The Great Cultural Shift From Independence to Interdependency and Dependency

In the title today, The Great Cultural Shift from Independence to Interdependency and Dependency. England's Prime Minister Tony Blair, around the turn of the century, somewhere around 1999, said, we are all internationalists now, whether we like it or not. And that is the fact. Globalism is here. He continued by saying, on the eve of a new millennium, we're now in a new world. We need new rules for international cooperation, new ways of organizing our international institutions. He also said, today the impulse toward interdependence is immeasurably greater. We're witnessing the beginning of a new doctrine of international community. A new doctrine of international community. In 1999, once again, quoting Tony Blair, he said, globalization has transformed our economies and our working practices, but globalism is not just economic, it is also a political and security phenomenon. Of course, many voices have echoed the same kind of rhetoric that Tony Blair presents here, that we've just read. Now, all of these factors concerning globalism diminish national sovereignty and individual independence. And this great cultural shift has taken place by a phenomenon that perhaps you haven't thought about playing a role in it. Last Sabbath, we became more and more aware of the dependent-interdependent situation that the nations are in in the world. And at the same time, we see world leaders who are boasting about the New World Order and encouraging more cooperation, interdependency, and dependency among the nations. Yet in the good old USA, the land of the free and the home of the brave, our people are more infatuated and occupied with celebrity news than they are concerned with the continuing loss of national sovereignty and independence. But on Independence Day, in similar occasions, the very people who are destroying national sovereignty will pare at a few meaningless words, perhaps closing with, God bless America, while continuing to do the work of the devil. It's interesting to note the beliefs of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Most professed a belief in a higher power. Some in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not many mentioned Jesus Christ.

But what God did they profess to believe in? Those who even said they believed in God. There were 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence. Nine of them were Freemasons, 16%. The signers of the U.S. Constitution, there were 39 men. 13 were Freemasons, 33%. The generals in the Continental Army, there were 74. 33 were Freemasons, or 46%. On one side of the spectrum, you have those who believe that virtually all the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the signers of the Constitution were about Christians. And on the other side of the spectrum, you have those who contend that virtually all were Freemasons. Well, neither one is true. There were small percentages of various categories. My grandfather was Freemason. My grandmother was a member of the what is called the Eastern Star, which is a branch of the Freemasonry. My grandfather was Justice of the Peace. He was a deacon in the Baptist Church. We had a deacon in the Church of God here in the Big Sandy area for a number of years. Who used to be in the Masons. He worked for a long time at Kilgore Junior College. And at a meeting of the Masons, he gave the closing prayer, and he closed in the name of Jesus Christ. And they told him not to come back anymore. He told me the story out of his own mouth. Belief in a higher power is expected and oftentimes mentioned by the Founding Fathers. By the way, Founding Fathers is not politically correct because you have the word Father in there. You must only say the founders. In 1 John chapter 2, regarding the mention of Jesus Christ, if you'll turn there, in 1 John chapter 2, and we'll begin in verse 18, verse John chapter 2 and verse 18. 1 John 2 verse 18, Little children, it is the last time, and as you have heard, that antichrist shall come even now. Are there many antichrists? Whereby we know it is the last time. So this phrase, the last time, it's 2,000 years approximately down the road since John wrote this, 1900, I would say at least, they went out from us but they were not of us, or if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But we have an unction, and this word unction means like a rubbing in of, like you would take a balm or a salve and you would rub it in to the skin, but we have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written unto you because you know not the truth but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denies Jesus is a Christ? So that is an absolute must. Who is a liar? He that denies that Jesus is the Christ. He came to his own, his own received him not, but unto those who believed in him he gave him power to become the sons of God. That's John 1 12.

