Dr. Lively then puts on his constitutional lawyer hat to briefly summarize the history of governments’ encroachment on Christian liberty, and how the “separation of church and state” was transformed first from a cultural metaphor, to (purportedly) binding constitutional law in which the separate sovereignty of the church was at least still implicitly acknowledged, and then further converted into a legal and political “one way street” in which the government claims the authority to control churches and the “duty” of the church is to submit to being categorized as a “non-essential service” and to comply with government dictates.
He strongly urges all Bible-believing churches in American to follow the California rather than the Massachusetts example. And he specifically exempts the courageous Pastor Kristopher Casey of Alden Square Baptist Church of Worcester, Massachusetts from this criticism.
Acts 4: 13-20
When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in response. So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.
“What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.”
Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God. For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
