The Gates Of Hell

…and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies (Genesis 22:17).

God promised that Abraham’s descendants would possess the gate of their enemies. The gate of ancient cities was the place where commerce and government took place. To possess the gate of a city was to possess the political economy of the place. To possess the gate was to possess the city. Who are the enemies of Abraham’s descendents?

To answer that we need to remember that God had rejected all the nations at the tower of Babel because they had chosen to make a name for themselves and to provide their own salvation (social security) instead of trusting God. This insulted God so much that he destroyed their city and confused their languages with the curse of nationalism in order to limit their power and to keep them from uniting in a one-world City of Man. The enemies of God and Abraham’s descendents are the nations of unbelievers.
But God so loved the world that He chose to make a new nation of His friend Abraham and to save the world by giving His only begotten Son that whosoever of any nation that would believe in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. This is God’s alternative to the salvation of the City of Man.
The first “city builder” in history was a bad guy named Cain. “And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch” (Gen 4:17b). After the flood, the second city builder was another bad guy (Nimrod) who built Babel and seven other cities. The purpose of these cities was to provide salvation (social security). Men thought they could save themselves without regard to God’s covenant. All they needed was a “mighty one” like Nimrod. “Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth” (1Chronicles 1:10). When he built Babel God said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” What men “began” to do was just that; just the beginning. Men are still doing it in bigger and bigger ways. The City of Man is the alternative to the City of God. Augustus Caesar said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” But instead of the City of Man being the gate to heaven, it was in reality the gate to hell.
All of the early empires in history started from a city. The Assyrian empire started with Nineveh, the Babylonian empire started with Babylon, and the Roman Empire started with Rome. They all started out as city-states. (The word “city” in Greek is polis. We get the word politic from the Greek word for city. The city was the state (i.e. the government).
The promise that Abraham’s descendents would possess the gate of their enemies “began” to be fulfilled when Joseph became the “savior” of Egypt. This pattern continues with Moses plaguing Egypt, Joshua conquering Canaan, David’s kingdom, Daniel in Babylon’s government, and Esther as queen. Then Christ came and now “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ” (Rev 11:15). It was said of the apostles, that “these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king--Jesus” (Acts 17:7). Daniel says, “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High” (Dan 7:27). Paul said Abraham’s descendents are heirs of the world (Rom 4:13). He said the world is ours (1 Cor 3:21-22).
Jesus promised that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Mat 16:18). Then He said He was going to Jerusalem to be killed (Mat 16:21). Jerusalem was the gate of hades (death) for Jesus. He was safe until He went there. “How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; Righteousness lodged in it, But now murderers” (Isa 1:21). Jerusalem had become like the other cities… even worse. No other city up to that time had been guilty of killing God’s prophets and even His own Son!
When Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against His church, He was picturing the church as assailing the City of Man, the very gate of death. Jesus assailed Jerusalem and destroyed it when He came with the Roman armies in fulfillment of Stephen’s teaching. His accusers testified that they “heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses delivered to us” (Acts 6:14).
Why are the governments of men called the gate of death? It is because of man’s fallen nature. Man’s effort to save himself and provide social security seems on the surface to be noble, but it is the antithesis to God’s City. It always ends up with an attempt to replace God and goes about to establish its own righteousness. Every religion in the world except Biblical religion ends up worshipping the state as the highest authority and as the source of salvation. The state becomes a god by saying, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves…” (Gen 11:4). Instead of making a name for God, men replace God with their own “political correctness” whose “top is in the heavens,” so to speak. To build bigger and bigger government power is called “statism.” It is the “nanny-state.” It is “Big Brother.”
Does this mean there should be no government? No. The Declaration of Independence agrees with Romans 13 when it says, “Governments are instituted among men.” Romans 13:1 says, “the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” Edmond Burke said, “Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."
America’s founding fathers clearly understood that government must be limited. Because they understood that the “beastly” 800-pound gorilla could not be trusted, they replaced it with a chimp. But because of man’s corruption the little monkey established by our founders has grown into a monster twice as big as the 800-pounder.
Jesus not only prevailed against Jerusalem, but, after three hundred years conquered Rome by converting Constantine. He also conquered Armenia and Georgia, the first two Christian nation states around 300 A.D. Then He prevailed against the Francs by converting Clovis their king. Charles Martel saved Europe from becoming Moslem in 732 at the Battle of Tours. Then he used Charlemagne to conquer and convert several attacking barbarian nations. Alfred the Great (850 A.D.) of England also established an explicitly Christian nation with Biblical laws that even the king could not break. All of Europe became Christian in government.
Why is it important that governments establish Biblical laws? It is for our children. If the culture is pagan it will influence the children to be sucked in by non-Christian values. This in turn will turn them from Christ because the Law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. If the culture convinces children that fornication is okay, they will be demonized. The whole design of Satan is to abolish God’s standard. No one will come to Christ until the Holy Spirit uses the Law to convince him of sin, righteousness, and judgment to come. The design of Satan is to sear their consciences with godlessness. It is the duty of the government to be “God’s minister to you for good” (Rom 13:4). And “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”