He is an antichrist that denies the Father and the Son. Whosoever denies the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Now that last part there that in italics, probably in your Bible, acknowledges the Son hath the Father also is added by the translators. It's not in the original. Let us therefore abide in in you. Let that therefore abide in you which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son and in the Father. See, salvation is inclusive. Salvation is for everybody who's ever lived, but the way to salvation is exclusive. It is exclusive. There is only one name given under heaven, whereby men must be saved. You look at Acts chapter 4, and we'll break in a little bit on the discourse here of what Peter is talking about in Acts 4. In verse 8, then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit. He certainly had the unction, the rubbing in, of the Holy Spirit. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed, he's talking about healing, done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you and all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand before you whole. This is the stone which was disallowed of the builders, quoting Isaiah 28 verse 16, which has become the head of the corner. Jesus Christ is the head of the church, the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. So salvation is inclusive. The way is exclusive only by that name. The true teaching of the church of God, we would say that by the true teaching of the church of God, we would say that none of the signers of the Constitution were true Christians, as we define true Christians. That is not to say that they did not embrace, hold to, practice several Christian principles, or many of them did.

Almost none of them kept the Sabbath in the Holy Days. It is almost certain that they all believed in the immortality of the soul.

There was at least one Sabbath keeper. Among those at the Continental Congress, when they met after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, that was Samuel Ward, governor of Rhode Island, who was a Sabbath keeper. And Samuel Ward nominated George Washington to head the Colonial Army.

In fact, his granddaughter, Julia Ward Howe, we got the hymn in the hymn, we renamed it something else, I guess, because the title is Battle Hymn of the Republic. I think we've named it something like the glory of God or the glory. I don't know what it is, but anyhow, we sing it occasionally.

Nonetheless, God can and does use at times some pretty unsavory characters to fulfill his will. In Numbers 22, you can read the story about Balaam. Balaam, who was hired, he was, Balaam was sort of, I guess you would call it a diviner, one who practiced, in essence, witchcraft. He was hired to prophesy against Israel, and it wound up in the process of it that even Balaam's donkey, then God spoke through Balaam's donkey. The donkey said, why are you beating me to Balaam?

Because the donkey saw an angel standing in the middle of the road, which Balaam didn't see at first. Eventually, Balaam saw the donkey, and God did not permit him to prophesy against Israel. But Balaam taught the leader there to have the children of Israel commit fornication with the Moabites, which they did, and intermarried to some degree and led many of them away. But let's look now at the importance that was placed on the Bible in early America, the importance of the Bible. We're going to take quite a long journey here today.

Remember, it is the great cultural shift.

Immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress listened to this, voted to purchase 20,000 copies of the scripture for the people of the nation. Of course, books were fairly rare at that time. The printing press was invented in the 1300s or 1400s. I've forgotten Gutenberg's press. Patrick Henry, who was called the firebrand of the American Revolution, is still remembered for his words, give me liberty or give me death. But the context in which Patrick Henry said that is, in fact, in some ways more notable than just this statement. Here's what he said, an appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that has left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle, sir, is not of the strong alone. If life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of change in slavery, forbid it, Almighty God, I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death. Then the following year, Patrick Henry wrote the following words, quote, it cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's one of the few founders that really talked about Jesus Christ, Patrick Henry. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. And that's, of course, where we are today. People have left God. He would use the word religion. Religion can be a good thing or a bad thing. It depends whether or not it's the truth. He continues, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. In other words, there's a certain core of values that if you do not cling to those, teach those, live those, pass them on to posterity, then the nation is doomed for failure.

In 1782, the United States Congress voted the following resolution. Quote, The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.

