Why An Anti-Christ Bias Team If Christianity Dominates?
An
item from the Associated Press reported skepticism as to the need of the
creation of a task force to eliminate anti-Christian (anti-Christ really) bias
from the federal government given that Christianity is statistically the
dominate faith in America [1] and yet somehow, both our public and private
institutions are dominated by anything but a Christian/biblical worldview. In our educational and academic institutions,
expressions of theistic faith (Christianity in particular) are routinely
silenced and punished. Teachers and
professors who dare include or lend ear to a Christian/biblical perspective
risk losing their jobs and students who challenge and refuse to agree with the
secular and anti-Christ philosophies being taught risk disciplinary action or a
failing grade on their assignments.
Even
inviting people to voluntary prayer can get a school faculty membered fired
from their job.
The
mainstream manure pile frequently demeans and ridicules people of faith and is
quick to report a scandal within the body of Christ and the more influential
the figure that the reported scandal surrounds, the better. In the private and corporate sectors,
employees can be fired for an SM post promoting righteousness and condemning
wickedness such as abortion and LGBT behavior.
In our entertainment industry, Christianity and those who embrace the
Christian faith are often misrepresented, ridiculed, and even vilified.
Christian
owned businesses and organizations have also risked being sued and even
bankrupted for refusing to even so much as give the appearance of affirming
that which goes against the dictates and teachings of the faith.
Christian
organizations such as schools and even preschools have been denied government
grants on the basis of their faith.
Prospective foster and adoptive parents may be refused guardianship of a
child if they refuse to affirm a child’s dangerous and destructive delusions
and some parents have even risked losing custody of their own offspring for
refusing to affirm falsehoods and lies that their child may express and hold
to.
Christian
pro-life activists have even been jailed for even so much as praying outside an
abortion clinic. Pregnancy care centers
have risked closure in certain states if they do not refer clients and patients
seeking abortions to facilities that perform abortions.
Even
the AP item itself admitted that numerous pregnancy care centers and churches
have been subject to vandalism by pro-abortion activists. [2]
And
numerous lawsuits have been filed and have resulted in the removal of crosses
and manger scenes from the public square and the removal of the Ten
Commandments from most of our schools and civic buildings.
There
are those deny that the persecution of Christians has been as widespread as has
been reported by various organizations and outlets and simply state that most
claims of persecution are false only due to the fact that those who profess to
follow Christ make up the majority of the U.S. population [3] but it turns out
that upon investigation of those cases, most claims of persecution are in fact
legitimate and true. One need only
examine the records of organizations such as Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF),
the American Center of Law and Justice (ACLJ), and other similar organizations
to understand just how frequently Christians, even in the U.S., face
persecution.
Now,
granted that at the federal level the persecution of Christians lessened under
the first Trump administration and will lessen again under his current
administration, but such cases will sadly continue to persist at state and
local levels of government, in academia, and even in the private sector and
there will still be cases in which Christians will sometimes be targeted for
violence on account of their faith by their fellow citizens and though granted
the persecution and injustices Christians have increasingly faced in this
nation are still nothing compared to what they face in Communist and
Islamic-ruled nations or even in nations like Britain, Ireland, Ireland,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and many mainland European nations, it has
become frequent enough and severe enough for there to be a taskforce within the
DOJ to ensure that the federal government is not participating in or enabling
persecution against Christians.
But
in a nation that is supposed to be predominantly Christian, why would
persecution against Christians even happen at all and so frequently? Why is it even happening? What has been at
work within our private sector, media, our entertainment industry, most of our
academic institutions, and throughout various levels and branches of government
that has led to the ridicule, marginalization, and vilification of a faith that
is supposed to be the predominant influence in our society? What is at work
within our society that has led to the silencing, censorship, civic punishment
of, and sometimes even violence or threats thereof against followers of Christ
in a nation in which Christians, like people of other faiths, are supposed to
be able to exercise and express their faith freely without fear of civic
reprisal?
If
the predominant faith of our nation is Christianity, then how is it that
Christians fall victim on account of their faith to persecution by the very institutions
established to maintain our nation and guide its course and direction, and how
is it that such an anti-Christ spirit resides within those very institutions in
a nation that is supposed to be predominantly Christian? From a standpoint of
reason, it does not make any sense as to how this could be in America or in any
nation for that matter that calls itself Christian for it should be expected of
any professing Christian nation to be a champion and a promoter, producer,
exporter, and importer of those things that are of the faith and in harmony
with the faith and of those things beneficial to both its citizens and the
world and to be a shield to its God-fearing citizens against anyone from
without or within who would seek to do them harm on account of the faith, but
we sadly find this to not be the in most of these nations who call themselves
Christians, including our own, for instead of being producers, importers, and
exporters of those things that are of the faith, in harmony with the faith, and
are beneficial to their citizens and to the world, they have become producers,
importers, and exporters of those things that are not of the faith but contrary
and opposed to the faith and which have done hurt to their citizens and to the
nations and kingdoms of the world which has also given power to the anti-Christ
spirit that has spread throughout the world and increased in its power.
That
the persecution of Christians is possible and happens even within nations that
have been built upon, established, and have acquired a Christian heritage and
in which Christians ought to be able to live in accordance to the dictates of
their faith and freely express their faith without fear of reprisal can only go
to show us that the anti-Christ spirit can enter and infiltrate even the most
godliest and righteous of nations.
In
nations in which Christians face the most severe forms of persecution, they
risk life, limb, property, and all that is held dear to them to walk in
faithful service and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ and are winning many
souls over to the faith, but in those nations in which the Word of God still
has free course, we have become complacent, apathetic, lazy, and cowardly and
have taken for granted the freedoms they have been given to faithfully preach
the Word of God and the Gospel of salvation without fear of civic reprisal and
while throughout history and today the faithful have braved social
ostracization, discriminations, beatings, prisons, various forms of tortures
and violence, destruction of their property, livelihoods, possessions, and even
various forms of executions including those of the most cruel and brutal sort
known to mankind, professing Christians in which persecutions are light in
comparison will cower and back down at a verbal rebuke because they fear men
more than they fear God when they should be fearing God more than man, (Mt. 10:28)
because they value the favor and honor that comes from men more than the honor
that comes from God (Jn. 12:43) and in doing so conform themselves to the ways
of this world rather than setting themselves apart from the ways of this world
as we are admonished and commanded to do (Rom. 12:1) and in the name of
remaining relevant to the present times, rather than call the sinners to
repentance, they appease the sinners by either remaining silent in the face of
evil and never call the lost to repentance or worse, affirm and celebrate the
very sin that they are supposed to be calling the lost from and rather than be
content with congregations of but five or ten repentant sinners who love the
truth of God and who desire to serve Him faithfully and to lives of godliness
pleasing and good in His sight, they fill their congregations with multitudes
of unrepentant and unconverted sinners wrongfully thinking that in growing
congregations they are growing the Kingdom of God when the Kingdom of God is
expanded through the conversion of souls and not the filling of seats and
though the filling of seats and the increase of church memberships may very
well increase and build the Pastor or clergyperson an earthly empire of sorts,
what will it profit them in the end if they fail to persuade those members of
their earthly ministries and congregations to become converted transformed citizens
of Heaven made fit for the Kingdom of God?
