2022 National Conference: Harry Reeder, W. Robert Godfrey, and Michael Reeves

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[Music] [Music] his angels [Music] the secret grace [Music] oh is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh r [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] oh [Music] here is [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] happiness [Music] [Music] r [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] is [Music] see [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] our children [Music] is [Music] good morning and welcome back to the 2022 ligonier national conference i'm nathan w bingham and we're eager to keep thinking about this year's conference theme upholding christian ethics we live in a world that is an open rebellion against its holy creator and as christians who are justified by faith alone in jesus christ alone we must resist the influence of the world and by god's grace wrestle with the remaining sin in our own hearts so i hope this conference has been a benefit to you so far and has encouraged you to dig deeper into god's word remember you can watch all of yesterday's messages again in the free ligonier app just visit ligonier.org app or search for ligonier in your app store of choice now we begin today's live teaching with a message from dr harry reider on the topic of gender and sexuality crossing now to ligonier's president and ceo chris larson to introduce dr rita [Music] let's begin with prayer our father and our god we do come to you lord with hearts that are expectant lord to hear more from your word today lord you have fed us so richly thank you for yesterday thank you for the message of the cross that was preached so powerfully last night and that in jesus christ he is our hope and our salvation we thank you lord for the truth that binds us together in love by your spirit we thank you for the fellowship that we can enjoy and the encouragement that we can share meeting friends meeting new friends and we pray that you would even form lasting lifetime friendships from this weekend because we are united in the truth help us this day lord help those who preach and teach and be with us and unite our hearts to be able to sing your praise with clarity with boldness and to proclaim and teach and defend your holiness in all of its fullness for your glory alone and in jesus name we pray amen well good morning it is a delight to be back for day two of the ligonier national conference i do hope you paced yourself yesterday because today is the long day and we do have so much teaching to get to today we are so eager to be able to share this time together do let others know about what is happening here let them know how they can listen to something that you heard you can share it and be able to provide continued teaching for those in your circle we like to say you know far more people than we do and so we love to be able to put this teaching in your hands so you can spread it around spread her around the world our teacher this morning is a dear friend of the ministry and served alongside of dr sprole for many years and dr harry reader is been used of the lord to become one of the leading voices within the presbyterian church in america he has served for many years as senior pastor at briarwood presbyterian church in birmingham alabama and of course any of you who know of that church and its long and faithful history within the pca i know what kind of stewardship that dr reeder has had over the years and the care that he has brought to continuing to further the mission work of that church for the blessing of southeast of the denomination but truly around the world dr reader can be heard on radio broadcasts you can even hear them on refnet and you've also heard a little bit of our outreach to inmates well dr reeder through birmingham theological seminary and their church there at briarwood and they have been working with inmates in correctional facilities throughout the southeast and they've really just been doing this for years and years and years and the stories that they can tell about the revival and people coming to christ who are incarcerated that work has been an encouragement to us and we've sought ways that we can now continue to partner and serve them with legionnaire resources as well so that's a fairly new relationship that's just begun between the two ministries but dr reader he is a trusted voice and these are precarious times in many churches and in many denominations and denominations that have historically stood for the truth of the gospel and confidence and the supremacy and authority and sufficiency of god's word now it seems that those foundations are crumbling and eroding away and dr reeder has been a voice for the truth trying to bring the light and reminding the church to put their confidence in the word of god and to not bend to shifting tides and opinions as they beset us we are in tumultuous times and we need clear and bold leadership and dr reeder has provided that i would point you to one of his resources that we have in our bookstore on leadership it's called 3d leadership where you can understand how to define develop and deploy christian leaders who can change the world would you join me in welcoming dr harry reader well it's great to be with you if you'll get your copies of god's word we we don't have uh lots of time we want to be on time in fact you probably noticed this place runs pretty much on time and uh i asked him how will i know in my time zone they gave me the the clock system and said when it goes red you're in trouble and um that's what happens i was reminded of the story that uh of the men that pastored the church and it grew and they needed a new building elder said don't worry i'll take care of it you just keep preaching and they showed up for the new building sure enough there it was 15 beautiful acres wonderful sanctuary wide halls beautiful classroom sanctuaries gorgeous stained glass windows beautiful but he walked in he noticed there was only one pew and it was just at the back and he said there's only one pew what what's he said well we got one pew it's at the back where does everybody sit they go to the back and uh so they watched and sure enough he came in went to the back sailing the pew when it filled up sirens rang and bells clang and strobe lights went off and the pew slid all the way up to the front and another one popped up in the back and when it filled up it slid to the front another one popped up pastor looked at it said to the elder that's ingenious i love that and the elder looked at the pastor and said yeah i thought you would where do you see what happens to the pulpit at 12 o'clock so i need y'all to hang with me please because i don't want to know what happens at when the red light goes on all right let me just also greet you on behalf of briarwood presbyterian church we do love to but we're actually he said partnership actually we're just really blessed through ligonier and we again uh it's been a while since we've done it we're going to be hosting as many of you know the regional conference this august i think it's 13th and 14th love to invite you love to invite you down to alabama birmingham and anytime come and visit us at briarwood and experience the opportunity to to be with us we'd love to have you and uh two reasons number one we'd just love to have you and i know you'll be blessed in the conference the ligonier conference and um second reason is and come to birmingham in alabama when you die and go to heaven it won't be a culture shock so uh so you'll be fine i heard chris say early on that they're always you know what what's what what um episode what teaching event what seminar what session is going to get us kicked off youtube you heard him say that yesterday i was sitting with my wife i said they gave that one to me and so so i want you to jump into this with me we know the situation around us you see the lgbtqai plus do not forget the plus that tells you it's not finished lgbtqai plus movement that is sweeping the culture i mean it's a tectonic movement it's a the changes are uh are seismic uh it's really interesting one um my friend al mohler characterized it as a as simply a tsunami wave and its rapidity is overwhelming of what's happening and how it's changing it has revealed the culture shapers of our progressive secular humanist age the culture shapers big business big government media journalism and and the academy those are the five big culture shapers of the day and they are fully at work and uh and so all of that presents certain challenges and temptations and then these few minutes i want to try to at least get you a couple of thoughts about it so what are you going to do with this uh the the the legal dynamics of the affirmation of the mythology of same-sex marriage or the fabrication of same-sex marriage you see all the stuff that's happening the destruction of female sports the the dangers that come in terms of the loss of privacy and modesty the rising toll we now have legislative never thought i mean i have i have dealt with the sanctity of life ever since roe v wade but i never never thought i would see actually a proposed initiative out of a state legislature that a woman can and a woman can have the prerogative to take the life of the child up to 28 days after birth infanticide being embraced we see not passive but active euthanasia being proposed we see all of those things are taking place and you see them you know them now why are they there and how do we respond to this and that's kind of challenge that's given to me in this matter of ethics and sexuality and gender but then again you've got to ask yourself a question how are you going to respond to this are you going to respond to this there's really three choices that we've got one is to ignore it it's out there and it's not here we'll be okay just kind of circle up the wagons second thing a second way is well you know things kind of change that's what progressive christianity is constantly saying to the evangelical church notice it's not like the days of liberalism and i highly commend to you matron's book christianity and liberalism key word and liberalism is not a subset christian liberalism is not a subset of christianity it's a adverse adversary and the same thing i think is true of progressive christianity which is cut from the same bolt of cloth different theological issues but cut from the same bolt of cloth but both of them are motivated by cultural relevance and think the mission of the church is cultural transformation therefore whenever you do that your message will be cultural accommodation so will you engage in accommodation i mean the times have changed shouldn't we kind of let's step back and re take a look at marriage and sexuality and all of those issues in other words let me put it the way my friend r.c sproul says in his book worldviews ethics is is-ness i mean i'm sorry ethics is oughtness this is what you ought to be morals is is-ness this is what's happening now we have historically said here's the ethic that's to inform the morals now what we're doing is what are the morals we'll change the ethics to accommodate it so instead of sacred sex safe sex that's what you begin to see in society so will we be accommodationists will we be uh will we uh isolate isolationist and ignore will we accommodate but i'll tell you what the plan is from those five culture shapers is capitulation you're in a revolution a cultural revolution is what's taking place all around you revolutions are not looking for toleration they're not looking for accommodation in a revolution those who those who are making the movement the whole purpose is capitulation you celebrate what you previously condemn and you condemn what you previously celebrate so that so how are you going to respond well there's a couple of things and i've got to move rapidly love to tell you so much i'd love to talk with you about but i know i want you to take some time to go beyond