our Colonial and Founding Fathers of our nation believed this to be true. Thus, Thomas Jefferson, our third President under the Constitution, had no qualms in declaring, “Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God”

Which course will America take? Will we be ruled by God or embrace the latter, which is to be ruled by tyrants? We must choose wisely, if our posterity is to have a future and a hope.

God’s Word teaches that there are seven things God hates. According to Proverbs 6:16-19:

These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul warned:

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).

In times past, the church sought to sum up the works of the flesh and man’s sinful tendencies that God hates in what we know today as the seven deadly sins. Historically, certain sins that made the list were interchangeable, while other sins were added or subtracted from the list depending on the church era and leadership. For most of history, the list of the seven deadly sins included pride, greed, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, and sloth.

Notice, sins like murder were not included. Most would think murder should have made the list of abominable practices that violate God’s holy commandments. The point of these seven sins is that they engender other transgressions. They are the ungodly root system that produces all manner of evil which plague the sons of men.

Pride

C.S. Lewis had this to say about the first sin on the list, pride. He stated:

The essential vice, the utmost evil, is PRIDE. Unchasity, anger, greed, drunkeness, and all that are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil…it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken and unchaste people. But Pride always means enmity–it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God.

Greed

Greed is next. The Apostle Paul wrote, “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Obviously, he was not speaking of true love, but avarice. Greed is an uncontrollable covetousness that can never find contentment with ones lot in life or with the increased material possessions one accumulates. Greed goes beyond a healthy ambition to better oneself; it is a driving spirit that produces a Midas touch mentality, which has enslaved many.

The Myth of Midas demonstrates how avarice can lead to ruin. You may recall how Midas obsessed over the acquisition of wealth. This pursuit led him to wish everything he touched would turn to gold. The wish was granted and he found, to his horror, he could not live with his burning desire. In fact, it proved disastrous. Not only could he not eat, his magic touch proved fatal to his daughter whom he touched without thinking. The Apostle Paul warned, “For the love of money is a root of all kindsof evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Envy

If mankind is not careful to guard our hearts, envy can grow like a toxic weed. Envy is a condition where the human heart becomes resentful of other people’s possessions or advantages in life. Unchecked, it can lead to lying, slander, stealing, and murder. Today, the politics of envy has poisoned the governance of our nation. Deceiving politicians wield envy, class warfare, and the subsequent ideologies of Socialism and Communism to empower the state, punish lawful achievement in order to redistribute wealth, and create a dependent class.

Anger

Though there is such a thing as “righteous anger” as exercised by our Lord, most people are just plain mad. Outbursts of anger are not only unhealthy for our body and mind, but it is included in the Apostle Paul’s lists of sins in the epistle to Galatians. He warned “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

The book of Proverbs warns extensively of the foolishness that is associated with the sin of anger. Proverbs 19:11 states, “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression.” On the other hand, those who are short of temper pose a danger to themselves and others. They explode with rage and leave a wake of destruction. Remorse and regret are the fruits that come from eruptions of anger. Men and nations desperately need the Gospel chain to bind the wild beast of anger that lurks within the human heart.

Lust

America is a nation consumed with lust. It is big business. Most of our culture has bought into the “Don Juan” mentality that celebrates sexual conquests. Thus, our nation’s new slogan seems to be, “He who dies with the most affairs wins.” The following is a succinct critique of Mr. Juan, as a man who only cares about his lustful escapades, by author E. T. A. Hoffmann:

Feverishly the Don rushes from one beautiful woman to another, avidly drinking his fill of their charms until satiated and intoxicated. Perpetually disillusioned, yet ever longing to attain the ideal that will satisfy his longings, he finds life dull and tedious, comes to despise the whole of mankind and revels against the creature who, once the embodiment of his ideal vision has so bitterly disappointed him. When he takes a woman, it is no longer an act of sexual gratification but a wanton affront to God and Nature.

We must remember that love gives at the expense of self to benefit others, while lust consumes others to benefit self. Proverbs 27:20 warns, “Hell and Destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.” What makes lust so destructive is it can never say, “Enough.” Like fire, it will consume until it has nothing left to consume. And even then, it will demand more. Lust, unrestrained, can reduce mankind to a beastly impulse where no amount of perversity can appease its hellish appetites.

Gluttony

In modern Christian circles, I doubt gluttony would make the list of the seven deadly sins. It seems to be the one sin we wink at today, as overweight preachers and Christians labor under the excess. According to Wikipedia, however, gluttony is:

Derived from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow, gluttony (Latin, gula) is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste. In Christian religions, it is considered a sin because of the excessive desire for food, and its withholding from the needy. Because of these scripts, gluttony can be interpreted as selfishness; essentially placing concern with one’s own interests above the well-being or interests of others.

Medieval church leaders (e.g., Thomas Aquinas) took a more expansive view of gluttony, arguing that it could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods. Aquinas went so far as to prepare a list of six ways to commit gluttony, comprising:

• Praepropere - eating too soon.
• Laute - eating too expensively.
• Nimis - eating too much.
• Ardenter - eating too eagerly.
• Studiose - eating too daintily.
• Forente - eating wildly.

Many talk today of “comfort foods” or “reward foods.” In times past, however, it was known as gluttony. One of the lessons I have sought to teach my children is to have a proper relationship with food. We eat to live, not live to eat. This understanding can help folks satisfy a healthy appetite without abusing the God-given blessing of food.

Sloth

Sloth can easily be defined as an aversion to exertion or work. Another word for sloth is laziness. It is a sinful condition which the book of Proverbs addresses at length. It is a state of extreme procrastination and apathy in which the slothful excuses his behavior by stating, “There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets” (Proverbs 22:13).

There is physical slothfulness that seeks sustenance by little or no effort. Proverbs presents this deplorable condition by observing, “The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl; It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth” (Proverbs 26:15). There is also spiritual slothfulness that keeps us captivated by the Spirit of the Age. Spiritual sloth hinders Christians from pursuing their God-ordained destinies in Christ.

This spiritual malaise was addressed in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. If you remember, Vanity Fair became a stumbling block that hindered the journey of Christian and Faithful as they sought to arrive safely at the Celestial City. They became sidetracked by Vanity Fair’sdistractions. This led to spiritual sloth for Christian and Faithful, as they became increasingly enticed by the devil’s schemes.

Sin and Salvation

Modern man does not completely reject the notions of sin and salvation; they merely reject God’s versions of them. Many Americans have lost their fear of God; this has emboldened them to redefine these critical concepts. Thus, salvation is no longer Christ rescuing the souls of men from temporal and eternal destruction through his interposition on the cross. No, salvation is now obtained through civil law and public policies. The political left gravitates towards seats of governmental authority to become social engineers of a Brave New World-a world where their regulations perfect man on this earth.

