Mr. Thomas thanks for preaching the truth. We already have enough preachers of unrighteousness. Thanks for quoting from Isaiah 2. The same message is repeated in Isaiah 11 and 65.

The common theme is the mountain of the Lord that shall be known for its great peace for it is ruled by the Prince of Peace. Those of you who have seen the most hardened sinner transformed into one who is meek and poor in spirit know of what Isaiah is speaking. The one who was given to sin is now given to righteousness. The one who once hated Christ is now His humble servant and a man of self denial who willingly serves others. Grace is the great principle behind a changed life because grace goes to the heart.

The mountain of the Lord is defined in the prophecy of Daniel…

‘You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces...And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth…And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed…’ [Daniel 2:31-45]

Now the stone or rock that was cut without hands is none other than Jesus Christ and the great mountain that is filling the whole earth is none other than His everlasting kingdom, established at His coming and forcefully advancing among all men according to His will.

Here is the doctrine of the election of grace. It is called the election of grace because there is nothing in us to merit God’s favor; the basis of election is nothing other than grace. The apostle gives us two examples to illustrate his meaning...

“In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” [Romans 9:6-13]

Let’s use this passage to refute the idea of ‘age of accountability’ as an unbiblical accommodation when the doctrine of sovereign election is denied.

Note the parenthetical phase: (the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls). There are those who take the first part of this phrase as support for accountability…’ the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil’. Is this the apostle’s intent? He does not leave us to conjecture, but plainly gives us his intent…

‘…that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls’.

The apostle would have us know without ambiguity that election is of grace and not of works. Now, when the apostle gives us his doctrine in such a way to answer our objections, we are not free to invent our own doctrine that contradicts his. If we do so we deceive ourselves when we say we hold to the apostolic doctrine and the authority of Scripture alone.

So, in the light of the doctrine of the election of grace what shall we say of the phrase ‘the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil’? This phrase has nothing to do with age of accountability; that is, making salvation solely dependent on a personal decision. It has everything to do with the sovereignty of God in salvation.

What is the first cause of personal faith and repentance? According to Romans 8 those who are justified are the ones called according to God’s purpose. But the ones who are called are the same ones who are foreknown. This brings us back to the election of grace.

‘And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.’ [Romans 8:28-30]

Can anything thwart the election of grace from its fulfillment to bring all the given ones to glory? Is the fulfillment dependent on man or the purposes of God? Free will as commonly used today is nowhere to be found in the apostle’s doctrine.

‘...the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls’.

The elect will be brought to glory usually by the normal means of grace in repentance and faith having been given ears to hear the gospel. We will not limit the sovereignty of God to gather His elect by whatever other means He chooses as in the case of Jeremiah the prophet.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; 
 Before you were born I sanctified you…” [Jeremiah 1:5]

Nor will we deny the total depravity of all men from the womb; meaning our deadness in sin and our inability to come to Christ apart from the regenerating power of God called the new birth.

We understand what you are trying to say, but in this culture you must define what you mean by religious faith. American Constitutionalism is the product of a specific faith rooted in Biblical Christianity. This is the faith our Pilgrim forefathers brought with them to New England.

There are many false religions including Islam and Darwinism that oppose liberty and many faiths within Christianity that never produced liberty. There are many faiths within Protestantism. Now which faith are you talking about?

What is different about the faith of our forefathers that caused liberty to take root and grow? Most Americans today who are people of faith will not acknowledge that our Founders were men of faith whose Christianity was based on Scripture alone which made them children of the Reformation. We who are products of the public schools have been robbed of the truth of our heritage.

With open Bible, the New Covenant ideas of the priesthood of all believers and the equality of all men before God and the law became the foundation for modern political democracy. Ecclesiastical totalitarianism died a slow but certain death and with it the civil monarchy and aristocracy. The ideas of federalism and bicameralism were adopted to limit the concentration of power over ‘we the people’.

Now the point is this: The Constitution does not exist apart from its cultural context. Without this theological foundation our understanding of the Constitution is altogether skewed. It is NOT the product of autonomous man, but renewed man using his reason guided by revelation.

When political systems undermine this foundation then the Constitution is no better than the paper it is written on. The Constitution stands as an obstacle to centralized power over the people because that is its purpose. It is ‘WE THE PEOPLE’ that allow this centralization to occur because we give the political systems their power.

Man wants to suppress his innate knowledge of God because he thinks of himself as autonomous. He is his own god. And he will hold to nonsense so that he can deny his accountability to the God who reveals Himself in nature and in the conscience and in Jesus Christ. The power of this theology is not its truthfulness, but that it is agreeable to men in their rebellion against their creator.

