THE PILGRIMS
The Pilgrims are basic to America and to our Christian heritage. Even in our relationship to civil governments, the Pilgrims are an example and an inspiration. Their saga in history provides living illustrations and applications of those words, "thus saith the Lord" that ought to govern every facet of our being. By the grace of God, they knew how to "live godly in Christ Jesus" and to "obey God rather than men." They clung to the Word of God with an uncompromising tenacity and zeal, and refused to submit to the arbitrary edicts of a state church even when those edicts were enforced by the sword of civil government. Illegally, they assembled for worship, preached the pure Word of God, and maintained the simplicity and the humility of the apostolic church. Also illegally, they emigrated from England, literally escaping as it were from the spiritual bondage of Egypt, that they might maintain the liberty to reflect in all that they did the very image of God.

This issue will start a series on a Christian's rights and duties under civil government. A series on whether Christians have a RIGHT, yea a DUTY, to RESIST, to REBEL against those wicked and oppressive governments that suppress true religion and tyrannize their subjects. A series that will establish from Scripture the relationships of the rulers and the ruled to each other under God.

FORCE
This issue always raises its share of questions. Is the use of force wrong? Is it sometimes wrong? Is it always wrong? Must Christians rule out any and all use of force? Are Christians nonviolent? Are Christians pacifists? These are but a few of the questions that are eternally being raised, usually to challenge the militancy of the church triumphant. However, the question remains: Do George Fox's Quakers or Oliver Cromwell's Ironsides represent the true Christian faith?

The "Liberal" today in general professes to abhor force. The military and the police are constantly degraded. Force is equated with the barbaric past and is deemed inconsistent with "Democracy." All are to submit to the wish of and be ruled by the whim of the majority. Vox populli vox Dei. In other words, the voice of the people is the voice of God. That this does not allow for the Christian faith which insists it cannot be ruled by anything less than the Word of God is too little realized. Here, again, we see the hypocrisy and the double standards of those that will not be ruled by that Word. Where were the objections to force when federal troops invaded Little Rock, Arkansas and, later, the campus of "Ole Miss' in Oxford, Mississippi, or when American citizens of Japanese descent were rounded up and held in detention camps during World War II? It would appear that force, no matter how arbitrary, is always justified in government representing the majority will, but that all use of force is denied the people and denied the individual. However, that is no standard at all. Sin, including unscriptural use of force, is never justified merely because it has been legalized and is perpetrated by government. The only true standard when the government or the governed may have recourse to force must be the Word of God. Also, Christians have seen too much ungodly violence and outright revolution in recent history, which they have properly abhorred. Christians have been disgusted by the "civil disobedience" and violence-provoking activities of the so-called nonviolent disciples of Marx such as Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr., but here again, Christians ought to be guided not by their revulsion of the ungodly, but by the Word and will of God. The misuse of force in the cause of Satan provides no logical argument against the legitimate use of force in the cause of the Christian faith.

GOD IS FORCE
God is force. All the force in the universe emanates from his eternal and sovereign throne. He and he alone is the Almighty and there is none else. By him, kings rule and princes have their powers. His power called the worlds into existence. His decrees rule creation and it is sustained by his providential and almighty arm. He doeth according to his will and none can stay his hand. He thundered forth his righteous laws on Sinai's peak and has even enforced them by his judgments, even on Calvary's cross. He sent the flood that deluged the world in judgment. He rained down fire and brimstone on the cities of the plain and crushed Pharaoh with his plagues, for which the Children of Israel were ever exhorted to rejoice. Liberals may accept a god of their own imaginations who is all "love," but they abhor the Jehovah of Scripture who vindicates himself by the force of his judgments.

Might does not make right, but the right had better have some might or it will inevitably be trampled by the wrong. Christians should rejoice that the holy and just God they serve is ALMIGHTY. As Paul declared, if God be for us, who can be against us. Christians place their faith in Jesus Christ, who overcame death and hell and through whom they are more than conquerors. Ultimately, all things are decided by force. Thus Christians rejoice in the Lord of Hosts who IS ABLE to deliver. Christians suffering the tribulations and persecutions of this world rejoice that Christ will return as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah; that he will return conquering and to conquer to establish his righteous and eternal kingdom; that he will return with the armies of heaven, to prevail by his might, to slay the hosts of Antichrist and to rule with a rod of iron.

