The Iron Pen #101

God & Country

Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D.

In my lifetime eleven men have served as President of these United States - Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy E. Carter, Ronald W. Reagan, George H. W. Bush, William J. Clinton and George W. Bush. I have a high regard for several of the men who served our Nation in the office of President. But, of all the men that have served in my lifetime, the one that I personally appreciated was Ronald Wilson Reagan. Here is why. First, when he was inaugurated in both 1981 and 1985 took his oath of office upon his mother’s Bible. He requested that it be opened to 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." Secondly, he was a supporter of our beloved King James Bible. He said, "What would you say if someone decided Shakespeare's plays, Charles Dicken's novels, or the music of Beethoven could be rewritten & improved?" He then went on lament that sadly the "tinkering & general horsing around with the sacred texts will no doubt continue as pious drudges try to get it right." He concluded by saying of these new Bible versions, "It will not dawn on them that it has already been gotten right."

To be sure President Reagan had a high esteem for the Bible. He said, "Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive Nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible. Indeed, it is an incontrovertible fact that all the complex and horrendous questions confronting us at home and worldwide have their answer in that single book." (he was referring to the Bible).

J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you," 2 Corinthians 6:17

The Scripture text, which heads this article, touches a subject of vast importance in Christianity. That subject is the great duty of separation from the world. This is the point that Paul had in view when he wrote to the Corinthians, "Come out from them and be separate." The subject is one, which demands the absolute attention of all who profess and call themselves Christians. In every age of the Church, separation from the world has always been one of the grand evidences of a work of grace in the heart. He that has been really born of the Spirit, and made a new creature in Christ Jesus, has always endeavored to "come out from the world," and live a separate life. Those who only wore the name "Christian," without the reality, have always refused to "come out and be separate" from the world.

The subject perhaps was never more important than it is today. There is a widespread desire to make things pleasant in Christianity--to saw off the corners and edges of the cross, and to avoid, as far as possible, self-denial. Everywhere we hear professing Christians declaring loudly that we must not be "too narrow and exclusive," and that there is no harm in many things, which the holiest saints of old thought would be bad for their souls. That we may go anywhere, and do anything, and spend our time in anything, and read anything, and keep any company, and plunge into anything, and all the while still be good Christians--this is the saying of thousands. In a day like this I think it is good to raise a warning voice and bring attention to the teaching of God's Word. It is written in that Word, "Come out from them and be separate."