ON RESISTING THE GOVERNMENT

  I aroused the ire of friends who did not like my exclamation about Joe Biden, “Not My President.” To be truthful, it is God’s Will that Biden became President even by ill-begotten means. There is a purpose for that, and I believe, it is for “The Great Reset.” It is the time for the global government to be reset — what the Bible calls, “The Great Tribulation.”

  When that time arrives, the allegiance of Christians will be tested; just who is the Authority in your life?

  Scripture says, “And he (the Antichrist) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev 13”16-17). Those who decline the “mark of the beast” are in for Great Tribulation, to wit: 

I (John) saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand year. (Rev 20:4).

  Should Christians honor and respect those in authority? Yes, but there is a limit. The Antichrist proclaims himself “God” just as Jesus did. Rather than Satan hanging by the neck a second time, it will be Christians beheaded. He will not behead those who acquiesce but those who resist his authority. Beheading is persecution and there is a reward for that: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my (Jesus’s) sake” (Mat 5:11).

  “Blessed” is blissed by Jesus. It is glorification. It is Heaven!

  If anyone defies antichristian authority, that Christian shall be blessed. Peter defied authority. He cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. Peter was crucified upside down, but not by those that he rejected. He was crucified by the likes of Nero.

  Emperor Nero Caesar burned Rome down and blamed it on the Christians. Now The Great Reset is burning down America, and it is blamed on the Christians. Nero was an antichrist, and Mr. Biden is as well. Both got where they were by the deaths of innocents. Perhaps, the reader can see why Mr. Biden is not my president!

  Just as the unrepentant are of their father the Devil, Nero and Biden, neither of whom have repented, are sons of the Devil. As sons of the Wicked One, it is wickedness they seek. The utmost wickedness is philargyria (1 Tim 6:10; “avarice”). Avarice is not just money, but things money can buy. Money has no intrinsic value but power, esteem, Epicureanism, and such do have great value. Follow the money trail to identify corruption is the natural thing to do.

  The Devil is his own “god.” Children of the Devil are their own “gods.” It is pragmatic to obey those who can kill your body, but the greatest pragmatism is obeying the One who can do more — “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mat 10:28).

  As can be seen from Job 1-2, Satan can harm the body. He caused boils to appear on Job. If he had had little faith, Job could have been killed. On the other hand, God is the One who can destroy both the body and the soul. God joined them together at the Creation, and only God can put them asunder at the Re-creation. With that understanding, care must be taken for whom Christians obey.

  Nero was Caesar because it was God’s Will that he be. Likewise, Biden is President because he was ordained to be:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.  (Rom 13:1-2)

  Satan is the author of chaos. God ordains leaders to maintain order. God knows the evil ways of men, and most often it takes evil men to control how much evil is allowed. Before he was executed, the dictator Saddam Hussein warned that it takes brutality to control fanatic people (paraphrased). He warned that America would find out the difficulty in doing that.

  In his interview with Dan Rather, Hussein stated, “If there is a law in world says that the stronger one gets their way it means surrender to ‘the law of the jungle’! and we do not surrender to ‘the law of the jungle.’ It is our duty to defend our country, so we will not to surrender not to America, not to anybody else.”  Hussein meant the terrorists in his own country as well as America. His job was to control the zealots of his own country, and America who was tearing down the organization and control that he had over such extremists.

  America, commencing with the “summer of love” in Portland surrendered to the law of the jungle, and soon all America had. No one, but conservatives and Christians, resisted the law of the jungle; most everyone else acquiesced to it. As scripture says about the law of the jungle, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Jud 17:6).

  America had one in authority, but the “men and women of the jungle” — Antifa and BLM — rejected his authority and chaos ensued. Satan showed that he is the “Prince of the Power of the Air” (Ephes 2:2) as the media both influenced and controlled the narrative that raged the fire. The devils in power even used the cunning of the Serpent: There is no chaos; it is a myth (paraphrasing Gerald Nadler). The truth is that the chaos in the cities was never a myth but a Democrat bond-fire to diminish President Trump who was also ordained by God.

  Donald Trump was ordained to be president to reveal the depth of the Deep State. Now, all but the most naïve, are aware just how evil our authorities have been and now are. Just as Satan is the pretender to God’s throne, Biden is the pretender to the throne belonging to Mr. Trump. For a while, Satan will enjoy his authority as king-in-waiting and Biden his doomed presidency. God’s Plan, if His Will be done, is that Christians reject this evil regime, and turn to Him again. The burden is on Americans; will we accept or reject such evil authority?

  Christians are to reject authority by peaceful means just as Peter and the other apostles did under Roman rule. Nero was not their “Caesar,” God was! They obeyed God and preached the gospel to Latins without regard to the authority of Caesar. They were destroyed by those in authority, but God preserved their living souls for a better world.

  The Word of God is the “Sword” that they used (Ephes 6:17). With that method ordained by God to defend His Name, I too use the Word of God as my Sword! Never would I be zealous enough to cut off the ear of any servant, but I will use the Word of God to circumcise hardened hearts!

