There is a lot of criticism leveled at political leaders and public servants. When I read the New Testament, I find very little mention of the officials of time. There are no judgements on Nero, in spite of his wicked ways. The book of Acts reports various incidents, but rarely any condemnation. Paul says that Alexander, who made idols, did him great harm. He also said that God would take care of Alexander.
Contrast this with today's world. We have leaders who seem to be incompetent, corrupt, power crazed, without a conscience yet having their fingers on the nuclear trigger. Violence is normal and immorality ever increasing. Who is to blame?
How does God deal with the world? Romans 1:18-32 (For space, I won't quote it all. Feel free to look it up)
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness..........
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error..............Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless."
The last paragraph reads like a summary of modern society. It's not Joe Biden's fault. The rot set in decades ago. It's not Putin's fault. The West allowed him to believe that he could get away with invading Ukraine. Don't blame Trudeau, much as I would like to, or Boris Johnson. Macron is not the problem or the Muslim rulers in the Middle East. So who is responsible?
First, we need to recognise that God permits these evils. "He gave them over........" Just letting people be themselves is punishment in itself. Second, we need to realise the part the church has to play in all this. The free world failed to prevent Adolf Hitler from rearming Germany. Hitler broke the terms of the WW1 peace treaty, and no one did anything. Putin saw how Europe was disarming after the end of the Cold War. He gambled that Europe would do nothing to help a nation that he chose to invade. He was right.
We should know that there is a spiritual war going on right now. It is unseen but just as vicious as what is going on in Ukraine. Christians are supposed to be overwhelming conquerors, victorious and fighting defeated foe. Christians are the real authority and power on the earth. All the armies and weapons of the world are nothing compared with the power of Christ, given to us. However, if we do not fight, we will be overwhelmed.
Before we blame Biden, Trump, Fauci, Putin, Trudeau, Xi or any other human leader, we should take a look from God's point of view. The world is reaping what it has sown. God sees to it. Global warming is caused by the sin of mankind. How can a nation expect God's blessing when it tells God it hates His ways? God created male and female. The world says God got it wrong and you can be whatever you feel like. It is unutterably evil and God rightly judges the nations. The church should take the attack to the real enemy- Satan and his unholy hordes.
How do we do this? First, resist the enemy in our own lives. Second, refuse to allow the deceptions of the world to influence us. Same sex marriage is an abomination. Don't let the world tell you otherwise. And don't fall for the trap of blaming human institutions. I can assure you that changing a president is not going to fix a nation's problems. A change of heart in the people is the only hope.
We need to know that there is a war. Pray for God's will to be done and the Kingdom of God to come. Know that the Kingdom of God is where the devil is driven out and God's will is done - as in heaven, so on earth. It will happen. Let's make it sooner rather than later.
Contrast this with today's world. We have leaders who seem to be incompetent, corrupt, power crazed, without a conscience yet having their fingers on the nuclear trigger. Violence is normal and immorality ever increasing. Who is to blame?
How does God deal with the world? Romans 1:18-32 (For space, I won't quote it all. Feel free to look it up)
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness..........
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error..............Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless."
The last paragraph reads like a summary of modern society. It's not Joe Biden's fault. The rot set in decades ago. It's not Putin's fault. The West allowed him to believe that he could get away with invading Ukraine. Don't blame Trudeau, much as I would like to, or Boris Johnson. Macron is not the problem or the Muslim rulers in the Middle East. So who is responsible?
First, we need to recognise that God permits these evils. "He gave them over........" Just letting people be themselves is punishment in itself. Second, we need to realise the part the church has to play in all this. The free world failed to prevent Adolf Hitler from rearming Germany. Hitler broke the terms of the WW1 peace treaty, and no one did anything. Putin saw how Europe was disarming after the end of the Cold War. He gambled that Europe would do nothing to help a nation that he chose to invade. He was right.
We should know that there is a spiritual war going on right now. It is unseen but just as vicious as what is going on in Ukraine. Christians are supposed to be overwhelming conquerors, victorious and fighting defeated foe. Christians are the real authority and power on the earth. All the armies and weapons of the world are nothing compared with the power of Christ, given to us. However, if we do not fight, we will be overwhelmed.
Before we blame Biden, Trump, Fauci, Putin, Trudeau, Xi or any other human leader, we should take a look from God's point of view. The world is reaping what it has sown. God sees to it. Global warming is caused by the sin of mankind. How can a nation expect God's blessing when it tells God it hates His ways? God created male and female. The world says God got it wrong and you can be whatever you feel like. It is unutterably evil and God rightly judges the nations. The church should take the attack to the real enemy- Satan and his unholy hordes.
How do we do this? First, resist the enemy in our own lives. Second, refuse to allow the deceptions of the world to influence us. Same sex marriage is an abomination. Don't let the world tell you otherwise. And don't fall for the trap of blaming human institutions. I can assure you that changing a president is not going to fix a nation's problems. A change of heart in the people is the only hope.
We need to know that there is a war. Pray for God's will to be done and the Kingdom of God to come. Know that the Kingdom of God is where the devil is driven out and God's will is done - as in heaven, so on earth. It will happen. Let's make it sooner rather than later.
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