Theocracy Under Attack, Part 2

Over one hundred years ago Alexis De Tocqueville was commissioned from France to study America to discover the genius of its greatness. He wrote extensively on the subject, and his book showed the foundation of this society to really lie in its churches. Which was really a blow to the French since they were really coming at it from an atheistic viewpoint. And Alexis De Tocqueville was surprised by the discovery. He said, "Not until I went into the churches and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the greatness of her power." And I have at least three other historical studies that have said the same thing. And so it is not enough to study Satan's strategies in destroying God's rule in politics. We looked at that last week. But even more fundamental is the destruction of God's theocratic rule in the church. And of course, we see in verse 2 that God rules whether He is acknowledged or not, but we are talking about the destruction of the acknowledgement of God's rule.

If he can neutralize the church and keep it from being salt and light, he will be a long way towards bringing the nation under judgment. Satan hates God's rule with a passion wherever it is found (family, church or state) and has used every dirty trick in the book to keep people from submitting to His rule. He knows that if he can get Christians to resist God's rule, God will judge. Satan wants that because he wants to postpone the inevitable victory; he wants to keep us from being effective. And so his strategy with the church is key. And that strategy is found in seed form in verse 2.

On Marlin Maddoux's program this past Wednesday they were looking at statistics showing the incredibly rapid church growth in China, Asia, Eurasia, Africa, former Soviet Union and South America. I think it is a slight exaggeration, but they said that only place where it is decreasing is in America. We are in a period of decline. And this morning I want to look at three key areas that have neutralized the church and made it ineffective. And these are the three areas that while present in America are not present in the church where the church is growing. The three areas in your outline are moral compromise, jurisdictional compromise and religious pluralism.

Satan's Strategy For Victory In America

Step 1: Paganize Politics

National paganization (v. 1a)

Israel was besieged by Babylon spiritually long before Bablyon actually besieged them physically

International paganization (v. 1b)

Satan has always gone after the power centers (cf. Psalm 2)

Step 2: Neutralize the Church

Moral and religious compromise from within (v. 2a)

Look at the first phrase of verse 2 which introduces this subject. "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand..." It's easy to miss the significance of that phrase if you don't know the historical background. On first reading it looks like Jehoiakim got exiled along with Daniel. Now I'm going to be challenging that in a bit, but even if that were the case, that would be significant because it would point to the moral compromise in the church that allowed men like Jehoiakim in good standing. His judgment would represent the judgment God brought against the whole church for her sins. But there is more to that phrase than that. Kings and Chronicles makes clear that though Jehoiakim was conquered in his third year, he was not taken into exile. He ruled for another seven years before he was taken into captivity. You see, there were three exiles altogether. Daniel was part of the first exile which occured in this year. Jehoiakim was part of a second exile seven years later. And thus there is no contradiction as the liberals claim.

Now with that as a background, if Jehoiakim was not taken into exile here, what does it mean when it says that Jehoiakim was given into Nebuchadnezzar's hand? It simply means that he became a vassal and had to agree to Babylon's terms in order to remain on the throne, and those terms were symbolically sealed by the actions in the rest of the verse. And I want you to notice that those terms are clearly related to the church. Let's read verse 2: "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with" [notice that word: "with"] "some of the articles of the house of God" [this is part of God's judgment. "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God"] "which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god." The first part of the verse shows who is to enforce these compromises in the church [Jehoiakim] and the rest of the verse shows the nature of those compromises. If you want to study this further, you can read Jeremiah 25-29 and there are several other chapters I have listed under point A, which shows the moral compromise, jurisdictional compromise and the compromise of pluralism. Let's look at each of those three areas:

Jeremiah ties Jehoiakim's becoming an agent of Babylon with the moral compromise of the church and indicates it was full blown in the fourth year. Stark contrast between what happened in years 1-3 and what happened after year three. The moral compromise came because the church leaders who at first spoke out against Jehoiakim were either killed or scared into silence. There was no longer clear preaching against sin because every such sermon would offend Jehoiakim. It was sort of like King James of England who told all the preachers in the land not to preach against sporting on Sunday because he was a sabbath breaker and didn't like to hear it.The church leaders only began preaching against safe sins. And certainly the king was not placed under discipline by the church as some other kings had been. Jeremiah blasts the prophets and priests for failing to take their duty of preaching against the sins of Judah (and of Babylon for that matter). And he symbolizes the moral slide of the church by saying that they have been rotten figs which must be cast out.