  Jesus was challenged by the chief priests and scribes, “Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority” (Luke 20:2)? Of course, God the Father authorized His Son to do those things. Jesus had the authority in things that were God’s. Empires belong to God. God has authority over all things… even Caesars. He is the “King of kings,” not Caesar who claimed to be.

  Jesus was questioned, “Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no” (Luke 20:22)? After a “penny” was pulled from the mouth of a fish to pay their taxes, they saw whose picture was on the coin. It was Caesar’s image, not God’s. Jesus then admonished them to, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's” (Luke 22:25).

  Taxes belong to Caesar. Christians should pay taxes for the good of the empire. That is pragmatic. Everyone who is blessed with a home and country owe something for that order. One problem is that Caesar lived a royal lifestyle. Those taxes did not really belong to Caesar but to the people. Jesus was coyly diminishing Caesar and the hearers never caught on.

  There are two types of taxation: governmental (Caesar’s) and ecclesiastical (religious). The second is called “tithing.” The Levitical priesthood were the authorities to which Jews paid tithes. It was required and was based on ability to pay. The tithes were paid with things that God had provided: animals of different kinds and grains. Often those without tithes would buy grains or animals for the tithe. That money was for the support of the priests and their cities. The poor lived by hard work and charity; that being love offerings.

  Jesus was challenged by the Chief Priests who themselves lived a royal lifestyle. He coyly admonished them to give unto God what was God’s and not to be usurers of what belonged to others. He demonstrated against the Chief Authorities by not giving them anything but giving Caesar his usury. That was not to ordain taxation, but to correct the usury of the Chief Priests. They knew what Jesus was taking about, and now you know!

  What would the Chief Priests do with the taxes paid by the religious groups? They misused the tithes. They paid Judas thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus. They gave to Satan who was in Judas (John 13:27) money that belonged to God. Jesus set a trap for their hypocrisy. They had set a trap for him, but they fell into their own trap!

  Right after the encounter with Jesus, what did the Chief Priests do? They paid money to Judas to betray his Friend (Luke 22:5) and for the love of money. Jesus was not directly supporting unfair taxation but was condemning things the priests would do with God’s money. He was pointing out their plot to kill “what” was God’s; and that is Jesus, the Son of God. They would pay Satan to do their dirty work, and rather than give God what was His, they would take Him away from God. If anyone thinks that Jesus was just talking about taxation, they missed the entire point made by Jesus.

  Certainly, though, it is wise to pay taxes… fair taxes. Not taxes to benefit Caesar but to benefit order and to have a nation not like a jungle. Caesar was ordained to establish order because like Saddam Hussein. He knew that evil people are like jungle beasts. Jesus could control but did not come for that purpose. Neither did He come to save them from Caesar who could kill the body, but themselves, who ultimately kill their own bodies and souls through sin.

  Jesus relied on Caesar to maintain order, even by cruel means, because disorder is of Satan. What if there had been no Caesars? Each person would have done what was right in his own eyes, and Judea would have fell to Satan. The “Caesars” preserved Israel until 1948 when the Jews finally got their country back.

  Is Biden your authority? If you are a Christian, you will do what God wills and that you do without regard to President Biden. Whose will is abortion? Not God’s! Whose will is same-sex marriage? Not God’s! Whose will is godless socialism? Not God’s! Whose will is border chaos? Not God’s! Whose will is tearing down statues? Not God’s! He topples them Himself as he did with the god, Dagon.

  Just what do Christians owe the new Caesar? Respect? Not any more than the temple merchants who sold out the Temple. We owe Biden only taxation and what little order he brings.

  But Biden does not bring order, but disorder. The Great Reset are the “fallen bricks” of Isaiah 9:10, and socialism is arrogant socialists who claim to “Build Back Better,” indubitably with hewn stones worked by the hands of capitalists to make “monuments” to socialists.

  What, then, should Christians do? We must desist and resist.,” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jas 4:7). To resist socialism and the chaos in the aftermath of the election requires those two things: (1) Submit entirely to God, and not to those in charge of governmental affairs, and (2) resist the Devil.

  Resisting the Devil is resisting the sons of the Devil (John 8:44). Resisting evil is not a bad thing! Christians will resist the Devil when he comes for them in the Apocalypse and must resist his emissaries at the present time.

  Remembering that Jesus could have caused the whole lot to perish with one thought, what Peter tried himself was foolishness. The vengeance belonged to Jesus, but Peter made himself “God” by taking out vengeance on a servant of all people.

  Biden is a servant of Satan. Most of the Democrat officials and bureaucrats are servants of Satan. Many Republicans and those who claim to be Christians are servants of Satan. They do what Satan wills.

  Satan cannot be killed by cutting off the ear of Biden, but resisting the Devil who, after being slashed with the “Sword” of the Word, will flee from you.

  Christians can get away from Biden and Satan by being nearer to God. To use our money for vengeance is wrong. Give to God what is His and He will take care of you, “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Pet 5:7).

(picture credit: Department of the Humanities, Macquarie University)