RESISTANT TO TYRANNY
We have a lot to be thankful for here in the United States of America and a lot to not be thankful
for, like our new Socialist-Communist government! But we should yet be thankful to God for the freedom we still do have– freedom to have a Bible, freedom to
own a gun. We should be thankful for freedom to travel across this beautiful U.S.A. and the freedom to visit the
beautiful State parks in this land! We have the freedom to go from the West Coast to the East Coast without
having to clear a dozen checkpoints- checking our passports. America has freedom to go to the voting booth
where the destiny of our nation is chosen to go, by one vote at a time. We are given freedom to work at any job
or career we choose! Freedom to have our own property, to enjoy life on and to build a life of our own choosing.
We are free today because someone paid the price and bought that right for us. Lee Greenwood sings a
song that goes like this: And I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the
men who died, who gave that right to me. And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today. Cause
there is no doubt I love this land- God bless the U.S.A.
For us to have freedom and independence it has been costly. This country did not start out as a nation
of free men, but as subjects bound under the tyranny of an unfair English King. It was through a bitter struggle
our forefathers broke those chains of bondage. Our freedom was purchased in blood on the battlefields of Bunker
Hill, Yorktown and in the numbing cold of Valley Forge.
Think about where we are now today? Let me quote to you a very pertinent commonology with today’s
events from Alexander Fraser Tytler 1742 – 1813. He begins by saying, “Darkness has fallen upon the land with
a deception of prosperity and salvation, a democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of
government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public
treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the
public treasury, with the results that a Democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by
a dictatorship. The average of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years.” Alexander Fraser
Tytler.
Nations have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to
great courage; from courage to liberty’ from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness
to complacency; from compliancy to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back to bondage!
Like Ecclesiastes once said, “The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is
that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun” (Eccl 1:9).
Thomas Jefferson, along with some others of the founding fathers, is credited with saying, “Resistance
to tyrants is obedience to God." Jefferson's statement is Biblically correct. “Resistance to tyrants is obedience
to God.” We need to approach this statement from a different angle, knowing Resistance to tyrants is
obedience to God is true, as stated, But it is also true in its opposite, parallel form, “Submission to tyrants is
rebellion to God.”
It’s not rocket science, as they say, to understand there is plenty bad governmental law’s being taught
presently. That is why we as God’s called need to say things plainly. Righteously, plainly and clear. If resistance
is obedience, then submission is wicked. In fact, we might propose this: to submit to a tyrant as if he or she is
a lawful ruler is anti-Christian– anti-Christ like.
Historically speaking, there is no honorable precedent among the great, religious heroes for failing to
oppose a tyrant. At a fundamental level, to cower before a tyrant is to violate the consistent Biblical teachings,
from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation.
Today, failure to resist tyranny represents a rancor lack of agape love for God’s kingdom to come and His
righteousness to be done. Submission to tyrants is un-Christ like, precisely because it is un-loving and un-caring
for our neighbor–and un - concerned for one another.
The Bible, God’s instruction book tells us that we are supposed to love God first and have love for our
neighbors as ourselves, second. According to Mark 12:30-31, “And you shalt love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first
commandment.” God is to have a supreme place in mans life there is to be no other love that can be allowed to
rival the love for God. The other half of the commandment teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Vs 31, “And the second is like it, you shalt love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment
greater than these.”
Isaiah gives us the duty of coming to the defense of those who are unjustly oppressed. “Learn to do well;
seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow” (Isa 1:17).
When a government is in rebellion toward God and is oppressing our neighbors or our called brethren,
and we refuse to stand up for them, does that sound like obedience or disobedience to you? We all know the
answer to that. Deitrich Bonhoeffer, the World War 2 era preacher and martyr, who sealed his testimony with
his own blood, said briefly, in a few famous lines, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil:” 2. “God will not
hold us guiltless” 3. “Not to speak is to speak.” 4. “Not to act is to act.”
Bonhoeffer's colleague was a pastor named Neimoller. He had a rather more passive,
“let's-all-get-along” view toward their particular tyrant. Neimoller wound up paying for his “lets all get along
view.” He penned the famous lines: 1)“When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was
not a communist. 2) When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social
democrat. 3)When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist. 4)When
they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I was not a Jew. 5)When they came for me, there was no one left
to speak out.”
