Anchors of Truth

The Covenant and Church State

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Alan J. Reinach, Esq

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000153


00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth, live from Surprise, Arizona.
00:21 Well it's another beautiful day in Phoenix today.
00:25 And I want our people to know that we've had a tremendous
00:31 welcome by this church.
00:34 And the Clearview Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:38 right here in Surprise, Arizona are a wonderful group of people.
00:42 And if you live in this Phoenix area and you're looking
00:46 for a church, I invite you to visit this church.
00:51 And if you get a chance tomorrow, we're at
00:53 19554 N. Papago, that's a tough one for me, Drive.
01:02 It's just off Gold Water Canyon.
01:04 Is that right?
01:06 It's just off...
01:08 Well, alright. Well we're getting close.
01:12 - Put it in a GPS. - Yeah, put it there.
01:16 If you don't have one, call.
01:18 I'm sure someone can direct you to the church.
01:20 But you'll be welcomed here, and a wonderful group of people.
01:25 And we want you to visit us, because you will find
01:30 a lot of good friends here, people that love the Lord.
01:33 Beautiful church, beautiful city, beautiful weather.
01:35 Good pastor.
01:36 And good pastor, good pastor's wife.
01:38 She sang for us on last evening. Did a fine job.
01:41 And tonight we get to hear the pastor sing.
01:43 It's a talented couple.
01:44 That's right, and he's going to sing for us in a little bit.
01:48 But we're having an attorney speak to us tonight.
01:53 - Amen. - It's Alan Reinach.
01:56 He's going to be speaking in a moment.
01:58 We'll have somebody else introduce him.
02:00 Ralph Ringer, the NAD Jewish Ministries leader,
02:05 is going to be introducing him a little later.
02:09 Ralph may not tell you, but Alan is really a New York guy.
02:12 He's an east coast guy.
02:13 He's kind of a world figure now, but his roots
02:16 are in the east coast.
02:17 And you can still hear that New York in him when he talks.
02:19 He's got that New York demeanor.
02:21 So we still claim him back in New York as a New York guy.
02:24 Even though he's a sought after world speaker,
02:26 he's a New Yorker.
02:27 You know, a few years ago, a few months ago,
02:30 we interviewed Juanita Kretschmar.
02:31 You remember, that was a year ago actually.
02:34 About this time we were down in Miami, Florida.
02:38 And there are two individuals of our speakers
02:42 who, I believe, one of their first contacts
02:47 with Seventh-day Adventists was through that ministry.
02:50 I think you're one of them?
02:52 Okay, Jeff was one of them for sure.
02:55 So there have been a number of others that have received
03:01 Jesus Christ, and it all started with Juanita and her work.
03:05 Indeed. You know, we are remiss.
03:06 We get to wish our audience, and I to you, happy Sabbath.
03:09 Yes, happy Sabbath to you.
03:11 The Sabbath hours have begun.
03:12 And it is a respite from the work day, from the week.
03:16 And it's just good to be in the house of the Lord on Sabbath.
03:19 It really is.
03:20 And I'm going to ask you to introduce our...
03:24 I'm going to introduce our singer.
03:28 But I'm going to ask you to have a word of prayer
03:30 just before we do that.
03:31 - Would you do it? - Be my pleasure.
03:33 - Alright. - Shall we pray.
03:35 Gracious Father, how we praise Your name.
03:39 How thankful we are for the call that brought us from
03:41 darkness to light, and error to truth.
03:44 How thankful we are for the Sabbath day
03:47 and for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
03:49 How thankful we are for Three Angels Broadcasting Network,
03:52 and the many things that You are doing
03:55 to warn men and women that Jesus is coming soon.
04:00 We ask Your blessing upon this program,
04:02 the music that shall be sung, the word that shall be preached.
04:06 May we see Jesus again and anew.
04:09 May we take one more step along that road that leads to glory.
04:13 May our hearts sit with Christ for just a little while.
04:17 And may we get a new vision of the King
04:20 and the soon coming kingdom.
04:23 We thank You, Father, for Your promise to hear
04:25 and answer the prayer of faith.
04:27 - In Jesus' name, amen. - Amen.
04:30 Many years ago when I was in school,
04:33 I had a good friend named, Ronnie Tull.
04:37 And we all loved Ronnie.
04:39 He was a very special, special person.
04:44 Weekend leave, Ronnie went home.
04:48 And he never returned because of a tragic automobile accident.
04:53 And we mourned him.
04:55 The next year, I believe it was the next year,
04:58 his younger brother, Murrell, came to school.
05:02 You know something?
05:03 We all adopted Murrell, first because he was Ronnie's brother.
05:09 And Ronnie's brother was going to get special treatment.
05:12 But after that, it was because we liked Murrell.
05:16 We really did. We liked to tease him.
05:19 We liked to have fun with him.
05:21 Because he was a fun loving person.
05:25 In those days, we had medical cadet core.
05:28 I was the first sergeant.
05:30 And I liked to give him a rough time.
05:32 And he reminded me of that the other night.
05:38 Through the years we've remained friends.
05:41 I think a lot of Murrell Tull.
05:45 Later he met and married Ginger.
05:47 The wisest thing he has ever done.
