America, Place Ordained for Freedom
By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear Friends,
Warm Christian greetings to you and your family. I’m glad that you have joined us today. Keep the Faith Ministry is continually seeking to awaken God’s people to the nearness of the coming of Jesus. I hope that you are preparing for what is coming upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.
This month I have a very special message for you. It is a sermon on why the American constitution was and continues to be so important, because in just a few short months America has become confused and disoriented about the vital importance of the nation as a place of freedom and liberty. In the context of Black Lives Matter and its Marxist demands, in a time when critical race theory threatens to overwhelm American education with a perverse ideology, we need to step back and relook at America’s true foundation and understand the role it played to provide a haven of freedom for those whose faith was in the minority. The reason is because America’s foundations are being shaken and its basic freedoms, especially religious freedom is soon going to be history. I hope that you will be able to see that what God has done in history, He will also do in your life.
Now, as we begin our message for today, let us pray that God will bless us as we study together. Our Father in heaven, it is in Jesus name that we come to you today seeking Your blessing and a special encouragement from the Holy Spirit. We want to know that God still cares about us, and that He is by our side, silently, carefully working out His purposes, both in us and in His church. Please speak to us today, in Jesus’ name, amen.
The prophet Daniel was given a message that was specifically for the end time. In fact, the angel told Daniel in chapter 12:9; “Go thy way Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.”
The book of Daniel tells us a lot about history. In chapter two, we read about Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, and a divided kingdom after that. It also speaks about the future kingdom of Christ which overthrows the previous kingdoms and establishes an everlasting kingdom. We are now in the time just before the overthrow of the earthly kingdoms. Things will rapidly wax worse and worse.
Then in verse 10 we read; “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”
What is the angel referring to? At the end of time, when the book is unsealed, the wise shall understand. And he points out that the wise are the righteous. You remember that Psalm 111:10 says that; “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do his commandments…”
This verse should make it very clear to us that you cannot have the wisdom that the angel promised without obedience to God’s commandments. That is why God’s people in the last days are wise. It is because they keep all of His Ten-Commandment law. The Bible is very easy to understand really if you know the secret of comparing scripture with scripture, “here a little, there a little” as it says in Isaiah 28:10, 13.
If you want to understand anything, you must do what Jesus did. He lived by God’s law. If you want to understand prophecy as it really is and sift through the confusing ideas that are floating around out there today, you need to keep God’s law. Then He will enlighten you. If you want to be sure you understand history correctly, which goes hand in hand with prophecy, you must also keep God’s law. He will give you a depth of understanding that will powerfully impact your life and you won’t get caught up in all the spin of modern revisionists. If you keep God’s law, and you pay attention and look deeply into the things of God, you will have understanding of our times. And your influence, your light, will rise like the dawning sun and others will be drawn to the message you have to share. Isaiah 60:1 says; “Arise shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”
What a powerful verse that is. If you want to have Jesus shine upon you both with wisdom and understanding, and with power to convince others of the truth of God’s last message, you need to do the opposite of the wicked. Again, Daniel 12:10 says that; “The wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”
I want to show you how God prepared for a place and an environment of freedom so that His last message of love and warning could be given to the world. I want to show you that God doesn’t just let the world go its own way. Yes, He does allow Satan to manifest himself, and He does not fight our will. But He uses even those who oppose Him to accomplish His purposes. Moreover, I want to show you that God is working at many different levels and from many different angles all at once, and well in advance, so that just at the right time and with just the right elements in place His work can make a significant step forward in spite of the opposition from the enemy.
Listen to this statement from the book Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students, page 379.
”There is a study of history that is not to be condemned. Sacred history was one of the studies in the schools of the prophets. In the record of His dealings with the nations were traced the footsteps of Jehovah. So today we are to consider the dealings of God with the nations of the earth. We are to see in history the fulfillment of prophecy, to study the workings of Providence in the great reformatory movements, and to understand the progress of events in the marshaling of the nations for the final conflict of the great controversy.”
As we consider the dealings of God with the nations of today, we can again see how freedom and liberty came to be and we can also see prophecy fulfilling in our time and how that liberty is despised by perhaps some of your neighbors. Most importantly we can understand what to do and how to be the most effective in giving God’s message to those in darkness. We can also see at least some of the many ways in which God is working to bring about His will and draw attention to His truth and to His law.