In an address to military leaders, it was stated, this is John Adams, John Adams, the second President of the United States, he also served as Chairman of the American Bible Society, John Adams. Of course, unfortunately, John went down, down, down, but John Adams, in an address to military leaders, stated, we have no government armed with a power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and true religion. Our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. In other words, if the people are not morally attuned to, he used the word religion, then it's not going to work. He also stated that when we select our national leaders, that we are to preserve our nation, we must select, quote, Christians. This is a government official. What would CNN and all the rest do to him today? Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers, end of quote. But note what has happened. Look at Hosea 8. I know we read this in our weekly Bible study, I believe, the last time I say I know I believe, I think. In Hosea 8, of what has actually happened, in the nation, and pretty much true in the western world as well, in Hosea 1, the first of what's called the minor prophets, I think I've said about three different things, but it's Hosea 8. Hosea 8, 1. Set the trumpet to your mouth. Verse 1, He shall come as an eagle against the house of the eternal, because they have transgressed my covenant, transgressed against my law. Israel shall cry to me, My God, we know you. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good, the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I knew it not, of their silver and their gold, they made them idols, that they may be cut off. So that is basically what we have done. And in order to be one of the leaders today, you have to, quote, be politically correct on the national scene. Now, one of the phenomenon that the news people were absolutely obsessed with yesterday and dumbfounded, and couldn't believe now, Donald Trump is number one in the polls for the GOP nomination. And he made this horrible statement. John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, who was the sixth president, Quincy Adams, son of John, the sixth U.S. president, was also chairman of the American Bible Society, like his father was. When he considered his highest and most important role, he said, the highest glory of the American Revolution was this. It connected in one indissobbable bond, the principles of civil government, with the principles of Christianity. In other words, if you're going to have a civil society, it must be guided by the principles contained in Christianity. Now, as I said, probably none of these men were true Christians, as we would say, but there was this underpinning of a belief in God as they knew God. And at the same time, I believe, of course, God's hand was in the formation of this country, because America as a major nation is the only country on the face of the earth, really, that has had what is called religious freedom. And from this country, the gospel has gone forth. The Bible has been sent to every country on the face of the earth. The Bible has been translated into dozens, yea, even scores of languages. But here is where we are today. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, reaffirmed what Adam said when he wrote, The foundations of our society and our government rest much on the teachings of the Bible. There would be difficulty to support them in faith in these teachings, if these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country. Practically universal in our country. The teachings of the Bible.

Of the first 108 universities founded in America, of the first 108, 106 were distinctly Christian, including the first. Harvard University chartered in 1636 in the original Harvard student handbook. Rule number one was that students seeking entrance must know Latin and Greek so they could study the scriptures.

Let every student, the handbook states, let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well. The main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17.3, and therefore delay Jesus Christ as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only gives wisdom, let everyone seriously set himself by prayer and secret to seek it of him. It sounds like Ambassador College, the worldwide Church of God, going back to the days in which it was said the Word of God is a foundation of all knowledge. And we are here to recapture true values. For over 100 years, more than 50 percent of all Harvard graduates were pastors.

Regardless of religious affiliation, it is clear from history that the Bible and the Christian faith were foundational in the development of the United States educational and judicial system.

However, in 1947, 1947 was the first ruling that really rocked the nation in a similar way that the ruling in the past several days rocked the nation. In 1947, there was a radical change of direction in the Supreme Court, and prayer was banished. And here's the exact prayer that was banished. Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on you. We beg your blessings upon us and our parents and our teachers and our country, a prayer that was often uttered in the public school. In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that Bible reading was outlawed as unconstitutional in the public school system. The Court offered this justification. If portions of the New Testament were read without explanation, read without explanation, these readings could have harmful psychological effects on the children.

In 1965, the Court denied, as unconstitutional, the rights of a student in the public school cafeteria to bow his head and pray audibly over his food. Now, I think it is unwise to go into a public place, and you can stone me after services and to say a prayer audibly over your food. It says clearly in Matthew 6 that when you pray, be not, as the Pharisees describes the hypocrites that love to make prayer in the marketplaces, but go you into your closets and pray secretly before God, who is the one who answers, who rewards. Of course, that's a loose paraphrase. In 1980, Stone v. Graham outlawed the Ten Commandments in public schools. The Supreme Court said, quote, if the posted copies of the Ten Commandments were to have any effect at all, it would be to induce school children to read them. And if they read them, they might meditate upon them and perhaps venerate and observe them. This is not a permissible objective.