05:52 And tonight, it's a real privilege to introduce
05:58 the pastor of this church, Pastor Murrell Tull.
06:02 He's going to be singing for us, My House Is Full.
06:25 There is peace and contentment in my Father's house today;
06:34 lots of food on His table and no one is turned away.
06:43 There is singing and laughter as the hours pass by;
06:51 but a hush calms the singing as the Father sadly cries,
07:02 "My house is full, but My field is empty;
07:11 who will go and work for Me today?
07:19 It seems My children all want to stay around My table;
07:27 but no one wants to work in My field,
07:36 no one wants to work in My field."
07:44 Push away from the table, look out through the windowpane;
07:53 just beyond this house of plenty lies a field of golden grain.
08:01 And it's ripe unto harvest; but the reapers, where are they?
08:09 "They're in the house," oh, can't the children
08:14 hear the Father sadly say.
08:21 "My house is full, but My field is empty;
08:30 who will go and work for Me today?
08:37 It seems My children all want to stay around My table;
08:46 but no one wants to work in My field,
08:54 no one wants to work in My field.
09:03 Who will go and work
09:09 in My field?"
09:27 A beautiful song.
09:31 A beautiful song.
09:32 Tonight, I want to introduce to you Alan Reinach.
09:38 He's the Executive Director of The Church/State Council.
09:43 And he will be speaking on, the title of his message,
09:47 Church, State, and the Covenants.
10:02 Thanks for telling me my lights are on, just when I'm
10:04 getting up to preach.
10:06 And C.A., you're absolutely right.
10:08 You can take the kid out of New York,
10:10 but you can't take New York out of the kid.
10:13 Always be a New Yorker.
10:14 But I'm delighted to be with you folks here in Surprise,
10:18 to reconnect with some old friends.
10:21 And you know, we're in a series about the covenants.
10:25 And I was asked to take the title, the topic that's
10:29 right up my alley, because my work is in religious freedom
10:33 and dealing with church/state relationships.
10:35 So we're going to tackle the topic of church and state
10:39 really in the Bible.
10:41 Church and State, and the Covenants.
10:43 There's a myth, ancient by American standards,
10:46 going back to the earliest days of European settlement
10:51 that likens America to Israel of old
10:55 and imagines a special relationship,
10:57 a covenant relationship even.
11:00 And the most famous and oft quoted sermon in
11:03 American history, John Winthrop, on his way to New England
11:08 with the pilgrims, with the Puritans,
11:11 he invoked the blessings and cursings of God's covenant
11:15 with Israel as he urged his pilgrim band to righteousness
11:19 and godliness in the face of the nearly impossible challenge
11:25 of the New England winters and establishing a settlement there.
11:29 Invoking the covenant promises to Israel,
11:32 John Winthrop proclaimed that this puny pilgrim band
11:35 would become a city upon a hill.
11:38 That the eyes of the world would be upon them.
11:42 "And the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us,"
11:45 he said, "as His own people and will command a blessing
11:49 upon us in all our ways."
11:52 Well, Winthrop closed the sermon with one of my
11:54 favorite passages from Deuteronomy,
11:56 appropriating God's promises to Israel and making them
12:02 his own promises to the pilgrims.
12:06 Quote, "Therefore, let us choose life that we and our seed
12:12 may live; by obeying His voice and cleaving to Him;
12:17 for He is our life and our prosperity."
12:23 Well, in every generation since John Winthrop,
12:26 the errors of the Puritans have imagined America
12:29 in a special covenant relationship to God.
12:34 Revolutionary war era preachers invoked the rhetoric
12:38 of Israel to preach separation from England
12:41 and to encourage their flocks that God's blessings
12:45 would attend their efforts in opposing English tyranny.
12:52 We've written American history to make larger than life
12:55 Christian heroes of spiritually apathetic leaders,
12:59 like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
13:02 Neither one of whom could have given evidence of
13:04 Christian conversion to satisfy the likes of John Winthrop
13:08 and the early generation of New England clergy.
13:12 And faced with social and cultural change,
13:15 Christians today and other generations have lamented
13:19 the loss of our nations spirituality
13:22 and the loss of our Christian values.
13:25 A generation ago, American Protestant leaders abandoned
13:28 their historic commitment to the separation of church and state
13:32 in the face of Supreme Court decisions
13:35 consistent with the ethos of the state as officially
13:40 neutral toward religion;
13:42 and thereby ruling that state sponsored religion in the
13:46 public schools, such as rote prayer and Bible reading,
13:49 violated the First Amendment.
13:51 These Protestant leaders condemned the Supreme Court
13:55 for doing what the Court surely could never do;
13:59 kick God and prayer out of public school.
14:04 Even the most casual observer should realize the absurdity
14:08 of claiming that the Supreme Court had the power
14:12 to restrict God's presence in the public school.
14:15 This is terrible theology.
14:18 Now Protestants believe that Christ indwells the heart
14:22 of the believer through the Holy Spirit.
14:25 So where there are Christians in public school,
14:27 God is there dwelling in their hearts.
14:30 Amen?
14:32 Well equally absurd was the Protestant defense of the
14:36 Regent's prayer, which the Supreme Court said
14:40 could no longer be mandated in New York public schools.
