Our Sinful Desire For Leaders

"Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adversity; thou knowest what it is to be banished thy native country, to be overruled as well as to rule, and set upon the throne; and being oppressed thou hast reason to know now hateful the oppressor is both to God and man: If after all these warnings and advertisements, thou dost not turn unto the Lord with all thy heart, but forget him who remembered thee in thy distress, and give up thyself to follow lust and vanity, surely great will be thy condemnation. Against which snare, as well as the temptation of those who may or do feed thee, and prompt thee to evil, the most excellent and prevalent remedy will be, to apply thyself to that light of Christ which shineth in thy conscience and which neither can, nor will flatter thee, nor suffer thee to be at ease in thy sins."

-Barclay's Address to Charles II

How oft our leaders today have not known because of their wealth and their prosperity born into families of wealth and prosperity, given the highest of educations that only the rich can obtain, provided their food and their goods, by silver spoons while sitting in silver mansions, driving golden cars, with unknown quantities of cash, how oft they have not known poverty and oppression, and the pain of suffering need. How can they be anything more than oppressors and dictators, for compassion is not learned through ease but learned through the acquisition of suffering the pains and sorrows shared by others as well. To not know these things, to never have suffered with the least, but to only have lived as the elite, how can we expect much more than the mere pennies they throw our way, while robbing us of our sweat daily we bear in labor under their oppressive rulership. Common sense tells us a man selected to rule who has not known these things, cannot truly rule at all in fairness or justly. Yet, we seem desirous as humans for reasons unknown on selecting those to rule that are more apt to oppress than those who have known oppression – Dr. Joseph Wayne Black

The first quote can be found in Thomas Paine's famous writing "Common Sense".

In this writing of Thomas Paine, he is not only arguing against the monarchy of England or it's King but making an argument why America must succeed from British rule. If you have not read this famous historical book of 1776, I would invite you to.

My argument I wish to present here, is that for whatever reason men and women, have a desire to always have a human powering over them, rather than being just a child of the Father and only subject to God and His kingdom. The jews of the Old Testament made this same error in sin, and even today from the time of the Apostles deaths, man who once served no one but Christ begin to give what once was their allegiance to Christ their high priest, began to seek again men among themselves. They sought men to be their priest, their ruler, their special man, speaking the oracles of God, laying out the rules to life, etc. The letter from Ignatius to the Magnesians, makes this very clear. Ignatius someone who apparently served in some capacity of eldership either in the already formulation of an institution of Christianity other than the Ekklesia that the Apostles laid down that was built on the foundation of Christ began to set forth the error that would for all time even unto the present, distract those who would know Christ and him alone as their King. These men of the early rise of the clergy/lay system decided to put humans in the position that of a shepard, priest or pastor which belongs to Christ alone. Popery was born out of the words of Ignatius, and popery it has been since. The odd thing is that man so often desires to have human leaders, who are but human themselves. The temple and the priesthood of old was replaced by Christ the high priest, and His creation of the Ekklesia, His called out one's which is the only Temple God will dwell in both individually and corporately. For we are the His Temple, Christ being the true temple of God, and we are joined with Him, if we are His.
Christ did not die on a cross, and suffer shame to build a new religion, with priest and Temples. Judaism already had that, all the pagan religions have that, why in God's name would men seek other men to power over them rather than God himself to be their Father, Christ their King, and High Priest and the Holy Spirit their Pastor?

It is the sinfulness of men, that seeks this, for as long as a human can be some sort of representative of God, then God is made into the image of men, rather than the truth which is Man is to be the image of God. Men always choose to worship the creation rather then the Creator. The book of Romans and the first chapter makes this very clear.

Thus when Christ died the Temple veil was torn into, for now the sinless priest had entered the Holy of Holies, once and for all, for all sinners. No longer would there be a need for a priest to enter, and make sacrifice for sin, no more. This is spelled out very clearly in the book of Hebrews. This explains the lack of need of anymore earthly priest to represent God's spokesman, God's leader or God's man.
For only one man is worthy of leadership, only one person who ever walked this earth, His name is Yeshua- Jesus- Lord of Lords, and King of Kings! It is here we see that Jesus not only is the better rest, replacing Sabbatarianism, where Jesus is the better King, replacing earthly Kings, where Jesus is the better priest, replacing all earthly priest, where Jesus is the better sacrifice, replacing all earthly sacrifices, where Jesus is the only Pastor, Priest that men will ever need.
Where God the Father appoints his children a place with the King, that all who cry upon His name, and have placed their faith and trust in Him have been declared as kings and priest unto Him, as His Holy Spirit the very Spirit of the risen Saviour and King has come to dwell within men, that is all men that have recieved Him as their only priest and king. Anything other than this, is "paganism".
Anything other than Christ as King, who knows your temptations, your pain, your agony, your struggle against sin, He who overcame sin, who knew no sin, is the one that has come to reside in the believer. It is the Holy Spirit who is to lead you into all truth. Anything other than the Holy Spirit as your teacher is not only anti-biblical but anti-Christ.
Thus John writes,in chapter two verse 27:
"And as for you, the anointing which you recieved from Him abides in you, and you have NO NEED for ANYONE to teach YOU: but as His anointing teaches you about ALL THINGS,and is TRUE and is not a LIE, and just as it has been taught you, you ABIDE IN HIM!"

