In this enlightening episode, Adrian Rogers delves into the power of worldviews and their profound impact on society today. He challenges believers to understand both their own biblical worldview and those of others to effectively engage in thoughtful discourse about life’s purpose, origin, and destiny. This eye-opening message underscores the critical need for Christians to be intellectually grounded in their faith to equip themselves against opposing beliefs that infiltrate education and society at large.
Pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers has introduced people all over the world to the love of Jesus Christ and has impacted untold numbers of lives by presenting profound truth simply stated. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here’s Adrian Rogers.
SPEAKER 02 :
Now, you have a worldview, whether you realize it or not. As you think about mankind, mankind’s origin, mankind’s purpose and mankind’s destiny. Now whether you’ve thought it out, whether you formulated it, whether you have, uh, carefully studied it, or whether you’ve never thought about it at all, yet everybody here tonight has some kind of a worldview. You have some idea about your origin, You have some idea about your purpose. You have some idea about your destiny. Now, if you’re a Bible-believing, evangelical Christian, I think your worldview is fairly settled on all three of those purposes. But you’re going to find out that we live in a world that does not hold the same worldview. It is not enough for you to have a worldview and be aware of it, but you also must know what others are believing AND YOU HAVE TO KNOW SOMETHING OF THE CURRENTS THAT ARE MOVING US IN THE TIDE OF HISTORY AND HOW WE ARE TO REACT TO THAT. NOW PRIMARILY, THERE ARE FOUR BASIC WORLD VIEWS THAT THE WESTERN WORLD REACTS TO. NUMBER ONE IS THE ONE THAT WE HOLD, OF BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY. Another worldview that’s very real and don’t think that it is dead by any means, it’s very well and alive in the United States, is Marxism. Marxism, Leninism, formerly called Communism. Another worldview that is very, very real in America, that we’ll face it in more ways than we realize, is Humanism, Secular Humanism. And then an emerging worldview is New Ageism. Now you say, Pastor, what does all of this have to do with me? Well, very much because you live in America that is anti-Christian. We sing God Bless America. We say in God We Trust. But our young people who are going off to college, and even in the grade schools, the elementary schools, junior high schools, the middle schools, the high schools, are facing a worldview that most of us do not hold. And the problem is this, that many of our young people are not intellectually grounded to face that worldview. The truth of the matter is that many of the parents are not intellectually grounded and prepared either, but they have their worldview, their biblical Christianity pretty well settled. But many of these young people with their plastic mentalities and their lack of experience are facing almost overwhelming odds. Now that’s compounded by the fact that many times the parents themselves do not know that what the young people are being taught in school. They just assume that all is well. And many times, through our tax money and through other methods, we are paying secular humanists and others to systematically seduce our children to a worldview that we do not hold. Now in America, at least 192 million people claim to be Christian. There are about 7.3 million humanists in America, but yet almost all public education is taught from a humanist point of view. The reason that the humanists have been able to do this is that they have said that education is to be value neutral when it comes to religion and the philosophies that we hold, that we are to be neutral. Well, there’s some things you can’t really be neutral about. It’s like saying we want to be neutral about food. We’re neither going to be for food or against food, so therefore no one will eat. You see what that does? It’s like saying, well, we want to be