Introduction and Review

Weaver introduces the second part of his message on civil rulers and idolatry, reviewing how civil rulers historically led in idolatry and noting the richness of 2 Kings 23 for modern application.

Well, let's open our Bibles today, if you would please, to 2 Kings chapter 23. 2 Kings chapter 23. Now, today we're coming to the second part of the message that I began last week on civil rulers and idolatry. Civil rulers and idolatry. So notice if you would please 2 Kings chapter 23 and let's read beginning with verse 1. And the king sent and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him and the priests and the prophets and all the people both small and great and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. 2 Kings 23 and verse 3 and the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all their heart and with all their soul to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book.

And all the people stood to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the hosts of heaven. And he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel. And he put down the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem, them also that burn incense unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon, to the planets, to all the hosts of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. And he break down the houses of the Sodomites that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for their grove.

2 Kings 23, verse 8, And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places, where the priests had burned incense from Geba to Beersheba, and break down the high places of the gates that were in the entering into the gate of the Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city. Nevertheless, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. And he took away the horses of the kings of Judah that they had given to the sun at the entering in of the house of the Lord at the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the chamberlain, who was in the suburbs and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made, and the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down and break them down from thence and cast the dust of

them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption which Solomon, the king of Israel, had builded for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he break in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover, the altar which was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he break down. and burned the high place and stamped it small to powder and burned the grove.

Now, today we're covering the second part of civil rulers and idolatry. And let me just point out that this chapter is exceedingly rich in truth and there are many needed applications that should be made and could be made to our day and our time and our nation.

The Loss and Recovery of God's Law

Josiah's time parallels modern America: God's law was lost in the temple and government, leading to antinomianism. The law is essential for conviction of sin and leading to Christ.

Now, for those of you who did not get to hear the message last week, I went through these first 15 verses and showed how civil rulers were not only prone to idolatry but according to the Bible they were the ones who led in idolatry. I gave you the reasons why government is always prone to idolatry. But we are going to take a different stance today and show you something I hope a lot more positive because here we have King Josiah. King Josiah comes along And he comes in a time of what you and I would call abysmal ignorance. According to 2 Kings 22, verses 8-10, the law of God had been lost. And unhappily, it had been lost in the temple. The law of God was only found as they were cleaning the trash and the rubbish out of the temple. King Josiah had commanded the temple to be cleansed. and there the law was found. Now the interesting thing is this, when you read Deuteronomy chapter 17 verses 18 through 20, the law of God required the king to have his own personal copy of the law of God.

Now remember this, the law of course was kept in the temple, but the king was required to have his own personal copy. Well he did not have his own personal copy since the law had been lost in the temple. So you find then that God's law had been lost in the temple, in the house of God, and in government. So for all practical purposes, the law of God had been lost. Likewise, so it is in our country. The law of God has been lost in our churches and in our government. We who should be proclaiming the law of God are now ashamed of it. In fact, We despise it, deny it, denigrate it, and denounce it. And for all practical purposes, the law of God is lost in this country, in the churches, and in government, according to its importance, authority, validity, and application. What we have turned into in this country is a generation of antinomians. Anti means against, nomos, law. An antinomian is someone who is against the law of God. Because of false, wicked, and fallacious hermeneutics, we have been taught in this generation that the law has been done away with, that it's been abrogated, that it's been nullified, that it's been set aside, and it has no authority and no application. In fact, you go to the average church and you will hear the preacher say, wow, we're not under law. We're under grace. And consequently, you will find that usually in that church and other churches, they have turned grace into disgrace.

We have never understood a simple principle of Scripture, and that is the law and the gospel are not enemies. They are friends. They complement each other. It is true that God never gave the law as a means of justification. No one can be saved by keeping the law. God never intended the law to be used as a means of justification. However, it is a means to sanctification.

Someone says, oh, Brother Weaver, I take objection with that. Well, pray tell, how in the world can anyone be called sanctified when he's murdering, committing adultery, and stealing, and coveting? Very obviously, he cannot. Now, years ago, it was Lester Roloff who preached a wonderful sermon on law and grace and entitled it Dr. Law and Dr. Grace. And in that sermon, he showed the relationship between law and grace. I have a copy of that sermon. I've read it numerous times. But however, today, unhappily for most Christians, even for most preachers, They do not believe the Old Testament has any practical value at all. They do not even believe it has any significance at all.

The truth of the matter is this, folks. You cannot understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament. There's an old cliché, and it goes like this. The new is in the old concealed, and the old is in the new revealed. So if you want to understand the New Testament, you have to understand the Old Testament. If you want to understand the Old Testament, you have to understand the New Testament. They go together. You cannot understand one without the other.

Now, as you look at 2 Kings 22, and we're not going to do that right now, but as you look at that passage, you will find that it was the reading of the law that put Josiah under conviction. When the law was found by the high priest, he gave it to the scribe. The scribe then took it to King Josiah and read the book of the law. And when Josiah heard the law being read, the Bible says that he rent his clothes and he said, is us, because God's wrath and God's curse is upon us and upon this people and upon this nation because we have violated His law. So it was the reading of the law then that put King Josiah under conviction. Why? Well, Scripture makes it exceedingly plain that without the law, sin is dead. That's what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, I was alive once without the law. But when the law came, that is when he saw it in its true application, sin revived and I died. Let me tell you what the Bible says in Romans 3 in verse 20. God says, therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified. Now listen carefully. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified. So salvation is not by keeping the law. Justification not by keeping the law. Therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified, listen carefully, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. What is one of the benefits we get from the law? We find out what sin is. We discover sin in its reality, in its awfulness, in its wickedness, in its deserts. You know what the Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 4? Now listen carefully. 1 John 3 and verse 4.

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. Now are you listening? You can't sin without violating God's law. What is sin? Sin is a violation of the law of God. Now, if you try to tell me the law has been done away with, then basically you're telling me that sin has been done away with. How can I say that? Well, listen to Romans 4 and verse 15. Because the law worketh wrath, for where there is no law, there is no sin. Isn't that interesting? You do away with the law, you've done away with sin. It is only by the law that we know what sin is when God says, Thou shalt not. We know what sin is. One of the greatest reasons that we no longer see deep conviction of sin and conversion of sinners in this country is because the law of God is not preached. Since sin is the transgression of the law, how in the world can sinners be converted if they do not even hear the demands of the law?