what happens here here in the next few minutes and as you take the time to move forward i want to give you some resources uh and let me give you just a couple of them to deal with this area of ethics and the gender genderism and the sexual anarchy that is pervading our culture and all of its chaos and confusion that's taking place i mean it's it's all around in fact let me before well let me go and give you the let me go ahead and give you the resources uh number one is just stay connected oh that sounds interesting stay connected to ligonier and uh you've got all of these things they're constantly putting out things whether it's articles and table talk youtube or whatever i mean rc's preaching more now than he ever did before it's he's everywhere and so um there and they've got speakers so that's number one number two another friend of ligonier a friend of mine peter jones and his ministry truth exchange number three is the ministry we are discipling and we have the privilege to see evangelism and discipleship of those coming out of the lgbtq ai plus movement and our number one go-to source for curriculum and advice is harvest ministries we're very grateful for them and i i commend them to you as well number four uh i'm going to the book of genesis one of the best scholars on the book of genesis addressing these issues specifically uh is a dear friend of mine and and i highly appreciate him he's a professor of old testament at westminster dr johnny gibson you cannot you cannot uh you cannot find a better see one of the reasons i'm giving you these the classics you know the classics go use the classics but these these ministries are dealing with it not only biblically as it has been but biblically as it is morphed in this present age in this present distress that's why i wanted to give you a couple of of resources that you could go to but of course my resource and your resource and whenever we're dealing with ethics is the word of god so would you go with me to the book of genesis in your copies of god's word genesis chapter one turn to your bibles in your bibles or turn on your bibles you can't get over i'm sorry i'm just haven't arrived in the present age i mean reading my bible on the iphone's like kissing my wife through a screen door i just uh [Applause] i want to read a couple of texts for you look with me in genesis 1 1. in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and void the original tohu bohu the the earth was without form it was formless it was unfilled it was void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the spirit of god was hovering over the face of the waters so where did time space power energy where did it all come from god created then he said the ex-nilo creation of god everything visible everything invisible in the heavens and in the earth now take your bibles and go with me to genesis 1. these are familiar we started off my wife elbowed me and said dr nichols is preaching your sermon uh he took us right to the book of genesis and rightly so let me just say a word there's not another book in your bible that is hated out of the kingdom of darkness more than the book of genesis and there's no section hated more than genesis 1 through 11. and and there is no passage more important than that text here all of the issues in this culture you begin to deal with what kind of a culture do we have let me give here's my here's my summation you are in a culture of insanity this is what a neo-pagan this is the return to neo-paganism and it always brings a culture of insanity absurdity immorality lethality and it's rooted in profitability it is a culture of insanity a culture of absurdity my goodness can you can you believe 59 genders and counting we um the mythology of same-sex marriage the fabrications of society listening in on supreme court interview in which what is a woman well that depends can you imagine where we are as a society insanity absurdity now the reason why all of this has come from sin i have people come to my office time again pastor could you help me understand why my husband why my wife and i said no i i'm going to tell you why and i'm going to tell you the answer but don't come to me and ask me to tell you that i can explain sensibly sin sin never makes sense insanity absurdity lethality we're killing from the womb we're killing the the helpless spectrum right now the one in the womb the one at the end of life we now have proposals the first 28 days we've got abortion infanticide active euthanasia other categories of genocide what do those things have in common imperfect lives unwanted lives and inconvenient lives we found a way to legally kill them that is insanity that's absurdity lethality and immorality sexual anarchy is all around us my goodness i i pray for our youth staff and our youth pastor constantly i can't even imagine what it means to step into that ministry today and all the challenges that come from it so we're not going to ignore it that option's off the table jesus doesn't let you ignore it god doesn't let you ignore it he tells his people when he brings him out of egypt here's what the other cultures are like it explains it in leviticus 18 through 20 and he says don't let it come in among you because god knows it always wants to come in among you satan is always trying to find a way to intimidate to imitate and to infiltrate constantly trying to do that so you've got to be ready to deal with it and you've got to know what god says we've got to go to god's word and we've got to go to the book of genesis and to hear sanctity of life sanctity of gender sanctity of family sanctity of marriage sanctity of work sanctity of rest sanctity of the sabbath that you see it wrist rolled out here are all the foundations let me ask you to go to one other text of scripture with me go to genesis chapter 1 and verse 20 26 genesis 1 26 then god said let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth so god created man singular in his own image in the image of god he created him male and female he created them and god blessed them and god said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heaven and over every living thing that moves on the earth and god said behold i have given you every plant yielding uh plant yielding seed that is upon the face of the earth of all the earth and every tree which with seed and its fruit you shall have them yet for your food and to everything that creeps on the earth and everything that has the breath of life i have given every green plant for food and it was so and god saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good and there was evening and there was a morning the sixth day genesis 2 after finishing the seven days brings us to another text i want you to turn to and let's now sharpen the scope of the sixth day look with me in genesis chapter 2 and down to verse 18. and then the lord god said it is not good that the man should be alone i will make him a helper fit for him now out of the ground the lord god had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them and whatever the man called every living creature that was its name the man gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field but as for adam there was not found a helper fit or a suitable helper or a completer helper for him so the lord god caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and while he slept he took one of his ribs and he closed it up he closed up the it's its place with flesh and the rib that the lord had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man then the man said and now he names her this is this at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman again the play of words ish isha reflection of man because she was taken out of man therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed so just a couple of thoughts as we dive into this i want to give you some framing principles boy this is just rudimentary get started right out of this book of genesis and how you can begin to address ethically the matters of gender and sexuality starting with god's word starting at this point and moving forward here is the mission of every church i want to say this here i've explained to you what's happening in the culture at least briefly the tendency for the church is to think uh oh we've got to transform the culture that is not the mission of the church well pastor doesn't it say that these people turned the world upside down when paul got to europe less than 25 years after the ascension of jesus yes but paul's mission was not to turn the world upside down that was a consequence paul's mission was to turn sinners right side up fulfill the great commission with evangelism and discipleship we've got this narrow mission and we've got a comprehensive message teaching them to observe all that i've commanded you that includes genesis that includes ethical sanctities that includes all of those things and then that cuts loose christians out of the church who have a broad mission you're salt of the earth your light of the world your life changes your marriage changes your family changes the way you do business changes the way you're a citizen changes and that's what begins to turn it loose therefore you go to passages like this in the church and instead of having the book of genesis disappear from the pulpit schedule it regularly appears in the pulpit schedule because here now you know where you came from who owns you how he has designed you and what he has decreed for you and what he has done to rescue you from your sins so that you might embrace him know him and make him known now here is here here is let me just give you five downloads five distilling foundational framing principles in these matters so here's the first one the first one is this is a theological issue i had a guy come up to me and he said pastor can ask you a question he said now look i know you're busy but it's just it's not a theological question and i said well then i'm going to move on because that means you don't have a question all of life is theology all of life is theology what is salvation what are we told this is eternal life that you theology know god and his son jesus christ and make him known this is a you've got to start with god's word don't start with your mind bring your mind to god's word divine revelation here god doesn't explain god doesn't explain where he came from in genesis 1 1 and by the way if the book of genesis is the most attacked book in the bible genesis 1 1 is the most attacked verse other than maybe genesis 1 16 and 17. this is i believe the most because that is why are we attacking all the binaries why are we attacking it why are we attacking male female why are we redefining marriage why do we call light darkness and darkness like the creation is binary after binary after binary by why because it's a testimony there is a god who exists over above and in all of his creation and the creation exists because he brought it in to existence he is the one that did that so how does man how does man strike back at the binary of the creator over his creation we attack the cree the binaries he has put into the creation that's what we do and so that's what you see in front of us so you have now a statement here's where you start everything here originates from god he created the heavens and the earth everything that's in it invisible and visible everything that's where you start he is the originator that means he's the owner and that means he is the definer and that means he is the director all things exist from him unto him and all things exist by him that's where you as a christian begin therefore whether it's sexuality or marriage or whatever it is this is not this is not these things do not originate from the supreme court or the senate or from big academies or wherever you know god made it and god owns it and god defines it god formed it in three days god filled it in the next three days that's what you know secondly heterosexuality uh heterosexuality is the divine heterosexuality