A Sermon on the Roots of Slavery

Consider the Words of God:

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” (Romans 6:15-18)

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (II Corinthians 3:17)

It is no surprise that the Bible speaks in many places concerning the issues of slavery and freedom, bondage and liberty, tyranny and justice. While we often think of these issues in a cultural or political manner, it is clear that all of them have to do with very personal conditions, and it is from these that flow the societal consequences.

What I would like to do this morning is to give you the briefest of summaries of history, and redemptive history in particular. Where did slavery and bondage originate, how has it been manifest historically, and what can be done about it in our day?

Let’s start in the beginning. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, we see the creation of the cosmos, this world, and the special creation of man, who was placed in an environment that God pronounced as being good. There was no disruption of Adam’s relationship to his Creator, nor was there any disruption in the creation itself. However, all of that changed when Adam chose to give heed to the temptations of the serpent, rebelled against the commandment of God, and ate of the prohibited fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This action plunged all of mankind, the sons of Adam, into condemnation, separation from their Creator, and into the realm of sin, death, and bondage. We would do well to note that one of the first reactions manifested was that of attempting to shift the blame. Adam blamed Eve and God (because He gave Eve to him), and Eve blamed the serpent. This “not my fault” attitude continues largely unabated to this day.

The consequences of this rebellion bred more of the same, and by the time of Noah violence and corruption filled the earth. God determined to purge the earth of this corruption by a flood, and commanded Noah to build an ark to save his family, along with a representation of the animals, and anyone who might respond to Noah’s preaching concerning the impending flood. Remember that it took Noah and his family about 100 years to build the ark, and no one responded to his prophetic message, choosing rather to mock the whole idea. The bondage of the inhabitants of the earth was nearly total, manifesting itself in their inability to hear the truth. Only Noah and his family were rescued.

After the flood, the descendants of Noah multiplied and repopulated the earth. However, even among his sons, and grandsons, and great grandsons, the root of this bondage was not cured. We see this in the attempt to build a kingdom of man, Babel, one representing the deification of man that assumed no limits or constraints on man’s abilities, personal or corporate. This appears to be one of the first attempts at formulating what we, in more modern terms, call statism. Because this form of unity was expedited by common language, God chose to confound their languages, something that remains with us to this day. The aspirations to form the ultimate god-state were thwarted, at least temporarily.

God then chose a man of Haran, Abram (later renamed Abraham), to leave his home nation to venture to lands unknown to him. In the process of his wanderings, Abraham became known as a friend of God because of his faith, trust, and obedience to the Lord. God’s promises to Abraham created a whole race of people who were to be bound in a covenant with Him.

Yet the posterity of Abraham found themselves, generations later, in bondage and forced slavery in Egypt. And there appeared no hope of deliverance for quite a long time. The hand of successive Egyptian leaders became heavier and heavier, culminating in extremely hard working requirements and the attempted genocide perpetrated against the Hebrews by Pharaoh. All of the male Hebrew babies were to be killed. It was into these circumstances that Moses was born, divinely rescued, raised by Pharaoh’s own daughter, and called by God to lead the Hebrews out of the bondage they were in. This was accomplished by many miraculous events which, in due course, led to the exodus of the people to the wilderness. Here, by divine revelation to Moses (and by the very hand of God) the people received the Commandments of the Lord, the codification of the covenant between Him and them. This was the birth of the Jewish nation. Yet we see that while the people had been delivered from Egypt, they were not liberated from the bondage of sin, demonstrated by their repeated rebellions against their God, and the unhappy wandering in the wilderness for forty years.

Once the conquest of the land of promise was largely complete under Joshua, the Hebrew tribal states were formulated into a structure of covenantal confederacy. Some have called this a theocratic republic, and this definition also seems satisfactory in terms of describing its structure. God anointed various men (and occasionally women), as judges within the nation, offering counsel and leadership in times of necessity. And these times were quite frequent. When the populace would rebel against God, He would bring (again and again) oppressors against them, allowing them to experience the heel of tyranny. When they were finally brought to the point of repentance, the Lord would deliver them, by various means, from the oppressors. It is from this time period that we have the accounts of Gideon, Sampson, Jephthah, and others. Interestingly, one of our Colonial period preachers, Samuel Langdon, comments on this arrangement in this manner; “The Jewish government, according to the original constitution which was divinely established, if considered merely in a civil view, was a perfect republic. The heads of their tribes, and elders of their cities, were their counselors and judges…Counselors and judges comprehend all the powers of that government, for there was no such thing as legislative authority belonging to it, their complete code of laws being given immediately from God by the hand of Moses.“ He, and others, offered this as a model of what the emerging independent nation should consider and emulate.

But this arrangement, with the Lord as their exclusive King, did not long suit the Jewish populace. Their hearts declined from serving Him, and they demanded a revision of their “divinely appointed government”, insisting on the establishment of a monarchy, just like the pagan nations around them. To this the prophet and judge Samuel responded with resounding rebukes, warning them of the dire consequences of such a move. He warned them that this was an outright rejection of their God, and that the establishment of such a government would lead to a state that would take, and take, and take. The people would not hear any of this and, in chastisement, the Lord granted their wish to be governed by oppressive monarchs. This is not to suggest that all of the ensuing kings were wicked, but merely to recognize that the people demanded to go from a state of responsibility, self-governance, and liberty, to one that radically diminished all three.

