Our Biblical Convictions Of A Citizen Of Heaven While Living On Earth

140126AM Biblical Convictions of Citizen of Heaven ESH-3.doc

ESH-03

Our Biblical Convictions as Citizens

Of Heaven While Living On Earth

Romans 13

Transcript

Transcript

Let’s open our Bibles to Romans chapter 13. And this morning, as a continuation, you remember we started a couple weeks or maybe more than that back, the disciplines of the godly life, the exercises that we are to personally, we’re supposed to exercise, or train, or discipline ourself for godliness. And the first one we covered was the discipline of truth. The fact that God is a God of truth. Jesus is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, and this is the Word of Truth. And we are supposed to discipline ourselves that we know truth, we can identify truth, and therefore we can stand against and refute error. And so, to apply the discipline of truth, this topic this morning. What are our biblical convictions? Not opinions, not our party affiliation, not I’m patriotic, or I’m conservative, or I’m American. What are our biblical convictions? And we have to be very careful in the Church of Jesus Christ not to confuse people with partisan politics, thinking that this is this party’s view and this is this party’s view, and we’re this party.

What we have to step back and say, I have a biblical conviction because I’m a citizen of Heaven. Philippians 3:20, the instant you and I were saved, we became citizens of Heaven. We’re enrolled in the register, our names, Hebrews 12 says that we’re registered in Heaven. We have a registration, like your car is registered, we are registered in Heaven. We are citizens, but we’re still living on Earth. And so, when people ask us what our view is, it is not like we can tell them whatever we want, but the primary emphasis is not my American, or my patriotic, or my party affiliation, or my ultra-conservative view. This is my conviction from the God of Heaven where I’m a citizen, and this is what God believes, and I want to please Him, and I agree and believe, and it’s my conviction too, and that’s what we’re talking about this morning.

So, turn to Romans 13, and as you’re turning there, if I were to sum up the truths of the Bible that the 66 books teach, primarily the portions of the Bible that address these issues, I would say number one, that God is pro-life. Not that God is for pro-life, God Himself embodies, He’s the quintessential portrait of being pro-life. God is opposed to abortion in any form, as well as euthanasia in any form. He created life, and He’s the One who even grants conception, and since He’s the one that began all this, He’s the one that defines exactly what life is and what is proper and not proper with life.

Secondly, God is also pro-marriage. He designed that and created that too. God has opposed clearly, cover to cover, in His Word to what is called in the current vernacular, gay unions, as well as God hates divorce and is opposed to adultery, and fornication, and pornography, and any other form of immorality. God is pro-marriage. And every one of those items attack and destroy marriage, and God is opposed to every one of those.

And thirdly, God is pro-justice. Again, He is just. He is for justice. He is opposed to murder, to violence, to discrimination, to prejudice. He is opposed to abuse of the weak, and the poor, and the unborn. He wrote 12 minor prophets that are so clearly indicting the people of God, the Israelites, in that time so long ago where they were so much abusive of the weak and the poor. And even today God is opposed to any abuse of the unborn.

God, by the way, invented capital punishment. Moses didn’t, neither did Paul. God invented it. In fact, the first form of human government instituted by God in Genesis 9, the Noachian Covenant, Noah after the ark, after the flood, the beginning of human civilization overspreading the Earth. God said, if someone sheds man’s blood, by man’s hand should his blood be shed. God initiated, inaugurated; God founded the institution of capital punishment. It is neither inhumane nor ungodly. It is, on the other hand, godly and humane, according to the Creator. He commands societies to have a just legal system.

He doesn’t command all societies to become Christian, and America will never have a Christian society. You can only have a Christian society if everyone is a Christian and they’re all walking in the Spirit, and we never will have that in this country, and so it is futile to try and form a Christian society without individually leading the people to Christ. You cannot legislate Christianity, and that’s the difficulty that a lot of Christians are wasting their spiritual energy trying to Christianize society rather than individuals. We’re called to individual ministry, not societal transformation of the political social structure.

Finally, God is pro-work, and these last two I’m not going to cover till next week. But just to mention it, God invented work. God commands work so much so that in the New Testament, Christians within the Church who wouldn’t work were not to be fed. They were to be told they’re disobedient to God if they won’t work, and so God is against indolence. That’s the book of Proverbs, sloth. The book of Proverbs clearly tells God’s feelings on that and His commands. Entitlements, giving people something that they think they deserve, and God is opposed to that, as well as oppression of the poor by the rich. James chapter 5 says, the hire of the laborers that you have kept back by fraud cries out to the Lord, and it will eat your flesh like fire. I mean, that’s strong language to say that just as much as the workers are supposed to work honestly and give their honest work without cheating their master, that the masters are not to ride the workers to keep from them what they should earn and oppress them. So, the Bible’s very clearly against oppression of the poor by the rich, and every form, by the way, the Bible has a very, and we’ll see this next week, a very clear analysis of money. The pagans don’t even obey God, but when we tell them God’s opinion, we say that all of our money, not 10 percent is God’s and 90 percent is ours. Every breath and every possession belongs to God, and God does not gamble, and when we do, we are disobedient to Him because it’s not our money to start with. And anybody that thinks that’s my money, I can do whatever I want, doesn’t understand the Lord, the Scriptures, or the Gospel of salvation, which says, you are not your own, you belong to Another. And so, God is opposed to every form of false hope produced by the gambling, lottery-driven world we live in. And so, God is pro-work.

