Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion... Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him (Ps 2:6-12).

When then-Senator John Ashcroft (MO-R) spoke at Bob Jones University in May of 1999, his speech attracted little attention. But after President-elect George W. Bush named Ashcroft Attorney General-designate, that speech became the object of liberal outrage. Ashcroft s theme was No King but King Jesus! Later, after liberal Senate Democrats tried borking Ashcroft with protracted confirmation hearings, they exacted from him an unholy pledge in which he repeatedly promised he would enforce the laws of the land (i.e., re. abortion, homosexuality, etc.) even though they may contradict his faith.

This is the epochal crossroads at which every Christian in America now finds himself. Will we adjust our faith to get along with an increasingly anti-Christ government and culture? Or will we now dispense with our distorted, compromised, me-centered American gospel and obey and proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of God? Will we boldly declare the Crown Rights of our Lord Jesus Christ over the Church, the nation, and all the nations? Or will we continue to compromise and slobber and beg and plead with wicked, petty tyrants to please accept us t on their terms, to grant us a seat at the table and even cut us a portion of the welfare pie to help run our ministries?

If God is to grant America another Great Awakening, Christians must repent and unbendingly, boldly proclaim "Jesus is Lord" t not Caesar, not Allah, not any other pretender to the sovereignty and Deity which belong to Christ alone. Christ s rule must be preached as it pertains to every area of American life, including law and government. Our prayers, like those of the early church (see Ps 2; Acts 4:23-33), must recognize Christ's authority and the Church's mandate to proclaim it. Our appointed task is to call America and every American to submit to Christ as King!

The Distorted American Gospel

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed (Gal 1:8-9).

Jesus commissioned the Apostles, saying, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you (Mt 28:18-20)

Christ s resurrection proved his Lordship, His supreme authority in Heaven and Earth, His omnipotence and the surety of His every spoken word. As God the pre-incarnate Son and Creator of heaven and earth, Jesus already held total authority over mankind. But now, having purchased man s redemption through His death on the Cross and having made atonement by his sinless blood, He has become both Lord and Savior to all who willingly bow the knee to Him. Nevertheless, He is Lord of all!

Christ commanded us to proclaim His authority to all men and nations. Early Christians and later the Reformers lost their lives for declaring that Jesus, not the emperor, not the pope, was Lord.

God alone is sovereign! He alone must be worshiped. Biblically the state s authority is very limited. Whenever the state oversteps its authority, God must be obeyed and not the state. The nation that defies the laws of God is an outlaw state. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords! Yes, God is Love. But His love is a holy love, a just love, a sovereign love. The Church in America, which has pictured Christ as a loving, blessing, helping, healing, merciful, kind, patient Savior Who exists to serve us and answer our prayers (to the criminal neglect of emphasizing His authority, government, justice, discipline, temporal and eternal judgments), has wickedly distorted the gospel and radically stripped it of its full power.

For believers adequately to proclaim Christ s Lordship, they must understand the extent of His authority and His jurisdiction. Jesus made these matters abundantly clear in the Great Commission. As to authority He has all authority. His jurisdiction extends over all nations (Mt 28:18-20) and every creature (Mk 16:15).

The Church in America has not adequately declared Christ s Lordship (His authority and jurisdiction) over the life of every individual.

The Gospel the Apostles preached called believers not only to faith for salvation but to the total submission of their lives, futures, possessions, vocations, even their very minds and bodies to the Lordship of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 10:5-6). Jesus told followers, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple (Lk 14:26-27). He promised eternal life, but also called for a life of total sacrifice.

But the American gospel has stripped away Christ s authority and jurisdiction over men s motives, thoughts and deeds, exalting instead their individual freedom. Few American Christians live as if Jesus were truly Lord over ever sphere of their personal lives (e.g., the TV shows they watch, their work habits, the food they eat, their sexual lives, how they spend their money, the places they go, how they manage their time and spend their leisure, etc.).

In America any preaching of Christ s Lordship has not translated into the personal sanctification for many if not most, even sincere believers Emphasis on Biblical holiness has been replaced with formulas for health, wealth, self-esteem, social success and other man-centered aspirations.