I will pick up on the solution to this problem in the second half of the sermon, but it is important to see here that if Satan can get the church to sin or to cover up the sins of others, the power of the church will be neutralized. Holiness is critical to outreach. If there is a person like Achan in the camp, we will face defeat. If there is a spirit of grumbling and complaining, we will be powerless like the grumbling wilderness generation was. Hebrews says that if bitterness is allowed to carry on in the congregation, eventually many will be defiled by it. And God in effect says to Judah, "If you want to live like pagans, I will put you under the boot of pagans. If you won't exercise discipline, then I will exercise discipline." The purity of the church is critical, and sin neutralizes the church's power.

State control of religion (v. 2b)

But verse 2 not only implies a moral compromise which God judged, but also a compromise of jurisdiction. The whole purpose for taking these religious articles to Babylon was to declare the jurisdiction of the state over the Old Testament church. Keil in his commentary says, this "was a sign and pledge of the subjugation of Judah and its God under the dominion of the kings and the gods of Babylon." Notice this was not an act of plundering like Nebuchadnezzar does seven years later. The text says, "with some of the articles of the house of God." This was not plundering everything. This was a token, symbolic action declaring jurisdiction. And the historical background tells us that both Jehoiakim and church went along with it. Unlike the time of the Maccabees and other periods of history when church resisted all attempts to relinquish jurisdiction, they went along with what was symbolized here.

Here's the problem: Scripture indicates that church and state are separate jurisdictions; side by side governments. Neither has authority over the other. We do not believe in a church state where church is over the state (like the ecclesiocracy of the Middle ages); nor do we believe in a state church (like the Anglican church) where the state is over the church. Instead we believe in theocracy where family, church and state are directly accountable to God without intermediaries. The state does not have jurisdiction to discipline children in the family or to discipline in the church. Each has jurisdiction that relate, but there are seperate spheres of authority.

Jehoiakim had done a lot of evils in the first three years, but he did not try to intrude into the church until his fourth year, as far as I know. Jeremiah keeps alluding the fourth year when jurisdictional compromise was happening. There had been kings like Uzziah who tried to intrude into the sanctuary, but godly men successfully resisted them. In a couple of cases the kings were physically thrown out of the temple. Uzziah was one.

But Babylon began the process of regulating the church, and when it was not resisted, Jehoiakim continued the practice. In fact, he was the chief agent of Babylon. Babylon allowed freedom of religion so long as it was acknowledged that this was a government granted freedom. This whole verse speaks symbolically of Babylon's control of Jewish religion. By having these tokens in Babylon they became a state licensed religion. They were free to operate so long as they did not violate the whims of the emperor.

And Satan's strategy has been exactly the same in every nation including America. People came to America for religious liberty, but there were several attempts early on by England to regulate churches. The final straw came when King George forced all ministers in America to get a license. He gave them freedom of religion if they were willing to come under the authority of the state. That sounds like a nice trade, doesn't it? We'll give you total freedom and total exemption from taxes if you will only get a license. The ministers saw through that and refused. It was clear that if the king could force them to take a license, there really wasn't freedom of religion because he could force them to do anything he wanted once they had the licence. Taking the license was voluntarily giving up the jurisdiction of the church to the state.

And I find remarkable parallels between what was happening back then and what is happening today with incorporation at the state level and the 501(c)(3) license at the federal level. That's one of the reasons the session is studying this issue. There are good men like Rushdoony and North who disagree with each other on this point as to whether this is a jurisdictional compromise. And it makes it confusing to study the issue. But I want you to know that the session wants to be principled, and whatever side they come out on on this issue, I respect their attempts to apply the Bible to this problem. They do not want to approach that progmatically.

But for myself, I found it interesting that until a few years ago, it was illegal in every state of the union for churches to be incorporated. Why? Because men like Jefferson and Madison and others saw it as a violation of the constitution which forbids federal control of the church. They saw it as a jurisdictional problem. Now I'm not sure where the present Supreme Court stands on this, but there are numerous courts that have determined that since a corporation is a creature of the state, that the state can control every level of church activity. I think you can see why we are concerned. Now under tyranny, they can decide that whether you are incorporated or not, so that doesn't settle the principle issue.

But let me read to you one account of how Patrick Henry came to the place where he insisted that state licensing of ministers was a tyranny that could not be ignored. And this will help to explain why the idea of church incorporation was so abhorant in every state of the union. It is still illegal in Virginia, Patrick Henry's home state.¹ But here's how the account reads.