So, point one: biblical convictions start with the Bible, and that’s why we go to Romans 13, but to set the context, I want you to think about this. Romans 13, it wasn’t an email that came from somewhere. It actually was a letter written by Paul, inspired by God, but Paul, as he wrote this letter, I want you to think of the context. As Paul sat to write what is probably the clearest words to frame our biblical convictions as citizens of Heaven living on Earth, Paul was sitting in Corinth, and Paul was looking down across the city that must have grieved his soul.

Paul lived around the gymnasium. You know how we know that? Because the leather workers’ quarter of Corinth faces the gymnasium. You can go there on tours, and you can sit and look in the leather shops, and you’re facing the huge gymnasium structures and all the athletic areas, and those areas of Corinth were filled with nude men who wrestled, boxed, and sprinted. How do you know that? Look at the Olympic stamps. Do you think Mr. Discus that’s always on the Olympic stamps, you ever notice, when they’re advertising the Olympics from the Greek times, that little guy, the discus man is there with his discus, do you ever notice he doesn’t have anything on? Yeah, they didn’t do that just for, that’s how they did it, and the culture was so degenerated that nudity was publicly accepted. It was encouraged, and every boy in high school, for his last two years, he spent nude with his nude, mostly homosexual, instructors in the gymnasium. Now we’re not quite there yet. We’re headed there, but we’re not there yet.

And so, as Paul would see in the distance men and women going into the bathhouses and the brothels and heading up the trail to the shrine prostitutes on the Acrocorinthus, as he worked all day long, it must have grieved his Spirit-filled heart just as it grieved the Lord He served. And so there, sitting in that arena, Paul sits to write to a place that was just a couple of days by ship from Corinth, the center of the Earth in Paul’s Day, Rome. A city swarming with soldiers, and citizens, and slaves, and commercialism, Rome reigned over nearly all the known world of Paul’s day.

And Paul was writing in Romans 13 how Christians were to live in the world of the New Testament, and they lived in a world that was possibly more outwardly depraved than ours. How are they to live? Especially, how are they to live in the capital city of Rome that was rife with homosexuality, with abortions, with gambling, with infanticide, with slavery, with the oppression of the poor and every form of the occult? Paul sits down to write to that very city because it was a city, and a nation, and an empire where saints had to live and work and vote. Paul wrote to them seven verses that summarized the responsibilities of citizenship on Earth when we’re citizens of Heaven.

We often forget that the Roman world had much citizen involvement. There’s a long history of Rome with elected bodies that variously guided council and, at times, legislated the Roman world. And although there was an emperor who ruled, there was still very much about daily life that was totally determined by a very advanced and regulated representative government. So, to this advanced and thriving world of nearly worldwide power, what were Paul’s instructions? These verses have long been regarded as the ultimate statement of our biblical responsibilities as a Christian in relationship to whatever government, and society, and culture that we find ourselves living in, and that’s what God tells us through Paul in Romans 13:1-7. So, let’s stand and listen to what God said to those people living in a culture so much like ours is becoming.

Romans 13, the first 7 verses. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Let’s bow for a word of prayer. Father, these are very sobering words. Even more so as we feel the degeneration of our society, and it seems like it’s accelerating. But, Lord, these words are supracultural. They transcend any geographic or historic context alone because they are Your very living and abiding words, O God, to us who you have purchased. So, I pray that we would learn this morning how to exercise ourself in convictions based on the truth of Your Word, that we are citizens of Heaven, and for this time, temporarily, we’re living on Earth. Help us to live the way You want us to. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

You may be seated. As you are seated, the point of Romans 13:1-7 is this. Citizens of Heaven, that’s us, respect authority on Earth. We are to be the most law-abiding, good citizens of wherever we live that is possible to be or to have. That’s the context of these words. But the shocker is Paul, who was the voice for God, who is writing down God’s Word on parchment for first our predecessors, and then for us of what our biblical responsibilities as citizens are.

Notice what he says in verse 1. He said, let every soul be subject to governing authorities. Verse 3, rulers are, verse 4, God’s ministers to you. You notice that? When did Paul write this? Oh, 56, 57, 58 A.D. Who was sitting on the throne from 54 to 68? None other than the worst of the worst, and Paul said Nero was God’s minister, that was supposed to be one that we lined up. The word subject, hypotasso, means to line up behind. It means to get in your place, your role, and the role of citizen is to respond and obey the one who is the leader, and so Paul said, line up behind Nero. That’s the shocker. Subject yourself to the leader of your land where you live, whenever it is in the future, wherever you live on the planet.