Rather
than hold accountable those among them who do which is evil in the sight of the
Lord, they tolerate and celebrate it and rather than tend to the diligent
preservation of doctrinal purity and to the instruction of those teachings of
scripture delivered to us by the prophets of old, our Lord Jesus Christ, and
His Apostles, they have in their complacency allowed themselves to be far removed
from that pure doctrine once delivered to us by the written Word of God under
whose direction the Holy Scriptures were written and compiled by various false
doctrines and heresies that have over time infiltrated the ranks of the saints,
congregations, centers of learning, and other professing Christian
organizations because our leaders have failed to follow the notable example of
the Bereans written of in the book of Acts who searched the scriptures daily to
see if the things being preached to them were so (Acts 17:11) and so are led
astray from the pure truth of God, have counted the scriptures insufficient for
all that pertains to this life, and even irrelevant for this present time,
relying on the corrupted and carnal wisdom of this world instead of the wisdom
that comes from above, and unable to provide a sound and reasoned defense for
the faith they profess to hold to when required to do so, and as a consequence,
their congregations are also led astray by the same false teachings and
heresies that they themselves have embraced are also then left defenseless
against the very challenges by which their professed faith is met and in some
cases, their faith, and if not their very faith, then that of their children,
is overthrown and except that they be undeceived, there is no hope that they
should ever return to the faith that they hand once professed.
The
Apostle Paul warned that there would be those who would infiltrate the body of
Christ and attempt to, with their false teachings and heresies, destroy from
within what persecution could never destroy from without and that there would
also be those, in pursuit of their own self-serving ambitions, would invent
their own doctrines with which to draw a following after them (Acts 20:29-30) and
we have fallen prey to both and those who adhere to and teach those false
doctrines and heresies that have contradicted, shaken confidence in, and
misrepresented the very scriptures by which the pure and sound doctrine,
teachings, and instructions of the faith are delivered to us have even gone so
far as to align with the unbelieving in the persecution of those who dare to
hold fast to the pure doctrine of the faith, stand against evil, retain their
confidence in the divine inspiration claimed by the scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16),
faithfully preach the soundness of doctrine, contend for and give a defense
thereof, and live in faithful obedience to God Almighty.
How
many of that 65 percent of those professing Christians even know what it is to
be a Christian?
How
many of the 65 percent are actually committed to the soundness of doctrine?
How
many of that 65 percent actually diligently read and study the scriptures for themselves?
How
many of that 65 percent actually live the godly lives that they are admonished
in scripture to?
How
many of that 65 percent actually fear God more than man and value the favor and
honor of God above that of man?
How
many of that 65 percent actually seek to win as many souls to Christ as
possible?
How
many of that 65 percent are prepared to make a defense for the faith that they
profess to hold to when so required?
How
many of that 65 percent are ready to contend for the faith that they profess?
How
many of that 65 percent place their hope in a new and better world to come
rather than in the things of this present world?
How
many of that 65 percent prioritize the things of Heaven above the things of
this present world?
How
many of that 65 percent know all that they should expect in their walk with
Christ (good and bad)?
How
many of that 65 percent place their faith in God to meet all of their needs
rather than in the things of man?
How
many of that 65 look to God for wisdom rather than the things of this world for
wisdom?
How
many of that 65 percent know the nature of the world in which we live and
understand to take nothing for granted?
I
fear not nearly as many as there ought to be for if it were so, then
persecution against Bible-believing Christians should be far more rare in this
nation than it is now and according to Barna Research, most of that 65 percent in
their philosophical and theological leanings and in their priorities is not as
set apart from the world of the lost as they ought to be. In fact, according to Barna Research, ten
percent or less of professing followers of Christ actually hold to a biblical
worldview and are following as closely to Him, are serving Him as faithfully as
they ought to be, fear God more than man and value the honor and favor that
comes from God more than that of man as they should, prioritize the things of
Heaven above those of this present life as they ought to be doing, and place
their hope in the world to come instead of the things of this present world:
• 72% argue that people are basically good
• 71% consider feelings, experience, or the
input of friends and family as their most trusted
sources
of moral guidance
• 66% say that having faith matters more than
which faith you pursue
• 64% say that all religious faiths are of
equal value
• 58% believe that if a person is good enough,
or does enough good things, they can earn their
way
into Heaven
• 58% contend that the Holy Spirit is not a
real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power,
presence,
or purity
• 57% believe in karma
• 52% claim that determining moral truth is up
to each individual; there are no moral absolutes
that
apply to everyone, all the time
Self-identified Christians are also likely to
reject a number of biblical teachings and principles. For
example,
slightly less than half (46%) believe that the marriage of one man to one woman
is God’s plan
for
humanity, across all cultures; just 40% believe that when they die they will go
to Heaven, but only
because
they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior; only
one-third (34%)
believes
that people are born into sin and can only be saved of the consequences by
Jesus Christ; just
one-third
(32%) believes premarital sex is morally unacceptable; and about one out of
every four (28%)
believes
that the best indicator of a successful life is consistent obedience to God.
[4]
That
means 72 percent of professing Christians deny that all people are inherently
sinful.
71
percent of professing Christians reject the Bible as their most trusted source
of moral guidance.
Anywhere
between 64 and 66 percent of professing Christians believe that all religions
are equally valid thus believing that it is not necessary to place their trust
in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.
58
percent of professing Christians trust in their own merit to get them into
Heaven rather than the merit of Jesus Christ.
52
percent of professing Christians deny absolute truth and absolute morality.
54
percent of professing Christians believe that LGBT behavior is morally
acceptable.
Over
60 percent believe that promiscuity is morally acceptable.
That
means a majority of professing Christians not only do not know the Lord as they
claim but are likely joining with anti-Christ forces and powers in the
persecuting of those Christians who do rely on the Bible as their authority in
all matters, who declare, as our Lord Jesus has declared, that there is no
other way into Heaven but by Christ alone, who believe that all people are
inherently sinful and cannot attain salvation by their own fallen merit, and
who believe that God is the source of absolute truth and absolute morality, and
who rely on God for all things.
A
follower of Christ places their faith in Christ alone for their salvation and
not in themselves.
A
follower of Christ knows and understands that Christ is the only way by which
we can enter into Heaven by calling on Him for the forgiveness of sins.
A
follower of Christ looks to scripture alone as their basis for absolute truth
and absolute morality.
A
follower of Christ believes that what God has declared to be evil is evil and
what He has declared to be good is good.
A
follower of Christ does not turn on his or her fellow followers for seeking to
faithfully obey Christ Jesus in all things
But
this sadly does not reflect mindset of many of those who claim to know our Lord
and Savior. Instead, their mindset
reflects the mindset of the unregenerate and unconverted soul and not only that
they are also of a mindset and of a spirit that is even hostile to the things
of God to which they claim to hold and hostile towards those who strive to
faithfully serve, follow, and obey Christ in all things.
How
many judges attend church service on a regular basis and yet issue rulings
against those Christians for following the dictates of their faith and
conscience and which also suppress the proclaiming of the glory of God in the
public square?
How
many teachers and professors claim to call on the name of Christ but teach
things in the classroom that oppose scripture and undermine the faith of their
students and ridicule castigate those who dare stand in defense of biblical
teaching?
How
many public officials and representatives bow their heads in prayer on a Sunday
morning and yet pass and implement policies and legislation that empowers evil
and is hostile to the things of Christ on the week days?
How
many journalists, anchorpersons, and media personalities out there sing the
praises of Christ in the four walls of the church and yet lie about those they
claim to be fellow brothers and sisters with on television during the week?
How
many police officers also claim be Christians but then arrest their fellow
Christians for simply praying outside an abortion clinic or for street
evangelization?
How
many religious leaders who claim to represent Christ cowardly shut down their
congregations during a pandemic with a mortality rate that was not any more
deadly than the flue and maybe even less deadly than that and then criticized
and turned in to anti-Christ authorities those Pastors and leaders within the
Church who courageously kept the doors of the churches open and chose by faith
to obey God in holding regular assemblings of the saints rather than men who
would use a crisis as an excuse to prevent those gathers that scripture
admonishes that we are not to forsake? (Heb. 10:25)
How
many of the 65 percent of those who claim to be Christian are amongst those who
either persecute or aid in the persecution of those who truly are of the Lord? It seems to me that what the Associated Press
and many others fail realize is that just because someone claims to follow
Christ, that does necessarily mean that they are a follower of the Lord.
