Feeling for the Pillars, Looking for the Foundations

When Samson, the strongest man that ever lived, was taken captive by the Philistines, he was brought out to the people to be tortured as entertainment. He had already had his eyes put out and his legendary strength reduced to that of mere manhood. In many ways, his injuries and losses could be described as self-inflicted, for he had given in to the temptations of his godless and deceptive lover, Delilah. Following his passions and desires with no self-restraint, he had alienated his own people and antagonized the Philistines. His failure to hold to principles gave his enemies access to the secret of his strength. Now this man who had represented the power of Almighty God stood before the crowd of mockers, a pitiful shadow of his former self.

In the shame of this condition, fully aware that he had forfeited his seat of honour, allowing himself to be weakened and plundered by compromise with the world, Samson asked God for one final display of His power so that he could unleash justice on the Philistines for putting out his eyes. He asked the unsuspecting boy who was leading him to let him feel the pillars on which the building was supported. When he felt them, he braced himself, called on God for strength and with all his might moved the pillars so that the building collapsed. Samson and 3000 Philistines died that day. The world system was shaken but the strongholds of the Philistines were not destroyed. Years later, it was those same Philistines that produced Goliath, the giant of a man who defied the armies of the living God. It took another ruddy youth, David the shepherd boy, to challenge Goliath and the mighty host that stood behind him. In doing so, he also challenged the hearts of his king, his countrymen and his brothers. The ways of the world and worldly thinking had drained courage and integrity from the leadership of Israel and David’s challenge to Goliath was a challenge to the apathy and moral decay of his day.

Compromise produces instability. Instability invites further compromise. Faith, on the contrary, demands obedience in the face of overwhelming odds. Faith demands obedience in the face of implacable enemies. Faith demands obedience which the world will call foolish, the wicked will call hateful, and some of our friends will call impractical. 

We do not, in this day, have the luxury of choosing our battles. We do not, in this day, have the luxury of waiting for others to catch the vision before we act. Samson, in his day, realized he had squandered those privileges and had little time remaining. David, in his day, realized that if God were to be honoured and Israel were to be saved it depended on his obedience.

When Samson bowed himself and strained against those pillars, they were moved from their foundations. He struck at the core of the building, the heart of the world system of his day. The pillars moved but the foundation remained. There is a time coming in the future of mankind, in the future of our life together on this planet when everything that can be moved will be moved and everything that can be shaken will be shaken….

We have a promise from God in the book of Hebrews, chapter 12:

Once His voice shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, once more I will shake not only the earth, but also heaven.

Hebrews 12:27 And this promise, “Yet once more”, refers to the removing of those things that will shaken, that is, things that are made, so that only those things which cannot be shaken will remain.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us walk in grace, for it is through that grace we may offer God acceptable service with reverence and godly fear… 

We live in a topsy-turvey world where evil is called good and good evil. The early Christians were accused of turning the world upside down. In reality, they were turning the upside-down world rightside-up. Christians today are being accused of the same thing. We have heard godless and ignorant politicians declare that they are protecting the Charter and the Constitution, presumably from people like us, when they have introduced legislation which promotes immoral behaviour and limits freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Chris Kempling, the Quesnel schoolteacher who wrote letters to the paper warning the public about the homosexual agenda in the public schools, was disciplined and blatantly persecuted for his faith and denied the opportunity to take his case to the Supreme Court while those who promote homosexuality in our public school system are given access to the halls of power, taxpayer funding of their cases and obvious support from Canada’s corrupt and biased court system.

We in the church, we who know the righteous God of the Universe---we also have sometimes fallen prey to the deceptions of the world. We have allowed worldly thinking to creep into our homes, into our work, into our churches, into our schools and into our governments. We have allowed ourselves to be defrauded of our power, of our position, of our posterity and we stand today in the public square, mocked, blinded, weakened, frustrated and even paraded and parodied as entertainment for that segment of the population which has allowed itself to be led to illogical conclusions by opposers of the Truth. 