That is a quite sweeping word from God that Paul gives to us, but even more shocking is to step back and look at whose shadow fell across Paul’s world. What was Nero like as Paul wrote these words? And Peter writes the same thing, by the way, in his epistle to be subject to Nero. Nero was a public sodomite. Nero paraded his male slave, Florus [Sporus], around in public as his wife. Nero was debased, depraved, defiled, and deliberately an outspoken advocate of the homosexual lifestyle, and he was the highest leader in the land. And Paul said, be subject to him. He says, yes, be subject to him, and he says the same thing to whatever administration comes to wherever you live, whenever you live. In other words, God is not advocating anarchy, revolution, overthrow, societal takeover. He is not advocating that we bring down whoever the wicked, evil, perverted rulers are, which is very amazing when you hear how people talk, even about our current leader, who is by no stretch this bad, this overtly evil.

Does that mean that Christians are fatalistic or uninvolved or withdrawn from society? Not at all. When you think about who’s writing this, no one was more involved than Paul. Paul preached, prayed, wrote, and lived against sin in every form, at every level. As a citizen, you can be sure he voted in any manner he was allowed to because that’s the type of believer he was. Paul was involved, he was involved in his culture and his country and the lives of all who had let him in, but he had no delusions that he would ever change society. His only hope was to change individuals one at a time. And I think there are a lot of Christians today that invest their greatest energies trying to change society, and they never spend time with the only thing we were all called to do, changing individuals one at a time, and they think their higher calling of changing society precludes them from having to obey their direct, God-ordained calling to change individuals, which is Paul’s constant advocacy for discipleship and nurturing. Paul, in the Scriptures, tells those believers what they’re to do.

And if you want to turn on, I’m not preaching on Romans 13 this morning. Let’s keep going to Ephesians 5:11, just giving you a context of that first premise, and that is, as citizens of Heaven, we are to respect authority on Earth. That’s Romans 13 but now turn with me to Ephesians 5:11 because as we respect the authority, we’re also called in our arena, wherever we are in life, to do what Ephesians 5:11 says, and that is to expose evil on Earth, and what Paul said is this. Paul was writing Ephesians 5 and verse 11, most likely from Rome, where he sat in prison. Now there’s debate whether he was in the Caesarian prison or if he was in the Roman prison, but he was in a prison that was under Roman guard, so it doesn’t matter what geographic location. But he was writing this as a citizen of Heaven being subject even to the point of being prisoned, and he was put in prison because of his convictions, his unwavering convictions.

Every time Paul talked about government, centurions, soldiers, anything to do, he never was overthrowing. What they’re doing right now in the Ukraine, all the protests in Kiev and everything else, that is not advocated by God. God is not revolutionary and anarchistic at all. He says, and as we’ll see, He says, that’s not your job. I overthrow the rulers. You submit to them, I’ll overthrow them, and you spend your energy doing what I called you do and let Me run the universe.

So, what is a citizen supposed to do? In Ephesians, Paul adds a second element. The first element is respect authority. The second element is expose sin, expose the evils, and what Paul says is abstain from everything that’s evil. Verse 11, have no fellowship. That means don’t set foot as associating with the unfruitful works of darkness. Now, what would that be? That’s what the whole fifth chapter is about. He says in verse 3, fornication, uncleanliness, covetousness isn’t supposed to be even named. Verse 4, neither filthiness nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, that’s not fitting. Verse 5, no fornicator, no unclean person, no covetous man, no idolaters have an inheritance. Don’t be, verse 7, partakers with them because you were once, verse 8, in darkness. But now you are supposed to, verse 10, find out what’s acceptable to the Lord. So, don’t fellowship, don’t associate with evil! And so, of all people on the Earth, we should have the most consistent, loving advice to anybody that asks us a reason for why we live like we live. We abstain from everything that’s evil. And if they say, why? We should have the most compelling reason; it doesn’t please God. We’re citizens of Heaven.

We want to live our life like we’re going to live forever. Not for the passing, as it says in Hebrews, that Moses endured and resisted the pleasures of Egypt because he had a more enduring and heavenly city that he was going to. He knew, Moses in Egypt, knew he was a citizen of Heaven, and he didn’t want to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. So, we should engage our culture. We should point out that there are absolutes. And if they say, where do you get them from? They’re from God, and we should repeat that, and I just put them in front of you all at once instead of on separate slides. These are current issues that need a Christian voice in the world.

And we should be saying, the reason that we’re opposed to the evils of our culture is because God is pro-life, and God is pro-marriage, and God is pro-justice, and God is pro-work, and it’s not a political party, and it’s not a platform of a political party that we labor for. We labor for our convictions as citizens of Heaven and our King. People can be unhappy about our affiliation politically, but it should never be a part of the conversation. When we talk about morals and biblical convictions, don’t unnecessarily aggravate them by adding partisanship. That’s why churches should never be partisan, because then people associate, oh, that’s the whatever church. No, they represent God. They represent truth. They respond for God.

Point two. Biblical convictions start with the Bible, okay, because we are citizens of Heaven. Now, what does it mean to be a citizen of Heaven? Now, why don’t you turn with me to Philippians chapter 3. You’re in Ephesians, next book, 3:20.

