Ramon Arias | October 12, 2015
Matters in America are getting outrageously worse all across the board and the message of doom and gloom is coming at us from every direction as if something unusual is taking place in the nation and the world. Has this happened before?
One of the reasons I’m a strong advocate of accurate unadulterated history are the invaluable lessons I learned from the past. It is indisputable that history reveals the reasons for the present social condition and the things I, as an individual, must build upon for a better outcome. My actions do have consequences, for better or for worse, and so it is with every human being. Don’t let anyone distract you from the fact that what we believe and work for determines the end results.
Throughout thousands of years in every generation, humans make their best attempts to develop and establish their political, moral, social, economic and religious conditions. It is also true that many will offer to others their solutions as a way out of the complex and damaging situations. Slothful minds don’t bother to verify if what they are hearing is truth, half-truths, myths or lies; and as sheep, they are led to the slaughter.
The good news is that not all are that careless, there are some individuals, who are diligent in getting to the truth, and once they understand it; they live by it, proclaim it and defend it to the best of their ability. What history and people, who pursue truth, have in common is that truth is never out-of-date. Truth proves that if it was good in the past, it is good for today and will be good for tomorrow; those who act on it can most certainly count on those principles/facts to genuinely work things out for good, if they don’t give up.
Don’t be intimidated by the politically correct (PC) police and crowd, neither apologize for bringing to light the truth that sets people free. We must scrutinize everything, and I mean everything, from politicians and government at all levels to economics, which includes all social programs. From education to media outlets, the world of entertainment and every printed and spoken word; absolutely nothing should get a pass; not even religion as promoted by Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Liberal Theology, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Atheism, and Evolution. Believe it or not, evolutionists do admit they are a religion. Anyone and anything that offers a solution to hopelessness and a bleeding world must be scrutinized, lest repetition of the same mistakes brings forth the same rotten results.
We should not even attempt to defend the horrible mistakes done by two thousand years of Christianity. On the other hand, should we be silenced because of those errors? We can unapologetically hold up the lives of those who embraced the truth found in the Bible and point out all the good they did for humanity and the things that continue to benefit us.
Two thousand years of biblical Christian history also confirm to us the vital reliance upon the Bible to search for answers in order to avoid the drawbacks of religious humanistic-secular ideas and their racist mantra. As biblical Christians, we should never apologize or be ashamed for our conviction that the Bible is the final authority in all areas of life. Individuals as well as nations can trust the Word of God above the word of man as the most reliable and relevant source of direction for our world.
As professing Christians, we must not neglect to do serious analysis of old Israel and their social behavior since they received the moral law of God as a standard for living 1400 years before Christ. We find a parallelism with the dawn of Christianity up until our present time because God’s people repeatedly grow indifferent to their spiritual, intellectual, emotional and cultural condition.
It should be of great interest to learn the reasons why Israel went from a United Kingdom to a divided one; ten tribes became the kingdom of Israel and two tribes became the kingdom of Judah. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah constantly received warnings from God’s prophets that called them to forsake and repent from their wicked ways and return to God’s moral absolutes. All the kings of Israel were bad and led the people to their final destruction when Assyria wiped them out; on the other hand, Judah had a few good kings and was preserved as a nation in spite of their enslavement in Babylon for a given time.
From the very beginning, when Israel was liberated from slavery in Egypt, God warned the people not to embrace the ideas and cultures of the pagan nations, and if they did, there would be consequences. The reasoning is very simple, God’s ideas and His ways cannot be compared with those who go against Him; historically they produce two opposite results.
For 3,400 years the Jews waited for the promised Messiah. The prophets revealed to them a future Kingdom and a King that would be indestructible and that He would rule the nations in righteousness. This hope for the future came in the person of Jesus Christ and His government. After His resurrection He appeared to the disciples and reiterated this message:
“Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,” Luke 24:44-46 (ESV)
Peter, speaking to the Jews, said:
“But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.” Acts 3:18-24 (ESV)
In his first letter, Peter wrote:
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” 1 Peter 1:10-12 (ESV)
When we understand and accept the fact that God controls history, and that in generation after generation His plan is being carried out, it totally changes our perspective on how to interpret the past, present and future. In the Holy Scriptures we have the most important document that can be verified. Scripture interprets Scripture and history confirms it.
As true followers of Christ, we do not follow an illusion but a reality. We have no reason to feel intimidated as we face difficult times, whatever they may be; we confront them with God’s knowledge and wisdom. As we continue to face the future with all it’s daunting challenges we need to be reminded that for this reason we were born. We were recruited for His service and our faith is unapologetically biblical and strong in defense of our God-given liberty. It is our duty to this present generation and the ones to come. Let us not withdraw from the challenges before us.