Saturday 12 November 2016

A Vision of the Night

The times are changing. We are witnessing a remarkable phenomenon in Western democracies. People are voting in defiance of establishment expectations and celebrity endorsements. They are ignoring pollster predictions and media prognostications. 

We have this year witnessed Brexit, the resurgence of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party and, just this week, the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Both Brexit and Trump's election have been accompanied by market volatility. There is uncertainty and incredulity that the masses are no longer following the script. 


It seems there has been an awakening of the oft-mentioned 'silent majority.' A majority that have decided they're not going along with identity politics and the elitist engineering of society. No amount of name-calling and public shaming by the political establishment and the demigods of the entertainment industry can drown out their voice. The silent majority have a set of values and a stock of common decency that they will not surrender for government hand-outs and cheap thrills. The political elite and leftist media dismiss these values as homophobia and bigotry and hate speech. It is unfashionable, it would seem, to hold conservative values. And yet outside the trendy television studios and the classrooms of leftist indoctrination, there exists a silent majority who are beginning to stand up to the bullies and make their presence felt.

It may explain the Australian Labor's Party backflip on supporting a plebiscite on the redefinition of marriage. Maybe the polls are wrong? Maybe people don't care for what Jimmy Barnes or Kylie Minogue or Henry Rollins have to say on the issue? Maybe people don't believe that to vote "No" to the redefinition of marriage is homophobic and bigoted? In 2013, Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten argued, "I would rather the people of Australia could make their view clear on this than leaving this issue to 150 people." [1] So what's changed? Was Mr. Shorten a homophobe in 2013? Or, in his words, "a hater crawling out from under rocks"? [2] Or is it rather that the Australian people can no longer be trusted to have their say according to the set script?

We are witnessing in our lifetime a phenomenon -- a revolt against the agenda set forth by global elites hell-bent on dissolving national sovereignty, polluting the institution of marriage, muddling human sexuality, and ultimately undermining the family unit. The silent majority are becoming a thorn in the side of vested power. Any fear this majority may have of wrecking the system, by prompting cataclysmic events like an EU exit or a Donald Trump presidency, are offset by the satisfaction they feel at finally being heard.

This change in the times and seasons and the rise and fall of governments is ordained by God Himself.
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and the seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. Dan 2:20-21
And He reveals His timetable to those who fear Him and who tremble at His Word.
The secret of the LORD is with them that fear Him... Ps 25:14
He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. Dan 2:22
Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do... 1 Chron 12:32
God's people would do well at this time to exercise caution and to resist being swept along with worldly fervour and emotion. Given that more than eighty percent of white evangelical and born-again Christians voted for Trump [3], we would do well to remember that there is no such thing as a political saviour for Christians. We are an other-worldly people with a spiritual agenda and a heavenly hope. Our Lord Jesus Christ set the example for us when He withdrew from the crowds that were seeking to make Him a king. (John 6:15).


Donald Trump will hopefully stem the bloodshed of the unborn with his appointment of pro-life chief justices to the Supreme Court. He may well take the wind out of the sails of the unrelenting homosexual movement. He is expected to generate jobs and income for American families. The truth is that Trump may also prove to be a strong-arm leader who curtails basic freedoms and endangers lives domestically and abroad. America may find that he is a certain beast that is not easily tamed. 

How should the church respond to a Donald Trump presidency? How should we respond to any government that we find ourselves in subjection to? We must remember that the church's value exists in her ability to establish God's domain on earth.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matt 6:10
As the Body of Christ, the church alone is equipped to usher in God's domain or kingdom on the earth. The church is successful, and the kingdom manifested with power, wherever a human life is transformed. Only God can change a heart and He uses the church to accomplish His mission on the earth. The church's value rests in her ability to hear from God and to gush forth the river of life into the barren terrain of humanity.
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, "From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. John 7:38
Only the church can fulfill the dual roles of physician and prophet. The world desperately needs healing and salting. If the church cannot walk in heavenly power and fulfill her God-ordained purpose to heal and prophesy, she has lost her value and is destined to become road base. (Matt 5:13).

If, however, the church functions as conduit between heaven and earth -- a Jacob's ladder style manifestation of the presence of God -- her value will be established and recognised by any government.