Here is another statement that you will no doubt find very interesting. This is one of my favorites from the book Education, page 173.
“In the annals of human history the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as [if they are] dependent on the will and prowess of man. The shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, behind, above, and through all the play and counterplay of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of the all-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.”
Isn’t that an inspiring statement? We can actually see what is going on behind the scenes. If we have a prophetic mindset, or a prophetic outlook, we can understand, by the grace of God, the inner workings of His agencies, carrying out the counsels of His own will. Most people don’t like history. Rarely do people today read the annals of human history. But this is vital. When you put together the annals of human history with the sacred knowledge of history as God sees and expresses it, we gain insights that are powerful and very practical for our times. As you know history repeats itself.
So, let us look at history in a new way perhaps. We are going to go back to the time of the middle ages when the Roman Catholic Church ruled the empire known as the Holy Roman Empire or “old world.” Keep in mind, Satan using the Roman Catholic Church wants to return to that model so he can control the minds and consciences of men again like he did for 1000 years. But God used those very circumstances to bring about change and He will use these circumstances again to show who His people are and His power to deliver them.
There were many factors that undermined the medieval system and led to big changes.
First there was control. The church controlled the people through superstition and kept the people in vice. The inquisition was the legal framework for keeping the people under control. Superstition was the spiritual basis for control. Without fear of the loss of their eternal salvation, people would have never accepted the power of the church over their lives. But once they accepted the superstitions of the church, their fears were kindled and led them to bondage. Those that did not accept papal teachings were persecuted and killed. After 1000 years, there was a deep-seated yearning for freedom from excessive control. Today, national and local leaders grasp almost dictatorial control and impose regulations on society unheard of just a couple of years ago. And they can do it because of fear. The pandemic has been hyped, and there is fear-mongering and confusing information being spewed out to the masses. This is the work of the enemy to bind people in bundles to be burned.
Listen to this statement from Upward Look, page 334.
“Because of frequent triumphs, Satan is becoming more bold and defiant in his rebellion against God. The rapid development of evil, the confusion among the laboring classes, reveal that men are rapidly taking sides. They are being bound up in bundles to be burned. The labor unions are quickly stirred to violence if their demands are not complied with. Plainer and plainer is it becoming that the inhabitants of the world are not in harmony with God.”
A second factor leading to change in the old system was the economy. In the middle ages, there was virtually no middle class, only rich and poor. The economy of any nation requires a middle class to move it forward. This is because the middle class have more money than they need for their basic necessities and can invest it in inventions, efficiencies, and even consumerism. In the middle ages, under the feudal system the rich kings, nobles, barons, princes, and others had all the economy coming their way, so they had no motivation to invest in it. The poor were kept busy eking out an existence, working hard just to keep bread on the table, a roof over their heads, and clothes on their backs. Without the middle class it was easy for Rome to manipulate the economy to her advantage as well. Without a middle class there can be no real independence and freedom. Perhaps you can see why so many western nations have gradually been stripping their economies of the middle class. They want to remove freedom. That is happening in America too. Now the economy is creating circumstances that will again strip the middle class of their economic power by deflation, change of currency and other methods, and again the poor will be poorer in the name of getting out of poverty.
A third factor leading to freedom was oppression. Europeans were getting tired of oppression. The rich oppressed the poor. The church oppressed the masses. Life was hard and sorrowful. The people longed for freedom.
A fourth factor leading to freedom was spiritual hunger. The Bible was forbidden. But the Holy Spirit never stops working on hearts. The people were very hungry for truth and light. They perceived, perhaps subconsciously, that something wasn’t right about the way they were being taught. Their spiritual interest was stimulated by the Waldenses who secretly gave them little portions of scripture and taught them that the teachings of Rome were not found in the Bible. Imagine the shock in finding out that penance, purgatory, pilgrimages, genuflection, transubstantiation, confession to a priest, Sunday sacredness and so much more was not in scripture, and that Christ is the only priest and mediator between God and man. The hunger for truth was enormous.