For
those of us who do know what it is to be a Christian and follow Christ, a
profession of faith is simply not enough as we are admonished by our Lord and
Savior to examine what He calls the fruit of those professors of the faith to
determine whether or not they are really of the faith (Mt. ); that fruit being in the forms of
actions, words, priorities, doctrines and creeds they hold to, and with whom
and what they align themselves with and based upon the statistics of Barna
Research the majority of professing Christians are either lying and not being
honest about what it is they really believe or they do not really know what it
is to be a Christian and if there be those who claim to be Christian but fail
to demonstrate that they know what it is to be a Christian, then it is because
they have not been taught what it is to be a Christian and a follower of Christ
nor have they been admonished as they should have been to take the time to
actually learn what it is to be a follower of Christ and if there be those who
profess to be Christians but are not but instead are lying, it is because there
has been no accountability within the body of Christ as there should be and as
is commanded of us (Mt. 18:15-17, 1 Cor. 5:1-8, 11, 13,
Titus 2:10, 13) and as a consequence, pretenders have infiltrated our ranks
and are bringing corruption, lies, deceit, needless division, treachery, and
sabotage within the body of Christ.
If
65 percent of professing Christians are not what they claim to be and possess a
mindset that is hostile to biblical authority and towards those who abide in
the authority of scripture, then presumably, there is enough among that 65
percent who are enabling, aiding, and joining anti-Christ forces in the
persecution of those followers of Christ who have dedicated themselves to
abiding in the authority of scripture to warrant the creation of a department
that tracks anti-Christian bias within the federal government because if the 65
percent of those who call themselves Christians were the Christians they claim
to be, then the creation of an anti-Christian bias department within the
federal government might not be as necessary as it is now.
But
that Christians can be persecuted even in a nation in which over two-thirds of
the population still claim to follow Christ should only go to show just how
much we have taken for granted the liberties that guard our right and ability
to worship and serve our Creator in accordance to what is purposed in our
hearts and in accordance to the dictates of our conscience and in taking for
granted the freedoms and liberties with which we have been blessed, we have
become complacent and it is our complacency that has worked to the advantage of
the adversary of our faith and of our liberty to infiltrate our ranks and erode
out from among us the very liberties and way of life that we have held dear and
with all subtlety and cleverness first sowing seeds of doubt in the very
principles upon which our nation was built by causing us to doubt our Creator,
His authority, and even His very existence and in doing so, we are made then to
doubt the authority and trustworthiness of the general revelation that He has
given to mankind in His inspired scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16) and this doubt leads
to a rejection of our Creator and with that, His general revelation, the
morals, principles, counsels, and laws that He has set forth are also rejected
and with that, the loss of liberty and freedom as was intended by our Creator
and envisioned by the founders of this nation for in place of God comes
anything that is not God and in place of the things of God come things that are
not of God and in place of the doctrine and creed that He has given comes
another and in the process, society becomes removed from the principles upon
which it was first established and placed upon another foundation that is
different, foreign, and opposite to that foundation upon which it was first
established and in that process comes a growing and intensifying hatred and
hostility towards any and all who persist in holding to that very faith and doctrine
by which redemption and liberty come to all people but the adversaries of the
faith do not just simply cast doubt upon the Gospel with which liberty begins;
they offer something that appears better than the Gospel of salvation and
superior to the principles, laws, and precepts that come from God and they do
not always directly challenge the faith itself, but will, especially within the
ranks of the saints, resort to and rely on a subtle undermining of the faith by
way of sowing confusion about what God has revealed to mankind in His written
word and with that confusion comes the introducing of teachings and doctrines
that present a corrupt and distorted representation of the faith and its
teachings; the purpose of which is to lead professing adherents to the faith
into becoming disenfranchised and disillusioned with the faith by way of
planting in their hearts and minds, through the introduction of heresies and
false doctrines, a distorted, misleading, deceptive, corrupt, and perverted
perception of the faith which causes them to reject the faith because they have
been made to perceive it as something that it is not and it would take volumes
of books to cover all of the cults and sects within Christendom, and all of the
false doctrines and heresies that have been propagated throughout the body of
Christ and have been responsible for creating misleading and false perceptions
of the faith in the minds and hearts of those who, if they were able to see the
faith for what it is, might actually come to repentance and place their trust
in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and thereby be saved from eternal
damnation, and are also responsible for giving enemies of the faith and our
liberty for an excuse to blaspheme the God of creation, of our redemption, and
of our liberty.
On
a personal side, when I was given cause in my early teens to seek out the Lord,
it was the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God to which I first
looked for instruction in the ways of the Lord and for knowledge about the
nature, character, and attributes of the God to whom the existence of all men
and of this universe is owed and it was only by His general revelation that I
received a proper understanding of the faith and able to see it for what it is
and it is by God’s own revelation that I was set upon the path of repentance
and with a full understanding of what was to be expected as a follower of
Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior which is why I do not place my full trust in
any given authority within the church for instruction knowing that even those
of authority and influence can err, be led astray themselves, and even disgrace
themselves; recognizing that they are but vessels whom God raises up for our
edification, guidance, instruction, and insight and whom He establishes to
expound upon His written revelation in order that we might understand what the
account and instruction of His general revelation has to do with us and with
this present day; what significance it holds for us and it is not even to
church history that I look to as an authority for to me, the history of the
Church is but a sad testimony of a gradual departure from that pure uncorrupted
doctrine delivered to us by those whose hands God guided to write down the very
accounts, counsels, teachings, instruction, and admonishments that we find in
the very scriptures in which is contained the general revelation given to God
to all of mankind. That is not to say,
however, that there have not been godly men and women in their own rite in each
generation succeeding that of the Apostolic generation who were determined to
walk in the light and truth of God and desired for all others to do so as well,
but what I am saying is that the only authority that we can place our full
faith and trust in is that which is inerrant, infallible, and inspired which
are those very scriptures inspired of God and the only authorities and figures
of influence within the body of Christ that should be counted worthy of any
trust, honor, and respect, are those who preach in accordance with what is
written in the infallible and inspired Word of God and without adding to nor
diminishing therefrom, nor in contradiction of it but this is sadly not the
case with the majority of those who profess to follow Christ.
But
we are in the midst of a spiritual crisis and not just from without, but also
from within the body of Christ as well and if there is to be an end to the
spiritual and moral crisis within our nation, it first has to begin within the
body of Christ because presently, the vast majority of professing Christians do
not even know what it is to be a Christian,
they
do not diligently read and study the scriptures that will teach them what it is
to be a follower of Christ, what is required of them as a follower of Christ,
and what to expect and be prepared for as a follower of Christ,
they
do not trust in the sufficiency of scripture for their doctrine and instruction
as they should,
they
do not have the confidence they should in its authority and even reject many of
the teachings thereof, counting them as being irrelevant to them or to this
present generation and instead rely on Pastor or an influential figure for
their doctrine which may or may not be in agreement with the sound doctrine of
the scriptures by which the Gospel message is delivered,
their
lives and priorities do not reflect the faith to which they profess to hold,
they
fear men more than they do God,
they
value the favor of people above that of God,
they
place more faith in their own understanding, resources, wealth, power,
strength, abilities, skills, talents, and other people than they do in God who
is the giver of all of these things,
they
place more hope in the things of this present world than in the world to come,
they
are more worldly minded than heavenly minded,
they,
like the unbelieving world, call good and affirm that which God has declared
evil and sinful,
they
adopt to themselves philosophies, ideologies, and doctrines opposed to
scripture and even attempt to harmonize with scripture those things that are
opposed,
their
priorities center more around the things of this life than those of the world
to come,
and
they criticize, ridicule, castigate, and even persecute those who are
determined to walk in the truth of God as revealed in His Word, to faithfully
honor and obey Him in all things, who stand upon the authority of His Word,
live accordingly, and preach accordingly.