Number one, being a citizen of Heaven number one means this world is only my temporary home. I’m living in a tent. That’s what Paul said, that’s what Peter said, that’s what the writer of Hebrews says, that they look for an enduring city which had foundations whose Builder and Maker is God. And this is what Paul says in Philippians 3:20, he says, for our citizenship is in Heaven, from whence we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus. So, our orientation, the direction of our life, the eager awaiting means we are turning and longing for that. And people say, how come you appear so unattached to this world? You don’t seem to be living like we live and living for what we live for. Why is that? And you say, because I’m a citizen of Heaven. I’m registered, as Hebrews 12 says, I’m registered in Heaven. That’s where my affections are. Now, I want to take you with me, but that’s where I’m going because I’m only temporarily here.

Now, what about the struggles with our culture? Go back to Daniel. Daniel, now he’s a public figure who was second-in-command in two empires, and so he has a lot to say about how citizens of Heaven behave on Earth. And what’s interesting is with all of Daniel’s powers and ability, he never forced the Babylonians to become Judeo-Christians. Isn’t that interesting? All he did is personally follow his biblical convictions. He never forced them on the culture; he just pointed out the evils and would not go along with the evils. It’s very interesting when people say they want to be like Daniel. There aren’t very many like that anymore. There are a lot that are trying to Christianize society through legislation. You cannot Christianize lost people through legislation. It doesn’t work. Christianize comes from the inside. It’s not paint, it’s an IV, it’s a transformation on the inside. Look what he says in chapter 2 of Daniel. It’s just fascinating, in verse 20, Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His.

What is the biblical doctrine of the attribute of God of wisdom? That God does everything the best way possible. That’s His wisdom. How He does it is the very best way it could ever be done, and it doesn’t just say wisdom, but it says might. What is that? That’s the doctrine of His omnipotence, that God can accomplish all His will. So, He can do whatever He wants—that’s His will—and He does it the best way possible. So, He changes the times, verse 21, the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise, knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what’s in the darkness, and light was with Him.

You know what he was, Daniel was saying in short? God rules over every part of this world. It’s not, oh, the election was rigged, we lost that when it was, they cheated. God rules over every part of this world. No leader comes to power that God does not allow. He calls them His ministers, and there are a lot of people that unnecessarily are denying the doctrine of the wisdom and might of God by their responses. That they think that they are called to remove and raise up kings.

Daniel 4, keep going to verse 17, it’s just a continuation of this. God selects the rulers. The decision, this is God talking to Nebuchadnezzar, the decision is by the decree of the watchers, the sentence by the word of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men. That’s very good. That’s often what happens, that the very lowest make it to the top. But God selects the rulers of this world. Verse 25, again to Nebuchadnezzar, they shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of field, they’ll make you eat grass like oxen. They’ll wet you with the dew of Heaven, and seven times will pass over you till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He chooses.

And when He does, keep going to John chapter 19, this is fascinating. This is Jesus weighing in on the politics of His day, and what Jesus says is fascinating in John 19:11. Jesus says, God allows rulers to do what is perceived by us as evil. The crucifixion of Christ was considered by everybody that knew and loved Him, at the moment, that was bad! It was evil! But God allowed the rulers to do what was perceived as evil, to accomplish the larger purpose of God. And see, that’s what we don’t often see, and we are so myopically, short term focused on the little hole that we’re trying to plug, that we don’t see what God’s doing. He might want the dam to break, the dike to break, and we’re spending all of our time plugging it when He has a far greater plan. Jesus answered in John 19:11 and said, you, he’s talking to Pilate, the Roman-appointed governor, highest power in the land. You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given to you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin, bingo. He said, Pilate, you were appointed to this procuratorship, this governor position, by God, not by Nero. God put you here, and we need to realize that.

And finally, 1 Timothy 2. What are we supposed to do in such an evil, declining, degenerate culture? First Timothy chapter 2, Paul clearly says even the order of what our activity and priorities are to be. First Timothy 2 verse 1, therefore, I exhort first of all—not after five thousand petitions, and 50 million canvassing’s, and endless hours spent politicking—first of all, supplication, prayers, intercessions, and giving thanks be made for all men. See, prayer is to get me focused on who God is and all of His power and get me in tune with what His will is and get me in tune with Him leading my life. Then I can ask Him for things. So, first of all, do all, and he uses all the different words he can to describe prayer. And then verse 2, we’re supposed to be praying for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. The characteristic of Christians, how we’re supposed to appear in a declining culture is we’re supposed to appear quiet, peaceable, godly, and reverent; not anarchistic, overthrowing, just screaming horrible things into the television cameras that so caricatures some Christians. Why? Verse 3, this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior. God tells us our primary responsibility in a declining society is to pray. That’s how we can influence the outcome of any current situation.

So, now we get to the third point. So, biblical convictions start with the Bible. They’re based on the fact we’re citizens of Heaven. But we’re living on Earth. So, let’s apply this now, all this, let’s apply it to today. How do we apply our convictions that God has told us that He is pro-life. How do we apply that? Go back with me to Ephesians 5:11. Let me just do a little word study on the two main verbs. They’re imperatives in Ephesians 5:11. If we live out our biblical convictions about God’s revelation of what’s right and wrong, how do we reconcile living on Earth with all this evil and all the sin that surrounds us? To answer that, we can address the areas of current controversy, and there are countless other areas we could address in the Scripture.