is the divine decree of god sanctified blessed by god and is the only good and holy and shameless sexuality the only natural sexuality heterosexuality is originates from god is directed by god is defined by god by his decree and it stands as a sanctity of god the creator has made the creature in his image male and female both bear his image and together display the fullness of that image as it is the only holy good shameless natural sexuality now man in his rebellion will strike out against that binary we will not have him to be god over us so what does man come up with oh no no no this isn't the only and by the way don't you believe in freedom i am not kidding with this that's exactly how it's sold freedom here's here's your current mantra this won't last long but here's your current map that we can do two consenting adults can do anything they want to right i mean don't we believe in freedom you know what i at say when they asked me that i said why too why consent why adults and believe me those will disappear this was the entry point to consenting adults you see we actually believe in something called freedom that's defined by god it's called ordered liberty we're set free not to do what we want to do but we've been set free from that to do what he wants us to do and the reason we do it is not so he will save us the reason we do it is because he has saved us what we do is an act of worship in obedience is an act of worship because of what he did to set us free but man in rebellion says no and he's invented monosexuality go look remember what i said industries profitable industries of sin i said a culture of insanity absurdity lethality immorality rooted and profitable do you know how tough it was for paul at ephesus you know why because a lot of people made money off idolatry do you know how tough it is to bring the witness of christ salt and light into this culture a lot of people are making money off monosexuality there's a pornographic industry that is unbelievably profitable you have no idea of the billions and billions and billions of dollars you know what was being made right now off of killing the inconvenient the unwanted and the imperfect in the womb do you know how much money is made off of that do you know what's happening in transgenderism this unbelievable child abuse of gender reassignment surgery there's another fabrication this is nothing more than surgical mutilation and chemical castration is what is taking place and it takes place upon children and it has irreversible consequences but you want to know how much money is made out of it there is rooted in profitability where we take children and we put drugs into young men that we use to castrate sexual predators here is an unbelievable dynamic that's taking place this is a difficult these are difficult issues to do i understand right now you feel as uncomfortable as i do i feel more uncomfortable than you do i mean i'm wearing a vest in florida and i know we have to speak carefully and i know we have to speak thoughtfully and i know we have to avoid provocative language i'm well aware of that but i can't be silent because the bible's not silent and i know the world is coming after your children and i know the one alone who doesn't simply protect them he redeems them and turns them loose into the world as salt and light that's what i know i tell our high school students after we poured everything into them i know what's going to happen from some of your professors and i feel sorry for them when you go into that class because of how god is going to use you so i can't be silent and i know some of you are dealing with these things in your families i know that do you know what we do you know the gender dysphoria which i believe there is such a mental dynamic that takes place in adolescence it used to number three percent that's what it numbered somewhere between 95 from somewhere between three to five percent of kids and adolescents went through this issue of gender dysphoria of that number 98 percent it was dealt with just in the process of adolescence and the others were given appropriate counseling not surgical mutilation you don't reassign a gender you just mutilate a body put that body in the ground dig it up a hundred years later and it will have the dna of what the creation of what the creator gave them no gender was reassigned folks these are crucial issues they're crucial issues for multiple reasons well and i've got to give you the last four and eight minutes here we go here we go here we go no so let me let me go to the to the next one i mean let me just give you this let me give you one let me finish these all right i forgot where i was monosexuality is the invention of sinful man homosexuality is the eventual invention of uh of uh sinful men bisexuality the invention of sinful men transsexuality and bestiality by the way leviticus warns you against all of them this isn't new wherever paganism has reigned and now we are in a neo-paganism the evil empire to quote my friend peter peter jones is striking back here it comes not to not to a a culture but a culture that has been liberated from paganism for almost 800 years is now willingly walking back and calling light darkness and darkness light how great is that darkness so here we are we um i'm fully aware of the dynamics of this i'm fully aware of the challenges of it but the two principles thus far is a theological issue it is a statement we start with this god is sovereign sufficient and god is reliable and god is our life as creator redeemer and sustainer and this god we know through the word of god now you know the word of god and not know the god of the word but you can't know the god of the word without the word of god so we start as a theological issue heterosexuality the the text tells us is the divine decree that god pronounces a benediction it's good it's holy it's shameless it is what i have created in nature everything else is unnatural everything else is unnatural this alone is created by god as consistent with the with the creation mandates number three heterosexuality is sanctified heterosexuality is sanctified within the covenant of marriage alone heterosexuality is sanctified within the cultural uh within the covenant of marriage alone what is marriage the text tells you one man one woman one life let me take it one more step because you you all like words with a little bit more syllables here we go uh um a biblical understanding of marriage which by the way is not just for christians it's for the creation we our marriage is called christian marriage but marriage is to be held in is to be let the marriage bed be held in honor among all let it be undefiled among all fornicators and adulterers any sexuality outside of marriage brings judgment and sometimes is judgment of god as romans 1 tells us so here is marriage marriage is a conjugal heterosexual monogamous relationship it is a monogamous heterosexual conjugal relationship and that's what god has given to us jesus was asked many times about marriage he always went back to genesis 2 24 for this cause a man and his a man shall leave his father and mother shall cleave to his wife and the two shall become one even at east carolina university one plus one equals one would get me an f but the reality is by the hand of god that's what he has ordained and the sovereign sufficient one is bringing able to bring that glorious testimony to marriage one plus one equals one now if you don't leave you got one plus one equals six that's a problem if you don't cleave then you got one plus one equals two do you see what he's saying he's not calling marriage a partnership it's a man 100 percent committed to his wife and a wife 100 committed to her husband we're not 50 50 negotiating we are completely committed to one another number um that i can't i think that was the singles that were applauding then pre-marital sex wrong extramarital sex wrong monosexuality wrong it all have consequences that we're starting i've got the remedy coming but you got to understand the bad news did y'all hear that last night you got to hear the bad news this which is actually the good news this is what the creator created and he said what good and in this area he said very good then we've got the fourth thing is marital sexuality alone alone can be and should be shameless honorable and good in marriage marital previously heterosexuality is sanctified within marriage alone now number four marital sexuality alone marital sexuality alone can be uh and should be holy shameless honorable and good there's only two genders that's clear male and female why it takes both to fully testify to the creator's image now a man bears the image a male measurement a woman bears the image of god but together god said i'll make will make man male and female in our image they both bear the image and then together they manifest that image in this world where is that designed to be worked out with clarity and the blessings of intimacy within the marriage that's what god has given the second reason that god gave male and female is because it's not good for the man to what be alone now with all due respect i know i may be on the edge here just a little bit i've only got about two minutes to be on the edge but here i go on the edge here's the edge i don't think he's talking about relationships who met with god who met with adam i don't think he was short relationally i think it's referring to the creation mandate how was adam made from the dust of the ground right why he would subdue the earth he was to have dominion over the creatures of the earth he was to multiply and fill the earth he is made from the earth but he can't do those three things alone just read the previous verses there wasn't found a suitable helper for him to do what to subdue the earth have dominion and i'm not i am not downplaying the relational i am not doing that i'm just saying i think the text is referring he can't do he cannot fill this earth and there's not another suitable help mate and then god made what not another man or two men are three people he made a woman where does he take her not from the dust of the ground takes her from the side why we heard some excellent matthew henry quotes i won't go back over them but i think it's because that's where she fits in his side that they are together so here is why why and that's and together they are able to subdue the earth they are able to rule over the creation and have dominion and together they are to be able to multiply and to and and then god's given them the intimacy of marriage you see god made the marriage to accomplish what he made man male and female to do did y'all hear the great discussion on the sabbath yesterday see god didn't make the sad god didn't make man for the sabbath he made the sabbath for man same thing with marriage god didn't make marriage and didn't make man he made man male and female and then what made marriage where do you have marriage where do you have man for man first male and female then comes the marriage and god performs it and he pulls them together in and through the lord and what is sexuality now puff all of this sexuality heterosexuality initiates the marriage let the marriage bed be undefiled that's what i say at the end of a wedding uh i say at the end of a wedding i say upon the consummation of this union i pronounce you man and wife and so what the the the heterosexual intimate relationship initiates the marriage read first corinthians 7 you recreate with one another in celebration in the marriage and then you procreate it initiates recreates and procreates within the context of marriage fifthly and finally the answer to this problem in our culture is the gospel it is the double cure it cures it cures us from sin's power and sin shame then i read and minister sexual rebellion against god and how you can't even look at each other the person you used how sometimes you'll find sitting in a shower just trying to wash away the shame and the guilt it's cringe it cringes