The Bible pictures “statist” empires in visions as beastly monsters rising from a sea of mankind. The angel told John that the sea represented mankind (Rev 17:15). They are called “beasts” because they are predatory. They devour other nations and peoples. They exist off the production of others. They do this through taxation and they understand instinctively that God’s Law is an obstacle to their goals. Therefore they must establish their own rules and rage against God’s “bonds” and “cords.” “Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us’” (Psalm 2:1-3). It is “the nature of the beast” to do this. It is the very nature of statism to say, “We have no king but Caesar.”
Nero was the last Caesar of Julius Caesar’s dynasty. Nero was the beast of Rome in the flesh. The letters of his name in Hebrew add up to 666. He did not prevail against the Church even though he made war against the saints and overcame them for a time. His doom was sealed by the word of God.
But even though Nero was the last of the dynasty, others assumed the name “Caesar” as a model of statism. Russia called its kings “Czars” (Russian for Caesar), and Germans called their leaders “Kaisar” (German for Caesar). Men still have this primordial passion to build a city that reaches to the heavens and to make a name for themselves with their various “czars.” ‘“Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’” (John 19:15). This is the alternative: either Christ or Caesar. There is no neutrality. Christ demands that the state submits to Him unconditionally.
If the kingdoms of this world have been replaced by our Lord and His Christ and given into the hands of the people, the saints of the Most High (Dan 7:27), then is it the duty of God’s people to preach against ungodly government? Can you name one prophet in Scripture that did not address politics? Moses was the Lawgiver, Joshua took his place, the elders of Israel were filled with the Holy Spirit, the Judges of Israel were inspired to fight for justice, Samuel anointed kings, Nathan counseled David, David was a prophet/king, Elijah preached to Ahab, and Elisha sat in the house with the rulers of Israel. We could give example after example. The whole thrust of Scripture is aimed at the gates of hell. The Acts ends with Paul headed for Caesar’s household.
The English called the American War of Independence the “Scots-Irish Presbyterian Revolt” because the preachers preached politics from their pulpits. The book, “They Preached Liberty,” documents how they did it. D. James Kennedy wrote the opening introduction to it. Ben Franklin said, “Man will ultimately be ruled by God or by tyrants.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer preached against national socialism and Hitler hung him for it. Socialism is big government statism. It is the gate of hell that the church must assail because it destroys the souls of men. Limited government must control and limit man’s fallen nature that wants to save itself with its “tower of power” and socialist statism.
Socialists call themselves progressives. President Obama has openly admitted that the U.S. Constitution is an obstacle to his statist goals. These “czars” are lawless. They lie when they swear to uphold the Constitution. Their real goal is to “progressively” dismantle it and build a “city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens” where they can rule and save men as if they were gods.
Frederic Bastiat proves in THE LAW that the law of nature (God’s law) has one sole function. Its only purpose is to protect citizens from the plunder of life, liberty, and property. The law cannot save people any other way. When the state (the gate of hell) attempts to save some by plundering others of life, liberty, and property, it has broken the law. When the state is partial to some by plundering others, it is lawless and unjust. True social justice cannot tax some at a higher rate than others. God’s written law says, “You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:15). Nowhere does God’s Law of Moses direct the government to give handouts by taxing some in order to favor others. God’s Law commands men to give to the poor out of their own pockets voluntarily and not out of another’s pocket. God’s Law says, “Thou shalt not steal.” It is a documented fact that conservatives give much more to charity than progressives do. Socialists are very anxious to give other people’s money but not their own. Vice President Biden gave less than $1000 to charity from an income of more than $300,000. This is shameless hypocrasy! These people who go about to establish their own righteousness in the name of social justice are the opposite of what they purport to be. Ever since Lyndon Johnson’s hypocritical war on poverty, the poor have been made worse slaves to “Uncle Sam’s Plantation.” It is a proven fact that welfare has weakened the poor by making them trust in a god (the state) that cannot deliver. Only our God can supply all our needs according His riches in glory. Which one will you take? There is no neutrality… either trust God or trust Caesar.
And I said: “Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice” (Mic 3:1)? Who are the “heads of Jacob” and “rulers of the house of Israel?” Are they not the pastors? Why is it that some pastors have no understanding of political economy and cannot see that they have a duty to assail the gate of unrighteous statism? If they did understand they could not possibly say they should not be involved in politics. If they do not preach social justice they are guilty of being “dogs that can’t bark.” “His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant; They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber” (Isa 56:10).
These blind watchmen seem to think there is a dichotomy between the sacred and the secular. They believe in “two kingdom” dualism. They seem to have a Gnostic notion that separates the material from the spiritual. Abraham Kuyper, the former prime minister of Holland, said, “There is not one square inch of creation of which Christ does not say, ‘Mine.” Luther said, “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, then I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle front besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.” The battle is raging at the gate of hell, the statist city of man. Join the battle for the souls of men and true social justice.

