As we covered in our message last week, one of the crucial issues with both Israel and the church in these times is for them both to understand their purpose. This is a major, in-depth study which we will do in the coming year. However, there is one issue that relates to both Israel and the church, which are crucial for us to understand now. That is the issue of borders.
Both Israel and the church are in conflict with their neighbors over the placement of their borders. With Israel this is physical; with the church it is more spiritual and in some cases, political (i.e., the authority that the church has to deal with cultural or political issues). Just as Israel is pressed on every side to give up more land, so the church is being pressed on every side to give up more of its influence in society.
Both Israel and the church have compromised and given pieces of their territory to appease their enemies. This has never worked, and it is not working in these cases either. The more that has been given up, the more that has been demanded.
The loss was not just territory with Israel or influence with the church, but it was also a loss of resolve, focus, and purpose with their own people as well. Such compromising will always embolden an uncompromising enemy, and weaken our own support and resolve within. Both Israel and the church must wake up to the fact that such compromising and giving away what is rightly ours, is the road to defeat and ultimately, destruction.
Presently, in classrooms across America, almost any form of profanity is used, almost any form of sexual act is talked about—even the worse perversions, openly and freely, and students are not even being chastised. But if the name of Jesus is said or even make any reference to God, the student can be expelled. Likewise, and mention of faith in God can doom a high quality textbook to oblivion, which inclusion of the worst language or reference to perverse sexual acts are acceptable. If a Bible is laying on your desk at work, you can be punished or fired for harassing your fellow workers. This Christmas season, stores and shopping malls are being threatened with lawsuits for playing Christmas carols because of their reference to Christ.
Has anyone bothered to ask why the devotion to freedom of speech is only going in one direction? Everyone is free to talk about just about anything, except for Christians, who are not allowed to speak about God. Discrimination is a severe crime except for discrimination against Christians. Each year more ground has been lost by the church. Even the President and those in control of the Congress seem to have little effect because activist judges through the courts are trying to implement the law of the land, rather than enforce it.
Many Christians cite the exhortation by the Lord to turn the other cheek to evil as an excuse for allowing this to continue. But the apostles obviously understood this differently. When they were confronted by civil authorities who “commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18), the apostolic response was: “But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20).
If you have been a reader of this Word for the Week for long, or any of my other writings, you know I do not advocate disobedience of civil authority, but rather respect and obey civil authority, except when it is in direct violation of the commandments of God. To be silent about our faith in God or the truth is disobedience to God, and the disregard of His mandate for us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
I am also a profound believer in the separation of church and state. I do not believe that it is the civil government’s place to mandate or promote religion. As a student of history, I am convinced that some of the most terrible mistakes ever made in the name of religion, including Christianity, were made when there was an unholy union between the civil governments and the church. They can and should be friends when possible, but not mates. There is a big difference.
However, today this separation between church and state is being interpreted by some very effective activists as a mandate by the government to rid the state of religion. This is a violation of both the spirit and the letter of the basis of the law of the land, our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The principle that “no one is above the law,” basically means that every office holder, regardless of whether it is the President, Supreme Court Justice, mayor of the town, or local Justice of the Peace, are not above the law but subject to it themselves. Just as every federal office holder must swear to uphold and protect the Constitution, to use that office to assault the rights of any group including Christians, as well as those of other faiths, is an assault of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and is a basic violation of their oath of office. Christians, or those of any faith, who practice the freedom of speech are not in violation of the law—those who would hinder their freedom are.
The last election was a witness to all that the church in America is awakening again to its mandate in society. This will continue and the church is going to become more and more active. It has been pushed as far backwards as it will go, and has been awakened for the most part has awakened to the foolishness of trying to appease any enemy of truth. People claiming to be “offended” by religious symbols or statements, so that one person claiming offense can deny the rights of the many to their freedom of speech, has reached a point of such foolishness that a powerful reaction to it is beginning to emerge. This will very likely gain a lot of momentum in the coming times. In fact, this has been a significant turning back to principles of truth, righteousness, and justice. For this we can rejoice, and should seek to be a part.
However, though it is time to arise and stand for truth and our civil rights when they are violated, we must also keep in mind that there is a ditch on either side of the path of life. Forcing religion on anyone is also a violation of God’s law and man’s. This we do need to examine in order to obey God by standing for truth, but not wrongly or unnecessarily so not to offend those who are weak in faith, or do not have faith. That does not serve the purpose of the gospel or the truth.
The key word in that last statement is “unnecessarily.” The truth will offend those who do not love the truth, and we just cannot help it. Light will offend those who prefer darkness, and we cannot help it. If we are not offending someone, we have almost certainly compromised the truth. So we should not be surprised by opposition.
I am a Christian conservative. I am a conservative when it comes to biblical interpretation, and in political issues I would almost always be found on the side of conservatism. However, we must also keep in mind that it was the religious and political, ultra-conservatives who were the persecutors of Jesus, the apostles, and every Christian movement that has brought about a restoration of truth to the church since. The ultra-conservatives and ultra liberals are almost always found in the ditches on either side of the path of life, and would try to pull everyone else into their ditch.
There is a time to fight, and once conflict is inevitable, it is a righteous thing to fight on the right side. Even so, war is usually the devil’s ultimate victory, and should be avoided if at all possible. Spiritual wars can also be one of the devil’s ultimate victories, regardless of who “wins” the war. I am saying this because we are coming to the time of the greatest spiritual battles in history that will be waged from one end of the earth to the other. Great victories are going to come in the name of the gospel and the truth. We just want to be sure that they are victories, resulting in people being saved, not driven further from salvation.
If the devil knows that he cannot stop someone, he will then get behind them and try to push them too far. The truth is for setting people free, not oppressing them. If one person is forced into spiritual submission by the way that truth is applied so they lie to themselves and become something they are not, then that is not a victory for the truth, but for oppression.
Even so, truth applied rightly will often look like oppression to those who are in the grip of lawlessness. Truth for the soul can be compared to train tracks for a train. One may say that the train is bound by the tracks, and not able to roam freely across the countryside, but how far could a train get by doing that? It would quickly bog down and not be free to go anywhere. That which may seem to hinder the train’s freedom is actually what sets it free to do what it was created to do. That is the way God’s truth sets us free to be what we were created to be. It is restrictive, but in a way that sets us free. The restrictions of truth are not bondage, but keep us from it.
Truth and true freedom are coming. To stay on track we do need to understand the clear biblical guidelines that set us free and keep us free. There is great wealth coming to the church and great influence, as the sure prophecy of Scripture makes clear. But they can be devastating stumbling blocks to all who do not know these clear biblical guidelines.
As we study these we will examine the dangers, as well as the biblical and historical examples of how some fell into them. However, we must be even more devoted to understanding the opportunities that the times present for the greatest advancement of truth, justice, and righteousness yet revealed upon the earth. Darkness is coming, and the worst troubles that the world has ever seen, but at the same time the greatest glory and power of the truth will also be seen. Ultimately, the light will prevail over all darkness. That is the clear biblical prophecy and teaching concerning our times, as we will see.
For you personally, I pray that this will be your best year yet. I pray that Proverbs 4:18 will be true for you, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” This means that your path should become increasingly clear, enabling you to move forward with greater and greater confidence. I also pray that Isaiah 26:7 will be for you, “The way of the righteous is smooth. O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.” The path of life may be narrow, but it is also straight and level. May it be made increasingly so for you this year, and may the testimony of your life cause many more to want to walk in the same way.