How can they be convicted? They don't know what the law demands. Moreover, let me ask you a question. How in the world can anyone truly be converted? You know what the Bible says in Galatians 3 and verse 24? Now listen carefully. I'm not making this up. I'm just quoting the scripture. Wherefore, the law is our school teacher to bring us to Christ. You see, the law has to teach us something before we ever get to Christ. It has to teach us that we're sinners. It has to teach us that we can't save ourselves. It has to teach us there's a great chasm between a holy God and a wicked man. And it has to teach us that chasm can only be got by a substitute, by someone who is perfect and that someone is none other than Jesus Christ. So the law then is our school teacher to bring us to Christ. If you do away with the law, you do away with salvation. You see, the Puritans had an old saying, and it went like this.

The sharp needle of the law must precede the scarlet thread of the gospel. And that's right. Those who have never been pricked and stuck by the needle of the law have never had the scarlet thread of the gospel in them either.

Josiah's Prophetic Background and Conversion

A prophecy in 1 Kings 13 foretold Josiah by name 340 years before his birth. Despite this, Josiah needed personal conversion through the law of God.

Now, I want you to see something about Josiah. I want you to hold 2 Kings 23, but turn back in your Bibles to 1 Kings 13. You see, Josiah was an individual whom there was a prophecy given concerning. In 1 Kings 13, Beginning there in verse 1, listen to what the Word of God says. And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. Now here's what the prophet of God said. And he cried against the altar, that is the fake and false altar that Jeroboam had built, And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar! Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born into the house of David, Josiah by name, and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burned upon thee. Now, here the prophet is saying there's going to be a child born.

He's going to be a king. He's going to be of the house of David. His name's going to be Josiah. And he's going to destroy and defile this wicked and false altar and the wicked and false religion that Jeroboam, the king of Israel, had initiated. Do you realize that this prophecy was given some 340 years before Josiah was ever born? That still did not negate the fact that Josiah must be convicted and converted just like any other sinner. And you know what God used to convert Josiah? The law of God. He used the law of God to convict him.

Now, you remember last week, I showed you how civil rulers were not only prone to idolatry, but over and over, they were the ones that introduced idolatry into the land. Or you've got to read this chapter. And you'll find that. And they usually introduce idolatry in the land for their own personal, political, and selfish motives. Remember, I've told you repeatedly that God has only created three institutions. You remember them? He created the family, which is a ministry of education. He created the church, which is a ministry of grace, and he created civil government, which is a ministry of justice. Now, since God is the creator of each of these institutions, each of these institutions is answerable and accountable to him. Just like God requires the family to be Christian, And just like God requires the church to be Christian, God also requires government to be Christian. Why?

The Divine Institution of Civil Government

God created civil government as a ministry of justice, with rulers as His deacons, public worship, and exactors of righteousness. Government must be Christian, just as families and churches should be.

He's the one that ordained them. He's the one that instituted them. He's the one that set them up. Now, let me just show you, and some of you know this, and I'm just reminding you and refreshing your memories. But you remember when we've looked at Romans 13 in the past. And I pointed out there numerous words that God has used in Romans 13 to describe the civil ruler. He sometimes referred to him as a power, sometimes as an ordinance. But as you read on down in Romans 13, especially in verse 4, you find that the civil ruler is called a minister of God twice. He is also called a revenger once in verse 4, And then when you get to verse 6, the civil ruler is called a minister of God again. Now, let me just stop and remind you of something. When you look at verse 4 in Romans 13, and twice the civil ruler is referred to as a minister of God, the word for minister there is the Greek word diakonos, and it's where we get our English word, help me out, deacon from. And the word deacon literally means what?

Servant. That's what it means. So if God has instituted civil government to be his deacon, what does that mean? It means God has instituted civil government to be his servant. They are to obey him. They are answerable and accountable to him. He is the one that gives them the rules that places limitations and confines upon them. They must answer to Him. He's the Creator. He is the one that has ordained the institution of civil government.

Now, when you get to the word minister in verse 6, it is a different Greek word. There it is the Greek word leitourgos. It is where we get our English word what? Liturgy. And what is a liturgy? It is a public form of worship. So when you get to verse 6 then, government now is called God's public form of worship. When you go back to verse 4, and the civil rulers there called the revenger of God, the word revenger is ekdikos in the Greek.

Ek is a preposition which means out of. Dikaios, righteousness. What is a revenger? It's one who exacts God's righteousness. Let me just spell it out for you. Here's why God created civil government. God created civil government as His ordinance to be His power. Why? That they might be His deacon, that they might be His public worship, and that they might exact His righteousness. Not man's, not theirs. And God requires government to be Christian Just like he does a church, just like he does a family.

False Profession vs. Genuine Faith

True Christianity is evidenced by keeping God's commandments. Many professing Christian rulers live in disobedience, proving they are liars according to 1 John 2:4.

You're going to object and say, but now wait a minute, Brother Weaver. Hang on. I know many governments that are not Christian. They're not biblical. They're not godly. I understand that. I know plenty of people, plenty of families. I even know some churches that are not holy, biblical, godly, or Christian. But that does not mean that they are exempt from God's requirements. It just means they're in disobedience and rebellion to God and God will judge them. That's all it means. The only other objection that I can possibly think of, listen carefully, is that some people have swallowed the fallacious and ridiculous line that, well, we do have a Christian government. because we have professional Christian rulers in our government. Let me say this as politely as I can.

I am absolutely sick to death of hearing about the Christianity of those men and those women who live ungodly lives, who live contrary to the Word of God, and who are doing everything possible to destroy our country and bring us into absolute servitude. I'm tired of hearing that they're Christians. Recently, I saw an article, in fact, this last week, naming some of the greatest Christians in this century. The first two names of America's greatest Christians. First two names on the list. The first one was George W. Bush. And if he's a Christian, dear friend, I'm Elvis Presley reincarnated.

The second name was John Ashcroft, our former Attorney General. May I point out that that wonderful professing Christian Attorney General John Ashcroft is the same Attorney General who gave the order for the invasion, capture and destruction of the Baptist Temple in Indianapolis, Indiana. Something is wrong somewhere, folks. How can people profess to be Christian and act absolutely contrary to the Word of God? You know, it is absolutely amazing to me. That we have the dumbest Christians in this country. Then in any other country. When I say dumbest. I mean, we're dumb concerning the Word of God. Do you realize if you want to know who a real Christian is? You don't necessarily listen to what he says. You watch his life. You know what our Lord said? Our Lord said in Matthew 7 and verse 16, you shall know them by their fruits. And then he repeated the same truth at Matthew 7 and verse 20. He said, wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them.

And he said a fig tree can't bring forth apples or oranges and and a bitter fountain cannot bring forth sweet water. Very obviously not. You've got to be either biblical or unbiblical. You're going to do what's right or you're going to do what's wrong. It's that simple. If you'll look in your Bibles very quickly to 1 Samuel chapter 15. Let me show you this. 1 Samuel 15.

