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Democracy
11/12/06
After reading the following article, which was found on a bulletin board at work, we felt prompted to offer a solution and hope.
Democracy
About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate who promises the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”
“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependency;
8. From dependency back into bondage.”
Professor Joseph Olsen of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 presidential election:
Population of counties won by Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143 million.
Square miles of land won by Gore: 580,000: Bush: 2,427,000.
States won by Gore: 19; Bush: 29.
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by Gore: 13.2; Bush: 2.1.
Professor Olsen adds: “In aggregation, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore’s territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare…”
Olsen believes the United States is now somewhere between the “complacency and apathy” phase of Professor Tyler’s definition of democracy, with some 40 percent of the nation’s population already having reached the “governmental dependency” phase.
Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom. End of article.
Commentary
The statistical content in this article is informative, and the people of the United States certainly seem to be headed for a fall, but the type of bondage spoken of is not clearly defined. Bondage is upon a man because he does not understand what freedom really is. The author Tommy Tenney wrote that the issue is never the issue, the issue is always control; who is in control?
James, the brother of Jesus, was inspired by God to write these verses so the world might understand why men hurt, oppress, and kill one another. “From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” (James 4:1-10).
What seems to be coming out of mankind today is not God’s perfect peace, but war against God’s perfect will. Mankind suffers needlessly because we will not follow God’s directives. Father God sent His Son Jesus to set and to make mankind free from bondage. Do you mistake your freedom for being free? Who controls life? Remember, God said that men would lord it over men. “But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them” (Matthew 20:25). It would appear, according to the Word of God, that man’s reign is headed for a horrific fall. In the article “Democracy,” those who are considered by man as learned have studied the historical behavior of American society and have predicted a return to bondage.
Consider God’s teachings found in 1 Corinthians 1:19-31: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
The question is: Has humanity had enough suffering at the hands of arrogant, self-seeking, self-centered, lustful men? Perhaps it is time to stop trying to be gods and look to the One who is in control. What life can a man offer another man that does not end in death? It is far better to be humble by giving your life over to God, and live forever in His care, than to die in the hands of an ignorant man’s belief. An arrogant man will be ignorant of God; a humble, repentant man before God will find life everlasting and love beyond human comprehension. Consider the days that remain, for no matter what man thinks, God is in control. Now is the time to listen to God and realize what life is all about.
May the blessings of God’s peace rest upon you as you ponder in your heart and mind what the Holy Spirit is saying to His Church today.
"Counting the cost is daily submission to Me." Holy Spirit
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