It's About Good Versus Evil

Isaiah 5:20 - Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

I stumbled across this article from 2014 written by my pastor, Terry Fischer. It truly shows his heart and the state of this nation. Considering it’s been nearly six years now, it’s as relevant today as the Bible is relevant some 2,000 years later. 

Today's Eyesalve [his daily devotional], is the article I wrote, that was published in this month’s Wisconsin Christian News. 

IT’S ABOUT GOOD VERSUS EVIL

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Pastor Terry Fischer 

Conservative radio hosts dominate talk radio programs across this nation. Liberal-minded programs just don’t do very well at all. I guess, when it comes down to it, people don’t like to listen to liberals talk their nonsense. When you listen to talk radio–especially to men like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity–there is constant comparing conservatism to liberalism, or Republican to Democrat. That is all right for these men to do that; that is why their shows are popular, and that is why Americans listen to them. It is educational as well as entertaining at times to listen to these conservative talk shows. I found myself laughing a few times over the years while listening to some of the things that are said. I also had to intentionally shut the radio off or change the station to keep me from becoming too pessimistic or even overly political. After listening to the constant talk of how our great country of America is declining in every way, it is hard not to be very discouraged or even outright angry.

America, the only real military super power, is declining economically and it is directly related to the moral decay of America and her increasingly open rejection of God. There is no way anyone can convince me that all of those that founded our nation and all of those pioneers that forged this country were true born again believers; however, I am convinced their morals and standards were high and were greatly influenced by the written word of God. It was only about fifty years ago that TV would not show Elvis Presley gyrating his hips, and now today, at the mall just down the road from me, they have posted in the windows some of the most sensuous pictures of women advertising skimpy clothes. In my 58 years of life I have seen an incredible deterioration of morality here in America.

The battle rages: Democrats against Republicans, liberals against conservatives, lefties against righties. I want to set something straight right now, church of God. For us it isn’t Democrat versus Republican, it isn’t liberals against conservatives, and it is not the left against the right; it is right against wrong. It is about overcoming evil with good. Do not let yourself get caught up in the wrong fight. The wrong fight is carnal; the true fight is spiritual. Haven’t you noticed that everything that is evil in this world and this country is embraced by the liberal crowd? They are for murdering babies in their mother’s womb and they have no problem promoting the homosexual lifestyle. They encourage dependence upon government and criminalize the hard working go getter. Telling lies is accepted for the sake of achieving a goal. Anything that has a standard of godliness is rejected by that liberal crowd, but it isn’t just the liberals. There are some conservatives, as well, that reject godly values. Maybe not as blatantly, but many are started on the path of moral decay.

I do not consider myself a Republican, although I voted Republican many times. I do not consider myself a conservative, although I agree with the highest conservative values. I am a bible-believing, Spirit-filled saint of God. That also means that I belong to a whole other and completely opposite kingdom. It is clear in the bible that God’s people are foreigners and strangers just passing through this old world. This world is not our home; heaven is our home. Until we get there, the kingdom of God is within us. Give me a moment to shout hallelujah! We are here to shed the light of Christ, we are here to be an example of godly living, we are here to love fallen man on behalf of God, and we are here to speak for God. We are here to promote and advance the kingdom of God.

Deep sadness comes over me at times when I see what is happening to this country. I will be the first to admit I love the comfort and prosperity we live in here in America. However, my concern for America is not that we are losing all the blessings of God that we have come to take for granted, but to see the decay of society and the rise of the antichrist spirit in this nation. I am not much of a weeper, but what gets me teary-eyed is to think how God has blessed this nation, yet we have spit back in His face. Therefore I am determined that I am going to love Him with everything in me. I appreciate every blessing He has bestowed on us, but I am not fighting to keep them; I’m fighting for the establishment of the kingdom of God.

I don’t know about you, but I am convinced that we are living in the very last days. When I first got saved, I was taught that there was going to be a great last days’ revival. I am believing for that. I believe the 20th century has experienced a true spiritual awakening. However, the bible doesn’t speak much of a last days’ revival other than James writing of how the farmer patiently waits for the latter rain. What the bible does have quite a bit to say in regard to the last days is that mankind will turn from God. The bible clearly teaches that there will be perilous times, iniquity will abound, love will grow cold, and deception will increase. I am careful not to allow myself to end up, in an attempt to restrain society, fighting against what God has allowed to be. I will vote if there is someone to vote for. I will pray and preach against the evils of abortion and sexual sin of all sorts. My purpose for being here, however, and your purpose for being here is to be a light in this dark world that is getting darker by the day. I am not going to get caught up in political debates, though there may be a need for them. I am not going to label myself according to some political preference. Just because I reject the Democratic Party does not make me a Republican. Just because I reject liberal ideology doesn’t lump me in with the conservatives. I am more conservative than a conservative. I’m a child of God. I belong to an eternal kingdom that I already have the privilege of walking in. God’s kingdom is the kingdom that I am concerned about. It is His kingdom that has come unto me. It is the kingdom of God that Jesus came into Galilee preaching. It is the kingdom of God we must receive as a little child. It is the kingdom of God that we have the privilege of knowing mysteries about. Whatever we need, carnally or spiritually, is added unto us as we seek the kingdom of God. Now that is the kingdom I am fighting for. It is “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on EARTH as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

I am not going to lie down and play dead and let the wicked take America. I will pray, I will vote, I will take the opportunity to teach those that will listen that America must repent and turn to God; but one day it is going to be an antichrist nation. Even then, the kingdom of God will stand unshaken.