The era of the kings of Israel and Judah is one of startling contrasts. While there were a number kings who were upright, courageous, and just men, not one of them sought to return to the constitutional republic they previously enjoyed. This history is dominated by intrigue, divisions, civil wars, fratricide, murders, oppressions, infanticide, and many similar abhorrent acts. The seeds of the divided kingdom were initially sown in the reign of King David, and the root of their national idolatries can be traced back to David’s son, Solomon. These, and many other causes, led to the northern kingdom of Israel being conquered by the Assyrians, and the southern kingdom of Judah being laid waste, in time, by the Babylonians.

However, the Lord protected a remnant of Jews in the captivity population in exile in Babylon. While there, they were kept under a form of divine protective custody, by the Babylonians (oddly enough), while the other peoples of Palestine were essentially wiped out by the Babylonian armies.

After a period of seventy years, those Jews who wished to repopulate the cities of Israel were allowed to do so. The record of this enterprise is recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. While this return was partially successful, the Jewish nation never returned to the prominence that it enjoyed in previous times and by the time of the birth of Jesus, had been conquered by the Roman Empire, and brought into rigorous subjection to it. Within forty years of the death and resurrection of Christ, Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, exactly as He had warned them.

So what is the common thread in all of this? Simply this; no society has ever prospered long when it has rebelled against God. When this occurs, the Scriptures inform us again and again that His wrath is incited by such behavior. Many have advocated that a society can be successfully formed without the acknowledgement of Christ the King and Redeemer. This can not be accomplished for one fundamental reason. There is no other avenue for the forgiveness of sins, neither personal nor collective, except in Him. There is no freedom from the bondage of sin and it’s consequences outside of Christ. The unconverted is not able to free himself from such bondage and, as such, is by nature a slave. A people who are slaves in their beings, in their very nature, cannot be made free by their own efforts, and therefore cannot develop truly free societies. But this is precisely what the power of God accomplishes by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is why, in our own nation’s founding, we hear of quotes asserting that our original form of government is only suitable for a religious people. Not a perfect people mind you, but those who know personally of the grace of God, and its manifold implications for those who receive this unfathomable gift. Recall our original texts. Who is freed from sin and bondage? Only those who believe and obey the Gospel. Who brings about true liberty? The Spirit of God Himself. It is obvious from the historic accounts that I have referred to that while a people may be free from external oppressions, they are not by consequence free from being slaves internally. Many have attempted this and utterly failed. If we are to have any hope for the future, we must be made free as only Christ can make us free. There is no political or cultural antidote for the bondage of sin. There is no store you can walk into and obtain a cure. Only the blood atonement of Christ can accomplish this.

So what are the implications of this for us, here today? Here are three that come readily to mind.

First, we need to recognize that we have become an idolatrous nation. Statism cannot arise without this being the case. We are no longer guided by the precepts, laws, and commandments of Almighty God, but rather by the many and varied ideas of atheistic humanists. Our nation no longer officially acknowledges the One, True God, but a pantheon of gods. Just take your pick. Baal, Mammon, Molech, Aphrodites, Jupiter, oh…and Jesus also. They are all there. But there is only one of these gods that you dare not blaspheme. That is the god of the State. The State is supreme and eternal, and will destroy anyone who dares to claim otherwise or defy its claims to deity. Like the vicious leviathan, its appetites are never satiated. It wants all….until all is consumed. We need to repent of all of this and return to the God of the Good News. Such repentance and belief needs to be extended beyond mere assent to these truths, or simple abstractions. Central to the Gospel is the fusion of the ideas of true belief and obedience. They are far from being mutually exclusive. More like being two peas in the same pod, and neither faith nor obedience are passive.

Second, in conjunction with true faith and repentance, we need to reject the assumptions of a culture that endorses theft as a justifiable personal prerogative or public policy. Many have noted that the protection of private property is essential to the well being of any society, and this is true. All sin corrupts, and this sin, theft, has corrupted our society beyond belief, extinguishing any hope for personal security and godly justice. The problem is that many of us do not recognize it for what it is because we are afflicted by theft’s near cousin, covetousness. We have been co-opted into materialism and therefore the modern mechanisms of theft don’t look as bad as they really are unless, of course, it is our own ox that is being gored.

Third, we need desperately to reinstitute godly justice. This begins with formally acknowledging the “right to life, liberty, and private property (the pursuit of happiness). Without formal protection of the first of these, there can be no basis for protection of the others. We must obey God, and protect the least and weakest among us. If we do not, we will all meet with the same indifference that contemporary sentiments express. Remember, the shedding of innocent blood figures big as a provocation of God’s wrath. Do we want to continue to anger Him? I hope not.

We are here today because we all believe we have a vested interest in the reestablishment of liberty. To this end, I hope that you will hear the words of hope interspersed with these grave warnings. We would do well to heed the words of Samuel Davies, Patrick Henry’s pastor, who advised the people of his time to “fly (flee) to Jesus on the wings of faith”. It is only by this means that we can be made free from the bondage of sin and death, and be enabled by the true Spirit of Liberty to work towards real societal liberty. We need to become “servants of righteousness”. And this can only accomplished by the grace and power of God.

Independence Day, July 4, 2009

Judges 10:6-14

“And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not him. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim. And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, and the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.”