Paul knew and John knew that the clergy/lay system would come about, they warned that there were wolves among the sheep just waiting until they were gone, that would jump on the sheep, and seek to draw them from Christ, to once again, a religious system made up of men, "acting as God, standing in the temple of God".
Men have been doing this since the death of the Apostles, developing and creating an organization that once was organic and not an institution. Out of it was born POPERY, and no matter what PROTESTANTS say, they have chosen to be in that very system, by their honor to a human called the Pastor. The Pastor simply replaced the priest and the church hierarchy and it's denominational Presidents, and so forth simply replaced the Pope and his cardinals. Men has still fallen to the sin of desiring men to rule over them, fallen sinful men to stand in the place of God, speaking as if he was God, and ruling as if he was a god. Men sinned in Christianity as quickly as ancient Israel did in their desire for a King rather than God as their King. I close this with Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" quote of this ancient story from the Old Testament. A nice summation of even Israel's desire to have a man to rule over them just like the pagan's had, and God's response to it all. Here it is:

Government by kings was first introduced into the world by the Heathens, from whom the children of Israel copied the custom. It was the most prosperous invention the Devil ever set on foot for the promotion of idolatry. The Heathens paid divine honors to their deceased kings, and the christian world hath improved on the plan by doing the same to their living ones. How impious is the title of sacred majesty applied to a worm, who in the midst of his splendor is crumbling into dust.
As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the authority of scripture; for the will of the Almighty, as declared by Gideon and the prophet Samuel, expressly disapproves of government by kings. All anti-monarchial parts of scripture have been very smoothly glossed over in monarchial governments, but they undoubtedly merit the attention of countries, which have their governments yet to form. 'Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's' is the scriptural doctrine of courts, yet it is no support of monarchial government, for the jews at that time were without a king, and in a state of vassalage to the Romans.
Near three thousand years passed away from the Mosaic account of the creation, till the Jews under a national delusion requested a king. Till then their form of government (except in extraordinary cases, where the Almighty interposed) was a kind of republic administered by a judge and the elders of the tribes. Kings they had none, and it was held sinful to acknowledge any being under that title but the Lords of Hosts. And when a man seriously reflects on the idolatrous homage which is paid to the persons of Kings, he need not wonder, that the Almighty, ever jealous of his honor, should disapprove of a form of government which so impiously invades the prerogative of heaven. Monarchy is ranked in scripture as one of the sins of the jews, for which a curse in reserve is denounced against them. The history of that transaction is worth attending to.The children of Israel being oppressed by the Midianites, Gideon marched against them with a small army, and victory, thro' the divine interposition, decided in his favor. The Jews elate with success, and attributing it to the generalship of Gideon, proposed making him a king, saying, Rule thou over us, thou and thy son and thy son's son. Here was temptation
in its fullest extent; not a kingdom only, but an hereditary one, but Gideon in the piety of his soul replied, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, THE LORD SHALL
RULE OVER YOU. Words need not be more explicit; Gideon doth not decline the honor
but denieth their right to give it; neither doth be compliment them with invented
declarations of his thanks, but in the positive stile of a prophet charges them with
disaffection to their proper sovereign, the King of Heaven.
About one hundred and thirty years after this, they fell again into the same error. The hankering which the jews had for the idolatrous customs of the Heathens, is something exceedingly unaccountable; but so it was, that laying hold of the misconduct of Samuel's two sons, who were entrusted with some secular concerns, they came in an abrupt and clamorous manner to Samuel, saying, Behold thou art old and thy sons walk not in thy ways, now make us a king to judge us like all the other nations. And here we cannot but observe that their motives were bad, viz. that they might be like unto other nations, i. e. the Heathens, whereas their true glory laid in being as much unlike them as possible. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us; and Samuel prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, THAT I SHOULD NOT REIGN OVER THEM. According to all the works which have done since the day; wherewith they brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day; wherewith they have forsaken me and served other Gods; so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice, howbeit, protest solemnly unto them and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them, i. e. not of any particular king, but the general manner of the kings of the earth, whom Israel was so eagerly copying after. And notwithstanding the great distance of time and difference of manners, the character is still in fashion, And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people, that asked of him a king. And he said, This shall be the manner of the king that shall reign over you; he will take your sons and appoint them for himself for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariots (this description agrees with the present mode of impressing men) and he will appoint him captains over thousands and captains over fifties, and will set them to ear his ground and to read his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots; and he will take your daughters to be confectioneries and to be cooks and to be bakers (this describes the expense and luxury as well as the
oppression of kings) and he will take your fields and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants; and he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give them to his officers and to his servants (by which we see that bribery,corruption, and favoritism are the standing vices of kings) and he will take the tenth of your men servants, and your maid servants, and your goodliest young men and your asses, and put them to his work; and he will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants, and ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen, AND THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR YOU IN THAT DAY. This accounts for the continuation of monarchy; neither do the characters of the few good kings which have lived since, either sanctify the title, or blot out the sinfulness of the origin; the high encomium given of David takes no notice of him officially as a king, but only as a man after God's own heart.
Nevertheless the People refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said. Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us and fight our battles. Samuel continued to reason with them, but to no purpose; he set before them their ingratitude, but all would not avail; and seeing them fully bent on their folly, he cried out, I will call unto the Lord, and he shall sent thunder and rain (which then was a punishment, being the time of wheat harvest) that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, IN ASKING YOU A KING. So Samuel called unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God that we die not,for WE HAVE ADDED UNTO OUR SINS THIS EVIL, TO ASK A KING. These portions of scripture are direct and positive. They admit of no equivocal construction. That the Almighty hath here entered his protest against monarchial government is true, or the scripture is false. And a man hath good reason to believe that there is as much of kingcraft,as priest-craft in withholding the scripture from the public in Popish countries. For monarchy in every instance is the Popery of government.
-End of quote

