The Separation of Church and State. Part [9] 04/07/2024 (Evening thought)

Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Christians in our day must be very wary of this type of hybrid, for there are troubling signs in America today which threaten the separation of church and state. For instance, politicians are often invited to speak to congregants from the pulpits and church leaders are often to be found at the podium of some politician who advances their agenda. The problem lies not so much in their association, as in the tendency for the church to compromise with the state and vice versa.

Thus, as church and state continue to walk hand in glove, it would just be a matter of time before there will be a memorandum of mutual agreement where the two entities will merge, and according to what is written in the Bible, the mark of the beast, with the national enforcement of Sunday worship will be on its way.

When Jezebel and Ahab ruled in Israel, they tried to force their brand of religion upon the people as they merged statecraft with church craft, and the results are before us. In that episode, those who refused to acquiesce were hunted down, and others were put to death, as they were viewed as being enemies of the state.

1st Kings 18:3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: 4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!

The Separation of Church and State. Part [8] 04/06/2024 (Morning thought)

Daniel 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

This model of governing, where secular government is in bed with the church was introduced, developed and set in motion by the Roman Constantine, who, in order to get his agenda through, had sought the support of the church and vice versa. Constantine even went so far as to nominally accept Christianity, and this fusion of the church, and state produced the hybrid now seen in the Vatican. Pagan influencers sought to establish more firmly, the day of the sun, but they lacked the power to enforce it. So, they turned to the secular government for help and the papacy was born.

[The Great Controversy pp 679] Constantine's Sunday law, issued A.D. 321, was as follows: “Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the sun. But let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture; Because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest, the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by heaven.”

Thus, whenever the state needed the influence of the church it stood ready to do its bidding and when the Christian church needed the secular powers of government, it supplied the needed enforcement. Thus, a very close symbioses was formed, between church and state, and as history teaches, wherever such a merger takes place, trouble isn’t far behind.

Daniel 8:23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!