Whereas God pinpoints the source of sin and evil as coming from within man, humanism believes the source of evil is the environment, something outside of man (Matthew 15:16-20). God’s solution to sin is to save man by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, which starts on the inside and works its way out. Humanistic salvation seeks to manipulate the environment to perfect man from the outside in. Our nation is trillions of dollars in debt as Washington, DC goes broke promoting “god as government” programs to “save” the lives of American citizens.

Not only has the notion of salvation changed, but the view of sin has been distorted. Gone are the days when the thoughts, deeds, and acts of men that violate God’s holy commandments are considered sin. Sin still exists, but the meaning of sin has been radically altered. Thus, the seven deadly sins of yesteryear must evolve to justify the current mores of modern man.

The Seven Modern Deadly Sins

In no particular order of importance, here is a compilation of what might be considered the primary seven deadly sins as redefined by our contemporary American culture.

Judgment

Yesterday, good judgment was prized as people looked to Biblical principles to guide their decisions. In today’s culture, discerning judgment is a vice to be shunned. Whenever you witness the call “not to judge,” however, you should recognize this mentality does not stem from honoring God or his Word. For the most part, it comes from a compromised church and licentious society that wants to sin in peace. In response, I choose to judge the non-judgmentalism of the age that judges Christians for exercising righteous judgment.

Many Christians and non-Christians alike take Matthew 7:1 (Do not judge) out of context, in order to make it a pretext. This is one of the ways judgment has become a cardinal sin in the minds of most Americans.

Lest we forget, one of the functions of God’s Word is to judge the thoughts and intents of the human heart (Hebrews 4:12). The judgment that God condemns is hypocritical judgment. The Apostle Paul addressed this duplicitous judgment in Romans 2:1-4. He stated:

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?

Jesus, the righteous judge, not only taught “Do not judge” after this manner, he clarified, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). Notice three truths about this statement. We are not allowed to judge by outward appearance. Jesus excoriated the Pharisees by exposing their inward sinful reality masked by outward religiosity. He thundered:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matthew 23:25-28).

Secondly, Jesus called for judgment. He stated, “But judge with righteous judgment.” The Apostle Paul concurred, “But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one” (1 Corinthians 2:15). If people would continue to read Matthew 7, where the famous, “Do not judge” passage is found, they will find this further illumination:

And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:2-5).

Notice, Jesus calls for an evaluation before judgment is passed. We must first remove a plank from our own eye before we can remove (judge) the speck in our brother’s eye. Once we have done this, however, Jesus still called for the removal of the speck. Judgment is still rendered. Later on in Matthew 7, Jesus stated, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces” (Matthew 7:6). Our Lord compared people to “dogs” and “swine.” It seems to me that our Lord made an outlandish judgment. Is our Lord a hypocrite that contradicts himself? Not likely! Perhaps, his understanding of “do not judge” is much different than the modern interpretation.

Thirdly, our judgment must be based upon a standard of righteousness. Where can man find this standard? It is discovered in the sixty-six books that comprise the Holy Bible. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh (John 1:1-14). Therefore, he can honestly state, “And yet if I do judge, my judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me” (John 8:16).

Intolerance

Though our nation has learned true tolerance throughout our history, our pursuit of tolerance today has become intolerable. Intolerance is the new idol to which Americans must bow in order to be considered orthodox. To be a true American, we must tolerate every conceivable worldview, lifestyle, and act, no matter how perverse or immoral. Tolerance of evil is now a virtue; intolerance of evil is the new unpardonable sin. Standard-bearers of moral judgment, those who expose evil, are considered “hate groups” who need to be defeated by the paragons of tolerance. Why? Because the promotion of sin in all its “diverse” forms is the new civil rights struggle, which defines much of this crooked generation. These paragons of tolerance wrap up their perversions in the American flag to help sanitize their evil. It is now considered un-American to confuse them with the truth. The great irony, of course, is those who shout tolerance the most are the most intolerant of all.

Truth

Pastor Adrian Rogers once stated:

It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, then falsehood that comforts and then kills. It is not love and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the truth than to be loved for telling a lie.

 This understanding of truth and lies, love and hate, has “fallen in the streets” in America today. Yet, this is what the prophet Isaiah observed in his day (Isaiah 59:14). In America, not only has truth “fallen in the streets,” our post-modern world rejects the notion that truth even exists. Thus, to make any truth claims in our society is a major transgression. Because there is no such thing as truth, there really is no need for moral absolutes that express righteous judgment. Are we recognizing a pattern here?

What has replaced truth (as the truth is in Jesus)? It is the philosophy of relativism. Relativism is a belief system that has pervaded much of our culture-the government, the schools, and sadly some of the churches. Its premise is based on the fallacy that all ideas, philosophies, and religions are of equal value. According to relativism, there is nothing that is superior in knowledge, wisdom, and understanding and nothing inferior. All ideas are of equal value and all cultures have merit. If some cultures teach “love thy neighbor as thyself” and some cultures practice eating their neighbors, who are we to judge the values and practices of others?

Fueled by relativism, the modern world tries to convince men and nations that Christianity is merely one of the world’s “major” religions. Popular bumper stickers suggest that “God is too big to fit in anyone’s religion.” Some mistakenly believe that God is like the top of a mountain and there are different paths (religions) that lead to the same summit. Is this the truth? God forbid!

Jesus taught, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus not only stated that he was the only way, truth, and life, but he actually had the nerve to decree that all other religions and religious leaders were “thieves and robbers” (John 10:1). No wonder our world can tolerate everything under the sun, except for him!

Postmodernism leaves man to their own devices to try and make sense of the human condition. It promotes the idea that each individual can construct their own truth system, which is no better or worse than any other (regardless of whether or not it agrees with corresponding reality). Whatever floats your boat, gets you through life, and works for the individual will suffice. The mantra of the day is “I’m okay, you’re okay, and everybody is okay. Okay?” If this is true, where is the long awaited nirvana? How do we account for all the suffering, misery, death, and decay that still stalk men and drive them into the abyss of despondency, despair, and destruction? And of upmost importance, why is that Man hanging on a cross two thousand years ago crying out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).

What man sincerely believes does not determine truth. God’s truth must determine what man believes. Truth is truth no matter how many reject it and a lie is a lie no matter how many believe it. Truth carries the seed of its own survival, while a lie carries the seed of its own destruction.

Sexual Morality

Sexual purity until marriage is yet another “abomination” that must be avoided in our society saturated with pornography. In fact, with the advent of the homosexual agenda the very fundamental nature of marriage instituted by God must change to accommodate the new version of the seven deadly sins. No longer are fornication, adultery, homosexuality, incest, and bestiality considered sins. They are mere orientations. Who in their right minds can condemn orientations? The answer is no one. America has proven we will destroy marriage for sex, (adultery and homosexuality). We will kill for sex (abortion) and we will die for sex (HIV AIDS).

