Spotlight Upon the Church and Constitutional Republic (Episode 194)
Scriptures and Key Points:
- There is an importance in praying and engaging in elections that has great significance and consequences.
“America did not create religious liberties. Religious liberties created America.” – former governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal
- Our Constitutional Republic and Democracy will only survive if we hold onto the core values of our Constitutional rights and freedoms.
- The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights and protects core American civil liberties: the right to FREEDOM OF RELIGION; Freedom of Speech; Freedom of the Press; PEACEFUL Assembly; and Freedom of Expression.
- Sadly, freedom of religion is becoming more like freedom from religion.
- What we have may not be perfect, but at least we have a Constitutional foundation that gives us rights and freedoms to work with—and that others around the globe wish they had.
- Silencing those who think for themselves or have a different thought means we no longer have true freedom of expression and speech.
- It is better to maintain our freedoms than to try to re-obtain what we have lost.
“I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.” – William Booth
- If our nation’s broken foundations are to be fixed, then we, the Church, must awaken our hearts and get back to our spiritual moorings and biblical principles.
“A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.” – John Calvin
Zephaniah 1:12 NKJV And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.’
- As Christians, we are called to speak the truth in love seasoned with grace, but we must speak the truth nonetheless.
Ezekiel 9:4 NKJV And the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
- We must continue the work of the kingdom which we are called to—speaking His word and sharing His love.
- To compromise our moral and biblical convictions is to sell our birthright and spiritual inheritance for a morsel of flesh.
- Courageous leadership does not acquiesce to public opinion or what is popular at the time for personal benefit or gain. Instead, with sensitivity and compassion, it adheres to a love for truth and personal convictions.
- We need civility in our public discourse.
- The only unshakable kingdom is the Kingdom of the Lord, and we the Church must still love each other in our disagreements if we are to help others find their place in the Kingdom.
John 13:35 NKJV By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
- If we are to see hope for the future and any lasting change, we need to all look at the inward corruption of our own individual hearts, then recognize and discern our corporate public consequences.
- Only a Church united can bring hope and healing to a nation divided!
“Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian who witnessed the tragedy of the destruction of Jerusalem and the desecration of the Temple- wrote that the Jews ‘turned their hands one against another.’ Divided families, towns and communities were in conflict…” – Watch Jerusalem in November 2019
- We need the atmosphere of His Presence if we are going to see the transformation we need.
“Josephus wrote that disagreement…became so sharp it split apart families. ‘There was also a bitter contest between those that were fond of war, and those that were desirous for peace. At the first this quarrelsome temper caught hold of private families, who could not agree among themselves; after which those people that were the dearest to one another broke through all restraints with regard to each other ….’ Tensions intensified. Civil unrest increased. Society became unstable and lawless. ‘Seditions arose everywhere,’ Josephus wrote. Jews gathered ‘together in bodies, in order to rob the people of the country.’ These armed mobs ransacked towns, looted storehouses, and pillaged the countryside…” – Watch Jerusalem in November 2019(The Wars of the Jews, 4.3.2.)
- John Wesley once asked his mother, “How do you define sin?” And she said, “Son, whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes away your relish for spiritual things…”
1 Timothy 4:2 NKJV Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron
- May our ideology be defined by and based on God’s Character, Word, Nature, and Spirit.
“The Kingdom of God is built on relationships, first with God, then with one another.” – Doug Stringer
- May we be reminded to love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul, and to reflect Christlikeness to others that we may not agree with or who may not agree with us.
Isaiah 1:11-20 NKJV “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord…
Deuteronomy 30:19 NKJV I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live
- If we no longer value life in the womb, then we will no longer value life that is deemed less worthy to some, such as those who may have physical or mental limitations and those who have entered the Golden Years.
- Revival in the nation will come by choice, circumstance, or consequence.
- Better to have a heart awakening than a rude awakening.
Colossians 1:9-18 NKJV …And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Ephesians 3:10 NKJV To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places
- Lasting reform and change can only happen when the inward corruption of the heart is dealt with.
“During Judah’s hectic political and religious history, reform comes from time to time. Zephaniah’s forceful prophecy may be a factor in the reform that occurs during Josiah’s reign—a “revival” that produces outward change, but does not fully remove the inward heart of corruption which characterizes the nation. Zephaniah hammers home his message repeatedly…” (Introduction to Zephaniah, NKJV Bible)
Zephaniah 3:1-9 NKJV …Her princes in her midst are roaring lions; Her judges are evening wolves…
In 2004, I published an article in which I stated there were three major things that can hinder God’s blessing from a nation:
- Ritual or temple prostitution
- The shedding of innocent blood
- Licentiousness or moral looseness
- We have prostituted ourselves by choosing to live by preference rather than by conviction.
- We must counter the attacks on our religious liberties but at the same time display God’s love to those who oppose us.
Jonah 1:1-2 NIV The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
- We need leaders who care more about others than themselves.
Ezekiel 43:6-8 NKJV Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me. And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever…
- God is not obligated to anoint what merely mirrors Him. He’s only obligating Himself to anoint what He specifically directs.
- We need reverential respect for God so He can work in us.
- Those who tell the story, define the narrative, and create the history.
Revelation 12:11 NKJV And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
2 Corinthians 5:20 NKJV Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ…
Daniel 2:20-22 NKJV …“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His…
Acts 4:29-33 NKJV Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word…
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