God is holy and God is force. To deny legitimate force is to deny God. Pacifism is to deny God, to despise his almight arm and to lose all by default. Pacifism is a cruel hoax.

SELF-DEFENSE
Self-defense has always been considered as a legitimate use of force. The Bible declares it so: "If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him" (Ex. 22:2). Here again, liberalism has declared that all force is immoral. A few years ago in Iowa, and more recently here in New Jersey, homeowners in defense of their property shot and wounded a burglar. In both instances, the burglar was leniently dealt with in the courts by a six-month sentence, which was even suspended in the New Jersey case. Both burglars promptly sued the respective homeowners and both won substantial settlements. When scriptural justice departs from our courts, the right of self-defense goes with it. Liberals piously affirm that human rights are greater than property rights, and thus the courts viciously defend the so-called human rights of the criminal while demonstrating utter callousness for the property rights of the citizens. Liberal hypocrisy is again apparent in that they fail to see that even this perverted proverb of liberalism obligates them to the defense of the "human rights" of the enslaved masses behind the "Iron" and the "Bamboo" curtains.

The logical conclusion of all this is that soon our police will be like the British Bobbeys, UNARMED! Then, Americans may be treated to such spectacles as the "Great Train Robbery" in Britain, where unarmed police contended against Thompson submachine guns. The robbery was successful!

WAR
War undoubtedly represents the most celebrated use of force. Hence the relentless drive of liberalism to "outlaw" war and disarm a demoralized and discredited military. War is force, and without application of force there can be no war. Force is a necessary ingredient of war.

War results when all other alternatives have been exhausted and the only recourse left is to force. War is precipitated when negotiations have failed. War is precipitated when nations have an irreconcilable difference. For example, North Vietnam wants to conquer South Vietnam. South Vietnam wants to remain free. The two countries negotiate and discover that their respective demands for conquest and liberty are nonnegotiable, as nonnegotiable as Christians hold the Deity of Christ. The inevitable result is war. One negotiates before war, and one negotiates after war to accept the other's surrender. As the Paris peace talks demonstrated, negotiations during war are an exercise of futility. The very reason that you are at war is because the issues are irreconcilable. The communists were well aware of this, and the Vietcong came to Paris only for the purpose of dictating the terms of and accepting our surrender. In war, there is no substitute for FORCE. "In war, there is no substitute for VICTORY."

THE NECESSITY OF WAR
It has often been declared that "War is hell." Liberals have consistently tried to abolish both. Even Christians have challenged the necessity of war, but no Christian can challenge the necessity of hell. Hell is necessary. If hell is necessary, what about war? If hell is necessary, war may well be necessary too. A study of the Scriptures will demonstrate the that is indeed the case. In Revelation 12:7, we read, "And there was war in heaven." This is an amazing statement, far removed from the average concept of heaven, and a statement that gives real insight into the nature and necessity of war. Satan's rebellious presence in heaven had polluted the very abode of God, who in his righteous and holy wrath resorted to war to cleanse his sanctuary. War, like hell, is a tool of God’s judgment. War, like hell, is used of God to maintain his holiness and vindicate his righteousness. In a sinful and rebellious creation, war is as necessary as the eternal holiness and righteousness of God. There was war in heaven. Justice not peace, is the higher goal.

THE NATURE OF WAR
What is the nature of war? Is war by nature evil? Is war necessity evil? Is war at best the lesser of two evils? These are the questions, and the scriptural answers are a resounding NO! In Revelation 19:11, we have a beautiful description of Christ's return with the armies of heaven. "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in RIGHTEOUSNESS he doth judge and make WAR." If Christ can make war in righteousness, then who can deny the righteousness of righteous war? War can be good or evil. The justness of a war hinges not on war itself, but on the justness of those that wage it.