you crawling up in a bed and pulling the covers over wanting to be covered up that's an instinct just like the instinct they went and found leaves and try to cover themselves up but first corinthians 6 says and such were some of you but you've been washed you've been clothed you've got a robe of righteousness is put around you and your sins are taken away and it's shame and it's guilt and you're right before god but that's not all not only has the penalty been removed but the power of sin has been broken you've been born again you've got a new heart you've got a new record you've got a new life you got a new family you got a new home and now god with his word by his spirit is giving you a new mind so that you might live unto him for him and through him i just love to tell we have some folks out the lgbtq and i just love to tell them god did much to save you but he didn't do much to save you to make much of you he did much to save you to set you free and now you can know the joy of making much of him it's unbelievable the joy that comes jesus became for you what he had never been the son of man without ceasing to be the son of god to make you what you could never be now let's follow his paths in his word to the praise of his glorious grace father thank you for the moment the privilege to be with my brothers and sisters would you please just take these beginning thoughts send them to many others whom you will use but send them back to your word so that your word goes in them and we're not going to isolate we're in the world but we are not going to accommodate we're not of the world we are going to bring as ambassador ambassadors the kingdom of god to those trapped in sin with the glorious message that jesus cancels the power of sin he not only cancels the penalty he cancels the power he breaks the power of that canceled sin help us preach it help people embrace it and then change them in life for your glory and then unleash your church once again from the from the church where we are discipled and grow and worship and evangelize into the world salt and light and may jesus reign this is our father's world from dr amen readers we seek to shine his lights in the world for the glory of jesus christ thank you for joining us live online we're taking a very quick break here in orlando but don't go far at about 9 55 eastern time dr w robert godfrey will deliver our next message before the break i want to remind you about three free e-books you can download today written by ligonier's founder dr rc sprole they bring clear biblical answers to some of the important ethical questions that people have faced today their titles are what is the relationship between church and state how can i develop a christian conscience and how should i think these ebooks are our free gift to you and you can download them by visiting ligonier.org ethics stick around and we'll be back with dr w robert godfrey at 9 55 eastern time [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] r is [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] welcome back i'm nathan w bingham and i hope you're enjoying ligonier's national conference so far we'd love to hear about the insights you're gaining the moments you've most appreciated and the quotes that have really stood out to you share your thoughts on social media using the hashtag ligcon that's lig con and remember share the live stream with your friends we've looked at some weighty subjects already this morning and we're about to consider some more our next speaker is dr w robert godfrey with a message on statism and socialism now here's chris larson to introduce dr godfrey please it is so strategically important taking us uh to our next subject this morning will be dr godfrey dr godfrey of course is known to many of you who have been with us at ligonier conferences for many years many of you have enjoyed his overview series of church history that teaching series 73 parts it really is i think the best first step to introduce somebody into the scope of the history of the christian church and so i would encourage you to check out that resource it is so encouraging and rooting for us as god's people many of you would know though that he also served as president at westminster seminary california and where he was also a professor of church history for some time which isn't to say that he's old at all this is my time bob you get yours in just a moment he's probably going to chastise me because this is not the first time we've asked him to address statism that riveting title for a subject so we're looking forward to having him tease me some more uh the reality is is that dr godfrey has thrown himself into the work of ligonier ministries now as the chairman of our board dr sprole hand-picked him to succeed him in that and he has been an encourager cheerleader for our work i depend on him so often for counsel and guidance and he has been really just what the lord has blessed us with over the past few years in ways that we couldn't have even anticipated in its planning and we're so glad that he can be with us and that he continues his fruitful teaching ministry through lioneer so would you join me in welcoming dr robert godfrey well i am delighted to be here delighted to have the opportunity to pick on chris larson when i first got to know chris i was six foot three and he has pounded me into the ground [Music] chris maintains it's really not his fault that i get these hopeless titles foisted upon me last year i had to give the sex talk and i explained to you then why i thought that was the case harry wasn't here so i suggest it was because i was the hottest teaching fellow but clearly i didn't get it right so they got harry here this year to do it right and i'm glad for that to quote rc sprole what is the matter with you people have you really not got something better to do than listen to a lecture on statism and socialism you know what we need in america more talk about politics so i thought i might just cut to the chase and tell you who you should vote for in november well if i did that it would be wrong wouldn't it i have opinions about who you should vote for in november but as a minister of the word of god the word of god does not tell me who to vote for in november the word of god gives me all sorts of principles to apply to the question for whom should i vote in november but when i look in my concordance i can't find biden or trump although there's the last trump so um but that's another hole what do we as christians need to think about the state and about government in our time because one of the things that has concerned me is how very polarized we have become and when you're a historian you know to be suspicious about those who tell you this is the worst of all possible times in which to live that's usually not true i mean someone has to live in the worst of times but i think usually we don't know enough about history to know when the worst of times were and surely when we see the deplorable pictures of what's happening in the ukraine we know we are not living in the worst of times or situations but perhaps because of the social media and television and the other ways of communication in our time it's a lot easier to get outraged than it used to be and i think as christians there are surely things about which to be outraged but we as a people ought not to be characterized by outrage we ought to be seen as the people who know how to listen who know how to love who know how to be concerned who know how to communicate now there are times for righteous anger there are times for disagreement but i think we all need to have a clear and settled foundation of what the bible directs us as christians to think about the state the bible does not tell us everything about the state but it surely tells us the most important things it tells us the necessary things it directs us in our thinking about the state and it challenges us so this morning i want to think about the state under three points and the first is that the state is a divine institution however much we may get annoyed at government whether local or state or federal we have to always have clearly in mind that the state is a divine institution think of these words from first peter chapter two have you read through first peter recently i taught first peter in our sunday school at our church a couple of years ago and discovered that first peter is a really annoying book nobody wants to listen to peter he tells wives to be obedient to their husbands we don't want to hear that he tells slaves to be obedient to their masters we don't want to hear that he tells citizens to honor their government we don't want to hear that but i'm going to read from first peter anyway and you're going to have to listen first peter chapter 2 verse 13 be subject for the lord's sake to every human institution whether it be to the emperor as supreme or the governors of sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good for this is the will of god that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people live as people who are free not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil but living as servants of god honor everyone love the brotherhood fear god honor the emperor peter is encouraging the christians to whom he writes to think carefully about the state as a divine institution because if we read between the lines here it would appear that some christians were saying i am free in christ i am delivered in christ i'm a citizen of a new kingdom i'm looking forward to a new heaven and earth in which righteousness dwells and that means i don't have to pay attention to this government on earth anymore i'm free and peter says you are free in christ but that freedom does not give you the right to despise or disparage the government god has set over you on earth there is a new heaven and a new earth coming but it hasn't come yet and even though your first allegiance is to jesus as king of kings and lord of lords that doesn't dissolve your responsibility to be subject to the emperor peter is very concerned that christians think clearly and accurately about the state because god has instituted the state he instituted it not like marriage god instituted marriage before the fall but after the fall god instituted the state to restrain evil in a fallen world the government's calling the government's task is to punish evil and promote the good and however little we think the government accurately and successfully does that that's the calling laid upon the government by god a calling that we have to honor peter says and that's interesting isn't it honor the emperor it's not just a grudging obedience to which we're called but we have to recognize in the ruling authorities in the governing authorities the work of god the purpose of god the calling of god and that leads me to repent of some of the things i've said about some of our governors even though they were probably correct whether we agree with them or not they serve a purpose a vital purpose a critical purpose luther said the worst government imaginable is better than chaos and i think that's true when you look again at those awful pictures coming in from ukraine of utterly bombed out cities no food no water no power what would it be like to live in that chaos it it's so painful it's so unimaginable that i think we we rather quickly just don't want to see those pictures anymore it was joseph stalin who said one death is a tragedy a million deaths is a statistic and uh i don't think i agree with joe stalin about much but it's sort of true we can't process the notion of a million tragedies what that is actually like the poor ukraine maybe the country in the world that in the last hundred years has suffered more than any other country stalin killed millions there in the 20s and early 30s hitler killed millions of more in the later 30s and 40s and now they suffer again the worst government that brings some peace is better than that we need to honor a government because god