Through these aspects of medieval life, God was silently, patiently bringing about the counsels of His own will, preparing for a huge change. Most historians think that the Protestant Reformation was started by a disgruntled monk who startled Europe’s peace by his open rebellion to the Catholic Church. But in reality, it was the hand of God that prepared the way for Martin Luther to accomplish his great work through all these factors leading to change. Perhaps one of the most notable was the work of the Waldenses. Their missionary efforts to undermine the teachings of Rome (and undermining is what is was), for over 1000 years created a network of interest in the truth of the gospel.
When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Chapel, all of Europe knew about it in a very short time, without faxes, without telephones and without email. It was mostly because of the diligent work of the Waldenses for centuries that opened the way for the surprise and relief brought by the work of Martin Luther, and for that matter his wife Katie. Katie was a significant economic and industrial influence that brought about the Protestant work ethic. She was not interested in government handouts so that people could become lazy. She taught that true godliness led to work and industry, and this in turn led to economic freedom. All state handouts have strings attached whether it’s to individuals or universities or corporations.
God often works by setting forces in motion that result in change. He uses the very things that Satan invents to keep people in superstition. It’s like dropping a small pebble in a lake. The ripples start small, then widen to encompass the whole lake.
Similar to how God prepared for the Reformation, there were a number of key counteracting influences that God set in motion to prepare the way for freedom and the proclamation of the last message of warning to the world.
The first was discoveries. In 1492 a Portuguese sailor, Christopher Columbus proposed a new route to the Indies. Back then the church had endorsed the popular myth that the earth was flat. This was a daring voyage, because at any time, these ships would come to the edge of the earth and fall off never to be seen again, or so many people thought. But Columbus sailed anyway. The result was that Columbus discovered the Americas. But he did not discover what is today the United States. He landed on an island in the Caribbean. God perhaps led him there, so that others, mainly Protestants would discover the land that is now the USA.
Where did Christopher Columbus first land on in the US?
Christopher Columbus
But Christopher Columbus’ voyage was just at the right time. It was just enough in advance so that there was enough time for other explorers to investigate other places (and there were many of them) and develop new territories. Eventually, a new country would develop, that (unknown to Columbus) would be built on new principles. Not on the old Catholic model that had been so detrimental to the old world, but on principles that would nurture freedom and liberty and the unique three angel’s messages and bring a mature and powerful message of the soon coming of Jesus in the clouds of glory. God was planning it all the way back in 1492.
In our short lives we cannot always see the things that God is doing. Nor can we always see our part in it. That takes understanding motivated by faith. We have to trust that God is working out the counsels of His own will in our lives and in our world. But looking back on history in light of God’s word, we learn that He was bringing about the very things He needed to happen so that His people would be prepared to receive and then give the message of love and obedience to His character and law in the last generation.
The Rosetta Stone was another great discovery prior to the advent movement. This was discovered 300 years after Columbus in 1799. Napoleon’s general Berthier was in Egypt rebuilding a fort at Rosetta (or Rashid, as it is known today). There he uncovered the famous stone. The Rosetta Stone was a civil document written in three languages which verified certain things found in scripture. This gave great confidence in the biblical accounts and increased faith in the Bible. Most importantly, it helped raise the level of interest in the Bible, at the very time when atheism was on the ascendance. Marxism would lead to more oppression and a lot of death. But the study of the Bible brings freedom, and this was just in time for the great awakening and the interest in the end-time prophecies of the advent movement.
Biblical Archaeology: Egypt
Rosetta Stone
I think it is very intriguing that God used an atheist to discover the Rosetta Stone. Here was an avowed enemy of God and of Christianity, a product of the French Revolution, whom God used to discover a document that brings great interest in scripture. That is amazing! This shows the truth of 2 Corinthians 13:8 which says; “For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.”
Another counteracting influence was the Crusades. We don’t hear much about the Crusades and their real impact on the western world. But in spite of all the bloodshed, they were a useful tool in the hand of God to bring about the Reformation and the freedom of the Bible.