Some in our day would tell us that texts like Romans chapter13: verses 1 -5, teach us that we should obey
as far as we can, and only resist when the government commands us to sin. “Let every soul be subject unto the
higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore
resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: [ordained of God ] and they that resist shall receive to
themselves damnation” (Rom 13:1-5.” Verse one tells us “there is no power but of God” and there is no human
authority exists except by God’s permission and under His control.
Daniel in the Old Testament asserts that God sets up one and puts down another! “The most High rules
in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and sets up over it the basest of men”(Dan 4:17).
This theme is picked up in verse 2 of Romans 13, “.....Whosoever resists the power, resists the ordinance of
God. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt you then not be afraid of the power? Do that
which is good, and you shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to you for good. But if you
do that which is evil, be afraid; for he bears not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to
execute wrath upon him that does evil. Wherefore you must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for
conscience sake” (Rom 13: 2-5). Understand this is a fair statement of our duties toward lawful
government. Toward honest government! But when we use that as a thumb-rule for action in the face of
tyranny, it becomes the cloak of cowardice. It becomes Neimoller's, failed strategy of silence.
No nation has ever had a Christian beginning like the United States of America! We have been given the
3 L’s– the Lord, the Law, and a Land, but now the U.S.A. is denying the Lord and His laws, and our land is
being defiled. The Lord is slowly but steadily being expelled from every public venue. It started in the public
schools, and has spread to public places, like the court houses, our coins, the pledge of allegiance, and on and on–
to the point where today we are fighting battles about what we can say in the church!
It is no longer just about the separation of church and state, but rather the separation of America from
the God who founded her and has so blessed her! America and her government has denied the Lord and has
defied God’s governing laws.
The Supreme Court says that it is against the law to display the 10 Commandments in a public place, even
though their building displays them! Their reasoning is, if you display them people might ponder them and if so,
they might obey them, and that would be a violation of the separation of church and state.
It is now the official position of our government that the 10 Commandments are dangerous! We would
not want our kids in school to see “thou shalt not kill”- “thou shalt not steal,”– or “obey your parents,”
because what if they obeyed it! The new direction our once Christian nation is now going in is just foolish, and
contrary to basic common sense.
We don't force our beliefs on anyone, but we have allowed the world to chip away at our core of morality.
Like ancient Israel, we have denied the Lord’s orders. America has defiled God’s laws. We've done this in many
ways, but perhaps the number one way is found in the spilled blood of aborted babies. God took away His glory
from His people Israel when they did such things. And it is seen He is in the process of removing Himself from
us as His servant people.
We need a moral and spiritual shaking up. It seems 9/11 was not enough, so we have to ask what will
be enough ?
In the book of Judges is the record of God raising up 12 men and 1 woman to deliver Israel from
backsliding, in order to bring about national restoration. There seems to be a pattern followed when a family
becomes rich, there are 3 stages which seem to always occur: • The first generation generates the fortune. • The
second generation speculates their fortune, thru a series of compromises and foolish decisions. • The third
generation squanders the fortune and it is gone. That is exactly how it works with a nation. There is a generation
that generates the freedom, then a generation that speculates it away, and finally, a generation that wastes it until
its completely gone, and freedom is no more!
Notice now the generation of Israel that entered into the promised land under Joshua? Israel was given
by God victory after victory, walls came tumbling down, and kings were subdued. They won victories they never
could have apart from the power of God. That's just how it has been with America until after World War 2.
Looking back to our first war, the Revolutionary war, Britain had more men, more money, and better
machinery... It was a truly a David and Goliath scenario. God was on our side and we won! Patrick Henry gave
the speech which sparked the revolution in 1775. He said, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased
at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it, almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for
me; give me liberty or give me death!” We won that war, and George Washington became our first president.
When he took office he placed his hand on the Holy Bible. When he finished taking the oath he kissed the Bible.
His first official act was to lead the entire Congress in a 2 hour worship session. Wonder what the ACLU would
have said about that.
In another of his inaugural addresses he said, "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the
invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which
they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token
of providential agency." In plain English he said, it is God who got us this far, and we had better not forget it!
It seems clear we have forgotten it
People are being trampled upon by the unrestrained, unjust use of power. For example, A few weeks
ago there was a report of a farmer who began serving a 30 day jail sentence for the crime of collecting rainwater
that had fallen on his own land. The same news report said, something close to 3,000 babies a day will be
dismembered in the womb or burned to death in a salt solution. For every generation of America before 1973,
abortion was a heinous crime.
