Facing the Culture of Death
“Be strong and courageous” is a familiar admonition for most Christians. It is best known from when God commissioned Joshua to replace Moses in leading Israel into the Promised Land.
There is something in these instructions that I fear many of us miss as we read or study these words from Joshua 1:7-9:
(7) Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. (8) This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (9) Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
God instructs Joshua to be strong and courageous that he “may observe to do according to all the law” that Moses had commanded him. God makes three promises about how things would go if Joshua would obey His commands that should strengthen us as we face the current culture of death that we face.
In verse 7 He says that if Joshua will not turn from the law of God, he will prosper. In verse 8 He promises that if Joshua meditates (gaining knowledge and understanding that would be proven by his observation of the laws) he would add success to his prospering. In verse 9 the Lord again instructs Joshua to be strong and of good courage, not be afraid or become dismayed, because God promises He will never leave nor forsake him.
When we look at the downward spiral of our own culture, it is evident that these instructions and these promises are very important for us to know and observe. We are living in a culture of death which was repeatedly evidenced in the news today.
- More than 63,000,000 babies murdered in their mother’s womb
- Our tax dollars and weapons being supplied that kill and mutilate daily in unjust wars.
- Big pharma caring far more about profits than they do about sick people
- Vaccines designed to stop hearts
- Human Trafficking –pregnancies are not part of the trafficker’s plans – the murder of babies (a.k.a. child sacrifice) abound
- Transgender surgeries that permanently sterilize young people so they never procreate.
- The rise of homosexuality – another “life-style” that cannot pro-create
Standing against all of these things does require us to be strong and courageous because we face a culture that delights in the darkness of this world, that lives to promote more death, who see people as worthless unless they have political or economic standing. Even then, they are disposable when they are no longer of use to whatever “need” they were satisfying (ex. Joe Biden).
But, these huge national (and international) issues are not the only place we are to show strength and courage. God told Joshua (who clearly was facing a big job to move all those Israelites into the Promised Land) that he needed strength and courage to obey the commands given by Moses.
In return for mustering the strength and courage to have no other gods, to make no graven images of God, to keep from taking the Name of the Lord in vain, keeping the Sabbath, and honoring his parents (plus the other five and more), Joshua was setting up the road to success for the bigger (by our standards) works God had given him to do.
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, if we want these cultural horrors to be resolved by the gracious hand of God, we must meditate on His word day and night, “that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
We must be so steeped in the Word of God that we immediately recognize infractions and false teachings. Remember, our adversary knows God’s word and will work to mislead us by subtle perversions and misdirections. “Did God really say …?” was his opening line and continues to this day. If we know God’s word and dedicate ourselves to its Truth then we can properly answer that question.
Please know that our spiritual understanding of God’s laws must have a direct effect on our physical lives on earth. We cannot expect success at abolishing abortion if we are not respecting our husbands (and husband’s loving their wives) or calling out the sins of homosexuality or transgenderism, if we are not obeying God’s commandments as a way of life.
Success in the big works begins by obedience in the routine.
“Now, therefore, fear the LORD, and SERVE him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river, and in Egypt, and serve ye the LORD. And if it seems evil unto you to serve the LORD, CHOOSE you this day whom ye will SERVE, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will SERVE the LORD. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to SERVE other gods. – Joshua 24:14 – 16
[v. 19] “And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD; for he is a holy God, a jealous God, he will not forgive your transgressions or sins. [v.20] If ye forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you after he hath done you good. [v. 21] And the people said unto Joshua, Nay, but we will serve the LORD. [v. 23] Now, therefore, put away, said he, the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.”
God’s people cannot in good faith SERVE two sovereigns and “owe” their absolute allegiance and fidelity to both. Service is a matter of choice so we must choose wisely. God’s people are to STAND with both feet in the Kingdom of Heaven and serve the LORD and him only. When God’s people attempt to SERVE the King of kings and some secular humanistic civil or municipal government they are “double-minded” and on a fool’s errand.
“Federal citizenship” – “Federal citizenship” is the rights and OBLIGATIONS ACCRUING by reason of being a citizen of the United States. [It is] The State or status of being a citizen of the United States, Black’s Law Dictionary, 5th. Edition.
Rights that are “accruing” are not yet “vested” and what are these “obligations?”
Amendment 14 GRANTS federal citizenship to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
A “grant” is a “gift” and all grants or gifts must be voluntarily ACCEPTED. Citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is also a gift that must be voluntarily accepted. If your citizenship is in the Kingdom of Heaven, then you ought to CONFESS to the civil authorities like Abraham that you are a sojourning stranger and pilgrim on the earth desiring a better heavenly country and living here as in a foreign country. If God’s people make this “confession” then God will not be ashamed to be called our God as He was not ashamed to be called Abraham’s God. Hebrews 11:9-16
“Citizenship is membership in a political society and implies a duty of allegiance on the part of the member and a duty of protection on the part of the society. These are reciprocal obligations, one being compensation for the other. Under our Constitution, a naturalized citizen stands on an equal footing with the native citizen in all respects, save that of eligibility to the Presidency. Minor v. Hapersett, Elk v. Wilkins.
Church – In its most general sense, the religious [not secular] society founded and established by Jesus Christ, to receive, preserve, and propagate His doctrines and ordinances [not the civil or municipal ordinances]. … a body of communicants gathered into church order or COMMUNITY of Christians, UNITED under ONE FORM OF GOVERNMENT by the profession [and CONFESSION] of the same faith and the observance of the same ritual and ceremonies. Black’s Law Dictionary, 5th. Edition.
Wouldn’t that one form of government be the government placed on the shoulder of Jesus and the advancement of which there will be no end as each of God’s elect become citizen/members of the body of Christ and come out of the secular body politic? Come ye out and be separate. and tough not the unclean thing.
God’s people must obey God rather than man which means God’s people cannot unequally yoke themselves with unbelieving members of the secular body politic and owe their allegiance, fidelity, and OBEDIENCE to a civil form of government and the Kingdom of Heaven form of government under which God’s people are SUPPOSED to be UNITED.
One’s citizenship and domicile are matters of individual choice not due to birth and sojourning at a particular place.
God’s people who claim to be Amendment 14 federal citizens are claiming to be citizens of the Federal Government that is a bankrupt federal corporation and to owe obedience to obey every civil rule and regulation or pay the penalty for disobedience. Do you know every civil rule and regulation that Amendment 14 federal citizens are subject to obey?
God’s people are either fellow citizens with the saints and members of the body of Christ, or unequally yoked and fellow citizens with unregenerate members of the body politic. One thing is for certain God’s people cannot be citizens and members of both bodies.
Please correct any errors I may have made in what I have written above.
Peace
Amen!