James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United States, said, quote, We have staked the whole future of our nation, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to moral principles of the Ten Commandments. Today, we're asking God to bless America. Political leaders still do that, but how can he bless a nation that has departed so far from him? So much of what we have cited here has been erased from our textbooks, revisionists to have rewritten history, and so we see where we are. In the past 58 years, since that ruling in 47 about prayer, we'll witness the greatest cultural shift of a nation in my view of all times. The shift in the past five years, especially this year, finds one hard press to understand it. There have been dictators that have attempted to shift the culture of a nation overnight, as it was in the case of Peter the Great in Russia. Peter the Great tried to take Russia, a nation of soil, S-O-I-L. They were rooted in the soil, growing potatoes and making vodka. Tried to take a nation of soil and serfs and toil into the European culture overnight.

And he failed miserably. The Communists tried to do the same thing, and to a large degree, God was eradicated in Russia, as far as references to belief in, for almost somewhere around 80-90 years. Hitler tried to do the same thing, though Hitler, in early going, had the support of a lot of the ministry in Germany. When the Great Debate was taking place in the church in the late 1980s, in early 1990s, and especially around 1994, I went to the pastor general's personal assistant and told, we sat and talked, and I told him face to face. I said, you cannot shift the belief system of a people overnight. People who have believed for decades that the spiritual law of God is eternal. You cannot shift the belief of a people that they should keep the Sabbath, keep the Holy Days. It cannot be done overnight. You cannot make such a radical shift so quickly. And I cited the example of Peter the Great. Of course, no amount of historical evidence appealed to Scripture or logic made a dent in their minds. They made up their minds. But the sad and disappointing part of all of this was that so many people allow themselves to be deceived. So we have seen the Trail of Tears, as it were. The Cherokees talk about the Trail of Tears and their trek from Andrew Jackson forced upon them from Florida up to Oklahoma to herd them together on reservations. But the Trail of Tears of the deterioration of the morality of this country from the days of the Founding Fathers to the present time, and all those great statements and speeches and quotes from days of yore have gone by the boards. I was very surprised that so many people allowed themselves to be deceived. Or were they really deceived? It showed that they were not grounded in the truth to the depth of their being, and some even say God scattered the church. No, God did not scatter the church. God allowed the church to be scattered. God is not the author of division and confusion. That's clear in the scripture. People were scattered because they were not convicted and grounded to the very depth of their being, and they made wrong choices. As I tried to warn the people in Houston, I said, you better look before you leap.

An authority figure says, oh, it's all right to do x, y, or z, and some gleefully turn away from the truth and resume their wallowing in the mire. Where is the depth? Where is their conviction? What do they believe? What do they base it on? No action of men changes one jot or tittle in this book. It stands true and sure forever. And God wants us to be totally committed to Him with understanding of what life is all about in relationship to Him. Sort of like this statement in the Harvard Handbook back in the 1600s, or in the Ambassador College Handbook from its inception in 1947-48.

So it may be true that none of the founding fathers were true Christians, but the Bible, the Word of God, and its teaching helped form the educational and moral values of this nation. But now God has been thrown out of our governing and educational systems. The hedgerow has been removed. Note Isaiah chapter 5, which describes the condition that we're currently in. Isaiah has quite a few places. I've chosen this one today. We could have read from Isaiah 57, 58, 59 along in there. But now Isaiah chapter 5 is using the analogy of a vineyard, and in Israel being his vineyard, and because they did not honor him, verse 7, for the vineyard of the Lord of Host is the house of Israel and the man of dew to his pleasant plant. And he looked for judgment, but behold oppression, for righteousness, but behold a cry. We have not heard anything yet of what the cries are going to be. Then you look at verse 19 that say, let him make speed and hasten this work that we may see it and let the counsel of the holy one of Israel draw nigh and come that we may know it. Woe unto them! It's like a taunting.

Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink, which justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. That's where we are at the present time. We now depend on the state to provide us, to protect us, to provide for us, the state to provide for us, the military to protect us. The total of America's military bases in other people's countries in 2005. I don't know if it's more or greater now. It's not less by any large degree. In fact, we've built a lot of military bases in the Middle East since Kuwait and also the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. The total base is 737. In the last two decades, there's been a gradual reduction in the U.S. military personnel and military bases in some areas and an increase in other areas. Slowly, all military action by Western nations is being done in the name of the UN. Yet, all of the nations continue to scramble for armaments. And if you don't have them, if you're feeling uneasy about Iran, let me ship you a shipment of armaments. And on the other hand, we say, peace, peace, we're going to have peace.

