NATIONALISM... or GLOBALISM?

 

NATIONALISM OR GLOBALISM?

Pastor Terry l. Reese, 10/31/24

 

 “He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, that they should seek the Lord…”—Acts 17:26-27a:

"Europa" rising from the midst of nations; outside EU Parliament.

The EU's "Tower of Babel" Parliament Building.

 

In his Farewell Address, President George Washington warned the American people about entering into long-term alliances with foreigners (e.g., NATO), which he believed would have a toxic influence upon our Republic.

 

For a century, we more-or-less observed this counsel—until the rise of modern crusading Progressivism. Both Wilsonian Idealists and Neocons have convinced generations of Americans—both left & right—that it is our “mission” to depose foreign regimes if their philosophy of governance is disagreeable to our own. Thus, in 2003 Americans conquered a sovereign Arab republic (Iraq) in a well-meaning but nonetheless ill-advised attempt to impose “American values” upon a nation whose people were culturally unprepared for it—with sadly predictable results!

 

Addressing the Athenians (Acts 17), Paul observes that God created diverse nations with their own appointed times and borders. This arose out of the disaster of Babel, when sinful men, under the leadership of Nimrod (Gen. 10:8-12), ignored God’s directive to “fill the earth” (Gen. 9:1) and initiated a one-world government (Gen. 11:1-4). In judgment, God confused their languages and dispersed the nations—thus delivering mankind from the boundless evils (Gen. 11:6) and tyranny (Rev. 13) that would have accompanied such an Antichrist global-regime.

 

True, nations still engage in petty rivalries, warring against one another—and will do so until the Lord returns (Matt. 24:6-7). But the organization of peoples into distinct sovereign nation-states is far preferable to the alternative—which is one-world government!

 

Many evangelicals in recent years have been taught by Progressives to fear the specter and bogeyman of so-called "Christian Nationalism." But in response, let us observe the following:

 

1) Patriotism—properly observed—is a godly pilgrim virtue (Jer. 29:7)!

 

2) Borders are by Divine design!

 

3) Even in the Millennium (Micah 4:2, Isa. 19:25) and in the Eternal State (Rev. 21:24, 22:2) national distinctions remain!

 

4) The diffusion of temporal power amongst separate nations has been providentially conducive to the advance of the Gospel. 

"Christian Nationalism" is NOT the historic Christian Church's problem--but Progressive, left-leaning worldly Evangelicalism most certainly is!

11 Scriptures that today's "elites" would rather you NOT know!!!

 

11 Scriptures

that today’s “elites” would rather you NOT know!

 

 The Biblically-informed Christian would do WELL to consider these passages when considering today's political and cultural controversies. Should we seek direction from today's godless establishment elites and "experts"--or from God Almighty? 

Rom. 3:4: "Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar."

I. On BIBLICAL AUTHORITY—2Tim. 3:16-17. 

The Word is an INFALLIBLE & INERRANT source of authority!

 2Tim. 3:16-17: ¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

II. On WORLDLY WISDOM—1Cor. 3:18-19.

Secular human wisdom is FOOLISHNESS in the sight of God!

 1Cor. 3:18-19 GW: Don't deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise in the ways of this world, you should give up that wisdom in order to become really wise.  (19)  The wisdom of this world is nonsense in God's sight. That's why Scripture says, "God catches the wise in their cleverness."

III. On THE “MYTH OF PROGRESS”—Ps. 51:5. 

ORIGINAL SIN rules out the claims of utopian, progressive “human potential” movements that affirm an inevitable “societal evolution” through human wisdom and naturalistic efforts. Only JESUS will supernaturally bring us the Kingdom!

 Ps. 51:5: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.

IV. On NATIONALISM vs. GLOBALISM—Acts 17:26-27a.

Individual sovereign Nation-States with recognizable borders (NOT a global “World-State”) represents God’s will for this present Age! Globalism is ANTICHRIST in nature!

 Acts 17:26-27a: ²⁶He has made from one blood every nation of men to live on the entire face of the earth, having appointed fixed times and the boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷that they should seek the Lord so perhaps they might reach for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

V. STATISM vs. FREEDOM OF CONCIENCE—Matt. 22:21.

Caesar is NOT granted dominion over our Faith and over our consciences!