In
order for there to be a Great Awakening within our nation, there must first be
a reformation within the body of Christ and a reformation that restores
confidence in the authority of scripture,
drives
out complacency, cowardice, laziness, and the harboring of sin, false
doctrines, and heresies,
instills
in them diligence in service to the Lord and the study of scripture,
vigilance
in the preservation of sound doctrine,
no
longer tolerating sin but holding accountable those members who engage therein
and live therein,
that
causes professing saints to fear God more than man and to value His favor above
that of man,
that
readies them to provide as sound and as reasoned of a defense for the faith
that they profess as they can and to earnestly contend for in as often as it is
necessary,
that
inspires them to boldly and steadfastly stand against the face of evil,
that
leads them to place their faith in God to provide for their needs instead of
the things of this world, to trust Him for wisdom and guidance rather than that
which comes from this world, to prioritize the things of Heaven above earthly
priorities, to place our hope in the new and better world to come that we are
promised.
When
that happens, then we may see the Third Great Awakening for which many have so
longed and so prolong the days of our nation and even restore it to the
greatness that it once had and was meant to have and I know that I have said it
before both on my blog and on social media, but I count it no coincidence that
the acronym of MAGA should stand not only for “Make America Great Again” but
also for “Make America Godly Again”
In
an alleged correspondence between Alexis De Tocqueville, best known for his two
volume work, Democracy In America, and his respective government,
Tocqueville stated:
I
went at your bidding, and passed along their thoroughfares of trade. I ascended
their mountains and went down their valleys. I visited their manufactories,
their commercial markets, and emporiums of trade. I entered their judicial
courts and legislative halls. But I sought everywhere in vain for the secret of
their success, until I entered the church. It was there, as I listened to the
soul-equalizing and soul-elevating principles of the Gospel of Christ, as they
fell from Sabbath to Sabbath upon the masses of the people, that I learned why
America was great and free, and why France was a slave. [5]
And
in the first volume of his famous work, he also stated:
Religion
perceives that civil liberty affords a noble exercise to the faculties of man,
and that the
political
world is a field prepared by the Creator for the efforts of the intelligence.
Contented
with the freedom and the power which it enjoys in its own sphere, and with the
place which it occupies, the empire of religion is never more surely
established than when it reigns in the hearts of men unsupported by aught
beside its native strength.
Religion
is no less the companion of liberty in all its battles and its triumphs; the
cradle of its in
fancy,
and the divine source of its claims. The safeguard of morality is religion, and
morality is the best security of law, and the surest pledge of freedom. [6]
The
founders knew and understood very well that the source of liberty was not one
of a political nature but of a spiritual nature as is pointed in the opening
statements of our Declaration of Independence [7] and the spiritual
foundation of liberty has been under attack not just in our day, but it fell
under attack shortly after the establishment of this nation when the
philosophies of deism and atheism began to infiltrate the ranks of the Church
and academia; subtly undermining it within the ranks of professing saints
within the four walls of the churches and challenging it within the halls of
academia but understanding just how vital a spiritual and moral foundation was
to the stability of society and the preservation of liberty, there was a
zealous defense of that foundation and not just by devout Christians, but even
by those who were may not have been Christians themselves, but saw nonetheless
the benefits of adherence to its moral teachings.
It
was in response to the threat of atheism that John Adams had implemented the Aliens
and Sedition Act [8] but which was
never enforced to the extent that Adams had intended for it to be and was
allowed to expire after he had lost his bid for a second term to Thomas
Jefferson.
John
Adams also delivered, in defense of the Christian faith, a scathing rebuke to
Thomas Paine’s Age Of Reason, [9] in which Paine denied the existence of a
God actively involved in the affairs of men:
The
Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed
in
ancient
or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity, and humanity, let the
blackguard
[rogue, scoundrel] Paine say what he will; it is resignation to God, it is
goodness itself to man. [10]
(Definition
of blackguard added)
Out
of all the philosophies, religions, and doctrines that John Adams hated, it was
the deism of Paine and the atheism of Voltaire that he had hated the most as
expressed in a correspondence between him and Benjamin Rush:
There
is so much King Craft, Priest Craft, Gentlemens Craft, Peoples Craft, Doctors
Craft, Lawyers Craft, Merchants Craft, Tradesmens Craft, Labourers Craft and
Devils Craft in the world, that it seems a desperate and impracticable Project
to undeceive it.
Do
you wonder that Voltaire and Paine have made Proselytes? Yet there was as much
subtlety, Craft and Hypocrisy in Voltaire and Paine and more too than in
Ignatius Loyola. [11]
(Ignatius
Loyola being a founder of the Jesuit order which has worked in cooperation with
Rome against the Protestant reformation but at other times has acted as a rogue
faction and been at odds with Rome)
Benjamin
Rush, for his part, wrote a defense for the reading of scripture in the
schools, and blamed efforts for the reading of scripture in the schools to
cease on deist infiltrators within the Church:
The
present fashionable practice of rejecting the Bible from our schools, I suspect
has originated with the deists. They discover great ingenuity in this new mode
of attacking Christianity…
I
am not writing to this class of people. I despair of changing the opinions of
any of them. I wish only to alter the opinions and conduct of those lukewarm,
or superstitious Christians, who have been misled by the deists upon this
subject. On the ground of the good old custom, of using the Bible as a
schoolbook, it becomes us to entrench our religion. It is the last bulwark the
deists have left it; for they have rendered instruction in the principles of
Christianity by the pulpit and the press, so unfashionable, that little good
for many years seems to have been done by either of them. [12]
The
infiltration and sway of not just deism, but also atheism, had become pervasive
enough to give cause to Timothy Dwight, then president of Yale University, to
write and preach in response to this spiritual assault a sermon entitled A
Discourse On The Genuineness And Authenticity Of The New Testament [13] and The Duty of
Americans At The Present Crisis, in which the threat of atheism was
addressed:
About
the year 1728, Voltaire, so celebrated for his wit and brilliancy and not less
distinguished for his hatred of Christianity and his abandonment of principle,
formed a systematical design to destroy Christianity and to introduce in its
stead a general diffusion of irreligion and atheism.
For this purpose he associated with himself
Frederick the II, king of Prussia, and Mess. D'Alembert and Diderot, the
principal compilers of the Encyclopedie, all men of talents, atheists, and in
the like manner abandoned.
The principle parts of this system were:
1. The compilation of the Encyclopedie: in
which with great art and insidiousness the doctrines of natural as well as
Christian theology were rendered absurd and ridiculous; and the mind of the
reader was insensibly steeled against conviction and duty.
2. The overthrow of the religious orders in
Catholic countries, a step essentially necessary to the destruction of the
religion professed in those countries.
3. The establishment of a sect of
philosophists to serve, it is presumed as a conclave, a rallying point, for all
their followers.
4. The appropriation to themselves, and
their disciples, of the places and honors of members of the French Academy, the
most respectable literary society in France, and always considered as
containing none but men of prime learning and talents. In this way they
designed to hold out themselves and their friends as the only persons of great
literary and intellectual distinction in that country, and to dictate all
literary opinions to the nation.
5. The fabrication of books of all kinds
against Christianity, especially such as excite doubt and generate contempt and
derision. Of these they issued by themselves and their friends who early became
numerous, an immense number; so printed as to be purchased for little or
nothing, and so written as to catch the feelings, and steal upon the
approbation, of every class of men.
