Political Awareness in a Corrupt Society

When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Psalm 11:4

Over the past 60 years the foundations upon which this great nation has been built have been insidiously chipped away by ideological demagogy. A demagogue is a political leader who gains power by appealing to people’s emotions and prejudices rather than their rationality. This has not been the result of partisan politics, but the aim of those with higher aspirations than the parochialism of party politics. The foundation of the home is being decayed by same sex marriage and 50% divorce rates, the latter being facilitated by state laws that assign “no fault” to either person in the dissolution of their marriage. Education is a foundational principle of any civilized society that was established initially to teach children to read, and specifically provide them with the ability to read the Bible. Later the first colleges were established to train ministers of the Gospel. The Word of God and any mention of Him have been banned or discouraged from all public education. The Church has been the foundation of life since Abel first worship in God’s prescribed manner. Since then it has been attacked by every force that Satan has ever thrown up against it, but it has continued to exist, at times only as a flicker of a hot coal in deep darkness, and at other times as a blinding glow of penetrating light. Theological liberalism, denying the deity of Christ, the inerrancy of the Bible, hell, the bodily resurrection of Christ and many other basic Christian truths, gradually crept into the American church in the 1920s from Europe. Evangelical Christianity that arose in opposition to that heresy is now itself being eroded by false teachers. Government of and by the people was the democratic foundation upon which our republic was constructed; the US Constitution being the blueprint. The nation of Israel was blessed by the men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do. (1 Chronicles 12:32) Do we have enough people like that in the true church today who can advise leaders in local, state and federal governments about the eroding of our basic foundations? Again I will ask what the psalmist asked 3000 years ago, When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? Our clergy are not permitted to become politically active from the pulpit, for fear of the church losing its tax exempt status. However, lay persons can and should become involved, and not just at the ballot box. We need to keep our fingers on the pulse of the political environment. Karl Marx wrote is his 19^th Century work, Das Kapital, that the only way to produce a socialistic society is to have a central government take over the economic system (accomplished by the Federal reserve Act in1913), the energy supply (the goal of cap and trade legislation and oil drilling bans), the transportation industry (railroads are government owned as is a portion of General Motors), the Federal Aviation Commission controls the airlines and also the delivery of healthcare. That last nail in the coffin of free society was pounded in this past year with the passage of a new Health Care legislation. Karl Marx laid the groundwork for new foundations and corrupt men and women have built upon them.

Grace

Grace is the unmeritable favor of God and it is offered to us in four distinct yet highly important varieties; common, saving, sustaining and dying grace

Common grace: The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. (Psalm 145:9) Being a loving God He sees to it that basic needs are met for all of His living creatures: plants, animals and humans. Jesus reassured His followers of that when He said Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. (Matthew 6:25-29) In His sermon on the mount Jesus assured the listeners that God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45b) The sun supplies energy to the Earth and keeps us oriented to time as it determines the length of our days.

Saving grace:  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) The apostle Paul has taught us that God has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. (2 Timothy 1:9)

Sustaining grace: Life is full of adversity; financial, physical, emotional and relational problems galore. Jesus warned us of that when He stated quite candidly, In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.  (John 16:33) He overcomes our problems, enables us to live above them yet in them through His infinite, sustaining grace. He assured the apostle Paul of this very thing when He said, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Dying grace: Each of us has, at one time or another, experienced the first three types of grace just described: Every one of us will one day also experience the latter. King Solomon wisely noted…death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:2)  God has promised over and over in His Word that He will never leave us of forsake us. That is also going to be true as we recline on our deathbed. David was comforted by that fact and shared it with us. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)