Individuality

As America moves from a nation conceived in liberty and slouches towards Socialism and Communism, the concept of the individual has become suspect. This is why it made the list of the Seven Modern Deadly Sins. America has, for years, revised and rewritten our history to distance modern Americans from our Christian heritage. One of the casualties in this mad pursuit is the loss of understanding that the individual conscience is sacred property. Today, however, the individual must bow before the collective. The individual exists for the pleasure of the state. If the individual rebels from aggrandizing the state, the individual has sinned and fallen short of the glory of the state.

Maturity

There are many names given to define this current generation. If I had the chance to grant them a designation, it would be the “Peter Pan” generation. This is a generation that refuses to grow up. Perpetual adolescence, that enables the entitlement mentality, has captured much of this generation’s existence. As a result, maturity has become a major offense.

 The flight from maturity is the new virtue. This generation wants all the benefits of the adult community, but none of its responsibilities. They crave rewards with the least amount of effort. This has created a spoiled generation. The more they receive without earning it, the more demanding and ungrateful they become. Achievement is punished, while laziness is rewarded. If the welfare checks, food stamps, and other government programs stopped making their way to this “Peter Pan” generation, all hell would be unleashed to castigate our nation.

Patriarchy

America has become a feminized nation that is filled with passive, irresponsible males and controlling, dominating females. This has led to a gender blender society proud of the sexual confusion plaguing this generation. The spirit of Jezebel crushes underfoot the historic Christian notion of chivalry. Biblical manhood that lays down its life to protect, defend, and provide for women and children is an archaic concept that is now considered a gross sin to be rejected at all costs. Just a cursory view of television sitcoms presents the father (family ruler) as a moronic imbecile, the wife as having it altogether, and the children ruling the roost. This is the complete opposite of God’s design for the family.

According to Isaiah 3:12, the rule of women was a disgrace and a curse. It came upon nations whose sayings and doings were against the Lord. Today, it has been magically transformed into a sign of our national progress and enlightenment. Little do we realize it is a harbinger of greater woes to come, as patriarchy makes the list of the Seven Modern Deadly Sins.

Obviously, our nation needs a major dose of the authentic Christianity that once turned the world upside down. Acts 17:6, 7 records, “But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, ‘These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king-Jesus.’” The world is upside down and the church needs to rise up once again to turn it right side up. We did it before and we can do it again, if we would just cross the line of obedience to stand up and speak out in Jesus’ mighty name!

On January 22, 2013, the States of Refuge campaign was in full swing. The saints of God pressed in upon the last remaining death camp in Mississippi. All of them trusting that soon and very soon Mississippi will make history, the first abortion free state in America.

Right after our event, the health department visited the Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization to inform them that they were not in compliance with the law. To add insult to injury, they also informed them of another stipulation. If they are to remain open and continue their grisly trade, they must expand their parking lot. It is too small and in violation of the law. For all intents and purposes, they will be shut down soon. They cannot fulfill the first law, which requires the abortionists to have admitting privileges at the Jackson hospitals and they do not have the real estate to expand their parking lot. Prayerfully, one state down and four to go as the States of Refuge campaign marches on. 

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

I borrowed the title of my message from a classic novel written by Charles Dicksons. The story centers on an orphan boy named Pip. He is the protagonist of the novel. And then there is the villain, the escaped convict, Abel Magwitch. It is a graphic book, full of extreme imagery, poverty, crime, prison ships, and fights to the death. And though a gritty novel, it demonstrates the ultimate triumph of good over evil.

In this, Mr. Dickens is in agreement with the Bible. Romans 16:20 declares, “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.” It is this blessed assurance that perhaps inspired the Apostle Paul to address the church’s responsibility when it comes to the proliferation of evil. He stated in Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” How many still believe this is possible today? Unfortunately, there are many in the modern day American churches who do not think so. If you are one, I pray this message would increase your faith and inspire “Great Expectations.”

In this encouragement, however, I’m not for one second suggesting that our nation is not in deep trouble. God is judging our nation and we may be entering a difficult and tumultuous time that will severely try the souls of men. But I also think according to Matthew 4:15, 16, “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”

We are entering a great epoch of time. January 22, 2013, ushers in the 40 year anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. I’ve written in times past how the approach of the 40 year anniversary gave birth to the States of Refuge vision. Knowing the time was drawing near, we sought the Lord to grant us a vision that would begin to liberate America from the bloodguiltness polluting our land and invoking His wrath.

As we sought the Lord, we were careful not to exchange His truth for political strategy. Our desire was to stand foursquare upon His Word and never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for it still remains the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). In the Bible, however, there were times when the Lord intervened and granted divine strategies to help His people to defeat their enemies and set them free from the threat of conquest. This is what we were seeking and the Lord in his great mercy granted us the States of Refuge campaign.

Biblically, the number 40 speaks of a time of testing, probation, and judgment. The example of the Moses generation giving way to the Joshua generation covers 40 years. At the end of that period, God arose and began to act on the behalf of His people to fulfill His promises. He called upon Joshua and the people to consecrate themselves in the wilderness, for He was getting ready to lead them to possess the Promise Land. Can we dare to believe in our day that God might arise in this dark hour as our national sins have led us the last forty years into a dark wilderness of national decline?

Wait, before you answer, on January 21, Obama was inaugurated for his second term. I remember the incredible state of mourning I felt when Clinton was reelected for the second time. Obama is Clinton on steroids and yet for some strange reason I did not despair. In fact, a “Great Expectation” arose in my spirit. I believe the Lord spoke to my spirit and said, “Now see what I do!”

There is no doubt Obama’s reelection is a serious matter. It gives us an ex-ray into the collective mindset of our beleaguered nation. A majority of Americans conscientiously voted for more abortion, more homosexuality, and more socialism. As a consequence, America voted for more judgment from heaven. A nation can survive wicked, foolish leaders, but can it survive a wicked, foolish people who empower them?

Well, America has made its proposals, but it is God who disposes. In other words, man makes his plans, but God directs our steps. It is this Biblical principle that has caused hope to arise in my heart.

Isaiah 60:1-3, reveals in the midst of great darkness that God arises with great glory and light upon His people. Just like a master jeweler, in the Bible and throughout history, God uses a black backdrop to highlight his precious jewels. Without a doubt, God’s greatest treasures have been forged through the furnace of affliction.