14:45 Now the governing body of the New York schools,
14:47 the Board of Regents, had drafted the following
14:50 seemingly innocuous prayer, and I'll quote it to you.
14:55 "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee,
15:00 and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents,
15:04 our teachers, and our country."
15:07 Nothing wrong with that prayer, right?
15:10 Well, contrast this prayer, which hundreds of thousands
15:15 of New York students were required to recite
15:18 by rote day after school day with the teachings of Jesus
15:23 in the sermon on the mount.
15:26 Jesus said, and I quote, "And when you pray,
15:30 you shall not be like the hypocrites;
15:33 for they love to pray standing in the synagogues
15:37 and on the corners of the streets, that they may be
15:39 seen by men.
15:41 But you, when you pray, go into your room;
15:44 and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father
15:48 who is in the secret place.
15:50 And your father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
15:55 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions
16:01 as the heathen do."
16:03 So what do you think?
16:05 Was teaching our children to recite the same empty phrase
16:10 day in and day out, this is what we want to teach our children
16:14 about what prayer is?
16:16 One of my favorite incites about prayer
16:22 says that prayer is the opening of the heart to God
16:27 as to a friend.
16:29 And I don't see any of that in the recitation of
16:32 the Regent's prayer.
16:33 I think the state of New York was teaching our children
16:37 vain repetition, not genuine prayer.
16:40 Which is a good reason to keep government
16:43 out of the business of religion.
16:46 After all, we have such a dim view of our politicians,
16:51 we really want to trust religion into their hands
16:54 and expect that they won't sully the faith in so doing?
17:00 Well the ongoing social, cultural, and legal wars
17:03 over public religion in America have to be
17:07 put into a larger context.
17:10 Many Americans still believe our nation is in a unique
17:14 covenant relation to God, and that we must
17:18 return to God or suffer the consequences.
17:22 Now the Bible is quite clear, as Solomon observed
17:25 in the Proverbs, that righteousness exalts
17:28 a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
17:32 But this is equally true for every nation,
17:35 not just the United States.
17:37 But the Bible is also very clear about the boundaries
17:42 between civil and religious authority.
17:45 Believe it or not, we're going to see that there is
17:49 separation of church and state in the Bible.
17:53 Now those who would invoke the power and the privilege
17:56 of the state to promote and regulate the beliefs
18:00 and observances of the church, I contend that they commit
18:05 a grave and a dangerous error.
18:08 But don't take my word for it.
18:10 Let's take a walk through the Bible and see
18:14 some of these passages that give us insight
18:17 about separation, about the relationships,
18:21 between church and state.
18:22 And we're going to take a look at the whole teaching
18:25 of Scripture and passages from both Old and New Testaments.
18:30 Well, in the beginning of Israel's history,
18:34 we see a separation between the civil and religious authority.
18:38 Moses, of course, is the civil leader, and his brother, Aaron,
18:42 the high priest, Aaron and his sons are responsible
18:46 for carrying out the religious ceremonies
18:50 in the temple.
18:51 Moses is responsible for the leadership of the nation
18:54 for the civic duties.
18:57 The priesthood is given to Aaron's family,
18:59 to the tribe of Levi.
19:02 After the days of Moses and Joshua, there followed
19:05 a period under the judges, as recorded in the book of Judges,
19:09 before Israel had a king, of course.
19:11 We consider it a theocracy.
19:13 God was the ruler and the nation was under God's authority.
19:17 And there are those today who imagine they would like to
19:19 bring America into a theocracy directly under God's authority.
19:24 I suggest to you that if you look around the world today
19:28 at nations like Iran and Pakistan,
19:32 you might think twice.
19:34 Saudi Arabia.
19:35 We might think twice about blending religious and civil
19:39 authority too closely, and the oppression that comes with that.
19:44 But honestly, I don't think that the modern vision of theocracy
19:48 bears any resemblance to what actually took place
19:52 in the theocracy in Israel.
19:54 And note, the period of judges summed up in the
19:58 final verse of the book says, and I quote,
20:01 "In those days there was no king in Israel.
20:05 Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
20:09 Now we tend to think about this, that, "Oh well, there was
20:13 a lot of mischief going on.
20:16 People were behaving badly.
20:18 They were doing whatever they wanted,
20:20 and it was rather lawless."
20:23 But notice what this verse says about just how heavy handed
20:30 God was in exercising authority during a time when
20:34 He was directly ruling the nation.
20:37 During the period of the theocracy, God was not
20:40 careful to lay down the law at all, or to impose, you know,
20:44 religious and civil laws and rules.
20:47 He was not the least bit heavy handed, was He.
20:50 So I don't think that's the type of theocracy
20:53 that, when people think of bringing the Bible
20:56 back into the law and bringing theocracy,
21:00 that they're looking for.
21:03 Well as you know, Israel desired a king.
21:06 And Saul was chosen as the first king.
21:09 And Saul very quickly faced a military threat
21:12 from the Philistines.
21:13 So he was gathering his army at Gilgal to prepare for battle.
21:18 And the prophet Samuel instructed Saul to wait
21:21 for him there at Gilgal seven days, that he would come and
21:25 offer sacrifice and invoke the blessing of the Lord.
21:29 Now Saul quite rightly knew that Israel was outnumbered,
21:36 they were poorly armed, they were ill-equipped
21:40 to face the Philistines in battle.