 Matt. 22:21: “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 

VI. On the Prospect of Doom through "CLIMATE CHANGE"—Isa. 51:3.

The prophetic Scriptures make it clear that human influence upon the climate will NOT bring about the end of the World! EARTH'S REAL FUTURE, according to the prophetic Word: 1) Rapture, 2) Tribulation, 3) Millennium, 4) a New Heaven and a New Earth.

Isa. 51:3: So the LORD will comfort Zion. He will comfort all those who live among its ruins. He will make its desert like Eden. He will make its wilderness like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

VII. The PURPOSE of SECULAR GOVERNMENT—Rom.13:4.

Secular Government was ordained of God to protect mankind from suffering under a lawless chaos by establishing LAW & ORDER!

 Rom. 13:4:  “…for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”

VIII. On ABORTION & THE RIGHT TO LIFE—Luke 1:41.

The Bible is clear: Human Life begins at the point of Conception! Abortion is the termination of a human life in the sight of God!

 Luke 1:41: When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

IX. MARRIAGE, HOMOSEXUALITY, GENDER—Matt.19:4-6.

The Creation-Model of Holy Matrimony affirms that marriage lawfully exists only between one man & one woman. God has declared homosexuality an unnatural ABOMINATION, and He has created only TWO fixed genders—MALE & FEMALE!

 Matt. 19:4-6: And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,  (5)  and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'?  (6)  "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

X. On the CHOSEN PEOPLE OF ISRAEL—Gen. 12:3.

God’s Plan for the future redemption of ethnic-national Israel during the Great Tribulation period CANNOT be thwarted! Antisemitism is a Satanically-directed movement that contains its own CURSE!

 Gen 12:3 NAS95  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

XI. ON TRUE FAITH—John 6:28-29.

We are NOT principally called to enact a worldly “Social Gospel” agenda involving economic/political reform & “social justice.” The Church’s chief concern should be the salvation & sanctification of souls! Our world is full of hell bound sinners who need Jesus!  

John 6:28-29: ²⁸Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" ²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."

Did GOD -- or FATE -- Save President Trump?

 

“DID GOD—OR FATE—SAVE TRUMP?”

Pastor Terry L. Reese, Valley GBC of Armagh, PA; 10/11/24

 

1 Sam. 6:9: “And watch: if it goes up the road to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance.”

 

“I believe God saved his life."—Rev. Franklin Graham (BGEA, Samaritan’s Purse)

 

“My understanding of Christian theology makes me certain that God did not save the former president from assassination…"—Shane Claiborne (“Red-Letter Christian” and “Neo-Anabaptist” leader)  

 

Two starkly opposite perspectives: Rev. Graham believes that Divine intervention saved President Trump from the assassin’s bullet at Butler—but the “progressive-evangelical” leader, Claiborne, is “certain” that God had nothing to do with it. According to Shane, FATE was Mr. Trump’s deliverer.

 

Likewise, View hostess Joy Behar ridiculed Mr. Trump’s public expression of gratitude to God for sparing his life, defining it as being arrogant and presumptuous:

 

“…you say something like, ‘God was watching me.’ That is a very unchristian thing to say because he’s very narcissistic.”

 

We might interject here that if Behar were consistent in this line of reasoning, it would inevitably follow that thanking God for anything that transpires would constitute sinful “presumption.”

 

The above passage from 1Samuel 6 was a favorite of the late Dr. R.C. Sproul in discussions involving the matter of sovereign Divine ordination lying beneath all events—good, bad, or ethically indifferent (Amos 3:6). The Philistine priests had established a “test” to determine whether or not Yahweh was behind the plague that had invaded their regions. The very fact that these men even considered it a POSSIBILTY that some events lay outside of God’s Providence and within the realm of blind “chance” revealed one thing with certainty: these men were, at their very core, ATHEISTS. They met the definition of atheists because their conception of deity was FALSE; their “god” simply didn’t exist! IF GOD IS TRULY GOD, THEN HE MUST BE SOVEREIGN OVER ALL THINGS, and He thus ordains and presides over ALL EVENTS! 

 

Do you believe in a SOVEREIGN God—the real God—or in some UNREAL, finite alternative?