God's Witnesses
God's Witnesses
Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. (Isaiah 43:10)
It is clear that our nation, in many instances, is heading in the wrong direction; at least wrong from a Christian viewpoint. The question is, what are we Christians to do about this?
In a previous essay, I have listed five areas of disobedience to God. How are we to respond to these, which clearly are of Satan?</p>
Abortion-on-demand.
Unscriptural sexual practices.
The worship of money.
The rejection of God and His Christ from public life.
The defiling of the minds of children in the public schools.
One problem facing us in America is that we are in a democracy. If we were in a totalitarian state, we could not express ourselves against the government. But because we can protest, we feel obligated to fight each of the governmental and foolish perversities by political action of one kind or another.
And certainly, in the case of the defilement of children in the public schools, with sex education added to the curricula in the primary grades, and unisex bathrooms, a Christian parent should consider homeschooling.
Should we go beyond this with militant political action, striving to do away with abortion-on demand; the various forms of homosexuality and gender confusion; the placing of money as the essence of human life; striving to bring God and Christ back into public recognition; and repealing the laws that force children to admire sexual deviants and their practices?
If I understand correctly, the country had two primary philosophies active in its foundation. The first was Christianity. The second was "reason," as exemplified by Thomas Paine. I am viewing democracy, "freethinking," Humanism, and all sorts of "progressive"-liberal ideas, as being forms of "reason."
It may be true that many Americans consider democracy and capitalism as somehow being "Christian." In fact, democracy, with its "supposed" rule from the bottom up, is the very opposite of the Kingdom of God, which is rule from the top down. I think a democratic form of government can easily slide into a de facto dictatorship, as a cunning president manipulates the polls and the media.
Over two hundred years have passed since 1776. The two philosophies, Christian faith and morality, and "reason," have coexisted somewhat peacefully. However, as the Christian churches in many instances have slipped away from an accent on righteous, holy behavior in favor of "lawless grace," we find "reason" rearing its satanic head.
We may notice the conflict, as morally unacceptable (to Christian thought) programming appears on television under the umbrella of "freedom of speech," which certainly is derived from "reason." Such programming is an abomination to fervent Christians, as is true also of abortion-on-demand and gender confusion.
You may notice that the five areas of disobedience to God, I have listed above, are the product of "progressive" reasoning. They are against the Scriptures. They are of Satan.
We Americans pride ourselves on our prosperity. We may be forgetting that it was God's blessing on our country that has made us wealthy and powerful. Now God is leaving us because we are leaning on our own understanding instead of on the Lord.
One of the first signs of God's departure is economic problems. You may notice that we have to keep raising the national debt limit. The end of this road is bankruptcy.
Perhaps we have taken the blessing of Christ for granted. If I am not mistaken, our current decision to bar Christ from the "market place," so to speak, will result in a radical weakening of our country economically, educationally, militarily, politically, and in other areas of public life.
Then we may understand that it was God who had made America strong and wealthy.
Our president, who seldom mentions God and gives no evidence of even believing in God, at least not in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, does not appear to be fiscally prudent. At the time of this writing he is promoting a health system that may prove to be a financial disaster.
We are in the midst of a conflict between the Christian faith and democracy; between the Bible and Humanism. It appears Christ is permitting Humanism, the will and pleasure of people, to overcome the traditional moral restraints of America—restraints that are based on the Scriptures. Christ always has a reason for what He is doing, and sometimes we do not see the His wisdom until later.
Some fine American people are attempting to restore our traditional moral values. But they do not seem to be making progress. I would say that at the present time, moral chaos is becoming worse than ever.
As an example, the State of California is in the process of passing a bill that permits children to use the same bathroom, regardless of whether they are a boy or a girl. The legislation is referred to as the "Bathroom Bill."
I suppose that to some of the followers of Humanism and "progressive" reasoning this makes some kind of sense. But to devout Christians the bill is monstrous, impractical, mischievous, perverse beyond belief.
The same could be said of same-sex marriages.
As time goes by, however, such departures from the moral norm become accepted by a significant number of people.
