God Pro-life, Pro-marriage, Pro-justice, Pro-work

140202AM Biblical Convictions of Citizen of Heaven-2 ESH-4.docx

ESH-04

God is Pro-Life, Pro-Marriage, Pro-Justice, & Pro-Work: Our Biblical Convictions as Citizens

Of Heaven While Living On Earth

1 Peter 2:11-17

Transcript

Transcript

Let’s open our Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 2. As you’re turning there, what we’re looking at is that this Bible we hold is God’s Word, and God always tells the truth. He is the Source, the Author of truth. Jesus Christ Himself is the way to God and the truth, the revelation of God, and Jesus Christ has commissioned us, through the Apostle Paul, to exercise ourselves to have the spiritual health and fitness, the disciplines that Paul’s talking about. And that’s how we bumped into this. We were in 1 Timothy 4, looking at those spiritual exercises for health and fitness to start the new year, and the very first one was the discipline of truth, that we are to know the truth, we are to defend the truth, we are to declare the truth, we are to build our lives upon some convictions that come from the Word of God.

And if we were to summarize what the Scriptures say across the spectrum of human societal needs, we could, and we could do many, but just four current ones, and I’ve just picked these because they’re just out there right now in our American culture. And what I would say, based on the Word of God, God would be portrayed in His Word as having four current social convictions. The first one is that God is pro-life. The second one is that God is pro-marriage. He is pro-justice, and He is pro-work, and what’s interesting is these should be also our biblical convictions. Did you know we’re supposed to be very political? Some of you don’t realize that it says in the Bible, we are polítes, politically citizens of Heaven. Now the problem is there are a lot of people that are so political in other means, you can’t even get the Gospel out because they’re so strongly partisan. God says, our primary orientation of life is we are citizens, politeuma, of Heaven. We, our citizenship is there, and we are to live a political citizen life of Heaven on Earth. And so, that’s where many people get all mixed up and they think that these are partisan. No, they’re biblical, and it’s the problem is that humans are partisan. God is not; He’s truth, and we need to be portrayers, purveyors of His truth.

So, basically to define, if we were to go through what the Old Testament and the New Testament affirms, we would be able to declare God is pro-life, so He is opposed to abortion because He says that life begins at conception. They are, He knew Jeremiah in his mother’s womb. He knew him from the instant that he began. In fact, when did Jesus begin in Mary? After his birth He became human? Of course, we wouldn’t believe that. We believe that the Holy Spirit implanted the infinite Son of God within, and from the instant of that conception, He was God in human flesh. But God is also opposed to euthanasia, those deficient physical and mental lives that are a problem for society, that slowly around the world are being erased because of that. God is the Creator of life; He’s the one who grants conception. We covered that last week.

God is pro-marriage. In other words, God is opposed to gay unions. He does not call them marriage. No homosexual people can ever be married because God defines marriage. They want it because they want to have His imprimatur on them, and they can’t because God is opposed to that because He defined marriage as between one man and one woman, and so God is also clearly opposed to divorce. I mean, it’s hard to say that word. I think in pictures without, in my mind when I hear the word divorce, I see a glass, like a glass tumbler being thrown down to a tile floor, and it smashes, and those shards of glass, how far they can travel. I mean, you’re sweeping them up for days, and they’re under things; you didn’t even see them, and they’ll glint. That’s what divorce does. It totally smashes a covenant that was made, and the family members—the husband, wife, and if there are any children—they are walking around barefoot, and they step on pieces of that, and it affects people the rest of their lives. And you can move away, and you can act happy and be like in California where everybody starts over again when we used to live out there. And you don’t want to ask them too many questions because they went there so they didn’t have to talk about it, but for the rest of their life there are these pains that come. That’s why God says, I hate divorce, and adultery, and fornication, and the portraying of fornication, pornography. Pornos is fornication, and graphe is to communicate it. God hates any communication of illicit, immoral, any form of immorality.

And also, and this is where we’re going to go more in depth, God is pro-justice. He is just, and thus He’s opposed to murder. In fact, the first civil ordinance, far before Moses, long hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before the Mosaic law, the first civil ordinance. In Genesis 9, God institutes a rule that if you shed man’s blood by man’s hand, your blood should be shed. God instituted; the first civil law for just societies is capital punishment. So, He’s opposed to murder, to violence, to discrimination in any forms. God is opposed to prejudice. He very much is aware of abuse of the weak and the poor, and as I’ve already said, the unborn. He invented capital punishment, and He commands and holds responsible the leaders. Like Cyrus, the King of Persia, God says, you’re My instrument in My hand and what you do, I’m going to… and Nebuchadnezzar, the same, and all of the, Pharaoh the same. All those secular, unbelieving rulers are still held accountable for, because God placed them into power and authority, and He says, you’re answerable. You must have a just legal system.

