Gun Control – Should be in Your Hands!
Friends, we are waging a battle of epic spiritual proportions. There may be little that is done by the Administration to control guns in America, but it isn’t because the government isn’t trying. Prevention of greater tyrannical oppression will only be because a unified voice of freedom loving people will draw a line in the sand and say, “Enough is enough.” Government gun control will be stopped because people put their trust in the Lord, rather than in the government and let the government know government only has the right to enforce the provisions of the Constitution and Amendments. Government gun control will be stopped because people will resist the infractions of our rights to the Second Amendment. What is the Second Amendment?
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. (Second Amendment)
The Second Amendment was written by our founding fathers, who lived during a time of government tyranny. They knew how a government continued to gain more and more control in oppressive measures that are spelled out in the Declaration of Independence. Our founding fathers who wrote the Constitution and original Amendments call the Bill of Rights listed 27 grievances against the tyranny of the English Crown who continued to oppress the colonialists.
Most people have read the first few lines of the Declaration of Independence, but forget to read the middle section which lists the grievances and unjust authority of England’s oppressive and tyrannical actions. The last paragraph is essential to freedom loving people:
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
But some will say, we should do what the government says. My answer is, “What does God say in Scripture?”
Before I begin, let me say unequivocally, the only hope for anyone, including America, is trusting in Jesus Chris as personal Savior. Unless you are born from above, you will die in your sins (John 8:24). But even the spiritual rebirth does not establish a transformed society, unless people seek the Lord in His Word in the power of the Holy Spirit by faith. As a person grows spiritually, he must become a spiritual parent who raise up other spiritual parents, or the country will plateau and begin a descent into a morass of immorality.
Scripture records the words of the Lord, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. (Matt. 10:34) He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). He came to die for our sins (2 Cor. 5:21). But He also knew because of sin in the world, there would be horrible conflict between people. Bad people would and do violate the well-being of good people and they would and do use horrible means to control others and get what they want. Hence, Jesus told His disciple to secure weapons,
35 And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.” 36 Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 37 “For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me:` And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.” 38 So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.” (Luke 22:35-38)
Jesus said it was more important to have a weapon, than an extra set of clothes. He did not say to trust in the sword, but to secure it and have it available for yourself.
There are times when you must be able to defend yourself. God gave natural abilities for animals to defend themselves. He gave teeth and claws to lions, tigers and bears. He gave stingers to scorpions and bees. He gave wings to birds, fast feet to blackbuck antelope, fins to sailfish, strong hind legs for fighting and jumping to kangaroos and poisonous fangs to snakes. But there are some animals, like sheep, that are pretty helpless without the watch care of another.
Humans fit into that category of needing additional protection. Without the defense of someone else, like mothers and fathers for babies, man needs a means to protect himself from oppression. It used to be a flintlock rifle for protection. Today the weaponry can exist in many other forms. As long as they are for defense, they fit under the Second Amendment. Yet the Second Amendment also implies that the right to bears arms is to be used against the tyranny of the government.
That line takes great discernment and must be weighed against all the other laws and infringements of freedom. And remember, Scripture usurps the law of the land if they are at odds. (Acts 5:29) For example, Jesus admonished Peter to return the sword to its sheath to allow God’s will to be fulfilled. As Jesus was ready to leave the Garden of Gethsemene, a Roman troop came with Judas with swords and clubs and Peter asked, “Lord, shall we strike them with the sword?” (Luke 22:49). And before Jesus responded, Peter went into action,
Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. 11So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” 12 Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him. (John 18:10-12)
Matthew adds, “But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”(Matt. 26:52). The reality is that there are often unlawful times outside of God’s will that those who take the sword may die by the sword. If you pick up a weapon, you risk bringing death upon yourself. That is why picking up a weapon must be wisely discerned. That is what the colonialists chose to do, but only after years of working within the oppressive English system without a just hearing.
Some might not agree with this interpretation. It is interesting, that Jesus dealt with differing interpretations in His day also.
Jesus dealt with the darkness of His day and as John says, “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5) In fact, the darkness runs from the light:
19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:19-21)
Those who reject the light of truth will not understand the truth. They cannot understand it (1 Cor. 2:14). No matter how much logic and reason they bring to the table, they will not understand it. No matter how many testimonials or emotional appeals they make, they will not comprehend. They cause greater harm to mankind by their rejection of truth, than by humbling themselves before it. And all their laws that take away freedom will only cause greater harm.
God allows distortions of the truth, even in the church, to reveal those who want and abide in the truth (1 Cor. 11:19). Distortion and evil exists and they will use many man-made ideas to control a situation, but unless it is humbly submitted to God’s Word, it will only create greater oppression on people. Peter understood this when he wrote, “…untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Pet. 3:16) Consider what Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword in its sheath.” Jesus didn’t tell him to sell it or get rid of it, even though Peter used it wrongly. If you use it wrongly, you may die.
To whom do you trust for your protection? Do you trust the Lord, or the government? We should be able to trust the government. But when our freedoms are being taken away, then we have to pray to wisely discern the line in the sand. Yet, passive people have been slaughtered at the gun control commands of evil governments all through history. Prior to brutal government slaughters, gun control measures and laws were enforced on the people. For example, gun control laws were instituted in Armenia in 1915; Russia in 1918 under Lenin, Germany in 1921 and 1928, China in 1912 and continued under Mao Zedong and in Cambodia in 1938 strictly enforced by PolPot in the Khmer Rouge. Governments always impose restrictions with growing control in every situation.
What happened in Newtown, Connecticut was a travesty. But the lunacy of government to think a brewing civil unrest can be quelled by gun control is the greater deception of hypocrisy and evil. The criminal will never be controlled by laws. Laws will only restrict good citizens from defending themselves from criminals and tyrannical governments.
Judge Andrew Napolitano, a former judge on the Supreme Court of New Jersey, wrote this analysis:
The historical reality of the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to keep and bear arms is not that it protects the right to shoot deer. It protects the right to shoot tyrants, and it protects the right to shoot at them effectively, with the same instruments they would use upon us. If the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto had had the firepower and ammunition that the Nazis had, some of Poland might have stayed free and more persons would have survived the Holocaust.Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/10/the-right-to-shoot-tyrants-not-deer/#ixzz2LefBjtyy
You have the right to protect yourself with sufficient power that you will not be overcome with the current or future weaponry. If you don’t provide for your family, Scripture considers you worse than an unbeliever. Paul writes, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1Tim. 5:8) The context describes respect and financial need. I would consider life part of the responsibility of every man for his family.
Do not be fooled, hoodwinked or deceived. Trust only what you know from Scripture and use it as a filter for everything you see and hear. Freedom is precious. Your right to own and possess firearms is protected by the constitution and Scripture. All you need is Scripture.
Shepherding Truth 