So the U.S. has promised the nations of the Middle East more weapons for the purpose of easing tensions. And we just read in the news. I look at the Joel chapter 2. Joel chapter 3. In Joel chapter 3, Hosea Joel. In Joel chapter 3, this is one of the most relevant up-to-date prophecies in the whole Bible. In Joel chapter 3 verse 9, proclaim you among the nations, the Gentiles, proclaim you this among the nations, prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up, beat your plowshares into swords. It's the very opposite of Isaiah 2, where in the millennium they're going to beat their swords into plowshares. But now the nations of the world are arming themselves to the hilt, beating their plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I am strong. So Pakistan has the bomb, India has the bomb, Israel has the bomb, Germany, France, the United States, England, and all the other nations wanted. Of course, China has it. Korea, North Korea, they exploited some kind of nuclear device two or three years ago. And the watchword today when it comes to any kind of military action is a coalition of allies. Virtually all overt military action is done in the name of the UN. And under the guise of interdependency, the elite are creating a totalitarian rule over the sons of men without firing a shot. Oh, there are wars and hackling, but the noose that is around our neck is bound by rules and regulations that control our lives. We must play by the rules or we will be shutting off your bread. And war has so ravaged some of the nations there they say that there are four million displaced people from Yemen to Syria, all across the Middle East. Thousands and thousands of little children with those bewildered faces, starving bodies, swollen stomachs, wondering where the next bit of food is going to come from.

So there are wars and hackling. Play by the rules, get in step with the times, or pay the consequences. Basically, the wars that are raging now stem from the nations that are not integrating into the New World Order. Saddam Hussein, a prime example, then Qaddafi in Libya, and now Iran. What are you going to do with Iran? Assad in Syria. Of course, some nations are playing both sides of the street, like Russia and China. But how do you sell totalitarianism, and how do you dress up, quote, progressive liberalism, the hallmark now of the Democratic Party, how do you sell that and dress it up so that the people will buy it? It's interesting to note the pleasant soothing words you used to sell the concept of. Actually, it's totalitarianism, but it's called progressive. Here are some of the words, organic. We're going to talk about what organic really means in both human, spiritual, and political terms. So the word organic, the word holistic, differentiated, harmonious, interdependent, diversified, tolerant, balanced, sustainable. Sustainable growth and development is all the rage these days. Sustainable growth and development was codified into international law. I'm talking about international law. There are two tiers of laws. Of course, you have international law and you have national laws. A lot of the treaties that the U.S. has signed on the international level, the man on the street, they don't even know about it. Sustainable development was codified into international law during the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development, popularly known as the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The Secretary General and main organizer of the conference was Maurice Strong. Maurice Strong, I believe, recently died within the past year or two or three. According to his own book titled, Where on Earth are we going? I don't think Maurice knows. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Club of Rome. Of course, the Club of Rome advocates sustainable growth. What is sustainable growth all about? It really has to do with how large of a human population will Mother Earth sustain. How many people can you have on Earth and yet have the Earth to remain quote, pristine and all of that and sustain it? One of the outcries and mantras of the day is we are killing Mother Earth. The Earth cannot sustain itself unless there's reduction in population, carbon emission, and other human activity. We must rewild many things. There's an area and they had a documentary on it this week. There's an area in Alaska. The title is on maybe the learning channel, the history channel, is titled The Last Alaskan. There's an area in Alaska the size of South Carolina in which there is one family remaining. And they have a charter from the government that goes until, I think, 2016. A man and his wife and two late teenage daughters live there now. The nearest town is 360 miles away. And so they have another year to quote, enjoy the wilderness. And then that whole area, no human being can settle in that area, an area the size of the state of South Carolina. And there are other rewilding, they call it rewilding, areas to be turned back to Mother Nature.