EXAMPLES FROM HISTORY

When Christ came to establish His Kingdom, the church was subject to both civil and religious tyranny. The sign that Jesus had risen to the Father’s right hand expecting henceforth His enemies become his footstool, was the defeat of God’s enemies and the rescue of his people. The religious tyranny ended when Israel was judged in 70 AD. Later on the civil tyranny ended as the mighty Roman Empire fell. Who were the people with the faith and worldview that arose to restore civilization, it was our Christian forebears, that’s who!

The New Testament and the historic creeds of the church were birthed in times of darkness, blasphemy, heresies, and persecution. The great bishop Athanasius played a huge role in canonizing the New Testament and penning an historical creed that clarified the doctrine of the Trinity and the deity of Christ. Some were saying Christ was a special spirit, while others were saying he was a special man. Athanasius stepped in the middle of the theological wars and declared, Jesus is “God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man, of the substance of His mother, born in the world. Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father, as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father, as touching His Manhood. Who, although He is God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.”

What were the conditions of the church and nations before the Reformation? They were in a pitiful state of corruption, tyranny, error, and lustful indulgences. Once again, those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death saw a great light as the life of God returned to the church. As a result, a new birth of freedom spread like wild fire, which eventually established the most blessed nation on the face of the earth, the United States of America.

Right before God raised up John Wesley and George Whitfield, England was in a deplorable state. The Church, according to Bishop Berkley had collapsed “to a degree that was never before known in any Christian country.” The moral life of Christians plummeted into a moral cesspool as a corrupt church closed the Scriptures. The civil government flaunted levity, practiced vice, and exploited the slave trade. A huge curse came upon England’s economic and political life as corruption spread like a cancer.

The slave trade inspired brutal treatment against the workers in mines, factories, and mills. The death rate amongst children was astronomical. In London, between 1730 and 1750, three out of every four children of all classes of people died before their 5th birthday. New born babies were abandoned to the streets and left to die. This age was known as the “Gin Age.” It led to horrible child abuse. Obviously, death, darkness, and despair stalked the land. In the midst of this, God raised up 2 anointed preachers, John Wesley and George Whitfield, and used them to not only transform England, but also America.

There is an old adage, “It is always darkest before the dawn.” Though not true scientifically, the darkest point of night is midnight, we share this saying to encourage people through hard times.

When all hope is lost and calamity never seems to end, it’s encouraging to believe that even during the worst of times, we can have hope. It can be a very powerful blessing to help us take another step, live another day, with the hope that those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death light will dawn once again. No doubt, the backdrop of darkness is here in America. May the Lord arise and shine forth His light to lead our people out of the brutal darkness seeking our demise back to the marvelous light of His Kingdom. “It is time for You to act, O LORD, For they have regarded Your law as void” (Psalm 119:126). Amen!

TOP TEN ISSUES CHRISTIANS MUST ADDRESS

1. Repentance: The Church must repent and bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. Our refusal to embrace the ministries of salt and light has contributed greatly to the moral decay and corruption of American society. The Church of Jesus Christ needs to inform the moral conscience of our nation by recovery her prophetic voice.

2. Reformation (return to form): It has been close to 500 years since the Church has held up what we believe, think, and practice to the light of Scripture. Much of our worldview and subsequent behavior has been framed more by the American culture, rather than the Word of God.

3. Worldview: Too many Christians in America have a worldview framed by their family, their ethnicity, their educational system, or political party. This must be corrected. The Word of God must be the grid to discern the burning issues of the day.

4. End Times Teaching: Theological escapism has led America to cultural corruption. Darwinism corrupted science and law and Dispensationalism made it theologically acceptable (no need to polish brass on sinking ship or rearrange furniture in a burning house). This has led to the thinking that the more evil the world becomes, the better off Christians are since our redemption draws nigh.

5. Pietism: The Church must abandon pietism that believes God, His Son, and His laws have no place in governance or public policy. The secularists believe that all that matters is matter, while the pietist believes all that matters is spiritual. In contrast, the Bible teaches Jesus Christ became flesh, which translates, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

6. Exclusivity of Christianity: The Church must reject the pressure of inclusion. Christianity is an exclusive religion. One of the reasons the world hates us is that Jesus Christ makes exclusive claims (John 14:6, John 10:1). Too many churchmen have bowed to the “God is too big to fit in anyone’s religion” mentality of this age.

7. Word of Faith: The Church must temper the Word of Faith movement. The health, wealth and prosperity “gospel” has the tendency to turn the Gospel of the Kingdom into the American Gospel Enterprise. Many of the Word of Faith proponents mistakenly equate the will of God solely with blessings and prosperity; because of this, they will not sacrifice or risk anything to advance the cause of Christ in the world. If they are not careful, the Word of Faith Movement untempered by the whole counsel of God can become nothing more than Christianized humanism.

8. Seeker Emergent Church: The so-called “emerging church” is the stepchild of postmodernism. Our Christian young are being captured by the Spirit of the age that assumes it is arrogance to proclaim absolute truth in an era that embraces relativism. They are either leaving the Christian faith altogether or distorting the faith to conform to their postmodern peers.

9. Suffering: The Church must willingly choose suffering and bear the reproach of identifying with Christ in a dark world filled with sin and demons (Hebrews 11:24-26). A cross-less Christianity, is a powerless Christianity. We must get over the suffering and death issues to be more effective in our witness to this poor-fallen world.

10. Engage the Culture at the Exposed Areas: The Church must deal with the primary issues of our day—abortion (child sacrifice and the shedding of innocent blood) and parading our sin like Sodom (homosexuality). These are the dangerous roots that produce the perilous fruits savaging our nation, the rise of Islam, tyranny, and unjust laws etc.

IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,

Rusty, Kendra, and the Thomas Nation

P.O. Box 3126, Waco, TX 76707

Email: rusty@elijahmin.com, statesofrefuge@sprint.blackberry.net, mail@statesofrefuge.org

Website: www.elijahmin.com, www.operationsaveamerica.org, www.statesofrefuge.org

“And he (Aaron) stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped” (Numbers 16:48).

To help with this message, I would like to lay a strong foundation based upon our Lord’s three-fold office, which are Prophet, Priest, and King. Though fully God and fully man, Almighty God in the flesh, Jesus operated in his earthly ministry as Prophet, Priest and King.

Prophet

In the Old Testament Moses declared in Deut. 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” This prophecy is quoted by Peter in Acts 3:22-23 in reference to Jesus, “Moses said, ‘The Lord God shall raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed in everything He says to you. ‘And it shall be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’” 

Islam claims this prophecy points to Mohammed as THE PROPHET, the final and complete revelation of Allah. Trouble with that interpretation is there are six Biblical requirements they ignore to support their claim. Mohammed fulfilled none, while Jesus Christ fulfilled them all.