Needless to say, the stark difference between the thinking of devout Christian people, and what is taking place in our national and local governments, is creating rage in people of differing views. What would normally be healthy discourse as people seek compromise has become bitterness and hostility. This yet may lead to civil war!
This actually is not a political problem and it will not be solved by political devices. It is a spiritual problem. It is a warfare between good and evil; between that which is of God and that which is of Satan. This is why people on both sides become so incensed and call each other names.
Let us consider once again five areas of concern; and these certainly are not the only problems in our culture in the present hour.
Abortion-on-demand.
Unscriptural sexual practices. In California a law has been passed, as I understand it, that counselors cannot work with a homosexual who desires to turn away from this unscriptural practice. The homosexuals seem to be violently opposed to this sort of counseling, proclaiming that some people are born homosexuals and cannot change.
First of all, homosexual behavior is condemned in both Testaments.
Second, there are numerous people who have turned from homosexual practices, and have done so successfully, according to their own testimony.
If indeed such a law has been passed in California, it appears to me to be unreasonable. Why would a state legally enjoin professional counselors from treating a particular behavior? This seems peculiar and suggests an agenda; that it is not a dispassionate legislation directed toward the public good.
If there are abuses in such therapy, then the abuses should be corrected, not the entire practice of counseling concerning such behavior.
The worship of money.
The rejection of God and His Christ from public life.
The defiling of the minds of children in the public schools.
Any committed Christian can recognize that these behaviors are not acceptable alternate lifestyles. From a Christian point of view they are evil.
So from a Christian point of view, our American culture is deteriorating.
Christian faith, and Humanism, are now seen to be at enmity one with the other. It has taken more than 200 years for the enmity to be so apparent.
There is nothing new about the conflict between the Christian faith, and other belief systems, becoming manifest. Many Christians have been persecuted and killed for no reason other than their desire to serve God rather than conform to the surrounding society!
Sometimes the battle has been between one religion and another. Sometimes the conflict is between members of the same religion.
Today, in America, the struggle is largely between those who want to abandon biblical morality, and those who are shocked by gender confusion and the other symptoms of a reliance on human pleasure as opposed to the moral principles of the Scriptures.
Christians, by and large, are decent people. They are a credit to any country. They believe in hard work, honesty, concern for the needy, and moral cleanliness. They are opposed to abortion, unscriptural sexual practices, public nakedness, and the imposing of radical sexual ideas on grade-school children. They rejoice when God is mentioned by political leaders, such as asking God's help when there are catastrophes.
Those on the other side of the coin see nothing wrong with abortion. The mother must have her right to murder her children. This is Humanism brought to a horrible conclusion. It is nothing less than an abomination to the Lord Jesus, who loves children.
Unscriptural sexual practices may satisfy human lust, but they carry with them their own penalties. They are a far cry from the original Divine fiat to marry and bring up children in the knowledge of the Lord.
"Money" is the only god Jesus mentioned as being evil, declaring that we cannot serve God and Mammon. There is no question that money is a principal god in America. The acquisition of money has first priority in the behavior of people---until they come to the end of their life and realize that only relationships with God and other people are of true importance.
There are in fact pastors who teach us from the Bible how to get rich. But the Apostle Paul warned us that the love of money is the root of all evil. I will leave it at that!
I am not concerned about the separation between church and state. But I am concerned about the separation between God and state. Today the political leaders of the world act as though there is no God in Heaven. As a result the world is in turmoil.
Democracy is not the best form of government. Scholars have pointed out that democracy has in itself the seeds of its own destruction. I think we see that in the United States at this time.
The only truly beneficial form of government is a monarchy governed by a righteous king who fears God. This is the nature of the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the King whom God has appointed. Jesus is righteous and fears God. Consequently, wherever Jesus is honored as our King there is righteousness, love, joy, and peace.
The leaders of today are not leading their countries to righteousness, love, joy, and peace. They cannot, because they are not righteous themselves and do not fear God. They do not look to God for wisdom in governing the people. Therefore they make mistake after mistake, always fighting among themselves.
Since America is a democracy, we may feel it is our duty to engage in political warfare. But unless God is leading us to be politically active, we need to be cautious.