In June 2011 the Department of Veterans Affairs forbids references to God and Jesus during burial
ceremonies at Houston National Cemetery. In August 2011 the Obama’s administration released its new health
care rules that override religious conscience protections for medical workers in the areas of abortion and
contraception. In April 2009 not long after taking office, President, Obama requested, when preparing to speak
at Georgetown University, for a monogram symbolizing Jesus’ name be covered when he is making his speech.
These were just a start of his anti–christ tactics, only God knows what Obama will do with his next four years
in office.
Now every shred of our liberty is being attacked! There can no longer be any doubt the forces of tyranny
are running wild across our once great Republic. We have now entered a historic crossroads that will decide the
destiny of the United States. Arrogance and corruption has long festered in Washington DC. During this last
decade we have seen an extreme acceleration of criminal looting and attacks on liberty and every freedom we
have known is under sustained assault.
When one observes President Obama’s unwillingness to accommodate America’s four century long
religious conscience protection that we read of on our money “In God We Trust,” he attempts to require
Catholics to go against their own doctrines and beliefs. One is tempted to say that he is anti–catholic. But that
characterization would not be correct although he has recently singled out Catholics, he has equally targeted
traditional Protestant beliefs over the past four years. Since he has attacked Catholics and Protestants, one is
tempted to say that he is anti–christian, but that too would be inaccurate. He has been equally disrespectful in
his appalling treatment of religious Jews in general and Israel in particular. Perhaps the most accurate description
of his distaste toward Catholics, Protestants, Religious Jews, and the Jewish nation would be to characterize him
as anti–biblical! Then when his hostility toward biblical people of faith is contrasted with his preferential
treatment of Muslims and Muslim nations, it further strengthens the accuracy of the anti-biblical descriptor. In
fact, there have been numerous, clearly documented times when his pro-Islam positions have been the cause of
his anti–biblical actions with the government's sanction and the assistance of taxpayer money.
Scripture says, "Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people" (Proverbs
28:15). How many people say to themselves as long as I personally haven't yet been commanded to blaspheme
God, I guess we can all breathe easy.
William Wilberforce said, “A private faith that does not act in the face of oppression is no faith at all."
He further said, “We need to understand in every ordered society there must be government and submission to
that authority otherwise you have a state of anarchy, and you cannot survive indefinitely under anarchy. Any
government is better than no government. So God has instituted human governments, and no governments exists
apart from His will. This does not mean that He approves of all that human rulers do. He certainly does not
approve of corruption, brutality, and tyranny! But the fact remains that the authorities, that exist are appointed
by God. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that
be are ordained of God”(Rom 13:1).
Our founding fathers made it abundantly clear that this land was founded on God and the Bible.
The Bible was the first and only book to be used in public schools for years. They read about the
succeeding generations of Israel who began to squander their blessing away. Notice what the Lord’s angel said
to Israel. “Then the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: "I led you up from Egypt and
brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you.
And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' but you have
not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?” (Judg 2:1-2).
The Lord through His angel is saying–look at all I have done for you. I delivered you from slavery, fed
you with manna, guided you and guarded you into the promised land, now look at you...why have you done this?!
Vs 7, follows up and said, Joshua generation saw first hand the great works of God. “So the people served the
Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works
of the Lord which He had done for Israel.” Verse 10, reminds us of today! “When all that generation had been
gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He
had done for Israel.” What a sad verse to be witnessed too!
Joshua generation failed to pass their God given values on to their children. This is what has happened
in America since 1960. Look where we are at today. Americans today are brainwashed by humanism, situational
ethics, and relativism. America does not understand our moral foundations and the spiritual principles upon
which this nation was founded. Obama is trying to rewrite history and remove God from our land.
The saddest verse in this book of Judges is the last one. “In those days there was no king in Israel [no
Godly leader]: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). They became a people with
no absolutes– no standard to live by. Is that not the nation you and I live in today? These Old Testament parallels
are frightening?
Barna Research shows that 67% of Americans say there is no such thing as absolute truth. They say that
right and wrong are not clear, what is wrong for you is not necessarily wrong for me. 52 % of church going
“Christians” say there is no black and white, right and wrong!
Notice Judges 2 and verse 2 again. It tell us how Israel got to this point. It was through a series of
compromises. “And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their
altars.' but you have not obeyed My voice [you compromised]. Why have you done this?” God had told them to
drive the enemy out of the land, and further, not to have anything to do with them. They were to separate
themselves from the world, just as we are supposed to do today.