And finally, God through and through is pro-work; He’s against indolence. In fact, the early Church became guilty of that. Paul was a great prophetic speaker, and he’s so convincing in his Rapture teaching that people began to just sit on the housetop. They were waiting, and they’d say, feed me; I’m waiting for the Lord’s return, and he said, don’t feed them; they’re supposed to work. And so, God is against indolence, and sloth, and entitlements, thinking that I have a position that entitles me to something, oppression of the poor by the rich. Most of the minor prophets and Isaiah booms out about that. Every form of false hope produced by gambling. And by the way, gambling is not new. I mean, St. Augustine, I mean in the Roman Empire in the fourth century said gambling is from the devil. Gambling has been around with us a long time and in all of its forms, and God is opposed to that.

But 1 Peter 2, the first point, and we started last week looking at Romans 13 and Paul, but now Peter has the same word because it’s the same God inspiring. Even though they’re different men, it’s the same message, and the first point is biblical convictions don’t start with I’m conservative, or I’m very patriotic. No, biblical convictions start with, and only come from, and are bounded by the Bible, and we need to trim away. Because we have a lot of things that are excessively added on that confuse people, we need to stick with what the Bible says, and let’s look at what the Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 2, and we’re going to start in verse 11. We’re going to read all the way down to verse 17 and listen to how Peter ties together the sanctified holy lives of believers in culture that are supposed to be living in sync with Heaven. And that’s really the way he wants, still today, God wants us to live.

So, 1 Peter 2:11-17. Let’s stand together for the reading of God’s Word and then we’ll remain standing for prayer, and let’s listen to the Lord as He speaks through His Word. Verse 11, beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Verse 13, therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. Verse 15, for this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Wow.

Let’s bow before the Lord in prayer. Father, I pray that we would have ears to hear and that You would supernaturally, among all who are redeemed and indwelt by Your Spirit this morning, that we would have the privilege of You opening our spiritual eyes to behold the truth of Your character, the doctrines that Your Word reveals to us. And that we might come by choice to make decisions to exercise ourself in truth so that we have the convictions that square with our citizenship, which is in Heaven, and that we would want for You to have more of us. The instant of our salvation we got all of You. We have the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwelling in us because You, O Christ, have made us Your habitation by Your Spirit. But sadly, You don’t have all of us. We have all of You, but we’re holding out and not allowing You to have all of us. And so, this morning, especially as we approach communion, may it be the ongoing surrender of more and more of ourself to your control. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

You may be seated. As you’re seated, it’s amazing to think about what Peter said. He said, citizens of Heaven respect authority on Earth, and he doesn’t just casually say it. I mean, think about what he says. Peter, who was the voice for God, who was writing God’s Word down for us to give us our biblical responsibilities, said, be subject to the leader of your land where you live, wherever it is, and whenever it is in the future, and wherever you live on the planet. This is clear. I mean, he says it in verse 13, and then he pounds it heavily in verse 17. So, that’s amazing, but what’s shocking is who he was talking about. The leader, the shadow of the man who fell across Peter’s world was Nero! Nero was debased, depraved, defiled, and deliberately the most public advocate of the homosexual lifestyle, almost, in history, and he, look at verse 17, is to be honored. Honor? Not only submit, honor the King. Wow. For Peter to say to be subject to him, we could say, wow, well, I guess so. But he doesn’t say that. He says, whatever administration comes to you, wherever you live, and whenever you live, be honoring of that leader. Well, that would sound really hopeless, like we’re kind of fatalists and just que sera, sera, so just let it fall apart.

But tandem with being subject and honoring the king is the command personally that we have, that we’re supposed to be exposing evil, and we saw that last time in Ephesians 5:11. Paul explains what citizens of Heaven do while being subject even to the point of being put in prison to the powers that be. In Ephesians, Paul adds a second element of our responsibility as believers, we expose evil on Earth. Honor you king, but you are a sodomite, and God will judge that eternally if you don’t repent. I mean, that’s what John the Baptist did. He looked the ruler of his day in the eye and said, the woman you’re living with, it is sinful for you to be living with her. So, he cut his head off, but it doesn’t stop. You know, John the Baptist was faithful, proclaimer of the truth. He was exposing evil, and so should we.

And so, our responsibility is to be subject to governor and to expose evil, and of all people on Earth, we should have the most consistent and loving advice. Abstain from everything that’s evil because it doesn’t please God, and you’re going to have to answer to Him. I’m already a citizen of Heaven. I know Him. You are going to come and stand all alone in front of Him, and He’s going to have the books open, and you’re going to see everything you thought, and said, and did, and wanted to do. He’s got it all written down, and there’s only one way to erase it: jump into the outstretched arms of His Son and cling to Him. And so, we have the most wonderful message and the most compelling reason. We don’t want to displease God, and we should engage our culture to the point of telling them there are absolutes.

And so secondly, our biblical convictions, which come from the Bible, all flow from the fact that we’re citizens of Heaven, and we hold the convictions of our King, the God of Heaven. See, that’s why it’s so important to separate, it’s so thought in America that, oh, those are just political. They’re not. See, we need to understand they’re biblical, and they need to influence how we live. So, what we saw is that God is very political. He says, number one in Philippians 3:20, that our citizenship, our politeumai, that we are polítes. All these Greek words, we are citizens of Heaven. That’s what Philippians 3:20 says, and so this world is only our temporary home, and we already know what God has planned and what’s going to happen in this world.