THE SAINTS
The Old Testament saints that were men of war were legion. The Scripture commends them as mighty men of valor and attributes their conquests and victories to the blessing of God. Not a thing in the Old Testament nor anything in the New Testament, where in Hebrews 11 they are listed as heroes of faith, sheds any aspersions on their righteous valor. The great patriarch Abraham waged war to rescue his nephew, Lot, and God was pleased not only to give Abraham victory, but to accept through his priest, Melchizedek, a tithe of the spoils of battle. The divinely appointed successor to the great lawgiver Moses, was the general of the Hebrew armies, Joshua, a man war. We think of Gideon, Jephthah, Barak, Ehud, Shamgar, and Sampson, all men of war who were called of God to wage war, were blessed of God in battle, and were rewarded of God to judge his people, Israel. Finally, we think of David, the youth who avenged the honor of the armies of Israel and slew Goliath, the uncircumcised Philistine that had defied the armies of the living God. We think of David, the warrior king, that conquered all God's enemies and established the Hebrew nation from the Nile to the Euphrates. We think of David, the warrior king, who penned the 144th Psalm, "Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight." The Lord of Hosts is yet the God of Battles and blessed are they that trust in him as they battle for righteousness.

THE CAUSE OF WAR
God is the first cause of all things. The ultimate cause of all things stems from his eternal and sovereign throne. Thus God declares in Isaiah 45:7, "I form the light, and create darkness make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." Both war and peace, as blessing and judgment, emanate from the throne of God. Again, we see the futility of the Paris peace talks, and the vanity of those who trust in the councils of politicians. Man cannot create peace, and the national enthusiasm for Secretary of State Kissinger is matched by a corresponding denial of God.

What is the secondary cause of war, or why does God send war? The answer is found in I Kings 11. In verse 4, we see the apostasy of Solomon in his old age. In verses 9 and 11 we see God's displeasure as he threatens judgment. In verses 14 and 23 we see the form that God's judgment takes, WAR! We read, "And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, and God stirred him up another adversary." God is the author of both war and peace, and the ravages of war are only too often divine judgments on those that have brought down the wrath of God upon their ungodly heads. This is why Joshua was commissioned of God to exterminate the inhabitants of Canaan. This is why the dreaded tread of the Assyrian and Babylonian armies was heard throughout all Palestine as Israel and Judah suffered captivity. Throughout history, God has raised up armies, both Christian and pagan, to exact his vengeance on his enemies when the cup of their iniquity was full. To outlaw war is to disarm God. To outlaw war is to despise the justice of his judgments and to deny him his vengeance. God has claimed, "Vengeance is mine, I shall repay." God has declared, "Shall I not visit for these things; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"

War is capital punishment on a national scale, and to outlaw war is to outlaw the punishment of sin on a national level. The utter audacity and the abject futility of man decreeing peace when God has decreed war is only one more mark of the degree of man's apostasy from his Creator.

PACIFISM
In spite of all that has been said, is pacifism ever right? Is pacifism ever a Christian virtue? NO! Christians may well oppose unjust wars, but if pacifism is defined as inherent, ideological opposition to all war, then pacifism is heresy. The passage in Romans 12:18, "if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men," taken in context has an individual application and doesn't touch on the sword of civil government. However, even then the statement is highly limited and qualified and must be tempered with Christ's teachings that we cannot be at peace with this world and that in this world we shall have tribulation. The love of this world is enmity with God, and thus Christ came to bring not peace but a sword. Similarly, when Scripture saith, "Blessed are the peacemakers," it is not referring to pacifists. Rather, blessed are those who preach the gospel of peace and thus establish peace with God through the Prince of Peace, the one Mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus, and that peace of God that passes all understanding implies enmity with this world. The Bible commands us to "Resist the Devil and to Be strong, quit you like men."

A marvelous instance of God's judgment on pacifism can be found in 11 Kings 13:14-19. Elisha, who was certainly not considered a pacifist, but was called "The Chariot of Israel, and the horseman thereof," commands the king to strike the ground with the arrows, the arrows of the Lord's deliverance. The king strikes but thrice and ceases, and the prophet is incensed and wroth with the king. The king is rebuked for his lack of militancy. The king appears to have had little stomach for battle and to have utterly lacked that militant spirit that has even characterized the warriors and champions of God. With zeal, he should have struck the arrows as if he were crushing the very enemies of God. The nation paid a steep price for the pacifism of its king, as nations in history ever have. Woe unto those that seek peace with this world when God has declared war. As Scripture saith, when it is the sword of the Lord, "Cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood" (Jer. 48:10) .

