HopeLives365

Mark Finley: The majority will conform, but there will be those who are loyal, those who are faithful, those who would rather die than yield their conscientious conviction. The commitment to please Jesus in everything, the commitment to have Jesus as our leader, Jesus as our teacher, Jesus as the one whom we obey.

Announcer: This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message, When Liberty Falls. Enjoy, and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up-to-date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to HopeLives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: It was Tuesday morning, July 2, 1776 in Philadelphia. It had been raining hard since 6 o'clock in the morning. By 9 o'clock, almost 50 delegates arrived at the State House on Walnut Street where the Second Continental Congress was in session. The room was steamy, but keeping the windows closed against the rain also kept out the horseflies from the nearby stable.

For almost 15 months, the colonists had been fighting the Redcoats, there the Brits, without any formal declaration of war or even a formal declaration of independence. But the people were becoming impatient, and the feeling of independence was running high. And yet, it was not an easy thing to decide to cut much of the continent with its 2.5 million inhabitants free from the British Empire.

It was felt that in such a weighty decision, the vote must be virtually unanimous. But the day before, after stirring debate, the vote had been indecisive. So the radicals had been working fervently to override the opposition. It seemed now that only Delaware was stalemated with one delegate for and one against, and one back home on business.

The Secretary, Charles Thomson, began reading the resolution that allowed for another vote. And then, over the wet cobblestones came the sound of horse hooves. Farmer Caesar Rodney, Delaware's third delegate, had heard that his delegation was deadlocked, and he had ridden all night to cast the deciding vote.

Soaking wet, his face splattered with mud, he entered the hall and said simply, “The thunder and rain delayed me, but I am here to vote now for liberty.” So it was that the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously for independence. All that was necessary now was to justify its stand before the world.

Back in June, a tall, red-haired Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, had been asked to prepare a draft for the declaration. They would come together on July 4 to sign it. Among the many legends of that day is one that tells of the old bell ringer. He had been told to be on hand to start ringing as soon as the word was out.

Pessimistic, he waited with one hand on the rope in the old belfry and muttered, “They'll never sign it, they'll never sign it, they'll never sign it.” But sign it they did. The story has it that a little boy was stationed outside the great colonial door. Watching through the huge keyhole, he saw a movement of chairs and heard the shuffle of excited feet.

Running to the bell tower, he shouted, “Ring, Grandpa! Ring for liberty!” The Declaration of Independence raised the sights and objectives of a new nation. It set a new standard for a free society. It was a lofty ideal and a long-range goal. And this year, 2026, America celebrates 250 years of liberty in the Declaration of Independence.

America is synonymous with freedom, political and religious freedom. But could this freedom be lost even in a land dedicated to its protection? Could it be carelessly sacrificed, carelessly sacrificed, upon a modern altar of conformity? Our forces, even now silent, and all but unnoticed, forging handcuffs for the consciences of men.

Those early framers of the Declaration of Independence were guided not by their own thoughts, but were providentially guided by God. When the Pilgrims courageously left Europe on the little Mayflower and crossed the Atlantic to the unknown world of the United States, they came to escape the totalitarian religious oppression of the past. They longed to be free from persecution, free from the fires of tyranny, and wanted to found a country with both civil and religious liberty.

Their hearts yearned for a republican democratic form of government, and a nation without a state where they knew all too well the abuses of the union of church and state in Europe. When their boat pulled into the harbor off Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the first band of Pilgrims set foot on these hallowed shores, they knelt thanking God for their safe journey.

The first colony they built, the Plymouth Colony, enabled them to give honor, praise, and glory to God. The Pilgrims were men and women of faith, of stalwart devotion to God. At their first Thanksgiving feast, they praised God for an abundant harvest. But yet, if you study the history of the Puritans, they began to pass religious laws where everybody had to go to church on the first day of the week.

It's quite remarkable. Those who came to the United States to pursue religious liberty, began to restrict religious liberty. It was Roger Williams, who had been a Puritan, but who became concerned about Puritanism and in 1639 became a Baptist, that was forced to leave the Plymouth Colony, forced to leave Massachusetts, and he went to Rhode Island, where he established a state built on religious liberty.

The flag of the United States stands tall on religious liberty today. The breeze unfolds this flag of freedom. Those early Americans made clear statements about the separation of church and state, largely pioneered by Roger Williams. They had seen the abuses of the system in Europe. They were concerned it not happen here. They saw what was taking place in early America, the Puritan movement.

It was George Washington, who in 1789 said, "Every man conducting himself as a good citizen and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, are to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience." The early framers of the Constitution took pains to write in guarantees, guarantees of religious freedom and of liberty.

They were concerned that church and state never unite. Ben Franklin was quite witty when he said, "When religion is good, I can see that it will support itself. When it cannot support itself and God does not take care to support it, so that its professors are obliged to call for help from civil power, it's a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."

Ben Franklin's point is well taken. If God can't take care of the church and you have to appeal to the government, the cause must not be too very good. US Grant, Civil War general and president in the 1800s, said, "Leave the matter of religious teaching to the family altar, the church, and private schools, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate."