But just this morning, let’s talk about abortion. God is opposed to abortion and euthanasia. He’s the Creator of life. He’s the one who grants conception. So, if He’s pro-life, how should we respond? He told us, we submit to the authorities, but we never surrender our commanded response to evil, and that’s verse 11. The responsibility we have is to expose evil. Here is how we do so using God’s Word. Ephesians 5:11, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Paul tells us we have a personal responsibility to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. That means avoid it, stay away from, don’t have contact with evil. That doesn’t mean isolation. It means a personal commitment to a holy lifestyle. That’s what he said.

When they snuck around and were peeking, and spying, and snooping into Daniel’s life, they could not find anything against him except he lived such a godly life. That’s what this is saying. Live such a godly life that if they pull your permits and they audit your taxes and they look at your history, they see your life squares up with the truth. See, the most powerful church is not the most in-your-face media-driven church. It’s the holiest church. It’s the one whose prayers are in concert with God, and the most important thing is have nothing to do, to stay away from evil, but it doesn’t end there. It says the end of the verse, reprove or expose evil. It means point it out in a public way those things that are in opposition to God’s Word. And if you take, in fact, that last word of verse 11 is expose them. It’s just one Greek word; it’s the word elegcho. And this is what the dictionary says: to convict or refute or confute, generally with a suggestion of shame of the person convicted. In other words, saying what you are doing.

It’s kind of like, I watched, someone sent me a little Ray Comfort, Way of the Master, 180 video clip, and so I was watching it last night. Bonnie said, I thought you’re working on your sermon. What are you watching movies for? I said, I’m watching a Christian movie. But it was old Ray Comfort, and the area he was, it looked like, I don’t know where he was, Venice Beach or something in Los Angeles, I can recognize some of the buildings. And he’s sitting there, and if you ever watch those, he always keeps the camera up. You can never really see how immodest those people are on the beach. He always keeps the camera up on their face, but he just looks them in the eye and tells them the truth of God. He said, have you ever lied? You’re a liar. You ever commit a fornication? You are a fornicator. He’s just boom, boom, boom, boom. So, we speak the truth, and God’s Spirit convicts and brings shame to them. We don’t say, oh, it’s all right. It’s okay what you’re doing. No. You are guilty.

See, that’s the problem nowadays, everyone’s just trying to, oh, it’s okay. Just put powder on people; make them smell better. That’s what religion does, just overlook it, put powder. God, it’s okay, God… No, God forgives those who confess and forsake. He doesn’t forgive those who say, oh, it wasn’t that bad. It’s those who are guilty before Him, and that’s what this elegcho means, that we reprove and expose sin.

So, how do we expose abortion? What do we say about abortion? God is opposed to abortion. God is the One that grants life. How do we expose it? We tell people abortion is one of the darkest works of the human race. Abortion is no less than child sacrifice. If you think about it, it is a chosen, paid form of sacrificing a child, a living child murdered in a sacrifice usually for convenience, or for comfort, or to prevent embarrassment, but it’s sacrificing that child. And the only way that it survives, and the only way darkness survives is the light of truth and love is not exposed. The light of truth and love has to be shined, and one of the great callings of the followers of Jesus is to let their light shine in both ways, live in the holy life, and then exposing the darkness. The aim is partly negative; reveal the error hidden in the darkness. But it’s mostly positive; bring people to the light that they might be made light in the Lord Jesus.

So, what do we expose? As Christ children we expose to the world as His salt and light. The fact that just here in our country, yeah, we’ve moved from 1.6 million abortions down to 1.2. But there are still 1.2 million children murdered by abortions every year in America. That means somewhere in the ground there are hidden the remains of over 50 million murdered bodies of humans. World War II was so horrific, 50 million people died. They feel, when you add up all that went on, at least 50 million died. We have killed as many since ’73 here, and none of them were fighting, just for life. They weren’t enemies, but we’ve killed that many, as many as in World War II. We need to expose the fact that over the last 40 years, 70 percent of all aborted babies are aborted between the seventh and tenth week, when the baby already sucks its thumb, already recoils from pain, and even responds to sound. All of its organs are present, the brain is functioning, the heart is pumping, the liver is making blood cells, the kidneys are cleaning the fluids, and there is a fingerprint on its digits. The genetic code is unique and unquestionably human, and a little person can be seen, if wanted, by ultrasound.

So, what we do is we declare the truth. Abortion is always murder of a life. It is. You can say, oh, they were raped, uh huh. So, one man’s evil is justifying an even greater evil of murder. We remember modern day abortion is as hideous as the horrific child sacrifice by wicked parents recorded in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. God hates both eras of child sacrifice. God condemned and judged the worship of false gods—Moloch and Baal—in the Old Testament, and God also condemns and judges the child-sacrificing gods of today—convenience, pride, and materialism. So, God is pro-life, and abortion is murder.