has established the government to restrain evil and and paul in terms very parallel to peter in in romans 13 doesn't he reminds us that we can think of the government as deacons we probably don't do that very often maybe we don't think about deacons at all but government officials paul says are to be thought of as deacons and also as lighter worship leaders they have a divine mission that's been given to them and they need to be honored for that and that needs to be the first thing that we think about when we think about the state and that challenges me i think you're a you're a better people but i think christians have perhaps gotten into habits where we don't honor the government the way we should now the state is also a human institution it's a divine institution but it's a human institution and that means we as humans have responsibility for it god has given us that responsibility and the state in history has taken many different forms hasn't it we've had monarchies we've had oligarchies we've had dictatorships we've had republics we've had democracies there's a whole range of forms that the state can take by human choice and part of the good news is christians have lived under every form of government and serve jesus christ in their hearts the advancement of the kingdom of christ cannot be stopped by the kingdoms of this world whatever form they take and that needs to be a great encouragement to us as christians and in every human form of government the basic duty of government remains to do justice and particularly to protect the weak you know one of the things that outrages me and amazes me is the endless repetition after bad news is reported on television that we know people are basically good well maybe not vladimir putin but you know everybody else is basically good well maybe not those russian oligarchs that have taken money and bought billion dollar yachts if any of you have a billion dollar yacht i'm looking for a ride what would it be like to have a billion dollar yacht you know it just sort of boggles the mind there's a government obligation to protect the weak because the rich and powerful can protect themselves most of the time government is given to restrain evil and to promote the good but of course as a human institution the state can become corrupt i don't want to shock you and the psalms speak very pointedly and eloquently about that danger of corruption in human government psalm 94 talks about wicked rulers who frame injustice by statute what an awful thing that those who were given responsibility and power would use that power to pass laws to entrench injustice we should be outraged about that and psalm 94 says god is outraged about that and god will come to judge that injustice and part of the testimony we should bear as christians to governing authorities is to remind them that there is a great day of judgment coming and they should factor that in to the laws they pass psalm 94 condemns wicked rulers who condemn the innocent to death it's a reality of human existence that governments have persecuted the innocent in pursuit of their gratification psalm 82 is another powerful psalm that speaks of that call to powerful governing figures to govern faithfully psalm 82 warns judges not to be unjust or show partiality to the wicked what a strong statement that is do not show partiality to the wicked psalm 82 calls governments to give justice to the weak and fatherless to maintain the right of the afflicted and destitute we have to let those words grip us weak and who can come here are not the weak and the afflicted and the destitute but we as christians are called to have compassion on such people psalm 82 instructs rulers to rescue the weak and the needy and to deliver them from the hands of the wicked does that motive function in our lives as we think about the responsibility of government that the bible calls us as political people to have compassion and to care about the whole community and i think we have to be very serious about that and let god's word challenge us now that doesn't mean that practical political decisions necessarily become easy once we are concerned and compassionate and pursuing justice and pursuing the protection of the week one of the huge problems in california right now is homelessness many parts of california the streets are just full of homeless people and we're told that many most of these homeless people are either drug addicted or mentally ill these people are clearly weak but what should be done about it what is the compassionate thing to do for the homeless i'm not sure it's immediately obvious we could have a really good discussion about how to help the homeless that would really help that would solve the problem and i suspect there are a variety of opinions here some of which are are good and agree with me and others are wrong but when we look at the homeless we should not just be angry we should be compassionate and ask is there a way to help and as i say we may have very legitimate differences among us as to what's the way to help but we as christians ought to be a people of compassion and recognize that too often our governments have been corrupted not to try to help the weak but to help themselves and we should be outraged about that one of my favorite statements in the psalms relative to this subject is in psalm 146 you would all know this if you sang psalms chris larson be disappointed if i didn't say that um psalm 146 says put not your trust in princes put not your trust in princes why should you not put your trust in princes well partly because they're sinners but the psalmist takes a very hard realistic look at life and says put not your trust in princes in a son of man in whom there is no salvation when his breath departs he returns to the earth on that very day his plans perish nothing in this life is dependable because death comes for us all that's what the psalm is saying so if you have your favorite politician that can be a good thing but don't put your ultimate trust in that politician because death comes and in that moment his plans fail it's interesting to see that in the recent history of the supreme court of the united states antonin scalia dies suddenly conservatives are distraught ruth bader ginsburg dies a little surprisingly and liberals are distraught and we have to say put not your trust in princess what does the center of psalm 146 say the heart of it blessed is he whose help is in the god of jacob whose hope is in the lord his god who made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them who keeps faith forever who is the king who keeps faith forever who is the ruler who does not die and see his plans come to nothing it's the lord our god it's the lord our god and it's in him we have to trust so the state is a human ins a divine institution that we must honor it's a human institution that we should seek to influence in proper directions but despite its sinfulness but it can become the scripture says a demonic institution and that's probably what this title of statism was intended to get us to but i thought we shouldn't just start there we should get oriented before we get there but the state can become a demonic institution when the state claims for itself all power all meaning all direction of life one of the great ancient examples of that was ancient egypt and so it's not so surprising that uh the great story of the deliverance of israel out of egypt is a confrontation between the true and living god and pharaoh who claimed to be god pharaoh who in his leadership of the state was both king and priest and god and therefore all honor and obedience had to be given to pharaoh that is statism in its ultimate form the state that claims to give all meaning and claims to have all power is a state that has become demonic and we have seen that at various times in the history of mankind we saw that in the third reich didn't we when adolf hitler claimed he could build a kingdom that would last a thousand years and in which the state claimed all authority and all meaning we saw it in the soviet union when the communist party claimed to have all power and all meaning and to direct all living and this kind of demonizing of the state always happens in places where the true and living god is neglected and rejected and the great picture of that in scripture is the great prostitute of revelation 17 which is in some ways a picture of the roman empire but is much more than that as a representation of a state that claims the worship of its citizens revelation 17 talks about the great prostitute as sitting on the back of the scarlet beast that is satan so the state is serving satan in that picture and the kings of the earth are described as committing immorality with this great prostitute which is meant metaphorically to talk about idolatry it's spiritual adultery that's in mind here and this prostitute is adorned richly in expensive cloth and in valuable jewels to talk about her wealth and domineering position and in her madness she's described as drunk drunk with the blood of the martyrs of jesus christ and this prostitute and those who serve her revelation 17 14 says we'll make war on the lamb what a contrast between the beast written by this great prostitute and all this claim of wealth and power and the lamb the lamb looking as it was slain the apparent powerlessness of the lamb in the face of the beast they will make war on the lamb and the lamb will conquer them for he the lamb is the lord of lords and the king of kings and those with him are called and chosen and faithful they're talking about you are you with the lamb have you heard his call do you know that you're chosen you know election in the bible is never a doctrine that brings uncertainty or confusion or misery or mystery election in the bible always brings encouragement and certainty and stability are you with the lamb are you called are you chosen are you faithful called and chosen are the two parts god does are you faithful do you know the number one sin in revelation 21 that is disqualifying from entering the heavenly city the number one sin is cowardice those who haven't been faithful to stand with the lamb in the battle are you faithful because the lamb is winning the lamb is winning and however demonic the state becomes that state will be defeated pharaoh ruled in egypt maybe as much as 2500 years that's a long time that's older than harry reider older than bob godfrey 2500 years where's pharaoh today where's hitler today where is stalin today you know what the first word in the book of the revelation about babylon that great prostitute is the first word revelation 14 don't forget this first word the first word in the bible in the book of the revelation about babylon is fallen fallen is babylon the great those forces that rise up against god will not stand however powerful they seem to be in the moment the demonic state will not stand now in the eight minutes remaining we can talk about socialism socialism is a word that has many different meanings when i was growing up in america if you did not like your political opponent you called him a socialist and that meant the end of him if you got the socialist label to stick in america that was the political end of somebody socialism award that can mean many different things in different circumstances and to different people r.c sproul would have said to us you know some words are eukaryotical and others are equivocal some words always have a single meaning other words have multiple meanings so socialism can sort of mean different things what socialism originally meant in the 19th century when it arose was a philosophy that said the state should own and operate the basic means of production for the good of everybody now there were those who supported socialism and said see how they care for the poor isn't that a good thing and there were critics of socialism who said if the state owns everything it means it's stolen what it owns from the people who originally owned it and it's nothing