neutral about religion. We’re neither for religion or against religion, which ends up being anti-religion. And so we’re caught in a trap. Now I want to say that your worldview touches all of life. Don’t get the idea that we can just niche out Christianity. We can come here and huddle together in our stained glass prisons called churches, and that the rest of the world can have its worldview, but that does not affect us, nor should we affect it. The truth of the matter is that if you are a Bible-believing Christian, Your worldview will affect all of the rest of life as you know it. And the worldview of others is militantly coming against you in theology and philosophy, in the matter of ethics, sex education, marriage, divorce, abortion. All of these are subjects that we’re grappling with today. And there are worldviews on ethics that you and I may or may not hold. and the area of biology, the origin of life. What is our worldview? What is the worldview of these people out there who cannot find life in the womb, but find life on Mars, they think? And in psychology, what is the worldview? What is the biblical worldview about the study of the soul in psychology? What is being taught in secular psychology, in New Age psychology, in Marxism, and in sociology? The way we live together, the way we interact, the way society comes together. What is the biblical worldview? What are these other worldviews that impinge upon it? In the area of law, what is law? Where does law come from? Is law something that is fluid? Or is there natural law, God-given law, fixed laws that come from Almighty God? In the area of politics and government, What is the biblical worldview? And what are the worldviews that we face here in the Western world? And in economics? What is the biblical worldview of the right to property, the whole property, who owns property and all of this? Now, we probably are just kind of fuzzy about all of those things and we just say, well, we know what we believe as Christians and we think that we can afford to let all the rest of this just simply go by or pay no attention to it. But believe me, your children, your grandchildren are fighting a battle that you may not be fighting AND, UH, MANY OF US ARE UNAWARE OF THINGS THAT WE OUGHT TO BE AWARE OF. NOW, THIS IS MORE OR LESS OF AN INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE TO SET THE STAGE, BUT TURN TO FIRST PETER CHAPTER THREE AND BEGIN READING WITH ME IN VERSE TEN. NOW, PETER IS TALKING TO THOSE OF US WHO ARE CHRISTIANS, AND HE SAYS, FOR HE THAT WILL LOVE LIFE and see good days. Now we all want to do that, don’t we? We love life. I hope you love life. Uh, I love life. For he that will love life and see good days, and God wants us to see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile. Let him eschew evil, that means shun evil, and do good. Let him seek peace and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good? But, and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye. And let me just pause there to say there’s a difference between suffering and being harmed, according to this verse. The Bible never says we’ll not suffer. The Bible says we can’t be harmed. You need to understand this. There’s a big difference there. And who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good? But, and if ye suffer, for righteousness’ sake, happier ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be ye troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope of that is in you with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation,” that literally means your good behavior, your good lifestyle, in Christ. For it is better if the will of God be so that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil doing. We are living in a post-Christian society, and therefore as Christians, as twice-born people, we are living in hostile territory. And whether you recognize it or not, there are signs all around us to say that Christians are under attack today. We’re talked about as the religious right or the radical right. We’re called zealots. We’re called other things. We’re