My intention for writing this article was not to scold any Christian for fulfilling what they believe is their political duty. I thank God for those in the church that keep us informed and challenge us to be a voice for morality. I wrote this to comfort you and proclaim peace in the midst of America’s declination. If we are truly in the last days, there is nothing you can do about it. I just want to remind you that you are on the winning side and you belong to the ETERNAL Kingdom of God. “..but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the KINGDOM and the power and the glory forever, Amen.” (Matthew 6:13)

What's Morally Right?

Psalm 122:1-2 - I will lift up my eyes to the hills--from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

I struggled as I tried to write legibly in the dark while watching a Truth Project video in Sunday school! My friend next to me asked, "How can you see?" I sometimes think I have eyes like a cat... I scribbled and scribbled like I'd never heard this "chapter" of the study (which we viewed earlier this year). One can always hear something new, or it grabs hold in a new way. For me, after all, it's four months later and I'm four months smarter! Ahem...

The lesson in Sunday school yesterday could have been written this past year, not in 2007. It's about as timeless as the Word of God because it is the Word of God being taught. The question came up: can the state steal? After some discussion and examples it was said that, yes, legally the government can steal...but morally, it's wrong. 

For Israel, God was their Higher Authority for a very long time. They had their comings and goings with Him but God was always faithful to persuade them to return to Him. It was, after all, to their benefit. They struggled and wandered without His guidance, His wisdom, His knowledge. When things fell apart they finally looked up where their help came from...

In 1Samuel, though, the people of Israel wanted a king like other nations. And a king God gave them. We were also reminded that no matter who is in power in a state or a nation, whether good or bad, God has placed them there. God is always in control. If we do not agree with our leader, we still must be obedient to him. Sometimes that's just the most frustrating thing, a plain difficult thing...and it can get to a point where we must stand up against him/them if we are placed in a position where we compromise our morals. Chances are, however, we have first gotten to a place of complacency until we realized our mistake. Then we hop on bandwagons and begin to hopefully effect change.

We are in that phase of life today. We are seeing today how government is desiring complete control...not of the people, by the people or for the people who were once part of one nation, under God. Our lesson today suggested that such a "king" would tax people for the government's sake and people would become slaves to this king. In the Bible people gave ten percent of their labors to God because they knew where their trust lay, but they were not slaves to God...He was their provision. Where do our taxes go? Certainly not to God. And we put up, so far, with laws and allowances that just should not be. Does the government really provide for us? Can we truly trust them or will we become their slaves?

We are seeing this history from 1Samuel being played out now. The whole point of 1Samuel (and the entire Bible), the accounts of how the king came into being and what transpired as a result, is there for us to learn from. But it seems we have not learned. Truth today is manipulated. It is being shoved aside for the lies of man, for the pride of man, the power hungry man. Our ways are not better than God's. Isaiah 55:8 shows us that: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

Before I go on, let me say this...there are those who are going to think negatively about that, thinking God wants no more than to run our lives. It's just that He does know better which direction we should go to be successful. When we do things on our own we may appear to be succeeding but we'll never know what better things might have happened had we chosen to follow God's plan. We will have a chance some day to look back and see where we've failed. I don't look forward to that one bit!

The role of government is to punish evil and condone good. I'm not so sure I'm seeing this happen. It seems to have been switched as the years have gone by. The study pointed out that the government, or our leader, should not be looked upon as our savior. That's a form of idolatry. And there are so many in this world who look to their government for their needs. Yes, there are some who genuinely do need help. But what about others who want to abuse the system or cheat the system to get what they want. What happened to working for a living and being proud of that? Now people want handouts. Where's the pride in that? How can they, with a clear conscience, do that? What about being a useful member of society? It's all about "what I can get from someone else" rather than "what I can do and give for someone." 

There was a king, Uzziah, who was a godly king. For a good part of his life he trusted God and lived with good morals and prospered. His fame went before him...until pride stepped in and led to his downfall. With this pride he did the wrong thing in the eyes of God and that began his demise, including his being struck with leprosy. He never regained his previous godly life.

Like our own government, there is pride, power and anger toward those who contradict what is better. They don't see it that way, of course. This is what we see: if we can get rid of God, get rid of that which is contrary to our thinking, we can do as we please. Those moral issues like abortion, marriage, sexuality, lust of the eyes and flesh, the welfare state, if God is removed, can be looked upon as good, not evil. Quite the opposite of the role that government was created to do in the first place. 

Let me tell you, this type of government, this type of thinking will not go unpunished some day. God takes account of every word and deed. Only if those doing "evil" have been touched by God in some way and they are able to submit to His authority in time, will they be forgiven of all they have done. We should be in constant prayer to our leaders that the Divine wisdom of God touch their lives.

We have entered a time where Christians need to stand up for what is right. We will not be looked upon favorably, but I'll tell you, if we stand firm in our beliefs, we will be the victorious ones some day! Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:56).

There is a very long and hard fight ahead of us and I'm afraid it will not look like we are making headway. The Word tells us in the last days these things will happen. If we are truly in the last days, things will only get worse. The goodness we fight for will be fought fiercely against by our enemy who has caused many to lose sight of good and followed evil. God help these people.

But God...is faithful to His people. His desire, even through all this, is that no man should perish but that all men should receive Him. It should be our prayer that those who are blind, lost and spiritually dead come to the knowledge of an all-knowing God (Ephesians 1:17) who loves us even when we have gone astray. Only He is able to forgive as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). There will be a day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:10)...not our government, no earthly man, but Christ Jesus who is alive in the heavenlies and is seated at the right hand of a loving God (Romans 8:34) whose only wish is for us to acknowledge Him.

It's time for those who believe these things, who trust in the Lord, who have been saved by Christ, to stand up for and stand firm in Him, to stand for what is morally right. I read or heard someone say "isn't it something that political conservatives are called 'the right?'" Something to ponder.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery... [So may we] walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy...(Galatians 5:1, Colossians 1:11).