Next time we’ll see that we should also expose the grave errors of homosexuality. God clearly says that marriage is only between a man and a woman. There are two clear reasons why homosexuality is wrong. Jesus says this in Matthew 19. They were asking about marriage, and He says, haven’t you read that He who made them at the beginning, Matthew 19:4, made them male and female? So, we have a man and a woman. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and these two shall become one. They are no longer two, but one. And what God has joined together, that’s what marriage is, man shall not separate. But today, culture, society, our government, our state governments, public opinion is separating what God calls marriage, and God says no 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.

But secondly, God says marriage is to be held in honor. That means marriage isn’t just, oh, that’s an American custom. Hebrews 13:4 says marriage, the institution of marriage, which God initiated as He performed the first wedding between the first man and the first woman in the Garden of Eden, is to be held in honor. And what that means is that any homosexuality cannot be a marriage because God says homosexuality in every form is dishonorable, shameless, and contrary to nature. That’s Romans 1:26 and 27 and 28. Homosexuality can never be held in honor. God says marriage is in honor, but homosexuality is contrary to nature, and it’s shamelessly dishonorable in God’s sight. No matter what a public opinion says, or the state may say, there is never such a thing as a homosexual marriage in God’s sight, nor should it be in the convictions of His people. But American Christianity is basing its convictions, not on the discipline of truth, but on public opinion, and we have to go with the flow. And God says you might flow that way, but that’s not truth, and I will judge those who defile the marriage bed.

What do we do? We expose people to Christ’s powerful Gospel of hope. And if you want to turn to Acts 13, it’s just the last verse that I want to read you, because it was interesting as I was teaching along in Eastern Europe with all those students that were from such secular pagan backgrounds. Most of Europe is Godless. They have Catholic cathedrals that are empty of people and truth, and they don’t know anything, and a lot of their questions were about homosexuality because it’s just lesbianism and homosexuality and no moral restraints. It’s just European.

And I remember telling them, and I shared with them about one young fellow that, when I was preaching basically what I said today, it went out on the radio and television in the church I pastored in New England. And they came and spray-painted obscenities all over the side of the church. And then the next week they broke in and stole all the sound equipment, and the third week they came in and lit a fire inside the church vehicles. That’s how the gay activist group did. But one of their members started calling every night at 2:00 AM, and we lived in a parsonage that didn’t even have hallways. It was 160-year-old house that was heated by fireplaces, so there were no hallways; you walk through all the rooms, and so anything could be heard by everyone, anywhere. And so, intentionally with all of our little children, this homosexual activist would call the parsonage number at 2:00 AM, and I would stumble downstairs. There was only one phone in the house, and I’d pick it up. I would hold it away because he would just be screaming obscenities, and I’d try and say something, and I’d hold it away. But when I would try and say something, I could hear his voice very clearly.

And one day, I noticed someone in the top of the balcony, and they never looked up. They always looked down, and as soon as I’d say, in conclusion, they would jump and leave down that stairway and go out. So, I decided I was going to meet my mystery back-of-the-balcony person. So, I didn’t say, in conclusion, that day. I was preaching as I walked down the aisle, and I asked the chairman to close in prayer, and I stood at the stairway, and they caught on, and they came down the stairway, and of course they wouldn’t look up. And they came just like this, and I was standing there, so they moved over, and so I moved over, and they moved over, and I kept standing in front of them. And I said, hello. And they said, hello. And I said, I recognize the voice. You’re my 2:00 AM caller. And you know what I shared with Al? That was his name. Look at chapter 13 of Acts and verse 38, I said to him, therefore let it be known to you that through this Man, Jesus Christ, is preached to you the forgiveness of sin; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things, which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. I said, all the rules will never change you, Al, but Jesus Christ, that Man will not only forgive you, He’ll justify. You know what justification is? He removes even the record of your horribly defiled past, and He gives you Christ’s righteousness. See, we need to expose the world to Christ’s powerful Gospel of hope, of a new beginning, and of complete forgiveness.

We also need to shine our life into the darkness, and just some ideas to conclude this day. We should think about the way in our culture to address what’s going on. If God is pro-life, and He is, then He would have us, in light of our child-sacrificing culture, do something. One idea, consider adoption. If you’re physically and spiritually able, think of praying about helping raise up some of these children in the light of the Gospel and for the glory of God, or that’s why we put into our bulletin the Alternatives Pregnancy Center. Most of us can’t contact and interact with young girls or older ones that are at the point of crisis, but there’s a ministry that can and does. They have a plan, the skill, and they have a track record; all they need is the support. It’s not enough to be against something without being engaged for, in a tangible way, serving and supporting.

And finally, consider using your most powerful tool, prayer. If you haven’t started yet, get the literature, read the horrors of abortion, and start to plead with God to deliver us from this evil, and ask for lives to be intercepted by loving believers before the baby’s life is taken. And then pray for the babies to be born and adopted, and for a godly home to take them in, and for that soul to come to faith in Christ through His offer of salvation. And just think of that as another way of taking people with you to Heaven.

