Liberty means that, within the free society of men, each person is entitled to be free to live without government interference and without the interference of others, as long as their liberty is not used for criminal behavior. The pursuit of happiness means that it is up to the individual to pursue his/her own happiness. It is not up to someone else to make anyone happy. It is not up to someone else to provide financial assistance for the one who is able to work, but refuses. It does not matter what excuses the person has, the Bible states that if “someone does not work he should not eat” (1 Thessalonians 3:10). A person should be free to make his own earnings, legally, and to enjoy his earnings. In this regard the Bible implies four main uses for money: (1) for personal use—to support one’s family; (2) to pay a portion in taxes—Jesus said give to Caesar what is Caesars; (3) to give ten percent for God’s Kingdom—to support ministries, to support those that labor in the Gospel, and to provide assistance to the poor and the widows; (4) to give additional offerings, as God prospers, to charity—helping the less fortunate. Each one of these actions must be done freely by the individual. Coercion is not an aspect of Christian charity. Before I share the next two paragraphs, if someone can provide me with an explanation to has been done, or can help me clarify my understanding on these areas, please send me your take on these two events. Read them with me, and if I am wrong, please enlighten me.

I wrote the previous paragraphs to lay a foundation to the next couple of statements. I am not sure what is the ultimate goal of the current administration, but they have pushed two laws and regulations through legislation and the courts that are a direct attack on the church in the United States. The first legislation was signed into law by the President last week. This legislation mandates all religious organizations to provide contraceptives to all their employees, to including the “morning after pill.” This pill is properly called the abortion pill. In other words the law signed by the President is mandating that every Christian Hospital and school in the land must become an abortion provider in violation of the Christian ethic and faith. This law has taken 240 years of the law supporting the free expression religion and has determined that the government can now take over the conscience of the Christian church. Like I said, I am not sure what the President is trying to do with this, but this law will make a criminal out of every priest and preacher in the land that supervises schools, hospital, and other organizations that have employees.

The second attempt failed. The Attorney General argued in front of the Supreme Court that churches could not deny employment to people that did not share their own religious convictions. Fortunately for the church, the Supreme Court rejected this attempt by the administration with a unanimous vote. Even the most liberal judges could not stomach the implications of this law. Allow me to share an example. If an atheist came to our church trying to fill the vacancy of Children Pastor, we could not deny him/her employment simply because he was an atheist. This would mean that Christian people who support the church would have to pay the salary of someone who is trying to destroy the church. No church could survive such a regulation because it violates everything we believe regarding the Body of Christ. I am not sure why they are doing this, but if they succeed every Christian will be in jeopardy of losing his/her religious freedom. We need to pray that our political leaders be wise in making decisions. And we need to pray for the church because it appears that the foundation is being laid to restrict the church’s freedom. I am concerned about the things that are done in the name of multiculturalism. We need to pray and seek God’s face to intercede for protection.

I have always found it amazing how God has illustrated our spiritual journey through children. As adults we take great care of our children. When they are newborns we do every thing for them. Once they turn two, they do not want our assistance for walking, grabbing and breaking everything in sight. But when they are afraid or hungry, they come to us demanding satisfaction. Even when they are teenagers, they live in our houses, eat our food, use our water, and sleep in our beds. We do not mind, because they are our children and we really want to do these things for them. All we want at the end of the day is a little gratitude. A “Thank you for giving me life and for meeting all my needs” would be nice.

This is the thing. God has done the same thing for us since Adam and Eve. We live in His house. We eat the food He prepared. We use the water He has provided. And we sleep in the bed He has given us. God has done it with gladness and joy in His heart. But after we became “adults” we mugged Him on the street. We robbed His house. We rejected His provision and walked away to spend our inheritance in worldly living. God in His infinite love designed the world in such a way that our own children are a revelation of God’s love and care for us. How can we have missed this truth all our lives? We have missed it because we expect gratitude from our children, but rarely do we give Him thanks for all He has done. Do you know what is the most amazing thing? In spite of our rebellion, if we return home, He will receive us as if we had never left. He is not asking for us to pay rent. He is not asking for us to pay the bills. He just says that a “Thank you for giving me life and for meeting all my needs” would be nice.

The second characteristic is discipleship. We are totally committed to guiding our lives through the revealed Word of God. Nothing else will do. The Bible contains the revelation of God’s character, the unveiling of the human condition, and the manifestation of the mystery of the church. The church, according to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, “is to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” We fellowship and we teach to grow in love for the works of service. Amen.

Again, please hear me, that is the attitude that casts a judgment against the entire Church of Christ in the world. We do not need to go back to the first century. We need to continually work to grasp the principles that made the first century church successful and apply them to today’s church. The Church is not perfect, but it continues to preach the Gospel to and through sinful men and women. God has overcome our sin and weaknesses.

Let me suggest three things: (1) Do God’s will, (2) Stay connected with the local church as a member of the church universal, (3) Get engage in the spiritual battlefield for the souls of men and forget the “yesterday was better than today” attitude.

I have two basic rules for living in my relationship with God. I filter my Bible interpretation, my preaching, my writing, my counseling, etc. through these two rules. Rule number one is: God is good. Nothing that happens in the world is done by God with malice. He cannot have impure motives. He cannot intent to harm us spiritually. God allows bad things to happen to us in the physical realm because He wants to protect us in the spiritual realm. But God cannot even conceive to do us spiritual, eternal harm. That’s rule number one. Rule number two is: Whatever God says I have to do, I will do. Since I know the Scriptures, I know He can never tell me to do something that runs counter to His expressed revealed will and purpose in Scripture. Therefore, when I hear something that matches God’s revealed character, I will do it. I do not have to feel good about it. I just have to believe that it is in accordance to God’s good motives, character, and intentions. The Bible says that, “obedience is better than sacrifice.” That’s rule number two.

(1) A person with clean hands—that is, this is someone that has not acted in a way that has caused harm to his neighbor. We have clean hand when we do not use our power, position, or financial influence to damage other people—God is looking for Clean Hands. (2) A person with a pure heart—this is the person who does not have evil motives. This person’s is never looking for ways to take advantage of others. This person is not looking for the angle that will benefit him alone—God is looking for Pure Hearts.

(3) A person that does not worship idols—that is, this person knows that there is only One True God. They are not deceived by worldly deceptions that set up powerless gods made of stone, trees, and metals—God is looking for the soul that is not subject to idolatry. (4) A person that does not swear by what is false—liars, especially those that lie to accuse the innocent–are worthy or harsh punishment. The Bible makes a distinction between lying and “bearing false witness.” They are both unacceptable, but bearing false witness is a very intentional act that seeks to harm a person that has been falsely accused—God is looking at the heart that does not swear by what is false.

Paul wanted the Churches to stay encouraged in their faith. If they wanted understanding, and if they truly wanted to “know the mystery of God”, they would not allow the false philosophies to seduce them. Paul had described God’s mystery in chapter one this way: The mystery that had been hidden from the ages is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Christ in us! We should not be looking at anything else because in the mystery of Christ “are hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Application: If we have God’s assurance that there is no wisdom and knowledge beyond Christ, then, there is nothing the world can offer to make us wiser and/or more knowledgeable. If a worldly philosophy contradicts the mystery of Christ, then we will do well to reject it.