The whole global system at the present time is based on growth. The GNP, the Gross National Product, has to grow. The job market has to grow. The profit margin has to grow. And so on and so on it goes. And there's a certain amount of truth to sustainable growth and development, but many aspiring entrepreneurs have lost their shirt because of over-expanding their resources and ability to sustain what they have. We really need to understand the present-day use of the word organic and sustainable. Of course, this word organic is one of the main items that is used to justify totalitarianism in the sense that they use it.

The human body is called an organism. An organism consists of several systems. In the human body you have various systems. You have the nervous system, the skelomuscular system, digestive system, and you could go on and on with the various systems, the lymph system. There are several systems in the body. Totalitarianism, in theory, is the doctrine that the nation, a state, the community is capable of producing the greater good for the whole than an individual. The theory, the doctrine that a nation, a state, or the community is capable of producing the greater good for the whole than an individual. In other words, turn it over to the nation, the state, or the community. The whole is divorced from the feelings or beliefs of an individual. Certain individuals may believe X, Y, or Z, but we don't really care what they believe. What is best for the whole?

Decisions are made on the basis of what is perceived as best for the whole. This doctrine was especially advocated by Hegel, a member of the sermon I gave on the Hegelian dialectic. Hegel, who glorified the state and thought of the community, should be as organic as possible. In an organic community, he thought excellence would reside in the whole. Now, let's explore this about organic and an organism. An individual, as I've mentioned, is an organism, and we do not think that his separate parts have separate goods. In other words, if he has pain in his great toe, it is he that suffers, not just the great toe. In fact, you'd have a little pain in the little toe and suffer. Past two nights, I fought poison ivy. There's a little patch right here, but it wakes me up. Itchings are bad. I do want to tear it off. And we have pains in various parts of the body, and it affects the whole. So in an organic society, good and evil will belong to the whole, rather than the parts. Now, this is theoretical form of totalitarianism, but the great $64,000 question is, who is going to determine what is best for the whole? The way it has evolved down now in the United States, of course, historically we have three branches there of government. The judicial and the legislative, and the government is to pass laws, and the judicial is to supposedly interpret the law, not to make the law, but we know what has happened. So it winds up that you have really a dictatorship in a sense of the judicial. So we come back to the word organic, to see if we can come to see the implications of viewing the earth and the government as an organic entity. And we'll first of all start with the Bible and the spiritual things. We refer to the Church of God as a spiritual organism. In fact, in our baptismal ceremony, we say up front, we ask the person, have you repented of your sins? They say yes, and we say, in that you have repented of your sins, and exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ for the mission of sins that are passed, I'm now going to baptize you not into any denomination or organization of man, but into the name of the Father, and so on.

We say that the Church is a spiritual organism, and indeed the Bible describes the Church in such terms. You turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. You cannot take an app while we're doing this. One fellow brought his cookies in. Instead of brought cookies along with me, I said, I don't see a palate, but...

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the Apostle Paul uses the analogy of the organic nature of the human body to illustrate the organic nature of the Church of God, which consists of many members. The body is composed of many parts, that is, the human body. So we look in 1 Corinthians 12, in verse 14, for the body is not one member, but many. In other words, it is an organism. It functions as a whole. If the foot shall say, because I'm not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? Just because you say it's not, does that make it true? And if the ear shall say, because I'm not the eye, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were the hearing, where would be the smelling? And so on. But now God has set the members, every one of them, in the body, as it has pleased him, and if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are there many members, yet one body? And I cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet I have no need of you, know much more these members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary. And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable upon these, we bestow a more abundant honor, and our uncommonly parts have more abundant commonness. For our commonly parts have no need, but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacks, that there should be no schism in the body, but the members should have the same care, one for another. And whether one member suffer, just like with the human body of the toe analogy, or the eye, or whatever body part, all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members and particular. So that's when you harm the body of the church, the temple of God, then you're literally attacking yourself because you claim to be a part of the body. It would be like cutting off your big toe or whatever it is. You look at Romans chapter 12, and you see this statement how that we are members, one of another, we are all joined together through God's Spirit, and we form a spiritual organism. Many times that has been used decades in the church. The church is a spiritual organism. In Romans chapter 12, verse 4, for as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. So the body itself is an organism consisting of systems. You take in the human body, you have the circulatory system, respiratory nervous system, skeletal system, digestive system, system, lymph system, and all that it could go. And one of the systems can become dysfunctional, but the body can continue to function. Not at optimum level, but it can function. Paul and his epistle to the Corinthians list, I don't know how many dysfunctional beliefs and behaviors that were extended in Corinth. Some didn't even believe that there was a resurrection from the dead. Now it would be debatable whether or not they had ever received God's Spirit. And so the first part of this of 1 Corinthians 12, he talks about we are all baptized into one body, and that one body, of course, is the church. And regardless of whether we be male or female, whether we be Jew or Gentile, whatever it is, ethnic group, national group, we're all members of that one body.