Let’s all stand for a closing word of prayer on this day that we remember the sanctity of life and the power of God, and as we close, I want you to know that at every service there are always elders and godly women here. And it could be that you have never felt the justifying, forgiving power of Christ, and there is some sin, be it homosexuality, or murdering your own child, or whatever that you’ve never felt is removed. Did you know Christ Jesus, that Man, Jesus Christ is here today? And He can not only forgive, He can justify and remove the record that sin was ever even committed because He suffered as if He got the abortion, as if He had been the immoral one. That’s what the doctrine of the work of Christ and the cross means. So, if you’ve never met Him, they’d love to introduce you; you can even call out to Him right there. If you need to pray with someone, every time abortion is preached about, it brings back old pains and wounds. If you just need to share your burden with someone, they’ll be here to pray. But most of all, let’s have those convictions that are pleasing to God.

Let’s bow for a word of prayer before we go. Father in Heaven, I thank You that we can live the truth, know the truth, affirm the truth, proclaim the truth. I pray that we would not only shine the glorious love and light of Christ in this world but also actively expose sin and be those who speak the truth in love into a godless and degraded culture but to do so in the power of Your Spirit, hoping to rescue some of these who are perishing in the darkness. May we commit our lives to that end, for Your glory, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask it. And all of God’s people said, amen. And God bless you as you go.

Notes

We have been examining the Discipline of Truth: that God is the source of truth, and that we are to know and defend His truth. So that leads us to ask: What are the Biblical Convictions—of a Citizen of Heaven, while living on Earth?

If I were to apply the truths or doctrines of the Scriptures as far as they relate to the current climate in human society, I would say that God has revealed Himself in His Word as:

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

Open with me to our starting place for Biblical Convictions, Romans 13.

As Paul sat to write perhaps the clearest words to frame the Biblical convictions of a Citizen of Heaven, living on earth—he was sitting in Corinth. Looking down across the city must have grieved his soul. Paul lived around gymnasiums filled with nude men were wrestling, boxing, and sprinting. In the distance seeing the men and women going into the bath houses, brothels, and heading up the trail to the shrine prostitutes up on the acro-corinthus must have even more grieved his Spirit filled heart. Just as it grieved the Lord He served.

Just a couple of days by ship from Corinth was the center of the Earth in Paul’s day—Rome. Swarming with soldiers, citizens, slaves, and commercialism, Rome reigned over nearly all of the known world of Paul’s day. How were Christians to live in the world of the New Testament? Especially in the capitol city of Rome–rife with homosexuality, abortions, gambling, infanticide, slavery, oppression of the poor, egalitarianism, and every form of the occult?

Paul sits down to write to that very city where saints had to live, work, and vote. He writes to them seven verses that summarize their responsibilities of citizenship on earth. We often forget that the Roman World had much citizen involvement. There was a long history in Rome of elected bodies that variously guided, counseled, and at times legislated the Roman World. Although there was an Emperor who ruled, there was still much about daily life that was determined by a very advanced and regulated representative government.

So into this advanced and thriving world of nearly worldwide power—what were Paul’s instructions? Look with me to Romans 13. This passage has long been regarded as the ultimate statement of the Biblical Responsibilities for a Christian and their relationship to whatever government they are under.

Romans 13:1-7 (NKJV) Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. ⁴ For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. ⁵ Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. ⁷ Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Citizens of Heaven Respect Authority on Earth

Now for the shocker. Paul, the voice for God, writing God’s Word down on paper for us the first of our Biblical responsibilities as citizens, he 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 was quite a sweeping Word from God Paul gives us. But even more shocking is to step back and look at the man whose shadow fell across Paul’s world—it was Nero’s.

Nero was a public sodomite who paraded his male slave Florus around in public as his wife. He was debased, depraved, defiled, and deliberately an outspoken advocate of the homosexual lifestyle. And Paul 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.

No one was more involved than Paul. He preached, prayed, wrote, and lived against sin in every form, at every level. As a citizen you can be sure he voted in any manner he was allowed because that is just the type of believer he was—INVOLVED. Paul was involved in his culture, in his country, and in the lives of all who would let him in. But he had no delusions that he could ever change society. His only hope was to change individuals one at a time.

Now turn with me to Ephesians 5:11. Paul most likely wrote this letter from Rome where he sat in prison. What does a citizen 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—expose sin.

So–the responsibility of a Biblical Christian is to be subject to government and to expose evil.

Of all people on earth we should have the most consistent, loving advice—abstain from everything that is evil. We should 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. Let me repeat again some current issues that touch upon our Biblical convictions, we will look at briefly this morning.

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 ever form of false hope produced by gambling and lotteries.

But what if we do not see the culture heading the right way as is the case even this morning? That takes us to our second point—

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

The clearest word for us as we face the decline and degradation of human society is when God’s Word speaks to us.

This world is only my temporary home.

Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

God rules over every part of this world.

Daniel 2:20-22 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. 21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him.

God selects the rulers of this world.

Daniel 4:17, 25 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’ 25 They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.

God allows rulers to do what is perceived by us as evil (crucifying Jesus) to accomplish the larger purposes of God (the redemption of sinners).

John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

God tells us our primary responsibility is to PRAY, that is how we influence the outcome of any current political situation.

1 Timothy 2:1-3 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. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

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? How do we reconcile living on earth with all this evil and all of the sin that surrounds us? To answer that let me just address three areas of current controversy. There are countless other areas I could address from the Scriptures, but this morning let me limit this to just these three:

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 ever form of false hope produced by gambling and lotteries.

