The Hidden Purpose of America
There’s a hidden purpose for America. It goes back to the days leading up to the American Revolution. A spiritual revolution was beginning. The story of that spiritual revolution is being rediscovered right now. That’s because a stirring is going on right now—a rebirth of that revolution. It was waiting for the time we live in. It could have only begun here in America.
For centuries before America was founded, such a movement could never arise. There was no place for people to unite together in a common cause. The abuses of tyrannical governments were fresh in the minds of American colonists. Time and again, England’s kings dragged the nation into brutal, self-serving power struggles—wars and political projects that ordinary people never asked for and often actively despised. Dissenters were often imprisoned without trial.
Life was cruel during the centuries of the “Dark Ages.” The power of the lords and the clergy over the peasants was crushing. The people were trapped in poverty by their leaders. They were stripped of any real power, influence, or chance to grow. Common people were denied the right to appear in court. They were not free to face their accusers whenever their ideas threatened the rulers. Freedom of religion was also denied for many centuries. Some people had beliefs that differed from those of the Catholic or Protestant state churches. These people faced hideous abuses. As Thomas Jefferson put it:
“Millions of innocent men, women, and children since the introduction of Christianity have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned.”
Darkness was filling Europe and England by men who claimed to be serving God. Whose influence were these oppressive kings under? What was the church bringing? It wasn’t from God. But he was not disinterested; he had a plan. He wanted to restore the life of the first-century church recorded in the book of Acts in the Bible.
A Radical Life of Love
According to Acts 2 and 4, the early church expressed a radical life of love and sharing. Acts: 2:44 spoke of all believers “living together” and sharing “all things in common.” Acts 4:32 showed that as a result of this sharing, there were “no poor among them.” They had “one heart and one way.”
But this life died as love left their midst and their light became darkness. What supplanted them was the Catholic and later the Protestant churches. Love had been lost, as well as their sharing of all things in common. In the Church, there were the very rich and the very poor oppressed by the wealthy clergy and their wealthy patrons. This institution bore no resemblance to the primitive church of the Apostles. But its existence was covered up because no one knew about it. Only the clergy could read the Latin and Greek of the Bible.
In the early 1600s, Bibles written in plain English were being circulated. However, if you were found to be possessing a Bible, you were in great danger. That danger came from the Church. In several periods of European history, it could be dangerous – sometimes life-threatening – to be found possessing a Bible. Historical accounts show legal persecution, imprisonment, confiscation, torture, and even execution. The clergy did not want the people to discover the account of how the church was in its inception. If they did, they would question the authenticity of the churches of their day. They might challenge the authority of its leadership.
The famous “Pilgrims” of Plymouth had done just that. They discovered the communal life of the first-century church. They too began to live communally. They began sharing all their possessions and working together.
They had seen that the corruption in the church was so great that they separated themselves. They rejected the authority of the Church of England. They knew the history of innocent bloodshed and corruption within that church. They cut all ties and referred to themselves as Separatists. They were only a few hundred people. Still, they were a great threat to the Church and the king. The king had much control over the Church, and so they had to flee to America for their lives.
Sadly, the fire of those Plymouth Pilgrims didn’t continue to burn. It was extinguished in the hearts of the generations that followed. But one of their spiritual leaders believed that one day that radical life of love would re-emerge. He spoke of their lives as “stepping stones” for a future movement. And indeed they would be. Their lives and struggles would be honored. You see, there was a divine plan in the heart of God that was waiting for a future time...
The Hidden Purpose
The purpose of the Creator is to carve a kingdom out of the world. His plan is to restore that radical life of love and unity. He chose America as that place. The Founding Fathers were his servants. They were used to create a secure environment in which the restored Church could exist and thrive. God’s people could live quiet, peaceful lives without interference from the state.
To restore that first life of love, a people would have to live in a country where they would be unmolested for their beliefs. Those who would “grope for God” would be able to find him there. They would have to be free to follow the truth wherever it led them. For us, that meant restoring the life as it was in the beginning. The same seed should produce the same fruit. The same gospel should produce the same life. That life would need the protection of countries like America. They would need to live in nations with a constitution that limits the government’s power. They would need countries that honor the free exercise of religion.
This brings us to the hidden purpose of the American Constitution. Acts 17:26-28 says that the Creator appointed “times and boundaries” of nations. He did this so that men could “grope for God and perhaps even find him.” Nations have physical boundaries. Within them, they also have limits or boundaries on their authority. The First Amendment of the Constitution makes it clear. It says that government may not prohibit the “free exercise” of religion. That means you are free to live in obedience to the clear commands in the Bible.
How did the Founding Fathers arrive at such a document? How would they protect and enable the free exercise of religion against the “established” churches? What kind of insight did they have as to what the real issue was? To understand this, let’s return to the days of the Pilgrims. Others had objected to the authority held by the king and Church. However, they wished to have that power for themselves. This is seen in the Puritans.
The Puritans
The Puritans were another group that fled persecution. They left England a decade after the Pilgrim Separatists. These reformers wanted to “purify” the Church of England. They established a colony centered in what later became Boston. The irony about these later settlers was that they too wished to practice their religion freely, but they would persecute anyone in their colony who wanted freedom for themselves. Anyone who dissented from the worship practices of those Puritans was punished. The same oppression they fled from in Europe, they brought to the shores of America.
They were responsible for the famous Salem Witch Trials. There’s also a history of Quakers and other dissenters being persecuted by the Puritans. Like any society, they had civil laws. But they also wanted control over the moral and religious customs.
Clearly, not all who wanted freedom wanted freedom for all.
The Constitution
When the dust of revolution finally settled, America’s Founding Fathers assembled in Philadelphia. They were gathered there to consider how this new nation would be formed. Fresh in their minds were the abuses of recent history right there on their own shores. The rights of men had to be honored and protected. This required the power of the state to be limited by a constitution.
The government could not be influenced by the Church. Nor could it prohibit the free expression of religion. There had to be a total separation of Church and State. If a true movement of God were to re-emerge, it would need this protection. That protection would guard against encroaching government and oppressive religions. If any church had the power to influence the State, they would use it to punish dissenters.
For the first time in Western history, a place was made for a movement of God to be reborn. At this very time, the gospel is being restored. It is the same gospel spoken by Yahshua and his apostles 2000 years ago –– the Gospel of the Kingdom. That gospel calls one to freedom from the oppression of self-concern, and total devotion to God’s ultimate purpose in establishing this country: so that his kingdom could come on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Most people know about Yahshua’s ultimate example of self-denying love. He loved us all even unto death. His death opened the way to the Tree of Life. He paid a high cost, and his gospel requires a high cost. He said that whoever wishes to come after him must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow him. He required his disciples to give up all their earthly possessions, putting their absolute trust in him. He commissioned them to make other disciples, calling them to do the same.
Those disciples saw him as a “Pearl of Great Price,” worth giving up everything to gain. Many people over the centuries have fallen in love with this man, Yahshua, but such truth-seekers haven’t had a place to obey his words.
These are the times of the end. A people has been gathered together to restore that primitive pattern of Acts 2 and 4. They live together in communities, a foretaste of the kingdom to come. There are no rich and poor, for all who believe are sharing all things in common once again. They are living to fulfill the words of Yahshua. He said that his followers would be known by their love for one another.
Our movement began several decades ago in America. It has spread to many countries around the world – twelve tribes united to bring about his cause – an age of peace.
The God of Heaven waited until he found a people willing to pay the high cost of love. He has found a few, and there are many more with that same heart. They must be gathered together into one flock with one shepherd.
If you can hear that revolutionary call, come and join us!
