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When the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) declared same-sex marriage to be a constitutional right, it was a slap in the face to the laws of God and man. It was a direct frontal assault on both religious freedom and the Constitution of the United States, undercutting the very foundations on which they stand.
This is a brief on the consequences of this momentous decision using "The Three Questions" from the U.S. Army Manual for addressing a crisis. Those questions are:
1. What is happening?
2. What is not happening?
3. What can we do about it?
As we address these, we will begin with the natural first and then the spiritual.
1. What is happening? As the four dissenting justices pointed out, the Supreme Court does not have the constitutional authority to make this decision. First, even though SCOTUS has taken this authority upon itself, it is a usurped authority and nowhere does the Constitution give it this authority. The authority to determine the constitutionality of laws was given to Congress, not the courts. We are now suffering under the very tyranny that the founders warned about if the courts ever presumed this authority. Regardless of our position on same-sex marriage, every American should be deeply troubled by the actions of SCOTUS that this case is just the most recent and dramatic.
Creeping Tyranny
The first reason this crucial authority was given to Congress instead of the Executive branch, or the courts, is because the Congress is elected every two years, and therefore would be the most accountable to the people who, in the U.S., are the sovereign. The courts were for deciding whether or not individual cases had been tried fairly and justly. But nowhere is any court, including the Supreme Court, given authority to determine if a law or action is constitutional.
Congress does have the authority to designate specific cases to the court for this purpose if it chooses to, but if Congress does not give this authority in a specific case, SCOTUS has no legal authority for such a decision, and it is therefore not valid.
The second reason why this was an unlawful decision is that the Constitution states that any authority not specifically given to the Federal Government is reserved to the states and the people. Nowhere is the Federal Government given authority to give definitions or policy on social issues such as marriage and the family. The hubris of the Supreme Court to change the definition of marriage that has been universally accepted in civilized nations for six thousand years of recorded history is not only shocking, but an unprecedented level of arrogance by the Supreme Court.
Because Congress' accountability to the people would be the most direct, it was designed to be the most powerful of the three branches of government. It was given "the power of the purse" to maintain their ultimate authority. Because of weak leadership in Congress, both the Executive and Judicial branches have usurped Congress' authority in recent times to the point where it is now almost powerless, and the predicted tyranny is now a reality.
Without the constitutional authority to do what it did, the SCOTUS has violated its oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States from enemies both foreign and domestic. It is against every principle of a republic to have five un-elected officials determine the law of the land. This is why Justice Scalia declared this decision "a threat to democracy." This was not an overstatement. If this is allowed to stand, we no longer have a Constitutional Republic in America.
What the Federal Government has become is proof that you can have the best form of government and still have bad government if you put bad people in it. The whole system by which we nominate our leaders has become distorted in order to favor incumbents and the establishment so that it is nearly impossible for the will of the people to prevail now.
The government of the United States was not established to be the all-powerful authority over everyone, but rather to be the servant of the people. We, the people, are the sovereign and everyone who works in government is supposed to be working for us. It has now become a runaway monster that is consuming everything in its path. If the people do not rise up to take their authority back, then it will very soon require another revolution to recover democracy in America.
The Foundation of Our Union
The Constitution is the foundation upon which our Federal Government is based, and without the Constitution, our Federal Government no longer has legitimate authority to govern. There has been a long and continuous erosion of the links between the laws and actions of the Federal Government and the Constitution. This decision on same-sex marriage may seem innocuous and even frivolous to most Americans, but it represents such a radical decoupling the Federal Government from the Constitution that it will destroy the legitimacy of the Federal Government if allowed to stand.
The overreach of our Federal Government has put itself in great jeopardy, and in recent years it has divided Americans into factions instead of uniting them. A growing chorus of states is talking seriously about secession, and this is a very real possibility.
Paul the Apostle wrote to Titus that even false prophets can sometimes tell the truth (see Titus 1:12-13). Pravda, the Moscow daily newspaper, has been predicting for years that the United States would break up into several pieces just like the Soviet Union. Their reasoning was not based merely on sour grapes, but on the historically proven consequences of the kind of direction in which our government has been going. To date, we have most alarmingly followed the pattern predicted. We really are close to breaking apart.