I remember years ago when a political activist came down from Sacramento and addressed us as pastors. I remember to this day that he said if the California legislators did such and such a thing, he was going to "kick butt." He was going to oppose their actions as forcefully as he could.
Now, beyond all doubt, the Lord Jesus is the most effective witness of God who has ever lived on the earth. If you are a true Christian I know you will agree with that statement.
Can you imagine Jesus saying He was going to go to Rome and "kick butt"? The very idea is ridiculous! Can you imagine the Lord Jesus saying He was going to go to Sacramento and kick butt?
You might say, "Rome was an empire, not a democracy. Jesus could not go to Rome and question the emperor's policies because He would have been killed quickly."
That is so. But the Lord Jesus was God's witness, wasn't He? How did He bear witness if He did not gather His disciples into an army and attempt to overthrow the Roman Empire with all its corruption?
The Lord Jesus bore witness of God by the moral purity of His Character; by the miracles He performed; and by the Words He spoke. The Words He spoke were not about building a church but about how we should live.
The same kind of witness was given by the Apostles of Christ; the moral purity of their character; the miracles they wrought; and the words they spoke.
Now, what has God said about you and me?
Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. (Isaiah 43:10)
Neither Jesus nor His Apostles engaged in politics, as far as I know. Yet they were effective witnesses of the Person and will of God. Of course, they were living in an empire and could not engage in political activism.
I am not against Christians engaging in political activism, if Christ is leading them in that direction.
The key to this whole problem of being witnesses in America at the present time, is that of hearing from the Lord. We are going to have to learn to hear from Jesus and obey Him carefully in every detail of our life.
Does Jesus want us to fret about the wickedness? I know He does not, because fretting is against the Scriptures. Paul told us to think about that which is lovely.
Does Jesus want us to join with others in order to combat the wickedness we see? This is where we need the Lord's guidance. We cannot go forth and express our irritation at those "gays," or those "transvestites," or anyone else. They will not be led to Christ by our anger or disgust!
Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen.
God has chosen us to be His servant. We are to bear witness of God, His Person, His will, His way, and His eternal purpose in Christ. This does not always mean to preach the Gospel. Sometimes what we are is louder than words.
We are not called to try to force our own standards on someone else. We are to represent God, not our Christian fervor. God is meek, gentle, helpful, always encouraging us to draw closer to Him. Is God that way with you, or is He disgusted because you do not meet His standards?
If God is that way with us, and we want to bear witness of God, then guess what? We are to be meek, gentle, helpful, always encouraging other people to draw closer to God, not showing our disgust because of their immoralities.
Do you agree with that? Of course you do. The problem is, our old adamic nature wants to correct people according to our own ideas.
I heard at one time a beautiful Christian song that was composed by an ex-gay (You Are My All in All). How many beautiful Christian songs have you or I composed?
Would you have been a friend of Saul of Tarsus before he was converted?
"That ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he."
We ourselves are the witness. It is what God has made us and performs through us that bears a true witness of God.
This has little to do with our theologic knowledge. We Christians put far too much emphasis on theologic correctness. God is interested in what kind of person He can make of us. Correct doctrine is important only as it leads us to be in the image of God and to have fellowship with God.
But correct theology can be a hindrance if we think that our understanding of theology makes us a superior person; or if we believe that correct doctrine is more important than what kind of character we have.
Think about the Lord Jesus. Wouldn't you like to have known Him as He walked the shores of Galilee? I sure would have! But why would we want to be with Jesus? Not because of what He could do but because of what He was.
I can picture Him with the little children gathered around Him. What a sight! This is the true image of God. I want to be like this, don't you?
That we may know God! Most of the people in the world would like to know God. We may believe that the people of the world hate God, but they don't. What people dislike are religious programs and the believers themselves.
If God Himself came to your town, people would come from all over the world to see God and be with God, wouldn't they?
But they would not come to our church or our religion, necessarily. If we ever come to know God and be like Him, people will come to us. They want God. So do you. So do I.
That we may know and believe God. That is what makes a witness. Not what we may know about God but knowing God Himself!
