On October 3, 1779, during his first year as President, George Washington, signed a decree setting aside Thursday, November 26th. As “A Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer … to be observed with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.”  This was done in response to a joint request by both houses of Congress, one week after the passage of the First Amendment, and was meant, in part to be a commemoration of the passage of that amendment. There had been Thanksgiving observances before this proclamation, the first one recorded as taking place on June 29, 1671 at Charlestown, Massachusetts by order of that town’s governing council. But Washington’s proclamation was the first one designated by the new national government. The text of Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation follows:

"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.” (Emphasis mine)."

There are things we can learn, or at least be reminded of, as we read this first Thanksgiving Proclamation given by our first President with the encouragement of our national leaders at that time. Certainly we will learn that the sentiments shared by our national leaders towards God and His role in America from the time of Washington and the founders up until most recently are in stark contrast with the views of God held and propagated by the current President of the United States and his administration.

In recent decades our American institutions—government, education, the media, etc.—have come under the influence and control of men and women who have no appreciation for those things that are foundational in our heritage and fundamental to our way of life as a free people. Their ambition is to radically transform America into a totally secularized, socialistic society under their own supervision. In other words, the end goal is the changing of America into a godless totalitarian state.

Those bent on the transformation of America understand that they cannot achieve their objective without removing God from the American consciousness and revising our history.  They agree with our 34th President that, “Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic, expression of Americanism.  Without God, there could be no American way of life.” They also concur with Alexander Solzhenitsyn, that, “To destroy a people you must first sever their roots.”

Totalitarians, whether, communists, fascists or Nazis have always understood the importance of implementing lies in dealing with whatever opposes their agendas.  Those who are determined to bring about fundamental change in America realize that they cannot honestly refute the place of God in our history and so they resort to the counsel of men such as Adolph Hitler to deal with this problem. Hitler wrote in Mein Kamph, "The great masses of the people . . . will more easily fall victims to a great lie than to a small one."  Hitler said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” This is the hope of the godless progressives and liberals (regardless of their party affiliation) in dealing with God-consciousness in America.

The Thanksgiving Proclamation presents a real problem to those who propagandize that God and Christianity had no significant role in the minds of our founders and the making of our country. Our current president is using his position as what Theodore Roosevelt once called a “bully people” to advocate the lie that America isn’t and never has been a Christian nation, that the Bible and the Godof the Bible has never been any more important, if  as important, to America than the belief in Allah, Islam and the Koran—he has stated, for the world to hear that America is not a Christian nation. George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation is just one of thousands of documents that presents a real sticky wicket for the proponents of the big lie where God and America is concerned.

Notice please that it is a matter of historical record that our Congress wanted God to be recognized, and thanksgiving to be made to Him by way of a national decree, and they wanted the people to do the same in both publicly and privately. Notice that they acknowledged “The providence of Almighty God,” were “grateful for the signal favors, of the Almighty God,” and  referred to Him as “that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.”  Do you think they were talking about Buddah, the souce, Allah, or Hare Krishna? Not hardly.

When George Washington, expressing the sentiments of  his Congressional colleagues and the rank and file of his fellow countrymen recognized the duty of the nation “To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue,” do you think he was referring to New Age religion, Islam, Pantheism, or Wicca? There is no honest, historical or sane argument that he had anything other than Christianity in mind when he referred to the “true religion.”  Patrick Henry understood what Washington and all Americans at that time understood, writing, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship.”

What do you think John Marshall, nominated to the Supreme Court under President John Adams, and serving as its Chief Justice for three decades, meant when he said, “The American population is entirely Christian, and with us Christianity and Religion are identified.” Who do you think is the more creditable source for understanding God’s place in America, Men such as Washington and the other founding Fathers, and John Marshall, or the sexually immoral, campus burning, dope indulging,  America-hating 60’s radicals who have wormed their way into seats of power in our institutions and are undermining our institutions and corrupting the minds of our citizens with all the destructive power that such human vermin are capable of?  Will you be led mentally or otherwise by heroic men and women who bled and died to secure our Constitutional Republic and maintain it; the generations, who under our capitalistic system of economics worked hard and brought a prosperity unprecedented in the annals of history to this country; or will you follow the lead of vile, self-serving, mental midgets and moral amoeba that have slithered into leadership in the political arena , our educational institutions and the news media?