The Bible says here that King Saul turned back from following the Lord. Now let me ask you a question. How do we know that King Saul turned back from following the Lord? What is the evidence? You say, well, Brother Weaver, we know he turned back because God said so. That is true. But God also tells us how we may know that he turned back. Look in 1 Samuel 15 and verse 11. Look what God says. It repented me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me, here it is, and hath not performed my commandments. How do we know that King Saul had turned back, had apostatized from the faith, from following the one true and the living God?

The answer is very simple. He didn't keep God's commandments. He didn't obey God. He didn't listen to God. Do you realize that keeping God's commandments is truly evidence as to whether or not we're really and truly genuine Christian? And that is true for a civil ruler, Or for an ordinary individual? You know what our Lord said in John 14 in verse 21? Now, you can quote this, I'm sure, but listen to this. Our Lord said it like this, John 14, 21. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. That's pretty simple, isn't it? When you get down to verse 24, He says it like this. He that keepeth not my commandments loveth me not. Now, that's very difficult to figure out, isn't it? Let's see. If I keep His commandments, I love Him. If I don't keep His commandments, I don't love Him. That's very deep, isn't it? That's hard to grasp. Now, let's be a little plainer. Let's turn in our Bibles to 1 John 2. I can quote it, but I want you to see it.

Please look at it. 1 John 2 and verse 4. 1 John 2 and verse 4. 1 John 2 and verse 4. Look, if you would, please. I want you to know what the Lord says. 1 John 2. In fact, let's read verse 3. 1 John 2 verse 3. Here's what the Lord said. Hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. How do I know that I know God?

Because my life is being brought in conformity to His Word. It may not be in absolute perfection, but it means it is a constant and continual bringing my life in conformity to His Word. Now watch. He says, And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

Now look at verse 4. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Now, I didn't write that. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a what? Liar. and the truth is not in Him. I don't care if it's the President of the United States. I don't care if it's the Attorney General. I don't care if it's the King or Queen of England. If you profess to know God, but you live a life of constant disobedience, God says you're a liar and the truth's not in you.

Now look in 1 John 5 and verse 3. Let me make it a little plainer. I've already quoted this from John 14. But look in 1 John 5 and verse 3. Here the Bible says it like this. For this is the love of God. What is the love of God? How do I know that I love God? This is the love of God that we keep His commandments and His commandments do not grieve us. It doesn't grieve me that I can't run around with every woman in this country. I don't want to run around with every woman in this country. It doesn't grieve me that I can't Still, I don't want to steal. It doesn't grieve me that I can't shoot something. Well, I don't want to take that back. Sometimes it might. No, I don't want to go out and break God's law.

You understand what I'm saying? God's law is for our benefit. It's for our blessing. And the Bible said this is the love of God. How do I know that I love God? Because I'm not grieved because He says, here's what you should do and here's what you should not do.

Now, what did He say in 1 John 2 and verse 4? He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Now He says, this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous. You let the Hollywood movie stars, and you let the politicians, and you take your easy-believism carnal Christians and let them think on these verses for a while. And the only thing that you can come up with Either God's right, or they're right. Or God is wrong, or they're wrong. And let me just tell you right now, God is right, and they are wrong.

You see, we are so easily bamboozled in this country. You look at what our rulers are doing. I don't care which department you want to look at. 99% of it is not only contrary to scripture, it's even contrary to our Constitution.

Josiah's Godly Actions as a Ruler

Josiah made God's Word known to his leaders and people, publicly covenanted to obey God, destroyed idolatrous religions, and put down immorality, demonstrating how a Christian ruler should act.

Now, King Josiah in 2 Kings chapter 23 is going to demonstrate for us how a real Christian ruler will act. Now, based on 2 Kings 22, we find that when Josiah heard the word of God, he believed it. He repented of his sins and he sought the Lord. And once King Josiah got his personal private life in order, then he began to deal with the problems that were in his kingdom. And there's a principle there, once again, we have to get our own lives in order before we can help others. Well, he got his own life in order, and then he began to do so.

So here's the first thing today. Here's point number one. Josiah made known the Word of God to his cabinet, to his princes, his priests, and his people. Let me say that again. King Josiah made known the Word of God to his cabinet. to his princes, to his priests, and to his people. Look in verse 1 of chapter 23. And the king sent, and they gathered in him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great. And he, the king, read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord.

Now, let me put it very plainly. Josiah did not believe in keeping his faith a secret. He did not believe that religion has no place in government. You must remember a simple truth. Listen carefully. All government is religious. All government is religious. Government is a theological issue. It has to be because God ordained it. It has a relationship to God. It is absolutely impossible to have a separation from government and religion. It's impossible.

You may not have a state church like the Anglican churches in England. You do not have to have the Baptist Church as the official church of the United States of America, or the Presbyterian Church, or the Methodist Church. No, no. I'm not talking about churches. I'm simply talking about religion. All government is religious. Why? Because government deals with right and wrong, good and evil, justice and injustice. All government is religious. Now, it may have reference to the Christian religion or some pagan or some humanistic religion, but it is still religious.

You cannot escape that fact. Every time those lawmakers sit up there and they look at this law and they say, hmm, I think that's a good law or I think that's a bad law. What are they doing? They're determining good and bad based upon their own preconceived ideas, their own religion. If they're Muslim, then they're following the Muslim religion. If they're Christian, then they're following Christian religion. If they're Wiccan, then they're following the Wiccan religion. All government is religious. It may not be specifically Christian, but it will be humanistic.

The only reason, listen carefully, the only reason Christianity is denied, denigrated, and denounced in governmental circles is to make way for another religion. a one world religion. You see, folks, you cannot be biblical and unbiblical at the same time. You're one of the other. You cannot be Christian and pagan at the same time. You're one of the other. You cannot be a believer and an unbeliever at the same time. You're one of the other. Josiah was decidedly Christian and he demonstrated it in his actions.

He was not ashamed to get his cabinet and his princes and the leaders together and said, let me tell you something. God has dealt with my heart and I want to read to you what God has shown me. You see, the problem that we have had in recent years is that we've had many presidents and many politicians give lip service to Christianity. But in their actions, they have denied Christ and the true faith. Let me give you an illustration.

When Jimmy Carter was running for president of the United States. He had an interview with Playboy magazine and all you talk about Christians interviewed by Playboy magazine. And in that interview, Jimmy Carter confessed that he had lusted in his heart. Well, back during that time, I remember people getting so upset that Jimmy Carter had confessed that he lusted in his heart. Let me tell you something. That didn't upset me. Why? Because I know what lust is, and you know what lust is, and every one of us have lusted after something in our lives. I understand sin. That didn't bother me at all. What bothered me did not bother the average Christian, because in that same interview, Jimmy Carter professed to be a Christian. And in that same interview, he said if he was elected president of the United States of America, he would not allow his Christianity to interfere. He kept that promise. Because he and all who followed him have been pagan and anti-Christian to the core and everything that they've done.

