Then along came Jesus!
Roman society was much as it was in the days of Noah before the world was baptized of evil. This time it was not just water which cleansed the earth, but water and the blood. For those who don't know it, the days of Noah are the standard of evil as presented in scripture. All that we need to do is look at Rome, and we realize the evil of Noah's time.
How evil are we now? We are as barbaric as Rome. Although, they were more civilized than Noah's world, civilization in Roman times was just more organized evil. Rather than chaos, evil had become institutionalized.
The world is all barbaric in this sense. We have organized evil. Indeed, governments all over were founded on evil but most with good intentions. Unlike much of the world, God was gracious to America. Our very existence, although not founded on righteousness, was founded on right thinking. Democracy and republicanism are not God's divine will, but if done fairly, are a fine habitat for God to be worshiped. Ironically, both democracy and republicanism were founded more on pagan concepts, but pious Americans used that platform to plant the Christian religion in America. It didn't turn away lesser denominations but welcomed them in. It had very little to do with pagan religions because at that time they were not part in the sphere of influence.
However, even deists and atheists were welcome, and lived by Christian rules. America was founded upon a hidden principle - fairness. Fairness is for some an individual construct, but for others, a community. Our Constitution was written for the community. Things as the electoral college made our rules more fair. States rights was fairness in action. Federalism was akin to the monarchy and avoided at all costs. In fact, the weak federalists of the time would be considered democrats of today!
We have nearly returned to the days of Noah. We are "civil barbarians". That expression is an impossibility but America has two natures: We behave as barbarians but it is done in an orderly fashion. Who would have thought in 1776 that individuals were risking their lives such that their seed could be destroyed centuries later? Who would have thought that patriots were dying so that men could have sex with men, and women with women? Who would have known that the weapon which created freedom would be attacked by those who fail to cherish liberty? Who would have known that blood was shed for this country so that unmotivated people could leach off society? Who would have rode through the night in alarm so that the country would still be run by despots? Who would have fired the first shot at Lexington against taxation if they had known that America would tax its citizens to death?
When Patrick Henry said, "Give me liberty or give me death!" who would have thought liberty would be eroded to the point that patriots would prefer death? Most of those patriots were wealthy landowners who risked the sweat of their brow for a civilization free of coercion. Now, those hard workers are the object of coercion so that even one objector, coerces all others. Of this, I am referring to the track toward atheism in America - the killing of liberty!
Who would have thought that poor farmers would have enlisted in their militias so that America would become the Prozac nation - or even thought of meth and heroin? If the founders had been smoking marijuana, they would have been burnouts rather than thinkers. Now, even our leaders encourage self-destruction and malaise! America is on the decline, and God sheds tears for us? We are corporately, his prodigal children. We live for pleasure, and that is what will destroy us! We are now effectually the other tree - the one with the forbidden fruit. Noah would be building an ark right now if he were alive but alas, it is not God's water which is destroying us but millions of little gods each with colliding worlds which each individual rules as if they are a king or queen.
Rather than America being a melting pot, it is more of a stink pot as more and more people do what is right in their own eyes, as they return to barbarism as in the days before kings. Ironically, liberty can destroy if there are not firm rules which protect others. The quest for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" was the reason for independence, but America has become a dependent society. It's purpose in practice is the pursuit of pleasure, but pleasure is not why men fought!
I was speaking to an older gentlemen this week. He was stooped from hard work, and wisdom could be seen in his face. He was part of the depression era and realized how great our wealth has become since people begged for a dime for a cup of coffee. Poverty is a great motivation for success! This man is successful. He has a modest home, an old car, a loving family and happiness. He doesn't have much but he is wealthy because his prosperity is contentment.
In his eyes, Americans are discontents. He didn't say that, but it was clear what he meant. He said to me, "Maybe we should just give up!" He was basically saying, let them do what is right in their own eyes. His suggestion was that we just allow the people to return to their barbarian beginnings. As a Christian, he knows that in the end of times, it will again be as in the days of Noah. Shall we just accept that? Should we just give up?
One of my favorite expressions is, what would Jesus do? Would Jesus give up? Jesus never did that! Oh, he said "give to Caesar what is Caesar's" but he never suggested to give in to Caesar. He declined giving into the world. Doing as the world does is living in the flesh. We are to submit the flesh for crucifixion. We are to put the pleasures of the world on a cross for cleansing as Jesus did. Rather than destruction by water as in the days of Noah, Roman society was cleansed by Jesus... for a time until it again returned to the days of Noah. Rome is dead. It died a slow death because of pleasure. The Romans did what they wanted to do. They ate of the forbidden tree, and they certainly died. We are Rome. We are dying!
Rather than merely what we want, we should want God's will. What is it that God wants from us? Our love! Not only love for Him but for others. How much love can you see for God out there? How much love do you see for others? I'm not speaking of drinking buddies or pot gatherings but brotherly love. If we love others, we want their soul to rest in eternal living, not for just this life. "Progressives" want what they desire; Christians what is right! "Rightness" is not dynamic. God's Law is eternal and immutable and there for a reason - to foster love and avoid divine catastrophe. It keeps us from killing ourselves - the very core of the Abrahamic Covenant.
I will never give up on me, and never give up on my fellow man. I arose from bed this morning to lecture my readers because I can't give up! God won't either. There are just eight people who were righteous and God saved them from peril in the flood. If there were just ten people found, Sodom and Gomorrah would have been spared! God doesn't give up.
We are we now?
Genesis 18:10 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous...This can as easily be said, because "America's sin is very great!" And we are the "civilized" ones even though we murder our unborn children and elderly with impunity. Impunity is the "civilized barbarism" in which we live.
Like Martin Luther King had a dream, God does too. He knows the future of the dream but with his patience, he dreams it anyhow. His dream is that his children love Him. That is His expectation. That love is demonstrated by obedience, and to God's dismay, His children are prodigal, and far from obedient. The kingdom of God, His Church, even leads the disobedience, and crucify Him day after day after day!
What is it that we must do? Don't give up! Before God gives up, the gospel must be heard by all.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.We teach them that they might be safe, and put them on the Ark with Noah, not so that the end shall come. I got up at 3:00 A.M. so that I could share this with America. My readership is now more the nations rather than America. France leads among my readers of other nations. They too have sought freedom and liberty but tried it without God. It has failed many times, and continues to fail. I ask of the French people, the Russians, the Ukrainians, and even the Chinese who read this: Don't give up!
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