There is another major discrepancy Islam must face. If Jesus Christ is a true prophet, why do Muslims reject His Words? He claimed to be Almighty God in the flesh. When dealing with the Jews in John 8, Jesus declared, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Jesus dared to mention the special name that God revealed to Moses. The Jews knew exactly the implications as they took up stones to slay Him. Therefore, Muslims cannot have it both ways. Either they must reject Jesus as a false prophet that blasphemed (claiming to be God in human form) or He is a true prophet whose revelation must be heeded, lest they perish in their sins.

Priest

Jesus is called a priest after the order of Melchizedek. ”Where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:20). As a priest, Jesus is our mediator between God and ourselves (1 Tim. 2:5).

In Matthew 26, the High Priest put an end to the Kangaroo Court of false witnesses whose testimonies conflicted and demanded:

I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God! Jesus said to him, It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!

When asked point blank if Jesus was the Christ, the long awaited Messiah, Jesus quoted Daniel 7:13. Every Jew in the room knew this was the premiere prophecy in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah. The High Priest tore his clothes in protest to Jesus’ answer. At that point, the High Priest office was torn from him and given to another. The very One they were condemning to death. As a result, Jesus became our faithful High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15).

King

One of the titles of Christ is King of kings and Lord of Lords. Notice it does not say King of pastors and Lord of saints. These are political titles not ecclesiastical titles. Revelation 1:5 states, “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.”

This passage fulfils the Messianic prophecy announced in Psalm 2. God’s Word states:

Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him (Psalm 2:10-12).

Because Jesus has been set upon God’s Holy Hill, seated at the right had of God expecting His enemies to become His footstool, God warns the kings and judges who represent the state to “kiss” and “serve” the Son (Psalm 2:6, Psalm 110:1). He is the ruler of the kings of the earth. In other words, “He is not our soon coming King.” He is King now!

The Church as Prophet, Priest, and King

Prophet

Jeremiah 23:22 declares the true function of the prophetic office, “But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings.” Clearly, this calling was upon the church as God called the church to confront the sinful, wicked, and perverse world with the claims of Christ and the truth of His Word. Jesus fully expected His church to receive the same treatment from the world as the prophets who went before us. Matthew 5:11, 12 states, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” The Apostle James encouraged the church to look to the prophets as an example of being patient in the midst of tribulation. James 5:10 states, “My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.”

King

Revelation 1:5, 6 reveals, “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kingsand priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 2:12 promises, “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.” The Apostle Paul taught, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?  If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?”

Prophetic Emphasis

Typically, Operation Save America highlights the prophetic obligation of the church. We call our nation to amend our ways and doings. Abortion, homosexuality and host of other abominations have invoked God’s wrath upon us, which jeopardizes our future. It is altogether fitting and proper that we warn our nation to flee from the wrath that is to come and find refuge in Christ.

But as I studied our opening Scripture of Aaron standing between the living and the dead to help stop the plague, he was not functioning in a prophetic role, rather a priestly one.

Royal Priesthood

1 Peter 2:9, states, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

This passage teaches that each Christian has a priestly duty, function, and role to fulfill in our service to God and others. We must remember In the case of the prophetic, the church delivers the word of God to people.  In the case of the priest, the church intercedes for the people. The prophetic represents the commands of God to the people, while the priest represents the needs and failures of the people. Priests stand in the place of intercession. It begins in prayer and ends with intervention as we see in the case of Aaron. As a priest he stood between the living and the dead, and stopped the plague of death that was savaging Israel.

As a company of royal priests, this is also the church’s calling. This is what we do when go to the gates of hell (abortion clinics) leaning on the promise that they will not prevail against the church of the living God and declare, “Gates be lifted up, so the King of Glory may come in! Who is this King of Glory, the Lord mighty in battle? He is the King of Glory” (Psalm 24:8-10).

As guardian at the gates and watchmen upon the wall we are called as royal priests to intercede and intervene to confront the culture of death and end the plague of the American holocaust savaging our nation. As God anointed Aaron as High Priest to stop the plague of death in his day, I pray God will anoint us to stay the plague in our day in Jesus’ name!

IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,

Rusty, Kendra, and the Thomas Nation

P.O. Box 3126, Waco, TX 76707

Email: rusty@elijahmin.com, statesofrefuge@sprint.blackberry.net, mail@statesofrefuge.org

Website: www.elijahmin.com, www.operationsaveamerica.org, www.statesofrefuge.org

This article is hot off the press. It is longer than usual, but hopefully worth your while to study in light of the historic election coming soon. If you find any merit, please pass it on in your sphere of influence.

Upcoming Election: A Different View

Patrick Henry in his famous Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech commenced his impassioned plea with these august words:

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony.

This article is written on the behalf of Rev. Flip Benham who has wrestled with the Scriptures to determine the mind of the Lord concerning the upcoming election. It is an election that many consider to be the most important in American history. It is an election that could very well determine whether or not America descends into a third world status or we begin the monumental task of reforming the church to restore America to her Biblical roots. Roots which produced the freest, most prosperous nation this poor fallen world has ever known. A nation that was once considered “A city on a hill” and “A beacon of liberty to the nations of this world.”

As Patrick Henry pointed out when it comes to weighty matters, “very worthy gentlemen” have strong opinions and differing views. When it comes to the choice of Romney and Obama this election, men and women of God we respect have adamantly made known some of their views.

Some say, “A vote for the lesser of two evils is to vote for evil still.” We agree. Some question, “Is it possible for a Christian in right standing with God to vote for a Muslim/Communist or a cultist who happens to be a Mormon? Some believe no true Christian could ever vote for Obama and his God hating party, while others declare, “A vote for Romney is to sin against God.” To those who truly fear God, this election has created great confusion.

Some have been convinced to simply stay at home and leave the ballot blank. Not an option for the true Christian – your vote is the currency of your virtue. Others are opting to vote for a third party candidate like Virgil Goode of the Constitution Party. But the Constitution Party has not done its due diligence to run to win. It has no plan down ballot. It simply runs a Godly and principled man every four years for President. Still others, realizing their Christian duty to vote yet not able to cast their vote for the scoundrels that are running, will write in the name of a Godly person that would be qualified for office and represent our Lord well.

Here is an attempt to put this election in a Biblical perspective discovered in the book of Jeremiah. It will prayerfully shine an angle of light from Scripture that provides an overarching Biblical context to discern the nature of this historical election. While this article will not dictate who people should vote for, it will prayerfully present another view from the Bible that may help guide their decision.

Personal Comments

Rev. Flip Benham preached this message during our States of Refuge Campaign this September in Little Rock, Arkansas. He asked me to put it in writing. Before initiating his message, however, I would like to add some personal commentary. For years there has been battle raging within the Republican Party. It is the moderate Republican establishment verses the evangelical Christians or Tea Party. It is a conflict between “fiscal conservatives” and “social conservatives.”