The Jewish exile, Daniel, served under a veritable dictator in Nebuchadnezzar. In a season of distress for this volatile king, Daniel distinguished himself among his Babylonian peers -- not by pandering to Nebuchadnezzar -- but by virtue of his separation from iniquity and his friendship with Almighty God. Like Joseph centuries before him, Daniel demonstrated early on in his Babylonian appointment that career aspirations always come second place to convictions. Later he would demonstrate that even life itself comes a distant second to the open worship of the one true and living God.


It was Daniel's courage and convictions and his commitment to prophetic truth that set him apart from Babylon's best talent. It was his courage and convictions and commitment that God honoured. Daniel is a type of the church. Inasmuch as we seek the world's approval and try to be like other 'respectable' organisations, we lose the honour that comes only from God and we have nothing to offer our secular leaders.
The Chaldeans answered the king and said, "There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter of Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, who dwelling is not with flesh." Dan 2:10
When Nebuchadnezzar was at a complete loss, Babylon's finest minds and spiritual advisors threw their hands up in the air and lamented, "This is a job for the gods." They were bankrupt and they had no understanding of what a man, endowed with the Spirit of God, could accomplish. They did not account for Daniel's connection with Almighty God and it almost cost them their lives.

Satan's agenda to rob, kill and destroy must be thwarted. His agenda to spoil the harvest and degrade this generation must be resisted. It could be that United States President-Elect, Donald Trump, and other secular leaders help serve this purpose. The LORD raised up Cyrus and strengthened him even though he didn't know God. (Isa 45:1-7). The LORD continues to remove kings and set up kings. Blessed be His name!

Our response as the church in these changing times is to maintain our identity as physician and prophet to the nations. Ours is not to pander to any leader of any political persuasion in an effort to accomplish our kingdom mandate. Ours is to walk in holiness and purity and to steward and dispense prophetic truth. Ours is to stand and eyeball the strongest of political leaders with a "Thus saith the LORD" and then embrace whatever fiery furnaces or lions' dens come our way. Ours is to read 'the writing on the wall' to those in the highest offices in the land, without fear or favour. A lifestyle of holy resistance to evil and worldly compromise is a prerequisite to walking in the power and counsel of God. And it is our ability to walk in the power and counsel of God that is our value proposition to secular governments.


There is a swing to political conservatism at this time. The silent majority are stirring. We welcome that. May the church maintain her other-worldly identity and kingdom vision in these changing times. The LORD shall rise upon us and His glory shall be seen upon us. The nations shall come to our light and kings to the brightness of our rising. (Isa 60:2-3).
The king answered and said to Daniel, "Truly, your God is God of gods, and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery." Then the king gave Daniel high honours and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king's court. Dan 2:47-49
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References:

[1] Emily Brooks (29 June 2016) Bill Shorten stands by his backflip on same-sex marriage plebiscite. http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/06/28/bill-shorten-stands-by-his-backflip-on-same-sex-marriage-plebi/ (Accessed: 12/11/16)

[2] AAP (30 August 2016) Opposition Party attempts to stop gay marriage plebiscite. http://www.news.com.au/national/opposition-party-attempts-to-stop-gay-marriage-plebiscite/news-story/dce06fe666d263265557090efa38d43d (Accessed: 12/11/16)

[3] Ian Lovett (9 November 2016) Evangelicals Back Donald Trump in Record Numbers, Despite Earlier Doubts. http://www.wsj.com/articles/evangelicals-back-donald-trump-in-record-numbers-despite-earlier-doubts-1478689372 (Accessed: 11/11/16)

1 comment:

  1. Thank you Dylan, Donald Trump has some major opposition that are still working at bringing him down before Jan 20th 2017. As they say in America, this is a "lame duck" period till Donald Trump is in the White House. So these next months will be crucial for the 80% that voted for Trump. Until then, the people are praying. All of this will impact Australia and other allies of America. In saying that Tppa was something the Australian and New Zealand governments wanted to pass.
    As I've been watching the news and social media reports unfold. The total disbelief from media all around the world,the Democrat party and current president Obama. They looked depleted and disbelief. It was like watching the ruling 1% run gor cover. Then all the planned demonstrations along with total chaos in America. Very scary stuff, these are definitely times of caution. I know God is in charge. It was so uplifting to see God's people all around the globe stand up.
    Blessings

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