6. The formation of a secret Academy, of
which Voltaire was the standing president, and in which book were formed,
altered, forged, imputed as posthumous to deceased writers of reputation, and
sent abroad with the weight of their names.
These were printed and circulated at the
lowest price through all classes of men in an uninterrupted succession, and
through every part of the kingdom
Nor
were the labours of this Academy confined to religion— They attacked also
morality and government, unhinged gradually the minds of men, and destroyed
their reverence for everything heretofore esteemed sacred. [14]
In
an introduction to a work called Theology Explained And Defended
In
A Series Of Sermons,
which Dwight had compiled but was published after his death by close associates
of his, Dwight was credited for vanquishing all arguments in favor of atheism
and against Christianity and for the beginning of a series of revivals at Yale
which may have been very instrumental in bringing about the Second Great Awakening
that carried on for at least the first half of the 19th century:
Owing
to a variety of causes which it is not necessary to enumerate, the state of
Yale College at the time of his accession to the office of President, was in
many respects unhappy. Destitute in a great degree of public or private
patronage, its numbers were reduced, its discipline was relaxed, a looseness of
moral and religious sentiment had become fashionable, and its reputation had
been for some time on the decline through the community. One of the greatest
evils under which it suffered, was an extensive prevalence of Infidelity, among
the students. This pernicious spirit had been derived from the circumstances of
the country at the close of the preceding war. As was natural, it found easy
access to the minds of a collection of youths, who were fascinated with ideas
of mental as well as political independence, and who were easily induced to
shake off what considered the shackles of habit and superstition. The degree to
which it prevailed may be conjectured from the following fact.
A
considerable proportion of the class which he first taught had assumed the
names of the principal English and French Infidels; and were more familiarly
known by them than by their own. Under circumstances like these, he entered
upon the duties of
his
office as President of Yale College. The
talents which he possessed for the instruction and government of youth were now
called into full exercise. A thorough reformation in the system of discipline
was early commenced, and accomplished with as much expedition as the nature of
the
case
would admit. Infidelity was assailed by argument and vanquished; and vice was
disgraced, and in a great measure banished from the College…
Until
this time, through a mistaken policy, the students had not been allowed to
discuss any question which involved the Inspiration of the Scriptures; from an
apprehension that the examination of these points would expose them to the
contagion of skepticism, as infidelity was extensively prevalent in the State and
in the Country; the effect of this course on the minds of the students had been
unhappy. It had led them to believe that their instructors were afraid to meet
the question fairly; and that Christianity was supported by authority and not
by argument.
One
of the questions presented by the first division was this; "Are, the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament the Word of God?'' To their surprise,
the President selected it for discussion; told them to write on which side they
pleased, as he should not impute to them any sentiments which they advanced as
their own; and requested those who should write on the negative side
of
the question to collect and bring forward all the facts and arguments which
they could produce: enjoining it upon them, however, to treat the subject with
becoming respect and reverence.
Most
if not all of the members of the division came forward as the champions of
infidelity. When they had finished the discussion, he first examined the ground
they had taken; triumphantly refuted their arguments; proved to them that their
statement of facts was mistaken or irrelevant; and to their astonishment
convinced them that their acquaintance with the subject was wholly superficial.
After this he entered into a direct defence of the divine origin of
Christianity in a strain of powerful argument and animated eloquence which
nothing could resist. The effect upon the students was electrical. From that
moment Infidelity was not only without a strong hold , but without a lurking
place. To espouse her cause, was now as unpopular, as before it had been to
profess a belief in Christianity. Unable to endure the exposure of argument,
she fled from the retreats of learning ashamed and disgraced. [15]
But
roughly half a century later, another assault upon the Christian faith took
place, arising out of England in the form of a book called On The Origin Of
The Species, [16] written by
Charles Darwin and by the early half of the twentieth century, his theories regarding
the origin and development of life had virtually consumed all of Europe, had
taken America by storm, and eventually became a dominant creed and belief
throughout most of the world. It
confounded the Church, caused many to distrust the scriptures, overthrew the
faith of many, and has blinded many who might otherwise come to Christ in
sincere repentance to the truth of Gospel message as Darwin’s theories, which are
known today as Darwinism or the theory of evolution, were presented as
scientific and rational whereas the biblical account of origins was counted as
irrational and foolish; the theory of evolution was quickly and widely accepted
by most of the scientific community and conquered virtually all of academia and
thus provided justification for rejecting the call to repentance as it provided
justification for denying the existence of a God who calls all men to repent of
their sins, for if there is no God by whom all things are made, then there is
nothing from which we need to be redeemed and therefore nothing to repent and
turn away from as there is no Creator to whom we must give an account;
everything owes its existence to nothing more than the random processes of time
and chance that are unable to think, plan, or guide as they are unable to produce
a single thought and if everything is a product of time and chance then the concepts
of truth and morality also become meaningless and might as well not even exist;
every person being a law unto themselves and doing only that which serves and
benefits them best even to the detriment and harm of his fellowperson and those
same propagators of this theory of evolution which has been used, and sadly to
great effect, to deny the existence of God Almighty are the same ones who succeeded
in convincing the Supreme Court in 1963 to ban both prayer and scripture
reading in the public school system [17] and have, from that point on, waged an
unrelenting judicial war against open expressions of faith in the realm of the
public square.
The
most effective counter-attack against Darwinism was the rise of the modern
young earth creation movement and intelligent design movement whose defense of
the biblical account of creation through the presentation of evidences in
support of the account and against evolution which has no doubt challenged
conventional thinking, changed many minds, and many lives both within the Church
and without but by the time the creation movement had been well underway,
anti-Christ forces had already been well entrenched in our institutions and
therefore suppressed any efforts to introduce intelligent design and young
earth creationism in academia, ridiculed and attacked the integrity and
character of proponents of creationism no matter their credentials or whether
they were credentialed and even so much as suggesting the Genesis account of
creation as being history has costed professors, scientists, and even journalists
their jobs and careers but sadly, the creationist movement has not faced
resistance from just the unbelieving world, but it has also faced resistance
from within the body of Christ as well from those who, despite their profession
of faith, have been deceived into taking for truth the lie of Darwinism and
made to think that the biblical account of creation can be harmonized with the
pseudo-science of evolution when in truth the two accounts of origins are
opposed to one another and can never be harmonized despite the attempts of many
professing Christians, clergy, seminarians, and figures of influence to do so
and when faced with the challenging questions and arguments, their answers are
not nearly as satisfying as the answers given by those who are able to give a
sound defense for the biblical account of creation and the authority of
scripture.
Atheists
and Darwinists are not at all persuaded to faith through any attempts to
harmonize Darwinism with the biblical account of creation as it only serves to
play into their very hands as they view those professors of the faith who think
they can harmonize Darwinism with the biblical account of creation as “useful
idiots” as their ultimate goal is not a compromise but a complete overthrow of
the Christian faith by wiping out all trust in the Bible by which the Gospel
message is delivered as admitted by atheist G. Richard Bozarth:
Without
Adam, without the original sin, Jesus Christ is reduced to a man with a mission
on the wrong planet. Death becomes not a divine punishment we require salvation
from, but only a natural occurrence as much a part of the normalcy of life as
birth. Sin becomes not an ugly fate due to one man's disobedience that we need
to be bloodily redeemed of, but only the struggle of instincts learned during
millions of years of savagery, trying to adapt to this 10,000 year old infant
we call civilization.
Christianity
has fought, still fights, and will fight science to the desperate end over
evolution, because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason
Jesus’ earthly life was supposedly made necessary. Destroy Adam and Eve and the
original sin, and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the son of
god. Take away the meaning of his death. If Jesus was not the redeemer that
died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is
nothing.