VIETNAM
America has been in Vietnam. World opinion has thundered, antiwar crowds have assembled, the virtues of pacifism, communism and Ho Chi Minh have been sung, and Vietcong flags have flown in Washington. World opinion has been registered, but what saith the Lord? It matters little that the world condemns us, but have we sinned in the eyes of God? If so, how have we sinned? Unfortunately, America has sinned in Vietnam, but it has little to do with charges of warmongering, atrocities, and genocide that have risen with such unison from the lips of the ungodly. America's sin is that we preferred peace to war, we preferred defeat to victory, we preferred to surrender to the ungodly rather than to utterly destroy them. The testimony of general upon general and of admiral upon admiral was that the war could have been won in the space of six weeks at any time that we wanted to make full and effective application of conventional force. However, our national policy was never victory but always accommodation and restraint leading to defeat and surrender. America had no real stomach for fighting communism. America had no zeal for destroying the enemies of God. America has sinned. America has rejected victory under God. America has made peace with the ungodly, while the blood of 50,000 betrayed American fighting men cries out from the ground, as the blood of Abel and the blood of Naboth did, crying unto God to be avenged.

OUR COVENANT
The Children of Israel at Sinai entered into a covenant with God. Jehovah would be their God and their King and they would be his people. Similarly, our Pilgrim forefathers considered themselves a covenant people, God's elect, the children of the everlasting covenant. The prophet speaks of those who say, "We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement." America has rejected the faith of our forefathers. America has scorned the God of Israel. America has despised that victory under God for which our forefathers pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. America has chosen peace with communism. America has embraced that most militant form of anti-Christianity. America has proclaimed DETENTE. That is our covenant with death and that is our agreement with hell. We have signed agreement upon agreement with the masters of Antichrist, with the architects of deception. Truly, We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.

From Woodrow Wilson's rescue^* of Bolshevism to Kissinger's reparations in Vietnam, America has kept her covenant with death and her agreement with hell. From Hoover's wheat deal to Nixon's wheat deal, we have nurtured the beast of Antichrist. From Roosevelt's diplomatic recognition, Lend Lease, and the Second World War rescue of Stalin, to Eisenhower's peaceful coexistence, cultural exchange, and summitry with the Butcher of Budapest, America has kept faith with hell.

JUDGMENT
God is not mocked, and our covenant with hell will bring its own sure reward. In I Kings 20, we have a perfect illustration of the judgment of God on those that scorn his proffered victory, to make common cause with his enemies. The parallels are amazing. Israel then, as America now, was apostate. Israel, as America, had historically been identified with the worship of the true God. Both nations were faced with a foe that blasphemed their professed God and both nations were offered, and both nations scorned, total victory under God. After God had given Ahab a mighty victory, the Syrian Hosts were slain and the Syrian king was fleeing, Ahab…caused him to come up into the chariot…So he made a covenant with him and sent him away. In comparison, how many times America has stopped the wheels of a victorious chariot and reached down with a helping hand to confirm once again her covenant with hell. Who stopped General Patton's victorious drive to free Eastern Europe, and who signed the infamous Yalta agreements that consigned them to slavery? Who fired General MacArthur when he was on the verge of victory, consigning North Korea to the spiritual bondage of communism and setting the stage for our debacle in Vietnam? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

In the aftermath of the battle, God sent his prophet to Ahab saying, "Thus saith the Lord, Because thou host let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people." Ahab died by the hand of God in battle and Israel went on to go into captivity as this prophecy was fulfilled. Shall America fare any better? America has rejected victory over communism; does it now only remain for America to fall to communism? The judgment of God holds the key: Thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.

CONCLUSION
Unqualified obedience to government, and unlimited submission to evil are not part of the Christian faith. Neither is pacifism and the total rejection of all force and violence anything less than God-denying heresy. Christians are called to resist the devil and scripturally compelled to contend for righteousness. Christ will not hesitate to use force to crush the hosts of Antichrist at Armageddon. Can we who are called to occupy till he comes do less? In righteousness he doth judge and make war. If called upon of God, can we do less? David exclaimed, "Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight." Can we do less? There was a time when the Lord's people sang "Onward Christian Soldiers" and actually went to war to battle for righteousness. Let us too be prepared when God's trumpet sounds to follow in their steps. Let us too be prepared to wield the Sword of the Lord and of Gideon. AMEN!