FREEDOM FROM RELIGION?
12/28/20130 Comments

BY PASTOR MIKE TAYLOR

Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?
2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
2:3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”
2:4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.
2:5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure:

Deuteronomy,
8:18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
8:19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish
8:20 As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.

I was implored by a brother in Christ to assemble a message on our 1st Amendment rights of freedom of speech and religion that is guaranteed in our Constitution and written down in our Bill of Rights to that Constitution and the loss of those freedoms, which are coming. As he is, so am I, tired of hearing the words “separation of church and state”. No where in our founding documents that birthed this nation as a land of freedom can these words be found. I challenge anyone to show them to me. Why? Because they are not there.

A NEW NATION FORMED
In the beginning of forming this nation, men of conscious, men of faith, and men of determination came to an agreement on what this nation would be based upon. And what was the foundation that formed this nation and which we stand upon? In the opening words of our Declaration of Independence, we find the source of our freedoms:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (emphasis mine)

It was the opening salvo of our war of independence from British tyranny and to break away from being ruled by one man and to being subject to him, as our benefactor, instead of relying on our source of our freedom, being Almighty God.

So where did this phrase of separation of church and state come from, in the first place, if not found in our Constitution or Bill of Rights in any of its language? Now as a preface, note that this nation was formed out of a desire to escape persecution, besides that of tyranny and a dictatorship of a king, but to have religious liberty to choose how an individual was to acknowledge the God of our Fathers in his/her own life and not have a state religion dictate your beliefs according to their definitions and against your own convictions. Note that during this time period, Europe was going through several rounds of Catholic Inquisitions fostered by the likes of the Jesuits and were persecuting all who would not bow to the rule of the Catholic Church. That’s history written down and cannot be refuted. That is what the Catholic church was doing, and men of freewill longed for the right to choose according to their own convictions.

Down through history, the issue was debated from antiquity until even the time of British rule and Henry VIII creating his own religion or the Church of England, thus breaking ties with the Roman Catholic Church over a dispute of marriage. The King became also the High Priest of the nation and many perils befell the population because of state run religion, but it was Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence who attempted to define what was undefined in our Bill of Rights. What are the words of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution? Quote:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” endquote.

I ask you, do you see anything in that phrase that says that the name of God shall be eliminated from the halls of every state institution, or that a free person can’t say the name of Jesus in a prayer, or prohibit prayer according to your convictions at a school function, the Ten Commandments displayed outside a courthouse, or a nativity scene banished for view during the month of December? So where did it come from?

In English, the exact term is an offshoot of the phrase, “wall of separation between church and state”, as written in Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802. In that letter, referencing the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Jefferson writes:

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”

And from a letter written, not law mind you, was the order of the Supreme Court that in a case of Reynolds v. United States that the ruling added to the Bill of Rights something that was not ratified by the people of the USA. Here is their “opinion”.

“Congress cannot pass a law for the government of the Territory which shall prohibit the free exercise of religion. The first amendment to the Constitution expressly forbids such legislation.” Of federal territorial laws, the Court said: “Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious beliefs and opinions, they may with practices.”

There were many instances where cults or perversion was based on “religious beliefs” contrary to the welfare of the majority or in violation of current law and that is a broad subject that I will not cover here. But the problem began when the state began throwing the baby out with the bath water. From the 1960s, beginning with Madeline O’Hare’s suing the Board of Education about school prayer, has the slide of everything anti-God been promoted as “separation of church and state”…Every mention of God, or our Savior Jesus Christ was banned and challenged by minority population of atheist and those that would change the foundation upon which this country was formed, namely the Ten Commandments and the exercise of every man’s conscious whether to worship or not to worship a Divine Being, was being overturned. Now instead of the 1stAmendment identifying “Freedom OF Religion”, it has morphed into “Freedom from Religion” devoid of any mention of what this country has stood for some 237+ years of her existence.

SO WHERE ARE WE HEADED?

So we know where we have been and what we have fought and died for, since the beginning of the 20th Century. Of such are Marxist-communism, fascism, and nazism. For all their differences, each of these three totalitarian systems deny democracy and the rule of law. They all—though fascism to a lesser extent—get their intellectual underpinnings from Karl Marx. So what is the end result of a nation that throws God or His mention from the halls of their laws and government of the people, by the people, and for the people?

Many doomsday prognosticators feel that a nation that falls is a result of social economic indicators, or political upheaval, but their prognosis is correct, but their diagnosis misses the mark and is wrong. What causes a nation to fall into ruin, as other nations before us have fallen, such as Rome, Greece, or the British Empire? Yes, the future is bleak. But our problem is not ultimately political, economic, or even social, as these doomsayers would have us believe.