How do people let themselves completely ignore the facts of history, all standards relative to honesty and  basic common sense to even remotely consider the possibility that the God of the Bible had, and has, no relevance to America.  The answer, “The great masses of the people . . . will more easily fall victims to a great lie than to a small one … If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”

This Thanksgiving is a good time to conform as never before to the spirit of the First Thanksgiving Proclamation and recognize that without God’s blessing we would not have become a nation, survived as a nation or be able to continue as a nation. This Thanksgiving is a good time too, to be stirred with a resentment of what is taking place in our nation—when a small minority of immoral, selfish, would be tyrants have succeeded in pushing our God’s very name out of the public school, the public square and the personal sensibilities of our society in general. It’s time for some God-honoring, righteous indignation and some rock-ribbed resolve to rebuke and resist those who would deprive us of our heritage and enslave ourselves and our posterity.

FREEDOM AND SACRIFICE

America has just celebrated the 135th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence; a celebration of 135 years as the freest people to ever live on the face of this earth.  At this particular point in our nation’s history, we should either remember or begin to realize (as the case may necessitate) that, as the old saying goes, “Freedom isn’t free.” Our freedom came to us at a great price, it will remain with us at a price, and if lost to us, we will pay a great price because of its loss.

THERE IS A PRICE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN PAID FOR THE INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM OF AMERICANS 
 
A Price Paid During the American Revolution

There’s a price that has already been paid for freedom in America. It was paid by our Revolutionary Ancestors who shared the sentiments of those who signed the Declaration of Independence under the following words: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

After John Hancock signed the Declaration, he said, "the price on my head has just doubled." Benjamin Franklin solemnly said, "We must hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately." And hanged they would have been; but they would have suffered unspeakable torture before death and incredible indignities following their deaths had they been captured. The sentence for treason in colonial England is too gruesome to print in this bulletin, but a description is available on the internet under the words, “drawn and quartered.”

Our revolutionary ancestors were deadly serious about the cause of freedom. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 17 served in the military, 17 served in the military, 11 had their homes destroyed and 5 of them were hunted down, captured and imprisoned.  Signer, Abraham Clark had two of his sons imprisoned on a British starving ship (so called because of the numbers of prisoners who were allowed to starve to death on such ships). John Witherspoon's son was killed in battle, and Francis Lewis' wife was arrested and died because of the cruel treatment inflicted upon her by her jailers. Many of the signers who had “pledged their fortunes,” lost everything they had in the fight for independence, and nine of them died in the war itself.

Following the signing, John Adams wrote: “You will think me transported with enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even although we should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."

It is estimated that there were some 6800 American battlefield deaths during the War for Independence. Approximately 10,000 died from disease, 8500 died in British prisons and 8,445 were wounded. The sacrifice of their belongings and their blood was a sacrifice our patriot ancestors had to make, and were willing to make in order for Americans to be a free people.

A Price Paid in Recent Times

Our Revolutionary ancestors understood that their sacrifices constituted only the down payment necessary to secure our liberty, and that to remain free, their posterity would have to make faithful installments in terms of personal sacrifice if they wanted to remain a free people. This is why, when after the framers had finished their work on the Constitution, and a woman asked Benjamin Franklin, “What have you given us Mr. Franklin,” he answered, “A Republic, madam, if you can keep it.”

Thomas Jefferson warned, “In matters of power let no more be heard of the confidence in man but bind them down from mischief by the chains of the constitution, understanding, as all of the founders did, that while our freedom would be faced with threats from abroad, the greatest danger to it would be from within, specifically from a government allowed to slip out of its Constitutional moorings. James Madison said, “There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

Thomas Jefferson also admonished us that, “The price of freedom is eternal diligence.” And because, as the old saying goes, “There is no trouble like homemade trouble,” guarding our freedom demands particular watchfulness here at home. This is why those entering military service, and our highest elected officials including the President and every congressman and judge, take an oath wherein they swear to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” (Emphasis mine).  Notice that this oath is not to support and defend the President or any presidential administration. It is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against anyone who would venture to disobey or violate it.

In modern times, American men and women by the tens of thousands have struggled and worked and fought, bled and died, paying whatever price was deemed necessary to keep people in this country free. They understood the critical connection between an individual’s freedom and the peace, prosperity and happiness he and his posterity would be able to enjoy. Throughout most of our history, Americans have been fairly discerning in terms of recognizing that which threatened their freedom, especially here at home whether it was in the form of the demagoguery or incompetence of politicians or laws and regulations that were clearly unconstitutional, and therefore dangerous to liberty.

