by Rich Jefferson

Mikhail Dukakis, governor of

Massachusetts, may have lost his
presidential bid this past November, but
he is determined to leave his mark on
the nation. He recently signed a bill
that will warm the hearts of America's
statists. It prohibits new firefighters and
police officers from smoking cigars and
cigarettes; not just at wmk, but at
home as well. This was reported in the
January/February issue of Dr. SerVass'
Saturday Evening Post. The Post went
on to say this was a heroic and cour-
ageous thing for Mikhail to do.
"It is sure to cut disability costs in
the future," the magazine said. "It is
also hoped that this revolutionary mea-
sure will encourage other states to fol-
low suit For his courage in signing
such controversial legislation ( oppo-
nents claim it is an invasion of privacy)
and for helping to curb health-care costs
in Massachusetts, Governor Dukakis
surely earns the grade of A+."
Copy such as this shows how we
have accepted the gruesome reversal of
the sin and crime distinction; what was
once the matter of conscience and heart
is now the focus of reprisals from the
state, and many crimes are regarded as
private matters. It also shows that Dr.
SerVaas has the same mushy world
view as former U.S. Sw:geon General
C. Everett Koop. This kind of journal-
ism surely earns Dr. SerVass an A+
from Big Brother.

No one should be surprised to
see the Democrats in Congress do
everything possible in the next four
years to raise taxes, blarne Bush for it.
and wreck the economy. With memo-
ries of Herbert Hoover's presidency, the
kick-off of the Depression, and the
ensuing reign of Roosevelt, Democrats
will find a way, ostensibly for deficit
reduction. But boosting revenues will
not reduce the deficit or balance the
budget. It will stimulate more govern-
ment vote-buying and Congressional
bribery. The deficit could soar. The
national civil government now spends
almost $1.60 of every $1.00 of revenue
it takes in.
..........
Dontt. be surprised either if
the minimum wage legislation defeated
this past year is resurrected and passed
by the Democratic majority. This will
contribute to the coming economic
downturn and to social unrest as more
and more small businesses reduce the
number of those on the payroll. The
liberals will get away with this because
their comrades in the major news media
will not blame the really guilty ones.

During the 1988 presidential
election the question about what a
liberal is was never answered on the
popular news-entertainment programs.
But it was answered earlier by James
Burnham in his 1985 book "Suicide of
the West," Regnery books, Chicago.
An "avowed liberal" may be "a com-
munist in free speech clothing," (pg.
29). To paraphrase, Burnham says that
liberalism is certain that relativism is
right, that man is born good, and is
everywhere perfectable through "educa-
tion" controlled by the civil govern-
ment. Burnham says that "Liberalism
rejects the essentially tragic view of
man's fate found in nearly all pre-
Renaissance thought and literature,
Christian and non-Christian alike." In
view of Christ's Salvation, the Fall is
not tragic; denying it is. American
Liberals are only the step-children of
the anti-Christian 18th century philo-
sopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The
French Revolution here is gathering
steam.
ttt
Who is a liberal? In a recent
interview on Pat Robertson's Christian
Broadcasting Network, Tony Campollo
admitted to being a Democrat, and
sounded very much like a liberal. He
flatly denied both the teaching of the
Old and New Covenants when he said
some homosexuals do not choose to
commit this sin, but that some are
merely biologically predisposed to
homosexuality. They should not be
made to feel guilty for this, Campollo
said. It is no comfort to know that
Campollo habitually schmoozes his
way into conservative forums to propa-
gate anti-Christian ideas in the name of
Christianity. Campollo's affiliation
with the pro-homosexual group "Evan-
gelicals Concerned" should be enough
for Bible-believing Christians to shun
his company the same way the early
church shunned heretics. If Christians
want to see homosexuals saved, they
need to shout from the city square the
message of total despair without Olrist
instead of Campollo's message of ac-
comodation with the world