The decline of this nation (just as the decline of every other nation) is due to spiritual factors. The political, economic, and social problems we encounter are the symptoms of the spiritual deterioration of a nation, not the cause. Just as our Bible gives us example after example of when Israel was putting God first in all that she did, such at the time of Solomon’s reign during his first years of being king. Now contrast that to when his sons who attained the throne after him, followed not with their whole heart after God falling into idolatry, did God finally send them into exile not once, but twice for the Southern Kingdom (and total annihilation of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians) with the last one being almost 1900 years by Rome, until against all odds, God made them a nation again. Now, my reader, we are NOT Israel and we are NOT God’s chosen people, but of the Christians of this nation, we are people He called as a special people called out for Himself. A people who were not His people, through His grace and His mercy.

How can we think or even believe that if we stay on the same course that we are on and expect God to do anything but what He said He would do in Deuteronomy :

8:19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish”.

Notice the word “perish”…to mean destroy utterly. Have we gone too far? Has the Christian majority that has the label “Christian” about them, allowed this nation to descend to a point of no return? Have our multitude of sins that have been made politically correct destroyed our very foundation? We could make a multitude of the laundry list of our abominations that I can only imagine “stinks” in God’s nostrils…I would like to quote an article I read about the stages and the rise and fall of a nation from Kirby Anderson “Decline of a Nation”…I quote:

“History has shown that the average age of the great civilizations is around two hundred years. Countries like Great Britain exceed the average while other countries like the United States are just now reaching the average age.

Each of the great civilizations in the world passed through a series of stages from their birth to their decline to their death. Historians have listed these in ten stages.

The first stage moves from bondage to spiritual faith. The second from spiritual faith to great courage. The third stage moves from great courage to liberty. The fourth stage moves from liberty to abundance. The fifth stage moves from abundance to selfishness. The sixth stage moves from selfishness to complacency. The seventh stage moves from complacency to apathy. The eighth stage moves from apathy to moral decay. The ninth stage moves from moral decay to dependence. And the tenth and last stage moves from dependence to bondage.”

Let us look at where we are, based on this scale of 1-10 stages. Looking at our daily news and reports of the economic, political, and yes, the spiritual condition of this country, I would say we are somewhere between 9 and 10…The powers that be starting with this present “administration” are working feverishly to destroy what is left of this nation, and you my reader, are a facilitator of that moral decay by your silence, your apathy, and by being only concerned with self…It’s all about me, right?

Do you see what I’m speaking of here? The land of the free, and the home of the brave is perilously close to extinction. Extinct to say from what we knew and enjoyed in abundance…that is FREEDOM to choose. That freedom is dangerously close to be snuffed out in the name of political correctness and the love of unrighteous behavior.

I ask you, where are the righteous men and women of this nation that have yet to rise up and scream at the top of their lungs and take action to take this country back?…again, is it too late? In times past, I have postulated that indeed, it may be too late. Our doom is sealed in my mind, but my heart longs for the nation I thought I knew…I am reminded of what God said of the wicked that will make up much of this country in the near future. Psalm:

11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
11:6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

THE COMING 7 YEAR TRIBULATION

There is coming a time of unspeakable horror that all will face that do not call on the name of our Lord and Savior in repentance and ask forgiveness of their sins and do so, truly in their heart of hearts. That time may be just around the corner. In that period of 7 years, the USA and the whole world for that matter, will be but a shell of what it was. There will be a brutal master over the whole world that will rule with death, destruction, and terror. In him will be the ultimate separation of church and state, as the One World Religion that he uses to his own gain will be destroyed.

Revelation:
13:14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which he had received to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.
13:15 And he received power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to die.
13:16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
13:17 and he provides that no one can buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
13:18 Here we find wisdom Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number represents that of a man; and his number adds up to six hundred and sixty-six.

Until he does away with this false church, and desire only worship of himself, being the supreme false god over the state:

17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore (false church), and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

It will be the most awful time of the end of this age of the rule of man over himself, as Jesus said that “unless the time be shortened, no flesh would be saved”. Matthew 24:22a

So my reader, how is your religion? Is it rooted in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Do you call upon the name that is above every name, Jesus, the Son of the Living God? If you have followed any of my previous messages concerning the coming tribulation, then my friend, if you be of that crowd who wants a separation of church and state, you will get your wish in all its horror when religion is centered on one man, and you will worship him on pain of death. Much like Augustus Caesar during Rome’s rule and their subsequent Caesars. Sounds delightful, right? I’m sure that will be the last thing on your mind, as you attempt just to stay alive, as living free on this earth during that time coming will be a scarce commodity for all who live a mortal life during those years. Separation of church and state is coming and it’s nothing you bargained for or able to envision. God help you.

This is pastor Mike Taylor, praying you make that decision for Jesus Christ before time runs out. If you need counseling, prayer, or just a listening ear, email me at realteam1999@sbcglobal.net, or visit me online atwww.churchofgod-usa.org. God bless you all,
TILL WE MEET AT JESUS FEET