In March of 1775, Patrick Henry was riding through the small town of Culpeper, Virginia. As he rode into the town square, he was completely shocked by what he witnessed. There, in the middle of the town square, was a man tied to a whipping post, his back laid bare, with bones exposed. He had been scourged mercilessly, with whips laced with metal. When they stopped beating him, Patrick Henry could plainly see the bones of his rib cage. He turned to ask someone in the crowd, "What has the man done to deserve such a beating as this?" The reply given him was that the man being scourged was a minister. He was one of twelve ministers, locked in jail, because they refused to take the king's license to preach the gospel. The governor was under orders from King George to compel all preachers to take the license. While being tried, without benefit of a jury, the minister stated, "I will never submit to taking your license. I am controlled by the Holy Spirit, and authorized by God Almighty, and will not allow you to control me by a license, no matter what you do to me." Three days later, he was scourged to death, and such was the fate of the other ministers, as well. This was the incident that sparked Patrick Henry to write the famous words, which later became the rallying cry of the American Revolution, "What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to purchase at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

They saw clearly the danger of blurring the separate jurisdictions of church and state and they wrote the establishment clause to keep the government from meddling in church affairs. The more I study the issue, the more I am convinced this is Satan's strategy for neutralizing the church. I have talked to numerous pastors who will not preach on certain portions of Scripture because they believe it would violate their 501(c)(3) status. Whether they are right or wrong about the legalities, it is clear that the government camel has its head in the ecclesiastical tent. In China, the legal churches are impotent. The non-licensed churches are thriving. The same is true in almost every other country. The neutralizing of the church through jurisdictional compromise.

Religious pluralism (v. 2c-d)

Of course, the ultimate purpose for state control was to promote religious pluralism. Religious pluralism is the belief that it is wrong to be dogmatic about worldviews, religious ideas or absolutes. Tolerance, diversity and other politically correct words are the watchwords of the pluralist. Doug Groothuis in his excellent book on the New Age movement, defines pluralism as "a diversity of religions, worldviews, and ideologies existing at one time in the same society." And this is so vividly portrayed in the rest of verse 2: "articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god." Babylon was politically correct when it came to tolerating all religions, all world views and all ideologies, so long as they could come under one roof. Every idol in the empire was represented in the temple of Marduk. Greece and Rome were the same way. Any religion was free so long as it was licensed by the state and came under the Pantheon.

Religious pluralism is rife in America. Abortion is legal because "you cannot impose your morality on someone else who has a different set of moral standards." As Gary De Mar so correctly notes, "The only view that is not tolerated is the view that does not tolerate all views." Religious pluralism was considered a heresy in early America. There was only one religion which had the saction of law - it was christianity. Other religions were tolerated only so long as they didn't violate social laws. Yet ironically it is championed by many evangelicals as the only hope of religious freedom in America. The argument is that if we don't give the same freedoms for every religion, then we might be persecuted. You know what happens though? Time after time through history, the pluralistic state begins persecuting Christians because pagans intuitively know that Christianity is not inclusive. If you were back in Babylon, here is the kind of conflict that would exist. We think there should be laws against child sacrifice, but that conflicts with Baal worship. It is intolerant. We think that prostitution should be outlawed, but that conflicts with the religious views of Astarte. What evangelical pluralists have failed to realize is that abortion is part of a religious world view. Evangelicals stumble all over themselves trying to be pluralistic, but still support homsexuality. Ralph Reebs writings are a series of contradictions. We must realize that Jesus Christ is not just one idol among many in Babylon's main temple. Jesus says, "I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me." And that is offensive to pluralists. Jesus tells Pilate, "You could have no authority unless it was given to you by the Father."

