“TWO INSTRUMENTS OF BLESSINGS” PART 1, JUNE 2018

        It will be necessary in this study to correlate between the spiritual and the secular: two entities that control all human life since time began. Over time, and most recently, strong debates have ensued over what is called the “Separation of Church and State.” Those who strongly argue against the church being involved in matters of State, without saying so, have unintentionally, locked God out of matters of State. But as we shall see, both the Church and the State are entities or instruments of blessings that the Creator has chosen as conduits through which his blessings can flow through human life; thus, serving as water hoses used to irrigate large acres of farms upon which the citizens depend to supply grocery stores and such the like. From the very offset, it stands to reason that the importance of the church as an instrument of blessing should not be minimized or taken for granted.

The crux of what I am about to share, should not be taken as a political assessment. Where was the concept of “Separation of Church and State gave birth?  We will examine that first before we incorporate the spiritual aspects as intended by God himself. Here is the origin of what is now being practiced by politicians and some members of the clergy. It is a letter that was sent to the Danbury Baptists. I will copy the entire letter from its original form. “To messers, Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist. Gentlemen:

The affectionate sentiments of the esteem and probation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist Association, give me the highest satisfaction, my duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, & in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing.

 Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.

Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties. I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem. Th Jefferson—Jan. 1. 1802

To offer a candid explanation of this subject, it is appropriate for us to go back in time, when man was about to set his foot upon this terrestrial plane. The Creator himself, gave an account of himself for our benefit and faith in his omnipotence. Acting as his own barrister, and arguing his own case before the court of man (mankind) it is written: “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded…For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it, he hath established  it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.” Isaiah 45: 18, 18.

          It was never God’s intention to save a bunch of people who evangelize the world in preparing them for a trip to heaven. Along with the thought of worship and labor in God’s vineyard the Master is desirous for us to occupy the earth in the true sense of the word. This aspect of any study will require much time and space than we can afford here. But David gave us a sample of what God said and what he determined for man upon the earth; and what we are about to read is not meant to be a small slice of ancient history that ended soon after David, or the prophets, or even the apostles died.

The Psalmist wrote: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels (or Eloheem or God: that is right—a little lower than God) and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field. etc. Psalm 8: 3-7.

          Speaking without any semblance of prejudice, we must conclude that the church as we know it to be, is totally consumed with the idea of going to heaven and, of course, preparing for that destination all our Christian life. Many scriptures that clearly express what the mandate of the church on earth should be, is never taught or preached in its entirety. According to the most accepted form of doctrine concerning our rule upon the earth, is eternally tied into the return of Christ to the earth (Jerusalem to be exact) and this is to be preceded by the so-called Rapture. Thus, it is surmised that our earthly rule will only happen at that time.

        Be that as it may, the underlying truth still stands predominate as noted by Daniel. “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever and ever. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Daniel 7: 18, 27. Perhaps we will get confused and uncertain as to when all of this will come to pass: but suffice it to say that “so it is written—so it shall be done.” One of the noble acts of God, is that his will is being done in the time-frame that he has set in his blue-print before time began. Consider this! Back in the Garden, God said that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head: but it took another 4,000 years before the Seed actually set foot on earth. Based upon that premise, the prophesies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel are still in effect, unfolding on God’s time table.

So far, we have the account of the creation and the introduction of man on his earthly earthly sojourn. At this juncture, it seems that we are shoulder to shoulder with the emergence the entity called “The State.” In this our year (2018) the political arguments as to what role the state should play in our laws and constitution, continues to verb irate through the halls of Congress and in many State Houses. We can assume that being put upon the earth to inherit a land of plenty, someone soon developed a brilliant idea. Thus, we read: “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel (confusion) and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” Genesis 10: 8-10.

It has been said that this was the beginning of slavery for the benefits of his kingdom. It stands to reason that if we establish cities, towns and villages, there has to be those who enact laws, and eventually, those who disobey those laws, creating the need for officers to enforce the laws. With no regulations governing wages and labor, masses were thrown into slavery. As we said, that began in the times of Nimrod: but even when Paul came on the scene, some 1922 years (or more) later, slavery was still rampant in the land. This was valid proof that the “State” had failed to be the conduit of God’s intended blessings. Before long, we will see the injury inflicted upon society at large when the state functions outside of the realm of the church, having abandoned the grand and noble precepts that the church offers. The STATE can be counted at least from the days of Nimrod; but as we count, we put on our list great empires such as the days of the Pharaohs, the great kings and Queens of Egypt, Alexander the Great, not to forget Cyrus the Great, and the formidable kingdom known as “Imperial Rome.”