Now, let me just put it to you the way God does. It is impossible to be a true believer and not show it. It's impossible. You know what David said in Psalm 116, verse 10? He said, I have believed, and therefore have I spoken. Do you realize whatever is really genuinely in you, what you truly believe, it's going to come out. It will come out. You know, everywhere I go, just about, I can talk just for a few minutes and someone's going to end up saying, you're a preacher, aren't you? Well, yeah, but how do you know that? Well, I just know, you know, and it's not the way I talk. It's not the words that I use. The fact is, if Christianity, if principles are in you, they are going to come out. You know, Jeremiah decided, you know, because of the oppression and tyranny that he was undergoing, He just made up his mind he wasn't going to preach anymore. You remember that? You can read about it in Jeremiah 20 in verse 9.

Here's what he said, Then said I, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. Then he added, But his word was in me as a burning fire that was shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. At least I couldn't help. but tell people about the one true and the living God. I could not hold it in. Folks, let me tell you something. If the truth is in you, it will come out. And if the truth doesn't come out, it's because it's not in you. Josiah got all these people together. He said, let me tell you something, fellas. Here's what God has done for me. Here's how God convicted and converted me. I want you to hear the same thing. Here's the second point. Josiah publicly entered into a covenant to honor and obey the Lord. Look in verse 3. 2 Kings 23 and verse 3. And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and with all their soul to perform the words of this covenant written in the book. And all the people stood to the covenant. Now, he not only entered into a covenant, but took the lead in doing so. And the people and the princes were so impressed that they too entered into that covenant with him.

Now, naturally, you would think Well, his cabinet leaders follow suit. Well, let me tell you something. Here's a man who is mighty serious about obeying God when he publicly enters into a covenant and he's telling everybody, you could hold me accountable. You remember what I'm telling you. I am giving myself to obey the Lord. And all the people then do the same thing, you see. Talk is cheap. But when you stand up and you publicly bind yourself to a covenant and everyone knows, then they're going to hold you accountable. They know that you're quite serious. You know, King Hezekiah did the same thing.

You don't have to turn there. But he did the same thing in 2 Chronicles 29 and verse 10. And I might add that he did so in a day just like the day that Josiah did in a day of perversity, idolatry and ignorance. And when King Hezekiah, as well as King Josiah, when they publicly entered into the covenant and the people joined themselves in obedience, there were two great revivals in the land. You've got to remember, government is a religious issue. It is a theological issue. All government is religious.

Now, I pointed out that it may be pagan or it may be Christian, but it is still Religious. Let me point something else out. All government is covenantal. All government is covenantal. I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 11. There are a multitude of passages I could go to and I'm not going to take time to develop this today because you can read about it in the second chapter of my book on the covenantal nature of government. The Christian and civil government is the second chapter. But look in 2 Kings 11 and verse 17. Let me just point out the covenantal nature of government.

And Jehoiada, who was the high priest by the way, and Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they should be the Lord's people between the king also and the people. Now there are two different covenants that are mentioned here. The first covenant is between the Lord, the king, and the people. In that covenant, now listen, the king agrees to be God's ruler and the people agree to be God's people. In the second covenant, he made between the king and the people. In that covenant, the king agreed to rule faithfully and the people agreed to obey him as long as he did.

Now, I don't care if you go to the Old Testament or the New Testament or you come to the 21st century. government is still religious and government is still covenantal. Even in our United States of America, government is a covenantal issue. In fact, the covenant that we have with the federal government is called the Constitution of the United States of America. In that covenant, the federal government agrees to be limited defined and confined to the powers granted to it by the states. In that covenant, the states agree to cease and desist from certain powers that they granted to the federal government. What happened to all the other powers and rights? Well, according to the 9th and 10th Amendments, those other powers and rights are reserved to the states or to we, the people, respectively. In other words, the only thing the federal government has as to its power is what the states gave it. All the other power remains in the states or to the people. You cannot escape covenants. You cannot escape the covenantal nature of government.

Now let me just put it to you bluntly. There is nothing wrong with a president, a king, or civil ruler publicly stating that he is a Christian and that he wants to honor the Lord and he will send her to a covenant to obey the Lord and ask his cabinet and the people of the land to join with him. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing unbiblical. Nothing unconstitutional. I only wish our leaders would have the courage to do so. I want you to think about the alternative. If our leaders do not act according to Scripture, then they are declaring themselves to be in opposition to Christ and declaring themselves to be set on the overthrow of Christianity. You say, Brother Weaver, come on, how can you make such a statement like that? Well, do you remember what our Lord said in Matthew 12 and verse 30? Are you listening?

He that is not with me is what? against me, and he that gathers not scatters abroad. In other words, there's no middle ground. There's no neutrality. You're either for Christ or you're against Christ. You're either for Christianity or you're against Christianity. Jesus Christ does not condone, approve, support, or fellowship with wicked, evil, civil governments. Let me ask you a question. Why do you suppose our government And our judicial officers are doing everything they can to take down the Ten Commandments and destroy Christianity everywhere they turn.

It's in order that they may establish their politically correct humanistic religion. You stop and think about that. Who orders the Ten Commandments removed? Who orders the Ten Commandments removed? Who orders prayer to be ceased in public schools or prayer to be ceased in football games? Government. And why do they do that? Because they're against Christ and they're against Christianity. It's just that simple. Josiah said, no, I'm not against Christ. I'm not against Christianity. In fact, I'm willing to come out and publicly state that I am for Christ and I am for Christianity.

There's nothing wrong with that. Thirdly, I want you to understand this. Josiah destroyed and put down all foreign and idolatrous religions. I'm not going to take time to read it again, but if you read From verse 4 through verse 15, what was he doing? He was tearing down Molech worship. He was tearing down the worship of Chemosh. He was tearing down the worship of Ashtoreth. He was tearing down the worship of Baal. Anything that was foreign to the land, he was destroying. He was saying, no, no, those religions are foreign to our way of thinking. They are idolatry, and we're not going to have them in our land.

Now, let me just go ahead and tell you that right now, in my ears, I can hear the screams from liberals and bleeding hearts, and especially from the ACLU saying, but civil rulers cannot do that. All religions are equal, and all have a right to exist. We must protect all religions. Well, I wonder why they don't apply that to Christianity. Have you ever noticed? That every pagan and false and humanistic religion in this country takes precedence over Christianity. Have you noticed that every religion is protected except Christianity, in fact, It appears that there is open season for ridicule, oppression, and persecution of Christians and Christianity in this country. It appears alright and to be politically correct to attack Christians.

