January 17, 2022

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. Revelation 13:11

The beast out of the earth (symbolizing a relatively unpopulated area) came up after the beast from the sea (meaning heavily populated).

The little isolated colonies eventually grew to a confederation of powerful states, and the world in amazement saw the peace and prosperity of “a church without a pope and a state without a king.” As more and more people flocked to the shores of the New World, it became evident that they had not the same motivations as the original settlers. For a while, the primitive faith and purity exerted a broad influence, but that influence steadily declined with the increase in number of those more interested in gaining worldly advantages. The lamb-like principles were being overshadowed by the dragon’s ways….

Another factor was also in play (Williams was against this practice): the common practice of allowing only church members to vote or hold civic office was intended to preserve the purity of the state, but the actual result was the corruption of the church. The churches were filling up with unconverted people who united with the church for worldly purposes but had had no change of heart. Even people going into the ministry had not a clue about the renewing power of the Holy Spirit.

This echoes back to the days of Constantine when pagans began to pour into the church after he “legalized” Christianity (313AD). The inestimable evils of compromise have been taking their toll ever since. Even a slight degree of union between church and state may seem to bring the world nearer to the church, but in reality it brings the church nearer to the world. Any attempt to build up the church by the aid of the state, of appealing to secular power to support the gospel, is a failure to recognize Him who said:

“My kingdom is not of this world.”  John 18:36