Christianity,
if it is to survive, must have Adam and the original sin and the fall from
grace, or it cannot have Jesus the redeemer who restores to those who believe
what Adam's disobedience took away.
What
this all means is that Christianity cannot lose the
Genesis
account of creation. [18]
The
very same people who would have us believe that we are nothing but products of
time and chance which evolved from simple celled-organism that somehow, by means
that even they cannot explain, came into existence, and who have persuaded
multitudes that the Bible is nothing more than an irrelevant book of fairytales
are also the same people who claim that there are more than two genders, who
see no more value in the life of a baby than they do an insect and as a
consequence have demanded the legalization of the elimination of countless unborn
children and not only unborn children but anyone they deem to be a burden on
society for that matter which includes the elderly and disabled.
They
are also the same people who insist that there are more than two genders, that
a man can become a woman or that a woman can become a man,
who
affirm the delusions of children and lure them into doing regrettable and irreversible
damage to their bodies,
who
purport to support women’s health decisions when it comes to reproduction but coerce
them into submitting themselves to potentially hazardous vaccines while denying
them treatments and remedies that might actually take away their sicknesses and
diseases,
dictate
to them what they can and cannot eat,
demand
that they share their locker rooms, shower rooms, restrooms, and prisons, with
men claiming to be women but who may be sexual predators,
who
are trying to take away any all means for them to defend themselves, those they
hold dear, and their fellowpersons from any who would do them harm,
who
threaten them with civic punishment and even imprisonment if they dare defend
themselves against a rapist or an abusive spouse or partner by whatever means
and level of force they deem necessary to eliminate any and all threats to
themselves and the people around them,
who
demand that they affirm things with which they may otherwise disagree,
who
demand that they violate the very dictates of their respective faith and
conscience,
who
impose excessive taxations upon them,
who
seek to regulate any businesses they try to run and operate out of business,
and
who demand the silencing and censorship of any them who dare dissent from the
favored, conventional, and official narratives, and to be clear, it is not just
the rights of and liberties of women that they trample on and rob and
financially oppress, but they also do the same to men as well and to all people
irrespective of lineage, ethnicity, skin-color, age, social or economic status,
or even religion, and they are also the same people who demand open borders and
oppose the deportations of those migrants who have no respect for our laws, culture,
customs, or religion, who have weakened our national defense, and who are
spending our nation into oblivion.
What
has the removal of theistic faith from the public square resulted in?
A
dramatic rise in sexual promiscuity and perversion,
An
increase in crime, including violent crime,
A
rise in the use of illicit drugs and alcohol abuse,
An
increase in broken homes,
A
rise in divorce rates,
An
increase in hopelessness and despair,
An
increase in suicides and especially amongst the youth and college-aged persons,
An
increasing frequency in school shootings,
An
increase in poverty,
More
hatred and less love because people do not know what love really is or what it
is to love or be loved,
An
increasing assault upon our God-given liberties and an increasing poisoning against
and hostility towards the things of the Lord.
That
is what the war against theistic faith, and Christianity in particular, has
resulted in and yet any attempt to address the resultant evils in our society
that we face today apart from a return to the Christian faith has either failed
miserably, exacerbated the evil, or has provided a remedy worse than the
disease itself based on the false promise that freedom apart from God is better
than submission and service to God with whom liberty begins and has made the
Creator in whom there is no corruption nor evil out to be an oppressor when in truth
that false promise of freedom leads to an unanticipated oppression as has been
the case since the first days of man.
When
God had created the heavens and the earth, and before evil had entered into it,
He had created it to be a place of life, light, happiness, and contentment and
in that day there existed a perfect harmony between God, man, and nature until
the day that evil entered into that perfect uncorrupted and pristine creation
and this evil came as an angel of light who had once served at the throne of
God as a covering cherub until he had become so consumed and lifted up in pride
that he thought to make himself equal with God and share in glory that belonged
to God alone and as a consequence, he and all who sided with him against God
were cast from their positions in Heaven (Is. 14:11-21, Ezek. 28:12-19) and afterwards,
took the war against Heaven to the newly created earth and it was at this point
that this angel who was called Lucifer and who had served as that covering cherub
at the throne of God became known and better known as Satan or the Devil and it
is he who crept into the newly created world in the form of a serpent and there
he tempted and caused mankind to commit a fateful act that would change the
entire world and not for the better but for the worse and that act that he
caused them to commit was the eating of a fruit from a certain tree called the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil but before Satan had entered into the
world, man was given dominion of all of creation (Gen. 1:26) and there was
nothing withheld from him except one thing and that was the fruit from the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, having been warned of God that in the day
that they ate of it, they would surely die (Gen. 2:16-17, 3:3) but through the
false assurance that they would not surely die as they had been warned and the
false promises of attaining to greater heights if they would only eat of that
forbidden fruit, (Gen. 3:4-5) Satan cause the first man Adam and his wife Eve
being the first woman to eat of that very fruit that they were told not to eat
from (Gen. 3:6) but instead of receiving the wisdom that they were told that
they would receive from the eating of that fruit, they only became enlightened
to the shame of their nakedness (v. 7) for it was in the moment that they ate
of that forbidden fruit that sin had entered into both of them and changed them
from the inside out, but the more serious change that took place within them
was that of their inward person having once been pure would now be corrupted by
the sin that entered into them by way of eating that very fruit that they had
been told not to eat from and as a consequence, the sentence of death was
pronounced upon them as they had been warned (Gen. 3:19) and to which they
eventually succumbed but the sentence of death did not end with them as the
sentence of death was also passed down from them to all of mankind because we
are all descended from them and by way of descent, we have inherited from Adam
and Eve the sin that entered into them; sin not being merely confined to our
actions or even what we say, but defined as the corrupted condition of our
nature that we inherited from Adam and Eve (Rom. 5:12) into whom it first
entered and it is a condition that does not just influence what we say and do
but also defiles our thoughts, corrupts our motives, and darkens our hearts
which is why it is written that we are not defiled by the things from without,
but by what is from within (Mt. 15:11, 17-20) and it is that from within that
causes us to sin and as a consequence, we are subjugated to death. (Rom. 6:23)
That
which was intended to be immortal and live forever was now by way of sin made
mortal and subject to death and not only that but the dominion over the earth
(Gen. 1:26) that was initially given to man over the entire earth was
diminished because that act of disobedience then gave Satan justification to
claim lordship over the nations, peoples, and kingdoms of the world (Mt. 4:8-9,
Lk. 4:6-7) which is why he is called the prince of this world (Jn. 12:31,
16:11) and not only did the disobedience of Adam and Eve bring death upon them
and all of mankind and give Satan justification to claim lordship over the
nations and kingdoms of the earth, creation itself was also subject to the curse
of sin which is why it is written that the entire creation groans and travails
in pain to this day (Rom. 8:19-22) and it is because of sin and through sin
that every kind, level, and degree of suffering, misery, pain, sorrow, grief, anguish,
evil, adversity, and hardship abound in this world.