But you begin to talk about Islam or Judaism or some other cult. And man, you're blackballed. You are a racist, a fascist, wicked and Now let me just simply point out the fact Since the Bible teaches that civil rulers are to be God's deacons that means they must serve him Since civil rulers are to be God's exactors of righteousness that means they must exact his righteousness Since civil rulers will be His public worship, that means they must publicly worship Him. God created them. God made the institution. They are accountable to Him. Do you realize in this country, when it began, Christianity was promoted and protected by the civil rulers? In fact, you could not hold office in this country unless you were a Christian, period. Let me read it to you. I'm going to give you several illustrations. For instance, the 1683 Constitution for the province of New Jersey, paragraph 16 says this, yet it is also hereby provided that no man shall be admitted a member of the great or common council or any other place of public trust who shall not profess faith in Jesus Christ. So in New Jersey, 1683, you had to profess faith in Christ in order to hold office. Here's the Charter of Delaware, 1701, it says, and that all persons who also profess to believe in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, shall be capable, both legislative and executively, to serve this government in any capacity. Isn't that amazing? You had to profess faith in Jesus Christ. Here's the Constitution of Delaware, 1776, Article 22. It says this.

Here's the oath they had to take. I blank, fill in your name, I blank, do profess faith in God the Father and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed forevermore. And I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration. Now, it didn't say he had to be a Baptist, it didn't say he had to be a Presbyterian, but it did say he had to be a Christian. Here's the Georgia Constitution of 1777, Article 6. The representative shall be chosen out of the resident in each county, who shall have resided at least twelve months in this state, and they shall be of the Protestant religion and of age twenty-one years of age. Couldn't be a Catholic, couldn't be a Jew, but you had to be a believer. Here's the Constitution of Vermont, 1777, chapter 2, section 9. Here's the oath that the Vermonters had to take in order to assume office. I do believe in one God, the creator and governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the scripture of the Old and New Testaments to be given by divine inspiration.

And I own and profess the Protestant religion. What will they say? You had to be a Christian to hold office in this country. Now, you say, Brother Weaver, in our day and time, it might be a little difficult for some to promote Christianity. Well, isn't that something? Well, let me ask you a question. If it might be a little difficult for some in our day and time to promote Christianity, one thing is for sure. The civil ruler is not bound to promote any false religion. And yet, for the life of me, I cannot figure out how our Congress and our politicians always find ways to do so.

Now, let me read you something that you probably never heard about. I heard about it time it happened. Shocking? Oh, yes. This is a rather lengthy article. Hail to the Moon King. By the way, did you know that in the Congress of the United States, our congressman crowned a man king and hailed him as Prince of Peace? Did you know that? Let me read it to you. It happened in 2004. Hail to the Moon King.

The deeply weird coronation of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon is in a Senate office building, crown, robes, and works is no longer one of Washington's best kept secrets. John Gorenfeld wrote this. You probably imagine your congressman hard at work in the Capitol debating legislation, making laws, you know, governing. But your newspaper probably didn't tell you that one night in March 2004, members of Congress hosted a crowning ritual for an ex-convict and multi-billionaire who dressed up in maroon robes and declared himself the Second Coming. On March 23rd, the Dirksen Senate Office Building was the scene of a coronation ceremony for the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, owner of the conservative Washington Times newspaper and UPI wire service, who was given a bejeweled crown by Representative Danny K. Davis, Democrat, Illinois. Afterwards, Moon told his bipartisan audience of Washington power brokers that he would save everyone on earth as he had saved the souls of Hitler and Stalin The murderous dictators had been born again through him, he said. In a vision, Moon said he reformed Hitler and Stalin, vouched for him, calling him none other than humanity's savior, messiah, returning lord, and true parent.

To many observers, this bizarre scene would have looked like the apocalypse as depicted in left-behind novels. Moon, 84, the benefactor of conservative foundations like the American Family Coalition, who served time in the 1980s for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice, has views somewhere to the right of the Taliban's Mullah Omar. Moon preaches that gays are dung-eating dogs, Jews brought on the Holocaust by betraying Jesus, and the United States Constitution should be scrapped in favor of a system he calls Godism with him in charge. The man crowned King of Peace by a congressman once said, according to sermons reprinted in his church unification news, suppose I were to hit you with a baseball bat to stop you, blooding your ear and breaking a bone or two, yet still you insisted on doing more work for Father, that is for himself. What exactly drew to Moon's coronation? By the unification church's estimate, 81 congressmen attended. The event was the grand finale of Moon's coast-to-coast tear-down-the-cross moonification tour, intended to remove Christian crosses from about 300 churches in poor neighborhoods, the idea being that the cross was an obstacle to uniting religions under Moon. Yet the Dirksen ceremony was sold as a celebration for world peace. According to a cheery promotional release by Moon's International Interreligious Federation for World Peace, The ceremony marked the dawn of the era of the eternal peace kingdom, one global family under God. Moon's coronation also cured God's pain, the announcer explains. It might almost make sense for conservative congressmen to honor Moon in this way.

After all, a writer in Moon's magazine, Insight, wrote in February that it's long past for Republicans to thank the billionaire Korean preacher for his gifts. The continued refusal of Beltway conservatives publicly to acknowledge their steadfast patron is, of course, scandalous, wrote contributor Paul Gottfried. Moon has sunk an estimated two to four billion dollars into the money-losing times and countless other causes like Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, members of Congress may want to do their homework before they crown their next King of Peace. And you should have seen the pictures of Moon and his wife, I didn't bring them with me, standing there in the maroon robes with the jeweled crowns on their heads as they crown him the Prince of Peace. My question is, why in the world are our leaders willing to recognize a pagan and a foreigner as the Prince of Peace, but they cannot acknowledge the true Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ?

I got news for you. Neither the Senate nor Congress can crown Jesus Christ Prince of Peace. God the Father has already made them do it. Now, they may recognize him as Prince of Peace, but they cannot crown him as Prince of Peace. But let me tell you something, a truly converted civil ruler will find ways to exalt Jesus Christ and put down foreign idolatry. A truly converted Christian ruler would do everything he could to bring this nation back to the one true and living God through Jesus Christ.

Now, very quickly, let me tell you, fifthly, what Josiah did. Josiah put down immorality in any and every form. You can read about that in 2 Kings 23, verse 7. He put down the Sodomites. Verse 9, he put down the other false authors and then, of course, the worship of the grove or Ashtoreth. Let me make this statement. No kingdom or country can stand while immorality is rampant and is the norm. Whenever you have adultery, fornication, and especially sodomy rampant in the country, society is in its death throes.