but thievery and other people stood back and said socialism in action usually leads to everybody being poor so socialism is a little bit difficult to talk about in eight minutes what we need to know about the history of socialism is that it was usually driven in its origins by a fundamentally godless outlook we live only in this world we need to get as much of the good of this world as we can because this is the only world we have it's part of the shift in the 19th century in the west from a culture that thought about heaven as well as earth to a culture that increasingly thought only about earth governments ought to think we've already said this haven't we governments ought to think about how they can help the weak and the poor but government should not pursue that responsibility by saying they own everything and christians have stood against that kind of socialism that has not worked either theoretically or practically one sometimes wishes that pragmatists in this world would be more pragmatic so how should we as christians think about the various dimensions of the state how should we relate to this reality most of us are not going to washington to stir serve in the congress or the senate or the white house if one of you wants to do that let me know i'll vote for you did you watch bob dole's funeral he left a letter to the country and said in that letter that he was looking forward to having a number of his questions asked answered in heaven and one of the questions he wanted answered in heaven was would he still be able to vote in chicago i'm not taking sides i'm just trying to get a laugh how should we as christians think about these things as christians it seems to me we ought to think this way this world is important and we ought to seek to be as faithful as justice promoting as loving in this world as we can be and we ought to use what influence we have that our government would reflect real justice and real love but while we believe that sincerely what we should work for that earnestly we have to even form more fundamentally remind ourselves as hebrews 13 tells us we have here no continuing city we have a city here wherever we're from we have a city we should be concerned about the city but when we're concerned about the city that we have here and now we need to remember that city will not continue it's not our ultimate concern it's not the ultimate value because jesus said my kingdom is not of this world my purpose is not to challenge pilate to be governor of judea my purpose is to call people into a kingdom that cannot be shaken that will endure forever that will be a kingdom in which finally finally finally there will be righteousness through and through abraham kuiper the great dutch reformed theologian and and politician said the great sin of western civilization as he looked at it late 19th early 20th century is the sin of materialism thinking that what really matters is what we possess and we need to always remember what really matters is what we hope for what's coming the new heaven and the new earth read psalm 87 maybe even sing it psalm 87 says everyone everyone everyone who knows the lord god is born again in zion that's our city that's the city that will continue that's the city in which righteousness will dwell that's the city in which we will all love one another as we ought to be loved and until then until the revelation of that city let's try to be less outraged and more loving and in that way be a light to the world thank you you just heard dr w robert godfrey here at ligonier's national conference i'm grateful for the wisdom that dr godfrey brings to our cultural moment drawing from both scripture and church history we have a special offer to help you continue studying god's word with our chairman for your donation of any amount we'll send you dr godfrey's video teaching series learning to love the psalms which you'll be able to stream in the ligonier app while you wait for the dvd to arrive his hardcover book with the same title and the digital study guide to receive this special offer available only during the conference visit ligonier.org psalms thank you for your generous support you make live streams like this one possible as we seek to serve growing christians around the world as we head into a break you can find even more teaching and discipleship resources in our online conference bookstore at significantly discounted rates browse the collection now at ligonier.org bookstore i'm nathan w bingham and i'll see you back here for our next session at 11 35 eastern time [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh uh [Music] this is [Music] oh [Music] so [Music] foreign so [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] me foreign is [Music] you are [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] toy [Music] is [Music] ah [Music] is [Applause] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] foreign is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] i'm joined by dr harry reider the senior minister of briarwood presbyterian church in birmingham alabama dr rita this weekend we are talking about ethics and christian ethics and we've asked you to talk about the issue of gender now there is so much confusion out there in the world and one of the things that's challenging it's not just that the world has different views on gender they're actually trying to push that onto the church and influence christian thinking why is it so important that we understand gender rightly and biblically well can i can i back up on the question just a little bit absolutely why is it so important to address this as you have outlined in the conference from a biblical ethic uh in other words how do we form our understanding of behavior and from an ethical perspective can i migrate to rc for a minute please do in one of the classes early on when i've had the privilege to have rc and as a mentor throughout the years is he he wonderfully helped us understand the difference between ethics and morals morals is what you are doing in response to what you in response to challenges in a culture this is the morality that this is your is-ness uh ethics is oughtness now the question for the christian is where is our alkness when it comes to gender and sexuality which is the topic assigned to me and that's the great challenge will the church hold the line and say the issue of magisterium what is our final rule and authority it's got to be the scriptures not the culture you know back in the reformation the great challenge was ecclesiastical magisterium the church speaking or biblical magisterium sola scriptura well today the challenge is cultural magisterium or is it going to be biblical magisterium what does god say that then brings us to his word that then brings us to genesis the as i say in my talk uh that that particular book is the most contended and assaulted uh from the outside and even within uh christian liberalism and progressivism it is assaulted because it is there the sanctity of life sanctity of marriage sanctity of gender sanctity of sexuality sanctity of family sanctity of divine revelation it's there the stakes are put in the ground what do you say to someone that says you know the bible's not a science book we know more about gender today than moses or the apostle paul certainly we know more about gender and everything we know affirms what the bible says science is not the enemy of the bible it's like archaeology it is something the bible is god's word given to us in a historical setting it's like i say to people you know when you do the apostles creed i believe in jesus christ his only son our lord who was born of the virgin mary suffered under pontius pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into that's history that's not doctrine that's history doctrine is what that means that's recorded in god's word so when god's word speaks we believe it's truth then we go into the disciplines of life sociology science or as one of the reformers say after you climb all the disciplines of education you shake hands with the theologians at the top of the mountain because god's word is always true now what's being challenged in liberalism what was challenged was the inerrancy of that word what's being challenged today is the sufficiency of that word is it sufficient to deal with the claims from the culture concerning gender concerning sexuality and i believe it is sufficient in fact every time we deal with it the bible stands clearly accurate um like when you do things such like gender reassignment surgery that's a fabrication you have an assign you have you may have mutilated a body but you have not reassigned the gender when that person goes in the ground and the dna is dug up it'll be the gender that god created and there's two of them male and female that's what god has established and revealed in this word to properly image him in this world it seems that perhaps we haven't lived in a time where it is so easy to break the seventh commandment in our hearts lost with the prevalence of pornography um what counsel would you give to parents that are trying to better help and equip their their children that are uh so easily exposed to a dark world that's just one click away often times wow that is a gigantic question uh i mean and really i think a very profound question number one the parents have got to own their responsibility to evangelize and disciple their children in the context of christ church you've got to and use all the gifts in the body to help you but you've got to own it as a parent your child doesn't need just to learn the right thing to do they need to know jesus you got to evangelize them otherwise you're just raising a pharisee but when you're raising them and you're teaching them here's what it means to know christ here is how you make christ known in life that not only do you mentor them you teach them but you model it for them so that children know my dad's going to come home tonight children know children know that when i get up in the morning dad's going to be there they know that their mom is going to be faithful they know that because they see the relationship that's there and even in the challenges of marriage which all marriages have challenged there is an intentional reliance upon god's grace to follow god's word and our devotion to christ is going to be manifested first in our marriage and then it'll be seen by our children as we raise them number three is realize the culture doesn't stay outside of your home and it doesn't stay outside of the church we have to teach the church is not only built on the truth the church is built to uphold the truth it is to be a pillar and support of the truth therefore in the context of the church you are getting equipped you are getting equipped to show your children the word of god and that's what and and the power of the word of god and the sufficiency of god's word and you're willing to take on all the issues where they are in their life and five-year-olds hear one thing a five-year-old you start there 10 year olds you go to another place 15 years old you go to another place and so while we never want to be careless in speaking about sexuality and gender we don't want to be silent because god's not silent and he knows the culture is always going to try to come in that's why leviticus 18 through 20 was written one final question for you what what word of exultation would you give to someone that is perhaps struggling with gender identity they're confused everything they're hearing out there in the world what gospel hope do they have well you got every hope in the gospel number one remember number one remember that god made you male god made you female and both are required now male bears the image of god female bears the image of god but the male and the female in in a complementary relationship is brings the fullness of the testimony of the image of god into the world so there's something about being a man there's something about being a woman now the culture has all