This passage chronicles one of the several declensions of the children of Israel during the period of the Judges. It obviously was not the only one, but well may have been one of the most severe. It appears that the people had engaged in a wholesale abandonment of the covenant of their fathers and rebelled in the most blatant manner. They accepted and pursued the idolatries of practically every other nation in the region. No matter what they intended to gain by this rebellion, the hand of the Lord came forcefully upon them and He brought them under the vexing oppression of the Philistines and the Ammonites. And they were under this oppression for some eighteen years before it occurred to them that repentance might be an option.

This is perhaps one of the most severe passages in all of the Scriptures. To our contemporary ears it sounds most offensive. It challenges our perception of Who God is. We are used to a God Who comes and grants mercy and grace at our beckoning call and on our terms. This passage teaches us, among other things, that this is not the case. While He is indeed gracious and full of mercies, He grants these mercies on His terms, not ours. God’s response to the people’s confession of their sins is to essentially tell them to call someone who cares. This sort of thing offends our preconceptions and our sensibilities about God, and how His mercy operates in this world.

This passage illustrates the principle declared by God in Genesis 6:3 that, “My Spirit will not always strive with man…” Further, the New Testament writer of the letter to the Hebrews declares (thereby confirming the content of Psalm 95) that we are obliged to avoid a hardness similar to that which the Israelites demonstrated, saying, “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of provocation…” (Hebrews 3:7 ff).

With these examples and warnings in mind, we need to answer the question: Is there a point at which a people can so offend God by their hardness of heart and rebellion that there is no turning back, no repentance? Will God turn such a people over to their very own hardness? These examples more than suggest that this is an open possibility.

So, where are we in our nation, today? Remember, this nation was fundamentally founded on the Biblical principles of law and political order by men with more than a cursory knowledge of what that means. One of their main concerns was to establish a nation where the practices of faithful Christians could not be brought into question, and the Gospel of Christ could flourish, conquering not only this continent but, indeed, also causing it to spread throughout the world.

But things have changed, have they not? Where is the Gospel and this sort of enthusiasm for it today? No, the Good News no longer occupies a preeminent place in our national conscience. We are no longer guided by the precepts, laws, and commandments of Almighty God, but rather by the many and varied ideas of atheistic humanists. Our nation no longer acknowledges the One, True God, but a pantheon of gods. Just take your pick. Baal, Mammon, Molech, Aphrodites, Jupiter, oh…and Jesus also. They are all there. But there is only one of these gods that you dare not blaspheme. That is the god of the State. The State is supreme and eternal, and will destroy anyone who dares to claim otherwise or defy its claims to deity. Like the vicious leviathan, its appetites are never satiated. It wants all….until all is consumed.

The Lord is jealous for His own Name. He will not permit any pretending competitors for long. As in the days of Israel, His wrath will wax hot. And as it does, what will become of us, and this nation? Will it be added to the rubble of the wannabe empires of antiquity? Perhaps. But wouldn’t this be a sad epilogue to a nation begun on such sound principles? And wouldn’t it be even more of a shame were it to become a shambles while the vast of majority of the population claims to be Christian? What is wrong with this picture? More importantly, what is wrong with us? Have we become ever so comfortable with the many idols of our day? Is there no turning back?

I want to suggest that God has brought us to a day of reckoning. The fundamental question here is really a simple one. Whom will we serve? A man cannot have two masters, Jesus tells us. He will love the one and cleave to Him, or he will despise Him and serve another. Those are the only two choices. We, as a nation have tried to walk the fence for some time now, and the top rail is not only narrowing, it is getting sharp. What are we doing, Who are we going to serve?

We need a rebirth of patriots in this day. But not the sort of patriots that we frequently think of. We need a band of patriots like Jeremiah the prophet, who never shrank from the duty to tell his fellow citizens that they must repent and follow the Lord. He was a man who clearly understood the only answer and cure that would save his failing nation. He knew that there needed to be more than a rearranging of the liturgical chairs on the deck of the sinking ship. As he advocated, all of the sins and corruptions of his fellow citizens needed to be repented of and forsaken. This sort of repentance leads to a dramatic change of life and of the manner in which we “do business” day by day. Are we up to it? By God’s grace I hope so.

So, we are here to celebrate today. We need to remember what a group of faithful men attempted to do some 233 years ago. They wanted to establish a nation in righteousness. They wanted a society that reflected Christ’s grace, righteousness, and justice. Are these goals less attainable today? I think not. Christ is still enthroned in heaven, and continues to rule over the earth.

Let us pray then that, as in the days of the Judges, the Lord will relent and will accept our confessions of sin and grant us repentance. May He send us faithful, wise, and courageous men to help deliver us from the consequences of our disobedience, as He sent Jephthah to the Israelites in that former time. May God help us.

Patriot's Day Sermon

Greeting
It is my privilege today to convey greetings from the fellow believers of my home church south of here in Moscow, Idaho. I am also privileged to be here with you today to not only participate in the activities of the Appleseed shoot, but to worship the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Please stand and pray together with me.

Opening Prayer
Father in heaven, we now come into Your presence with purposeful intent to worship You in truth and Spirit, having our eyes and ears open as only You can do. Receive us we pray, for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, forgive us our sins and trespasses, and cause us to leave this place transformed by Your grace and power, for we ask it in His name. Amen.

Sermon Introduction
Judges 10:6-14

“And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not him. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim. And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, and the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.”

This is perhaps one of the most severe passages in all of the Scriptures. To our contemporary ears it sounds most offensive. It challenges our perception of Who God is. We are used to a God Who comes and grants mercy and grace at our beckoning call and on our terms. This passage teaches us, among other things, that this is not the case. While He is indeed gracious and full of mercies, He grants these mercies on His terms, not ours.