Let me just show you something. Look in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 5. Let me show you what God says. Jeremiah chapter 5. And notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 7. Jeremiah 5, and look at verse 7. To show you this truth, that no country can stand while immorality is the norm. Jeremiah 5, verse 7. God asks, How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods.

The Religious and Covenantal Nature of Government

All government is religious and covenantal. The U.S. Constitution is a covenant limiting federal power. Modern government has abandoned both God's law and the Constitution, promoting humanism.

You may not have a state church like the Anglican churches in England. You do not have to have the Baptist Church as the official church of the United States of America, or the Presbyterian Church, or the Methodist Church. No, no. I'm not talking about churches. I'm simply talking about religion. All government is religious. Why? Because government deals with right and wrong, good and evil, justice and injustice. All government is religious. Now, it may have reference to the Christian religion or some pagan or some humanistic religion, but it is still religious.

You cannot escape that fact. Every time those lawmakers sit up there and they look at this law and they say, hmm, I think that's a good law or I think that's a bad law. What are they doing? They're determining good and bad based upon their own preconceived ideas, their own religion. If they're Muslim, then they're following the Muslim religion. If they're Christian, then they're following Christian religion. If they're Wiccan, then they're following the Wiccan religion. All government is religious. It may not be specifically Christian, but it will be humanistic.

The only reason, listen carefully, the only reason Christianity is denied, denigrated, and denounced in governmental circles is to make way for another religion. a one world religion. You see, folks, you cannot be biblical and unbiblical at the same time. You're one of the other. You cannot be Christian and pagan at the same time. You're one of the other. You cannot be a believer and an unbeliever at the same time. You're one of the other. Josiah was decidedly Christian and he demonstrated it in his actions.

He was not ashamed to get his cabinet and his princes and the leaders together and said, let me tell you something. God has dealt with my heart and I want to read to you what God has shown me. You see, the problem that we have had in recent years is that we've had many presidents and many politicians give lip service to Christianity. But in their actions, they have denied Christ and the true faith. Let me give you an illustration.

When Jimmy Carter was running for president of the United States. He had an interview with Playboy magazine and all you talk about Christians interviewed by Playboy magazine. And in that interview, Jimmy Carter confessed that he had lusted in his heart. Well, back during that time, I remember people getting so upset that Jimmy Carter had confessed that he lusted in his heart. Let me tell you something. That didn't upset me. Why? Because I know what lust is, and you know what lust is, and every one of us have lusted after something in our lives. I understand sin. That didn't bother me at all. What bothered me did not bother the average Christian, because in that same interview, Jimmy Carter professed to be a Christian. And in that same interview, he said if he was elected president of the United States of America, he would not allow his Christianity to interfere. He kept that promise. Because he and all who followed him have been pagan and anti-Christian to the core and everything that they've done.

Now, let me just put it to you the way God does. It is impossible to be a true believer and not show it. It's impossible. You know what David said in Psalm 116, verse 10? He said, I have believed, and therefore have I spoken. Do you realize whatever is really genuinely in you, what you truly believe, it's going to come out. It will come out. You know, everywhere I go, just about, I can talk just for a few minutes and someone's going to end up saying, you're a preacher, aren't you? Well, yeah, but how do you know that? Well, I just know, you know, and it's not the way I talk. It's not the words that I use. The fact is, if Christianity, if principles are in you, they are going to come out. You know, Jeremiah decided, you know, because of the oppression and tyranny that he was undergoing, He just made up his mind he wasn't going to preach anymore. You remember that? You can read about it in Jeremiah 20 in verse 9.

Here's what he said, Then said I, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. Then he added, But his word was in me as a burning fire that was shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. At least I couldn't help. but tell people about the one true and the living God. I could not hold it in. Folks, let me tell you something. If the truth is in you, it will come out. And if the truth doesn't come out, it's because it's not in you. Josiah got all these people together. He said, let me tell you something, fellas. Here's what God has done for me. Here's how God convicted and converted me. I want you to hear the same thing. Here's the second point. Josiah publicly entered into a covenant to honor and obey the Lord. Look in verse 3. 2 Kings 23 and verse 3. And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and with all their soul to perform the words of this covenant written in the book. And all the people stood to the covenant. Now, he not only entered into a covenant, but took the lead in doing so. And the people and the princes were so impressed that they too entered into that covenant with him.

Now, naturally, you would think Well, his cabinet leaders follow suit. Well, let me tell you something. Here's a man who is mighty serious about obeying God when he publicly enters into a covenant and he's telling everybody, you could hold me accountable. You remember what I'm telling you. I am giving myself to obey the Lord. And all the people then do the same thing, you see. Talk is cheap. But when you stand up and you publicly bind yourself to a covenant and everyone knows, then they're going to hold you accountable. They know that you're quite serious. You know, King Hezekiah did the same thing.

You don't have to turn there. But he did the same thing in 2 Chronicles 29 and verse 10. And I might add that he did so in a day just like the day that Josiah did in a day of perversity, idolatry and ignorance. And when King Hezekiah, as well as King Josiah, when they publicly entered into the covenant and the people joined themselves in obedience, there were two great revivals in the land. You've got to remember, government is a religious issue. It is a theological issue. All government is religious.

Now, I pointed out that it may be pagan or it may be Christian, but it is still Religious. Let me point something else out. All government is covenantal. All government is covenantal. I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 11. There are a multitude of passages I could go to and I'm not going to take time to develop this today because you can read about it in the second chapter of my book on the covenantal nature of government. The Christian and civil government is the second chapter. But look in 2 Kings 11 and verse 17. Let me just point out the covenantal nature of government.

And Jehoiada, who was the high priest by the way, and Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they should be the Lord's people between the king also and the people. Now there are two different covenants that are mentioned here. The first covenant is between the Lord, the king, and the people. In that covenant, now listen, the king agrees to be God's ruler and the people agree to be God's people. In the second covenant, he made between the king and the people. In that covenant, the king agreed to rule faithfully and the people agreed to obey him as long as he did.

Now, I don't care if you go to the Old Testament or the New Testament or you come to the 21st century. government is still religious and government is still covenantal. Even in our United States of America, government is a covenantal issue. In fact, the covenant that we have with the federal government is called the Constitution of the United States of America. In that covenant, the federal government agrees to be limited defined and confined to the powers granted to it by the states. In that covenant, the states agree to cease and desist from certain powers that they granted to the federal government. What happened to all the other powers and rights? Well, according to the 9th and 10th Amendments, those other powers and rights are reserved to the states or to we, the people, respectively. In other words, the only thing the federal government has as to its power is what the states gave it. All the other power remains in the states or to the people. You cannot escape covenants. You cannot escape the covenantal nature of government.

