God cares about U.S.

The Providence of God and His Guide for Human Government

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5 Key perceptions regarding God and Government

1. God gave mankind the right to rule over the Earth within the scope of an intimate relationship with Himself (Gen 1:26-28)

Gen 1:26-28“Then God Said, ‘Let us make

man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over

every living creature that moves on the ground.’”

5 Key perceptions regarding God and Government

1. God gave mankind the right to rule over the Earth within the scope of an intimate relationship with Himself (Gen 1:26-28)

2. Self-Rule was the key to that Dominion, but Adam failed the test (Gen 3:6-12)

Genesis 3:6-12When the woman saw that

the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband

who was with her, and he ate it…9 the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

5 Key perceptions regarding God and Government

1. God gave mankind the right to rule over the Earth within the scope of an intimate relationship with Himself (Gen 1:26-28)

2. Self-Rule was the key to that Dominion, but Adam failed the test (Gen 3:6-12)

3. Thereafter, separated from God, mankind has gravitated toward centralized governments which exalt men and their accomplishments (Babel)

Genesis 10:32-11:4“These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the

nations spread out over the earth after the flood. Nos the whole world had one language and a common

speech. As men moved eastward they found a plain in Shinar and settled there….4 They said ‘Come let us

build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves

and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 Key perceptions regarding God and Government

1. God gave mankind the right to rule over the Earth within the scope of an intimate relationship with Himself (Gen 1:26-28)

2. Self-Rule was the key to that Dominion, but Adam failed the test (Gen 3:6-12)

3. Thereafter, separated from God, mankind has gravitated toward centralized governments which exalt men and their accomplishments (Babel)

4. God’s preference for human government is a Godly Republic consisting of Divine laws that are taught and encouraged by representatives of the people. (Exodus 18:8-28)

Exodus 18:21, 23 “Select capable men from all the people-

men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain- and appoint

them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens…23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these

people will go home satisfied.’”

5 Key perceptions regarding God and Government

1. God gave mankind the right to rule over the Earth within the scope of an intimate relationship with Himself (Gen 1:26-28)

2. Self-Rule was the key to that Dominion, but Adam failed the test (Gen 3:6-12)

3. Thereafter, separated from God, mankind has gravitated toward centralized governments which exalt men and their accomplishments (Babel)

4. God’s preference for human government is a Godly Republic consisting of Divine laws that are taught and encouraged by representatives of the people. (Exodus 18:8-28)

5. America has been given a great gift in having a Godly republic as its primary form of government

James Madison The Federalist papers

A pure democracy can admit no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will be felt by a

majority, and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party. Hence it is, that democracies have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the

rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.Theoretic

politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their

possessions, their opinions, and their passions. (Federalist Papers, No. 10)

Fraser TylerThe Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until voters discover that

they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits

from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed

by a dictatorship.

Thomas PaineCommon Sense

I do not choose to be a common man, It is my right to be uncommon … if I can,I seek opportunity … not security.

I do not wish to be a kept citizen. Humbled and dulled by having the State look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk; To dream and to build. To fail and to succeed.I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life To the

guaranteed existence;The thrill of fulfillment To the stale calm of Utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence Nor my dignity for a handoutI will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect. Proud and unafraid;To think and act for myself, To enjoy the benefit of my creations

And to face the world boldly and say: This, with God’s help, I have done All this is what it means To be an Entrepreneur.”

What are the seeds of Godly government that God has planted throughout history?

God’s Seeds1. The Early Church leadership

Apostles and EldersActs 15:1-6Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. 5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses." 6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question.

Apostles and Elders Acts 16:4 As they (Paul and companions) traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Apostles and Elders

Acts 14:21-24 (NIV) They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

Apostles and Elders

Hebrews 13:7-17 (NIV) Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Pastor/Teachers (Senior Elders)Acts 12:11-18 Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating." 12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!" 15 "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel." 16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place. 18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.

Pastor/Teacher (Senior Elders)Ephesians 4:4-13 There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called--5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." 9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Pastor/Teacher (Senior Elders)1 Timothy 4:11-16 (Timothy) Command and teach these things. 12 Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The Congregation

1 Peter 4:10 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

The Congregation

1 Corinthians 12:1-20 (NIV) Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant…4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good…11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. 12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

God’s Seeds1. The Early Church, Acts2. John Wycliffe and his Bible Translation

Wycliffe’s Bible Prologue

“Scripture must become the common property of all. This Bible is for the

government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

The Gettysburg Address“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on

this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long

endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final

resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate --

we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have

consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract….

The Gettysburg AddressThe world will little note, nor long remember what we say

here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work

which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task

remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation,

under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people,

shall not perish from the earth.

God’s Seeds1. The Early Church, Acts2. John Wycliffe and his Bible Translation3. John Gutenburg and his printing press4. John Calvin- and his Institutes