Fiscal conservatives tout limited government and responsible spending. They seek to tame the avarice of the federal beast to protect their bottom line. They are liberal, however, when it comes to the burning social issues of the day, such as abortion, homosexuality, Islam, etc. Evangelical Christians, on the other hand, discern the connection between America’s spiritual and moral decline with the litany of woe afflicting our nation. The Republican establishment seeks to suppress this view, while evangelical Christians seek to highlight it.

The Republican establishment desperately needs the votes of evangelical Christians to stay in power. After all, evangelical Christians are its base, yet it refuses to implement the Christian vision for America.

Mitt Romney represents, in my mind, the last man standing in the old Republican establishment. The establishment has for years foolishly offered candidates like Bob Dole, John McCain and now Mitt Romney. Mr. Romney, whether or not he wins the election, represents the “death rattle” of the Republican establishment’s control. If our nation survives this upcoming election without imploding, there is a wave of leaders coming who have been prepared by God Himself to take over – Tea Party.

These folks refuse to sell their birthright for a mess of politically correct pottage being shoved upon them by the Republican establishment. These are statesmen who are well aware that they cannot defeat the liberal, Marxist, ungodly, Democratic agenda until they first dethrone the Republican establishment.

R.L. Dabney exposed this conflict well by stating:

This is a party (Northern Conservatives) which never conserves anything. Its history has been that it demurs (shows reluctance) to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution; to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt bath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it be salted? Its impotency is not hard, indeed, to explain. It is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle. It intends to risk nothing serious for the sake of the truth.

In other words, the Republican establishment may whine about the assaults of radical progressives against our nation, but inevitably ends up defending the political ground the progressives gain. Yesterday’s issue they opposed becomes today’s issue they defend. Conservatism really is pretend salt.  

God revealed this battle in the Republican Party most recently in the ordeal that Senate Republican Candidate Todd Akin from Missouri has endured. The establishment threw him under the political bus for his gaffe on rape and abortion. Principally, however, Mr. Akin was right. No innocent child should be put to death for the crime of his father. He courageously took on the exception clauses of the Republican Party which provide a loophole for abortion so large that a Mack truck could drive through it.

The Republican Party bosses immediately demanded he withdraw from the race and withdrew all support from him. They hate and fear the “Jesus” that resides in Mr. Aiken’s heart far more than they fear losing the possibility of a Republican majority in the United States Senate. Congressman Akin has refused to give in to the establishment’s bullying tactics. If he wins the senate seat, it will serve as a harbinger of what is to come for the Republican establishment. The sooner the better as far as this author is concerned.

Jeremiah’s Commentary on Israel (America)

Providentially, right before this historic election, we happen to be reading in our Operation Save America Bible reading schedule the book of Jeremiah. Though it has huge relevance as it pertains to the history of Israel, there are certain Biblical truths gleaned from Jeremiah that can easily serve as a commentary to the pathetic spiritual and moral state of America.

After God called Jeremiah as a youth to serve as a prophet, He declared, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.  See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:9, 10. The Lord then challenged Jeremiah that he was going to need spiritual and moral grit to withstand the opposition he would surely face. “They (speaking of the prophets, princes, priests, and people of the land) will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you.” Jeremiah 1:19

In Jeremiah chapter two, the Lord uses Jeremiah as His prosecuting attorney. The prophet brings charges against the nation of Israel for her spiritual adulteries, idolatries, and sacrificing her children in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. “Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit.” Jeremiah 2:11. Even the heathen do not change their gods. They serve them with all the passion and fury of hell. But God’s people discard Him like a piece of trash. “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns-broken cisterns that can hold no water” Jeremiah 2:13.

Benham had this to say about this change that led Israel from the heights of God’s blessings to the depths of His judgments. Does this same change have any impact upon America today? Benham explains:

We are witnessing in America today a change of epic proportions. Though this change began decades ago, God has given us a visible manifestation of a paradigm shift that has fully arrived. Barack Obama is that sign. He is a judgment from Almighty God shouting in our ears that we have chosen to cast the God of the Bible, the God of our Pilgrim Forefathers, and the God of our Founding Fathers, to the ground. Yes, Barack Obama is a sign from God Himself that we have chosen to abandon Him and His laws for new gods and a new set of laws. Many call this change, liberation – God calls it rebellion.

We, in America, have become like a kite on a string that believes it can soar to the heavens if only it could break the chains of the confining string. Little does it realize that once the string is cut, all possibility for flight ceases. It is, after all, the string that enables the kite to fly…It was God, His Law, and His Son who enabled America to become great. God was the string that enabled the little kite called America to soar. It was His providential hand that made us free unlike any nation before us. It was His design that America would be “a shining city set on a hill” that the world might know that the Lord is God…But, as time passed; we forgot His many blessings and providences. We forgot the unseen hand that lifted us to these heights. We grew tired of Him. We were wearied by His moral constrictions. We desired to be free from Him, to do what we want. In essence, we became our own gods. Barack Obama said it best, “We are the people we have been waiting for. We are the change we have been looking for.” We changed gods, we cut the string!

We forsook God, the spring of living water, and hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns that could not hold water. This represents change at its worst. We became a law unto ourselves. We rejected God and His law and replaced Him with ourselves, doing what was right in our own eyes. The book of Judges puts it this way: 

“After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt…They provoked the Lord to anger…In His anger against Israel the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them.” Judges 2:10-14.

Please note the italicized words. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. There was a standard that judged between good and evil. God was the author of that standard. When Israel strayed from Him, He judged them by sending raiders upon them (The threat of Islam anyone?). After suffering at the hands of these raiders, God’s people would become painfully aware of their sin, repent and cry out to God to save them. As soon as they cried out, God rescued them from the hands of their enemies. He immediately responded to the cry of repentance.

But there comes a dramatic change in the last five chapters of Judges. “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” Judges 17:6.   God’s people had become totally debauched with no standard at all. Everyone made up his own standard of what was good and evil. Everyone did as he saw fit. God could save His people from any enemy but He would not save them from themselves. They became as God. They cut the string.

This change represented the complete abandonment of Almighty God and His law. Though His Name was continually on their lying lips, their hearts were far from Him. It did not happen all at once, nor was anyone really aware that the change had taken place. But now there was no standard. Hosea calls this a “spirit of prostitution” that led them astray. There was no way to distinguish between good and evil. There was no king. There was no judgment. There was no judge. There was only everyone doing as he saw fit. Without judgment God can dispense no mercy, for no one knows to repent. Mercy triumphs over judgment indeed, but it cannot be dispensed apart from judgment.