But the question of what to ask this morning is this, do we have pluralism in the church? In the state yes, but what about the church? It is in the church, we are neutralized. Let me outline three of several ways in which we Christians have become pluralistic. There are many churches in America which allow Free Masons to be members and even pastors. But Free Masonry is a doctrine of pluralism par excellence. T.S. Webb, a masonic leader, said in the Masonic Monitor, "So broad is the religion of Masonry, and so carefully are all the sectarian tenets excluded from the system, that the Christian, the Jew and the Mohammedan, in all their numberless sects and divisions, may and do harmoniously combine in its moral and intellectual work, with the Buddhist, the Parsee, the Confucian, and the worshipper of Deity under every form." That's pluralism - tolerance where Christ was not tolerant. The Masonic burial ritual from Macoy's Masonic Burial Services says about a departed Mason, no matter what religious belief he may have, "As we mourn the departure of a brother beloved from the circle of our Fraternity, may we trust that he hath entered into a higher brotherhood, to engage in nobler duties and in heavenly work, to find rest from earthly labor, and refreshment from earthly care. May thy peace abide with us, to keep us from all evil! Make us grateful for present benefits, and crown us with immortal life and honor." Another leading Mason said, "There is no place in my religious faith for a narrow sectarianism that excludes those who do not happen to see God as I see Him nor for the kind of religious bigotry that blinds me to the good and precious in other people's faits. I am grateful for a faith that enables me to embrace all men who believe in God regardless of their clime, creed, or color." Religious pluralism has so gripped our churches, that there are PCA ministers who will not preach a sermon against Free Masonry lest they offend a Mason. My purpose is not to offend, but to instruct in the things that neutralize the churches outreach and witness by offending God.

Just briefly, another way that pluralism has crept into the church is in the area of counseling. Dr. Paul C. Vitz, professor of psychology at New York University has called psychology the religion of humanism, and shown how antithetical it is to Christianity. Yet most American pastors have accepted ideas from psychology into their church work. That is religious pluralism. This kind of religious pluralismm is constantly broadcasted over KGBI. If I had time I could show how we are pluralistic in how we handle church growth and management. And these worldly ideas have neutralized the church in America.

Christians need to wake up to what is at stake. In Israel it started with tolerance of idolatry and it always ended up with true worshippers being killed and persecuted.

So there are three main ways in which the church has been neutralized: moral compromise, jurisdictional compromise and religious pluralism. I want to end the sermon today by seeing how we can learn from these past mistakes.

Step 3: Control the family

Remove youth from the homes into the custody of the state (v. 3f). There are two kinds of neglect

Verses 1-2 hint at the first kind.

The third step is to control the family. And there are various ways in which this control can be seen here. First, Satan seeks to remove the children from parental influence. I don't have this in your outline, but there are two ways Satan can do this. The first is to make parents so busy in serving the Lord in other areas that they neglect the education of their children. This is what happened to Josiah. He was a great king, but he was so busy in his work that his children grew up reprobate. The difference between Josiah and Jehoiakim are so great that it is mind boggling. It is a tragedy of huge proportions to see the number of covenant children who have abandoned Christianity altogether. This was the problem during the revivals in Israel. One generation would be thoroughly transformed, but they were so wrapped up in conquest or in other important work that they didn't pass it on. We must remember that God has no grandchildren; only children. And part of our task is to point our children to God as their father.

Verses 3-8 hint at another kind.

But verse 3 describes a second way in which Satan seeks to remove children from parental influence. "Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles." This is taking children into state custody. Many countries around the world do this from the earliest times. They do not want parents messing things up, so they start the education early. The goals 2000 stuff is designed to do exactly that, and Dole is committed to it. But let me read you the attitude that one NEA person expressed on this subject. Dr. Pierce of Harvard University was warning 2000 educators in Colorado that parents are doing too much teaching and that schools need to begin for earlier years. He said,

"Every child in America who enters school at the age of five is mentally ill, because he comes to shcool with allegiance ... toward our founding fathers, toward our institutions, toward the preservation of this form of government, patriotism, nationalism, sovereignty ... All of that proves the children are sick, because the truly well individual is one who has rejected all of those things and is what I would call the true international child of the future."²

Getting them out of parental influence may involve day care, visits to the home by social workers, or government education. And it is that issue of government education I want to look at in verse 4.

Re-educate these youth in government schools (v. 4)

"young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans." What Satan can't get parents to do, he will try to get the state to do. Government run schools have been the cleverest means of removing parental influence from the children. What is ironic is that so many Christians defend the right of government to do that, and willingly send their children to government schools. Daniel couldn't help it. He was a captive in a foreign land. But it is reprehensible of parents to willingly send their children to the Babylonians or Canaanites to be immersed in pagan thinking. It is reprehensible.

Make them dependant upon the state (v. 5)

This government sought to make the children dependant upon them. Verse 5 says, "And the king appointed for them a daily provision fo the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king." With government handouts come government strings. And yet there are many, many people who willingly make themselves dependant upon the government through welfare, health care, food stamps, school loans and in other ways. I have to admit, I have done the school loan trick myself. And I regret it. Satan will do his utmost to make independant thinking and actions impossible.