The family operates in much the same way. You have the father, and you have the mother, and each has their role to play, their function to perform. Then you have the children, first born, second born, they're more than one, and so on down. And they all play various roles in making that family function as it should. Of course, the family and the fabric of it has basically been destroyed already, even before, even before this big issue that has come up in recent years with homosexuality. One of the things that Dr. Baker sent me recently was that as a man who's suing in Michigan, who is suing the publishers of the Bible, Zondervan and Nelson, for several million dollars, because in their translation of it, they published the term homosexuality, which has caused him great grief through the years to call him a homosexual. His family has turned it back on him and so on. Now, suing the publishers, and here's one that I think even is equal to or tops this. School told to call kids purple penguins, because boys and girls is not inclusive to transgender, full-screen children displaying an oppressive genderism. That's not where they want to be. Nebraska teachers are instructed to ask students what their preferred pronouns are. The Nebraska School District has instructed its teachers to stop referring to students by gendered expression, such as boys and girls, and use gender-inclusive one term, such as purple penguins. Don't use phrases such as boys and girls, you guys, ladies and gentlemen, and similarly gendered expressions to get kids' attention. Instructs a training document given to middle school teachers in the Lincoln Public Schools. Of course, Lincoln is there near Omaha, eastern Nebraska, creates classroom names, and then asks all the purple penguins to meet on the rug. The document also warns against asking students to line up as boys or girls, and suggests asking them to line up by whether they prefer skateboards or bikes, milk or juice, dogs or cats, summer or winter, talking or listening. I mean, it gets worse. I mean, actually handed to middle school teachers as a manual. Now, on Thursday, a former faculty member and coach, an ambassador, made his annual 30-minute drop-in at the house, Dave Gothen's. He lives in the state of Washington near Tacoma. He teaches in the public schools there. They have about 2,000 students. They now have a separate dressing room for transgender. They have 40 transgender kids, and regardless of their biological gifts, they all go together in this transgender dressing room to dress for athletic activities. He said, I have about 240 students in my various classes and teams, and of that 240 students, less than five go to any church. And he talks about how far the state is gone. You know, it's legalized marijuana and many other things. When philosophers and politicians try to make the earth into a living organism and are trying to view government according to organic theory, it winds up with a certain group seizing the channels of power. See, human beings are organisms, the church is a spiritual organism, the family is an organism, in a sense. You can look at the nation in that way, but and say that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And we are going to make decisions that benefit, quote, the whole. For the passage of laws, the issuance of judicial decrees, and government programs, and the name of the good of the whole, the people become more dependent on the government for their sustenance in all facets of life. So society assumes the role of the individual and government, and it's the instrument in society that is used to regulate and enforce the rules of so-called organic interdependency.

In other words, the people of the world have been deceived into selling their souls, their life potential, for a piece of phony baloney. In essence, it is hot air with no substance. Society becomes subject to laws and court decisions that conflict with their core beliefs. Just like this editorial by Pat Buchanan about civil disobedience is coming, the governor of Oklahoma says, no, we're not taking down the Ten Commandments.

And there will be other similar kinds of behavior noted in the face of the various things that are coming down from the government. The military, the police, the courts of the land are there to enforce the laws, the executive orders, and judicial decrees.

