It is very sad to see my country of birth openly embrace totalitarianism.
Melbourne, in the State of Victoria, is now under a Stage 4 lockdown which means...
1. A curfew – from 8pm to 5am - The only reasons to leave home during these hours will be work, medical care and caregiving.
2. Where people slept last night is where they'll need to stay for the next six weeks (exemptions for work or partners).
3. Exercise will be limited to a maximum of one hour per day and no more than five kilometres from your home.
4. Shopping will be limited to one person per household per day. Again, the five-kilometre rule will apply.
5. Face coverings continue to be mandatory both inside and outside (except at home). A jogger is permitted to take their mask off when jogging.
6. Weddings and all gatherings banned. Groups limited to a maximum of two people subject to curfew and stay-at-home and exercise rules.
7. All schools closed.
8. Fishing and organised sports are banned.
Victoria has gone from a declared "State of Emergency" now to a declared "State of Disaster." This means that authorities now have the ability to suspend Acts of Parliament, take possession of property and the Police Minister now controls and directs all government agencies.
For really the first time in Australian history, the State has declared that they have the power to suspend ALL statute law. There is no more "Rule of Law" in the State of Victoria and this sets a very dark precedent for both the present and the future.
The Australian people, whom are mostly ignorant of the concept of the "Rule of Law," appear to have embraced this as "necessary" and have thus just given up any notion of the individual liberties they had previously held (and taken for granted) under their Westminster System of Government inherited from England under the long developments and precedents set under Common Law.
The Magna Carter and the 1688 Bill of Rights are now mute, not that many Australian's even know what is written in those documents. Very sad in my opinion.
People have been conditioned in a relatively easy time of prosperity and have forgotten the great sacrifices that have been made throughout history which has given them the freedoms they take for granted. It's certainly understandable with all the modern conveniences and alluring entertainments.
Freedom and liberty have not been the norm in history and few really think much about that. Instead people elect bureaucrats to "give them stuff" instead of electing representatives to uphold the hard won principles of the Rule of Law.
The future is quite certain in my opinion, not just in Australia but around the world. An authoritarian surveillance state run by immoral power hungry bureaucrats whom govern a mostly immoral people whom have abdicated their personal responsibility both spiritual and in civics.
Thomas Jefferson wrote to Charles Yancy on January 6, 1816 saying...
<<<...if a nation expects to be ignorant & free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was & never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty & property of their constituents. there is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe. >>>
That quote is as true today as it was over 200 years ago. One cannot sustain any semblance of freedom if one is ignorant. This applies both physically and spiritually.
Jesus of Nazareth said...
<<<If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. >>> John 8:36.
Free indeed from what?
<<<Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.>>> John 8:34
Free from committing sin. "Commit" in the Greek is "Poieō" and it literally means "to produce" or "bring forth." It is what we produce in our life by our chosen conduct, our DEEDS or FRUIT as the Bible calls it.
Real freedom is being established in righteousness by having one's heart (ie. the REAL SELF) purged of evil/selfishness and being established in the love of God by the Spirit of God. It is ONLY from such a foundation that we can live a life of true inward peace with true purpose because we KNOW we are aligned with our Creator and are living for that which will not perish.
Anything less is to be merely living from one moment to the next suppressing the conscience until one day, when our life is over, we find ourselves standing before God totally naked with our real self exposed. God will rip away the veil of any self-delusion.
The Apostle Paul quoted the Prophet Isaiah in saying that, "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God" (Rom 14:11). This is because God IS the ultimate rule and proper function. God is the measure, not ourselves.
In order for a motor vehicle to function properly we must use the correct oil and petrol. We must ensure it has wheels and tires and there must be a responsible driver. Take away any of these things and the car will eventually malfunction or crash. It's the same with life. Upright living, honesty, carefulness, respectfulness, sexual purity and marriage fidelity, personal responsibility etc. is the PROPER FUNCTION of things and to reject that breaks both individuals and society.
Most people never stop to truly consider the depths and implications of this. True uprightness is not a menu of "some right living" with a little compromise. Jesus spoke about that in saying...
<<<The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 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.>>> Mat 6:22-24
The Apostle Paul put it like this...
<<<Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.>>> Rom 6:16-18
Notice the parallel between Paul's "free from sin" (Rom 6:18) in the context of "not serving sin" (Rom 6:16) and Jesus "free from sin indeed" (Joh 8:36) in the context of "not serving sin" (Joh 8:34). It's the same message.
John the Apostle wrote...
<<<Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.>>> 1Jn 2:15-17
John is explaining that we cannot serve two masters. We cannot have an incessant passion for the things of this world and at the same time have the love of God in us. It is one or the other, not both.
The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life is what tempts people to compromise with upright living and do evil. It is Jesus that sets us free from doing that. How? Via this...
<<<If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.>>> John 8:31-32
<<<Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.>>> Mat 7:24-25
HEARING AND DOING. In other words putting into action and actually obey the teachings of Jesus whom commanded us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neigbour as ourselves.