Resocialize the youth and give them a new sense of identity (vv. 6-7)

A further step was to resocialize the youth and give them a new sense of identity. The king wanted to take away any remembrance of former times. Their god-fearing names were replaced with pagan names of gods so that even when they talked to each other they would be forced to think in new categories. Look at verses 6-7: "Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshech; and the Azariah, Abed-Nego." Don't ever think of pagan government as neutral. It is a war of ideas; a war of religious ideas. And the government, unless it is stopped, will seek to do its utmost to remove any traces of Christian thinking in the social arena. Already there have been people fired for wearing Christian pins and momentos. Already, the names of abominations have been changed. The power to name is the power to control. It is not by accident that government agencies will no longer allow you to speak with judgmental language like sodomy, adultery, fornication. It is sexual preference. They have tried to redefine marriage as domicile partners to avoid discriminating against sodomites. And the list of changed names could go on to the hundreds. It is an attempt to resocialize you at work and at home.

Make them compromise their principles (v. 8)

And then finally, there will be all kinds of tests to make children compromise their principles. I want to deal with this in more depth next week, but if values are not clearly internalized from the earliest times, all of our investments can be robbed from us.

Learning From Our Mistakes: A Godly Long Term Plan For Restoring Theocracy In America

God's Rule In The State (v. 1)

Don't place undo confidence in politics

Don't give up on politics

Realize and capitalize upon the fact that pagan politics is always self-defeating

National (v. 1a)

International (v. 1b)

(Contrast this with the permanence of Christ's kingdom in 2:44; 7:14,18,27; etc.)

God's Rule In The Church

Restore church discipline or be disciplined by the Lord (v. 2)

First of all, discipline must be revived in the church in America. True church discipline is virtually non-existant today, and it is no wonder that the church in America is filled with so much worldliness. Judah was exiled because of her laxity in this area. God didn't say, it was all Jehoiakim's fault, so he is the only one who will be judged. God expected the church to do something about it. Turn to 2 Chronicles 26:16-21 for an example of a church that was willing to step on a king's toes. There are abortionist politicians who have never even been spoken to about their evil, let alone been disciplined by their own church. I have talked to church leadership asking why a member of their church who aborts babies is not under discipline. They didn't want to rock the boat. But look at the refreshing contrast in this chapter. Uzziah was a good king for a long time, but pride got to his head and he thought he had authority in the church just like he did in the state. 2 Chronicles 26:16-21.

But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. So Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the LORD, who were valiant men. And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the LORD God." Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censor in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the incense altar. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the LORD had struck him. King Uzziah was a leper utnil the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. Then Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

To be cut off from the house of God was seen as a serious thing. Paul spoke of excommunication as being handed over to Satan. But such discipline for all, whether poor or rich, is essential for maintaining a strong church. Without it the whole church will be disciplined by the Lord. Revelation 2-3 keeps warning churches of Christ's judgement because they allowed this and that. Scripture says, "Judgment begins at the house of God." We must do all we can to reconstruct the church. That is the main hope for America. Church discipline is a powerful tool for holiness and strength, but there are very few churches which exercise discipline. And of course, remember that self-disicipline, sitting under the preaching of the word is the majority of Biblical discipline. But we need to be willing to go further when necessary.

Resist state control of the Christian faith (vv. 2b,8 with Dan. 6:10-11)

Secondly, we must resist state control of the Christian faith. Daniel did it in verse 8 and he did it again in Daniel 6 where he ended up in the lions den. Now one word of caution on this though. Some people try to be martyrs. The city passes an ordinace that you can't preach in central park and you have pastors who have never preached outdoors in their lives, now preaching on central park. I'm not sure that is what God had in mind. On the other hand, if our liberties are being denied, we need to be bold in standing up to them. Daniel could have hidden his prayers in his house. But as his custom was, he opened his windows and prayed where all could see his disobedience. And there will be times where God calls the church to do the same.

Certainly when the government oversteps its jurisdiction like Uzziah did, we must be valiant and unwilling to give an inch.