Yes, universal change has come to America and it does not bode well. The election of Barack Obama is simply the culmination of the movement (rebellion) from One God (Jesus) and standard of Law (the Bible) to other gods and standards of law. It is a movement from content to form (having a form of godliness, but denying its power). It is a movement from justice to fairness (fairness is the greatest enemy of justice for it has no standard). It is a movement from creation of wealth to redistribution of wealth (from capitalism to socialism). It is a movement from biblical love to tolerance (biblical love demands we get involved and make judgments while tolerance sits back and demands we say nothing). It is a movement from character to performance (it doesn’t matter your character so long as you perform). It is a movement from individuality to uniformity (The unique image of God shoehorned into the uniform mantra of the state). It is a movement from liberty to bondage, from joy to despair, from life to death.

God used Jeremiah to confront Israel with her radical rebellion so that she would repent and return to Him. He called Jeremiah to go to the different gates of Jerusalem but first, to the gate of the Lord’s house (judgment begins in the House of the Lord) and there proclaim this message:

Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!’” Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’  “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 7:1-11.

Perhaps it was national pride that kept Israel in a state of delusion. They trusted in their position as God’s people, rather than the God who made them a mighty nation. If anyone spoke contrary to their favored position, they were false prophets to be stoned to death. Jeremiah, in their minds, was one of those false prophets. He was a traitor to be executed, not a true prophet to be heeded.

Israel kept this mindset even to the time of Christ. John the Baptist confronted this same mentality as Israel leaned on being the physical seed of Abraham, rather than repenting and receiving God’s grace and mercy of salvation through the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. John declared, “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”

The American Church has found herself in this same spiritual state. She has changed gods and knows it not. A spirit of prostitution is leading her astray. “This is the way of the adultress; she wipes her mouth and says I have done nothing wrong.” Proverbs 30:20. How can we expect the Republican Party or any Party, for that matter, to get things right when God’s church has lost her way?   This theological rationalizing away of her own sin has led America to cultural corruption. The church in America has failed in her duty to be salt and light, Matthew 5:13. Therefore our enemies rule over us.

Israel rejected all calls to “…return O backsliding children and I will heal your backslidings” Jeremiah 3:22). She refused, which leads to the crux of Rev. Benham’s message. Because they refused to harken to Jeremiah’s message, they were taken into captivity and those who hated them ruled over them (Jeremiah 29:1 and Psalm 106:37-42). They were subject to tyranny and unjust laws.

Benham relates Israel to our current plight. He states:

We are now in Babylon, in captivity with enemies of God ruling over us.  The great paradigm shift has taken place.  We have changed gods.  We have moved from one standard (the Bible) and God (Jesus), to multiple standards (everyone did that which was right in their own eyes) where every man becomes a law (god) unto himself. The manifold judgments of God are upon us.

This once great nation built upon the Liberty that comes only from the Spirit of God in Christ, has become a laughing stock to the entire world.  Instead of being a shining city on a hill proclaiming the greatness of our God, we have become a sewer gushing our squalor and filth throughout the entire earth.  We have become slaves just a surely as those in Jeremiah’s time that were taken to Babylon for seventy years of captivity.  They would be kept there until true repentance was their cry – seeking God with all of their heart. What was God’s message to them during this time in captivity serving under a vicious pagan king? 

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters-that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord. For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29:4-13.

This is an amazing admonition from Almighty God. It sounds treasonous to even entertain such a thought, yet it was God’s will. He commanded His people to seek the peace of Babylon for “in its peace you will have peace.” What? Seek the peace and serve a pagan enemy with the most abominable of tyrants, Nebuchadnezzar?   He ripped the mother’s of Israel open and killed the children in their wombs. He killed the sons of King Zedekiah before his very eyes and then plucked those eyes out of his head and let him live with the memory of the last thing his eyes ever saw.

Why would God do such a thing that seems so contrary to Who He is? I’ll tell you why. God’s people were nowhere near true repentance for the murder of their children at Tophet in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. Oh, they wanted deliverance from the Babylonian hordes, but they had no desire whatever to stop the shedding of innocent blood. They had been warned again and again by the prophet Jeremiah for twenty-three years that God’s judgment would not tarry forever. It didn’t, and they were taken into captivity by a pagan king who thought he was God. They would be there for 70 years.

Why 70 years? The people of Israel would not repent. Indeed, they could not, for a “spirit of prostitution” had blinded their eyes to their own sin. Until they repented of that sin, there would be no deliverance for the nation Israel. It took 70 years in Babylonian captivity for God’s severe mercy to overcome the hardness of Israel’s heart. But when it did, His people cried out to Him in true repentance, and deliverance by God’s providential hand came through another pagan king named Cyrus. For God knows the plans he has for us, plans to prosper and not to harm us. Though his judgments fall, if we return to Him with all of our hearts in true repentance, He will be found by us.

The church in America has been blinded by this same “spirit of prostitution.” We are having church every Sunday morning while the blood of innocent children is flowing in the sewers underneath our magnificent edifices. Like Israel before the Babylonian captivity, we have rationalized that we can keep killing God’s children and come into the temple of the Lord and be safe. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We fell asleep watching “Leave it to Beaver” and awoke in Babylon with Barack Obama as headmaster. This is change we can really believe in, but only those who have eyes to see, see! Both Obama and Romney represent God’s judgment upon America. We are being ruled by those who do not know the Living Lord Jesus Christ.

We are living in a period of our own Babylonian Captivity – but we can vote. Israel could not. So how do we determine who to vote for in this Babylonian Captivity? God commands us in Jeremiah 29 to seek the peace of the city where I have carried you away to be captive; build houses, plant gardens, take wives, beget sons and daughters, give them in marriage that they too may beget children and increase in the land; “…for in its peace you will have peace.” Work for the peace of a nation ruled by pagans, cultists, Marxists? Yes! Which candidate do you believe will give us the greatest prospect for peace and prosperity in this time of God’s judgment upon our nation?

Remember, Israel’s captivity in Babylon was brought about because of her shedding the blood of the innocent (child sacrifice) at Tophet in the valley of Ben Hinnom. That is why Jeremiah was told three times not to pray for the well-being of these people (Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:11). The people wanted God to save them from their enemies but had no intention whatever of stopping the shedding of innocent blood. God had to bring her face to face with her sin and He did it by bringing her into Babylon for 70 years.

It was in Babylon, that pagan city under pagan kings, that Israel’s hard heart was plowed up and she repented of her many sins and cried out to God for mercy. He knew the plans He had for her. But He had to bring her to repentance before He could pour His mercy into her. He desires mercy, not sacrifice.