When knowledge of the true God is suppressed then culture looses its objective standard of morality. Each man determines his own morality, and one man made morality is as good as the next one. No man can question what is right or wrong because there is no truth.

Now what is evident from the parable is that it is NOT a model of compassion for any government or government policy. The Samaritan willingly made use of his own resources to care for the one in need of help. He did not refer to Caesar for instructions or aid. What he did was out of personal sacrifice to help another.

The parable leaves us with the question: what is the motive and power to extend such compassion? These things have nothing to do with the state. They have everything to do with the Kingdom of God. Is God dependent on the temporary states of men to promote His eternal kingdom? Does the state have power over the hearts of men?

The origin of this compassion is the unmerited favor of God that humbles a man to the dust and puts his pride to death so that he is transformed in his thinking and willingly walks in the ways of God. Grace is the great motive and power behind compassion. Christians will be about this work with or without government interference. They know what it is to receive mercy and therefore are able to show mercy.

"And now," said Legree, "come here, you Tom. You see, I telled ye I didn't buy ye jest for the common work; I mean to promote ye, and make a driver of ye; and to-night ye may jest as well begin to get yer hand in. Now, ye jest take this yer gal and flog her; ye've seen enough on't to know how."

"I beg Mas'r's pardon," said Tom; "hopes Mas'r won't set me at that. It's what I an't used to, - never did, - and can't do, no way possible."

"'Ye'll larn a pretty smart chance of things ye never did know, before I've done with ye!" said Legree, taking up a cowhide, and striking Tom a heavy blow cross the cheek, and following up the infliction by a shower of blows.

"There!" he said, as he stopped to rest; "now, will ye tell me ye can't do it?"

"Yes, Mas'r," said Tom, putting up his hand, to wipe the blood, that trickled down his face. "I'm willin' to work, night and day, and work while there's life and breath in me; but this yer thing I can't feel it right to do; - and, Mas'r, I never shall do it, - never!"

Tom had a remarkably smooth, soft voice, and a habitually respectful manner, that had given Legree an idea that he would be cowardly, and easily subdued. When he spoke these last words, a thrill of amazement went through every one; the poor woman clasped her hands, and said, "O Lord!" and every one involuntarily looked at each other and drew in their breath, as if to prepare for the storm that was about to burst.

Legree looked stupefied and confounded; but at last burst forth, "What! ye blasted black beast! tell me ye don't think it right to do what I tell ye! What have any of you cussed cattle to do with thinking what's right? I'll put a stop to it! Why, what do ye think ye are? May be ye think yer a gentleman master, Tom, to be a telling your master what's right, and what ain't! So you pretend it's wrong to flog the gal!"

"I think so, Mas'r," said Tom; "'the poor crittur's sick and feeble; 't would be downright cruel, and it's what I never will do, nor begin to. Mas'r, if you mean to kill me, kill me; but, as to my raising my hand agin any one here, I never shall, - I'll die first!"

Tom spoke in a mild voice, but with a decision that could not be mistaken. Legree shook with anger...

"Well, here's a pious dog, at last, let down among us sinners! - a saint, a gentleman, and no less, to talk to us sinners about our sins! Powerful holy critter, he must be! Here, you rascal, you make believe to be so pious, - didn't you never hear, out of yer Bible, 'Servants, obey yer masters'? An't I yer master? Didn't I pay down twelve hundred dollars, cash, for all there is inside yer old cussed black shell? An't yer mine, now, body and soul?" he said, giving Tom a violent kick with his heavy boot; "tell me!"

Did Christ not say, “From the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh...’ Was He not referring to Adam and Eve and quoting from Genesis?

And again, “As it was in the days of Noah so it shall be at the coming of the Son of Man…” Was He not comparing the flood to the conditions of His coming? If we deny the flood will we also deny his coming again?

And again, do we believe the testimony of His eye witnesses, “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” If we deny that death entered by Adam’s sin, then will we deny the gospel that in Christ men are freed from sin and death?

We must hold fast to the testimony of Genesis because Christ and His Apostles confirmed the Genesis account of creation, the entrance of sin and death, and the flood and warned against the assumptions of uniformitarianism [2 Peter 3]. We do greatly err in accommodating these assumptions to the violation of Biblical Theology.