For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: afflicting the just and taking bribes; diverting the poor from justice at the gate (Amos 5:12).
Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph (Am 5:15).

Today’s Uncle Toms

In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Uncle Tom was the obedient and trustworthy slave of kind slaveholders in Kentucky. He was trusted to keep his word because he had surrendered his life to Christ Jesus. But because his master was in debt, he was forced to sell Tom. Tom was carried away to New Orleans and sold to the evil Simon Legree. Simon Legree hated Tom because he was a meek and obedient Christian. When two female slaves escaped, Tom refused to tell where they were. His cruel master told him he would have his two slaves beat him to death if he would not tell. They beat and beat him until he died. He knew he would die, but he was willing to lay down his life for his slave friends.

How does this apply to today’s situation? Are we able to make the analogy? Star Parker had a radio talk show in Los Angeles in which she would speak against “Uncle Sam’s Plantation” because it was enslaving the poor with welfare programs. She would get daily calls from her fellow blacks who would verbally “beat her to death” for being an “Uncle Tom.” If blacks like Star Parker are Uncle Toms, who is Simon Legree today? Who are his slaves that beat up the today’s “Uncle Tom’s?” To speak pajoritively of Uncle Tom is to speak against Christ. “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’” (Mat 25:40).

Social Justice

Social Justice

By Ron Smith

God commands us to help the poor by giving from our own pockets and by laws that protect the poor from plunder. Nowhere does God’s Law command governments to give to the poor; and neither does the U.S. Constitution. For government to do that, it would have to give someone else’s money. That is not social justice. Taxpayer money does not belong to politicians. It’s only purpose is for the general welfare; not for special interests.
Declaration:
We hold these four truths to be self-evident:
1. that all men are created equal,
2. that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,
3. that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
4. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The Declaration of Independence says our Creator (not the government) endowed us with three rights that cannot be taken away: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (property), and that the only purpose of government is to secure these rights. The government (the law) cannot save; it can only protect from the plunder of these three rights. Any effort by government to save some people with social programs will end in plundering others. That is not social justice.

Have you read THE LAW by Frederic Bastiat?

Would you agree that it is traitorous to make laws that plunder some in order to favor others (to level the playing field)? Since all men are created equal, should the law not equally protect them all? Both God’s Law & common sense demand, “You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor” (Levitcus 19:15).

Let us look at history. To look to the government for social programs is to look to Caesar. Augustus Caesar said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we can be saved but by the name Caesar.” But the Apostle Peter contradicted Caesar and said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we can be saved but by the name Jesus Christ” (Acts 4:12). The highest insult to God is to say, “We have no king but Caesar.” This is called statism. Caesar tried it; Hitler tried it; and Russia tried it. After 70 years of “leveling the playing field” by government mandate, the Russian ruble was worth zero. And now the U.S. government is trying it.

False philanthropy believes we do not love the poor if we are for equal treatment of all citizens and are against the government plunder of some in order to favor others (leveling the playing field). If they really want to help the poor, the best way to do it is by government minding its own business and equally protecting all from the plunder of life liberty and property. Besides this, it is not only stupid to spend more than you have, it is also immoral.

Dear members of the United States Legislature, all 535 of you.

The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 - you have had 234 years to get it right; it is broke.

Social Security was established in 1935 - you have had 74 years to get it right; it is broke.

Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - you have had 71 years to get it right; it is broke.

War on Poverty started in 1964 - you have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to huge beaurocracies for "the poor"; it has not worked.

Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - you've had 44 years to get it right; they're broke.

Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - you have had 39 years to get it right; it is broke.

Trillions of dollars in the massive political payoff called the TARP bill of 2009 shows NO sign of working.

And finally to set a new record:

"Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in ONE MONTH ! It took good dependable cars ( that were the best some people could afford ) replaced them with high priced vehicles. People who couldn't afford it are now making payments.
Mostly Japanese models were sold; so a good percentage of the profits went out of the country.

Lastly, the American taxpayers are now going to be plundered with paying for another 3 billion more for government experiments.
Our wallets will become even thinner.

So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves "services" you shove down our throats (and manage), are failing faster and faster. You then want Americans to believe that you can be trusted with a government run health care system? That's 15+% of our economy! Are you crazy? Truly, the inmates are running the asylum!

And what does this say about the voters who put them in office?

http://ronsmithmission.blogspot.com/
churchofthekingmcallen.com

These Days

These days, God is doing a work on His people. He is judging His people because of our sins. He has turned America over to evil statists who use envy as their motive; and it is our fault. The church has allowed this by being “dogs that cannot bark.”

