THE FAUSTAIN WAGER
THE FAUSTAIN WAGER
By Rev. Phillip "Flip" Benham
June 10, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
In 1994, a number of babies were born near Brownsville, Texas, with strange maladies. Numerous reporters were investigating to see if the culprit was a hidden environmental factor needing to be uncovered. Two little babies were born without brain stems.
With that in mind, now I give you a Faustian wager:
If President G.W. Bush were to say to you, “I’ll sign an Executive order today that will end abortion in America, as far as it is up to me, if you will simply allow the two little babies born down in Brownsville, TX without brain stems to be euthanized. They are only going to live a short time anyway.” Would you make the deal?
Keep in mind that you will be saving the lives of millions of babies at the expense of just two. Pragmatism and utilitarianism would surely recommend that you accept the deal. The entire pro-life movement would demand that you accept the deal. Compassion for children would cry, “YES! I’ll accept the deal!” Your own heart would cry out from deep within your bosom that this is a gift from God. “YES! YES! I’ll accept the deal!” Incrementalism would say, “Amen!” You would also be called every name in the book if you didn’t accept the deal.
So what would you do? Millions of lives depend on your choice.
The devil loves to get us into predicaments like this. He confronts us with the oldest lie on the face of the earth. It is a lie birthed in the pit of hell and it seeks our ultimate destruction. Here it is: “Did God really say….?”
Yes, the devil is always calling God’s Word into question. It is his way. But that is only the bait to get you and me to outright deny God’s Word. The devil is indeed the ultimate incrementalist.
He used it on Eve in the Garden, and Eve bought the lie – disaster followed. He used it on Jesus during His temptation, but he was crushed by the Word of God. He used it on the disciples and saints upon whom the Lord built His Church, and he was crushed again by the Word of God. Today, he is using it (the lie of incrementalism) upon you and me. Will you stand upon God’s Word, or will you bargain with the devil?
The only thing we need remember here is that God never gave us the bargaining chip to negotiate this deal. All human life is sacred to Him. We do not have the moral authority to determine who lives and who dies. This is God’s domain.
One life is as precious in His sight as hundreds of millions of lives. Our responsibility is to say what God says in His Word. Those two babies born down in Brownsville, Texas, are as precious in His sight as all of the 7 billion people on this planet. “What you have done to the least of these my brethren, you have also done it to me…”
The battle is not ours but the Lord’s! Our duty is not to try to outsmart the devil in all of his wiles, but to stand upon the Word of God! Nothing less will do.
Incrementalism is a lie from the pit of hell for it will never allow us to stand alone upon God’s Word!
Operation Rescue was birthed in repentance. We knew we were to stand absolutely on the Word of God. We did not see compromising God’s Word as a tactic to end abortion. We laid our lives down that others might live. We were arrested, lost pastorates, lost jobs, were fined, sued, and were pursued by our own government as “enemies of the state.” Yet, “little by little,” God was leading us to victory. That’s right! When we stand steadfastly on God’s Word, God Himself incrementally brings us into victory.
Say What?
Read the Bible and see (Exodus 23: 27-33; Deuteronomy 7: 21-22; Matthew 13:31-33). God is going to give the Promised Land to His people “little by little” – that is incrementally. But only as they stand resolutely upon His Word. The lie of incrementalism is that we become “as God” trying to negotiate the terms of peace. God wants us to represent Him alone – no negotiation with the enemy. God Himself has already determined the terms of peace. We need to simply deliver God’s mail and He will, incrementally, bring us to victory!
Of course, this demands an understanding of Scripture and the true nature of the abortion battle. Abortion is a Gospel issue. God will honor those who stand upon His Word and unsheathe the sharp double edged Sword of the Spirit. You want to end abortion? Nothing less than national repentance over the sin of child sacrifice will do. This requires that the Word of God be proclaimed. The Emancipation Proclamation for the Unborn Child must be signed by the President of the United States of America.
For this to happen, repentance in the Church of Jesus Christ must take place first. Yes, abortion will come to an end in America when the Church of Jesus Christ makes up her mind it will come to an end – not one second sooner! We, God’s Church in America, are the ones in sin because we know that abortion is murder, yet do nothing about it! We just blame the Republicans for being cowards, and the Democrats for being murderers.
In Operation Rescue we did not compromise God’s Word. We stood upon the absolute principle that abortion was, is, and forever will be – murder! No incremental steps or attempts to find common ground with the enemy of God’s children. We just took God at His Word.
If you have to compromise His Word in order to get some legislation to pass, like killing babies if they have parental consent, or waiting 24 hours before killing, or anesthetizing the baby before you kill him, then you have bought, hook, line, and sinker, the lie from the devil. The devil never wants anyone to stand upon God’s Word alone, for it spells his absolute defeat. He can’t win when you and I do this. He gets you and me to compromise God’s Word in order to save the lives of some babies, while he keeps his grip on the heart of our nation by keeping abortion legal.