This passage illustrates the principle declared by God in Genesis 6:3 that, “My Spirit will not always strive with man…” Further, the New Testament writer of the letter to the Hebrews declares (confirming the content of Psalm 95) that we are obliged to avoid a similar hardness that the Israelites demonstrated, saying, “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of provocation…” (Hebrews 3:7 ff).

We have a peculiar proclivity to fall into an assumption that the historical past was somehow very different than the present time we live in. We are particularly prone to this when we examine our own nation’s history. For instance, we somehow believe that the colonists who founded this nation somehow had their sustenance just ‘rolling in’ and had leisure to pursue such high goals as independence from the British tyranny. We also have the mistaken notion that the society and culture of the time was almost perfected in purity. While in many ways we can argue that they were superior in their era than we are by comparison in our times, they also had sins and faults of their own.

The first of the citations I want to present to you comes from Samuel Davies. Pastor Davies is significant in one respect because he was Patrick Henry’s pastor as a young man. Davies’ ministry, in a most obvious way, helped shape Henry’s beliefs and character. These excerpts come from a sermon delivered early in the French and Indian War.

“God has distinguished us with a religion from heaven; and hitherto we have enjoyed the quiet and unrestrained exercise of it; he has condescended to be a God to our nation, and to honour our cities with his gracious presence, and the institutions of his worship, the means to make us wise, good, and happy….

“But now the scene is changed; now we begin to experience in our turn the fate of the nations of the earth. Our territories are invaded by the power and perfidy of France; our frontiers ravaged by merciless savages, and our fellow-subjects there murdered with all the horrid arts of Indian and Popish torture…

“These calamities have not come upon us without warning. We were long ago apprised of the ambitious schemes of our enemies, and their motions to carry them into execution; and had we taken timely measures, they might have been crushed before they could have arrived at such a formidable height. But how have we generally behaved in such a critical time? Alas! our country has been sunk in a deep sleep; a stupid security has unmanned the inhabitants: they could not realize a danger at the distance of two or three hundred miles; they would not be persuaded that even French Papists could seriously design us an injury; and hence little or nothing has been done for the defense of our country, in time, except by the compulsion of authority. And now, when the cloud thickens over our heads, and alarms every thoughtful mind with its near approach, multitudes, I am afraid, are still dissolved in careless security, or enervated with an effeminate, cowardly spirit.

“We have also suffered our poor fellow-subjects, in the frontier counties, to fall prey to blood-thirsty savages, without affording them proper assistance, which, as members of the same body politic, they had a right to expect…they are left to shift for themselves.”
(Notice Davies concern that they had failed to love their neighbors by responding to their calamities in a more earnest and timely manner, and his expressed concern about the apathy of the populace. Nothing new here, is there?)

“We and our countrymen are sinners, aggravated sinners: God proclaims that we are such by his judgments now upon us, by withering fields and scanty harvests, by the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war.

“Pass over the land, take a survey of the inhabitants, inspect into their conduct, and what do you see? What do you hear? You see the gigantic forms of vice braving the skies, and bidding defiance to heaven and earth, while religion and virtue are obliged to retire, to avoid public contempt and insult: you see herds of drunkards swilling down their cups, and drowning all the man within them: you hear the swearer venting his fury against God and man, trifling with that name which prostrate angels adore, and imprecating that damnation, under which the hardiest devil in hell trembles and groans: you see Avarice hoarding up her useless treasures, dishonest Craft planning her schemes of unlawful gain, and Oppression unmercifully grinding the face of the poor, you see Prodigality squandering her stores, Luxury spreading her table, and unmanning her guests: Vanity laughing aloud and dissolving in empty, unthinking mirth, regardless of God and our country, or time and eternity; Sensuality wallowing in brutal pleasures, and aspiring, with inverted ambition, to sink as low as her four-footed brethren to the stall: you see cards more in use than the Bible, the backgammon table more frequented than the table of the Lord, plays and romances more read than the history of the blessed Jesus…

“Therefore, my brethren, as we have all rebelled, let us all join in unanimous repentance and a thorough reformation. Not only your eternal salvation requires it, but also the preservation of your country, that is now bleeding with the wounds you have given it by your sins.”

(This is what Davies considered the preeminent problem: rebellion against God. Who is responsible, “them” or “you”? What did he offer as a solution?)

“Dissolve and melt in penitential sorrow at his feet; and he will tell you, “Arise, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you.”

“Then away to Jesus, away to Jesus, ye whose consciences are loaded with guilt; …fly (flee) to Jesus on the wings of faith…”

“…I need not tell you that it is of great importance for this end that you should be at peace with God and your own conscience, and prepared for your future state… A stupid carelessness about our welfare through an immortal duration beyond the grave is very unbecoming a man, or a Christian. The most important periods of our existence, my brethren, lie beyond the grave…”


The second citation comes from Pastor Samuel Langdon.

(Langdon first speaks of the unlawful acts and oppression of the British and the justifiable response of the colonists to aggression.)

“We have lived to see the time when British liberty is just ready to expire; when that constitution of government which has so long been the glory and strength of the English nation, is deeply undermined and ready to tumble into ruins--when America is threatened with cruel oppression, and the arm of power is stretched out against New England, and especially against this colony, to compel us to submit to the arbitrary acts of legislators who are not our representatives, and who will not themselves bear the least part of the burdens which, without mercy, they are laying upon us.