The American people, until recently, understood that our individual freedom depended upon our remaining a Constitutional Republic, a people from the top to the bottom who were all alike under the rule of law embodied in the United States Constitution. For the most part, they understood and concurred with the words of Alexander Hamilton, who said, “If it be asked, What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be, An inviolable respect for the Constitution.” We desperately need a renewed understanding of this today, along with a willingness to pay the price to remain a free people.  (Next week: The Price of Preserving Freedom).

THERE IS A PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID TO PRESERVE THE INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM OF AMERICANS
The price of securing our freedom has never been fully paid in America. It never will be.  Our founding fathers, in winning our independence, created an escrow account that required succeeding generations to make consistent deposits of diligence, courage and sacrifice in order for our Republic and our individual freedoms to survive.  Sadly a great many Americans have defaulted in making these deposits over the last fifty years especially, and the last twenty years specifically.  It’s time for American to once again get serious about paying the price that our continued existence as a free people demands. While this involves a number of things, I’ll attempt to sum them up into two areas.

Get Educated

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). This was God’s explanation for why His people, once so powerful, happy and free, were descending into the dark and dismal abyss of enslavement to a cruel, totalitarian government.  Ancient Israel had plenty of potential foreign enemies, but her most dangerous enemies were self-seeking godless leaders who had arisen from within (see Psalm 94). But God pinpointed the root of their problem when he told them that it was their ignorance that had destroyed them.

The same explanation applies, in large measure, to why America is now also descending into the dark and dismal abyss of enslavement to a cruel, totalitarian government. We have become a people uneducated as to our heritage and the principles of freedom. High percentages of our people, young and old, can’t even distinguish any appreciable difference between a communist form of government and a Constitutional Republic.  Neither can they tell the difference between collectivism and free enterprise. How has this happened?

“Education,” said Edmund Burke, “is the cheap defense of nations.” Because John Adams understood this he wrote, “Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.” But this hasn’t been, and isn’t being, allowed to happen in most of the public school system, and this neglect has placed us in a frightening situation. “If, Said Thomas Jeffeerson, “a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”

The dumbing down of Americans relative to freedom hasn’t happened by accident, it has been made to happen.  Is anyone naïve enough to think that there is no connection between the dismal state of education in America today and what is listed as number 17 in a communist publication entitled Communist Goals for America which was read into our Congressional Record in 1963: “Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.”

Because public ignorance is the favorite tool in the socialist’s (Part of educating yourself involves the understanding that socialism, progressivism, Nazism, fascism and communism are, for all practical purposes, synonymous terms) tool box, the agenda of our enemies has been, and is, the dumbing down, by design, of the American citizenry— an agenda that has been achieved almost entirely.

A wise man once said that, “Freedom begins between the ears”. Therefore a nation whose people have little or nothing between their ears except for what they’ve been taught in public schools about freedom and our American heritage is in deep trouble. To illustrate:  A few years ago, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni commissioned a simple, basic quiz consisting of questions normally asked of high school students. Not even a quarter of those about to graduate from great liberal arts colleges like Amherst and Williams, or from world-famous universities such as Harvard and Duke, passed the test. To reiterate: America is in deep trouble.

It is high time for Americans to familiarize themselves with such foundational documents as The Constitution of the United States and The Bill of Rights and to educate themselves as to how our Constitution is being undermined and our God-given rights leeched away by a treacherous government. There are plenty of books to read as well as information obtainable on the internet.

“Ignorance may or may not be bliss, but it certainly isn’t freedom, except perhaps in the minds of those who prefer darkness to light and chains to liberty.”—Elmer Davis

Get Engaged

Our ancestors would never have won our independence if all they’d done were sit around and complain and bleat like sheep hoping for sympathy from their oppressors. They knew, as Edmund Burke said, that “All that is necessary for evil to prevail is that good men do nothing.” So they did something. And what they did was out of a sense of responsibility for the stewardship of the country and the rights that they believed God had given them. 

The words of Samuel Adams to his countrymen are words that we, in this day when freedom is at stake once again, are words that we should take to heart today: “If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains set lightly upon you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”

Pastors and their congregations were at the forefront of the struggle for independence from beginning to end. They believed, as their pilgrim ancestors had believed, that God had given them this land so that they could be free; free to worship and free to evangelize. They believed God wanted them free to prosper so that their prosperity could be used to make America a citadel of gospel truth to the whole world. They believed that freedom was not something allowed to them by government, but something that belonged to them by divine right.