Now let me just put it to you bluntly. There is nothing wrong with a president, a king, or civil ruler publicly stating that he is a Christian and that he wants to honor the Lord and he will send her to a covenant to obey the Lord and ask his cabinet and the people of the land to join with him. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing unbiblical. Nothing unconstitutional.

Modern Examples of Governmental Apostasy

Weaver cites the coronation of Sun Myung Moon in a Senate building and President Bush's failure to defend Christian chaplains as evidence of government's promotion of false religion and compromise.

Now, let me read you something that you probably never heard about. I heard about it time it happened. Shocking? Oh, yes. This is a rather lengthy article. Hail to the Moon King. By the way, did you know that in the Congress of the United States, our congressman crowned a man king and hailed him as Prince of Peace? Did you know that? Let me read it to you. It happened in 2004. Hail to the Moon King.

The deeply weird coronation of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon is in a Senate office building, crown, robes, and works is no longer one of Washington's best kept secrets. John Gorenfeld wrote this. You probably imagine your congressman hard at work in the Capitol debating legislation, making laws, you know, governing. But your newspaper probably didn't tell you that one night in March 2004, members of Congress hosted a crowning ritual for an ex-convict and multi-billionaire who dressed up in maroon robes and declared himself the Second Coming. On March 23rd, the Dirksen Senate Office Building was the scene of a coronation ceremony for the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, owner of the conservative Washington Times newspaper and UPI wire service, who was given a bejeweled crown by Representative Danny K. Davis, Democrat, Illinois. Afterwards, Moon told his bipartisan audience of Washington power brokers that he would save everyone on earth as he had saved the souls of Hitler and Stalin The murderous dictators had been born again through him, he said. In a vision, Moon said he reformed Hitler and Stalin, vouched for him, calling him none other than humanity's savior, messiah, returning lord, and true parent.

To many observers, this bizarre scene would have looked like the apocalypse as depicted in left-behind novels. Moon, 84, the benefactor of conservative foundations like the American Family Coalition, who served time in the 1980s for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice, has views somewhere to the right of the Taliban's Mullah Omar. Moon preaches that gays are dung-eating dogs, Jews brought on the Holocaust by betraying Jesus, and the United States Constitution should be scrapped in favor of a system he calls Godism with him in charge. The man crowned King of Peace by a congressman once said, according to sermons reprinted in his church unification news, suppose I were to hit you with a baseball bat to stop you, blooding your ear and breaking a bone or two, yet still you insisted on doing more work for Father, that is for himself. What exactly drew to Moon's coronation? By the unification church's estimate, 81 congressmen attended. The event was the grand finale of Moon's coast-to-coast tear-down-the-cross moonification tour, intended to remove Christian crosses from about 300 churches in poor neighborhoods, the idea being that the cross was an obstacle to uniting religions under Moon. Yet the Dirksen ceremony was sold as a celebration for world peace. According to a cheery promotional release by Moon's International Interreligious Federation for World Peace, The ceremony marked the dawn of the era of the eternal peace kingdom, one global family under God. Moon's coronation also cured God's pain, the announcer explains. It might almost make sense for conservative congressmen to honor Moon in this way.

After all, a writer in Moon's magazine, Insight, wrote in February that it's long past for Republicans to thank the billionaire Korean preacher for his gifts. The continued refusal of Beltway conservatives publicly to acknowledge their steadfast patron is, of course, scandalous, wrote contributor Paul Gottfried. Moon has sunk an estimated two to four billion dollars into the money-losing times and countless other causes like Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, members of Congress may want to do their homework before they crown their next King of Peace. And you should have seen the pictures of Moon and his wife, I didn't bring them with me, standing there in the maroon robes with the jeweled crowns on their heads as they crown him the Prince of Peace. My question is, why in the world are our leaders willing to recognize a pagan and a foreigner as the Prince of Peace, but they cannot acknowledge the true Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ?

I got news for you. Neither the Senate nor Congress can crown Jesus Christ Prince of Peace. God the Father has already made them do it. Now, they may recognize him as Prince of Peace, but they cannot crown him as Prince of Peace. But let me tell you something, a truly converted civil ruler will find ways to exalt Jesus Christ and put down foreign idolatry. A truly converted Christian ruler would do everything he could to bring this nation back to the one true and living God through Jesus Christ.

Now, very quickly, let me tell you, fifthly, what Josiah did. Josiah put down immorality in any and every form. You can read about that in 2 Kings 23, verse 7. He put down the Sodomites. Verse 9, he put down the other false authors and then, of course, the worship of the grove or Ashtoreth. Let me make this statement. No kingdom or country can stand while immorality is rampant and is the norm. Whenever you have adultery, fornication, and especially sodomy rampant in the country, society is in its death throes.

Let me just show you something. Look in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 5. Let me show you what God says. Jeremiah chapter 5. And notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 7. Jeremiah 5, and look at verse 7. To show you this truth, that no country can stand while immorality is the norm. Jeremiah 5, verse 7. God asks, How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods.

When I have fed them to the full, then they committed adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. They were as fed horses in the morning, and everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. Now look what God says, "...shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Now, when you've got fornication and adultery and sodomy rampant, what's God saying? How can I pardon you for this? I will punish you. I will execute vengeance upon you. But, you know, all across this country you hear, but wait a minute, Brother Weaver, the sodomites and the fornicators, they say we have a right to live our life the way we please.

Have you ever heard that? Are you listening to me? No one has the right to violate the law of God. You may do so, but it is not a right. It is revolt. It is rebellion. It is wickedness. It is transgression. It is sin. It is not a right. You say, but now, Brother Weaver, bless God, if I want to commit adultery, I won't commit adultery. If I want to commit fornication, I won't commit fornication. If I want to be a Solomon, I'll be a Solomon. That's my rights.

Well, let me ask you a question. If you have the right to violate the seventh and the tenth commandment, do I have the right to violate the sixth towards you? You know what the sixth commandment is, don't you? Thou shalt not kill.

Now, you see what I'm saying? If you're going to claim the right to commit adultery and to be a sodomite, why can't I have the same right to violate God's law and to just shoot you? You see, it's not a right. It's rebellion. It's wickedness. No one has the right to violate the law of God. I don't care who you are and I don't care what you're doing. Claiming that you have a right to violate God's law is mocking God and claiming that you have a right to rebel and set yourself above God.