For any organism to function as God intended, for example, the Church of God, the family, each system has to fulfill his or her role as God gave commandment. You can't have everybody doing their own thing. Of course, you're reminded of about three or four times in the book of Judges it says, and in those days there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. So what many of the founding fathers stated concerning relying on God, being committed to the greater good are necessary for a nation and our culture to sustain itself, but there has to be a common core belief to well the parts of the organism together.

And so many of the founding fathers says it needs to be Christianity. It needs to be that which is contained in the scripture. But the powers at be have decided that they will well the parts together by force that is couched in deceitful terms. Oh, we love everybody. We want everybody to have the same privilege. We cannot discriminate against anybody, regardless of their sexual orientation. Whether it be the LGBT community or any other, we all have to have equal rights. Most politicians will speak of giving every person their God-given rights for life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

And regardless of your value of system, be it Christian or atheist, be it straight or homosexual, we can all live harmoniously together in this great global community and live in peace and tranquility. Can't you just see it? Can't you hear a certain one talking at the moment?

Well, let's see what this one says. In practice, this means that society, government knows better how to raise your child than you do. Hence, we get books like Hillary Clinton's It Takes the Village to Raise a Child. She doesn't mean a village in the sense that we use it, or that it used to mean that a parent's looking out for all children in their neighborhood.

Contrary to that, it means the state knows what is best for your child. We will teach them the virtues of diversity and toleration of all points of view. We will call boys and girls purple penguins. We will not judge anyone based on sexual orientation, religion, etc. All cultures are to be equally respected and honored. And you must live harmoniously within this group, or you will be a pariah. You will be cast out.

And eventually, they say, the whole world will be melted into a harmonious world community. Now, let me tell you, a world community is coming. It will be headed by the beast and the false prophet. And everyone that does not receive the mark of the beast and bow down and worship that will not be able to buy or sell. Yeah, a community, a world community, and a global dictatorship is coming. And the irony of this is the agenda that is selling this kind of thing, that the world can reach this harmonious state of being at the expense of the individual, but based on the organic nature that the sum of the parts all must function, that everybody must have the same piece of the pie, is what is going to lead to eventually the beast, the false prophet taking over.

So what we have described here today is basically where we are. There are non-so-enslaved as those who think they are free. There is only one true freedom offered to human beings, men and women, and that is the freedom that is obtained through the truth of God. Jesus Christ states in John 8.32, let's turn there, we'll begin in about verse 30, probably, John, the Gospel of John, chapter 8.

In John, chapter 8, verse 30, As he spoke these words, many believed on him. Verse 31, John 8.31, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed. And we're never in bondage to any man. How do you say we'll be made free? At that very moment, they were servitude to the Romans. Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abides not in the house forever, but the son abides ever. If the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. The world talks about freedom. The government talks about freedom. People talk about freedom. There is one path, and here it is to true freedom. God says to look to him for substance. Seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. The model prayer says, Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 4, 4 says, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Yes, these are the paths to true freedom. Now let's go to Psalm 121. In Psalm 121, in Psalm 121, I will lift up my eyes into the hills from where comes my help.

My help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer your foot to be moved. He that keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The eternal is my helper. The eternal is your shade upon the right hand. The sun shall not smite you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. He shall preserve your soul, your life, essence, your life potential. The eternal shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forevermore. So, brethren, let's look to God for our sustenance, and that is the only hope that we have in the days that lie ahead. To look to Him and turn to Him with our whole hearts, and to know and know that we know to the death of a being that we're here for the right reason. And that no matter what I say or action I may take or any other person on the face of the earth, the words of this book are true, and you're either committed to them to the death of your being or you are not. If you're not, you need to take stock. Ask yourself, why am I here? And what am I committed to? And what am I willing to die for? Be only through questions like that to come to really understand those seven great questions. Does God exist? If so, who is God? What is God? What is His purpose? And then man. Who is man? What is man? And what is His purpose? And internalize the answers to those questions to the death of your being. You know and you know that you know. And so you will be free from fear, ignorance, superstition, and the dogmas of man. And you can stand like a tree planted by the waters.