kind of clues but don't go to the culture go to the scriptures when the bible says uh in first corinthians 16 13 act like men well that automatically tells you what there's something called manliness which means there's something called one womanliness there's both of those there's biblical masculinity there's biblical femininity now what does the bible say that that is not what does the culture say that that is i got two daughters and they were never going to be a cheerleader they became scholarship athletes they were competitive but they acted like women in the field of competition there they had all of those marks that the bible lays out for a woman of god and i got a son tried to teach him this is what a man of god is these are the marks of manhood strength and courage to embrace your responsibilities sensitivity and compassion that's where we even get the term in our culture gentle men and then you take both men and women and you point them to christ who is standing in heaven the lion of judah slain like a lamb so lion-hearted and lamb-like is the character dynamic of men and women of god as they express it through the way god made us in creation he made us different we are different it's not superior or inferior it's different and then give your kids good models from the bible and history of manhood and womanhood but always point them ultimately to christ because all of our models have feet of clay but it's christ they want to look to yet paul said imitate me as i imitate christ give your kids some godly men and women as models and mentors out of the church out of history and then be a model and a mentor in the life of your child well dr rita we're grateful you're here this weekend and i'm thankful for your time thank you appreciate it nathan many of us feel overwhelmed we can start to believe what the world has been telling us for years to believe the bible is a leap of faith [Music] to say that jesus christ is the only way to know god is arrogant the temptation is to retreat and take our gospel hope with us it's time for us to recapture that vision to take back lost ground it's time to renew our minds [Music] is [Music] he calls his friends [Music] is [Music] [Applause] son we come forth [Music] is [Music] let's [Music] oh watch ourselves [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] r foreign [Music] is [Music] hold me hold on r [Music] angels [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] is [Music] the spirit faces [Music] is [Applause] [Music] me is is [Music] is [Music] [Music] 10 000. [Music] [Music] these angels [Music] the sacred grace [Music] [Music] is [Music] i'm joined by the senior minister of the first presbyterian church in colombia south carolina he's also a ligonier ministries teaching fellow dr derek thomas go to thomas this weekend as we're considering the the topic of christian ethics you're going to be addressing the sin of partiality so i want to begin by asking what do we mean by the sin of partiality well these topics are chosen for us i want to make that clear it's james chapter two uh lots of passages about partiality but god shows no partiality uh that god doesn't differentiate between one group of people and another one race and another one gender and another so james and i i kind of wonder if james would walk into church in jerusalem and and he was i mean he was top dog in terms of the apostles in jerusalem and i think he noticed that people gave him deference uh didn't speak to him in the same manner and tone as they spoke to other people and that's because james along with jude uh was jesus's brother and as protestants we we believe that that is literally true not not just a cousin but but uh so there was mary and joseph and james and jude and and the bible talks about sisters and the plural so it was a family of seven but imagine imagine going to church uh on the sabbath and and bumping into james and all the questions that you would have about jesus and perhaps you had never met jesus but this guy grew up with him slept in the same room played with him when he was a little boy watched him in his teenage years saw him grow into manhood and adulthood and and we know that in galatians chapter 2 when an issue arises up in the church in antioch and it's not peter's finest finest moment uh paul reflecting back on that incident talks about the men of james so again giving an indication that james had some power authority and i imagine people gave him deference all the time and i think that's uh that's why james speaks uh so much about it in chapter two and with such passion uh that that some christians were being treated with greater respect uh given greater deference they were being shown partiality than than others now of course this is a very important issue for our time uh in terms of the church's attitude towards race or towards gender or towards education you know we all have christians that we like and christians frankly that we don't like i mean let's be honest about it there are we get along right right we do on the spot because you're australian and i'm british um but i mean there's always there's always one guy or a group of people in any church that are difficult and so implementing this this ethic for james was absolutely crucial now i think one of the reasons why it upset james so much was not just the personal nature in which i think he had experienced it but showing partiality to one group over another is totally contrary to the gospel because the gospel flattens us all no matter who you are no matter what education no matter what race what country you come from the skin color whatever male female we're all sinners and so the only reason that any of us are saved whether we're poor as most of the church in jerusalem i think were i think it was a relatively poor economically church um all of us are brought down to the lowest bar in terms of sin and depravity and and the only reason why anyone is saved is grace that we are justified by faith alone apart from the works of the law but for james james wants to stress the other side of that that though we are justified apart from the works of the law those who are justified will demonstrate and live out the works of the law and uh so this issue of partiality is one of several ways in which james wants to make sure that christians demonstrate what what gospel grace actually looks like and doesn't scripture also call us to show honor where honor is due yes i mean i preach in a church where the governor is there in attendance every sunday morning we don't stand but i i would certainly pray for him by name whereas i don't pray for but everybody else in the church by name i think if the queen were to enter uh in a british context the congregation would certainly stand uh so we are to give honor to our parents those in authority so but but the sin of partiality was i think being expressed in inappropriate ways and being expressed simply on the level of the fact that they had more money now every pastor wants to see a rich guy in his church because that would deal with the issue of the budget and if it's very easy to slip into the mentality i'll give i'll give this person who gives boatloads of money to the church way more attention than this person who can only contribute the widow's might well we're looking forward to your session dr thomas and uh grateful for your time today thank you [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] through is good afternoon i'm nathan w bingham and you're with us live at ligonier's 2022 national conference i'd like to remind you that if you've missed any of our conference sessions or you'd like to watch a message again we're making them all available in the free ligonier app just search for ligonier in your app store to download and keep checking the app as we continue to add new messages from the conference this year's national conference has had us thinking about christian ethics and our responsibility to uphold god's word in a world that is opposed to his truth to help us we cross now to dr michael reeves for a message titled standing firm in the truth [Music] well friends what do you think what do you think the apostle paul would make of our situation today with the culture around us growing ever more overtly hostile to biblical christianity what would he make of all we've been thinking through what would he make of the situation of the church would he be surprised what would he say would you turn with me to philippians 1 where we see paul not comfortable not lionized not accepted by roman culture but in chains and there imprisoned for his faith he writes to the philippians and he tells them that his ultimate concern is not what happens to him for he doesn't know his fate his concern is what will happen to the gospel and from that concern erupts a passionate apostolic plea philippians 1 verse 27 here is what paul would say to a church surrounded by a hostile culture and tempted to compromise philippians 1 27 only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of christ so that whether i come and see you or i'm absent i may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel and not frightened in anything by your opponents this is a clear sign to them of their destruction but of your salvation and that from god for it has been granted to you that for the sake of christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake engaged in the same conflict that you saw i had and now here that i still have those are words that have echoed down the centuries fulfilled in those times of martyrdom and persecution when things at the time looked bleakest but which we now know as the church's days of glory like the days of the reformers latimer and ridley tied to a stake in broad street oxford in england slowly burned to death for their steely insistence on the complete sufficiency of christ as a savior picture it the situation looks so grim so bleak here were the greatest preachers in england being snuffed out it looked like the faith of the gospel was being smothered choked as they choked and yet latimer seemed to glimpse for a moment the angel's perspective when he turned through the flames and said to his friend be of good cheer master ridley and play the man for we shall this day by god's grace light such a candle in england as shall never be put out now that answers paul's plea standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel and not frightened in anything by your opponents can you imagine it in broad street oxford how the angels must have cheered for there just as the lord appeared in the burning bush to moses there in the flames of martyrdom was christ-likeness glory in the flames and our friends to see such bright steadfastness today oh to see that today we are heading into testing times but let us not call them dark times these days to come could be days of glory that will be remembered in the annals of church history when christians tempted to surrender pressured reviled hounded stood firm they were of good cheer and by their resilient faith the annals of church history may say they lit a candle that lighted centuries to come but friends if these days to come are to be days of glory we need to know how can we have the strength to stand firm to endure where did latimer and ridley get such bold resilience it's one thing for us to admire their courage but if it were asked of us where does it come from and if the philippians were wondering that question how they could stand firm without being frightened of anything how do you do that paul had actually given them the answer already in verse 20. he wrote it is my eager expectation and hope that i will not be at all ashamed but that with full courage now as now as always christ will be honored in my body whether by life or by death for to me to live is christ and to die is gain quite simply for paul christ meant more to him than life and that's what i want to press into with you now to prepare us to give us backbone for our faith but first let me put it