Now, let me ask you this simple leading question. Where do you think people get the idea? Do they have a right to live as they please? Look in your Bibles to Psalm 94 and verse 20. Psalm 94 and verse 20. I pointed out earlier that Jesus Christ does not condone, approve, support, or fellowship with wicked, ungodly, civil governments. Here it is in black and white. Look at the question that is asked in Psalm 94 and verse 20. Psalm 94 verse 20. Here's the question. Look at it now. shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, that is with God, which frameth mischief by a law. Now let's stop and look at that. Now we're talking about a throne, so we're talking about power, we're talking about civil government. Notice it is a throne of iniquity, so it is a wicked civil government. So here's the question. Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with God when that wicked civil government frames mischief by law?

Now, mischief in the Bible is another word for sin. Let me kind of paraphrase this where you can understand it. Here it is. Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with God when that wicked civil government makes sin legal?

You see, it's legal to be a sodomite in this country. It's legal now to be an adulterer and to be a fornicator. Used to in this country. There were such a thing as alienation of affection. If you came around messing with my wife, just trying to take her away from me, I could sue you. for alienation of affection, and if you mess with her, I could shoot you. And guess what? There'd not be a jury in this country to convict me at that time. But Alice and I heard with our own ears a United States attorney say, well I don't think it was a state attorney, state attorneys say, to this one man just because his friend committed adultery with his wife, he didn't have the right to whip that boy. I leaned over and I said to my wife, no, he didn't have the right to whip him. I just shot him.

You understand what I'm saying? In other words, nothing Christian is sacred anymore. The family's not sacred. The husband and wife relationship's not sacred. No, no, no. You see, what has happened in this country is this. We have dethroned God and enthroned government. It is no longer God who declares what sin is. It is now government. It is no longer God who declares what is right and what is wrong. It is government. So if you want to be a sodomite in this country, go ahead.

You've got the government's blessing. And by the way, you can probably get a lot of subsidies if you know the right congressman to talk to and the right clubs to join. God defines sin and God tells you what is right and what is wrong. And governments who want to play God try to usurp His throne. When an individual When a people, when a nation wish to continue a life of rebellion against God, the Scripture tells us that God hides His face. He withholds His grace. He withholds His blessings. He withholds His favors. And then He says in Deuteronomy 32 and verse 20, I will hide My face from them.

I will see what their end will be. And I've got news for you. When God hides His face, I know what our end will be. We shall perish in destruction. Government, listen carefully, government may not have the power to make men do right. But they do have the power to declare what is right. And I get so sick of people saying, well, Brother Weaver, don't you know government cannot legislate morality? Government legislates morality every day. It may not be Christian morality, but they legislate morality or immorality. It may be pagan, it may be humanistic. Government does not have the power to make people do right, but it can have power to declare what is right.

Josiah was willing to do that. He was willing to call sin, sin. He was willing to say transgression is transgression. Wickedness is wickedness. But in this day, in our politically correct environment. When you start calling sin, sin and you start pointing out wickedness, then you are labeled unloving, unkind, unchristian, a fascist and anything else. It is today the politically correct crowd that wants to sugarcoat sin and rebellion and call it by all unoffending names that they can call it by.

I've got news for you folks. Picture this. Picture this. Picture myself as President of the United States. How long do you think I would last? You follow me? Listen to this. Let me just show you. Let me just show you the absolute compromise and stupidity of our politicians. This just happened. Lester Kinsolving wrote about this. I got it out of WorldNetDaily. It's been all over the news.

You know about the chaplain that was being court-martialed and disciplined because in Washington, in uniform, he prayed in Jesus' name. Well, there was a press conference. Here's what Lester Kinsolving wrote. President Bush believes military chaplains should be allowed to express their religious beliefs, but he'll also allow the military to handle its own dispute over that very issue, according to his spokesman, Tony Snow. In a face-to-face interview with WorldNetDaily, Snow was asked whether the president believes that Christian chaplains, in view of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, should be able to express their faith even at the White House. Here's the answer. The president believes that chaplains ought to be free to express their religious beliefs, Snow said. He further believes in allowing the military to handle its own issues. Oh, the commander-in-chief who professes to be a Christian cannot say, in our army, chaplains can pray in Jesus' name. Muslim chaplains pray in Allah's name. Why cannot Christian chaplains pray in Jesus' name? Why is it a crime and why will a Christian chaplain be court-martialed and disciplined because he asked in Jesus' name?

Let me ask you a question. Is it right or is it wrong to pray in Jesus' name? It's right. What did our Lord say in John 14 in verse 6? I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh in the Father but by me. Ephesians 2 in verse 18, it is through Him we have access to the Father in one spirit. President Bush had the excellent opportunity to stand up and say, the Constitution says freedom of religion. Our chaplains can pray in Jesus' name, but he would not and he did not. You know why?

He didn't want to offend all those other people. But he offended God. And he offended every true believer in Jesus Christ. Would to God we had men like Josiah and Hezekiah in Congress today. Let me make just two applications. before someone jumps down my throat. The first one is this, I understand that there are limitations upon government placed there first by the Word of God and secondly by the Constitution. However, in our day and age, in this country, in 2006, our government has not only left the Word of God, it's also left the Constitution as well. It has assumed powers, never delegated it by the states or by the people. And you must understand it is impossible for government to be neutral. It is impossible for government to be unbiased. And government will either be Christian or it will be pagan.

Applications and Call to Action

Government cannot be neutral; it will promote either Christianity or humanism. Christians must seek, pray for, and support leaders with character who will put Christ first and stand against wickedness.

It will promote Christianity or it will promote humanism. That is it. Why? Because government is theological in nature. And what you see in 2006, And the years preceding this, as our government has disestablished Christianity as the established religion in this country, and it is establishing its own brand of humanism and political correctness as the religion and the law of the land. And in order to do that, it must destroy Christianity. That's why all these rulings against the Ten Commandments and against prayer. Here's the second one. We must seek for and pray and support men with character and convictions who are going to put Christ first. And America second in every area. I know someone's going to object and someone's going to say, but now wait a minute, a Christian can't do anything in Washington today. And I'm going to tell you that is patently untrue. You say, how can you say that? Well, One thing a Christian can do is this, he can stand.

He can be a thorn in their side. He can be a finger in their eyeball. He can expose their wickedness, their sin and their corruption. And he can do right to the best of his ability. He may not get reelected and he may not be elected Congressman of the Year. But he would have the approval of Jesus Christ. And he'd have the approval of every true Christian who wanted someone to at least stand up to the renegades and rebels and shake the finger in their face and say, you are wrong and God will judge you.

That's what he can do. And if elected, that would be one promise that I would keep. I would love to be able to point that long bony finger and say, God, says. And you better listen to him. Government is a theological issue. Josiah shows us what a godly civil ruler could do and can do by the grace of God. And that's what we need, someone who will put the Lord absolutely first. Let's pray.