And what we are supposed to focus on is not saving the world but pointing individuals to Jesus Christ, and what helps us is we realize God selected the rulers of this world. Even if, as Daniel said, they’re the basest of people, and God tells us our primary responsibility is to pray. We pray to a God who is good, so everything He does is loving and kind. We pray to a God who is wise. He knows the best way to accomplish the best result, and to a God who is omnipotent, that nothing hinders Him. I mean, I love how Daniel 5 describes human life. Daniel looked at the most powerful first-world emperor, Nebuchadnezzar, and he says, the God that holds your life’s, actually he was looking at Belteshazzar [Belshazzar], but he’s looking at him and he says, the God that holds your life’s breath in His hand is asking you to do this. He is holding your breath, and He can stop it instantly if He wants. God has all power, and so what we should do is pray no matter what is going on.

So, that brings us to the third point. So how do you do this? How do you have biblical convictions from the Bible, live as citizens of Heaven on Earth?

And so, what we saw last time is we, as God’s representatives, disciplined in truth, should be declaring the truth that abortion is murder because God is pro-life. And just because some heinous act of some wicked man raping some woman conceives a child, it does not give that woman the right to murder the child that God granted conception to. You understand, God grants conception. God made that life. And so, we, our culture, can tell a woman, you can defy the God of Heaven and destroy that life because you don’t like how it originated? Didn’t originate from that lecherous rapist. God’s the One that granted the conception. See, we need to alter our understanding of life to go back to the source. And so, God is pro-life, and abortion is murder.

Secondly, believers are to declare that marriage is only between a man and a woman. God is pro-marriage. He invented it, and in Matthew 19:4-6, He says, from the beginning, Jesus said, God made them male and female, and for this cause, shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. And God said, that’s the only thing that’s marriage, and no matter how you try and package and justify and make people feel like they’re okay, because they already know that they are not okay, because their conscience within them is accusing them of their deviance. God says, you can’t call it marriage. I invented marriage. I’m pro-marriage, and it’s only between a man and a woman. Well, that was last week.

Now, as believers, we need to shine our lives into two other areas. First of all, the darkness of injustice, and basically what I mean by the darkness of injustice is that the God who is totally against murder, and violence, and discrimination, and wants things to be done justly is looking down on this world. And today, millions of lives around the world are in an amazing grip of injustice. Now in America, most of us are, it’s kind of in the distance. We know it’s there, but especially outside of America. Trafficking in humans, and I know it’s all up with the Super Bowl, sex trade and all that, but I’m talking about when there’s not a Super Bowl. Trafficking in humans generates billions, 32 plus billion dollars a year for those who, by force and deception, sell human lives into slavery. Only a portion are into sexual bondage. Nearly two million children are exploited in the commercial sex industry. The AIDS pandemic continues to rage because so many of these children, through the customers, are being infected and spread around.

And then, on other realms, the land rights. I mean, our own Russia and Marcia, the working down with the grannies. The land rights of women are violated on a massive scale worldwide, but particularly ferociously in Africa, which leaves widows and other women in vulnerable positions. They can’t care for themselves or their children. And around the world, women suffer a double trauma, rape and then seeing their perpetrators absolutely face no consequence. And all this is just the, what goes up before the face of the Lord, the horrors of sin, and often these people, the weakest, lack any access to their justice system. They can’t protect themselves. Their families are unprotected from those who are more powerful, and it’s overwhelmingly most often the poor because they can’t hire some high-powered lawyer to get them off even an obvious thing that they did.

So, how do we shine our lights? Now let me just explain. I mean this, what I shared with you fills the minor prophets and the major prophets. God said the rich are abusing the poor and the legal system, and they’re taking their land, and at night they’re moving, the widows would have their husband’s field and they could hire someone and they could work it. But at night, the rich would come in and have their workers move the corner markers of the field until finally the widow’s field was just a postage stamp. And God says, I see that. I see that. The rich, I mean God has always been opposed to that. So, how do believers shine their lives into the darkness of injustice? And if God is pro-justice, which He is, what would He have us do as individuals in light of an unjust, sin-driven culture that lies in darkness all around us?

Well, they’re just little choices we can start to make, and the first one is this budget for regularly helping the poor. Work at having poor people not be, kind of, sanitized out of sight, but actually being… In fact, I told first service, I mean, one of the many things I thank the Lord for, for my family growing up, was my parents wanted us to be face-to-face with the neediest of people, and they always kept money. I mean, I could, in my mind I could see the teacup on my mother’s high shelf where she always had money up there. And if she ever thought anybody was needy, I would see her up there, getting money out. I said, what are you doing? She says, oh, I saw a family in church this morning, she says, and you know, they had, I could see their socks through the bottoms of their shoes, and she was up there getting her money out, you know. Well, that affects children, to see their parents. I mean, my dad worked; my mom didn’t. My dad worked at General Motors. He earned more money in retirement than he ever earned working. He was hourly, so they were not rich. We lived in a postage stamp size house, three kids in bunks going up the wall. I mean, it was just like this, and yet they were giving money away. That affects people. Children see that.