In some churches, feminist egalitarianism, tolerance for homosexuality, radical environmentalism, unbiblical pacifism and other politically correct themes have replaced the preaching of the gospel altogether.

With this utter perversion of the Lordship of Christ within the visible American Church, is it any wonder that the idea of individual rights in society has become so perverted t such that a woman s unlimited right to abortion is now protected in American law and homosexual partners are awarded tax-paid or employer-paid spousal benefits?

He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him (Col 1:15-16).

The Crown Rights of Jesus extend to every Divine and human institution: every marriage, family, church, nation, government and private agency. He is Lord over law, government, politics, business, science, education, the arts, entertainment, and every endeavor of mankind. This is His authority and His jurisdiction, and Christians have the gospel obligation to stand upon and proclaim this plain gospel truth, and to defend it with their lives.

Lost men often understand this better than God s own people. Why else did Herod try to kill all the babies in Bethlehem? Why else did Caesar single out Christians while leaving those who worshiped other non-Roman gods free to practice their religions? Why else do the Chinese Communists target the house church movement for extermination? Why do the People for the American Way, the ACLU and the Democrat leaders on the Senate Judiciary Committee rage against Christ, the Bible, and all who hold them dear, while defending abortionists, homosexuals, pornographers, and Islamists? Why the extraordinary effort to expel prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Bible, and every other Christian religious expression from the schools and every public place in America? It is the same rage about which the psalmist spoke in Psalm 2 and that the early church prayed against in Acts 4.

For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined (Is 60:12)

John presents the Apocalypse as a message from Jesus Christthe ruler of the kings of the earth. In it the kings of the earth made war with the Lamb.

But the Lamb overcame them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings Astride a white horse, accompanied by His saints, on Jesus robe and thigh were written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev 19:11-16).

From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture details God s interactions with the kings of the earth and their accountability to Him. Paul preached to King Agrippa and eagerly anticipated his opportunity to preach to the Roman emperor, Caesar Nero. Luther, too, preached to emperors and popes. Calvin, Knox and their disciples made a habit not only to pray for those in civil authority, but to see that the Word of God was fully and often preached to them, privately and publicly.

By the time of America s founding, kings, governors and magistrates throughout the western world were regularly visited by leading preachers who carefully detailed God s Biblical requirements for civic leaders and warned them of the dire consequences for disobedience.

The sermons given by colonial preachers to their governors and other civil leaders received careful attention and were sincerely heeded. The political sermons of the founding era played a major part in forming the consciences and philosophy of many of the Founding Fathers. Today, our leading pastors, evangelists and laymen, are called evil in public and treated with contempt by Godless Senators and candidates for high office.

Does Christ have opinions concerning homosexuality being promoted in America s television, schools and laws today? Regarding abortion, pornography on the Internet, Israel and the Palestinians, property rights, judicial appointees, etc.? Indeed, as Creator and Lord He has more than opinions. He has eternal, immutable, absolute laws and decrees that He intends fully to enforce. America dare not misunderstand or presume upon His remarkable patience.

God has not changed since He promised to bless Israel for obedience and curse them for disobedience at the giving of His law nearly 3500 years (Dt 28). The same blessings still belong to every nation that will uphold the Crown Rights of Jesus Christ by believing Him, submitting to His authority and obeying His commands. The curses for disobedience, too, await every nation that rejects His authority. Our Founding Fathers understood this perfectly. Consider excerpts from a call to repentance and prayer issued by the Continental Congress on June 7, 1775:

As the great Governor of the world, by His supreme and universal providence, not only conducts the course of nature with unerring wisdom and rectitude, but frequently influences the minds of men to serve the wise and gracious purposes of His providential government; and it being at all times our indispensable duty devoutly to acknowledge His superintending providence, especially in  times of impending danger and public calamity, to reverence and adore His immutable justice, as well as to implore His merciful interposition for our deliverancet