This is the lie of incrementalism.
As we stood upon God’s Word in Operation Rescue and allowed the theology of the Church house to become biography in the streets, we were colored by the devil, and his crowd, as wild-eyed lunatics bent on blowing-up abortion mills and shooting abortionists. Note the design here was to keep us from doing what we were doing.
The devil even used our brothers and sisters in Christ to say we were hurting the cause because of our foolish behavior. The Church said we were disgracing the Name of Christ because we were not submitted to those in authority over us. So we retreated back inside the church house to lick our wounds. We tried to convince ourselves that the only hope to end abortion was to incrementally work for it through legislation spawned in Washington, D.C. Just exactly what the devil wanted – when God’s Church retreats, all hell breaks loose.
We will save some babies, to be sure, by our compromising of God’s Word through incremental legislation - the devil is more than happy to give us a few if we will leave God out of the equation. But we will never end abortion! This is the confusion the devil has been throwing the pro-life movement into for quite a long time now. We keep compromising God’s Word – we do it so that at least we will get something passed in the House and Senate. If it is going to pass muster it has to be watered down. But at least we feel something is going in the right direction.
Church – don’t we want to see abortion criminalized once again in America? Don’t we want to be like Joshua and Caleb who knew that victory comes only as we stand on God’s Word and trust in Him? Instead of all hell breaking loose in our nation, don’t we want to see all heaven being released? If we truly desire to see “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be, done on earth as it is in Heaven” then we must not remove ourselves from under the authority of God’s Word. It is His Word that God watches over to perform. It is His Word that vanquishes his foes. It is his Word that will restore this nation once again, only we must be strong and courageous, taking our stand using the one weapon we have been given – the Sword of the Spirit, the very Word of God.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rev. Bingham is the National Director of Operation Rescue and Operation Save America. Graduated Florida State University in 1970 with BA Political Science, BA International Relations and Asbury Theological Seminary, 1980 Master of Divinity.
Appearing on numerous local and national television and radio programs (Good Morning America, 48 Hours, Sonja Live, David Praegger Live, ABC World News Tonight, CBS News, NBC News, Hannity & Colmes, and CNN), Rev. Benham is a bold witness for the Lord Jesus Christ in the public arena. He has been interviewed by the Washington Post, Washington Times, New York Times, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, World Magazine, and virtually every major newspaper in the country.
Married to his wife, Faye, for thirty-four years, Flip is the father of five wonderful children. Flip and Faye are also the proud grandparents of eight beautiful grandchildren.
By Rev. Phillip "Flip" Benham
June 10, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
In 1994, a number of babies were born near Brownsville, Texas, with strange maladies. Numerous reporters were investigating to see if the culprit was a hidden environmental factor needing to be uncovered. Two little babies were born without brain stems.
With that in mind, now I give you a Faustian wager:
If President G.W. Bush were to say to you, “I’ll sign an Executive order today that will end abortion in America, as far as it is up to me, if you will simply allow the two little babies born down in Brownsville, TX without brain stems to be euthanized. They are only going to live a short time anyway.” Would you make the deal?
Keep in mind that you will be saving the lives of millions of babies at the expense of just two. Pragmatism and utilitarianism would surely recommend that you accept the deal. The entire pro-life movement would demand that you accept the deal. Compassion for children would cry, “YES! I’ll accept the deal!” Your own heart would cry out from deep within your bosom that this is a gift from God. “YES! YES! I’ll accept the deal!” Incrementalism would say, “Amen!” You would also be called every name in the book if you didn’t accept the deal.
So what would you do? Millions of lives depend on your choice.
The devil loves to get us into predicaments like this. He confronts us with the oldest lie on the face of the earth. It is a lie birthed in the pit of hell and it seeks our ultimate destruction. Here it is: “Did God really say….?”
Yes, the devil is always calling God’s Word into question. It is his way. But that is only the bait to get you and me to outright deny God’s Word. The devil is indeed the ultimate incrementalist.
He used it on Eve in the Garden, and Eve bought the lie – disaster followed. He used it on Jesus during His temptation, but he was crushed by the Word of God. He used it on the disciples and saints upon whom the Lord built His Church, and he was crushed again by the Word of God. Today, he is using it (the lie of incrementalism) upon you and me. Will you stand upon God’s Word, or will you bargain with the devil?
The only thing we need remember here is that God never gave us the bargaining chip to negotiate this deal. All human life is sacred to Him. We do not have the moral authority to determine who lives and who dies. This is God’s domain.
One life is as precious in His sight as hundreds of millions of lives. Our responsibility is to say what God says in His Word. Those two babies born down in Brownsville, Texas, are as precious in His sight as all of the 7 billion people on this planet. “What you have done to the least of these my brethren, you have also done it to me…”
The battle is not ours but the Lord’s! Our duty is not to try to outsmart the devil in all of his wiles, but to stand upon the Word of God! Nothing less will do.
Incrementalism is a lie from the pit of hell for it will never allow us to stand alone upon God’s Word!