called nuts. We are, but we’re fastened to a good bolt. The Lord Jesus. The problem is that so many of these things have happened to us while we have been asleep. And while we have slept, the enemy has done his work. Now, there are two dangers that face us when we face this kind of a situation and when living in hostile territory. Number one is that we can just kind of retreat. We can hunker down with a live and let live attitude and wait for the rapture. BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT RETREAT IS NOT EVEN POSSIBLE. WHY? BECAUSE THERE IS NO PLACE TO RUN AND HIDE IN TODAY’S SOCIETY. YOU CAN’T JUST RETREAT. I WANT TO QUOTE DR. JAMES DOBSON. HE TALKS ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IF WE DO NOT STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT AND LEARN AND ARTICULATE WHAT WE BELIEVE. QUOTE, WE WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO EXERCISE OUR BELIEFS IN PRIVATE, THE CHURCH WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PROTECT ITS PRECEPTS. OUR CHRISTIAN ENCLAVES WILL BE INVALID.” THAT IS, WE CAN’T COME IN HERE AND HIDE BEHIND THESE WALLS. WE WILL EITHER SPEAK UP OR SUBMIT IN SILENCE. WHY NOT USE OUR VOICES NOW WHILE THE MEMORY OF THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN ETHIC STILL LINGERS LIKE RARE PERFUME WITHIN THE POPULAR CULTURE? AND THEN, UH, JAMES DOBSON CHALLENGES US BY ASKING SEVERAL QUESTIONS. He says this, at what point will we be willing to defend what we believe? Will parents object if their children are routinely indoctrinated in homosexual ideology or occultism in the public schools? Will we object if the state tells pastors what they can or can’t say from the pulpit? Did you know that in Sweden an evangelical pastor who preached a sermon on Sodom and Gomorrah was convicted of, quote, verbal violence against homosexuals and sentenced to a four-week prison term for preaching against homosexuality in Sweden? Will we object if the state assumes, quote, ownership of our children and tells us how to rear them or else lose custody? Will we turn them over to a village? in order that the village might raise the child? Will we object if every church has to hire a homosexual or satisfy a quota, obligation? And then he goes on to speak about a pastor in Germany in the days of Hitler and the rise of Nazism. He says, Niemöller was a pastor when Hitler was coming into power. under orders by Hitler, Niemöller was imprisoned and later placed in solitary confinement. He was freed after the war, and whenever he concluded a speech, he ended with these words that have now become famous. First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. THEN THEY CAME FOR THE JEWS, AND I DID NOT SPEAK OUT BECAUSE I WAS NOT A JEW. THEN THEY CAME FOR ME, AND THERE WAS NO ONE LEFT TO SPEAK OUT FOR ANYONE.” WHEN ARE WE GOING TO SPEAK OUT? THERE COMES A TIME WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE SAY, WE DARE NOT BE SILENT. REMEMBER, WHAT MORDECAI SAID TO QUEEN ESTHER IN ESTHER CHAPTER FOUR AND VERSE 14, FOR IF THOU ALL TOGETHER HOLDEST THY PEACE AT THIS TIME, THEN SHALL THERE ENLARGEMENT AND DELIVERANCE ARISE TO THE JEWS FROM ANOTHER PLACE. BUT THOU AND THY FATHER’S HOUSE SHALL BE DESTROYED. AND WHO KNOWETH WHETHER THOU ART COME TO THE KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS? I WANT TO SAY TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS CHURCH, AND EVERY MOTHER’S CHILD WHO NAMES THE NAME OF JESUS, WHO KNOWS BUT WHAT, YOU HAVE COME TO THE KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.” WE CANNOT BE SILENT. WE CANNOT CHOOSE TO REMAIN SILENT ON THESE ISSUES UNDER THE GUISE THAT ALL GOD HAS CALLED US TO DO IS TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. THERE’S A GREAT DANGER, OF COURSE. THE OTHER DANGER IS THAT WE WILL SUBSTITUTE SOMETHING FOR THE GOSPEL. AND THAT IS ALSO A GREAT DANGER. WE CANNOT SUBSTITUTE SACRAMENTALISM, RATIONALISM, EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY, OR SOME POLITICAL STRATEGY FOR THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. AND AS LONG AS GOD GIVES ME BREATH, I