        Each state emerged on to the world stage by the strong arm of military might, and each particular state created its own version of what the life of the “governed” should be. History will show that these emerging kingdoms were by people who knew not the God of the Israelites. But speaking from the vantage point of New Testament scriptures, we are made to understand that God does not separate between the spiritual and the secular, because God, who IS SPIRIT sees all things from the wholeness of spirit. Paul echoed this truth when he wrote: “Wherefore hencefort know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now hencefort know we him no more. (that is—after the flesh.) 2^nd Corinthians 5: 16.

The Spirit of God is so intense and is so all-abounding that we read: “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live, (that means all created life) and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring—or his next of kin.” Acts 17: 27, 28. Many of the emerging States that became world empires , did well for their citizens, but the major flaws in just about all of them, was that their relationship with the true Creator was almost nil and void. But like tourists walking by the ruins of Rome’s catacombs, and Grecian monuments made in honor of Alexander the Great, we must wonder if these STATES or governments brought God’s blessings to their people. (man’s blessings are temporal while God’s blessings are eternal.) As we said before, the STATE was meant to be an instrument of blessing for the people, working in concert with the STATE. God, in his wisdom enacted these two instruments of blessings for us to live by and enjoy a peaceful and blessed life. On the religious side, the church leads us into territories of blessings; and so also should the State be an instrument of blessing to mankind at large.

Dating back to the days of the judges in Israel, and continuing through the days of kings and prophets, rulers of the people depended upon God’s word as they sought to establish a peaceful life for their people. There were times when kings in Israel sought a word from the Lord: so, they called upon the prophet to seek a word decisive word from the Lord, mostly whether they should go to war or not. Here is an example of what we are saying. In the days of the Judges, in about the year B.C. 1896, a lady of great connection with God came on the scene. “And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deboroah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment” Judges 4: 4, 5. Deborah was the first female judge in Israel and judged that people for forty years. Notice how involved God interjected himself in the affairs of STATE under Deborah’s ministry, who for this study represented the church.

        She sent a message to Barak from the Lord, saying, “I will draw unto thee to  the riverKishon, Sisera, captain of Jebin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. Ands she said, I will surely go with theee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.” Judges 4: 7-9. The next real-life story that we shall examine, shows how God works his purpose through men and women who simply did what they deemed to be right for that moment. They had no notion or imagination that they were working a work that God himself orchestrated to begin with. By the same token, we must conclude that as in ancient times, God has continued interest in the wellbeing of all life form on earth. He is cognizant of the faint cry of the new born baby, and he daily acquiesces to the needs of a groaning creation. Speaking of Christ we read: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him AND FOR HIM. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1: 16, 17. Jesus Christ has taken a front row seat as mankind struggles to sort out his difficulties (mostly by his own limited efforts) while he forgets to read and follow that Master’s blue print. We cannot avoid the ever present (the omnipresent) Lord of the universe though many would like to make it without any input from God: But it is not given for us to individually impact or influence God’s own prerogatives. 

          The word has been spoken, and the die has been cast. “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:3. Before the birth of the Apostolic Church that was unveiled on the day of Pentecost Christ its founder and chief corner was the one to convey the good news that was yet to be laid at the feet of every living soul. Christ looked upon the crowd and announced: “Come unto me, all ye that labor (this includes all forms of government at every level that serve the populous) and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you (or be yoked to me) and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Matthew 11: 28-30. This is a universal call made to the world by Christ himself.

        Here is a reminder!! If you are of a mind to make a contribution to this ministry, we have a safe and easy way for you to do so. Just go to my website shown above. Scroll to the bottom center of the page. Click on “donate” and it will bring you over to PayPal.  Use my email address (shown above) to access PayPal) Follow the prompts, and in a short time, using your credit card, your offering will be received and posted. No need to write checks, no money orders, no tamps, and no trips to the P.O. Thank you, and be blessed in all that you do! Bro. Kennedy

Royce O. Kennedy