Sin
taints, corrupts, perverts, and destroys more than we can comprehend and is what
estranges us from the Creator with whom we would otherwise be in perfect
harmony with and experience a perfect and uninterrupted fellowship with and due
to its pervasiveness, no one who is in sin can enter into the Kingdom of God in
which there is no sin, but will instead be shut out lest Heaven should become
as defiled and ruined as the earth itself and yet God is not willing that anyone
should perish and be eternally damned but desires that all come to repentance
(2 Pet. 3:9) for He is a God of infinite love and mercy who takes no pleasure
in punishment or destruction, but desires only to share his goodness and in His
love, He desires to show us mercy and grace, not judgment, wrath, and
punishment which is why in His love and mercy He has provided redemption for us
not by way of our own merit which falls short of perfection, but on the merit
of one who is sinless (2 Cor. 5:21, Heb. 4:15) as He Himself is sinless and
that is Jesus Christ our Lord who has been with God always and is Himself God
(Jn. 1:1) having entered into the world as a man (Jn. 1:14) to take upon
Himself the demanded penalty for all sin which He did through His death upon
the cross on which He was crucified thereby purchasing redemption in His death
through the shedding of His blood and after having died for our sins was raised
again from the dead so that we by our faith in Him will be justified in Him
(Rom. 4:25) if we will but call upon His name so that we might be saved from
what would otherwise be a terrifying everlasting punishment if we will but call
upon His name (Rom. 10:9, 13) and believe in our hearts that God raised Him
from the dead (Rom. 10:9) for it is by calling upon His name in sincere
repentance that salvation is granted and our souls made clean from sin thereby
liberating us from the threat of eternal damnation and with that cleansing
comes a new spiritual transformation (2 Cor. 5:17) that causes us to no longer
desire to follow after selfish and worldly pursuits but after those things that
pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven,
to
no longer take pleasure in those things that are evil and displeasing in the
sight of the Lord, but in that which is good, right, and pleasing in His sight,
to
no longer desire to walk in the lies of this present world, but only in the
truth that comes from Christ Almighty, (Jn. 14:6) no longer placing our hopes
in the things of this present world, but looking forward to that new and better
world to come, (Rev. 21-22)
to
no longer rely on worldly resources, men, or even our own power, abilities,
skills, and wisdom for our needs and provision but upon God who is able to meet
all of our needs, (Mt. 6:33) recognizing that the resources of this world and
even the people He brings into our lives are but instruments and vessels
through which God meets our needs and that the skills, power, knowledge, and
wisdom by which we might acquire our provision are provided and instilled in us
by God,
to
no longer fear what men can do to us, but rather fearing the God before whom we
will have to one day give an account for how we lived our lives, (Mt. 10:28)
to
no longer look to corruptible institutions within our society for direction and
order in our lives but to God who, by His written Word has given us laws and
precepts to be applied to our lives and which serve to produce and maintain an
ordered life, and who, by His Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within us upon
repentance, establishes in our lives a course and direction in our lives to
pursue for His glory,
to
no longer seek our own glory but the glory of God,
to
no longer rally behind corruptible men, but instead behind the incorruptible
God in Heaven bearing in mind that those men and women God raises up for our
edification are but instruments and servants of His for that respective purpose
to which He has called them,
to
no longer seek to align ourselves with the things of darkness but only with the
things of the light,
to
no longer trust in the wisdom of the world but only on the wisdom and knowledge
that comes from above, (Jas. 1:5) nor depend on corruptible earthly authorities
to swiftly administer justice, but only in the power of God to deliver us from
evil.
And
it is this new inward transformation that reconciles us to our Creator (2 Cor.
5:18) from whom we had once been estranged and just as our souls are cleansed
from sin and our spirits regenerated in Christ Jesus thereby liberating us from
the eternal tormenting punishment that must come upon all who remain in their
sins and it is this very change, if received by enough people, that potentially
can bring about a change for the better in entire households in the manner of
how they are run and maintained, and from there, the nature and condition of
entire neighborhoods, communities, states/provinces, and entire nations, which
then will have an impact and an affect upon the course of the culture and
society; how education is taught, how businesses and corporations are operated,
how news is reported, the quality and nature of entertainment that is produced,
and finally how politics and civic governance are conducted.
Tyranny
began with a lie and the lie it began with was that lie that offered something
better apart from God who is the source of our liberty but instead subjugated
Adam and Eve who believed the lie to a tyranny and oppression that they had
never known before: The tyranny of sin and death and not only they themselves,
but all of mankind as well because the sin that entered into them and corrupted
them was also passed down to us, causing everyone born into this world to be
subject to that same tyranny but not only has mankind been subjugated by that
tyranny, but all of creation as well; subjugated to the tyranny of evil, death,
decay, and all kinds of grief, sorrow, misery, and suffering because behind the
scenes, the world that man was initially set to rule over has been placed under
the dominion of Satan who is the source of all tyranny and who fights and
continues to fight to hold on to his power by any and all means necessary and
he does this by doing all he can to suppress the very thing from which freedom
must begin and that is truth (Jn. 8:32) and the truth with which freedom begins
is spiritual which redeems the soul from judgment and reforms the inward person
and if embraced by enough people, has the power to change entire households,
neighborhoods, communities, states, provinces, and nations from places and
vessels of darkness to sanctuaries and vessels of light so it should no small
wonder to those desiring to share their faith in Christ Jesus that Satan should
stand in opposition to this effort through lies, deceits, perversions and
misrepresentations of the faith, infiltrating the ranks of the saints and
spreading heresies and false doctrines amongst them, causing needless
dissention and discord amongst saints who might otherwise be united, leading
them into sin and causing them to disgrace themselves in the sight of the
entire world and thereby destroying the credibility of their testimony, and he
will try to intimidate they who might otherwise boldly preach the Gospel
message into silence and when he cannot deceive them with false doctrine, lead
them into sin, nor intimidate them into silence, he will then bring varying
degrees of persecution against them ranging from mere ridicule and social
ostracization to violence and even death in his relentless attempts to keep the
souls who might otherwise be won over to our Lord blind to His truth and
anything that might lead them to that truth by hiding, suppressing, and even
destroying any evidences that might open the eyes of the lost to the truth of
the Gospel message by which their souls may be saved from damnation and which
upon reception, brings a spiritual transformation to the recipients thereof.
Is
it then any wonder that the Islamists demand the death of those who dare preach
the Gospel in Muslim dominated nations and of those who dare to turn from Islam
to Christianity?
Or
that Christians in India should suffer violence at the hands of radical Hindus?
Should
it be any surprise that Christianity should find itself either severely
restricted or even repressed in Communist nations?
And
should it then come to any surprise that Christians should find themselves
persecuted even in nation in which the Word of God ought to be given free
course?
It
is also for this very reason that the Church, when it was first established,
faced harassment and persecution from the unbelieving Jews, and then from time
to time the Romans, and why the reformers were declared heretics by the Papacy.
Knowing
then that it should be expected of Satan to bring against the Church any and
all manner of persecution when all else should fail, it should then be no
surprise that he would also seek to remove any and all safeguards that would
enable the Word of God to be preached freely without civic reprisal and that
includes precious liberties that our own Constitution was designed to uphold
and defend liberties such as the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the
right to peaceable assembly, and the free exercise of religion, or that there
would be such relentless efforts to eliminate all Christian influence from
places of learning for the Gospel of salvation that sets free is a threat to
Satan’s power and influence on the earth and that spirit of tyranny does not
nor will not relinquish power so easily, neither can he be expected to and he
would rather that we place our faith in anything else but the God who is the
author and establisher of our liberty in order to keep us in spiritual darkness
and estranged from our Creator, for it is Satan’s aim to destroy as many lives
and souls as he can in his relentless war against God and because Satan seeks
to keep as many souls captive as he possibly can, he is ever at work at the
hearts and minds of his own servants and vessels to oppose all efforts to
persuade as many as possible to embrace that very truth that sets free and what
is that truth that sets free?