The United States was built on the principle of individuals worshipping in harmony with the dictates of their own consciences, and the principle of tolerance for people of religious beliefs that are others than our own. As you think back to history, what does history tell us about when church and state unite?

Do we have any lessons in history? Let's go back for a moment to the Middle Ages, where the church and the state were essentially one. The bloodshed of thousands during that period of time was a graphic testimony to our Pilgrim Fathers with the necessity of religious liberty. Consider Henry Arnaud, and his band of Waldensians, one spring morning high on the Sugar Loaf Mountain, there in Northern Italy, he made his troops ready for attack.

“My lads, we shall sleep up there tonight,” was the Colonel's proud boast. He even invited the villagers to a public hanging to take place the next day. “Come and see the end of the Waldensians.” Now who were these Waldensians? They were a small group of faithful Bible-believing Christians who dared to be different.

They defied the orders of the state church to compromise their integrity. They would not accept any leader except Jesus Christ. They would not accept the traditions of men and the decrees of the church in the place of the Word of God. For them, the commands of God were more important than the traditions of men.

High atop the peak, the of that mountain, the Waldensian leader opened his Bible. And history records that he has read to his men from Psalm 24, verses 2 and 3, and I quote, "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive."

He prepared with 20,000 troops, troops and Waldensians to climb the mountain. God moved powerfully. All went well as the enemy approached them, until, just as his best climbers were ready to reach the timbers of the mountain fort, Arnaud's men let down upon them a volley of stones.

The troops fell back and wounded. The wounded Colonel Asfourne was given refuge in a Waldensian fort. When next they were attacked, they slipped when the Waldensians were attacked, they slipped away in the blackness of the night in a dense fog over the most precipitous rocks in their stocking feet to safety.

When the soldiers in the morning closed in for the kill, they found only empty barracks. Far out of reach on the heights above walked the Waldensians. The soldiers were so upset, they cursed. They said, "Heaven seems to take special interest in preserving these people." But it was not always so. At last came the day when 250 Waldensians were trapped in a cave by the soldiers.

A fire was built at the opening and oxygen was consumed. They sang praises to God until breath was gone. Along with thousands of others, the Waldensians died rather than compromise their integrity. They died rather than surrender their liberty.

Will persecution ever come again in this world for Christians? I am well aware that there are some Christians right now in countries where the religious aristocracy rules, where Christians are imprisoned, Christians are being persecuted, because the government wants to control beliefs. But I wonder, will persecution ever come to America? Will liberty ever fade here?

Announcer: We'll be right back with Pastor Mark Finley. We thank you for listening and hope you're enjoying today's message. Our mission is to attractively present the Christ-centered biblical truths of scripture in a practical, relevant way to people around the world so that they may experience the abundant life that Christ offers, and effectively share with confidence His life-changing truths with others. You can support this ministry and help us reach even more by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, back to Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: Will liberty ever fade here? In Jesus' masterful sermon in Luke chapter 21, verses 10 to 12, Christ says this, "Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom." Now this is speaking about the last days. "And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences, and fearful sights and great signs there shall be from the heavens." We see that today, don't we? But listen to this. "But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons, and you'll be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake." Luke 21:10-12.

The Savior continues with these thought-provoking words in verses 15 and 16. "For I'll give you a mouth and wisdom which are your which your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist. And you shall be betrayed by both parents and brethren and kinsfolk and friends, and some of you shall be caused to be put to death, and you'll be hated for all men for My name's sake." The prophecies of the Book of Revelation add in graphic detail regarding these final days of our history. They predict that a giant confederation of evil, a church-state union, will seek to compel false worship and the penalty of resistance will be death. The decree will be passed evidently worldwide, but it will of course involve our nation too. Revelation 13:15 says, "As many as would not worship the beast would be killed." This beast power, church and state uniting.

"It couldn't happen here," you say. And yet you know as well as I do that some of our personal liberties are being subtly undermined even today. Our daily lives are more and more being affected by legislation, being scrutinized. Our privacy is almost a thing of the past when you think about the fact that our bank accounts can be tracked, our cell phones can be tracked, when you think about the fact that what we watch on computer or is being observed.

If you watch, you can see that the wedge of intolerance is steadily pushing in. Now combine this with the fact that the moral fabric of society is falling apart. Divorce is rampant, crime is of epidemic proportion, drugs are commonplace, sexual immorality and violence on television have become the norm. There's a cry for the masses to restore family values. We're already seeing a backlash from the liberalism of the past through the secular humanism of our society.

The average citizen recognizes that scrapping our moral values in the 20th century has produced the devastating social conditions in our families and in our cities in the 21st century. Remember what it says in Proverbs chapter 14, verse 34, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." When you look at the Old Testament, you know, in my life now I'm reading the Bible through again, and I'm reading Isaiah and Jeremiah.

When the nation of Israel, God's chosen people, the people that God ordained, when they drifted from God, when they began to worship idols, God withdrew His hand from them and there were devastating results. In Jeremiah, which I just read today, chapter 5, verse 25, it says, "Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withheld good things from you." Think about that, "Your sins have withheld good things from you."

