On election night, a thrilled Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky), laid out the modern-day tea party's platform, and did so in the words of a man who was alive for the original Boston Tea Party. He said that, "Thomas Jefferson wrote that government is best that governs least." Good quote, but there might be a problem here—modern archivists and historians say that the founding father never said that! Or did he?
Last year, on the House floor, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.), angry about the federal overhaul of health care, quoted George Washington—"Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is force—like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." An impressive quote, but did that founding father really say it? Once again, historians say, "No!" Recently, Sarah Palin was ridiculed for saying that Paul Revere's midnight ride was intended to warn the British about the resolve of the colonists. Warn the colonists or warn the British?—in reality, it would do both, but what did she really mean? And who cares?
What is true and what isn't? Senators, congress-men, and even President Obama have misquoted the founding fathers in recent times—altering quotes or just plain making them up. Is it just nervousness or blatant disregard for the truth? Or is it possibly that they got their information from an unreliable Internet blog? Could be! People used to say that if you read something in the newspaper, it must be true. Now the same is said of computer screens. Oh, by the way, all of this—who said what and when, or even how—is all up for speculation, for it is all from the same Internet. Call it literary license, if you will, but, in reality, it can produce a perverted sense of freedom. I suppose if you could just go back in time and speak with some of these founding fathers, you might find out the truth of these things, but I've got an even better idea—one that doesn't rely on time travel or the Internet. We have recently celebrated Father's Day, but I would like to return to a particular father—yes, even a founding father, but my source will be the Holy Bible!
The Apostle Paul, who traveled all over the then-known world, establishing and encouraging churches, was not always a proponent of Christ, but, in fact, a great opponent. Truth be known, that is how they met, and it is how any of us meet Him. You see, Saul—later called Paul—was a Pharisee who saw Jesus and His followers as a cult. It was possibly four years after the death and resurrection of Jesus—"And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest..." (Acts 9:1) and sought the authority to capture, imprison, and even execute Christians from Damascus. Praise God—that's right, Praise God, for when he was near to the place, "...suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (vss. 3,4) He knew exactly who it was—it was God, straight out of heaven—"Who art thou, Lord?"
(vs. 5a) Immediately, it became even clearer—"I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." (vs. 5b) Jesus is God!
How about that! Ever since Easter, our church has been looking at the resurrection appearances of Jesus. You would have thought that with the Ascension and Pentecost, that would be the end of it—Praise God, Jesus appears again! The Father had been working on Saul's heart to see the errors of his way—trying and trying to serve God, but, evidently, not in God's way. We can't just make up our own versions of truth and actually expect it to be truth, just because it fits what we want to do. There may be our own kind of freedom in that, but that is not true freedom. Saul got saved and delivered from all of that, was baptized in Holy Spirit and fire, and then on into his God-given ministry. Jesus had said, "...he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." (vss.15,16) Wait a minute! The prosperity preachers are always saying that the Christian life is supposed to be a walk in the park; what is this about hard times and suffering? Well, Praise God—that was not Paul's reaction at all to his appearance of Jesus!.
Oswald Chambers, in his devotional, "My Utmost for His Highest," puts it this way—"Where our individual desire dies, our sanctified surrender lives. One of our greatest hindrances to coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own individual temperament. We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts and abilities to God. However, you can not dedicate what is not yours. There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself. If you will do so, He makes a holy experiment out of you—and His experiments always succeed. A true Christian realizes that it is God who engineers his circumstances; consequently, there are no complaints, only unrestrained surrender to Jesus." For the Church in Corinth—and for us—he recounts some of the things to which he was called to endure—"Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep..." (2 Cor. 11:24,25)
And the list went on, finally concluding with his greatest challenge—"...the care of all the churches." (vs. 28b) And not a word of complaint or bitterness—it was all for the glory of God. When he committed his life, he was totally committed! Chris Tiegreen, in his book, "Worship the King," writes, "We're a society of victims. That's what happens when a culture emphasizes human rights over human responsibilities. Focusing on rights to the exclusion of responsibility results in...well, the society we have. Everything is always someone else's fault. It's a matter of perspective—when we focus on the problems of the day and the people who seem to oppress us, we get intimidated. As we worship Him, the threats and burdens that weigh us down grow smaller, and He grows bigger—at least in our own eyes." Actually, He is always huge, but we need to see and experience Him that way. This is freedom!
Once, when Paul and his companion Silas, were arrested, beaten, and thrown into a dungeon—"...at midnight (they) prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was an earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken..." (Acts 16:25,26a)
Oh, man—what else could go wrong—complain, complain, complain. But we don't hear that
at all! Why? Because Paul knew God had a plan—"...immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed." (Vss.25,26) Everything was in God's hands. That's right—everything! Even this—"...the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here." (vss.27,28) It was that loud cry that God used to stop the impending death and bring the seemingly unlikely life instead. The jailer and his family were born again.
Maybe that is part of the key—in these last of days; in this perverted culture we live in, we must cry out the truth loudly—it is only the indwelling Spirit of Christ that can really set us free! Praise God—we have such fathers to look to for such spiritual direction. Paul told the Church in Corinth—as well as us—"I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me." (1 Cor. 4:14-16) Elsewhere, Paul would intimate that as far as he follows Christ, his spiritual children should follow him. In other words, he is not setting himself up on a pedestal, but, there is a certain respect and loyalty that is to be awarded to spiritual "fatherhood." He had planted them, laid the foundation, and given his life. Honor that commitment; emulate that commitment! Paul was able to remain faithful until the end because he didn't just see Jesus once—he saw Him throughout. But even at the end, after his trial before the Sanhedrin, "The Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness at Rome." (Acts 23:11)
Praise God—this is the Father's form of freedom—gospel truth living within, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so it will be with us—after we meet the resurrected Lord in repentance and salvation, we meet Him again and again as we live the Christian life. Praise God—this is not just some unreliable Internet blog or a twisted quote—this Founding Father knew what He was talking about...and still does!