Could it be that we have so been fleshly men in our desires to have a mere man rule over us, not only in the body of Christ, that we now as Americans so wished to have a King rule over us, verses a Constitution by the people, and for the people, that now the sins of America are being seen in the punishment we have to bear now. Is America about to face the judgement of God, as it has forsaken the very Constitution formed to protect us from one man tyrants. Is the "institutional church" finally facing it's judgement, as they are condemned by government, and ruled by government because they were so foolish to desire to be nothing more than another organization run by men, for the sake of untrighteous mammon, and there desire to be ruled by the State by incorportation? I beleive so.
Even Herod died a quick untimely death for he too decided not to honor God and honor only himself. Wake up American's and wake up Christians. God will have no one other than His Son Jesus as King. For far too long we disregarded the words of Jesus, when He said, you can not love God and Mammon.
America has far too long enjoyed it's riches, worshipped them, and even formulated their "churches" around them. JUDGEMENT BEGINS WITH THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD!
We are about to face judgement. We have chosen men over God, pastors instead of Christ, buildings instead of the temple of God- your body which is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and Presidents as kings, rather than Christ, and a land here on earth as our kingdom rather than the Kingdom of God which is not of this world.
Judgement is at hand!
The burps in the economyheading us to the worst depression this country has ever known, the destruction of civil liberties, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the prosecution of mega church preachers and their rich kingdoms falling into judgement under the State they chose to be their god, are all just pains of childbirth just before the child is born. It is the storm that is soon to come in this country that will rattle the mind set of America, and will shake it's very core. The time is short to give honor unto honor is due- God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Let God's Kingdom be the only kingdom that you bow your knee to. For far too long you have thought of America as God's chosen nation- it is not, and will never be, but it can be a nation whereby it's people, change, have a paradigm shift of thinking and are no longer conformed to this world. It is time to humble ourselves, before the King of Kings. Bow your knee to Him who is king, for in the end, it will not be the kingdom of America that will stand nor will it be the kingdom of Israel, it will be God's kingdom, His true Ekklesia (His called out one's) who will reign with Christ for all eternity. Forget your bank acounts, they won't matter tommorrow, throw away your dollars they will be mere paper soon, forget your 401 K plans they will be worthless in the coming days, but your heart, for God will be all that matters. Make sure that is where your heart is, Let us repent of our sinful desire for leaders, as kings, both in the church and in government and seek only Christ and Him alone! Do we honestly believe in this time of election any MAN or WOMAN can provide for us for that which Christ can only provide and that is true justice, tempered with compassion and a kingdom that is truly a kingdom where all men are equal and their king seeks not to power over them but to lift them up to reside with Him and not for a short term but for all eternity? To God be the glory and honor forever! Amen

Dr. J.