21:42 And he coveted the blessing of the Lord.
21:44 That was a good thing.
21:46 But read with me the account in 1 Samuel chapter 13
21:52 beginning in verse 7.
21:55 "As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal,
21:57 and all the people followed him trembling.
22:00 Now he waited seven days, according to the time
22:03 set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal;
22:06 and the people were scattered from him."
22:09 Well, Saul must have been worried now,
22:12 how people are leaving.
22:13 How's he going to keep his army together?
22:15 "So Saul said, 'Bring a burnt offering
22:18 and peace offerings here to me.'
22:19 And he offered the burnt offering.
22:22 Now it happened as soon as he had finished
22:27 presenting the burnt offering..."
22:28 Funny how that works, isn't it.
22:30 Just as soon as he did it.
22:32 "...that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him,
22:35 that he might greet him.
22:38 And Samuel said, 'What have you done?'
22:43 Saul said," innocently, "What do you mean, 'What have you done?'
22:48 When I saw that the people scattered from me,
22:50 and that you did not come within the days appointed..."
22:54 Shifting the blame, huh?
22:56 "...and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash,
22:59 then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me
23:03 at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication of the Lord.'
23:07 Therefore I felt compelled, and offered the burnt offering."
23:11 Blah, blah, blah. Saul's making excuses, right?
23:15 Trying to justify doing something that he knew
23:20 he was not suppose to do.
23:22 "And Samuel said to Saul, 'You have done foolishly.
23:27 You have not kept the command of the Lord your God,
23:30 which He commanded you.
23:32 For now the Lord would have established your kingdom
23:34 over Israel forever.
23:36 But now your kingdom shall not continue.
23:40 The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart,
23:44 and the Lord has commanded him to be commander
23:46 over His people, because you have not kept
23:50 what the Lord commanded you.'"
23:53 Saul forfeited his authority as king, his kingship,
24:01 because he crossed a boundary.
24:05 He crossed a bright line boundary that no king,
24:09 no civil ruler, ever should do.
24:12 He offered sacrifice.
24:14 He usurped religious authority.
24:19 It was not his prerogative to do that.
24:23 Saul wasn't wrong to want to invoke God's blessing.
24:27 He knew he needed God.
24:30 But was this something that was so wrong
24:34 that his kingdom should be taken away from him?
24:39 Apparently, it was a very serious matter.
24:42 And God wanted to make it very clear, this distinction
24:46 between civil and religious authority.
24:49 And we see this in some additional examples as well.
24:55 I'm going to take them out of historical order.
24:58 So first, consider the experience
25:01 of a good king; Uzziah.
25:04 The Bible says he was a righteous king.
25:07 He became king at age 16 and reigned for 52 years.
25:11 The Bible said he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
25:16 But then look at 2 Chronicles 26.
25:20 Pick up the story in verse 16.
25:25 "But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction.
25:29 For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered
25:33 the temple of the Lord to burn incense
25:36 on the altar of incense."
25:39 Now to me, this passage is counterintuitive.
25:43 Uzziah was unfaithful because he went to worship God
25:47 in the temple and to burn incense?
25:50 Well, let's keep reading.
25:53 "But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests
25:57 of the Lord who were men of valor, and they withstood
26:01 King Uzziah and said to him, 'It is not for you, Uzziah,
26:05 to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests,
26:08 the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense.
26:12 Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong,
26:15 and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.'"
26:20 Wow, imagine talking to a king like that.
26:24 Azariah the priest is not messing around.
26:27 He's got eighty priests with him as backup.
26:30 Men of valor.
26:32 Sounds like they're pretty tough guys to me, you know.
26:35 Something like bouncers in the house of the Lord.
26:40 Well, then Uzziah was angry.
26:43 Now picking up from the Bible reading.
26:46 "He had a censer in his hand to burn incense,
26:48 and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out
26:53 on his forehead in the presence of the priests
26:57 in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense.
27:00 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him,
27:03 and behold, he was leprous in his forehead.
27:06 And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself
27:08 hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him.
27:13 And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death.
27:17 And being a leper lived in a separate house,
27:19 for he was excluded from the house of the Lord.
27:23 And Jotham his son was over the king's household,
27:27 governing the people of the land."
27:30 Uzziah was a good king.
27:32 He was a righteous man.
27:34 But he crossed a line.
27:36 A line that no king was allowed to cross.
27:39 He entered the temple to burn incense on the altar;
27:43 to engage in religious ceremonies that belonged
27:46 only to the priesthood.
27:48 And for this grave sin, Uzziah was struck with leprosy.
27:52 He had to surrender his throne to his son.
27:55 As a leper, he would have to live alone.
27:58 He could no longer exercise the prerogatives of king.
28:01 What a sad ending for a good man.
28:06 Well in the next story, the king is chastised
28:09 for setting up a pagan altar.
28:12 Jeroboam is the one who divided Israel from Judah
28:17 after the death of Solomon.
28:19 And in order to secure the allegiance of the people
28:22 to his kingdom, he decided to set up a separate
28:26 center of worship so that people would not go down
28:29 to Jerusalem and then be led to follow the house of David.
28:36 And we read, "Behold, a man of God came out of Judah
28:40 by the word of the Lord to Bethel.