The Bibles in the East, and the Bibles in the West were fundamentally different. The eastern Bibles were far purer than the Latin Bibles of the West which had been corrupted in the fourth century by the Gnostics and adopted by the Roman church. These eastern Bibles had been kept in the East because of the split in the Catholic Church. The Crusades opened up a lot of new trade and commerce between the East and the West, and this opened the way for the Bibles of the East to come to the West. These Bibles from the East became the basis for the Reformation Bibles, eventually known as the Textus Receptus. There is no way that the Reformation could be successful unless there were purer Bibles to be had. Therefore, just before the Reformation God brought many of these eastern scripture manuscripts into the West so that they would be ready just in time for the Reformation. The reformers used these manuscripts to make their translations into the common languages of the people.
The Bible would bring freedom of thought and action which was very important to making an environment where a message as unique and systematic as the three angels’ messages, the sanctuary message, the non-immortality of the soul and other seemingly hidden or unknown or even doctrines that seemed unorthodox, could flourish in the light.
Also, remember that the remnant church needed a Bible from a pure source manuscript, not the corrupted sources of Rome’s Bibles, in order to keep its message pure and unmixed with error. Moreover, the advent message had to be based on pure Bibles or it could never mature. Furthermore, the advent message was to be based on faithfulness to scripture and it involved deep Bible study. If the only Bibles available were of the corrupted variety, it would never have arrived at the pointed and detailed principles it has today.
A third counteracting influence that God used to defeat the darkness of the medieval world and prepare the way for the last message was inventions. The printing press was and still is the greatest invention of all time. It changed more than any other single invention in history. Neither the jet engine, nor the computer microchip has changed more of life and society than the printing press. It was invented just in time for the Reformation so that the people could have relatively cheap Bibles in their own languages to read. The pope was apparently going to suppress the printing press, but one of the cardinals persuaded him that it could be very useful to the Catholic Church in combating heresy. But it was the Protestants that weaponized the printing press. They were very effective in waging the battle for truth against the darkness of superstition and abuse.
Those reformation Bibles were published by the thousands. People everywhere went to night school after work to learn to read, just so that they could read the Bible. This raised their intellect to where they could improve their understanding. And this led them to question the teachings of the church more openly. They could now see that they were in darkness and falsehood. And the light was bright! So bright that it nearly destroyed the influence of Rome in northern Europe. This improved intellect, and began to raise the economy. After all, more inventions and efficiencies could be brought into common life, trade, commerce and production. The new Bibles helped to restore a very damaged society.
Another key counteracting influence was the way in which God arranged the languages of the world. There was competition between the Spanish and the English languages. Catholic Spain wanted to conquer the world. But God ordained that Protestant England would become the global superpower for a time. And for a very important reason. The English language would then become the dominant language of the expanding world. Why was that important?
Had Spain become the superpower, then the Spanish language would have been the dominant language and America would have been connected to Rome and it probably wouldn’t have the freedom it has had all these years. God was preparing a place for freedom, a place where men could investigate His word unhindered by social pressure. He was preparing a place where His last message could develop deep roots and could grow and mature as far from Rome as possible.
Rome saw that England had ambitions to expand and rule the seas. So, she sent the Spanish Armada to the English Channel in an effort to reconquer England for Spain and the Catholic Church. All of England trembled in fear of those huge Spanish galleons. But it was their very magnificence and size that led to their destruction. The English Channel was treacherous, and the Spanish captains did not know it well. Moreover, the English captains had much smaller and more maneuverable ships. And they knew the channel quite well. God intervened and brought fog down onto the channel, giving the English ships a huge advantage. The Spanish ships had no choice but to sit out the fog. But the English ships maneuvered around them and blasted them to pieces.
When the Spanish Armada was defeated there was no hindrance to England becoming master of the high seas. Spain lost her bid for global dominance. Protestant English, not Catholic Spanish would be the dominant language. The English-speaking colonies on every continent of the inhabited world would use the Protestant Bible in English. Since the advent message would start in the English language, it was vitally important for the English language to have a global presence. God was planning for England to be the global superpower so that His last generation church would be able to develop the message and spread it to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people.” (Revelation 14:6) He was working on it all the way back then.
Wikipedia: Spanish Armada
Enforex: Spanish Armada
History Learning Site: The Spanish Armada
There is more. There was another big counteracting influence that was shifting the thinking of nations concerning liberty. The people were tired of being controlled in thought and conscience. The Bibles of the Reformation encouraged liberty. The study of the Bible always leads to liberty. After 1000 years of Catholic and Protestant state-required religion, it was time for a change to a different form of society.