WILL BE A PREACHER OF THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. HAVING SAID THAT, HOWEVER, that we as Christians must become active. We must become activists. We must take a firm and a loving stand, and we must come to the aid of all of our brothers and sisters, regardless of their denomination, their vocation, their economic or racial barriers that divide us. WE’VE GOT TO COME TOGETHER AS BELIEVERS IN CHRIST. WE’VE GOT TO HAVE A CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW. AND WE’VE GOT TO LEARN HOW TO ARTICULATE OUR WORLDVIEW. NOW I WANT TO SAY THIS, THAT CHRISTIANS HAVE FACED BAD TIMES AND DIFFICULT TIMES BEFORE. AND THE SCRIPTURE THAT I JUST READ TO YOU SPEAKS OF ONE OF THOSE TIMES. It was a time when, if you think we have it bad today, you should have been a Christian when the Roman Empire held sway. Christians to the Roman Empire were perceived as enemies. The Christians said, Jesus is Lord. It was the doctrine of the Roman Empire that Caesar was also a god, not only emperor, but god. And to say, for a Christian to say, we have a king, he’s gone away and he’s coming back, was high treason against the Roman Empire. THAT’S ONE OF THE REASONS THAT JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED, BECAUSE THEY SAID HE CLAIMED TO BE THE KING OF THE JEWS. NOW, WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE EARLY CHRISTIANS IN THE SCRIPTURE THAT, UH, PETER IS TALKING ABOUT? WHAT WERE THEY ACCUSED OF? WELL, THEY WERE ACCUSED OF SUBVERSION, INSURRECTION, BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT PROCLAIM CAESAR AS LORD. THEY WERE ALSO LOOKED UPON AS AN ECONOMIC THREAT BECAUSE THEY CAME OUT AGAINST IDOLATRY AND OTHER THINGS THAT WERE SOURCE OF GREAT INCOME TO THOSE AROUND THEM, JUST AS YOU AND I MIGHT STAND AGAINST PROSTITUTION AND GAMBLING AND THE LIQUOR BUSINESS AND THOSE THINGS. WE’RE PERCEIVED AS AN ECONOMIC THREAT. AND, UH, THE EARLY CHRISTIANS WERE, UH, PERCEIVED AS AN ECONOMIC THREAT. And also, the lifestyles of the early Christians were so radically different that it made the others look bad in comparison as their lifestyles rebuked the immorality of that day. Now, the Scripture in 1 Peter is more or less of a handbook for survival. Peter is talking to these people in duress. And this is what Peter says to them. He says to them in verse 15, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness. AND FEAR. NOW THE VERY FIRST THING WE’RE TO DEAL WITH IS THE PRINCIPLE OF LORDSHIP. HE SAYS, SANCTIFY CHRIST AS LORD. THAT IS LITERALLY WHAT IT SAYS. UH, THE KING JAMES SAYS, SANCTIFY THE LORD GOD IN YOUR HEARTS. BUT IT LITERALLY IS SANCTIFY CHRIST AS LORD. NOW YOU HAVE TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND THAT NOTHING, NOTHING Nothing will stand in the way of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you enthroned Him as Lord? Or have you come down the aisle of some church and gotten baptized because you want fire insurance and you don’t want to go to hell? If Christ is Lord, we dare not be intimidated. He must be Lord. Everything else must get in line behind the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Let me say that again. Everything in your life must line up behind, never ahead of, the lordship of Jesus Christ. Now, here’s the second principle. Not only the principle of lordship, but there’s the principle of learning. That’s the reason I’m, I’m talking on a Christian worldview. Look in verse 15 again. Be always ready to TO GIVE AN ANSWER TO EVERY MAN THAT ASKETH YOU A REASON OF THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOU. NOW, UH, THE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD, UNBELIEVERS, AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE OTHER WORLD VIEWS, HAVE SOME VERY GOOD QUESTIONS. THE PROBLEM IS, MANY OF US ARE NOT READY TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS. NOW, THERE ARE SOME EXCELLENT QUESTIONS. BUT THERE ARE ALSO SOME WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL ANSWERS. NOW WHEN THE BIBLE SAYS, BE READY TO GIVE AN ANSWER, THIS IS THE WORD WE GET THE WORD APOLOGETICS FROM. AN APOLOGIST IS NOT SOMEBODY WHO SAYS, OH, I’M SO SORRY THAT I’M A CHRISTIAN, PLEASE FORGIVE ME. THIS IS A PERSON WHO GIVES A REASONABLE RESPONSE WHEN PEOPLE ASK HIM LEGITIMATE QUESTIONS. THIS IS A PERSON WHO IS READY to give an answer, an apologetic response, to those questions that come. And so there’s the principle of lordship. We sanctify Christ as Lord. There’s the principle of learning. We have got to be aware, we’ve got to understand and have a Christian worldview. Now the third principle is the principle of lowliness. Look, if you will, in verse 15 again. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be always ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you of the hope that is in you. Now watch this. With… meekness and fear. The only thing that seems to match our ignorance is our arrogance. And you put ignorance and arrogance together and you’ve got a problem. But may I tell you that the modern church is saturated with both ignorance and arrogance. The Bible teaches that you and I are to have a lifestyle of meekness. Meekness is not weakness. Jesus said, I’m meek and lowly. He was not weak. He’s the one who spent 40 days and nights fasting in the wilderness. Jesus was the one who took a whip and drove the money changers out of the temple. But Jesus said, I’m meek and lowly of heart. Meekness is not weakness. It means strength and channeled, strength under control. And the word fear does not mean that we quake at the enemy. It’s not talking about being afraid of the devil. The Bible says, in nothing be terrified by your adversaries. The word fear here means reverence, the fear of God. And what is the fear of God but love on its knees? Those who fear LOVE GOD THE BEST, FEAR HIM THE MOST. NOW I WANT TO SAY THIS, THAT AMERICA IS NOT GOING TO BE WON BY ARGUMENTS. WE’RE NOT CALLED UPON TO OUT-ARGUE THE DEVIL, NOT BY THE BALLOT BOX, AND NOT BY ORGANIZATION. IT’S GOING TO TAKE A LIFESTYLE OF GODLY PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE TRUTH AND WALK HUMBLY BEFORE THEIR GOD. DO YOU KNOW HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE OF US? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT US? THEY CALL US HATEMONGERS. THEY CALL US NARROW. THEY CALL US BIGOTED. THEY CALL US INSENSITIVE. AND THE PROBLEM WITH MANY OF US IS THAT WE REACT TO THAT WITH ANGRY RHETORIC AND IT ESCALATES ON BOTH SIDES. BUT HERE, JUST PUT THIS VERSE IN YOUR MARGIN, JAMES CHAPTER ONE, Verses 19 and following. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. And then here’s the key. Now watch it. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Have you ever seen some of these Christians in some of these demonstrations? I mean their face red, their fist in the air, their shouting and screaming and calling names. Do you think that’s going to win anything for our side? It will not. THE BIBLE SAYS WE ARE TO HAVE MEEKNESS AND FEAR. WE ARE TO BE SLOW TO SPEAK, QUICK TO HEAR. THE WRATH OF MAN WORKETH NOT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. NOW JESUS OF COURSE, HAD RIGHTEOUS ANGER TOWARD RELIGIOUS HYPOCRITES. BUT I WANT YOU TO STUDY THE LIFE OF JESUS AND SEE HOW JESUS TREATED THOSE WHO WERE DOWN AND OUT AND THOSE WHO LIVED IN SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS AND DARKNESS. SEE THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST TOWARD THE ADULTERERS, TOWARD THE PROSTITUTES, UH, TOWARD THE TAX COLLECTORS, TOWARD THOSE WHO WERE TAKEN CAPTIVE BY SATAN. HIS HEART WENT OUT He knew the depravity of their heart. Do you know the problem with many of us? We think that somehow if we get organized enough, we can teach billy goats not to butt. Hey folks, they are sinners. And come up close and I’ll tell you what a sinner does. He sins. I mean, that’s his nature. That’s his nature. And they’re not going to be out argued. What they have to see in us is a superior lifestyle. And what I hope that will come out of this study is that we will come out with a full head and a loving heart, and we will learn to speak the truth in love. Jesus did not lash back in anger. Notice here in 1 Peter, just turn over to chapter 