28:42 Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings."
28:46 Now this was a pagan altar that Jeroboam had set up.
28:50 It wasn't the temple in Jerusalem.
28:53 "And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord,
28:56 and said, 'O altar, altar, thus says the Lord,
29:00 "Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David,
29:04 Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you
29:08 the priests of the high places who make offerings on you,
29:12 and human bones shall be burned on you."'"
29:16 That's pretty intense, isn't it,
29:18 to say in the presence of a king?
29:22 "And he gave a sign the same day, saying,
29:24 'This is the sign that the Lord has spoken,
29:27 "Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes
29:31 that are on it shall be poured out."'"
29:34 Well, it's always dangerous to lift up one's hand
29:38 against God's anointed.
29:41 Civil rulers, kings even, are playing with fire
29:45 when they strike out against religious leaders
29:47 on account of their religious message.
29:50 Here, the king clearly doesn't like the message of the prophet.
29:55 He doesn't approve of his exercising free speech, does he.
30:01 "And so when the king heard the saying of the man of God,
30:04 which he cried against the altar at Bethel,
30:07 Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying,
30:10 'Seize him.'"
30:12 What do you think happened to his hand?
30:15 "His hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up,
30:19 so that he could not draw it back to himself.
30:23 The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out
30:28 from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God
30:32 had given by the word of the Lord."
30:35 Ouch.
30:36 A withered hand.
30:38 Instant judgment on Jeroboam for daring to strike
30:42 the man of God.
30:45 Now Jeroboam had the presence of mind to repent
30:48 and to ask the man of God to pray for him,
30:50 that his hand would be restored.
30:53 And so Jeroboam was given a second chance.
30:57 His hand was restored.
30:59 But tragically, he really didn't learn his lesson,
31:02 and he did lead Israel into idolatry.
31:06 Which ultimately is why the ten tribes are no more.
31:11 We can trace the destruction of the ten tribes of Israel
31:14 directly to Jeroboam's idolatry.
31:18 Had Jeroboam truly headed the message of the man of God,
31:21 he would have refrained from idolatry,
31:23 and history would have been dramatically different.
31:26 Jeroboam crossed a line.
31:29 He crossed the line by stretching his hand out
31:33 against the prophet.
31:35 But he also crossed the line by setting up a pagan altar.
31:39 And the consequences were especially tragic
31:42 for the entire nation.
31:44 Now our final Old Testament passage involves King David
31:49 and a rare example of a ruler refusing to invoke
31:54 God's blessing to serve his own political fortunes.
32:00 Today, politicians routinely invoke God.
32:04 "God bless America," they say.
32:06 When what they really mean is, "God, help me get elected."
32:11 We pick up the story in 2 Samuel chapter 16.
32:15 David is fleeing Jerusalem on account of rebellion
32:19 by his own son, Absalom.
32:23 "The king went out, and all his household after him.
32:28 I'm skipping down to verse 23.
32:31 "And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by,
32:36 and the king crossed the brook Kidron,
32:39 and all the people passed on toward the wilderness.
32:42 And Abiathar came up, and behold, Zadok came also
32:46 with all the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of God.
32:51 And they set down the ark of God until the people
32:54 had all passed out of the city.
32:56 And then the king said to Zadok,
32:59 'Carry the ark of God back into the city.
33:04 If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord,
33:07 He will bring me back and let me see both it,'"
33:10 that is the ark, "and his dwelling place.
33:13 But if He says," if God says, "'I have no pleasure in you,'
33:18 behold, here I am, let Him do to me what seems good to Him."
33:23 The ark of God was a powerful symbol in ancient Israel.
33:28 David might have consented to having Abiathar and Zadok
33:32 and the other priests continue in his camp,
33:35 keeping the ark close as a sign of God's blessing upon them
33:39 to encourage his supporters and to expect God to
33:46 have David prevail in his struggle against Absalom.
33:51 But David knew it was not right to use the ark,
33:54 a powerful religious symbol, to advance his own personal
34:00 political fortunes.
34:02 If God wanted to restore the kingdom to him, so be it.
34:06 But if not, David knew that having the ark
34:09 present with him would not change God's mind.
34:13 David would pray for God's blessing, but he would not
34:16 seek to manipulate God to his own end.
34:21 And this is a lesson that I wish many other leaders had learned.
34:26 I wish our American politicians would learn
34:29 not to try to manipulate God for political purposes.
34:35 Well let's take a look now at how Jesus related to the state.
34:41 Jesus acted as a good citizen all His life.
34:44 He avoided encounters with Roman authorities
34:47 until He was slandered and betrayed
34:50 to the authorities at the end of His life.
34:53 When Jesus appeared before Pilate, Jesus demonstrated
34:56 His understanding of the distinct roles of Caesar
35:00 and God.
35:02 Pilate asked Jesus whether He claimed to be King of the Jews,
35:06 as He'd been accused of doing.
35:09 Jesus assured Pilate that He had no designs
35:13 on Caesar's realm.
35:15 He told him that His kingdom is not of this world.
35:21 And for this reason His followers didn't
35:25 wield the sword.
35:26 John 18:36.
35:29 Now Pilate knew that he had no basis to assert
35:32 jurisdiction over Jesus.