“That we might not have it in our power to refuse the most absolute submission to their unlimited claims of authority, they have not only endeavored to terrify us with fleets and armies sent to our capital, and distressed and put an end to our trade, particularly that important branch of it, the fishery, but at length attempted, by a sudden march of a body of troops in the night, to seize and destroy one of our magazines, formed by the people merely for their own security; if, as after such formidable military preparation on the other side, matters should not be pushed to an extremity. By this, as might well be expected, a skirmish was brought on; and it is most evident, from a variety of concurring circumstances, as well as numerous depositions, both of the prisoners taken by us at that time, and our men then on the spot only as spectators, that the fire began first on the side of the king's troops. At least five or six of our inhabitants were murderously killed by the regulars at Lexington, before any man attempted to return the fire, and when they were actually complying with the command to disperse; and two more of our brethren were likewise killed at Concord Bridge by a fire from the king's soldiers, before the engagement began on our side. But whatever credit falsehoods transmitted to Great Britain from the other side may gain, the matter may be rested entirely on this--that he that arms himself to commit a robbery, and demands the traveler's purse, by the terror of instant death, is the first aggressor, though the other should take the advantage of discharging his pistol first and killing the robber.

“The alarm was sudden; but in a very short time spread far and wide; the nearest neighbors in haste ran together to assist their brethren, and save their country. Not more than three or four hundred met in season, and bravely attacked and repulsed the enemies of liberty, who retreated with great precipitation.

“That ever-memorable day, the nineteenth of April, is the date of an unhappy war openly begun, by the ministers of the king of Great Britain, against his good subjects in this colony, and implicitly against all the colonies. But for what? Because they have made a noble stand for their natural and constitutional rights, in opposition to the machinations of wicked men, who are betraying their royal master, establishing Popery in the British dominions, and aiming to enslave and ruin the whole nation, that they may enrich themselves and their vile dependents with the public treasures, and the spoils of America.”

(Langdon goes on to insist that they had not been rash, indeed they had pursued a peaceable resolve to the problems. The responses by the British had been more vigorous oppressions.)

“We have used our utmost endeavors, by repeated humble petitions and remonstrances--by a series of unanswerable reasonings published from the press, in which the dispute has been fairly stated, and the justice of our opposition clearly demonstrated--and by the mediation of some of the noblest and most faithful friends of the British constitution, who have powerfully pleaded our cause in Parliament--to prevent such measures as may soon reduce the body politic to a miserable, dismembered, dying trunk, though lately the terror of all Europe. But our king, as if impelled by some strange fatality, is resolved to reason with us only by the roar of his cannon, and the pointed arguments of muskets and bayonets. Because we refuse submission to the despotic power of a ministerial Parliament, our own sovereign, to whom we have been always ready to swear true allegiance--whose authority we never meant to cast off--who might have continued happy in cheerful obedience, as faithful subjects as any in his dominions--has given us up to the rage of his ministers, to be seized at sea by the rapacious commanders of every little sloop of war and piratical cutter, and to be plundered and massacred by land by mercenary troops, who know no distinction betwixt an enemy and a brother, between right and wrong; but only, like brutal pursuers, to hunt and seize the prey pointed out by their masters.”

(He remains adamant in his declaration of God’s sovereignty, and insists that sin is what corrupts both governments and people.)

“We must keep our eyes fixed on the supreme government of the ETERNAL KING, as directing all events, setting up or pulling down the kings of the earth at His pleasure, suffering the best forms of human government to degenerate and go to ruin by corruption; or restoring the decayed constitutions of kingdoms and states, by reviving public virtue and religion, and granting the favorable interpositions of His providence. To this our text leads us; and though I hope to be excused on this occasion from a formal discourse on the words in a doctrinal way, yet I must not wholly pass over the religious instruction contained in them.

“Let us consider--that for the sins of a people God may suffer the best government to be corrupted, or entirely dissolved; and that nothing but a general reformation can give ground to hope that the public happiness will be restored, by the recovery of the strength and perfection of the state, and that Divine Providence will interpose to fill every department with wise and good men.

“The Jewish government, according to the original constitution which was divinely established, if considered merely in a civil view, was a perfect republic. The heads of their tribes, and elders of their cities, were their counselors and judges…. Counselors and judges comprehend all the powers of that government, for there was no such thing as legislative authority belonging to it, their complete code of laws being given immediately from God by the hand of Moses. And let them who cry up the divine right of kings consider, that the only form of government which had a proper claim to a divine establishment, was so far from including the idea of a king, that it was a high crime for Israel to ask to be in this respect like other nations; and when they were thus gratified, it was rather as a just punishment of their folly, that they might feel the burdens of court pageantry, of which they were warned by a very striking description, than as a divine recommendation of kingly authority.

“In this chapter (referring to his sermon text from Isaiah) the prophet describes the very corrupt state of Judah in his day, both as to religion and common morality; and looks forward to that increase of wickedness which would bring on their desolation and captivity. [Isaiah said that] they were a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that were corrupters, who had forsaken the Lord; and provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger. The whole body of the nation, from head to foot, was full of moral and political disorders, without any remaining soundness. Their religion was all mere ceremony and hypocrisy; and even the laws of common justice and humanity were disregarded in their public courts. They had counselors and judges, but very different from those at the beginning of the commonwealth. Their princes were rebellious against God, and the constitution of their country, and companions of thieves, giving countenance to every artifice for seizing the property of the subjects in their own hands, and robbing the public treasury. Every one loved gifts, and followed after rewards; they regarded the perquisites more than the duties of their office; the general aim was at profitable places and pensions; they were influenced in every thing by bribery; and their avarice and luxury were never satisfied, but hurried them on to all kinds of oppression and violence, so that they even justified and encouraged the murder of innocent persons to support their lawless power, and increase their wealth. And God, in righteous judgment, left them to run into all this excess of vice to their own destruction, because they had forsaken Him, and were guilty of willful inattention to the most essential parts of that religion which had been given them by a well-attested revelation from heaven.

