Welcome to A Christian Manifesto Today episode #37. My name is Daniel Whyte III, president of Torch Leadership Foundation.
Pastor and Christian philosopher, Francis A. Schaeffer, warned us and created the war plan that we as Christians need today to deal with a society that is increasingly moving away from God, the Bible, and moral principles. He wrote “A Christian Manifesto” 33 years ago and its words are just as relevant today as they were back then.
Our Christian Manifesto Today Passage from the Word of God today is 1 Samuel 8:4-6 which reads: “Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.”
Our Christian Manifesto Today quote today is from Jerry Bridges. He said: “God can and does work in the hearts and minds of rulers and officials of government to accomplish His sovereign purpose. Their hearts and minds are as much under His control as the impersonal physical laws of nature. Yet their every decision is made freely – most often without any thought or regard to the will of God.”
In this podcast, we are using as our text: “A Christian Manifesto” by Francis A. Schaeffer.
Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer writes in “An Open Window” (Part 5):
What form of elite might take over? A number of thinkers have set forth their predictions. John Kenneth Galbraith (1908- ) has suggested an elite composed of intellectuals (especially from the academic and scientific world) plus government. Daniel Bell (1919- ), professor of sociology at Harvard University, saw an elite composed of select intellectuals made up of those who control the use of the technological explosion, a technocratic elite. Speaking more recently, Gerald Holton (1922- ), Mallinckrodt Professor of physics and professor of the history of science at Harvard University, seems to agree with Bell. The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 18, 1981, quotes Holton in an article entitled, “Where is Science Taking Us? Gerald Horton Maps the Possible Routes.”
Therein lies the problem. More and more frequently, major decisions that profoundly affect our daily lives have a large scientific or technological content, he says, “By a recent estimate, nearly half the bills before the U.S. Congress have a substantial science-technology component,” he says, and “some two-thirds of the District of Columbia Circuit Court’s caseload now involves review of action by federal administrative agencies; and more and more of such cases relate to matters on the frontiers of technology.
“If the layman cannot participate in decision making, he will have to turn himself over, essentially blind, to a hermetic elite,” Mr. Holton said in the interview last week. Then, he continued, the fundamental question becomes, “Are we still capable of self-government and therefore of freedom?
“Margaret Mead wrote in a 1959 issue of Daedalus about scientists elevated to the status of priests,” Mr. Holton said.
“Now there is a name for this elevation, when you are in the hands of—one hopes—a benevolent elite, when you have no control over your political decisions. From the point of view of John Locke, the name for this is slavery.”
For myself I think we should not rule out the courts, and especially the Supreme Court, as being such an elite for these reasons:
They are already ruling on the basis of sociological, arbitrary law.
They are making much law, as well as ruling on law.
They dominate the two other parts of government.
They rule on what the other two branches of government can and cannot do, and they usually go unchallenged. It has been said that in the last couple of years the Supreme Court has tended to defer to the other two branches of government. However, while one could hope this will set a trend toward self-restraint away from an “Imperial Court,” the figures suggest otherwise. In the first 195 years of the existence of the United States the Supreme Court voided only ninety-one acts of Congress—that is, considerably less than one every two years. In the last ten years it has voided fifteen acts of Congress—that is, an average of one and a half acts of Congress have been voided each year.
Lord willing, we will continue looking at the topic of An Open Window in our next episode.
Let’s Pray.
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Dear friend, if you are listening today, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, allow me to show you how:
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Until next time, my friend, continue to stand for the Lord and his Word. God bless you!
BCNN1 WP 