Christians need to take the lead today in getting engaged in the cause of freedom. This may take the form of blogging on the internet, becoming active with a patriot group locally, writing letters to congressmen or to newspapers., being present at patriotic rallies and protests. Finding good, Christian candidates for office and getting behind them to help them get elected or running for office yourself in some capacity are some of the most powerful things you can do.

The most familiar exercise for beginning typists years ago was to practice over and over the sentence: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” “Now,” right now, is the time for all good men, women and young people to come to the aid, to get engaged in cause of saving our Republic and our freedoms. “This Republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve it ... This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.—Elmer Davis  (Next week: The Price of Losing Freedom).

THERE IS A  PRICE THAT WILL BE PAID IF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM IS LOST IN AMERICA

Thanks to the sacrifices of our ancestors American became a sovereign nation under a government, crafted in such a way, to provide for a small federal government endowed with less than 20 powers, with all other governmental authority to be the prerogative of the individual, sovereign states. This arrangement was embodied in our United States Constitution has made Americans the freest, most prosperous and powerful nation on earth.

Just to the degree that individual freedoms continue to  be lost to us, to that degree, us, our standard of living and our national security has been downgraded. Our government is now under the control of those who neither appreciate our American heritage or believe in individual rights in the way our founders or our fathers and mothers believed in them. This observation has nothing to with any sort of conspiracy theory, but it has everything to do with concrete truth in terms of the radical transformation of America that is now underway.

Our founding fathers warned that what is happening today would inevitably happen if we were neglectful of two things, one virtue and the other, vigilance. Abraham Lincoln recalled this admonition when in a speech, he reminded the American people that that such virtue and vigilance as a people diligence is our greatest protection against a rogue government: “While the people retain their virtue and vigilance,” he said, “no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can very seriously injure the government in the short space of four years.”

As to virtue, John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” "If we would enjoy this gift of Heaven,” his cousin Samuel Adams echoed, “Let us become a virtuous people.” But America now apparently lacks the virtue necessary to the survival of our country.  

Neither have Americans maintained the vigilance essential to our survival as a free people. For many decades after the revolution, Americans jealously guarded their individual freedom against any encroachments upon it by government. And during those times Americans remained a happy and prosperous people.  But in the last 50 years or so Americans carelessly allowed elected officials to stealthily steal away rights that historically were considered God-given and inalienable, forgetting the words of men such as James Madison, who warned: “There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

Americans has become careless and increasingly corrupt; accordingly, our freedoms, already dramatically diminished, are about to irretrievably disappear, for as John Adams said, “Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” If freedom is lost in America we will realize that the burden that should have been borne to keep freedom only weighed ounces – the burden that will have to be borne when it is lost will weigh tons.

The Price Our Posterity will Pay if Freedom is Lost in America

History demonstrates that a nation of people can lose their freedom very quickly. The barrage of new regulations, the dictatorial powers assumed by the President, the lack of concern by our Congress for the will of the people and the blatant disregard by our government for the rule of law  (The United States Constitution) could cause this to happen to us almost overnight. The tendencies of our government towards totalitarianism and the technology that is available to them to implement represents more than a grim possibility. In Joshua’s day, it took only one generation for a virtuous and free people to sink into paganism and bondage.

“We are moving towards socialism”, Stephen Leacock warned his fellow Canadians, “We are moving through the mist; nearer and nearer with every bit of government regulation, nearer and nearer through the mist to the edge of the abyss over which civilization may be precipitated to its final catastrophe.” So it is with us.

If our Constitutional Republic is transformed into what our leaders have in mind, our children and grandchildren will pay a terrible price for our irresponsibility. They will experience what millions have experienced wherever Marxists and socialists have ascended to power. The Russian people, after 1917 became and remain nothing more than human resources under their communist rulers, and it took only a couple of decades for Mao Tse Tung and the communists to stamp out every vestige of individual freedom in China.

A totalitarian government has nothing to offer our posterity but lives filled with hardship and hopelessness. Socialist economic policies have saddled our children with $46,000 in debt that they will pay in taxes.  But the price they will pay is liberty is ultimately lost in America will be far beyond anything calculable in dollars and cents.

