I have titled my message this morning, Keep your Guns. I want to speak on the right of Gun ownership and how gun ownership is directly connected to our duties as a Christian.

I know that this may seem strange to some people who think that Christians should be opposed to guns and anything that appears to endorse violence.

It is alarming for Christians to suggest such a thing, But many would tell us that gun ownership gives the appearance of evil and quote 1 Thess 5:21-22, ”Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.”

Because we associate guns with the ability to kill, and because murder is bad- guns are than something which is evil. I am aware that this certainly is not the long held teaching of the Christian church. However, it is one of the scriptural arguments that some of those who want greater Gun control wish to promote. Guns are portrayed as evil.

Television programs will show guns as frightful objects that should not be in the home. The television mother or father will give a stern lecture about the evils of guns, or they will scream at the sight of a gun. A gun will accidentally go off and therefore sends a subtle message of how dangerous they are.

The idea is that we are a civilized society with well trained policemen and really have no need of private citizens to own guns.

But we know the police cannot be at the corner of every street or at the threshold of every hold to protect those inside. Yet that would be precisely the goal of the global elite and the One World Government crowd and make every citizen an agent of the government to spy on each other and report suspicious activity of possible anti-government behavior to the authorities,

Those who advocate there is no need of guns and who feel the police are for the protection of citizens need to observe the rulings of the courts which have stated that the government is not responsible to provide a secure and safe environment for each individual. In other words your personal safety is entirely in your hands. In one court case which I understand is referred to as Bower v. DeVito the court said and I quote, “There is no constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered.”

Those who wish to control our guns will always tell us that they do not wish to deny gun ownership to hunters and other sporting enthusiasts.

However, the issue we are looking at is much greater that whether or not someone is able to go out into the woods and hunt for Bugs Bunny of Bambi.

It goes to the fundamental right of Christians to provide safety and liberty for themselves and their family.

Our founding fathers understood that it was their Christian duty to secure liberty. During the French and Indian War the colonies had requested military assistance from England to protect the colonies. However, when the war ended the British soldiers did not return home and remained as an occupying army of 10,000 soldiers.

Many people fail to understand that even though the colonies were technically an English possession, by 1774 they had formed their own separate government in Philadelphia called the Continental Congress and even mustered together their own army that answered to the American Continental Congress and not to British Authority. One of the first acts of the Continental Congress was to sign an agreement called the Continental Association and was designed to resist what they called the Intolerable Acts of the British crown.

The Continental Association was an agreement in which each colony would 1) stop all importing from Great Britain, 2) discontinue the slave trade, 3) stop consumption of all British products by March 1, 1775 and 4)stop all exports to Britain by September 1775.

The Continental Association agreement was an effort to get the attention of the English government.

Shortly thereafter the Continental Congress formed the Continental Army in an effort to secure their liberty.

Britain soon began to feel threatened by the colonist and desired to arrest certain ring colonial ring leaders who they considered disloyal to the King. These men were labeled as the enemy of the people and a threat to public safety. Two of the more well known of these seditionists were Samuel Adams and the wealthy John Hancock.

By April of 1775 the English government issued orders to General Thomas Gage to depart from Boston and to confiscate the weapons at Concord and capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock who were suspected to be at Concord. The order said, “You will march with the utmost expedition and secrecy. You will seize and destroy all the artillery, ammunitions, provisions, tents, small arms and all military stores whatever.”

However, Gage was being closely watched and when he began his move toward Concord, a signal in the form of a lantern was set at the Windom of the Old North Church and sent Paul Revere and William Dawes on their rides to warn the citizens that there was going to be an attempt to confiscate their weapons at Concord. The 15 mile ride from Boston to Concord alerted many citizens. Even the churches began to ring their bells to awaken the people to danger. By the time the British got to town of Lexington they were met by American who were not about to give up their weapons and submit to the oppression of the British task masters.

Major Pitcairn of the British army is said to have yelled “Disperse you rebels, damn you, throw down your arms and disperse.”

The American farmers refused, there were shots fired and both American and British soldiers were killed. The minute men retreated from Lexington Green and the Red Coats continued on for 6 more miles to Concord to uncover and destroy all the weapons.

However, approximately 10 days before the British moved upon Concord to seize the weapons there was a false report of advancing British troops and the weapons were all hidden. And so on April 19th when troops under Thomas Gage came into Concord there was very little that was found and destroyed.

According to reports, as the British began their retreat back to Boston, the American rebels fired from behind walls and fences, ravines and farms along the road. The retreating British would send out flanking parties to disperse the rebels, but casualties continued. By the time they got back to Boston, it more closely resembled a fleeing mob and the carriages were loaded with the wounded.

The architects of our constitutional republic, were well aware that guns were needed not to insure that a weekend hunter could go shoot Bugs Bunny but to insure and secure and defend his liberty from despots and tyrants.

For that reason they included in the constitution the 2nd amendment which states, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

It was understood that the right to secure liberty and insure their safety was an unalienable right. The same as the right to free speech and the right of religious freedom. Some people mistakenly call these constitutional rights. But this is not true, they are not constitutional rights because these rights were God given, which means they were given from God and not given from the president, judges, or congress. They are rights we posses as free men and our constitution protected these God given rights - therefore they are not Constitutional rights but they are Constitutional PROTECTED rights.

These Constitutionally protected rights were given to us by God. And because they were not given by any authority of man, no man therefore has authority to take these rights away from us.

If you can understand this basic principle you will have a more basic understanding of self government than the vast majority of the American people.

Our whole concept of self-government came from Christianity. Jesus Christ is king, and he alone has authority. Therefore as free men we have no authority over us other than Jesus Christ. There is no man, no church and no government official that has authority over you accept of course for the authority we placed over us as our elected officials. And even those leaders are referred to as the servants of the people.