A sacral (or sacred) society is built on the principle that the church and the state are united. Everyone who is a citizen must worship in the same way. This led to many abuses and true liberty was non-existent. The people didn’t even have freedom of thought thanks to the inquisition. But the yearning for freedom was imbedded in the heart of man by God.
A composite society is one that is made up of many religions, not just one. Separation of church and state is necessary so that everyone can get along peacefully in the marketplace while worshipping in their own way, according to their own conscience, or for that matter not worshipping at all.
Without separation of church and state there could be no religious liberty. And without religious liberty, there could be no church that would discover all of God’s truth and all of God’s will for the last generation. There would be no mature message to give to the people and help them see God and His law in its true setting. There would then be no end to the reign of sin. God was working to counteract all the forces of many centuries of a church-controlled state which conquered the consciences of men and women and kept them from the light of truth.
Another very interesting counteracting influence was the American Revolution. This was important because it broke the new world from the old and created a wide separation. The hardy free-thinking pioneers established a bedrock of individual independency which was a cradle, a nursery for freedom of religion. Their Protestant entrepreneurial spirit was a powerful force, and it led to investigation and research. That separation from the old world would make it possible for God’s remnant church to grow in an environment of rugged individualism and a strong sense of freedom which would give men and women the chance to think for themselves, to investigate and discover His truth for the last days. This was part of making a composite society which guaranteed freedom and honesty of thought which was essential to those who developed the systematic understanding of scripture for the advent movement.
Why did America provide an ideal seedbed for the growth of the advent movement? Those who formulated the governmental systems of the United States had seen the abuse of Rome. Though they may not have all understood the role the Bible had played, they understood that it was essential to allow people to worship as they chose. Thus, the legal structure to protect religious freedom was put in place. This included freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right of public assembly, and many other aspects of the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. They protect religious liberty like shields. Today, one by one, these are being eroded so that eventually, religious liberty itself can be attacked, which we have begun to see now.
Freedom and liberty can’t be removed without the loss of the first amendment or its principles. Listen to this statement from Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 5, page 451.
“By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.”
Why does the US Government reach across the gulf? Its because of this prophecy. Government leaders covet Rome’s political collaboration. They cooperate with her as well. Rome hates freedom, especially American freedom because it is so diametrically opposed to her principles. She has worked to put Roman Catholics into the supreme court and the federal judiciary and in offices of state and where she can, she accomplishes her agenda through them.
Listen to this from Great Controversy, page 564.
““The Constitution of the United States guarantees liberty of conscience. Nothing is dearer or more fundamental. Pope [Gregory XVI’s encyclical letter of August 15, 1832] (reference corrected), said: `The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience are a most pestilential error—a pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a state.’ [Pope Pius IX in his Syllabus of Errors] (reference corrected), in his Encyclical Letter of December 8, 1864, anathematized `those who assert the liberty of conscience and of religious worship,’ also ‘all such as maintain that the church may not employ force.’”
But if Rome is so opposed to liberty, why does she promote freedom? Friends, Rome is like a chameleon. She takes on the language of her environment, so she can influence that environment until she can achieve her goals. Listen to Great Controversy, page 571.
“The papacy is just what prophecy declared that she would be, the apostasy of the latter times. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4. It is a part of her policy to assume the character which will best accomplish her purpose; but beneath the variable appearance of the chameleon she conceals the invariable venom of the serpent. “Faith ought not to be kept with heretics, nor persons suspected of heresy” (Lenfant, volume 1, page 516), she declares.”
Let’s go back and read pages 564 and 565 of The Great Controversy.
““The pacific tone of Rome in the United States does not imply a change of heart. She is tolerant where she is helpless. Says Bishop O’Connor: ‘Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic world.’… The archbishop of St. Louis once said: ‘Heresy and unbelief are crimes; and in Christian countries, as in Italy and Spain, for instance, where all the people are Catholics, and where the Catholic religion is an essential part of the law of the land, they are punished as other crimes.’…
Rome despises liberty, especially religious liberty. She will work against it in the nation states that uphold it.