35:34 Jesus' dispute with the Jews was a matter of religion.
35:38 The Romans weren't interested in exercising
35:42 jurisdiction over religious disputes.
35:46 But even so, Pilate had Jesus flogged
35:50 and questioned Him further because of his concern
35:53 about the crowd's sentiment and the threat that it posed
35:57 to his own position.
36:00 And so at this point Jesus shut up.
36:02 He refused to answer anymore questions.
36:05 Having established Jesus' innocence,
36:07 Pilate had no business toying with Him
36:11 merely to placate a hostile crowd.
36:14 Pilate stepped beyond any legitimate inquiry
36:18 as a state official.
36:19 And undoubtedly, he knew it.
36:22 Yet he was offended by Jesus' silence,
36:25 and resorted to arbitrary threats.
36:28 "Are You not speaking to me?
36:30 Do you not know I have power to crucify You
36:32 and power to release You," Pilate said to Jesus.
36:37 Christ's memorable response is the correct response,
36:41 the correct Christian response, to all states
36:45 and all rulers that overstep their powers
36:48 and invade the prerogatives of God.
36:51 Jesus said, "You could have no power at all against Me
36:57 unless it had been given you from above."
37:02 Jesus reminded Pilate that his power was not his own
37:08 to wield as he saw fit.
37:11 Pilate had been given power from above.
37:14 From the emperor certainly, but ultimately from God.
37:18 And Pilate was merely a steward of that power.
37:22 Pilate was obligated to exercise power with justice
37:26 and equity, not arbitrarily.
37:30 Which meant that he should release Jesus.
37:34 Now Pilate's response to Jesus demonstrates that he not only
37:38 understood, but really he agreed with Jesus.
37:42 He knew Jesus was right.
37:45 From then on, Pilate sought to release Him, the Bible says.
37:49 In the end, though, as we know, Pilate caved in
37:52 to popular demand and did not release Jesus.
37:57 And so, Pilate has become an enduring symbol of the weak
38:01 spineless authority that knows the right
38:06 but chooses the wrong for safety, expediency,
38:11 and popularity.
38:13 Ever sense that time, civil rulers have needed
38:17 the prophetic voice of the church to remind them that
38:21 they serve as stewards of power, not as masters.
38:27 Amen?
38:29 So we've seen these examples of the limited civil authority
38:36 of rulers; that they do not properly exercise
38:41 religious authority.
38:43 But what about the spiritual authority of the church?
38:47 Just as God has given civil authority to civil rulers,
38:53 so God has also given abundant spiritual authority
38:59 to the church.
39:00 And just a few verses will suffice to give us
39:04 an expansive view of this spiritual authority.
39:08 For example, Matthew 21:22, Jesus says, "Whatever you ask
39:15 in prayer, you will receive if you have faith."
39:22 Wow.
39:23 Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive?
39:28 That's astounding, isn't it?
39:31 That's a lot of authority.
39:34 Well in Matthew 18, Jesus says, "Whatsoever you bind on earth
39:41 shall be bound in heaven."
39:45 Whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven?
39:48 Now Protestants take a different view of that verse
39:52 than Roman Catholics do.
39:54 Catholics, of course, look at this in, I think,
39:59 an over-expansive view of church authority.
40:02 Because they assert the right to do things like change
40:07 the day of worship from Sabbath to Sunday.
40:11 To rearrange the commandments, for example.
40:14 But as Protestants, we do understand that there is
40:19 abundant authority given to the church to govern itself.
40:24 Now in this church, for example, I suspect that in your
40:28 morning worship service, you have some or all of
40:31 the following elements: you have some announcements,
40:34 you have opening prayer, you have maybe a children's story,
40:38 an offering, special music, you sing some hymns,
40:42 you have a sermon.
40:44 Well the Bible does not lay out what a worship service
40:50 should look like after the period of the temple, does it.
40:55 Of course, there's evidence in the Bible for things like
40:58 prayer, for giving offerings, for teaching the Word of God,
41:03 for, you know, having a Sabbath school,
41:05 having a Bible class.
41:07 Sure, these are all wonderful things.
41:09 But the church has authority to organize itself.
41:14 The Bible doesn't say whether the church should be
41:16 hierarchical or whether it should be congregational,
41:19 what our politics should be.
41:21 Well, we get together and we figure that out.
41:24 And we pray that God would lead us.
41:26 "Whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
41:30 God has given us authority to figure things out;
41:33 how we're going to carry out the great commission,
41:36 how we're going to serve God, how we're going to bind together
41:39 as God's people.
41:42 How about this one, Matthew 28, the great commission.
41:46 Jesus asserted that all authority in heaven
41:51 and earth belong to Him.
41:54 And on that basis, commanded His followers to make disciples,
41:57 to baptize, and to teach.
42:00 All authority.
42:02 And He's given us that authority to teach,
42:05 to make disciples, to baptize.
42:08 Wow.
42:10 That's a lot of spiritual authority, isn't it.
42:18 One of my favorite passages that I think really
42:23 helps us see the distinction between civil and religious
42:27 authority is found in the book of Acts, chapter 1.
42:32 These are the final words of Jesus before He ascends
42:39 to heaven.
42:43 The disciples have been with Him now for, what, 40 days
42:47 after His crucifixion, after His resurrection I should say.
