“…abide in my word.”  John 8:31

If Wm. B. Yeats didn’t see the cure, God certainly does in his Word! We cannot change society single-handedly, but we can live by God’s Word in our individual lives.

We can engage in the following actions—

(1) We can pray.

I have come to love the poem, “I Still Have Prayer.”

O give me, Lord, a task to do
And strength to walk and be true,
Someone to love me, someone to love;
This I ask of the Lord above.

Children whose lives will glorify
The Lord of glory ere I die.
A church that ever faithful stands
Midst an alien world’s demands.

And having these, I have my share –
But if none, I still have prayer.
And having these, I have my share –
But having none, I still have prayer.

(See “I Still have Prayer” below)

Hebrews 4 gives us this option clearly—

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(2) We can vote.

We still have a ballot available to us. We can and must vote to maintain our freedom. Abraham Kuyper (1827-1920; pictured to the left), Dutch theologian and prime minister of the Netherlands (1901-1905) warns—

And yet [John Calvin] does not hesitate to state, in an ideal sense, that the most desirable conditions exist [in regard to government], where the people itself chooses its own magistrates (see “Civil Magistrates” below for a definition).

Where such a condition exists [Calvin] thinks that the people should gratefully recognize therein a favor of God, precisely as it has been expressed in the preamble of more than one of [our] constitutions;—”Grateful to almighty God that He gave us the power to choose our own magistrates.”

John Calvin pictured to the left.

In his Commentary on Samuel, Calvin therefore admonishes such peoples—

“And you, O peoples, to whom God gave the liberty to choose your own magistrates, see to it, that you do not forfeit this favor, by electing to the positions of highest honor, rascals and enemies of God” (see “Abraham Kuyper” below; emphasis mine).

We have the responsibility to vote for those we believe to be qualified to govern us using Biblical principles so dear to Western Civilization. That responsibility is not to political parties, or the lesser of two evils, but to conscience in this matter.

(3) We can act within the sphere God has assigned to us!

We are parents, and we can teach our children, grandchildren, and those with whom we are friends.

Our part is limited. We are but one person and must act as an individual.

After the devastation of Hiroshima by the Atom Bomb, a medical doctor emerged from a surviving building on the outskirts of town. He saw the carnage and the suffering. He asked himself, “What can one man do amid so much horror?”

As he slowly walked further into the smoke, he suddenly tripped over something. Looking down, he saw a person and heard groans of pain.

A thought occurred to him. “Why not start where you are and work your way out as far as you can as long as you can.” (Our Daily Bread reading).

The thought that occurred to the doctor is not bad advice for us as we see chaos all around us threatening our freedom and wonder what we can do. We can always perform the actions mentioned above: (1) Pray, (2) vote, and (3) act in our sphere.

The rest we must leave to God!

Notes

Civil Magistrate. “In ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judicial and executive powers.” Accessed 18 September 2018 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magistrate
N.B. A Magistrate is not a judge in traffic court in Kuperian thought. He refers to government officials elected by the populus. 

ESV. (2016). All Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version accessed 17 September 2018 from https://www.biblegateway.com

I Still Have Prayer. (2015). Accessed 12 September 2018 from https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/we-still-have-prayer

Kuyper, Abraham. (1898). Lectures on Calvinism. Kindle Edition. Accessed 15 September 2018 from https://www.monergism.com/lectures-calvinism-ebook N.B. This is a presentation of a full-orbed world and life view born from the writings of John Calvin. It is not a defense of the Five Points that came out of the Dutch Reformation later. It is available free of charge from at https://www.monergism.com/

© 2018 C. Richard Barbare All Rights Reserved

“…abide in my word.”  John 8:31

We are familiar with the first part of the “motto” of the French Revolution: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” However, the last phrase is often omitted in our politically correct age—”or Death!” 

Life in  a Culture of Death

God says in Proverbs 8—

35 For whoever finds [wisdom] finds life
and obtains favor from the Lord,
36 but he who fails to find [wisdom] injures himself;
all who hate [wisdom] love death.

Job 28:28 clarifies what wisdom is—

And he said to man,
“Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.”

The current climate in Western Civilization is a culture of death. Suicides are rampant as people lose hope. Human life is cheap on the streets of our once great cities. What are we to do who are committed to Christian principles of life as outlined in Holy Scripture? 

The Battle is Titanic! 

We are witnessing the death, not of God, but of secular humanism itself. The “revolution” and its activists are intent on destroying Western Civilization with the misconception all must be destroyed for a new world order to emerge. (see “Rushdooney” below)

As Christians we must not lose hope. Our hope is always in the Lord! 

We Wage War on Jesus’ Terms

Remember, we cannot act on a public stage and physically oppose the enemy, as the opposition to Christianity often does. We must do what we do in our own sphere using Christ’s resources provided to us. We have greater weapons than the opponents of Christianity! God’s Word makes this abundantly clear—

II Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ… . [see “ESV below; emphasis mine]

We have powerful weapons: the Blood of Christ, our testimony to Christ’s finished work, and our unswerving commitment to Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the face of all opposition. 

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. [see “ESV below]

Above is Gustave Doré’s depiction of the truth presented in Revelation 12, the casting of our enemy and his cohorts from heaven. This occurred as a result of Jesus’s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead! 

We have the testimony to the truth of the Gospel of Christ! Let us use this Gospel and our testimony to it as our weapon. 

Notes

ESV. (2016). All Ascripture quotations are from the English Standard Version accessed 17 September 2018 from https://www.biblegateway.com

Rushdoony, R. J. (2013). “The Death of an Age and Its Faith.” Accessed 15 September 2018 https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/the-death-of-an-age-and-its-faith

© 2018 C. Richard Barbare All Rights Reserved