They didn’t just do that; we all had to work at the mission, the Lansing City Rescue Mission. I mean, I think I was born there. I went there constantly. I mean, if we weren’t washing the dishes, I was ladling soup. If we weren’t ladling soup, my mother was picking up the filthy sheets. I mean, do you know what street people’s sheets are like from their sleeping overnight drunk and, every, you know, incontinent, every? I mean just, oh, I can’t believe she put that in our washing machine, but that affected me growing up. But they didn’t stop there because you know where your treasure is, your heart is. When people would come forward at the rescue mission and wanted to get a new start, they would take them home to our house. We had three bunk beds. I would sleep on the floor; the drunk would sleep in my bed. That affects you growing up. See, we need to have money set aside just to help the poor, the sick, the handicapped, and the suffering. And if you’re unsure who’s really needy, and you think maybe they’re con people, start by volunteering at the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission, or somebody here that works, like our local ministry, Loaves and Fishes and Healthy Homes and Angel Tree. Touch directly the lives of the poor, the needy, the troubled, and the hurting.

Jesus was moved with compassion; He touched the poor. We’re supposed to be His arms. What do we do? (Sound of a window being rolled up) Windows go up; they might get too close to us. You know the ones with their little signs; windows should go down. Now what do you do if they have a florid face and you know they’re over-inebriated with alcohol, and you’re contributing, and they’re probably going to buy alcohol? You know what I do? I look them right in the eye, and I get the dollar bill out. I look them right in the eye, and I say. And Bonnie and I, we started out our marriage for five years in California, and where we ate every day, there was always a street person standing in the corner with their cup. And I practiced looking them right in the eye, and I would give them the money, and I’d say, I’m giving this to you in the name of Jesus Christ, and I’d share the Gospel, but I’d give them their dollar. And they could run off to their little brown paper package place and buy their alcohol, but they had met, and heard, and looked at a follower of Jesus Christ. See, we need to touch these people with Christ’s love.

Secondly, consider supporting a ministry. When I go out and speak at conferences, I’m always paired up with a missionary. Everywhere I go, there’s always the missionary, and I’m the Bible speaker. And this summer, I meet all kinds of wonderful missions, but this summer, Bonnie and I were just impressed with, we were paired at Gull Lake with the IJM—International Justice Mission—and their vice president was there, and it was moving to listen to what they do. We’re surrounded by injustice today. More children, women, and men are held in slavery right now than over the entire transatlantic slave trade era. Millions of people, toil and bondage, their work and even their bodies are the property of an owner. In collaboration with local authorities, the IJM—the International Justice Mission—addresses these needs and specifically works on the points of brokenness to help these victims of injustice. And, you know what I think about, I mean, even meeting them, I thought that’s interesting because I originally, when I was in Haslett, I had a scholarship to the University of Michigan, a law scholarship. I could have gone and become a lawyer and studied at University of Michigan, and I always thought about that. I thought how I could have gone into law, but how would I have done that? Gone to Goldman Sachs and been a seven-figure person? Or go to one of these ministries? And though you can’t live in a penthouse and have a cabin cruiser, in your mind you’ll have the pictures of all the people that you have rescued in the name of the Lord! I mean, which do you think is worth more in Heaven? Making nine million dollars a year or making far less and rescuing, what Christ would do?

And then another idea is always using our most powerful tool, praying, and if you haven’t started yet, get the literature about the horrors of injustice. It’s here in America and globally, and start to plead with God, the God of Heaven to deliver us from this evil. That’s where your heart will get involved once you start praying and ask for lies to be intercepted by a loving and just believer and for souls to come to faith when they see Christ’s love through these who rescue them, and just think of it as another way to take someone with you to Heaven, and that’s how we need to be.

Well then there’s one last area because God is pro-work. He’s against indolence, and sloth, and entitlements, and oppression of the poor by the rich. Believers are to expose the grave errors of American gambling. Do you know why America gambles? Because we’re materialistic to the core. We believe that money is something that we should long for. In fact, many people long to be rich, and they long even at their own personal harm. The average lottery ticket buyer is a 13 thousand dollar a year income family unit, and they spend 10 percent of their income on this hopelessness of trying to be rich. We have become a nation selling hope for money from people who can’t afford to buy it but are offered hope that is unreal, impossible, and destructive. And lotteries and gambling are like drug addiction and drunkenness. They offer what only God can give freely. In America, it’s fair to say we’re wild about gambling. In 1962, the year I got saved, when I was six years old, there were two billion dollars in betting going on. By the year 2010, the number had grown to 866 billion, and now our country is poised to hit the staggering trillion dollar a year mark in wagers, and these bets take place in 400 casinos nationally, and I’m sure it’s far more now. That’s off the NPR. Vast lotteries embraced by most state governments as a revenue godsend at horse tracks, dog tracks, sporting events, the hockey game, whatever, the super hockey game that’s today, or whatever it is. I’m sure people are going to be betting on that thing today too. And imagine if Americans spent 60 billion dollars this last year on amusement parks, movies, and live performances, they’ll spend one trillion dollars, 160 times or 16 times as much, 16 times as much gambling as they do on all live entertainment. It’s unbelievable the waste.