The philosophical roots of
American Hinduism promise to debase
American culture the same way that
philosophy has for centuries debilitated
Indian culture. Even so, it has become
big business. It's hard to guess how
much money is hauled in by the mani-
cured Anglo swamis of the New Age,
but it's a bundle because they spend
oodles propagandizing. .
A spokesman for American Hindu-
ism has been seen on television recent-
ly, at least in Georgia, taking entire
half-hour slots to peddle different sets of
cassette tapes aimed at improving your
life through subliminal auditory percep-
tions. His furrowed brow and worried
look show his concern that individuals
(Continued on page 21)
The Counsel of Cbalcedon, April, 1989 ---------------------------- Page 13
hand, because of the scoffers who were
demanding some evidence that
Jeremiah's prophecies are from God.
The prolonged unfulfJ.llment of his
prophecy exposed him to ridicule and
filled him with confusion.
C. (17:16) THE PROOF OF JERE-
MIAH'S FAITIIFULNESS
1. He did not try to avoid being
God's prophet.
2. He did not allow his own wishes
to color his message.
3. He spoke judgment because it
was from God.
4. He calls God to witness his sin-
cerity.
5. Three marks of a true prophet:
a. Obedience to the call of God
b. Restraint from venting one's
own spite
c. Sincerity in doing the work
assigned
D. (17:17-18) TilE SECOND PETI-
TION: VINDICATION
1. Jeremiah is asking God not to
cause him consternation by not ful-
fJ.lling his threats prophesied by Jere-
miah. He wants God to fulflll his word,
and in so doing to be a refuge to him.
2. He is asking for his persecutors
to be brought to shame, proven guilty
and filled with terror, by causing the
prophesied day of disaster to fall on
them and break them completely. Jere-
miah longs for God to vindicate his
own character as God from slander.
There was not the remotest sadism in
the prophet's mind, and God, the
Searcher of hearts, knew that full well.
V. (17:19-27) The Glory of the
Sabbath
A. (17:19-23) THE SANCTITY OF
TiffiSABBAlH
1. The nation's very existence was
conditional upon the observance of the
law of the Sabbath, because it was a
holy day unto the Lord, and a sign .of
the covenant and of the rest we enjoy
therein, Exod. 20:8; Heb. 4; Exod.
16:23f. The open and defiant dis
regw:d for the Sabbath was
symptomatic of that nation's re-
jection of God's sovereignty and
covenant.
2. The Sabbath laws are found in
Exod. 20:8f; Deut. 5:12; Neb. 13:15-
22; Isa. 58:13-14.
B. (17:24-26) 1HE PROMIS:E OF
THESABBA1H
1. The observance of the covenantal
Sabbath is essential to national, or
personal, restoration. If Judah would
heed God's voice, God promises his
people the Sabbath blessing that
Davidic kings and leaders would come
along with the entire populace from
surrounding areas to bring offerings and
sacrifices of praise to the house of the
Lord. When the Sabbath is honored, the
throne of David is exalted, the Temple
frequented, and the city of Jerusalem
blessed.
2. Rich blessings that pervade the
entirety of life are promised to nations
or to individuals, who sanctify the
Sabbath.
C. (17:27) 1HE CURSE OF IDE
SABBATII
1. On the other hand, when God's
Sabbath is disregarded and profaned, the
covenant curses become operative. In
that case, throne, temple and city would
all be swept away.
2. The "chariots" speaks of the "this-
worldly" nature of God's judgments on
a people for Sabbath desecration, and
the fact that the fire that consumes
Jerusalem "will not be put out" speaks
of the "other-worldly" nature of those
judgments. God judges people and
nations in history and beyond history,
who desecrate his Sabbath.
3. See Appendix: The Christian
Sabbath: The First Day of the Week
[to be included in a future issue.)
out there are not reaching their full po-
tential. Testimonials of the true be-
lievers whose problems have all been
solved by listening to the good doctor's
tapes are broadcast to prove you can
have the joy of the regenerate life
out Christ. It's as if the serpent had said
in Genesis 3, "Eve dear, you just prac-
tice guided relaxation, visualization, and
positive affirmation, and you can leave
the fruit on the tree and eat it too."
Echoing the modem Tower of Babel
(humanist) manifestos, the director of
the program purrs, "You can set your"
self free."
********
If you shop for bargains you
are probably also a coupon-clipper. If
so, you know they have coupons for
everything now, including condoms.
Reduced are the price and supposedly
the risk; "it's a matter of condom
sense." Saving a dollar on a 12-pack of
condoms isn't going to stop acquired
immuno-deficiency syndrome or other
Divine Judgments, but it may be trendy
enough for certain governors to sign
executive orders requiring the prominent
display of such advertisements in the
Sunday newspaper fliers.
********
For some good news, the
Russian Reformation Foundation is
making good use of this thing called
glasnost. The foundation is an organ-
ization committed to getting Bibles and
the 1644 Westminster Confession of
Faith into the Soviet Union. Chris-
tianity in the USSR suffers partially
from a problem Christianity has in
South America; the Russian Orthodox
Church and the Iberian Catholicism of
South and Central America never faced
a reformation. Jack and Kim Anderson
run the foundation and hope to remedy
the problem in Russia by translating
the confession.
In a recent newsletter Jack reports he
needs $800 for typesetting the Shorter
Catechism and $7,000 for printing.
Distributing the Bible and this literature
is obviously the best way to work
toward changing the Soviet Union. Last
year the foundation received a meager
$17,000. Without contributions, the
work slows down. Please make the
foundation a matter of prayer, and assist
if possible. Russian Reformation
Foundation, P.O. Box 17966, Boulder,
Colorado, 7966. D
The Counsel or Chalcedon, April, 1989 --------------------------- Page 21