Last week we began to discuss the link between the judicial tyranny threatening our Republic and how the church has been a culprit in this. We need to briefly elaborate on how this is so.

 

In Matthew 16, Jesus asked His disciples who men say that He is. This is the dialogue that followed in Matthew 16:16-19:

 

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

 

The “rock” that The Lord is building His church on is not Peter, which means “a little stone,” but rather the rock that is The Father’s revelation about who Jesus is. No one is part of His true church because they had parents that knew The Lord or sit under a pastor that does. We must each have our own revelation from The Father of who Jesus is.

 

Then Jesus states the authority of this church to prevail over the gates of hell, and what is bound on earth gets bound in heaven and what it loosed on earth gets loosed in heaven. Heaven here is not just the next life—it is a term often used as a reference to the spiritual realm. This is a statement about the remarkable and yet rarely understood and untapped authority given to the church that what it releases on earth is pervasive in the spiritual realm. When we understand the prevalence of the spiritual realm over the earth, we understand its influence over the affairs of mankind.

 

So how might this apply with regard to our government, Constitution, and the judicial tyranny that our Founding Fathers warned would be the greatest threat to the Republic? In I Corinthians 6, the Apostle Paul lamented that there were no judges among the church in Corinth. They were called to “judge angels,” but it was to their shame that they could not find a single one wise enough to judge the small matters of this life. Now let us consider, is there a church anywhere where such wise judges can be found?

 

New Testament church government was modeled after the Old Testament government that Moses established for Israel and was carried over into the Promised Land. In this model, elders sat in the gates of cities to judge the people, hearing and deciding disputes and even carrying out judicial duties, such as authenticating deeds. The elders established in the New Testament churches were likewise expected to be the judges of the congregations when needed. Paul lamented to the Corinthian church that their elders were not doing this. When he said that this was “to their shame,” he was likely being far more prophetic than he may have realized, as this lack could be attributed to most of the shame that the body of Christ has suffered to this day.

 

In Psalm 89:14 we are told that righteousness and justice are the foundations of The Lord’s throne, which is His authority. Righteousness and justice go together—you cannot have one without the other. If we are called to judge angels, how is it possible that we do not have such justice in the church? Why is the world not beating a path to our door seeking our wisdom for justice? It does not do this because the church might be the last place they think of as having the wisdom of just and righteous judges. We have strayed that far.

 

Now there are many false teachings circulating in the church about God’s judgment, not to mention our calling to have righteous and wise judges in the church. So the result is basically judicial tyranny in the church where those with control spirits dominate. Or we have anarchy in the church where elders are afraid to judge anything. Do we not have the same in our country? We have those presuming and usurping authority that do not legally have to impose their own opinions and prejudices on the land, or we have those who literally let murderers get away with it.

 

So what is the solution? First, we need sound teaching on the judgment of God, the Judgment Seat of Christ—the authority that leaders in the church such as elders have “to judge those who are in the church,” as Paul asserted that we must. Since judicial tyranny and judicial anarchy are now the greatest threats to our country, the church that is called to be the light of this world should have answers to these ultimate issues with a righteous devotion to justice that even the world would start to desire. 

 

         Righteousness is doing what is right in the sight of The Lord. Justice is basically about people being treated fairly, and The Lord cares deeply about that as well. Both of these are key factors if we are going to build our houses on the rock and stand against the storms.