The American situation (religious freedom combined with individual independency) offered a place for a distinctive, last-day Christian church to put down its roots and grow without substantial opposition, especially the magnificent engines of error and persecution that had controlled the old world for centuries. In this environment of freedom, the advent movement could develop and mature in large steps spiritually and could get access to all the truth that God wanted them to have. It could not have happened in the old world because the old ways of thinking and doing things were still in place even though there had been great upheavals. Freedom was greatly lacking. The old social infrastructure was still stronger than would have been best to nurture a new spiritual teaching from the Bible that would have been considered to be rank heresy in the old world. In the new world, with its principles of freedom, the new faith could strengthen itself so that it could fulfill its destiny in God’s plan.
One more influence that must be taken into consideration is the Great Awakenings which were widespread, religious revivals centered in the new world. God was at work again. The first great awakening took place in 1740 and onward, just before the American war of independence which helped to shape the American founder’s ideas of freedom of religion. The second Great Awakening took place between 1790 and 1840, right about the time of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. This revival laid the spiritual foundation in America for the advent movement. Charles Finney, Lyman Beecher and many others led the people to a great interest in spiritual things and a renewed interest in the study of the Bible. God knew that this would inevitably lead to an interest in the study of prophecy. The second Great Awakening in particular prepared the hearts of thousands to hear the message of William Miller and other Second Advent preachers. It was again, just in time.
First Great Awakening
Second Great Awakening
Now let us look at this whole picture from a slightly different point of view. Why did God choose to give America freedom and make it the birthplace and cradle of the advent message? Why did He create this kind of environment for its nurture and protection?
America was distant from Rome in many important ways. That distance was vital, and God knew that He must develop it to protect His last message from Rome’s hostile power, at least until it reached critical mass.
First, America was geographically distant from Rome therefore largely free of her control. Geography in the 18th and 19th centuries made more impact than it does today. To get the Advent message started, it had to have a geographical distance that was difficult to cross.
Second, America had a social distance from Rome. The new country was not entrenched in the old ways of thinking. It did not have the old social infrastructure with its stuffy ways of doing things. Because of this, opportunities in the new world were greatly expanded in every way. But most importantly, that social distance allowed the freedom to investigate new spiritual ideas and the discovery of Bible doctrines that had been lost for ages.
Thirdly, America was a civil distance from Rome. An entirely new civil system was developed. It was modeled after the common law principles of England, not the cannon law principles of Rome, like in Spain. America was a self-governing nation that promoted much freedom, especially religious freedom.
Fourthly, America was a linguistic distance from Rome. America was to be an English-speaking country, not a Spanish speaking one. English was clearly a protestant language and was therefore quite distant from Rome. This provided great freedom.
Fifthly, America was an intellectual distance from Rome. Intellectual development was free and unencumbered by Rome’s control. You may remember that there were men like Galileo Gallilei, whose intellectual genius was shackled by Rome’s control over the definition of things. Galileo said that the earth went around the sun, but Rome had defined the earth as the center of the solar system, therefore the sun had to go around the earth. Galileo was even arraigned before the inquisition and forced to recant his important discovery. Today of course, Rome has had to come into alignment with reality. Galileo was right after all, and now the church wants to “rehabilitate” him. I suppose that is the only way to save face.
Sixthly, America was a legal distance from Rome. When the English nobles demanded more freedoms from King John, he was eventually forced to sign the Magna Carta (or the Great Charter) in 1215. This was not about liberties for the common people. It was for the nobles and barons. However, the Magna Carta set England on a course toward a constitutional monarchy which would eventually lead to greater freedoms for all people. If the nobles could have more freedom, why not the people? It was one of those “pebble-in-the-lake” events that had ripple effects all the way down to our own times.
Lastly, America was a spiritual distance from Rome. The liberty that it provided meant the Advent message, the last warning message to the world, would grow and is rooted in the freedoms of Protestantism. Therefore, it was important that it be founded in a Protestant nation. The English Protestant Bible known as the King James Bible is also a long, long way from Rome’s corrupted Bibles.