The only way we can actually do that is to come to an end of ourselves in a real repentance in order to produce, in us, a heart TRULY yielded to God's grace (His influence). This means a very sober and real reflection of whom we really are, being plainly honest about our real self, the self that will stand naked before God one day when we are no longer able to deceive ourselves by suppressing the things we don't want to think about. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote...
<<<For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.>>> 2 Cor 7:10-11
If this never happens then there can be no true love of God established in us and this there can be no true upright living. Without this it is all form with no real substance.
This world is full of form without substance. So many people are "nice." So many people are "friendly." So many people "take care of their families." So many people "volunteer in their communities." Yet they still serve two masters because they compromise due to the "lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life."
The Apostle Peter wrote...
<<<...ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust>>> 2Pe 1:4
The corruption that is in the world is through lust because it is lust that entices people to sin.
<<<But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.>>> Jam 1:14-15
It is through godly sorrow working a real change of mind (repentance) that we turn away from that temptation once and for all in putting our old self, who did that stuff, to death. We still all experience temptation but instead of the temptation and lust ruling over us, we rule over it, thus we mortify the deeds of the body by being led/submitted to the Spirit by which life is brought forth (Rom 8:13) instead of death.
<<<Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.>>> Rom 6:6-7
<<<And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. >>> Gal 5:24
That is the Cross of Jesus Christ. That is REAL Christianity.
Real Christianity involves the old "selfish us" dying in repentance through godly sorrow/reflection which produces a heart TRULY yielded to the upright living revealed to the human conscience through the Spirit of God. Thus the light established in us is the Light of God, not a deceptive self established "dark light" which Jesus warned about (Mat 6:23). A deceptive "light" that is actually "darkness" is GREAT DARKNESS according to Jesus (Mat 6:23). This is because such darkness disguised as light immunises an individual against the real truth and thus lures an individual into a state of spiritual complacency. MANY people are under this deception in the world right now. MULTITUDES meaning BILLIONS or MOST PEOPLE.
<<<Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.>>> Mat 7:13-14
<<<Then said one unto him, Lord, ARE THERE FEW THAT BE SAVED? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all YE WORKERS OF INIQUITY.>>> Luk 13:23-27
Genuine Christianity is the antidote to working/bringing forth/producing iniquity in our lives. The Spirit of God truly established in us is the literal power of God energising us to walk a self-controlled and circumspect life as true ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
The Cross is something the Christian participates in by following the EXAMPLE of Jesus. If we partake in the Cross by dying to our old life of sin then God raises us up with His power, just like He raised Jesus up, and establishes us in His love whereby we live a new righteous upright life in the Spirit. We also have the hope of being resurrected from the dead due to Jesus overcoming physical death. That is real Christianity and it is seldom if ever taught in any of the denominational churches. I've been in many throughout my life and spoken to hundreds of pastors/priests whom are all pretty much held in bondage to various traditions. Many are nice enough people but are they bringing people to a real freedom?
The Australian people are losing their freedom generally due to a lack of historical perspective and understanding of the principles of the Rule of Law. If one doesn't understand how it ought be then those things are very easily lost. They have no concept that they walking headlong into bondage.
It's the same spiritually when it comes to being in bondage to sin/evil. People, lacking understanding of their true self and lacking an understanding of the true nature of God, have no concept that they are actually enslaved. The Bible calls this state "darkness" throughout. People have eyes but cannot see.
Anyone trying to serve two masters, in the sense of having a heart still in rebellion to a pure and godly life, are in the worst form of bondage of all. This is well worth considering because whilst the injustices in this world are only temporal, the righteousness and justice of God is not.
Solomon, Son of King David, once wrote...
<<<If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.>>> Ecc 11:3
When we leave this life, the way we are is the way we are and it is how we will stand before God.
The Apostle John in the Book of Revelation put it this way...
<<<He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.>>> Rev 22:11-13
What we do matters. The choices we make in this life matter. Not only as it pertains to our example and leading of others but also as to whether we have chosen or rejected the ways of God. God is going to destroy those souls that have rejected Him because those souls are like dangerous viruses or sickly refuse. Love is a choice and God cannot impose righteousness on people, God can only show people the way of righteousness and people have to choose it for themselves.
God would be reckless to grant eternal life to those whom reject righteousness. A truly loving and righteous God could not do that anyway as it would go against His very nature.
We ought fear God for it is the very beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10). It is only through a healthy respect of God and a deep examination of our true self that we might come to Him and thus yield to righteousness. When we do that we find true peace and purpose because we find ourselves no longer a part of the problem but united spiritually with the solution. God writes His nature into our minds and into our hearts. Sure we are not perfect, we still have much to learn as we continue to address our flaws, but in no longer living for ourselves (that us being dead) we now live for God and righteousness with an urgency to be an example and aide to others. Do that and live. Do that and be truly free.
Thanks for reading.
sources :
Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews
https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/statement-changes-melbournes-restrictions
Victoria Health Minister - Jenny Mikakos
https://twitter.com/JennyMikakos/status/1289834211105320960
Emergency Management Act 1986
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/vic/consol_act/ema1986190/s23.html
Thomas Jefferson Quotes and Family Letters
http://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/327