Through disobedience and selfishness, we have allowed our inheritance to be taken from us. But God still has a victory in store for us. God still calls us to obedience and repentance, that we might see His mighty hand move in our circumstances, in our homes, in our schools, in our hospitals, in our governments. While mighty Samson fought against flesh and blood, our foes are spiritual, philosophical. We have under our feet the firm foundation of faith but we have allowed philosophical, legislative and judicial structures, to be built upon those sacred stones. Our God still hears us call out for His strength and His help. His great word to us still stands: “If My People, who are called by My Name, shall humble themselves and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and cleanse their land….” ll Chronicles 7:14

If we were to see ourselves for a moment as Samson, cornered, hemmed in, surrounded and we were to sense God’s direction to feel for the pillars holding up our ungodly society---what might those pillars be? What are the structures that are so impeding the work of God across this land?

Samson put his hands on two and when those two were moved, the building collapsed. If I had to name two structures which are propping up the culture of death and giving respectability to the atheistic selfishness that permeates our society, I would call them Media and Education for they have become strongholds from which our social development as a nation has been determined. Am I against the media? Am I against education? Of course not. It is precisely because these two spheres of influence are so powerful that we cannot allow them to remain under the control of people in rebellion against the Creator and Sustainer of mankind.  If I had to name two more pillars, I would call them the Courts and the Legislatures. We need information (media), we need training and instruction (education), we need justice (Courts) and we need law (Legislature). All these systems are meant for our good but all these systems have become corrupted.

Of course, in a Christian democracy, in a pluralistic society (and by the way, it is not my intent nor the intent of the CHP to turn Canada into a theocracy or to put the governance of the affairs of this nation under the rule of the church)…but in a Christian democracy where Christian values are represented in the public square and the golden rule undergirds all our legislation…we will not be seeking to destroy the structures of media, education, justice and law but to move them---to have an impact on them, to straighten them where they have become crooked, to strengthen them where they have become weak and to return them to the foundations from which they sprang and without which they cannot stand.

We believe that every good thing comes from the hand of a loving, all-powerful God, that we are made in His image and for His purpose and pleasure. His guidance is for our benefit, and to follow His clear direction is to choose the abundant life. There is nothing we enjoy in this life, family, friends, material success, health---nothing that did not originate in the heart of God. He has the answers for every environmental issue we will ever face. He has the answers for every economic challenge that Canada will ever face. He has the answers for every social and cultural challenge; He has solutions for every agricultural problem, every human rights issue, every question of national defence and every international question. He controls the seas and the stars. The sun and moon are at His command. Every aspect of our life together on this marvellous planet is possible only because of His great wisdom and power and His grace extended to the Human race.

If we had time, we could speak here about  some of the issues challenging our nation, issues about respect for human life at all stages, issues about the collapse of families and the court-sponsored promotion of harmful and deviant sexual behaviours. We could talk about the intrusions of the government into the spheres of family and church life. We could talk about our hypocritical lip-service to the environment while some of our big coastal cities pump raw sewage into the oceans. We could talk about the massive waste of taxpayers’ money and the legal corruption that forces you, the taxpayer, to support abortion, gun control and political parties with which you disagree. We could talk about the abuse of human rights by the human rights commissions and the move to crush freedom of speech in our schools and universities. We could talk about the imposition of secular humanism as the state religion.

But we don’t have time here tonight to go into all those areas. Our purpose tonight is to encourage you that God has not given up on Canada. God still has great plans for this nation---plans for good and not for evil…to give us a future and a hope. His plans for Canada involve you. He says “Who will stand up for Me against the evildoers?” Psalm 94. Many of you, most of you, are already involved in support of life principles, in support of the transforming work of God in your communities. “Do not become weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap a harvest if we don’t give up.” Thank you for all you are doing---in your homes, in your churches, in your schools, in your workplaces, in your organizations. Keep on doing it. The priorities of our society---many of them are still upside down. May we be found guilty of turning them rightside up.

We believe the time is right to build an effective political organization that will move the pillars of our society and that will support the transformational work of God in our nation. We appreciate your support as we feel for the pillars and restore the foundations.

Thank you.