Independence Day just passed and what a strange celebration it was. Here in California, we were ordered to not gather together to celebrate our freedom due to Covid-19, with many putting on their own firework shows because everything was closed.
We were also told to not sing, or chant in church. What does the Bible say?
We are reminded in Psalm 100, A Psalm of Thanksgiving to Make a joyful shout to the Lord, [a]all you lands! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and [b]not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
Jesus told the governing authorities, who warned to people to stop singing, “Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”, that if they stopped singing, “even the rocks would cry out. God is worthy of our praise.
Pastor Martin Saine, Jerry Mongello, and Mary Selby spend an hour discussing our Constitutional rights and the protections that have been undermined during this time of Covid-19.
The founders believed that men are moral beings, asked to do right, but fail and therefore a government is needed to correct and restrain men’s moral failings. However, because those who are in charge of government have moral failings, the government must be controlled by those it governs to prevent those in power from becoming tyrants.
James Madison said in Federalist 51, “It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices [checks and balances] should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/primary-source-documents/the-federalist-papers/federalist-papers-no-51/
The Declaration of Independence begins:
“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
The rights, that we have as Americans, are guaranteed by the Constitution and are not from those in political power. God gave us “inalienable rights” that can not be taken away by a person or a government. The right to worship is protected by the United States Constitution and our State Constitutions, so when a governor says that churches cannot sing or must be closed, he or she is infringing upon both God given rights, our “inalienable rights”, as well as our Constitutionally protected rights.
The First Amendment states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
When Peter and John were arrested for preaching and teaching about Jesus, they were told to never preach again, the response should be our response when the government orders those things that go against God’s Word: But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” Acts 5: 29.
Are you willing to stand on the Word of God in obedience? Pray for our nation. Pray for those in governing authority. Pray for boldness.
Educate yourself by keeping in the Word and learning about the Constitution. https://online.hillsdale.edu/courses/constitution-101