Well, what do we do about it? Well, as believers the reason why we are going along with this is we have bad eyes. We need to repent of the bad eye disease. Jesus gives one of the most amazing tests in life. In fact, turn to Matthew 6 with me. I want to show you something that’s fascinating. Jesus said, you want to have My heart of compassion, you want to serve Me in the world? You need to check your eyes and just do a quick test. Jesus says, I want you to measure what looks most precious to you. First, look at all the treasures on Earth. Think of everything you could possibly have and then look up at the treasures of Heaven and compare in your mind which one looks better to you. Heaven? Earth. For most people to go, hmm, that’s a long ways away. Ah, I can really sink my teeth into these treasures. That seems so far away and long ago, it’s just. If Earth, Jesus said, is more beautiful than Heaven, your eyes are bad because when we got saved, Acts 26:18 says, He opened our eyes. He changed the way we see things. That’s a sign of salvation. So, He said, you’re supposed to see Heaven as better by far than Earth, and if you see Earth as better than Heaven, your eyes are sick.

So, basically it goes like this in Matthew 6:19. Look what Jesus says: don’t lay up your treasures on Earth, moth and rust destroy, thieves break in and steal. Lay up your treasures in Heaven, verse 20, because where your treasure is, your heart’s going to be. Then He gets into verse 22 and 23, and most people think, oh, He changed channels. It’s kind of like He hit the remote, now He’s on a different subject. He’s not. He’s continuing to talk about money, and He says, the lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light that’s in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Verse 24, because no one can serve two masters, either he will hate the one and love the other or be loyal to the one and despise the other. Now, look at this: you can’t serve God and mammon. That’s what He’s talking about. And the bad eyes, our eyes.

Well, here’s the bottom line. If you are emotionally drawn more to material things than by Christ, then pray that God will give you a good eye and heal you from the spiritual blindness of the bad eye disease. And you say, that is so un-American. Oh, it gets worse.

You know what Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:9-10? Believers need to understand that God said it is wrong to want to be rich. It’s wrong to desire to be rich. There is an entire, in fact, the fastest-growing segment of Christianity is the false prosperity—we have an outlet for it in this town—the false gospel of prosperity, that God wants you rich. He doesn’t. God said, and you can read in 1 Timothy 6:9-10, He says, I want you to be careful, and this is what He says, those who desire to be rich will fall into temptations and snares and into many foolish and harmful lusts which will drown them in destruction and perdition. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, from which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. You know what the Lord says? Desiring to be rich is like being suicidal spiritually, and yet there are people that fill the airwaves 24 hours a day saying God wants you to be rich. Whatever God wants, He’s already given us, and we are rich there, but those purveyors of false hope are saying He wants you rich here. And when you desire and I desire to be rich, we want the poor, I mean, the richer you are, the further out the gates are. You don’t want them near; they aren’t comfortable to have around. But the poor people gladly and joyfully came to Christ because He laid aside His riches for the purpose of us. And aren’t we thankful?

And finally, as believers, we need to ask for Christ’s compassion. I mean, Jesus said this, when Jesus saw the poor and the needy and hungry, it says in Matthew 9:36, He was moved with compassion. And when John, the one that was right there and saw Christ’s heart because he was the closest apostle to Christ, when John wrote at the end of his life in 1 John 3:17, he says, if you have this world’s goods and you see your brother in need and you shut your heart from him, how can Christ dwell in your heart? John said. You see the cure for materialism is to renounce it and say, wanting money is kind of like being a recovering alcoholic and saying, yeah, I’ll tend the bar. It’s like if you’re just recovering from being a thief, work in the vault of the bank, you know, count the money and total, if you’re just recovering from being addicted to chocolate, don’t work in a candy store. God says, money is dangerous, we’re wired for materialism, and don’t desire to be rich. It’s wrong. Ask for Christ’s compassion over the poor and the needy, and over the helpless and those that are most in need of seeing His love.

Well, now it’s time to think about that in our personal lives. Let’s bow for a word of prayer, and I’m going to invite the elders and deacons to prepare to serve us communion. But with our heads bowed, pick one thing that you have heard in your heart and that the Spirit of God is speaking to you about, whether it’s compassion for the poor, and the needy, and the, those that have no justice, or if it’s saying, I got bad eyes, and it appears to me that white carpet, and a cabin cruiser, and the delicacies of this world are most emotionally drawing to me. Wherever the Lord has put his finger on, right now at communion is when we say, Lord, I want to repent of that. I want You to change me. I want to have Your compassion. I want to have Your heart. I want to be moved toward the poor, not roll the window up and drive away fast. I want to be drawn to the helpless. I want to be Your voice, Your hands, Your heart. I want the world to see a citizen of Heaven, and only the Lord can change us. And just like we got saved by jumping into His outstretched arms when He said, I’ll save you, we live the same way, and He gives us the strength to fix our eyes, to change our heart’s desire, and to give us compassion for those in need.