The
truth that though we are all born into sin which estranges us from God and
renders us condemned before Him, there is redemption from that condemnation
provided in Christ Jesus who gave Himself as an offering for that demanded
penalty required for all sin through the shedding of His blood upon the cross
on which He was crucified and then after having paid the penalty for all sin,
was raised again from the dead for our justification so that anyone believing
in Him will not perish but have everlasting life and when people place their
faith and trust in Christ Jesus, they cannot not help but share the freedom and
redemption that they have received in Jesus with others because in Christ, they
have eternal peace, a newfound sense of purpose and meaning in life, and a
desire to do that which is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord and in
doing so, they are no longer a vessel of darkness but a servant of light and in
doing so, they make the world a little less dark but the liberty that Christ
offers us will not stop with just the spiritual for it is a liberty that is
meant to go beyond the spiritual, for just as we are spiritually redeemed in
Christ through the forgiveness of sins, so one day we will also experience a
bodily redemption by which we will also be liberated from the death of our
bodies when our present forms which were born inherently corrupt and sinful are
changed into that which is incorruptible and sinless (1 Cor. 15:51-55, 1 Thess.
4:13-18) and lastly, creation itself will be liberated when Satan is cast out
of this world and is given his final sentence when he and all who have followed
him are cast into everlasting perdition in which there is nothing to look
forward to but everlasting torment and eternal separation from God Almighty,
(Rev. 20:1-3, 10-15) and from the curse that came upon it because of sin when
it is made anew and when it is made anew, there will be no sin, no death, no
decay, no evil, and no suffering of any sort, but it will be a place in which
there will dwell only peace, joy, and happiness before the Lord God Almighty.
(Rev. 21-22)
If
you have not done so already and wish to know what it is to be inwardly free,
then I urge you today reader to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus for the
forgiveness of sins because repentance is where that inward liberty begins and
it must begin inwardly and from there must be shared with others before we can
ever see its effects. It is but a simple
sincere prayer of repentance away:
"Lord
Jesus I need you.
I
realize that I am a sinner
who
has fallen short of the glory of God
and
that my goodness falls short
of
your standard of Moral perfection.
Please
forgive me of all of my sins.
Come
into my heart and into my life
to
be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make
me into the servant and follower
that
you want me to be.
In
your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
Amen."
Know
that God is not concerned with the words that you use to call upon Him
forgiveness, but with the attitude of your heart and if you have, with all
sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive you of your sins, placing your trust in
Him only for your salvation and in nothing else, then your sins are forgiven
and your place in Heaven is certain.
End
notes:
1. Peter Smith, “Given Christianity’s dominance
in US, Trump raises eyebrows with anti-Christian bias initiative,” Associated
Press, February 13, 2025
https://apnews.com/article/eradicating-anti-christian-bias-trump-religious-freedom-c4a01b2d75b471e7329f84a6e662c934
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Dr. George Barna, “Release #6: What Does It
Mean When People Say They Are “Christian”?,
Arizona
Christian University, August 31, 2021
https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CRC_AWVI2021_Release06_Digital_01_20210831.pdf
5. Madison Clinton Peters, “Empty Pews &
Selections from Other Sermons on Timely Topics,” pg. 35, Philadelphia A. T.
Zeising & Co. , Printers And Publishers, December, 1886
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Empty_Pews_Selections_from_Other_Sermons/f54PAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
6. Alexis De Tocqueville, “Democracy In America
Volume I,” pp. 45-46, Translated by Henry Reeve, Esq., Saunders & Oatley,
London, 1835
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Democracy_in_America/-b5LAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
7. The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
8. Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
[The
claim made by the National Archives that the Alien and Sedition Acts were
directed against the Anti-Federalist Democratic Republican Party is misleading
as the Alien and Sedition Acts were never directed towards any particular party
but done for the purpose of countering any attempts of French Revolutionary
agents and their supporters from overthrowing the Constitutional government of
the United States but sadly, however, the “Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes
Against the United States,” was in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.]
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/alien-and-sedition-acts
9. Thomas Paine, “Age Of Reason,” , G.P.
Putnam’s Sons, New York and London; the Knickerbocker Press, 1896; originally
published and printed by Barrois in 1794
https://dn790005.ca.archive.org/0/items/agereasonbeinga00conwgoog/agereasonbeinga00conwgoog.pdf
10. John Adams; edit by Charles Francis Adams,
“The
Works Of John Adams Vol. III,” pg. 317, Boston: Charles C. Little and James
Brown, 1851
https://oll-resources.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/oll3/store/titles/2101/Adams_1431-03_EBk_v6.0.pdf
11.
John Adams, “John Adams Letter To
Benjamin Rush,” December 21, 1809
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-5485
12. Benjamin Rush, “A Defense of the Use of the
Bible as a Schoolbook: A Letter to Reverend Jeremy Belknap, of Boston,”
Philadelphia, March 10, 1791
https://americanreformer.org/2024/01/a-defense-of-the-use-of-the-bible-as-a-schoolbook/
13. Timothy Dwight, “A Discourse On The
Genuineness And Authenticity Of The New Testament,” Delivered at New Have,
September 10, 1793; printed by George Bunce & Co., New York
https://dn720400.ca.archive.org/0/items/bim_eighteenth-century_a-discourse-on-the-genu_dwight-timothy_1794/bim_eighteenth-century_a-discourse-on-the-genu_dwight-timothy_1794.pdf
14. Timothy Dwight, “The Duty of Americans At The
Present Crisis,” pp. 10-11, Preached
on the Fourth of July, 1798 at the request of the citizens of New Haven;
printed by Thomas and Samuel Greene
https://ia601402.us.archive.org/22/items/bim_eighteenth-century_the-duty-of-americans-a_dwight-timothy_1798/bim_eighteenth-century_the-duty-of-americans-a_dwight-timothy_1798.pdf
15. Timothy Dwight, “Theology Explained And Defended
In A
Series
Of Sermons Volume I,” pp. xxv xxvii, xxix; printed by Clark and Lyman, Middletown,
Connecticut, 1818
https://ia800209.us.archive.org/24/items/theologyexplaines01dwig/theologyexplaines01dwig.pdf
16. Charles Darwin, “On The Origin Of The
Species,” London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1859
https://books.google.nl/books?id=cAtfAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:cTzITBGxXssC&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
17.
Abington School District .v. Schempp,
United States Supreme Court, June 17, 1963
[The
case brought forth by Madalyn Murray O’Hare in and of itself did not make it to
the Supreme Court, but her case was combined with that of Schempp]
https://casetext.com/case/school-district-of-abington-township-pennsylvania-v-schempp-murray-iii-v-curlett
18. G. Richard Bozarth, “The Meaning of
Evolution,” pg. 30, American Atheist Magazine, February, 1978
[Bozarth’s
column begins on pg. 19 of the issue, stops, and then concludes on page 30]
https://www.scribd.com/document/252622816/American-Atheist-Magazine-Feb-1978#
Scripture
references:
1. Matthew 10:28
2. John 12:43
3. Romans 12:1
4. Acts 17:11
5. Acts 20:29-30
6. 2 Timothy 3:16
7. Hebrews 10:25
8. Matthew 18:15-17, 1 Corinthians
5:1-8, 11, 13, Titus 2:10, 13
9. Isaiah 14:11-21, Ezekiel 28:12-19
10. Genesis 1:26
11. Genesis 2:16-17, 3:3
12. Genesis 3:4-5
13. Genesis 3:6
14. Genesis 3:7
15. Genesis 3:19
16. Romans 5:12
17. Matthew 15:11, 17-20
18. Romans 6:23
19. Matthew 4:8-9, Luke 4:6-7
20. John 12:31, 16:11
21. Romans 8:19-22
22. 2 Peter 3:9
23. Corinthians
5:21
24. Hebrews 4:15
25. John 1:1
26. John 1:14
27.
Romans 4:25
28.
Romans 10:9, 13
29.
2 Corinthians 5:17
30. Matthew 6:33
31. John 14:6
32. Revelation 21-22
33. Matthew 6:25-33
34. James 1:5
35. 2 Corinthians 5:18
36. John 8:32
37. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55
38. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
39. Revelation 20:10-15
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