Democracy, or the Kingdom of God
Democracy, or the Kingdom of God
"Democracy" is defined as: "government by the people." "Demos" means "people."
A "kingdom" refers to people ruled by a king.
Ruled by people. Ruled by a king.
One is rule from the bottom up. The other is rule from the top down.
Obviously these two forms of government are opposites.
The world today is moving toward democratic government. The United States is among those who are leading the way.
Unless I am mistaken, we Christian people view democracy as the same as the Kingdom of God, or at least friendly to the Kingdom of God.
The reason we do not see the difference is that we do not understand that the religion of Christianity throughout its history, to the present hour, is largely a result of self-will. No doubt there have been notable exceptions.
The reason is, the program of redemption has not moved forward to the crucifixion of our will. There have been scouts out ahead, but the wagon train is just now coming in sight of this critical aspect of salvation.
Jessie Penn-Lewis has been, I think, one of the proponents of death to self. This may have been true also of A. B. Simpson. I am sure there have been many others who have experienced and taught inner crucifixion.
I have not heard many in our day emphasize the death to self that is necessary if we are to attain to the resurrection of the body. We seem to be pretty well limited to forgiveness through the blood. There are many however who have sought to press forward into the works of the Spirit of God.
In our time there is a worldwide push toward forcing democratic government on all people. I believe this will be successful, because people want to be free of external constraints. Who wants to be told by their government how to live?
Ironically, in our country, a foremost exponent of democratic government, we may be noticing that we increasingly are being governed from above whether we like it or not! It always is so when man is in control.
Although it may come as a shock to some, antichrist is the rule of man. "Antichrist" means against Christ. When we are planning and operating our own life without reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are functioning in the spirit of antichrist.
I have no doubt, from the Book of Daniel, that there will arise a world ruler who embodies the spirit of antichrist. Some translations of the ninth chapter of the Book of Daniel, suggest that he will erect a statue of himself on a wing of the Temple in Jerusalem, on the very spot where the Lord Jesus refused the antichrist spirit.
Jesus on the pinnacle of the Temple was tempted to act presumptuously, wasn't He? This spirit of presumption is encouraged among church people who are challenged to "step out in faith."
If Jesus had stepped out in faith he would have been out of God's will and ended up in a mess, I think. So do we when we follow our own will, even if we are trying to prove we are a son of God.
The Bible tells us to acknowledge God in all our ways, not to plan and carry out our own ideas. God will direct us if we let Him be our King.
I have said that democracy and the Kingdom of God are opposites. I have pointed out that democracy is an invitation to man to turn away from God and live by his own will. What, then, is the Kingdom of God?
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
That is what the Kingdom of God is, no more and no less. It is Christ in us doing our thinking, speaking, and acting. It is the rule of God from within us.
"I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."
I was thinking yesterday, "How is it that two thousand years ago an Orthodox Jew, forelocks, black hat and all, experienced and taught past where most of us are today?" How many pastors and evangelists of our time in America are experiencing and teaching Galatians 2:20?
A whole multitude of them, I hope. I just haven't heard many of them. Some are emphasizing physical prosperity. Others are calling us to repentance. But not too many are teaching us about how to die to our self-will.
In fact, I dare say that most Americans believe that as we attempt to force democracy on other nations that it is the same as the Christian salvation. We may not know the difference!
The seven feasts of the Lord are signposts, we might say, along the way of salvation. We have come as far as Pentecost, the fourth observance. It is during the spiritual fulfillments of the final three feasts, especially the sixth ceremony, the Day of Atonement, that we die to self. We are just now entering this feast that brings us to the fullness of the indwelling of Christ.
I think Daniel points out the problem with democracy, and then the coming of the eternal Kingdom of God that shall put an end to all democratic forms of government.
And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. (Daniel 2:43,44)
I am not certain the passage above is entirely applicable, but it is interesting.
Notice "the people will be a mixture and will not remain united." This somehow makes me think of democracy.
The Rock becomes a Mountain that puts an end to all human government. The Rock, of course, is our Lord Jesus Christ.
The "fourth kingdom" may refer to the Roman Empire. For all of its former strength, the Roman Empire is no more, while Christ has grown in influence.
It may be true that today we are at a defining moment. America and the forces of the West are battling to bring democracy to an area that is closely associated with Russia. Russia is sort of a democracy, but perhaps not entirely.
