Note: This is the final in a three-part series of articles from MorningStar Ministries’ Rick Joyner. Click here for part 1 and click here for part 2.
So the Supreme Court has made its ruling on gay marriage. What can we do about it?
1. We must resolve that we will obey God rather than men. The Supreme Court does not have authority over the Supreme Being. Christians are commanded to respect and obey the laws of civil governments until they conflict with the laws of God. Then we must obey God rather than men. This test has come frequently in history, and is a basic determining factor in who we are really worshipping.
We will all one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ. The worst thing we could suffer is to come before Him as a watchman who did not sound the alarm, or a shepherd who failed to protect His flock. Let us resolve above all things that we will obey Him regardless of the consequences. The greatest souls to ever walk the earth were all similarly tried. Many of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ risk their lives every day to worship and obey Him. Now it is the American church’s time to be tested.
2. Know what you believe, and why. We must resolve to base our convictions on the clearly revealed Word of God in the Scriptures and to reject the enemy’s devices to confuse them. If Jesus, who is the Word, would take His stand on “It is written!” how much more do we need to know what is written and resolve that we will believe and live by it regardless of what anyone thinks of us?
Spurgeon once said he could find 10 men who would die for the Bible for every one who would read it. This is likewise a great tragedy of our times and a reason why so few believers are true salt and light as they are called to be. Have the noble spirit of the Bereans who, even after hearing the great Apostle Paul, went back to search the Scriptures for themselves to see if the things he taught were true.
3. Engage in the crucial issues of our times. According to Isaiah 1-5, an ultimate depravity a nation can fall into is to start calling evil good and good evil, to honor the dishonorable, and dishonor the honorable. Good is what God calls good, and evil is what He calls evil, not what is politically expedient. Because the U.S. has fallen to this ultimate depravity, we are now suffering the first of the consequences of this that is foretold.
The first judgment against such a nation is to be ruled over by the capricious and immature. How else could you better describe what has happened to our country? It gets worse if we do not repent. The things that will soon come cascading down upon us are not the Lord smiting us as much as Him just removing His hedge of protection, so that we reap what we are sowing.
For the sake of our country, our fellow believers, and even our enemies, we must never compromise our convictions, regardless of the consequences. It is time to be bold. The great ones who have taken such a stand in history have often lost all they had, including their freedom and in many cases their lives. But they never lost their faith in God. It is worth any price to remain faithful and not compromise His truth that has been entrusted to us.
The only reason why anti-Christian forces are prevailing in America is because the church is asleep, or worse, lukewarm. As we are warned in James 4:17, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, it is sin.” If just a small fraction of the evangelical church had voted in the last two elections, we would have different leaders, and we would have a different Supreme Court. We would not be talking about these issues that are now trouncing upon our liberty.
From the Executive to the courts to the Legislative branches, the Federal Government has become dysfunctional and incapable of leading through these times. Democracy has not failed, but we have failed democracy. We did this by allowing all the things the founders warned us the Republic could not survive. In many ways, our Republic is now on the brink of collapse. Yet it will not collapse, if we turn to the One who upholds the universe by the Word of His power. He can restore us.
The Lord promised that if just two or three would gather in His name, He would be with them. Two or three with Jesus is an overwhelming majority against even the biggest forces of evil. Do not be like the 10 evil spies who were intimidated by how big the giants were in their land; be like the faithful Joshua and Caleb who saw the same giants, but saw how much bigger their God was than any of them.
4. Never forget that “Love never fails.” We must love the Lord above all else. We must love our neighbor as ourselves. If we love someone, we will tell them the truth. If we love the truth, we will devote ourselves to finding it, and then obeying it, always keeping in mind that truth is what God says it is, not what men say it is, even those on the Supreme Court.
Always remember that God’s definition of a word is what counts. His ways are higher than our ways, and His love is higher than our love. His love is not like that which is based on human sympathy or lust. His love will never fail, and it is His love that we must seek and walk in. His love is also severe at times. Do not confuse fallen human emotions with His love.
Keep in mind that the heathen only believe as we would believe if we had not been shown grace. They are only doing what we would be doing if we had not been shown grace. It is not just a cliché but sober truth that “except for the grace of God there go I.” We must pray for grace for our adversaries, and the greatest victory of all is their salvation.
5. “Love never quits.” This is how the verse from 1 Corinthians 13 could have been translated, and it also applies. Do not give up on your country. The greatest prophets arose, and the moves of God in history all came during the times of greatest darkness and debauchery. Regardless of whether or not we personally get to see it in this life, the truth of God will ultimately prevail. The nations will come to His light, just as we are promised in Isaiah 60:1-3 and other places.
We must not put limits on how long we will stand or what cost we will pay to stand for God and His truth. We do not just stand for truth because it is the winning side, but because truth is our oxygen. God’s truth will ultimately win, but for His own reasons, the Lord often allows setbacks to test His people. Truth will win over all deception and lies, but we may not get to see that in our lifetime; however, our life can help lead to this victory if we live by the truth. We stand because it is the right thing to do.
Just as the apostles went out rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for the sake of the name of the Lord, to be persecuted for His truth is one of the greatest honors one can have in this life. This is something we now get to do. It is now our time.
Don’t give up. The ship can still be saved. It is heavily damaged and listing to the port side (left), but as long as it is still floating, we must resolve to save her. We cannot allow to be lost on our watch what so many paid such a high price to found and to preserve.
6. Walk in the truth. Again, truth is what God says it is. The first principle of walking in truth is to know what God has said about the matter and to obey this. We must not continue getting our worldview from humanistic philosophies such as political correctness, but rather on what God has clearly said. That being said, it is not enough to merely know the truth, or stand for it, if we ourselves are not walking in it.
One of the greatest veils of deception on all people is rooted in the tendency to judge people or groups by their most extreme elements. Conservatives do this to liberals, and liberals do it to conservatives. Christians do this to the LGBT, and the LGBT does it to Christians. It is not right to do this, and is in itself a deception.
As the Apostle Paul wrote that we should not judge anyone after the flesh (externals) but after the Spirit, and Martin Luther King Jr. prayed that the day would come when we would no longer judge each other by the color of our skin but the content of our character, this is a good time to practice it. It is the right thing to do regardless of whether the other side does it or not.
7. It is time for Christians to boycott. I would never advocate using tactics such as those found in Rules for Radicals because they are diabolical. The second reason I would not use them is that they are good for short-term success, but are almost always ultimately counter-productive. You can force someone to say what you want or do what you want, but it will never be in their heart if they are forced. In fact, they will hate being manipulated and pressured, and will rebel against it as soon as they get the chance.
The truth has more dignity than to stoop to such tactics as those taught in Rules for Radicals. However, Christians have never really used one of our most powerful weapons—the power of the boycott. It is not unrighteous to stop buying from those who are supporting attacks on our faith and liberty. That is just wisdom. It is now time to use this.
If even 10 percent of Americans who claim to be Christians boycotted any company or industry, the consequences would be immediate and dramatic. There would quickly be far more concern for this than anything other anti-Christian groups could ever hope to counter. Besides, we should be supporting those companies and businesses that share our values.
We will have much more to say on this later. For now, resolve that you will know the truth, stand for the truth, and link up with others who are doing the same. We would welcome any of you who are not already members of The Oak Initiative to join us, by visiting our website at theoakinitiative.org.
There is much more that can be and is being said on this ultimate battle for our country and our faith. As this battle continues to intensify, never forget 1 Corinthians 15:58:
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
Rick Joyner is the founder and executive director of MorningStar Ministries in Fort Mill, South Carolina. For the original article, visit morningstarministries.org.
