No King But King Jesus!
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.-“ II Chronicles 7:14
by Bob Shillingstad
If you are a Christian and a conservative who’s trying to raise your children or grandchildren to respect traditional values and freedoms endowed to us by a sovereign God, it seems an impossible task. We seem to be outnumbered and as we said in our last column, the Left has been successful in the “long march” to control education, the media, entertainment, the courts and to a certain extent, the churches. It is easy to feel discouraged and outnumbered, with no future and many Christians have given up and are waiting for the Rapture!
As we approach our nation’s birthday on July 4th, it is a good reminder of what our founders went through. We were a nation of about 3 million and a colony of the most powerful nation on earth. We were dependent upon a king who wielded much power and was also the titular head of the Church of England.
All of this started to unravel as Jonathon Edwards, John & Charles Wesley and George Whitfield began an “awakening” that led to a revival across the colonies. The printing of Scripture rapidly increased in the 200 years prior to this and as scholars studied the Biblical texts, they realized that man was meant to be free and had God-given basic rights. The pastors of many churches led the way by expounding on these rights and standing firm against unjust laws.
These were not popular ideas with everyone and historians have said that only about a third of the colonists were supportive of the revolution. Another third were “Tories” or loyal to King George. Another third didn’t really care and just wanted to live their own lives. Out of the first third (about one million of the colonists that supported the ideas of the revolution,) only about 18% actively gave any support of the effort and fewer than 4% fought in the army.
Again, they were going against the world’s most powerful nation; one with a vastly superior army and navy that was very experienced and well equipped. The colonists’ only hope was that they were in the will of a sovereign God who would lead them to victory. Painting of the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga on MAY 10, 1775. This shows Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys demanding the surrender of the British forces at the fort. H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images
On the 10th of May, 1775, Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys surprised the British at Fort Ticonderoga. What was most astonishing was that the front gate was open and unguarded! When Allen pounded on the door of the fort’s commander and demanded they “Deliver this fort instantly!” the commander answered, “By whose authority?” Allen was 6’4” and a giant of a man who thundered back, “In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress”! The rallying cry throughout the revolution was “No King but King Jesus”. Harvard President Rev. Samuel Langdon
Peter Marshall reminded us in his book, The Light and the Glory, that we are always in danger of our pride in our own strength or accomplishments. In 1775, no one was more concerned than those clergy that were committed to the revolution. The most mature among them never lost sight of the importance of submitting to God’s will and giving Him all the thanks and glory. As long as Americans stayed in that “heart attitude”, they were safe. God would continue to surprise them with His blessings and protection.
Later, on May 31st, the Rev. Samuel Langdon would deliver a sermon regarding the colonies and what lay ahead and why they faced this difficult time. He said, in part, “Wherefore is all this evil 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…….My brethren, let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpolations of providence for our deliverance.”
Miracle after miracle protected the revolution for the six years of the war against Britain. Leaders were raised up who were men of God and risked everything for freedom. Who do we turn to today?
Elections won’t save us, rallies and protests will not change our country. We have put our hope in judges, election results and politicians and yet our freedoms continue to disappear. Churches are closed, jobs are lost, pastors are jailed, abortion will take nearly a million lives each year and we allow the most base of sexual practices to be flaunted in the public square.
The church and Christians, for the most part, seem silent. We have political parties that sometimes take a stand and secular organizations that lobby often times for good causes but where is the truth of Scripture in the all of this? We are facing a critical point in our history between the truth and the spirit of the age. Christians need to be as loud and clear now as Christians were in 1775.
My desire is to see what many states have done- to have a faith-based organization that would present arguments for a Biblical and moral society. States like Montana and Iowa have organizations that are affiliated with the Family Research Council that can be the voice of pastors and lay people. The so-called “human rights groups” have co-opted this stage and do everything they can to attack godly leaders and programs. The FRC is referred to as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center for example. We can do better! We need to call people back to basics. If anyone is interested in this mission drop me an email here: Bob Shillingstad
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