Our founding fathers gave us self-government - we do not bow to mad but only to God.

2Co 3:17 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” When we are told that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty the Apostle Paul was not giving out some empty words that just sounded good. He was telling us that God alone is our master and we have liberty in him. No institution of man has authority over us. Self-government accomplished their very mandate, because although it places a government to rule, the government was under the authority of those who, as a corporate body, gave the consent. Our founding fathers understood this.

The possession of guns is our God given right to insure our liberty under Jesus Christ. As a self governed nation we do have a collective authority from what Thomas Jefferson states to be the consent of the governed.

No King and no ecclesiastical authority has authority over a self-governed people who answer only to God.

It is government which has traditionally oppressed the people

How absurd to think that the rights of the government can be oppressed by the people. Governments have no rights other then those given to it by the people.

Tyrants have always been afraid of weapons in the hands of its citizens. Thus the slogan, “Fear the government that fears your gun.”

Thomas Paine said; “The best of governments is a necessary evil - the worse of them is an intolerable one.”

George Washington said: “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence; it is force. It is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

And Thomas Jefferson said, “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” In other words you can not serve a wicked intolerable government and God at the same time - you must rebel against one or the other.

Jesus Christ said you cannot serve two masters, Mt 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Christians who condemn guns and resistance to evil government are trying to serve two masters.

Now this all was understood throughout the history of our nation. However, there are many Christians who today have a hard time reconciling gun ownership with the teachings of Love taught by Jesus Christ.

Love your neighbor

Do good to others

Turn the other cheek

Forgive your enemies

We will take a few moments and look as some scripture.

1Samuel 13: 6 “When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.”

Why do you think they did that?

19 “Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.”

The people of Israel were in fear because they had no weapons to free themselves from the oppression of the Philistines.

The gun control crowd attempts to convince us that the primary cause of crime in American is our lack of properly executed gun control laws.

Let us look at the very first crime of violence mentioned in the Bible. It is recorded in Gen 4:8. Here is what it says “And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.”

We must understand that it was evil in heart of Cain which caused him to kill Abel. And God’s response was punishment upon Cain not the murder weapon.

Later we read where God again placed the responsibility of murder on the man who committed the murder and not upon his weapon of choice. In Gen 9:5-7. “And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of made he man.”

In Ezekiel 18:20 “the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”

The message again is clear, each man is responsible for his actions and the blame cannot be shifted to another. Throughout the Bible, God always holds man responsible and not an inanimate object. In other words “Guns don’t kill people - people kill people.”

----------------

Luke 22:36 “Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.”

I have heard silly Judeo-Christians say, that Jesus was telling us to buy a Bible because it is the sword of truth. But the word sword used here in the Greek means a literal sword. And why would Jesus tell his decuples to go out and buy a Bible when we all know there were no Bibles in print. The printed Bible did not come about until the Gutenberg press in the mid 1400’s. There were no Bible book stores at the mall.

No Jesus was telling his decuples to go by a sword. He was aware that with the growing intolerable hatred organized by Jewish leaders the decuples were in need of protection.

The disciples quickly found two. Jesus said it was enough

----------------

A short time later, Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gasemine.

Mt 26:52 - We know the story of how Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of one of the servants of the guard. However Jesus told Peter, “Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

We are told that this scripture shows that Jesus was opposed to the use of weapons. However, let’ look at it again.

There are two sword - there is the evidently the sword of the aggressor (the person who takes up the sword. But there is also the sword of justice which stops the sword of the aggressor.

Also we must notice that Jesus did not tell them to throw away the sword. After all it was only a few hours earlier when he told them to buy a sword. Jesus simply said put it back in it sheath.

Why? a sword is not needed to protect the creator of the universe and the King of kings.

In the companion verse found in John 18, Jesus said to Peter;" Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

----------

However, Jesus did use a weapon against the money changers in the Temple, John 2:14-15, “And he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers seated. And He made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables.”

According to The Zonderbvan Pictorial Bible a scourge was used “to inflict severe pain.” And that is exactly what Jesus intended to do.

--------------------

Throughout the Old Testament we find many example of violence being used by God’s people in order to secure their liberty. King David killed Goliath.

But we are told by misinformed Christians that Jesus changed all this and not we operate on the teachings of love and tolerance.

They are mistaken. It is true that we are told to turn the other cheek in Matt 5 but this is contained in the Sermon on the Mount. This teaching was to his disciples and he is telling them that we are not to harbor hatred for each other or take to take vengeance on each other. The execution of judgment was the role of the civil government and not the role of citizens or the role of the church. This was the authority of civil government. Romans 13 tells us that the government is God’s minister to execute judgment upon the wicked.

--------------------

“Veangence is mine saith the Lord.” We can find that recorded in Ro 12:19, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

We are simple being told that we do not have the authority to hunt down someone and take out vengeance against them. God said he will take care of the wicked and he made provisions through civil government as we read in Rom 13:4.

But this has nothing to do with defending yourself, your family or your neighbors. We are told in the story of the good Samaritan that we are to care for our neighbors. We should never forfeit our ability or God given right to defend ourselves or those we love.

After all our lives belong to Jesus and we have no authority to give our lives to an aggressor who comes to do harm

Then there is those who with a degree of sanctimonious piety will tell us that - they don’t need any protection because they simply trust God.

Yet they still go to work to earn money to buy food, utilities, a car and insurance.

Story of man on top of house in flood.

------------------------

1 Tim 5:8 “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”

He who will not provide for his family- Safety from harm

-----------------

I know there is much more that can be said about this subject but perhaps this will give everyone some things to think about.

 The end