2 and look in verse 23 of this same chapter. Speaks of Jesus, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. You know what Jesus did when people came against him? He took his case to the Supreme Court. I said the Supreme Court. THE SUPREME COURT. HE COMMITTED HIMSELF TO HIM WHO JUDGES RIGHTEOUSLY. ISN’T IT WONDERFUL THAT WE CAN CARRY OUR CASE ALL THE WAY TO THE SUPREME COURT? I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THOSE NINE FOLKS IN BLACK ROBES. I’M TALKING ABOUT ALMIGHTY GOD. NOW, NERO BURNED ROME. So history tells us, and I believe it is true, he fancied himself as being an urban renewal expert, and there were some slums and things where the poor people lived, and he wanted to remodel the city. So according to tradition and history, he had the city torched and set on fire, and then the thing backfired on him, and the people were rising up, and they were angry and hostile, and his advisor said, well, you’ve got to find a scapegoat. You’ve got to find someone to blame. There’s a new sect of people called Christians. Blame them. I mean, after all, they’re talking about a God of fire, setting the world on fire and Holy Ghost fire and all of this. And so the people retaliated on these Christians. Some of them had hot oil poured over them. Some of them had melted tar poured over them. And then they were tied to stakes and lighted on fire like human candles and they were burned at the stake. BUT THEY SUFFERED RIGHTEOUSLY, AS PETER SAYS WE’RE TO SUFFER, AND IT WAS THEIR ABILITY TO SUFFER THAT BROUGHT THE ROMAN EMPIRE CRASHING DOWN. A CHINESE STUDENT FACING THE IRON BOOT OF CHINESE COMMUNISM, WHEN THEY CAME AGAINST THESE STUDENTS, SAID THIS, AND IT’S A WONDERFUL STATEMENT, LISTEN TO IT, LIES WRITTEN IN INK CANNOT OBSCURE TRUTH. written in blood. That’s the way the early Christians overcame. And, and, you see, we have to be careful. I have to be careful. Have you ever noticed I have an argumentative attitude? Don’t answer that. But I do. I mean, I am, I am argumentative by nature. I have to watch it. You have to be careful as a Christian that you do not win the argument and lose the audience. NOW LOOK AT WHAT HE SAYS HERE. HE’S TALKING TO US, BUT SANCTIFY THE LORD GOD IN YOUR HEARTS, AND BE READY ALWAYS TO GIVE AN ANSWER, THAT’S THE ARGUMENT TO EVERYONE THAT ASKS YOU A REASON, OF THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOU, WITH MEAKNESS AND FEAR, STRENGTH UNDER CONTROL, AND THE REVERENCE FOR ALMIGHTY GOD. SO, TRUE HUMILITY. REAL HUMILITY WILL OFTEN DISARM THOSE THAT WE COME AGAINST. AND WE MUST ALL ADMIT THAT EVEN THE BEST OF US HAVE NOT YET SPROUTED WINGS AND GOTTEN A HALO. WE’RE ALL STILL PART OF THE HUMAN RACE. I LIKE THE PRAYER THAT NEHEMIAH PRAYED, AND I THINK MORE OF US OUGHT TO PRAY THAT PRAYER. WHEN NEHEMIAH WAS LIVING IN A DAY VERY MUCH LIKE OURS, NEHEMIAH WAS A RIGHTEOUS MAN, BUT LISTEN TO THIS, NEHEMIAH CHAPTER ONE AND VERSE SIX, HE’S PRAYING TO GOD. And he says, Let thine ear be now attentive and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee, both I and my father’s house of sin. Now Nehemiah was a man of God. But it’s time for the church… to be on her knees and her face before God, not telling God about the wickedness of all of those other people only, but saying, Dear God, have mercy on us, for the Bible says judgment must begin in the house of God. Now, there’s the principle, then, of lowliness. And then here’s the principle. It’s the principle of lifestyle. Notice again in verse 15, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the, now watch this, the hope that is in you. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE WORD HOPE MEANS? THE WORD HOPE DOESN’T MEAN MAYBE, PERHAPS. IT’S NOT SORT OF A SANCTIFIED WISH. THE WORD HOPE MEANS ROCK-RIBBED ASSURANCE BASED ON THE WORD OF GOD. THAT’S THE REASON THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS IS CALLED THE BLESSED HOPE. NOT THE BLESSED MAYBE, THE BLESSED HOPE. AND YOU SEE, WHY WERE THESE EARLY CHRISTIANS ABLE TO LIVE AS THEY LIVE? BECAUSE THEY HAD A HOPE THAT WAS IN THEM THAT WAS SO REAL, SO VIBRANT, SO INCONTROVERTIBLE, THAT THEY STOOD OUT AND THE PAGANS WOULD COME TO THEM AND SAY, WHAT MAKES YOU TICK? I CAN’T UNDERSTAND YOU, THE WAY YOU LIVE. YOU, YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT LIFESTYLE. WHAT HAS TRANSFORMED YOU? WHAT HAS MADE YOU DIFFERENT? LOOK IN CHAPTER TWO AND VERSE 12 OF THIS SAME CHAPTER. THE BIBLE SAYS WE’RE TO BE HAVING OUR CONVERSATION HONEST AMONG THE GENTILES. That means our behavior among the pagans. That whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation. The day of visitation means literally the day of observation, inspection. When they look at you, I mean, they’ll badmouth us. They’ll talk about us. They will criticize us. They will call us all manner of things. But we have got to outlive them. WE’VE GOT TO OUT-LOVE THEM. WE’VE GOT TO OUT-PRAY THEM. WE’VE GOT TO OUT-PREACH THEM. WE’VE GOT TO OUT-GIVE THEM. WE’VE GOT TO OUT-SACRIFICE THE PAGANS. WHY? BECAUSE OF THE ROCK-RIBBED ASSURANCE WE HAVE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. AND THEY WILL LOOK AT US, AND THEY WILL SAY, THEY ARE DIFFERENT. TELL ME ABOUT THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOU. MAY I ASK YOU A QUESTION? DON’T ANSWER THAT LOUD. But has anybody ever asked you to explain your life? Has anybody ever come to you and said, hey, I don’t understand you. You are different. Would you tell me about it? I want to submit to you if we’re living under the lordship of Christ, if we’re living as the apostle Peter says we ought to be living, people will be coming to us and asking us for an explanation of our lifestyle and we will be able to testify of the Lord Jesus Christ. Classic example of that, Paul and Silas were in prison for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were in the innermost prison. Acts 16 tells about it. They had been beaten. They were put down in that prison in the bottom with the sewage, the vermin, the rats, the roaches. Their backs are lacerated. Their hands and their feet are in manacles. It’s midnight, and the Bible says at midnight they’re praying and singing praise to God. The jailer, he’d often heard cursing, but not praising God. HE’D OFTEN HEARD MOANING, BUT NOT SINGING. HE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND IT. HE BROUGHT A LIGHT AND CAME IN AFTER GOD SENT AN EARTHQUAKE INTO THAT JAIL, AND HE ASKED THIS QUESTION OF THEM, SIRS, WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? WHY? HE SAW THE DIFFERENCE IN PAUL AND SILAS. I HOPE THAT PEOPLE CAN SEE A DIFFERENCE IN MY LIFESTYLE. I HOPE THAT PEOPLE WHO KNOW ME CAN SAY, HE IS DIFFERENT. I HOPE PEOPLE THAT KNOW YOU CAN SAY, HE HAS A HOPE, SHE HAS A HOPE. THIS PERSON STANDS OUT LIKE A GARDENIA IN THIS DESERT OF MEDIOCRITY AND FILTH. YOU KNOW WHAT NICHI SAID? NICHI WAS A ATHEIST. Nietzsche said, he flung this challenge into the face of the church. He said, if you want me to believe in your Redeemer, you’re going to have to look and act a little more redeemed. What an insult to the church of God. AND SO THERE’S THE PRINCIPLE OF LIFESTYLE. HERE’S THE LAST PRINCIPLE AND THEN WE’LL COME TO A CLOSE. THERE MUST BE THE PRINCIPLE OF LOVE, OF LOVE. NOW WE’VE BEEN PRIMARILY IN VERSE 15, BUT I WANT US TO BACK UP AND SEE HOW THIS STARTS IN VERSE 8. FINALLY, BE YE ALL OF ONE MIND, HAVING COMPASSION ONE OF ANOTHER, LOVE AS BRETHREN, BE PITIFUL, BE COURTEOUS. AND THEN GO TO CHAPTER FOUR, VERSES EIGHT AND NINE, AND ABOVE ALL THINGS HAVE FERVENT CHARITY AMONG YOURSELVES, FOR CHARITY SHALL COVER THE MULTITUDE OF SINS. USE HOSPITALITY ONE TO ANOTHER WITHOUT GRUDGING. IF WE’RE AGAINST ABORTION, AND WE ARE, THEN WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES, WHAT ARE WE DOING TO HELP? HOW ARE WE HELPING YOUNG PREGNANT WOMEN? Sometimes our attitude just simply pushes them into the arms of the abortionists. We believe in the permanency of marriage, but what kind of a church are we to those who’ve experienced the trauma of divorce and broken homes, some of them by their own choosing and some of them not by their choosing? I’m telling you, if we don’t have a church with open arms to people who’ve had broken marriages, we don’t