In summary, God created a place of liberty and freedom where new ideas could flourish, particularly unfamiliar or unpopular ideas such as the Bible teaching on the Sabbath, the state of the dead, the sanctuary message, obedience to God’s law and victory over sin, and other distinctive truths. God worked for centuries to make this possible. And He did it without telling anyone. He did it through all the play and counterplay of human ambition and opposition. Yet through it all we can see His guiding hand.
This gives us great courage for today. We may be troubled on every side. We may have difficulties understanding God’s will in our lives. We may have challenges that seem to overwhelm us. Yet, because of the way God has led His people in the past, we can be certain that He is leading His people today. We are sure that God has prepared the way for His church to succeed. And if we follow the truth, we can rest assured that He is working out the counsels of His will in our lives. He has a place prepared for you in His work. He also has a place prepared for you when you are tempted and pressured to do evil. He has a place prepared for you just like He had a place prepared and ordained for His last message.
America had its faults, not the least of which was black slavery. We must acknowledge that this is a stain on American history. But, remember that it was a product of those that went before. Slavery was a common thing among the nations and God continued to work in England and America to abolish the curse of slavery. And by the way, He punished both the north and the South, because of it.
Today’s anti-racism is being used to advance Marxism and take away the freedoms that whites and blacks enjoy today. Yes, Americans will lose their freedoms if socialism gets its way. Don’t think that a Roman Catholic president will not work with the church to bring in Roman Catholic socialism. Intellectual ideas like Critical Race Theory and movements like Black Lives Matter and Antifa will not improve society. They are only a tool in the hands of America’s enemies and the great enemy of mankind. They will most assuredly bring loss of freedom and slavery to the people of the United States. More government handouts will not bring freedom, but economic slavery.
In the new spirit of big-city socialism everybody hates everybody else. That’s one of BLM’s objectives. Make sure everyone thinks America is a bad country. Make sure the poor people hate the rich people and convince them that the reason why they are poor is because the rich people want slaves, says CRT advocates. Destroy their knowledge of history and make sure that when kids come home from school that they ask ‘daddy, are you a racist?’ Make sure you control healthcare and make sure everyone is on welfare because if you control healthcare and you have everyone on welfare then you have control, and people will do anything to get food and medicine. People will do what you say, especially if they are fearful.
Listen to this statement from the book Education, page 228.
“At the same time anarchy is seeking to sweep away all law, not only divine, but human. The centralizing of wealth and power; the vast combinations for the enriching of the few at the expense of the many; the combinations of the poorer classes for the defense of their interests and claims; the spirit of unrest, of riot and bloodshed; the world-wide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French Revolution—all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle similar to that which convulsed France.”
Doesn’t that sound like today? During the French Revolution the only entity that prospered was the Jesuits. Do you think that will be true when America goes down that path? America has a front row seat on Cuba. Have you seen the demonstrations in Cuba? They are protesting socialism. Have you seen the condition of Venezuela? The people are hungry. Nothing is safe.
Again, living in the city will not be good for you in the last days. The cities are doomed. And you’ll be trapped. Listen to this statement from Country Living, page 7.
“I am bidden to declare the message that cities full of transgression, and sinful in the extreme, will be destroyed by earthquakes, by fire, by flood. All the world will be warned that there is a God who will display His authority as God. His unseen agencies will cause destruction, devastation, and death. All the accumulated riches will be as nothingness….”
Friends, I pray that you will yield your heart to the plan that God has for you. If something doesn’t seem to go right, trust that God will work out all things for your own good and for your eternal salvation. He wants to purify you and make you ready to receive the latter rain in great measure. He wants to bring your life into harmony with His law so that you may become like Him in every aspect of your character.
Please pray with me. Our dear Father in heaven, thank You for revealing Your hand in history. We see so many things in the past that show us that You have always guided Your church and prepared the way for Your message to be proclaimed. We pray that You will prepare us for this role in these last days. May we clearly see our destiny and strengthen ourselves in Your word. Comfort us when we are afflicted with the thought that all things work together for good to them that love God and who are called according to His gracious purpose. And when it seems that the whole world has turned its back on Your truth, and we are beset with difficulties, helps us to grasp the promise that no one can do anything against the truth, but that You will turn it to the good. And we thank You and pray in Jesus name, amen.