When is hatred acceptable for the Christian? Such a question repulses many. If we do a word search of “hate” in the Bible, the following quotes are found…

"It is with the Word that we must fight, by the Word we must overthrow and destroy what has been set up by violence. I will not make use of force against the superstitious and unbelieving...No one must be constrained. Liberty is the very essence of faith...I will preach, discuss, and write; but I will constrain none, for faith is a voluntary act...I have stood up against the pope, indulgences, and papists, but without violence or tumult I put forward God's Word; I preached and wrote--this was all I did. The Word alone did all. If I had wished to appeal to force, the whole of Germany would perhaps have been deluged with blood."

By articulating the Biblical doctrine of faith as wholly a gift of God, Luther undermined the Catholic inquisition and formulated the theological rationale for religious liberty.

We thank President Wilson for stating the liberal view of the kingdom. Jesus Christ is a failure and His promises cannot be trusted. The state is here to implement a ‘practical’ plan to bring in the kingdom of God on earth. Obamaism and the social gospel is nothing new.

Liberals like Wilson and Obama neglect the priority of the kingdom. In their view of man his problem is not sin; man has no need of righteousness. They think man can be perfected by meeting his physical and educational needs, and they can do it better than the church.

Where does such errors originate? Christ told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world. He told His people to ‘seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…’ [Matthew 6:33]. The apostle tells us plainly that the ‘kingdom is…righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ [Romans 14:17].

When liberals say they want separation of church and state, they do not mean a free church and a free state as the Founders meant. They want to separate the church from its legitimate role of benevolence and take it on themselves. They presume to know the purposes of God and have a ‘practical’ plan to perform them.

There was a consensus among the people of the necessity of a limited federal government to secure their God given rights to life, liberty and property. Today this consensus is gone.

There is a new ideology opposed to constitutional government that empowers the people. There is no concept of personal liberty under limited government because there is no basis for self-government. The priority is not to secure the right of men to equality under law, but to establish social and economic equality by an intrusive and expanding state. In the new America the Constitution limits the power of the people rather than the federal government.

Colonial Americans engaged in rebellion against a tyrannical government. The new Americans refuse to see that socialism is the road to tyranny. The original Americans risked everything for the advance of liberty. The socialist Americans line up to give away their liberty.

The originals believed that Biblical Christianity is essential for men to learn self denial and to be self-governing. The socialists reject their religious heritage and prove the colonials are right by advocating state sponsored coercion rather than liberty.

‘The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed…’ [Deuteronomy 28:43-45].

In that respect we deserve a greater condemnation than Israel because we have seen greater things and more evidence of the salvation of God than they did in their deliverance from Egypt. The types and shadows of Christ have come to full light in the NT revelation.

Now if the apostle commended the Bereans for searching the Scriptures to prove his preaching, then surely we ought to test our own pastors and teachers. ‘Test all things; hold fast what is good.’ Our authority is not men or church, but the Bible alone.

The Bible says to ‘study to show thyself approved unto God.’ Will you begin a study of the Great Awakening? Will you start by reading a sermon by Jonathan Edwards? If you will, then consider that he was preaching to his colonial American congregation, not to an assembly of masters of theology. This will demonstrate to you the level of degeneracy that has infected the Protestant churches. By that we mean that the emphasis is no longer on the teaching ministry and preparing the saints for the work of ministry.

http://www.apuritansmind.com/JonathanEdwards/JonathanEdwards-Sermons.htm

The Law says to be faithful to our spouse, but the depravity of men will prevent him from the joy of the legitimate expression of his sexuality.

The progressives advocate anything that is contrary to the Law. Porno, sodomy, pedophilia, bestiality mark the progression into sexual perversion of men given over to reprobation.

What is porno except an aid in committing adultery in the heart?

The Founders were unenlightened as to the fruits of the reprobate. As reasonable and sane men they saw these things as abominations and an offense to nature and to nature’s God. Seeing these things as enlightened and progressive requires adherence to a false religion like radical naturalism.

Nations have walked this path before…

This is the view of autonomous man. Blinded to the revelations of God and full of pride, his depravity has come to full bloom.

God is revealed in the creation of all things that exists, but this man has suppressed the truth and exchanged it for radical naturalism. All that exists is not created because that would require a Creator.

God has revealed Himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ, but He was crucified by men who were unable to recognize Him. It is no different today. He is rejected by men because they are blinded by the prince of darkness to do his will.

Now this blindness is deceitful for the blind man boasts as if he could see what is unseen. It escapes his notice that his life is but a vapor. All he has and treasures will soon be gone including his body. The memory of him will perish. The unseen reality of the eternal will soon overwhelm him.

Men like Tony Snow, who are given to see the unseen as through a glass dimly, now realize the reality that they lived by faith…