Operation Rescue was birthed in repentance. We knew we were to stand absolutely on the Word of God. We did not see compromising God’s Word as a tactic to end abortion. We laid our lives down that others might live. We were arrested, lost pastorates, lost jobs, were fined, sued, and were pursued by our own government as “enemies of the state.” Yet, “little by little,” God was leading us to victory. That’s right! When we stand steadfastly on God’s Word, God Himself incrementally brings us into victory.
Say What?
Read the Bible and see (Exodus 23: 27-33; Deuteronomy 7: 21-22; Matthew 13:31-33). God is going to give the Promised Land to His people “little by little” – that is incrementally. But only as they stand resolutely upon His Word. The lie of incrementalism is that we become “as God” trying to negotiate the terms of peace. God wants us to represent Him alone – no negotiation with the enemy. God Himself has already determined the terms of peace. We need to simply deliver God’s mail and He will, incrementally, bring us to victory!
Of course, this demands an understanding of Scripture and the true nature of the abortion battle. Abortion is a Gospel issue. God will honor those who stand upon His Word and unsheathe the sharp double edged Sword of the Spirit. You want to end abortion? Nothing less than national repentance over the sin of child sacrifice will do. This requires that the Word of God be proclaimed. The Emancipation Proclamation for the Unborn Child must be signed by the President of the United States of America.
For this to happen, repentance in the Church of Jesus Christ must take place first. Yes, abortion will come to an end in America when the Church of Jesus Christ makes up her mind it will come to an end – not one second sooner! We, God’s Church in America, are the ones in sin because we know that abortion is murder, yet do nothing about it! We just blame the Republicans for being cowards, and the Democrats for being murderers.
In Operation Rescue we did not compromise God’s Word. We stood upon the absolute principle that abortion was, is, and forever will be – murder! No incremental steps or attempts to find common ground with the enemy of God’s children. We just took God at His Word.
If you have to compromise His Word in order to get some legislation to pass, like killing babies if they have parental consent, or waiting 24 hours before killing, or anesthetizing the baby before you kill him, then you have bought, hook, line, and sinker, the lie from the devil. The devil never wants anyone to stand upon God’s Word alone, for it spells his absolute defeat. He can’t win when you and I do this. He gets you and me to compromise God’s Word in order to save the lives of some babies, while he keeps his grip on the heart of our nation by keeping abortion legal.
This is the lie of incrementalism.
As we stood upon God’s Word in Operation Rescue and allowed the theology of the Church house to become biography in the streets, we were colored by the devil, and his crowd, as wild-eyed lunatics bent on blowing-up abortion mills and shooting abortionists. Note the design here was to keep us from doing what we were doing.
The devil even used our brothers and sisters in Christ to say we were hurting the cause because of our foolish behavior. The Church said we were disgracing the Name of Christ because we were not submitted to those in authority over us. So we retreated back inside the church house to lick our wounds. We tried to convince ourselves that the only hope to end abortion was to incrementally work for it through legislation spawned in Washington, D.C. Just exactly what the devil wanted – when God’s Church retreats, all hell breaks loose.
We will save some babies, to be sure, by our compromising of God’s Word through incremental legislation - the devil is more than happy to give us a few if we will leave God out of the equation. But we will never end abortion! This is the confusion the devil has been throwing the pro-life movement into for quite a long time now. We keep compromising God’s Word – we do it so that at least we will get something passed in the House and Senate. If it is going to pass muster it has to be watered down. But at least we feel something is going in the right direction.
Church – don’t we want to see abortion criminalized once again in America? Don’t we want to be like Joshua and Caleb who knew that victory comes only as we stand on God’s Word and trust in Him? Instead of all hell breaking loose in our nation, don’t we want to see all heaven being released? If we truly desire to see “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be, done on earth as it is in Heaven” then we must not remove ourselves from under the authority of God’s Word. It is His Word that God watches over to perform. It is His Word that vanquishes his foes. It is his Word that will restore this nation once again, only we must be strong and courageous, taking our stand using the one weapon we have been given – the Sword of the Spirit, the very Word of God.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rev. Bingham is the National Director of Operation Rescue and Operation Save America. Graduated Florida State University in 1970 with BA Political Science, BA International Relations and Asbury Theological Seminary, 1980 Master of Divinity.
Appearing on numerous local and national television and radio programs (Good Morning America, 48 Hours, Sonja Live, David Praegger Live, ABC World News Tonight, CBS News, NBC News, Hannity & Colmes, and CNN), Rev. Benham is a bold witness for the Lord Jesus Christ in the public arena. He has been interviewed by the Washington Post, Washington Times, New York Times, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, World Magazine, and virtually every major newspaper in the country.
Married to his wife, Faye, for thirty-four years, Flip is the father of five wonderful children. Flip and Faye are also the proud grandparents of eight beautiful grandchildren.
posted by shummer60 at Saturday, October 13, 2007
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