42:53 And they still don't get what kind of a Messiah
42:59 Jesus really is.
43:02 They're still mired in their Jewish ideas about
43:07 re-establishing the kingdom, and they're still coveting
43:11 political power.
43:13 Notice the question that they ask.
43:15 "Jesus, Lord, is it at this time that You will restore
43:20 the kingdom to Israel?"
43:23 That reveals, that says volumes about what's in their hearts,
43:27 what they're really hoping for.
43:29 They still want to sit at the right hand and the
43:31 left hand of the throne.
43:33 They still want to see Israel restored and the empire
43:37 ruling, dominating, the world.
43:39 They want to see Jesus as, you know, the Son of David
43:45 ruling all nations with a rod of iron.
43:47 That's the kind of Messiah that they want.
43:52 Now notice what Jesus says to them.
43:55 He'd already told them to wait for the promise of the Father,
44:00 referring to the Holy Spirit.
44:02 But now He reminds them.
44:05 "It's not for you to know the times or the seasons
44:10 which the Father has fixed by His own authority.
44:15 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
44:21 And you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea,
44:27 and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth."
44:34 The disciples were wanting the exousia.
44:39 There are two Greek words for, "power," here;
44:42 exousia and dunamis.
44:44 "It's not for you to know the times or seasons
44:47 which the Father has fixed by His own exousia."
44:50 His own authority.
44:52 The civil authority.
44:53 God setting up His kingdom and ruling.
44:56 That was in the Father's hands.
44:58 That was not to be given to the disciples;
45:02 ruling in God's name.
45:04 Which is, after all, the core concept
45:09 of America in covenant relationship with God.
45:12 The core concept is, we want to rule in God's name.
45:19 And Jesus said, "That is not to be.
45:22 The Father keeps the exousia.
45:25 He keeps the authority.
45:27 He will set up His kingdom in His own time.
45:30 But you, you've got something else.
45:35 You've got dunamis."
45:38 The Greek word that we get, what?
45:40 Dynamite.
45:42 Dynamo, dynamic. Right?
45:44 "You've got the dynamite power of the Holy Spirit.
45:48 And with that, you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem,
45:51 in all Judea and Samaria, the ends of the earth."
45:55 And in a generation, the disciples of Jesus took
45:59 the gospel around the earth and changed the course
46:03 of human history with the dunamis power
46:06 of the Holy Spirit.
46:08 And I ask you, do we really need the power of the state,
46:13 the exousia, the authority of the state,
46:16 or is the power of God enough?
46:22 Now in the book of Revelation, there is a warning.
46:27 There's a warning about what happens when the church
46:31 has lost the power of God.
46:36 She's lost the power of the Holy Spirit
46:39 to where she seeks in the power of the state,
46:43 in state authority, a substitute for the Holy Spirit.
46:50 The warning is found in chapter 14, and it's repeated
46:54 again in chapter 18.
46:56 There are messages of three angels, aren't there.
47:00 And the second angel's message, in symbolic language,
47:05 very simply says, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen,
47:10 that great city, because she made all nations
47:13 drink the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
47:20 Let's unpack that. It's really quite simple.
47:22 It sounds very complicated.
47:24 It sounds, you know, impenetrable even.
47:27 But it's really quite simple.
47:29 Babylon, as a symbolic name in Scripture...
47:33 And I don't have time to explore and explain
47:37 where we get this from.
47:38 But Babylon symbolically represents
47:42 corrupt religious authority, corrupt religious powers.
47:48 Of course, it derives from the tower of Babel.
47:51 It means, confusion.
47:52 And the book of Daniel opens with the tale of two cities;
47:58 the contest between Babylon, the city of confusion,
48:01 and Jerusalem, the city of peace.
48:04 Light and dark, good and evil.
48:06 The great controversy between Christ and Satan.
48:09 Babylon, the symbol of corrupt religion.
48:13 "Babylon has fallen, has fallen."
48:16 Why? How?
48:18 Because she made all nations do something.
48:21 So we start to see a collusion between church and state.
48:28 Babylon is no longer, the church is no longer
48:31 operating under the unction and power and inspiration
48:35 of the Holy Spirit.
48:36 She's in bed with the state.
48:39 Well that's what it says.
48:41 She commits fornication.
48:43 She's in an immoral, intimate relationship
48:49 with the political powers.
48:51 Church and state are in bed together.
48:54 Babylon is fallen because she makes all nations
48:56 drink the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
49:00 Well, wine in Scripture, Jesus said you don't put
49:04 old wine into new wineskins.
49:08 Wine is a symbol of the teachings of the church,
49:11 the doctrines of the church.
49:14 Well, whether those doctrines are true or false,
49:17 in the context of this warning, these doctrines are being
49:22 shoved down everybody's throat through the power of the state.
49:26 And that's where the wrath comes in.
49:29 The wrath of this relationship between church and state
49:32 is the power of the state to impose, to enforce,
49:36 the doctrines and the teachings and the observances
49:39 of the church.
49:44 We've already seen that it is not for civil authority
49:49 to be crossing that line and meddling with
49:52 religious observances, is it.
49:55 We certainly don't want our politicians telling us
49:58 which doctrines to believe and which ones are out of line.