“By all this we may be led to consider the true cause of the present remarkable troubles which are come upon Great Britain and these colonies; and the only effectual remedy.

“We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of Christianity, though we retain the outward profession and form of it. We have neglected and set light by the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His holy commands and institutions. The worship of many is but mere compliment to the Deity, while their hearts are far from Him.”

(The remedy that Langdon suggests is, of course, to return to the Gospel of Christ.)

“The pretense for taxing America has been that the nation contracted an immense debt for the defense of the American colonies; and that as they are now able to contribute some proportion toward the discharge of this debt, and must be considered as part of the nation, it is reasonable they should be taxed; and the Parliament has a right to tax and govern them in all cases whatever by its own supreme authority. Enough has been already published on this grand controversy, which now threatens a final separation of the colonies from Great Britain…”

“Would not a reverend regard to the authority of divine revelation, a hearty belief of the gospel of the grace of God, and a general reformation of all those vices which bring misery and ruin upon individuals, families, and kingdoms, and which have provoked heaven to bring the nation into such perplexed and dangerous circumstances, be the surest way to recover the sinking state, and make it again rich and flourishing?

“But, alas! Have not the sins of America, and of New England in particular, had a hand in bringing down upon us the righteous judgments of Heaven? Wherefore is all this evil come upon us? Is it not because we have forsaken the Lord? Can we say we are innocent of crimes against God? No, surely; it becomes us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand, that He may exalt us in due time. However unjustly and cruelly we have been treated by man, we certainly deserve, at the hand of God, all the calamities in which we are now involved… Have we not departed from these virtues? Though I hope and am confident that as much true religion, agreeable to the purity and simplicity of the gospel, remains among us as among any people in the world, yet in the midst of the present great apostasy of the nations professing Christianity, have not we likewise been guilty of departing from the living God? Have we not made light of the gospel of salvation, and too much affected the cold, formal, fashionable religion of countries grown old in vice and overspread with infidelity? Do not our follies and iniquities testify against us? Have we not, especially in our seaports, gone much too far into the pride and luxuries of life? Is it not a fact open to common observation that profaneness, intemperance, unchastity, the love of pleasure, fraud, avarice, and other vices, are increasing among us from year to year? And have not even these young governments been in some measure infected with the corruptions of European courts? Has there been no flattery, no bribery, no artifices practiced, to get into places of honor and profit, or carry a vote to serve a particular interest, without regard to right or wrong? Have our statesmen always acted with integrity and every judge with impartiality, in the fear of God?

Our late happy government is changed into the terrors of military execution. Our firm opposition to the establishment of an arbitrary system is called rebellion, and we are to expect no mercy but by yielding property and life at discretion. This we are resolved at all events not to do; and therefore, we have taken arms in our own defense, and all the colonies are united in the great cause of liberty.”

“Let us praise our God for the advantages already given us over the enemies of liberty; particularly, that they have been so dispirited by repeated experience of the efficiency of our arms; and that in the late action at Chelsea, [***] when several hundreds of our soldiery, the greater part open to the fire of so many cannon, swivels, and muskets from a battery advantageously situated, from two armed cutters, and many barges full of marines, and from ships of the line in the harbor, not one man on our side was killed, and but two or three wounded; when, by the best intelligence, a great number were killed and wounded on the other side, and one of their cutters was taken and burned, the other narrowly escaping with great damage.”

So what are we to take with us from these two men? There is a substantial consistency between them, is there not?

First, we should note that all wars and conflicts are inherently religious. By this I mean that when nations and peoples have issues which cannot seemingly be resolved by peaceable means, it is because of irreconcilable differences in fundamental world view concepts. Every man has religious commitments to what he believes to be fundamental, absolute truth, and he holds these as such whether or not he ascribes this to Deity or other sources. Faith commitments are inescapable; it is only a matter of where that faith is placed. Davies’ and Langdon’s recognition of this nature of conflict may not correspond identically circumstantially to our situation today, but it is nonetheless true in principal.

Second, both men declare that sin and rebellion against God is that which undermines and undoes both nations and people. These acts against God may be subtle or overt, but they lead to corruption of both the people and their institutions. The only effective solution to this is repentance and a return to the Gospel of Christ in all of its applications.

Third, both men see the importance of the interdependence of the members of their society. There is a clear understanding that they must take adequate action to preserve not only their own interests, but also those of their neighbors. To avoid this is both disgraceful and immoral. This is a simple application of loving your neighbor as yourself. Complacency is a sinful indifference to the situation of your neighbor.

These men and their compatriots were patient and careful men. They expended tremendous effort in attempting to resolve their difficulties without resorting to armed conflict. More than one historian has referred to them as “reluctant revolutionaries”, a term I am not entirely satisfied with, but one that indicates the sort of character that the Scriptures advocate. They fought the ‘soft’ war for some time before conceding that separation was inevitable.