Remember that judgments are sometimes good for the church (v. 2a; cf. the "good figs" of Jer. 24)

Another thing we need to keep in mind is that judgments are for the good of the church sometimes. I'm sure the Lord will strengthen the church through the struggles that are coming up. If you read Jeremiah 24 sometime you will see that it was the good figs who were sent into exile, and it was for their protection. Everyone whom the Lord loves He chastens. It is because the Lord loves the church that He allows persecution. But in any case, down through history, persecution has served to strengthen the church because the false professors don't want to be Christians under persecution and they leave. The fire burns away the chaff. That is why the church in Ethiopia and China is so vibrant. It is a holy church. Hypocrites tend to stay away under persecution. So don't be discouraged if we start receiving persecution.

Be confident that God will preserve those things that are important

the symbols of the church (v. 2b-d)

true believers (vv. 4-8)

Fourthly, be confident that God will preserve those things that are important. It looked like a trajedy that the temple vessels were taken away, in verse 2, but that was actually God's way of keeping them safe and secure until they were needed in the future. Well, that's the way it was with the true believers. God preserved them, and put them into just the right spots where they could be used. We need to trust that He is in control.

Do not silence the preaching of men like Jeremiah, Ezekiel & Daniel who held even pagan government accountable

Fifthly, do not silence the preaching of men like Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. You may not be comfortable with my preaching at all times, but if you can see it in the Scripture, be willing to be admonished. If the church takes all five steps, it will be a long way towards making a difference for the long haul in America. Theocracy is under attack in the church. Men do not like the restrictions of God's law over the church. They prefer to take the pragmatic way out. Yet we must be men of principle in the state, in the church and in the family. May we be so, Amen.

God's Rule In The Family (vv. 3ff)

Sharpen the arrows of dominion (cf. Psalm 127) from the earliest times (vv. 4-8). Our youth are the key to the future.

Obvious points that can be made about our families is that we should start sharpening the arrows of dominon from the earliest times. Our youth are the key to the future and if they are trained early, they may lose out in the future. Psalm 127 says that our children are arrows which will take dominion in the future.

Do not voluntarily give your children to the state (v. 3)

Secondly, do not voluntarily give your children to the state. That should be obvious, yet most Christians in Omaha send their kids to government school. Use your influence to convince Christians that in faithfulness to God they should pull their kids out.

Help your youth internalize principled decision making (v. 8). Don't make all their decisions for them. Help them to think

Third, help your youth internalize principled decision making. If you want to know more about this, there are several tapes in Growing Kids God's Way that show the difference between controlling your children's outward behavior and reaching the heart.

Remember that though tyrants can take away every physical thing you have, they cannot take away your education or touch your soul unless you let them

Fourthly, remember that tyrants can take away every physical thing you have, but they cannot take away the important things. If you have trained your children well, that will never be eradicated. If their souls are prepared, there is nothing that can be done to the bodies that will keep our children from making an impact. We don't know how much longer we will have freedom to educate our youth. Take advantage of the time. Put in extra hours. Prepare your children just in case.

Have renewed faith and hope in God's promised victory

Don't ever give Satan more credit than he deserves (v. 2a)

Point D just has some quick pointers. The first is "Don't ever give Satan more credit than he deserves." The way some people talk about America's troubles you would think that Satan was the sovereign in charge. But notice that verse 2 says that God allowed the exile. And I believe God allowed it for the strengthening of the church. Satan is not alive and well on planet earth. He does not own the cattle on a thousand hills. His gates are not able to stand against the church. Stop treating him as more powerful than he really is. King Jesus rules.

God places key men in positions of influence (vv. 4-8)

Secondly, God shows His wonderful skill at placing men and women into key positions of influence at just the right time. If you ever doubt this, read the book of Esther. God knows why he has put you where He has when He has. Look for the opportunities to serve. Have confidence that God is orcheastrating all of history for Satan's defeat. And you are a part of Satan's defeat.

God has given us an eschatology of hope in the book of Daniel

Thirdly, begin studyng and being encouraged by an eschatology of hope and victory. Daniel is full of hope and encouragement. We do not have a bleak future. God is on the throne, and He has promised great things for planet earth. Let's have faith in His promises, and not be discouraged by this past election.

Never compromise principle (v. 8). If you lose intergrity, you have lost everything.

And then lastly, never compromise principle. Dare to be a Daniel. If you lose integrity, you have lost everything. And there are too many politicians who have been willing to compromise with the attitude that the end justifies the means. It never has and never will. If you cannot win with integrity, it is not worth winning. Our job is to be faithful even if it means getting thrown in the lions den and to leave the results up to God.

And so, even though America looks almost as bad as the situation in these verses, we have much to praise the Lord for. And I encourage you to cast aside all discouragement and find your hope in God. Amen.