The Price We will Pay Personally if Freedom is Lost in America

This generation of Americans will also pay a terrible price if freedom is lost here. We will know the grief of the aged Israelites whose children came to them asking about how it used to be in Israel when people were free, saying, “We have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us … “ (Ps. 44:1) How sad it will be for us if the freedom and prosperity known to us becomes nothing than something for our posterity to hear about, but never experience themselves.

And we will pay a price in terms of guilt if we allow freedom to be lost here—the guilt of knowing that, when we could have made a difference, we didn’t. Think of the pangs of guilt we’ll feel should children one day ask us, “Back then, when America’s freedom was under assault, during that epochal time, what did you do in the cause of liberty?”

 “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.” – Ronald Reagan

 “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”—  Ps. 11:3

THE EXISTENCE OF OUR FOUNDATION
America’s foundations, though they are no more visible to the physical eye than the underground foundations of great skyscrapers, are just as real. They aren’t visible, but they are vital; they are concepts and principles upon which our Republic has been built.

Foundation #1 – The Lord
The first foundation stone of our Republic is faith in and fidelity to God. Until recent, modern times, it was generally recognized in this country that God had given us this land and directed in giving us a Constitutional Republican form of government so that we would have the resources and the freedom to reach the unsaved within our shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ while at the same time becoming a citadel of truth to be propagated to the rest of the world. God’s place in America has been understood since before the day of George Washington who said: “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”

Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth President of the United States said, “The foundation of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in this country.” Later, Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), our thirty-fourth President said, “Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic, expression of Americanism. Without God, there could be no American way of life.”

America is on the road to national suicide as long as she drifts farther away form God. “The wicked shall be turned into hell,” says Ps. 19:17, “and all nations that forget God.”

Foundation #2: -- Liberty
The second great foundation stone of America is liberty. As our Pledge of Allegiance reminds us the we are a nation “under God,” offering “liberty” to all. Thomas Jefferson wrote: “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time.” Americans need to understand that our prosperity depends how free we remain as individuals. They understood that, “Only when people are free to worship, create and build, only when they can decide their destiny and benefit from their own risks—only then do societies become dynamic, prosperous, progressive and free.”

ENDANGERED FOUNDATIONS
 “If the foundations be destroyed…”—v. 3b

Danger #1—The Departure from God That is Taking Place
America’s foundations are in danger of being destroyed. God’s rightful place in our national life is a foundation that is being eaten away. President Reagan warned us that, “If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be one nation gone under.” The legislation coming out of the halls of government and the lifestyles being pursued in the homes of our citizens demonstrate that God does not hold the place that He once did in the hearts and minds of Americans. Consequently, we are going “under” as a free people.

Danger #2—The Despoiling of Our Liberties That is Taking Place
Every day Americans are losing more and more individual freedom. Te process by which this is happening resembles the story of the frog that was place in a pan of comfortably warm water, and lost consciousness of what was happening as the temperature of the water was steadily increased until the frog boiled to death. “Nations in general have lost their liberty,” wrote John Dickenson, “as violations of the rights of the governed, commonly. small at the beginning, spread over the multitude in such a manner, as to touch individuals but slightly. … They regularly increase till at length the inattentive people are compelled to perceive the heaviness of their burdens – They begin to complain and inquire – but too late.”

“There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” –James Madison

“We are witnessing,” one political analyst said recently, “a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation.” “Our natural, inalienable rights,” said Ronald Reagan, “are now considered to be a dispensation from government, and freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp as it is at this moment.” Freedom is fragile, and must be strengthened and safeguarded or it will be lost.

A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT
America’s problem is spiritual in its nature. While there is no question that Satan has “ramped up” his efforts to destroy our foundations as a nation, there is also no question that God’s formula for revival and survival in still in place: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray , and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their lan” (2 Chron. 7:14).

God’s Power is Not Diminished
God is still all-powerful, and He is still at home in His heaven, and still on His throne: “The Lord is still in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven” (Ps. 11:4a). Furthermore, God is completely aware of what is going on in America today. “Behold, His eyelids try the children of men” (v. 4b). He will intercede on our behalf and save us from its freefall into enslavement if we will claim the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked way, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to [execute] wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore [ye] must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute [is due]; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” (Romans 13:1-7)

Many Christians believe that Romans 13:1-7 demands unlimited, unqualified submission to government simply because it is the government. Such an understanding has prevented the practice of responsible citizenship across our land, while at the same time, this faulty perspective has permitted a great deal of abuse of power by government. Individual Christians, churches and all Americans have paid dearly, and will pay even more dearly for this misunderstanding of Romans 13:1-7. The following constitutes some clarifying points regarding this passage of Scripture, and our true responsibility, as Americans, where government is concerned.