His watchmen are blind,
They are all ignorant;
They are all dumb dogs,
They cannot bark;
Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber (Isaiah 56:10).

“Therefore it shall come to pass, when the LORD has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, ‘I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks”’ (Isaiah 10:12).

Hebrews 12:22 says the church is the Mt. Zion and the New Jerusalem to which we believers have come. Isaiah was referring to the punishment God was inflicting on His people by using Assyria as the rod of His anger (Isa 10:5). Today, God is inflicting His wrath on His people by raising up another arrogant heart… the heart of a socialist president. We get the leaders we deserve, but Isaiah promised that God would also punish the “glory of his haughty looks.”

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt. For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction” (Isa 10:24-25).

Legal Versus Illegal Revolution

It is absolutely astounding how many educated people do not understand the difference between the French Revolution and the American one. Edmond Burke, British Member of Parliament at the time of the 1776 American Revolution, supported the American cause. He saw it as just and legal. He likened it to the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In that year, the leaders in England deposed the tyrant James II and replaced him with William and Mary. It was relatively bloodless and based on the law. The Stuart kings believed in the divine right of kings and violated the laws of Parliament.
Some of Burke’s friends in the Glorious Revolution Club began to support the French Revolution of 1789. Edmond Burke wrote a book explaining the difference and showed how it was a perversion of the Glorious Revolution. He accurately predicted the tyranny that would result from it.
Friends of justice need to make the distinction. “[W]henever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends [life, liberty, and property] it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government.” Some would argue that the French mob had a right to rebel, but they should read Edmond Burke. Men duly elected by the various states led the American Revolution. They were mostly prosperous businessmen. The French Revolution was based on class envy. That is lawless.
The French Revolution, as it progressed, resulted in dictatorships starting with Napoleon and progressing to Lenin, Hitler, Mao, Castro, and others all based on class envy.

Controlling Health Care Costs

Control Of Health Care Costs
A liberal politician asked on Fox and Friends what we should do to control health care costs. Uh oh! There’s that word: “control;” and that stands for “power;” and that stands for “dictate;” and that stands for “dictator;”and that stands for Big Brother. And that looks like Russia, Cuba, Canada, and Europe.
Let’s face it. Health care costs did not start soaring until after Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. Government involvement is the cause; not the cure. The only cure is free enterprise.
We hold these truths to be self-evident:
1. that all men are created WHO’S IN CHARGE?
2. that they are created equal HIERARCHY (the consent of the governed)
3. that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights: that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — THE LAW PROTECTS THESE RIGHTS
4. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — SANCTIONS SECURE THESE RIGHTS
5. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government. SUCCESSION
The current “czars” in power now, are Marxists who prefer the socialist model of Big Brother control. Did you know the word “czar” is Russian for Caesar? Caesar represents the destruction of the Republic. That is why the senators of Rome put 32 daggers in him. They thought they had killed the beast with a mortal wound that would save the Republic. But the whole world wondered when the beast came back to life in the form of Augustus Caesar who said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, but the name Caesar. “Hail Caesar. We have no king but Caesar the Beast. Sieg heil.”
How did Caesar get his power? He got it from the people just like Hitler and Mussolini did. He by-passed the law.
America is not a democracy. It is a republic. The only Name by which we can be saved is the Name above all names and the King of all kings, and He is the Law. “Re” in republic means “the thing.” The “thing” is the “law” of the public and not the public.
How do we control health care costs? We get government out of it.

THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT

Jay Leno’s “Jay Walking” interviews on the streets of New York illustrate why America has elected the leaders we have. One man, for example, answered that Australia borders the U.S. Many other unbelievably dumb answers were given to other questions.
The purpose of government is not to save people. Its purpose is to enforce the law. But when it makes up unjust laws that plunder some in order to favor others, this is injustice. Government monopolies (such as national health care) or private ones plunder some in order to favor others. That is lawless.
Nowhere is it written in the Bible or the Constitution that government is to save private businesses. Nowhere is it written that the state is commanded to give to the poor; but individuals are. The sole job of the law is to prohibit plunder. Its function is negative; not positive. It prohibits plunder.
When the state sets out to save people, it becomes a god. This is the major struggle illustrated throughout Scripture. This is why God’s wrath fell on the Tower of Babel, Babylon, Rome, and Jerusalem… statism. Humanists still say, “We have no king but Caesar.”
The three Hebrew children refused to bow to the image of the state, were cast into the fiery furnace, and came out not even smelling like smoke. Let’s follow their example so the fourth Man in the fire will be with us. He will certainly not be with those who bow and adore the mental image of the statist beast.

Then the beast … deceived … those who worshiped his image. These … were cast alive into the lake of fire… (Re 19:20).