And Father, as we partake of communion, it’s such a sacred moment when we pledge to You our love, our loyalty, our obedience. When we say, we want to have Your heart, Your priorities, Your convictions. I pray this communion will begin change in many lives. As the hymn writer said, the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of Your glory and Your grace. Do that in our hearts, we pray. Thank You for this bread. It’s a picture that You became sin so that we could become Your righteousness. And we ask for You to keep working in us as we partake for Your glory this day. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Notes

God’s Word is our source of truth, Jesus Christ Himself is the Truth; and we are to exercise the Discipline of Truth: knowing and defending His truth. That led us to ask: What are our Biblical Convictions (those based upon God’s Truth)—as Citizens of Heaven, while living on Earth? If we were to apply the truths or doctrines of the Scriptures as far as they relate to the current issues in human society, I would say that revealed in His Word:

GOD is Pro-Life—God is opposed to Abortion and Euthanasia. He is the Creator of Life, the One who grants conception.

GOD is Pro-Marriage—God is opposed to Gay Unions, as well as divorce, adultery, fornication, pornography, and any other form of immorality.

GOD is Pro-Justice—God is opposed to murder, violence, discrimination, prejudice, and abuse of the weak, poor, and unborn; He invented capital punishment, and commands societies to have a just legal system.

GOD is Pro-Work—God is against indolence, sloth, entitlements, oppression of the poor by the rich, and every form of false hope produced by gambling and lotteries.

Point One—Biblical Convictions start with the Bible

1 Peter 2:11-17 (NKJV) Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

Citizens of Heaven Respect Authority on Earth

Peter, the voice for God, writing God’s Word down for us our Biblical responsibilities said: be subject to the leader of your land in which you live, whenever it is in the future, where ever you live on the planet. That is clear; but what is shocking is to step back and look at the man whose shadow fell across Peter’s world—it was Nero’s.

Nero was a debased, depraved, defiled, and deliberately an outspoken advocate of the homosexual lifestyle. And Peter said to be subject to him? Yes, and he says the same to us whatever administration comes to wherever you live, whenever you live. Does that mean fatalism, un-involvement and withdrawal from society? Not at all:

Citizens of Heaven Expose Evil on Earth

In Ephesians 5:11 Paul explains what citizens of Heaven do while being subject (even to the point of being in prison) to the powers that be. In Ephesians Paul adds the second element of our responsibility as believers—we expose evil.

Our responsibilities as Biblical Christians are to be subject to government and to expose evil in our culture. Of all people on earth we should have the most consistent, loving advice—abstain from everything that is evil. We should also have the most compelling reason—it doesn’t please God. That is why we should engage our culture and point out that there are absolutes.

Point Two—Biblical Convictions start with the Bible, because we are Citizens of Heaven

This world is only my temporary home. Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven… God selects the rulers of this world. Daniel 4:17”… the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’

God tells us our primary responsibility is to PRAY, that is how we influence the outcome of any current political situation. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.   

Point Three—Biblical Convictions start with the Bible, because we are Citizens of Heaven—Living on Earth

How do we live out those Biblical Convictions about God’s revelation of what is right and wrong? Applying the doctrines taught in God’s Word we see:

First, GOD is Pro-Life—God is opposed to Abortion and Euthanasia. He is the Creator of Life, the One who grants conception. All human life is His personal act of power as the God of this Universe allowing another human in His image to be conceived.

Believers Declare the Truth: Abortion is Murder

As Christ’s children, we need to act as His salt and His light to those around us. We need to expose the fact that there are nearly 1.2 million children murdered by abortions each year in America. That means we have hidden the remains of over 50 million murdered bodies since the Supreme Court overturned the right to life of babies over 40 years ago.

Abortion is one of the darkest works of the human race – it is child sacrifice. We need to expose the fact that 70% of abortions are performed between the seventh and tenth week when the baby is uniquely and unquestionably human.

Second, GOD is Pro-Marriage—God is opposed to Gay Unions, as well as divorce, adultery, fornication, pornography, and any other form of immorality. As Christ’s children, we need to act as His salt and His light to those around us, and:

Believers Declare the Truth: Marriage is only Between a Man & Woman

God has given us two reasons why two men or two women cannot have a marriage God recognizes: First, God’s will in creation was for one man and one woman to be married (Mt. 19:4-6, NKJV).  From cover to cover the Bible always says the same thing: God designed marriage as a covenant with a sexual union between one man and one woman.  Second, God says that marriage is to be “held in honor” (Hebrews 13:4), but also declares that any homosexual activity is: dishonorable, shameless, and contrary to nature in Romans 1:26-27.

Third, GOD is Pro-Justice—God is opposed to murder, violence, discrimination, prejudice, and abuse of the weak, poor, and unborn; He invented capital punishment, and commands societies to have a just legal system.

Today, millions of lives around the world are in the grip of injustice. Trafficking in humans generates profits in excess of 32 billion dollars a year for those who, by force and deception, sell human lives into slavery and sexual bondage. Nearly 2 million children are exploited in the commercial sex industry. The AIDS pandemic continues to rage, and the oppression of trafficking victims in the global sex trade contributes to the disease’s spread.

The land rights of women are violated on a massive scale worldwide, but with particular ferocity in Africa, leaving widows and other women in vulnerable positions unable to care for themselves or their children. Around the world, women suffer the double trauma of rape – and seeing their perpetrators face no consequences.