Jeremiah chapters 30-31, explain more vividly the entire restoration process (His refining fire) used to bring the nation Israel to confession and repentance and ultimate healing. It is also in chapter 31 that we have our first glimpse of the New Covenant that would be ushered into us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Right now in America our wound is incurable. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing. There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you…I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many.’” Jeremiah 30:12-14.

Neither Mitt Romney nor Barack Obama nor any other candidate can solve what is ailing us. Blood is coursing down the corridors of our schools, workplaces, and streets. God is draining all of our wealth. Our enemies are ruling over us. America has become a laughingstock before the whole world. And we are dragging God’s Name into the sewer of our own sins. God seeks to make His Name glorious – and look at what we have done to it.

“Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no healing for the wound of my people?” Jeremiah 8:22.   The wound is incurable because we will not apply to the Great Physician nor use His remedy. We believe that if we elect the right guy we will be fixed. Not so! God is fixing to get us into a bigger fix that can’t be fixed so that He can fix us. Seventy years in Babylon seems like a mighty long time, but that is what it took for God’s people to finally realize that it was their sin (the shedding of innocent blood at Tophet) that needed to be repented of.

Do you believe the Church of Jesus Christ is ready to repent of the sin of child-killing in America today? Not hardly. She thinks everyone else should repent but she will go on her merry way allowing children to be slaughtered with nary a finger lifted to rescue those being led to the slaughter. Until we, the Church of Jesus Christ, repent of our apathy and indolence toward these precious preborn children there is no remedy for our sin. As Jeremiah was ordered by God not to pray for the well-being of this people, neither should we be praying for the well-being of the recalcitrant Church. But we should be praying for the well-being of our nation, pagan and as sorry as it is, because in its peace, we will have peace. We must do this for our children and our children’s children.

When God’s church finally stops looking for Republicans, Conservatives, Independents, and Constitutionalists, to bring and end to the abortion holocaust savaging our nation, and repents, and begins to love her neighbor as herself – God Himself will bring healing to our land.

“Abortion will come to an end in America when the Church of Jesus Christ makes up her mind it will come to an end – and not one second sooner!” It is at this point that we will see that there is a balm in Gilead and a Great Physician there. He has been waiting for almost 40 years.   

The Tale of Two Governments

 Charles Dickens, the English author of classical literature, wrote a famous novel called The Tale of Two Cities. It centered on London and Paris before and during the upheaval of the French Revolution. The opening lines state, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

 I guess that describes to a certain degree all generations in human history, but for our purposes, I’d like to borrow from Mr. Dickens his title and change it to The Tale of Two Governments. What is the best case scenario for civil government as opposed to the worse case scenario? What constitutes a wise government as opposed to a foolish one? What does a government based upon the Bible look like as opposed to a government rooted in pagan skepticism? What is more preferable for our future hope, a government exercising its authority in light of justice or a government that descends into the darkness of tyranny, a government that brings a spring of hope or a winter of despair?

 As our nation moves from being a free nation towards Communism, I believe we are at the crossroads to answer these questions before they are answered for us. God, in His Word informs us that this tale of two governments does exist in our poor fallen world. Proverbs 29:2 teaches, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.”

 It is also in the Scriptures we find the delineation between what constitutes a righteous government as opposed to a wicked one.

 The two Scripture references we will center on are Romans 13:1-4 and Psalms 94:20, 21 to gain understanding between a Good government and an Evil Government. By God’s grace, we will explore the biblical marks that define them both.

 Psalms 94:20, 21 reveals the three marks of tyrannical government.

1)   ”They frame mischief by the law.” A corrupt government codifies evil into law. They, in the name of law, violate the function of law or as the French philosopher Frédéric Bastiat stated, “It (civil government) has acted in direct opposition to its proper end; it has destroyed its own object; it has been employed in annihilating the justice which it ought to have established.” Today, in America, under the color of law, our experiment with liberty is being destroyed. God refuses to have fellowship nor endorse, approve or empower such a government. In fact, this type of government merely becomes another idol fit for destruction.

 2) “They gather together against the life of the righteous.” The sword of civil government is not neutral. It is a ministry of justice that is to be concerned with the physical welfare of men and nations. Part of its function is to punish evil doers as God defines evil and to protect those who are good in God’s sight. If our civil government reverses that function and protects evil, it must of necessity punish the righteous. This is part of the reason why the Apostle Paul called for prayers for those who are in authority, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”

 3) “And condemn innocent blood.” The first mention of civil government in the Bible is found in Genesis 9:6. It is there that we discover its ultimate purpose, which it to protect life and stop the shedding of innocent blood, so that the earth would never again resort back to the horrific conditions of evil before the flood. Our Founding Fathers agreed. Thomas Jefferson declared, “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.” Therefore, any civil magistrate that upholds Roe vs. Wade and promotes abortion violates their sacred trust and is not morally qualified to govern.

Romans 13:1-4 reveals the marks of good government, a civil government that is operating as God designed it to function. Keep in mind, the Apostle Paul wrote this courageous admonishment during the demonic reign of Nero, a great persecutor of God’s people.

1)   God is the supreme authority and government is a delegated authority. This implies the concept of limited government. Good government acknowledges God as the ultimate sovereign. If not, man has two failed options to embrace. The state is sovereign, which the Bible presents as The Beast or the individual is sovereign. One leads to tyranny and the other to anarchy. This is why our nation opted for One Nation under God. Only “One Nation under God” can secure the delicate tension between social order and individual freedom. Only “One Nation under God” can maintain the essential balance between authority and liberty.

2)   Godly rulers are to uphold God’s commandments in the civil sphere. Whereas God’s church is to teach the commandments of God, civil government is to enforce God’s commandments. Why, because only God’s commandments define for us the concepts of good and evil. If they refuse to do so, the danger becomes good will become evil and evil, good. Civil government becomes tyrannical and end up fulfilling many of God’s warnings, such as, Isaiah 5:20, “Woe to them that call good, evil. Isaiah 10:1, 2, “Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, Who write misfortune, which they have prescribed, To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless. Proverbs 17:15, “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.”

3)   Lastly, Romans 13 addresses good government as God ordained. We are duty bound to obey all lawful authority. This passage of Scripture on civil government does not address our Christian duty when civil government becomes idolatrous, tyrannical, and becomes a lawbreaker. In those instances, where the laws of men conflict with the laws of God, we must obey God rather than man (Acts 4:18-20, 5:29). 

The Apostle Peter taught in the time of oppression and tyranny Christians are to trust God and continue to do good. Even though our good may be considered a crime and our government may consider Christians enemies of the state. This is our biblical submission to a tyrannical state and God’s rebuke to a government that moves from being a Minister of God to an agent of oppression. This is the legacy of the church and may we obtain the same grace, courage, and faith to follow the example of those who went before us in Jesus’ name!