We hear much talk today of making the rich pay their “fair share.” The questions we need to ask are, “Who are the rich?” and “How do we define the phrase “fair share?” Unfortunately the “rich” are generally defined as those who make more than we do and “fair share” means you need to pay more. Our progressive tax rate enforces this folly by taxing those with greater incomes at a higher tax rate. Put simply, it is a politician’s arbitrary decision to take that which belongs to someone else under the pretense of taking care of those who have less.

Does the government have the constitutional right to do this?

Founding Father Sam Adams didn’t think so. He said:

“The Utopian schemes of leveling (aka redistribution of wealth through taxation) and a community of goods (aka socialism/communism), are as visionary and impractical as those which vest all property in the Crown. (These ideas) are arbitrary, despotic, and, in our government, unconstitutional.”

Thomas Jefferson warned, “If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy.”

As the 2012 election approaches, we must make sure we elect men and women who honor the private property of America’s citizens, who encourage hard work and initiative, and who will work for a just tax code which doesn’t punish producers for their success.

 Solomon warned us about the grave consequences (no pun intended) for those who fall prey to the spirit of seduction. He writes,

 “She’s dancing down the primrose path to Death;  she’s headed straight for Hell and taking you with her. She hasn’t a clue about Real Life, about who she is or where she’s going.”

For she has been the ruin of many;  many men have been her victims. Her house is the road to the grave.  Her bedroom is the den of death.

This leads to my final point about the seductive spirit of socialism:

Like the seductress, socialism will eventually consume you, your family and your freedoms.

In Isaiah 10:14, we read a prophecy about the King of Assyria and his lust for more and more power. The description is truly fitting of the behavior all godless governments.

‘I’ve done all this by myself.
   I know more than anyone.
I’ve wiped out the boundaries of whole countries.
   I’ve walked in and taken anything I wanted.
I charged in like a bull
   and toppled their kings from their thrones.
I reached out my hand and took all that they treasured
   as easily as a boy taking a bird’s eggs from a nest.
Like a farmer gathering eggs from the henhouse,
   I gathered the world in my basket,
And no one so much as fluttered a wing
   or squawked or even chirped.’

We must keep in mind the fact that, behind all the news headlines political posturing, we are experiencing a spiritual battle. Satan’s goal from the very beginning was to control the earth and the earth’s inhabitants. He seeks to accomplish his purposes through false ideologies finding their expression through people. When the godless rule we see an ever-increasing lust for power and control. The current administration’s unending grab for federal control is a contemporary example of same behavior Isaiah described by the King of Assyria. Like a farm boy harvesting the eggs  from the henhouse, big government snatches more and more of the rights and freedoms from an unsuspecting and uninformed electorate. If left unchecked, socialism leads to the gradually increasing control of all things by the State.

What will be the fruit of socialism?

1.The loss of liberty through oppressive regulation and control

2. The loss of prosperity through excessive taxation and redistribution of wealth

3. The loss of the ability for the church to disciple nations through the trampling of religious liberty

Under the King of Assyria’s reign of tyranny, the Bible tells us, “there was no one who opened his mouth with even a peep” (Isaiah 10:14, NKJV).

It’s time for the chickens to start squaking before all the eggs are gone, the pot is boiling on the stove, and the farmer’s making his way to the henhouse with his axe in hand.

In my last blog, I tried to establish the fact that much of the foreboding forecast we are hearing from the liberal talking-heads is a smokescreen. Americans, when compared to our Socialist European friends, enjoy a higher standard of living. Even “poor” Americans are better off than the  middle-class European!  So the logical solution is really quite simple: Keep your Socialism!

But part of the problem with socialism is that, in addition to the atmosphere of dissatisfaction and despair it intentionally creates, it also has the nasty problem of over-promising and under-delivering. Which leads to my second point:

Like a perverse woman, socialism promises more than it can deliver. She seeks to draw us away from our covenant partner.

Socialism, like a seductress, strives to steal our affections away from our covenant partner. She alluringly promises provision, security, comfort and… the world! And herein lies the problem. Socialists see government as “god.” The government becomes their provider from cradle to grave, their savior in times of trouble, the solver of all their problems, and that which inevitably brings peace and utopia.

Author Stephen McDowell writes,“Socialism is man’s attempt to build his kingdom, through which he tries, on his own terms, to take dominion of the earth.” Socialistic governments will act as if they are sovereign in all things. When the State stands in the place of God, the people develop an idolatrous dependency upon the State instead of God. This is the very essence of sin.

Fortunately, the Lord will not tolerate this perversion for long. In Isaiah 54:5, we read, ”For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name;  And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;  He is called the God of the whole earth.”

The Lord is our Husband. He alone is our Provider. The Lord of heaven’s armies is our Defender and Protector.  And make no mistakes; He is the God of the whole earth. This planet belongs to Him. When earthly governments rob Him of the glory due to Him alone by stealing the faith and affections of the people, God cannot remain silent. He will act. His glory depends on it! 

The children of Israel, God’s covenant bride, lost her first love and turned to the surrounding nations for instruction.They wanted an earthly king like their pagan neighbors. The Lord exposes Israel’s adulterous heart:  “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.” (I Samuel 8:5-7)

Is this not the heart of the crisis in America today? Who will rule over us? Will we have Christ as our King or will we look to the governments of man to care for our needs?

 The Lord’s command to us is clear: “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband (Jeremiah 3:14). As Americans, we must choose between our Husband, the Lord, or our current mistress, the State. The future of our nation depends upon it.