Often lacking access to their own justice systems and unable to protect themselves or their families from those more powerful, it is overwhelmingly the poor who are the victims of these brutal forms of abuse.

Believers need to Shine their Lives into the Darkness of Injustice

If God is Pro-Justice, and He is, what would He have us do in light of our unjust, sin-driven culture that lies in darkness all around us? Here are just a few suggestions that all of us should pray about today.

Budget for Regularly Helping the Poor. Have money set aside just to help poor, sick, handicapped, and suffering people. If you are unsure who is really needy, start by volunteering at the KGM or with our ministry staff who lead our local ministries like Loaves & Fishes, Healthy Homes, and Angel Tree. Touch directly the lives of the poor, needy, troubled, and hurting right here in the Kalamazoo area.

Consider supporting ministries like International Justice Mission. We are surrounded by injustice today. More children, women and men are held in slavery right now than over the course of the entire trans-Atlantic slave trade: Millions toil in bondage, their work and even their bodies the property of an owner. In collaboration with local authorities, IJM addresses these specific points of brokenness to meet the urgent needs of victims of injustice.

Consider using your most powerful tool–always pray. If you haven’t started yet, get literature about the horrors of injustice here in America and globally, and start to plead with the God of Heaven to deliver us from this evil. Ask for lives to be intercepted by loving and just believers, and for souls to come to faith in Christ’s offer of salvation through your investment. Think of it as another way to take someone with you to Heaven.

Finally, GOD is Pro-Work—God is against indolence, sloth, entitlements, oppression of the poor by the rich, and ever form of false hope produced by gambling and lotteries.

Believers Expose the Grave Errors of American Gambling

We have become a nation selling hope for money from people who can not afford to buy it but are offered hope that is unreal, impossible, and destructive. Lotteries like drug addiction, and drunkenness offer what only God can give freely!

America, it’s fair to say, is wild about gambling. In 1962, American place about $2 billion in bets. By the year 2010, that number had grown to $866 billion. And now, the country is headed for a staggering trillion dollars a year in wagers. These bets take place in over four hundred casinos nationally;  and in vast lotteries, embraced by state governments as revenue godsends; and at horse tracks and dog tracks and sporting events; and on 35,000 internet sites devoted to gambling. Imagine it. Americans spend $60 billion spent a year on all amusement parks, movies, plays, concerts, live performances, on all sports events. And nearly a trillion dollars on gambling.”[1]

We need to Shine Our Life into the Darkness of Materialism

As Believers we need to Repent of the Bad-Eye Disease. Jesus gives us one of the most amazing tests in life. He asks us to measure what looks most precious to us. We are to look down at treasures on earth, then look up at treasures in Heaven and compare which one “looks” better. If Earth is more beautiful than Heaven, Jesus said we have “bad eyes”. Turn back with me to Matthew 6:19-24, and see what exactly Jesus meant about the bad eye we should avoid. So the flow of thought would go like this:

1. 19-21 Seek True Treasures (the ones that can’t ever be lost) Don’t lay up treasures on earth, but lay up treasures in heaven. Show that your heart values what God says is precious.
2. 22-23 Seek True Sight (seeing heavenly treasures as most desirable) Make sure that your eye is good not bad. Good eyes see heavenly treasure as infinitely more precious than all earthly wealth. When our eyes see this way, we are full of light.
3. 24 Seek True Servitude (serving God not money) Only two choices on the shelf: pleasing God or pleasing self. Living for God’s kingdom or for earthly wealth and pleasures.

Bottom line: If you are emotionally drawn more by material things than by Christ, pray that God would give you a good eye and awaken you from the spiritual blindness of the “bad-eye disease.

Believers Need to Understand that God Said it is Wrong to Want to be Rich. God warns us that the heart that is hot after money is not pursuing God. Look at 1^st Timothy 6:9-10 (NKJV): But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Paul goes on to say that God asks us to pursue “righteousness, godliness, faith, love.” Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these other things will be added to you.”

This passage clearly teaches that we should not want to get rich. It may not seem like the American way, but it is God’s way. We are “aliens and exiles” in this fallen world and are not to be conformed to the motives of the world (Romans 12:1-2).

Bottom line: Our pursuit in life is not to get rich—neither quickly or slowly. Our passion in life is to be pure and holy and loving and sold out to the cause of Christ. Believers Need to Ask for Christ’s Compassion over the poor and needy. When Jesus saw the poor, the needy, and the hungry: His heart was MOVED with compassion (Mt. 9:36).

Just as an example of having Christ’s compassion, listen to the Apostle John in 1 John 3:17 (NKJV): But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

APPENDIX: Dare to be a Daniel

The challenge of our new century in which we live is to bring leaders of great moral conviction to the forefront of our nations government without the baggage of moral imposition. The greatest example of this is in the trio of great politicians from three of the greatest empires of ancient history. These men are so great they are known by their first names: Joseph of Egypt, Daniel of Babylon, and Nehemiah of Persia. Each of these men was of unwavering Biblical integrity. Each of these men had convictions they would stand for, suffer for, and even go to death for. But none of them ever imposed by way of legislation, those convictions upon those they government.