have the right for the property we exist on. These people are hurting. THEY DON’T NEED TO BE PUSHED FURTHER DOWN. THEY NEED TO BE LOVED. WE OUGHT TO BE AGAINST THE POLLUTION OF PORNOGRAPHY AND WE ARE. YET DO WE HAVE PROGRAMS AND HELPS FOR THOSE WHO ARE DRIVEN BY THIS COMPULSION? WE OUGHT TO BE OPPOSED TO THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA AND THE HOMOSEXUAL LIFESTYLE AND WE’RE GOING TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THAT. BUT DO WE HAVE OPEN HEARTS AND OPEN ARMS TO THOSE OF THE HOMOSEXUAL COMMUNITY THAT WE MIGHT TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS AND JESUS CAN RADICALLY, DRAMATICALLY, ETERNALLY TRANSFORM PEOPLE, BUT WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL THAT WE DO NOT SHOW SUCH HOSTILITY, SUCH ANTIPATHY, SUCH, UH, NEGATIVISM, THAT THEY WOULD NEVER COME TO US TO LEARN ABOUT THE LORD JESUS. WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY THAT IS HURTING, AND WE’VE GOT TO BIND THE WOUNDS UP WITH SAVE AND NOT WITH SALT. THEY NEED THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST. AND PEOPLE ARE WANTING TO KNOW, IS THERE AN ANSWER? AND I’M HERE TO TELL YOU THAT THERE IS AN ANSWER. AND I LEAVE YOU WITH THIS LAST THOUGHT. DON’T GET THE IDEA THAT THE CHURCH WILL NOT SURVIVE. THE CHURCH OF THE LORD JESUS WILL SURVIVE. JESUS SAID, UPON THIS ROCK I’LL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT. IN THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION IN CHINA, the Communists took over. One of the first things they did in the Cultural Revolution was to burn all Western books. Schools and universities were closed. Churches were turned into warehouses. And even crosses that were found on Christian graves were chiseled off. Pastors were either killed or put in prison. Everyone was forced to bow down to a picture of their tongue every day. Those who would not bow down, their legs were broken below the knees. This was to be a massive revolution, and the church was to be put out of business. At the same time, the Communists began in China with intense brainwashing, and the lack of compliance brought severe penalties for AND EVERYBODY SAID THE CHURCH IN CHINA WILL DIE. THEY WERE STRIPPED OF ALL POLITICAL POWER, FORBIDDEN TO SHARE THEIR FAITH PERSONALLY OR PRIVATELY. AND DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME, WHEN THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION CAME TO CHINA, WHEN IT BEGAN THERE WERE ONE HALF MILLION CHRISTIANS. TODAY IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THERE ARE BETWEEN FIFTY AND ONE HUNDRED MILLION CHRISTIANS IN CHINA. WHY? BECAUSE, FRIEND, THOSE PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FOR THEIR FAITH ARE ENRICHED BY THAT SUFFERING AND THE CHURCH UNDER THE SEVEREST PERSECUTION HAS MULTIPLIED MORE RAPIDLY THAN THE CHURCH THAT BOASTS OF ITS FREEDOM. I’LL TELL YOU WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. THE PERSECUTION WIPED OUT THE THEOLOGICAL LIBERALISM AND ONLY THE TRUE CHRISTIANS REMAIN. THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED. NOW, WE AS INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIANS, need to be like the Chinese and witness wherever God has placed us. We are personal representatives of the Lord Jesus, and the church of Jesus can continue to grow even when it is perceived by the government as the enemy. So I’m calling you folks to a Christian worldview that’s backed up by Christian lifestyle. Our job is not ultimately TO SAVE AMERICA. OUR FIRST RESPONSIBILITY IS NOT TO PRESERVE OUR FREEDOMS, AS IMPORTANT AS THEY ARE. OUR PRIME RESPONSIBILITY IS TO STAND UP FOR CHRIST AND WITNESS TO THIS WORLD OF HIS GRACE AND HIS POWER. TO SAY IT AND MEAN IT, JESUS IS LORD. DO YOU BELIEVE HE IS? LET’S PRAY TOGETHER. FATHER, THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORD. LORD GOD, I PRAY AS WE STUDY TOGETHER A CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW that you will help us to be prepared to go from this place and stand up, stand up for Jesus as soldiers of the cross.
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