In Judges 1:19, we are shown they were afraid of their enemy. “So the Lord was with Judah. And they
drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots
of iron.” They were afraid. They could have trusted in God and won, but they were cowards to try and go against
those who presented themselves stronger. They said, these people are impregnable, we cannot conquer them,
therefore we might as well learn to accommodate them, surrender to them, and learn to live with them! That is
exactly what we are witnessing in the U.S.A. today!
So called Christian men in America come home from work, routinely plop onto their couches in front of
horrible programming on television, or play with their i-pads or worse, play with a video game on killing, all of
the time ignoring the steady encroachment of tyranny in their land. According to them – all that matters is as
long as they personally are comfortable, and can play their emasculating first-person shooters for hours on end,
life is good and what else could matter? What’s wrong with that picture and attitude? What’s wrong is their vile
laziness and quest for personal peace winds up passing on to their own children a world in which the flame of
freedom grows inexorably colder. How is that providing for the household?
Can somebody explain to our Lord how that is showing love? And how that is being Christ like? It can't
be!! It's time and season for us to remember that courage is a Christian virtue, just as surely as piety is.
Conversely, the Bible condemns cowards. They will be expelled from God's city. Why? Because they won’t
stand up for God’s laws, principles, and ways. Notice Revelation 21:7-9, “He that overcomes shall inherit all
things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. But the fearful [cowards], and unbelieving, and the
abominable, and murderers, and whore-mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part
in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
James Russell
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Roman republic fell for a lot of reasons. Decline of moral values and political civility at home. Overconfidence and
militarily around the world. Fiscal irresponsibility by the central government and inability to control its borders. Does
that sound familiar?
========================================= The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse specifically define
the activities which began with the rise of the Roman Empire and ran the full gamut of despotism and desolation to its final
overthrow. In a broader sense, however, the trend of misrule, war, violence, bloodshed and misery exemplified by these
riders has followed a continuing pattern in history. And in these modern times Victory, Tyranny, Despair and Death,
ride-again!
John declares: “And I saw, and behold a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto
him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Rev 6:2).
Here we have depicted the fruits of conquest and gain through war, and the white horse and its crowned rider
represent the elation of the conquerors in the flush of victory over their foes. This was amply illustrated in the jubilation
following allied victories after the close of World Wars I and II.
Next in order John declares: “And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat
thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword”
(Rev 6:4).
Following wars of conquest a period of tyranny always ensues when peace, even in the land of the conqueror, is
disturbed by strife and turmoil. This is well illustrated in present-day agitation and trouble. Though victory has been
attained over our foes, internal strife and dissension is in evidence in our own land and millions suffer in Europe and Asia
under a tyranny exceeding anything the world has before experienced. “There is no peace?”
Tyranny begets despair and John continues: “And I beheld, and lo a black horse; And he that sat on him had a pair
of balances in his hand” (Rev 6:5).
Excesses of all kinds are the result of tyrannical oppression. Increased taxes and the regimentation of the people
produce despair and their eventual rebellion against injustices increase their crimes against the nation. The final end of it
all is inevitable economic disaster. Since the cessation of hostilities the world has traveled far along this fateful highway.
Much of Europe and Asia are already being ground under the iron heel of powerful bureaucracies as the Soviets followed
their victory over Germany with a program to regiment, control and dominate the political and economic lives of defeated
peoples. [ed. note-this was after World War II]. Men, uncertain of life and liberty, under governments which confiscate
their property, view the outlook in desperation as the cancerous growth of Communism permeates the entire political and
economic structure; destroying the established order. Following, in the wake of conquest and war, the evil doctrines of Karl
Marx are bringing discouragement to millions.
The Fourth horse described by John sets forth the unavoidable conclusion of it all: “And I looked, and behold a pale
horse and his name that sat on him was death, and Hell followed with him” (Rev 6:8).
Conquest followed by tyranny, despair and depression brings forth the rider of the pale house and famine and death
go forth to glean in the wake of want and destitution. Today, under regimentation and control, the productive possibilities
of this great nation are being curtailed and in Africa and Asia famine and tribal warfare is taking an ever-increasing toll
of life. Wholesale pestilence is only waiting until want and famine have done their work well before moving in to claim
its victims– those whose weakened constitution make them easy prey to this final scourge.
Thus the Four Horsemen are riding again and man through his culpability, the result of his greed and selfishness
is responsible for sending these riders forth again to take a toll in suffering and death.