There is a revealed civil code God laid down after the flood – human government in Genesis 9. It is basically restated in the 2^nd half of the Law of Moses (commandments 5-10) and is known in one way or another around the world. Basic laws against murder, theft, lying, and so on make up the laws for mankind’s good. But these statesmen – Joseph, Daniel, and Nehemiah, did not impose all the rest of the religious laws of Israel upon society.

One of the great needs of American governance is to see men who can be trusted as men of integrity, yet who will not be seeking to impose morals upon the citizens that are not the black and white clearly written laws of God for SOCIETY. The clear laws are against murder of the born and unborn, sodomy and all other clearly described sexual perversions, and witchcraft, which is always linked to drug abuse in the Bible. The rest of the areas of society such as blue laws, alcohol, gambling, lotteries, and so on, are not part of the laws of society, they are for the individual not the society. They are matters of personal conviction, not of government imposition.

If we can have deeply religious leaders who are not bringing their convictions to bear on other individuals through policies, laws, and legislation, then the character of government will be less partisan, the people will be more open to the persuasion of those individuals who live out their personal convictions, and government will not get confused with the church. These points drawn from Focus on the Family at www.family.org/cforum/research/papers/a0008570.html

Gambling Destroys Loving of neighbors -Jesus commanded, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). Gambling, meanwhile, is predicated on the losses, pain, and suffering of others. For one to win at gambling, others must lose. For many, the ramifications attributable to their gambling losses are profound. Families touched by a gambling addiction are at greatly increased risk for such negative outcomes as divorce, bankruptcy, child abuse, domestic violence, crime, and suicide. More than 15 million Americans already struggle with a gambling problem, and the number continues to grow as gambling expands.

Matthew 7:12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Luke 6:31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;

Philippians 2:3-4 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Gambling Exploits the Poor -Gambling preys on the desperation of the poor. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission found that those with incomes less than $10,000 spend more on lottery tickets than any other income group. High school dropouts spend four times as much as college graduates. Scripture exhorts us to look out for the poor and disadvantaged, and issues strong warnings against taking advantage of their plight.

Proverbs 14:21 He who despises his neighbor sins; But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.

Proverbs 14:31 He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy. Lotteries reproach God!

Proverbs 22:16 He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty. Lotteries invite the judgment of God!

Isaiah 3:14-15 The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of His people And His princes: “For you have eaten up the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses.15 What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the faces of the poor?” Says the Lord God of hosts.

Amos 5:11-12 Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.

Zechariah 7:10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.’

Gambling Destroys Godly Work ethics -Work has been part of God’s design for mankind from the very beginning. We are to invest our time and energies into labors that supply our needs and those of our families (Proverbs 31, 2 Thessalonians 3:10, 1 Timothy 5:8) and that allow us to share with others (Ephesians 4:28). Scripture is replete with exhortations toward industriousness and admonitions against slothfulness. Gambling, meanwhile, portends something for nothing. Indeed, gambling advertising and marketing frequently belittles hard work and diligence.

Genesis 2:15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

Exodus 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

Proverbs 12:11 He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding.

Proverbs 13:4 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.’

Proverbs 21:25 The desire of the lazy man kills him, For his hands refuse to labor.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

1 Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Gambling Promotes Greed -Gambling is founded on greed and undergirded by a “get-rich-quick” appeal. In a recent national poll, two-thirds of respondents stated that the reason they gamble is to win money.

Proverbs 15:27 He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, But he who hates bribes will live.

Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

Luke 12:15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

1 Timothy 6:9-10 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Gambling Promotes the Idolatry of Covetousness -The 10^th Commandment (Exodus 20:17) prohibits Christians from coveting another’s possessions. Gambling is precisely the attempt to obtain the resources of others without providing anything of value in return. Some have rightly described gambling as consensual theft.

Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Gambling Denies Biblical Stewardship -Christians are responsible before God for how they invest the resources entrusted to them, as the parable of the talents makes clear. In many cases, money spent on gambling is money that should have gone to provide for the well-being of one’s family or the advancement of a worthy cause. In all cases, it is an unwise investment with an almost-certain negative return. More importantly, such spending propagates an immoral, predatory and exploitative industry.

Matthew 25:14-19, 27-30 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them….27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Romans 14:12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Gambling Promotes Temptations -Gambling establishments are often host to other corrupting vices, including prostitution and drunkenness. Christians are urged to avoid such environments (1 Thessalonians 5:22: “Avoid every kind of evil.”). In 1 Corinthians 15:33, Paul writes, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.'” Other Scriptures warn believers to flee temptation (1 Corinthians 6:18, 2 Timothy 2:22).

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

1 Thessalonians 5:22 “Abstain from every form of evil.”

2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Gambling Promotes Distrust in God -The Bible teaches that Christians are to look to God as their provider, and that we are to be content with the material blessings we receive from His hand. To engage in gambling indicates both a lack of trust in and dissatisfaction with God’s provision.[2]

Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Philippians 4:11-12, 19 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 6:6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

[1]  Tom Ashbrook, The Business of Gambling: Testing America’s Luck, NPR Radio, Aired: Wednesday, September 18, 2002

[2]  These points drawn from Focus on the Family at www.family.org/cforum/research/papers/a0008570.html

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