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. (I John 1:1)
To come to know God requires many years of experience, it seems to me. I myself do not profess to know God very well after over sixty years as a Christian. But I certainly know God better than when I started out. I can look back over the years and see the guiding hand of God on my life and His utter faithfulness.
Because of my pilgrimage, I can tell you as a fact that there is a God and there is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I was not raised in a Christian home. I came to the Lord when I was eighteen years of age. A year later the Lord called me to preach, in a supernatural experience.
So many years! So much foolishness; so many mistakes! So many dangers! Yet here I am, at the age of 88, telling you that God is faithful and true.
I remember that when I first heard the Gospel, I had to pray to have faith to believe. I said to God (if there is a God), I will try to obey what I am being taught about God, Christ, and the Bible. If it becomes obvious, that this is some man-made scheme, then I will proclaim that. If it proves to be truly of God, then I will proclaim that.
Another thing I remember. I think I always had believed there is a God, and I would pray sometimes when I felt a need. But transferring this faith to another person, to Jesus, required an effort.
But when I realized that God wanted me to believe in Jesus the same as I believed in God, I acquiesced.
Two or three weeks after my initial conversion, I went into a Quonset hut that was serving as a chapel. There was a Bible on the lectern. I was beginning to doubt this whole business.
So I prayed: "God, please speak to me."
I closed my eyes. Opened the Bible at random. Then I put my finger down on the page.
Under my finger were the words: "My son, keep My commandments." This passage is in the Book of Proverbs.
You know, that was an unusual happening! During the years I have railed against the lawless-grace doctrine, insisting that we have to obey Christ, not just "believe" in Him. So "keep My commandments" was prophetic, wasn't it?
God needs witnesses today in the United States. He needs men and women, boys and girls, who announce by their lives as well as their words that God is righteous and holy.
We must be living epistles, known and read by everyone. People must see and hear Christ in us. This will be possible only as we are living by the Life of Jesus, thinking His thoughts; speaking His Words; doing what He is doing.
This is how the greatest of all witnesses, the Lord Jesus Christ, lives by the Life of the Father.
I fret and get irritated by what I am seeing in the federal and state governments. But my irritation helps no one. The Lord Jesus was not irritated by the Roman Empire, as far as I can tell.
Our job is to look to the Lord Jesus at all times, day and night, and obey Him implicitly. If he leads us to do something about the current moral darkness, then we must obey Him. When we are being led by Christ we have more power behind us than the President, the Congress, and the Supreme Court all put together. Jesus has all authority in Heaven and upon the earth.
So we can keep our peace and our poise. We can sing, dance, and rejoice in the heights of Zion as we have opportunity. There is no need for us to be bowed down because of the sin in the world. Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.
If we will behave this way, God will take care of us. In addition, He will do something about the immorality and perversity to which we are being subjected. We do not have to fret. We do not have to curse the darkness or strive against wicked people. If we will worship God, Christ will exercise His awesome power, the same power that created the galaxies, and make a way for us through the darkness.
I believe in the future many of us will be persecuted, and some will be put to death. Sin will become easily accessible and much more prevalent than it is today. Numerous Christians will lose their love for the Lord because of the abundance of temptations.
We must not become one of those. We must keep standing before the Lord Jesus and doing His will. There is great reward for doing so.
Many people will see God in us if we will stand steadfastly before Christ. It will be the Light of God to them, and they will be benefitted.
Hundreds of thousands of saints have gone on before us and are ready to welcome us to their rejoicing throng. We will be with them before too long.
We find in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation the final witness of the Church Age. These two "men," representing Christ working with His victorious saints, shall go forth throughout the world, proclaiming the soon coming of the Kingdom of God. They shall show in themselves the works of power that will be common during the future Kingdom Age.
It is my opinion that there will be a great revival of God's Spirit in the present hour, a revival that will increase until it becomes that described as "two witnesses."
Let's keep our eyes on Jesus. He will bring us safely home. Meanwhile, the world will stumble on in its blindness until the great Trumpet of the Jubilee sounds and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords descends to govern the nations of the earth.
For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord. (Psalms 102:19-22)