Remember the responsibility we have to expose evil? Here is how we do so, using God’s Word! Open with me to Ephesians 5:11 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them”.

Paul tells us that we have a personal responsibility to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness”. That means ‘avoid, stay away from, have no contact with’ evil. But that doesn’t mean isolation, it means a personal commitment to consecration. But the verse goes on to say that we have a public responsibility, one that we often have forgotten—we are to expose evil.

The Greek word ‘reprove or expose’ means to point out in a public way those things that are in opposition to God’s Word. Here is the dictionary definitions of elengcho: “to convict, refute, confute; generally with a suggestion of shame of the person convicted; by conviction to bring to the light, to expose; to admonish, reprove, to call to account, show one his fault, demand an explanation.”[1]

So how should we respond to abortion since 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.

We should Expose the Dark World of Abortion

“Abortion is one of the darkest works of the human race – it is child sacrifice. And the only way it can survive is for darkness to survive. Wherever the light of truth and love comes, darkness flies away. Therefore it is one of the great callings of the followers of Jesus to let their light shine in both ways: to live a holy life and to expose darkness. The aim is partly negative: reveal the error hidden in the darkness, but mainly positive: to bring people to love the light and be made light in the Lord Jesus.” [2]

So what do we, as Christ’s children, need to expose in our world 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.

We need to expose the fact that 70% of abortions are performed between the seventh and tenth week when the baby is already sucking his thumb, recoiling from pricking, responding to sound. All his organs are present, the brain is functioning, the heart is pumping, the liver is making blood cells, the kidneys are cleaning fluids, and there is a fingerprint. His genetic code is uniquely and unquestionably human. And, if we are willing, he can be seen by ultrasound.

We Declare the Truth: Abortion is Murder

Remember that modern day abortion is as hideous as the horrific child sacrifice by wicked parents recorded in the Old Testament. God hates both eras of child sacrifice. He condemned and judged the worship of false gods (Moloch and Baal) in the Old Testament, and the child sacrificing gods today–convenience and materialism.

So, first GOD is Pro-Life—God is opposed to Abortion and Euthanasia. He is the Creator of Life, the One who grants conception.  Second, GOD is Pro-Marriage—God is opposed to Gay Unions, as well as divorce, adultery, fornication, pornography, and any other form of immorality.

Remember the responsibility we have to expose evil? Here is how we do so, using God’s Word!

We should Expose the Grave Errors of Homosexuality

And you can see whom Paul is talking about in Romans 1:28 (when he says, “God gave them up to a debased mind”) by reading verses 26 and 27, “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Romans 1:28 says, “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” In verses 26 and 28 Paul says that God “gave them up” to these dishonorable passions and behaviors. God Himself calls all homosexual behavior an “exchange” of the God-ordained natural relations for the dishonorable unnatural relations.”

We 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. In Mt. 19:4-6 (NKJV) Jesus said:

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

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. Homosexuality can never be held in honor, because God says it is not marriage but is rather contrary to nature and shamelessly dishonorable in His sight. So no matter what public opinion or the State says: there is never such a thing as homosexual marriage in God’s sight, nor in the convictions of His people the Church.

We need to expose the World to Christ’s Powerful Gospel Hope

To all of us who have sinned in any form, there is the power of the Gospel. Jesus Christ’s death as an innocent substitute, perfectly bore the penalty for sin on the Cross. When Paul explained the Gospel to pagan sinners in the Roman province of Asia (Acts 13:38-39 NKJV), listen to his powerful, hope filled words:

Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man (Jesus Christ) is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

When God forgives it means that every, and any, sin (yes even abortion which is the murder of a helpless baby) is forgiven. Plus God adds to forgiveness His justification. God takes the penalty and record of the sin and nails it to Jesus. God treats Jesus like He committed every sin that God forgives. When we realize the power of the Gospel of hope we respond as Jesus said (Luke 7:47): “to whom much has been forgiven, the same loves much”. Today everyone of us who have been forgiven of any and every sin, including abortion, should love Jesus much today.

We need to Shine Our Life into the Darkness of Abortion

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

Consider adoption. If you are physically and spiritually able to—you should at least be praying about helping take some unwanted children of this world into your home and raise them in the light of the Gospel and for the Glory of God.

Consider support of our local Alternatives Pregnancy Center. Most of us can’t interact with young girls (and older ones) at the point of their crisis. There is a ministry that can and does. They have the plan, they have the skill, and they have the track record—all they need is the support of God’s people. Think about this—is it enough to be against abortion without being for life in a tangible way? Serve and support pro-life ministries in Christ’s Name.

Consider using your most powerful tool–always pray. If you haven’t started yet, get literature about the horrors of abortion, and start to plead with the God of Heaven to deliver us from this evil. Ask for lives to be intercepted by loving believers before that babies life is taken, pray for a baby to be born and adopted, for a godly home to take it, and for a soul 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.[3]

[1]  Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1995.

[2] John Piper in  http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/92/012692.html

[3] Appendix: Dare to be a Daniel is 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 governed. 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.

Slides