As I said, I believe democracy ultimately will prevail because people want freedom to follow their own inclinations. It may be true that many strong leaders will attempt to cling to power, causing much bloodshed. But I think they are doomed to fail in the end.
My concern is not with world politics. Our Lord Jesus warned us that wars and rumors of war would continue and other commotions, and that these are the birth pains of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
Elmer Fullerton, a distinguished pastor of the Assemblies of God, prophesied many years ago that atomic fire would burn on the earth for seven years.
If democratic government is not the desired end, how, then, are we Christians to orient ourselves?
Perhaps the ninety-first Psalm was written for the hour in which we live.
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." (Psalms 91:1,2)
"Dwells in the shelter of the Most High."
The Lord Jesus commanded, "Abide in Me."
We have been washed in the blood of the cross.
We have been baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Now it is time to learn how to dwell in Christ. When we are dwelling in Christ we will be at rest in God.
Perhaps the first step of learning how to dwell in the shelter of the Most High is to review what we were declaring when we were baptized in water.
When we were immersed in the water we were declaring that we now have been crucified with Christ. By "we" I am referring to our soul. We have died to our self, the source of our thinking, speaking, and acting.
When we emerged from the water we were declaring that we now are alive with the resurrected Christ. From this point forward our thinking, speaking, and acting are to be proceeding from His resurrection Life.
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:4)
"A new life" is not referring to a new life in the flesh but a new life that comes from the Father. The new life requires that we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow the Lord Jesus at all times.
We bring Christ into our thinking as much as possible throughout the day and night.
We consider before we say something if it is acceptable to Christ.
We continually look to Christ that He may be the one acting in us. It is a good thing, when we first awake in the morning, to ask God that it might be Christ who is living in us today rather than ourselves.
There are several wonderful promises in the ninety-first Psalm; but they do not apply to us unless we are abiding in Christ and Christ is abiding in us. The promises do not apply to us merely because we refer to ourselves as being Christians.
There is protection from war, and from diseases of every sort.
One remarkable promise is as follows:
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. (Psalms 91:7,8)
To be singled out for safety in the midst of calamities does not seem possible, does it? Yet, it happened to Jeremiah.
But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don't come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please. (Jeremiah 40:4)
These words were spoken to Jeremiah by Nebuzaradan, a general of the army, at the command of Nebuchadnezzar. This was in the midst of the utter destruction of Jerusalem.
One man from among thousands who was spared.
I read somewhere of an incident during the settling of America when God spoke to a tribe of Indians and told them to leave a certain colony alone because there was a praying man in that colony.
So what are we saying? We are approaching the resolution of all things.
When America was being formed, two forces were at work. One was the traditional religious beliefs of those who had fled the oppression of Europe.
There also were the writings of Thomas Paine, a deist, who emphasized reason and the rights of man. His thinking no doubt influenced many to move away from the Christian churches toward an emphasis on the rights of people.
The idea of the "rights of people," although seemingly Christian, evolves readily into a rejection of traditional Christian values, suggesting for example that we should regard homosexual behavior and abortion as normal if not desirable human activities.
I think it is clear that humanistic thought, with its rejection of formal religion, is quite at home in the philosophy of democratic government.
It appears that Thomas Paine has carried the day. However, there is in America a strong religious populace. They often may be disregarded, but they are here and they are not going to change.
Laodicea, the voice of the people, is the "church" of our time. Jesus has nothing good to say about it. Yet, it is to Laodicea that the Lord invites us to open the door of our heart that we may dine on His body and blood and He may dine on our obedience and worship.
Those who choose to live by the body and blood of Christ, forever inviting Him into all they think, say, and do, are destined to sit with Christ on the highest Throne of all. There is no greater promise in the Bible. It is to be with Him where He is.
So it is a day to be either hot or cold. Either we travel along with the multitude, embracing democracy and the rights of man (meanwhile being victimized by those who are smarter than we are, continually feeding us with disinformation), or we turn to the Lord Jesus and take advantage of the three great acts of redemption that the Spirit of God is offering to us.
The first option is to be the willing slave of Antichrist, ordering our lives around buying and selling. But there is a terrible penalty attached to this behavior.
A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb." (Revelation 14:9,10)
The second option is to "die in the Lord," letting go of our adamic life and living in the resurrection Life of Jesus.
In other words, we will become cold or hot in order to please the Lord Jesus.
The circumstances of today are forcing us to go one way or another. Either we will choose to follow our self-will; or we will choose to die in the Lord to our self-will.
Which way are you going to choose?
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)