Worldview
Islamists consider America "the great Satan" because of our moral and spiritual debauchery that has made us "a homosexual nation"—so perverted that the only remedy is to wipe us off the face of the earth. Their belief about the U.S. has now been affirmed by this Supreme Court decision. This decision will likely make their recruiting to this cause much easier. This is not the only issue fueling these groups, but it is a major one.
This is not to imply we should ever base our laws or domestic policy on what other nations think, but we should understand how we are perceived by the nations and how it will affect our relations with them. This has also been a major wedge driven between the U.S., Russia, and China, as well as Africa and South America. To much of the world, the U.S. and Western Europe now look like Sodom and Gomorrah.
What is Happening (Spiritually)?
All devout Christians, Muslims, and Jews base their faith on the written word that they hold to be the revelation of God's will for those who serve Him by seeking to obey Him. These three major religions have a clear definition of marriage in their written word, and all three agree that homosexuality is a sin. To compel devout Christians, Muslims, and Jews to accept homosexual marriage as marriage forces them all to decide if they will obey God or men.
The very first lie of Satan that was used to cause the fall of man was "Did God really say that?" This remains Satan's most deadly strategy against mankind—to get us to doubt the clear Word of God. If we are true Christians, we must establish in our hearts and minds what God says about these issues and resolve to stand on His Word. He said that if we do not obey Him, then we are not really following Him. This is an obvious demarcation point that will force many to choose if they will follow God or man.
Just as the devil attacked Adam and Eve by trying to confuse them about what God had really said, he begins this same attack on every believer. He knows that if he can get us to doubt God's Word, then he can keep us deceived our whole lives. The devil continues to use this strategy because it has been so successful, and it has been successful in our own time with many Christians. This is why studies of even conservative evangelical Christians who are supposed to be the most devoted to The Bible revealed that less than 10 percent of them had a biblical worldview.
The Lord gave us His written Word so we could see the world, mankind, and ourselves as He does. To see as He does is to see the truth. As the Lord said through Isaiah the prophet, those who do not speak according to His Word do not have the light in them (see Isaiah 8:20). Of the Christians I have discussed the Supreme Court decision with, only one used Scripture for their perspective. Most of the Christians that I talked to were parroting the world's perspective, which is based on a humanistic philosophy that stands in direct conflict with God's will as revealed in His Word. According to His Word, these have already fallen away and do not have the light.
A primary reason for this has been the dumbing down of The Great Commission to merely making converts instead of disciples, which is defined as teaching them everything the Lord commanded. Lacking this solid foundation of biblical truth has made it very easy for the devil to deceive and confuse Christians about what God really said in His Word. Now we must ask from what were these saved?
God made His opinion on homosexuality very clear. In the Book of Revelation, we see that one of the final and ultimate conflicts is between the Lord's messengers and "the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt" (see Revelation 11:8). This issue will be a demarcation point that will determine who will walk in His truth.
Because of the shallowness of believers to even know what is in His Word, it is likely that not many will be standing at all very soon. Of one thing we can be sure, if any are standing, it will be enough. If just one is standing on the truth, the truth will ultimately prevail. Even so, for a time we can expect that those who will be standing on the truth and wholly following the Lord will be paired down to a very small number.
The increasing persecution against Christians in America is already having the positive effect of having many Christians' worldview challenged. Some are waking up to the profound differences between what the Scriptures actually say and what they have been told they say, often even by their own compromising pastors. This will be fuel on the fire of another Great Awakening. Regardless of how small a number the faithful become, their faithfulness will ultimately turn the tide. There will be a Third Great Awakening in America.
All devout Christians, devout Muslims, and devout Jews have been thrown into the same boat on this issue. Already many non-religious Americans who care about freedom and the Constitution are beginning to also speak up. It will be most interesting to see how this plays out.
As the divisions in our country become more clear and pronounced than ever, look for the greatest unity and fellowship to grow in the small and persecuted company of the faithful. It is always worth it to stand on our convictions without compromise. We will also find out that those we did not think we had any common ground with are standing together with us.
Rick Joyner is the founder and executive director of MorningStar Ministries in Fort Mill, South Carolina. For the original article, visit morningstarministries.org.
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