This Congress, therefore, considering the present critical, alarming, and calamitous state of these colonies do earnestly recommend that Thursday, the 20th day of July next, be observed by the inhabitants of all the English Colonies on this continent, as a day of public humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that we may , with united hearts and voices, unfeignedly confess and deplore our many sins, and offer up our joint supplications to the all-wise , omnipotent, and merciful Disposer of all events; humbly beseeching Him to forgive our iniquities, to remove our present calamities, to avert those desolating judgments with which we are threatenedthat these colonies may ever be under the care and protection of a kind Providence and be prospered in all their interests; that the divine blessings may descend and rest upon all our civil rulers, and upon the representatives of the people in their several  assemblies and conventions, that they may be directed to wise and effectual measures for preserving the union, and securing the just rights and privileges of the colonies; that virtue and true religion may revive and flourish throughout our land; and that all America my soon behold a gracious interposition of heaven, for the redress of her many grievances, the restoration of her invaded rights, a reconciliation with the parent State, on terms constitutional and honorable to both; and that her civil and religious privileges may be secured to the latest posterity.

And it is recommended to Christians, of all denominations, to assemble for public worship, and to abstain from servile labor and recreation on said day.

Ordered that a copy of the above be signed by the President and attested by the Secretary and published in the newspapers, and in handbills (Signed by John Hancock, President, and Charles Thomson, Secretary of the 2nd Continental Congress).

Similar calls to prayer and repentance were issued repeatedly during the War for Independence, the framing of the Constitution and the addition of the Bill of Rights in 1791. And they have been called periodically since then. Clearly, our founders believed that Jesus was Lord and that our nation was dependent upon and would be held fully accountable to Him.

God honored the faith and obedience of our forefathers and has mightily blessed our nation. When Islamists attacked America on 9/11/01, President Bush initiated a quick and appropriate military response. The need for an immediate and sustained response to the war to dethrone Christ in our nation is even greater. But an effective response to the war against Christ s authority, reversing the moral and spiritual tide, and rebuilding a spiritually healthy nation atop the moral and spiritual ruin that has already taken place, will take faith, resolve, commitment, endurance and patience much greater than that required to deal with the Islamists.

The moral and spiritual defense of Christian faith in America is a matter of our children s very survival. But Christ has commissioned us not just to defend the faith but to advance it. We are to be on the offense. We are not to tolerate evil, but to destroy the works of the devil. We must arrest the Church and our nation s slide to moral corruption and godless tyranny.

American Christians must urgently arise both to defend and reclaim the Crown Rights of Jesus Christ in our own land, and go forth from here effectively to proclaim to all nations that the Jesus we crucified is and will forever be KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (i.e., all kings, all presidents, all prime ministers, etc.).

Soon after Pentecost, weeks after Jesus was crucified, Peter and John were arrested, grilled, threatened and commanded to cease preaching in the Name of Jesus Christ. They refused. When the fledgling church heard what had happened, they lifted their voices to God and prayed Psalm 2, Why do the heathen rage? Facing the threat of arrest and a hostile Roman Empire, they did not shrink back but prayed and acted boldly. They prayed Old Testament declarations regarding the rule of Christ. As they prayed, the presence of God so powerfully manifested that the building shook. They went forth from there to proclaim the Crown Rights of Jesus Christ in the face of persecution, imprisonment and death.

The same Word and Spirit Who emboldened that tiny band of Jewish believers and enabled them to preach the Crown Rights of Jesus to much of the known world, is prepared to embolden and empower believers today. If a sufficient remnant will arise to proclaim the Crown Rights of Christ, as did the early believers, there is still hope for a turnaround in America.

Please Join us in Bold, Believing Prayer:

• Lord, Reveal Yourself Afresh to Your Church in America. Let us see You as You are: the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, in all your splendor and glory. You are King of our nation & all the nations.
  
• 
  Grant Your People new unction to Proclaim Your Crown Rights over America and the nations. In Jesus' Name. Amen (Dt 10:14-17; 1 Chr 16:23-31; 29:11-12; Ps 29:all; 145:all; Is 6:1-3; Acts 4:24-31;  1 Tim 6:12-16; 1 Jn 3:2-7; Rev 17:14; 19:11-16).