50:03 We see that throughout many nations in this world.
50:08 You have religious freedom in many nations:
50:11 you're free to believe what the majority believes.
50:14 But if you believe something different, you are oppressed.
50:18 You're not free to believe.
50:20 There are blasphemy laws.
50:22 There are innocents languishing in prison.
50:25 And if they weren't in prison charged with blasphemy,
50:28 if they were released, they would be assassinated.
50:31 They would be killed.
50:32 There have been leading politicians in Pakistan
50:35 assassinated for opposing blasphemy laws.
50:38 And their murderers were never brought to justice.
50:44 It is not for the state to say that, "This is true religion."
50:49 And if you don't go along with this religion,
50:52 you are to be punished or even put to death.
50:56 But what we see in the book of Revelation
51:00 is a warning that in the last days these bright lines,
51:05 these distinctions between civil and religious authority,
51:09 they will be blurred.
51:12 Church and state in bed together.
51:15 And with it, the loss of freedom.
51:19 So to those who imagine that somehow a return
51:25 to a more biblically faithful era where the state
51:31 is in service to the church, that this would be a good thing
51:35 for America and would bring the blessing of God,
51:38 the irony is, the opposite is true.
51:43 When church and state, when the church,
51:46 having lost the power of the Holy Spirit,
51:49 hops in bed with the state, that's when God will
51:52 execute judgment.
51:54 That's the warning that we must faithfully give.
51:58 All those who read and understand the book of
52:03 Revelation are to proclaim this warning.
52:07 The judgment doesn't come except that the warning is first given.
52:12 Right? That's what we learn from Jonah.
52:15 Jonah... You remember Jonah.
52:19 Jonah delighted when God told him that Nineveh
52:25 was finished and He would execute judgment.
52:28 Forty days; judgment on Nineveh.
52:31 They were the enemies of God's people.
52:36 But Jonah was worried that if he went and gave this warning,
52:40 that they might repent and not be judged
52:43 and not be destroyed.
52:44 And that's why he wound up on that ship,
52:47 and ultimately would up in a storm, and in the sea,
52:51 and in the belly of the big fish,
52:53 and coughed up on dry land, before he came to his senses
52:56 and said, "Okay God, I guess I better go to Nineveh
52:59 and do what you told me to do."
53:03 And sure enough, Jonah knew God only too well,
53:08 and his worst fears were realized.
53:11 When he gave the warning, Nineveh repented.
53:15 And they were spared.
53:16 And Jonah was so depressed, wasn't he.
53:21 He just hated that.
53:24 The judgment will not come except the warning is given.
53:31 Now I believe that God has given to the church
53:37 ample power and authority to accomplish the work of God.
53:44 The promises are there in Scripture, aren't they.
53:48 God has given the church ample power
53:51 in the power of the Holy Spirit.
53:54 We do not need to rely on the power of the state.
53:59 But, you know, there's something else here.
54:02 It's easy to look at the moral and spiritual degradation
54:09 of society, and it's easy to lay blame and to point fingers.
54:14 But, you know, Hollywood, as immoral as it may be,
54:18 or the Madison Avenue, the advertising that they
54:21 dish out, as immoral as it may be, these institutions
54:26 are not responsible for the moral and spiritual
54:30 health of society.
54:32 And, you know, they may be irresponsible, but they're not
54:37 fundamentally charged with the responsibility
54:42 to preserve the moral and spiritual health of society.
54:45 But there is an institution that God has ordained
54:52 to bless and to maintain the spiritual health and well being
54:57 of society, right?
54:59 Isn't that the church?
55:01 So instead of pointing fingers at the public schools,
55:05 the teachers, the politicians, the Hollywood producers,
55:10 and looking at all these other places and saying,
55:13 "Oh, the immorality. Look what they're doing.
55:16 Look how our nation is going to you know where
55:19 in a hand basket."
55:22 It's not their job to build up the moral and spiritual
55:26 life of the nation.
55:28 And if there is a problem, and I dare say we would all agree
55:33 that there is great need for improvement
55:36 in the moral and spiritual health of the nation,
55:39 well folks, we can look no further than the doors
55:44 of the American church.
55:46 Because God has ordained the church to be the
55:50 influence in society that builds up the moral and spiritual
55:55 health of the nation.
55:57 So repentance begins at the house of God.
56:02 We don't need the power of the state.
56:06 We need the power of God.
56:09 America is at its most Christian when we uphold these
56:16 bright line distinctions between civil and religious authority,
56:21 when we uphold the separation of church and state;
56:27 which is fundamental to the preservation
56:31 of religious freedom.
56:33 You know, we saw the terror attacks in France this week.
56:39 What a tragedy that was played out finally today
56:42 with the death of the terrorists.
56:49 A reminder of what a free society is; that we have
56:53 free speech, we have religious freedom.
56:56 Because the government is there to protect everyone's right
57:01 to our own beliefs, and to speak them
57:04 whether we offend somebody or not.
57:07 We all have those rights.
57:09 And we have a prophetic duty as a church to build up society
57:14 and to warn against looking for false answers,
57:18 false solutions, to moral and spiritual decline
57:22 by looking somehow to the state and our politicians
57:26 to do what God has called the church to do.


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Revised 2015-11-10