Both men testify to the fact that they all must place their hope and trust in the hands of a sovereign and almighty God for the outcome of the conflicts. Neither supposes any guaranty of a favorable outcome. They submit to the fact that whatever God does is right. Yet both hold forth a faithful hope for His clemency and the success of their efforts. Both men insisted on looking into the mirror of the Word of God and acknowledging the image that was reflected back to them.

So, friends, how are we doing by comparison? Most of us are here today because we believe we have a stake in the preservation of our nation. And we do. But how will that be accomplished? Do we hear the Word of God and respond to it as it instructs us? Or are we preoccupied with other things; the things that Davies and Langdon spoke against? Our nation is in a downward spiral, and how will it be saved? I submit to you that our nation will be saved only if Christ will save it, and He will only bless those who hear and do. Let us not add further injury to our situation by continuing to harden our hearts. Let us not further anger Him by our disobedience and sins. May we hear His words today, believe, and obey them. May He hear our heartfelt repentance, and answer as only He can, from heaven.

Amen.

Closing Prayer/Benediction
Psalm 20
The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice: Selah. Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfill all thy counsel. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfill all thy petitions. Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. Save, Lord: let the king hear us when we call.

Amen.

Contemporary Commentary 2

Be forewarned…

The following is a species of contrarian thinking and argumentation. If this sort of thing bothers you, it is probably better if you elect to simply pass it by. If not, you may want to grab a bottle of antacid or simply take a look and enjoy, depending on your disposition.

Over the weekend, one of our friends sent us information that the Idaho State legislature has passed, and the Governor has signed, “a bill to license and regulate Certified Professional Midwives…”. Ok, fine. But my question is why are we rejoicing over this?

Let me offer an explanation of my disenchantment with this whole business.

First of all, you can mark me as one who is more than slightly dissatisfied with the medical establishment as it exists today. For example, if we were still having babies and determined with sound counsel that there were no acute health problems involved, we would choose a midwife to assist us in a home birth. Our selection of a midwife would be based on character, skill, reputation, compassion, and other similar criteria. It would have nothing at all to do with whether she had the approval of the state. Licensure by the state has nearly nothing to do with the competency of the practitioner. If it did, our present system would not be the dysfunctional mess that it is. Has licensing of medical practitioners stopped all malpractice? No. Is it likely to do so? No. Why do medical doctors have to carry very expensive malpractice insurance if such licensing has created the degree of safety that the proponents of such systems claim?

What other areas of such state based certification have produced the positive results claimed? Have licenses to operate motor vehicles eliminated the problems of drunken driving, carelessness, or road rage? Has contractor licensing eliminated shoddy and sub-standard housing? Has the licensing of firearms dealers eliminated even one murder? Why in the world, then, would we rejoice over subjecting another honorable and historically durable practice under the supervision and regulation of the state? When does the licensing and regulation of drawing life giving breath begin? Will we be more safe and secure when it is implemented? Have we become so dependant on, and bought into, the “security” offered by the idol-state that we can’t see our way out of the forest any more? God forbid!

Some may want to argue that this is an incremental improvement over the situation where the practice of midwifery was considered criminal. Well, perhaps. But only in a small degree. Consider what has been given up in the transaction. Remember, the state may now, by virtue of this legislation, regulate the practice of midwifery. Do you think that claim innocuous? Think again.

Also, consider our track record on our supposed “advancements” utilizing incrementalist notions. The debate over abortion has devolved to an argument over stem cell research and “partial birth” abortions, not the criminalization of these murderous practices. The dialogue about sodomy has devolved into a battle over whether perverts can “marry”, not whether sodomy is a punishable, criminal action. Folks rejoice over the fact that they are now allowed, by permission of the state, to exercise their right to carry a firearm to protect themselves, all the while providing the state with an almost fool proof means to determine who possesses such items whenever they deem it necessary to revoke that “privilege”. Where, in all of this, is the victory? I am not denouncing incrementalism per se here. I would simply challenge us to consider which direction the benefit of these transactions has actually gone. I do, however, denounce our inherent dependence on the state for such things. We need a new way of thinking.

Is God everything He declares in the Bible? If so, then we need to develop (or perhaps more correctly, redevelop) a way of thinking and life practice that indicates that we do, in fact, believe His declarations.

Confederate Commentary 1

In his biography of Stonewall Jackson, R. L. Dabney takes every opportunity to commend the devout character of his subject. Here is but one example, among the many, that provides some insight into the Christian faith of General Jackson.

“Thus his soul dwelt habitually upon the plain and familiar promises of Gospel blessings, with a simplicity of faith like that of the little child. He did not entertain his mind with theological refinements and pretended profundities or novelties; but fed it with those known truths which are the common nourishment of all God’s people, wise and simple, and which are, therefore, the greatest truths of redemption. The eminence of his Christian character was not in that he affected to see doctrines unknown or recondite to others; but in this: that he embraced the doctrines common to all, with a faith so entire and prevalent. This character of his religion often suggested to those less spiritually minded than himself the opinion, that his was a common-place understanding. They forgot that it is by receiving the kingdom of God as a little child that we must enter therein. When they met Jackson in council or in action, in his own profession, they soon learned their mistake, and recognized in him the original force and power of true greatness.”

The words of the apostle Paul confirm this to us.

“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (II Corinthians 11:3-4)

This appears to be the sort of simplicity and humility we should emulate if we wish to be faithful in God’s kingdom.