When a nation rebels against God, when its moral values are falling apart, God withholds good things. And there can be a total swinging of the pendulum from the ultra-left of liberalism to the ultra-right of conservatism, where the religious liberties are restricted. As the moral fabric of society continues to fall apart, and natural disasters increase, there will be a swing back to morality, a very strict morality, even a forced morality.

It would take only a few major earthquakes or other natural disasters to cause people to ask, "What's wrong? This must be a judgment from God." And then would come, could it be that there could then come religious legislation in an attempt to avoid further disaster, that would restrict religious liberty? Now, don't misunderstand me. God is calling for a spiritual revival in this land.

I love Second Chronicles. Here in Chronicles, God is calling for spiritual renewal. God is calling for spiritual revival in this land, but a true revival based on the Word of God, based on the supremacy of Christ, and this is what God says. Second Chronicles 7:14, "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

So the question before us here in America, is not, "Will religious legislation save our land?" The question before us is not, "Will enforced worship save our land?" Here's the question before us, "Will we on our knees repent of our sin? Will we on our knees seek God? Will we on our knees commit ourselves to obedience to God's Word?"

Remember, righteousness exalts a nation. Nations are great when nations are good. But when nations are not good, nations cease from being great. The solution to America's problems is not legislation. The solution to America's problems is men and women whose hearts are transformed and converted. In Jeremiah 17:9, it says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked."

The history of nations that have tried to legislate religion, whether those are Muslim nations, whether they are Hindu nations, whether they are previously so-called Christian nations. You try to legislate religion and you oppress the minorities. You try to you destroy religious liberty and that only ends up ultimately in disaster. What then is the solution? Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked."

The solution to America's problems is a moral revolution. It's a moral revolution. It's a spiritual revolution, where the Spirit of God changes lives. I think of what it says in Ezekiel chapter 36 and onward. In Ezekiel 36, verse 26, He says, "I'll give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I'll take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes. You'll keep My judgments and do them."

Jesus says to us through the prophet Ezekiel, "I will give you a new heart. A new heart I'll give you." Do you remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter 3? There in Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzar builds this image all of gold. And it is a counterfeit image based on his fact that he desires to rule forever and ever. In Daniel chapter 2, you have an image of the history of the world. The great image with the head of gold, and breast and arms of silver, and thighs of brass, and legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. The great nations that would rule the world in from Daniel's time to our time, Babylon, and Media-Persia, and Greece, and Rome, and the breakup of the Roman Empire.

Nebuchadnezzar didn't like that. He didn't like that a nation was going to rule after him. So he built a counterfeit image all of gold. This counterfeit image that was all of gold represented Babylon, the nation of Babylon, that Nebuchadnezzar wanted to rule forever. And so Nebuchadnezzar, a universal world ruler, passes a universal decree. Church and state unite in the days of Babylon. And as they do, everyone is invited to come to the plains of Dura. And there on the plains of Dura, they're invited to come. Did I say invited? The Bible says they're commanded to come. Political powers of the state unite with the political powers of religion, they come.

They're forced to bow down to that image, that image all of gold. To bow down means you violate the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." It means you bow you you violate the second commandment, which says, "Thou shalt not worship any graven image." It means you violate the third commandment that says, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." because to bow down, they'll be worshipping a pagan god, while pretending to be faithful to the true God. They would violate the fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Why? Because that acknowledges that God is the Creator. And to worship any other god, any other image, would to deny the Creator of God. So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego go onto that plain of Dura. They refuse to bow down. Why? Because the Holy Spirit, Ezekiel 36, has changed their hearts, put a new spirit within them.

They stand when the rest of the world bows down. They stand when the rest of the world then kneels. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were roughly thrown into the fiery furnace. Miraculously, they were not consumed. As the King looked in, he saw a fourth being in their midst. Immediately he sensed that this divine supernatural being was the Son of God. Once again in the earth in the last days of earth's history, there'll be a counterfeit image. Once again church and state will unite. Once again, the dragon, Satan, will try to destroy those whose hearts are transformed by God's grace, and who through God's power are obedient to Him. The dragon, that's Satan, and the woman is God's church. And the Bible says in Revelation 12:17, "The dragon was wroth with the woman, went to make war with the remnant of her seed." Satan is angry with God's people and goes to make war. Often, people will go with the majority rather than stand faithful with the minority.

Announcer: You've been listening to HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at HopeLives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.

Mark Finley: God is calling you, my friend, to be faithful to Him. He calls us to do and He gives us the power to do it. Whatever He asks us to do, He gives us the strength to do. When church and state unite, when man-made compromises are forced upon Christianity, when faithful men and women cannot buy or sell, when liberty fades in America and around the world, and when the penalty of death hangs over our heads, Christ speaks with a still small voice, and He says, "Do not yield, I will be with you." The words of the ancient prophet come echoing and re-echoing down the centuries, "Choose you this day whom you will serve, and let it be the Lord." Let's pray together. Father in heaven, crises are going to come. This nation has stood for religious liberty. But Lord, I pray Thee that in these final crises we would choose this day whom you we will serve. Help us in the small tests of life, in the things we face today, to be faithful to You, now and forever, through Your grace and by Your power, in Jesus' name. Amen.