“ LET EVERY SOUL …” The Bible teaches that no one is exempt from obedience to the civil government and its laws, etc. One level of obedience isn’t required of the rich, the famous or any other perceived privileged, while another standard of submission is demanded of everyone else. Office holders, from the highest to the lowest are to be held as accountable to the law as anyone else. Furthermore, the first three words of this passage invalidates the notion of some Christians that they are subject to Jesus Christ alone and therefore owe no submission to the civil authority in any shape form or fashion. True subjection to Christ requires subjection in every area where the Bible demands it.

“ BE SUBJECT …” What does it mean to “be subject?” The word translated here into our English is meant to convey the idea of subjection that is both cheerful and conscientious. This is subjection that can be rendered cheerfully and conscientiously by believers because they know that there is nothing in the law that militates against or violates God’s laws and His righteousness, but rather will work to benefit themselves and society at large. This is obedience that a believer can render knowing that they are in the will of God as they do so.

The subjection required of believers here in Romans 13:1-7 isn’t to be rendered to any individual or individuals regardless of what the law is; it is to be given because what is being imposed upon them is the legitimate law of the land. The government we are to subject ourselves to here, is government in the abstract, not government in the sense of whoever the people are who are holding office within the government.
 
“TO THE HIGHER POWERS” …” The “higher powers” mentioned here refer to the institution of government or civil rule, not to individuals who serve as agents of government. Government in the abstract, not government as it relates to people, is what is in view here. Again, the very words from which we have our English translation make this clear.

The word translated “powers” here doesn’t refer to the ability (dunamij) of a government to exercise power by brute force over those who are governed. The specific word (ecousia), that is used here, refers to the duly constituted authority that is being represented by those who officiate in civil government. Usurped, unjust, unlawfully substituted power is not synonymous with, it is the opposite of and antagonistic to the definition of the “higher powers” referred to here to which believers are told to subject themselves to.

Notice that the powers we are to be “subject to” are called “higher” powers. An honest, prayerful, contextual reading of this passage makes it clear that “higher” here refers to the moral character and virtue of the “powers” or civil government in view. The word translated “higher” denotes something better or more excellent, something higher and superior. (See Philippians 2:3, 9-11; 3:8; 4:7).

The governmental powers—the “higher powers”—that we as Americans have to subject ourselves to are the laws and statutes, etc. that make up The Constitution of the United States of America. We are a people under the rule of law, not under the rule of monarchs, dictators or an oligarchy of some sort. The framers of the Constitution established a rule of written law to provide us with a means of self-government and an instrument that would prevent our being lorded over by others. The essence of self-government is emphasized in the first three words of this wonderful document:

“ We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general , and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain  and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

No elected or non-elected official serving in civil government, whether on the national, state or local level represents our “higher powers”. Americans are not under the rule of, or accountable to, any individual or group of individuals. We are (“every soul” is to be) governed by, accountable to, and a protector of, The Constitution of the United States. The laws therein are our “higher powers.” Daniel Webster echoed the sentiments that have been historically, and are wisely held by Americans when he said, “I regard it (the Constitution) as the work of the purest patriots and wisest statesman that ever existed, aided by the smiles of a benign Providence; it almost appears a “Divine interposition in our behalf the hand that destroys our Constitution rends our Union asunder forever.”

The following, from The Heritage Guide to the Constitution is worth reading and remembering:
  
The Constitution -- the original document of 1787 plus its amendments -- is and must be understood to be the standard against which all laws, policies, and interpretations should be measured. It is our fundamental law because it represents the settled and deliberate will of the people, against which the actions of government officials must be squared. In the end, the continued success and viability of our democratic Republic depends on our fidelity to, and the faithful exposition and interpretation of, this Constitution, our great charter of liberty. —Edwin Meese

The “higher powers” to which we are subject has nothing to do with elected officials except in connection with their performance of the duties granted to them under The Constitution of the United States of America, which they themselves have vowed to obey and protect as a stipulation to their assuming office. All elected officials and every person entering the military takes an oath whereby they vow to uphold and protect—not any president, administration or congressman, but.—The Constitution of the United States of America. This is where our duty lies biblically, according to Romans 13:1-7. Any thing else constitutes unscriptural, and by definition, criminal behavior.