Contemporary Commentary

I really have done my best to refrain in making comments about our current political/economic circumstances. There are a number of reasons for this, amongst them the admonition of my mother that, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything.” This contains some wisdom, but it is limited. Some folks, like me, have to labor with great difficulty and practice in order to learn to say smooth things that others will even give a moment’s notice to. It is also very difficult to predict future events with any reliability and the moment one steps into that arena, there is always a crowd gathering rocks to throw.

Oh, well.

It is relatively safe to note that our current economic and political system is in the midst revolutionary convulsions. This was not brought on by the election of Obama, though he and his cohorts have added immensely to it. They are really reinvigorating the failed policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and darn proud of it at that.

But, regardless of your particular party affiliation, we have to admit that Obama hasn’t caused this malaise. This is a problem that has been brewing for a hundred years or more, and the fermentation has finally matured. Those from the other political party have done little or nothing to even retard the continual advancement of “progressive” policies. Regardless of who was elected this past November, we would still be in the position of having the arsons in control of fighting the fire.

We are now in a situation where the economic tailspin is obvious and, depending on where you live, that tailspin is steeper than others might be experiencing. Folks we know are loosing their jobs and their ability to earn a livelihood. While we may observe that the media moguls might be exaggerating this to some extent, the problem does really exist. Add to this problem, as if this is not enough, the fact that the reintroduction of the political “hair of the dog” policies will only exacerbate everything. We need some strong medicine in the way of correctives, but are quite unwilling to take it. Who really thinks the patient will miraculously improve without treating the disease?

Here are a few observations and suggestions.

First, we Christians seem to believe that all of this has been done to us by “them”, whoever “they” are. Surely there are those who have been active and instrumental in making a perfect mess of things. But why have they been successful? Are they really so powerful that they can do whatever they wish when they want? Are there really more of “them” than “us”? If we look at this on the basis of demographics, this doesn’t actually seem to be the case. Or, could it be that we have been sufficiently complacent and lethargic to encourage them in their profligacy? Could it be that “they” are merely reflecting back to “us” our image, and suddenly we don’t like what we see in the mirror? Or, worse yet, do we now believe that nothing can be done to change ourselves so that that image is altered in a positive way? Have we sufficiently compromised with our own vices that unbelief has become a normative part of our day to day living? Have we, like Adam, become experts at blame shifting? I think this is likely.

If this hypothesis is correct, then it would necessarily follow that we are under the hand of God in judgment. If we have offended Him by our unfaithfulness and unbelief then all of this is explainable, even to a ten year old. If this is true, then we already know what the corrective is. The only question is whether we will take it.

I would argue that we need to repent vigorously, down to the bone. We need to ask ourselves which lies and sins we have bought into and accepted. We need to ask God to convict us by the power of His Spirit so that we really understand that, in a fundamental manner, “we” are at the center of the problem. Has there ever been a case in history where the condition of the civil culture has exceeded the degree of righteousness and fidelity displayed by the Church of God? I haven’t found any such example.

What does repentance like this look like? First, I would argue that as faithful Christians we need to learn to say “No”. And one of the first places we should exercise this is in refusing to accept the benefits offered by the totalitarians we say we oppose. I am amazed by the number of professing Christians who, when real difficulties arise, believe that their first recourse is to go beg for help at the door of the idolatrous State. And, of course, the priests of that Baal are more than willing to “help”. It makes them feel good as they steal from your neighbor to assist you in your time of need.

Why are our churches so inadequately organized to respond to situations like this? Is it possible that we were so intoxicated by our material prosperity that we refused to assess the “signs of the times”. Could be. We seem to have thought that the carnival ride would go on forever. We thunderously denounced those who warned us repeatedly that something like this was bound to happen, simply because we didn’t believe it could happen here or, alternately, because the forecasters couldn’t give us the exact hour and day when it would occur. Well, it’s here now.

We need to take a serious look at how our church communities are organized in order to support those in our midst who really do need assistance. It is, of course, much simpler to suggest this than to map out the particulars of how this is to be accomplished. There is no excuse, however, for neglecting to do this just because all of the answers are not simple ones. We need a healthy dose of doing the “one anothers” and not a mere acknowledgement that such commands exist.

What I have suggested so far is a small beginning. There is much, much more that needs to be discussed and, more importantly, done. I, for one, believe that the ongoing developments in our society will require us to rethink a bunch of stuff but, more than that, it appears to me that the Lord is requiring us to do so.

Predator Hostile

Some things we stumble across just seem to defy reality. Such is the case with an article contained in the January/February issue of Hobby Farms, a periodical dedicated to helping small farm and livestock producers. In an article concerning various options for certification of small farm products, there was one that caught our eye. A classification we had never encountered before was listed in the sidebar on page 82. It is known as “Predator Friendly”. The text goes on to explain this as those who have “…made a commitment not to allow any lethal control (shooting, trapping, poisoning) to protect their sheep and cattle from native predators…”

Now we know that we are, and have been, living in a strange time among even stranger people. Excuse our simplicity, but it is just hard to imagine a faithful shepherd allowing the wolves or coyotes to ravage his lambs. It appears that such folks have not only taken leave of their natural compassion, but also lack the capability to understand basic business skills such as adding and subtracting whole numbers. And, they apparently expect their customers to subsidize their novel silliness on this.

We are giving serious thought to initiating a counter classification. Maybe we should call it something like “Predator Hostile” or, better yet, “Faithful Shepherds”.

We’ll keep you informed.