the other way around what is it that makes for cowardice what makes someone prone to compromise god's word and to see the answer to that i want to look with you at the men who are probably the archetypical cowards in the bible do you know who they were the pharisees that surprises some because the pharisees they appear supremely confident and impressive people respected and feared them it is striking how timid the pharisees actually appear in the gospels you look at them commonly despite all their bravado in public they commonly act only by stealth under the cover of darkness so remember nicodemus in john 3 comes to jesus at night when is it they seek to arrest jesus under the cover of darkness when all is quiet or when jesus publicly confronts them and challenges them they remain silent or they grumble whisper conspire theirs was a creeping whispery cowardly culture now why why were the pharisees so frightened well in john 12 jesus cut through to the very heart of what motivated the pharisees and tells us why this is why they were so timid this is why those who should stand firm for christ don't this is why you ready john 12 43 literally they love the glory of men more than the glory of god that's it with those words john 12 43 jesus cuts like a scalpel through to their fundamental motivation their issue was what they loved but what exactly did jesus mean did he mean they loved the glory that comes from men more than the glory that comes from god or did he mean they love the glory of men more than the glory that is due to and should be ascribed to that belongs to god i suggest he means both they loved the glory that comes from men more than the glory that comes from god because they were blind to the true nature of the glory that is god's jesus said in john 5 i do not receive glory from people but the pharisees they clearly preferred the acclamation of others that's what they lived for their lust for the approval of others made them forget to seek the approval of god friends be warned indeed their lust for the approval of others blinded them to god with their eyes on others hungry for popularity and praise they would never dare confess christ or go against the crowd instead said jesus they do all their deeds to be seen by others so they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long and they love the places of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi and in one sense you could ask how could they choose the approval of mere creatures over the approval of the lord of glory and when i put it like that in black and white of course you see the choice is irrational and idiotic and yet it's a choice we all fall into the whole time they preferred the glory of man because god was not sufficiently glorious in their eyes and therefore they would abandon god for man every time in 1677 henry schoogle wrote a famous work the life of god in the soul of man it was a work that some fifty years later convinced george whitefield of his need to be born again and skoogle said true religion is more than a matter of orthodox opinions it's more than a matter of moral behavior it's more than a matter of great emotional experiences it is he said a delightful and affectionate sense of the divine a delightful affected sense of the divine that makes the soul resign itself to him desiring above all things him and being ready to do or suffer anything for his sake the pharisees lacked that that delightful affectionate sense of the divine instead the pharisees had a delightful and affectionate sense of themselves they didn't appear in their own eyes to be great sinners and therefore christ did not appear to them to be a great savior he was not glorious to them so not perceiving the extent of god's love and compassion they turned to find love and acceptance elsewhere instead of looking up to the glory and grace of god they look down they look down at the text they sought to master they look down at others for approval they look down on others in competition impressed more by themselves and by others than by a god who didn't seem very relevant since he wasn't a great savior to them didn't seem to do much for them they cared more for what others thought than what god thought blind to the gloriousness of god of course they were more impressed with their own glory and sought more from others their spiritual short-sightedness imprisoned them in the hamster wheel of people pleasing do you struggle with that here's the answer in contrast to the pharisees god is the glory the portion the treasure the reward of true faith romans 4 20 abraham grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to god david cries in psalm 3 you o lord are my shield about me my glory where the pharisees look for some other reward the saints declare the lord is my portion which is why paul could write in galatians 1 am i now seeking the approval of man am i trying to please men if i was still trying to please man i would not be a servant of christ friends those who don't perceive the glory of god the beauty of his glory they do not truly know him and so they will not live for him they'll live for other things augustine famously wrote in the city of god his great work that humanity divides over this issue into two cities and these two cities he explained have been formed by two loves the earthly city by a love of self even to hatred of god the heavenly city by love of god even to contempt of self the earthly glorifies in itself the latter the heavenly in the lord the earthly seeks glory from men but the greatest glory of the heavenly is god the earthly lifts up its head in its own glory the other says to god you are my glory and the lifter up of my head heavenliness or worldliness faithfulness or cowardice friends everything depends on where glory is found and enjoyed where do you find where do you enjoy glory now of course loving the glory of men more than the glory of god is an itch we all know we feel it inside us we see it around us so if you're feeling yes oh the glory of men the people pleasing that is a problem for me what can we do about it how can we get out of the hamster wheel and find a happy resilience and courage how can we do that because we want that what hope is that there is one first timothy 1 11 the gospel of the glory of the blessed god the gospel is the means by which you may obtain the glory of our lord jesus christ because the gospel reveals it is the deepest revelation of the glory of god enabling us to see a wonderful superior beauty in god far above far more satisfying than any human glory and when your eyes are open to see the superior beauty and worth and satisfaction of god's glory then you will love the glory of god more than the glory of men and you will find yourself strong and not frightened in anything by your opponents friends it is through pressing into the gospel that you will see the glory that surpasses the glory of men it is pressing into no god that will make you want him more than popularity and praise and so transform you from the sort who will cave in as soon as people are against you the one who'll always stand for god because he's more glorious to you that will give you the strength to stand firm and not be frightened and because the pharisees didn't do that they didn't know god's glory you see the pharisees they completely misunderstood glory they thought glory was a fame and applause a clapping to be got from people and oh how they wanted that but if that's what glory is a fame to be acquired from others then well if that's what god's about if god's just an eager needy little being desiring please clap me please need me and appreciate me well god's a a burden not a delight then and if he's always needy of our attention then we'll prefer the glory of men to him if he's just a burden but jesus repeatedly told his disciples i do not seek my own glory rather it is my father who glorifies me you see the one who is the very glory of god does not seek or need the glory of man instead he's glorified by his father and how what is the hour of his glorification his self-giving death that bears much fruit it is in the riches of his grace that we see the riches of his glory and so you see this god's glory is not a preening grasping glory the glory of jesus is the radiance of the father one so super abounding in life and blessedness that he generates glory without any need or lack his is the glory of the overflowing fountain of life in polar contrast to our sinful understanding of grabbing glory in christ crucified we see a divine glory that shines into our darkness that confers life and goodness that gives righteousness to helpless unworthy sinners as martin luther put it rather than seeking its own good the love of god flows forth and bestows good and therefore how relevant he could have written this this year therefore sinners are attractive because they are loved they are not loved because they are attractive thus christ says i came to call not the righteous but sinners he carries on this is the love of the cross which turns in the direction where it does not find good that it may enjoy but way where it may confer good upon the bad and the needy here in god is a glory infinitely more lovely than the needy grasping glory of idols and sinners never would we have dreamed that god would be so beautifully different to us but it is only in the face of christ in the hour of his glory that we begin to understand the goodness of divine glory the glory of god starts becoming beautiful good news to us and so jesus said john 8 28 when you have lifted up the son of man on the cross then you will know that i am you will know what god is like when you see him lifted up only then in the beautiful face of christ will we begin to love the glory of god more than the glory of man the english reformer thomas cranmer was burned on that same spot after ridley and latimer a few months later he wrote the doctrine of salvation by christ alone advances and sets forth the true glory of christ and beats down the vain glory of man because in the face of christ especially christ crucified we see the depth of our sin and the height of his mercy and so we see we have nothing to glory in in ourselves we see we contribute nothing to our standing before god we're not impressive and so we simply cannot boast in ourselves or haughtily compare ourselves with others and if we do boast in ourselves it just betrays our blindness to the reality revealed in the cross because why would christ have died we could glory in ourselves but in the face of christ crucified we see the glory of god's mercy and righteousness in the glory of christ the savior we see captivating great-heartedness there friends is the only glory that can transcend the siren song of human glory dear friends it is the sight of the holy graciousness of god shown in christ that is what has always given the saints the strength to stand firm it is this sight that has surpassed the appeal of human approval and turned lambs into lions this is not some natural courage that some stout-hearted folk are born with is not some natural inner strength some believers happen to have so john calvin charles spurgeon they both confessed their natural inclination to be timid and fearful that's how they were born but as they grew in their appreciation of god they became lions in the cause of the gospel and god's word so this is not a strength for the few here friends is a strength available for all the saints timid saints fearful saints anxious saints people pleasers here's the strength you need that will heal you and transform you found in growing to enjoy the glory of christ and take one of the most famous examples of christian stout heartedness martin luther at the diet of worms in 1521 what bravery there standing before the emperor with all the power of europe and the roman catholic church marshaled against him refusing to give up what scripture plainly taught luther cried i am bound by the scriptures i have quoted my conscience is captive to the word of god i cannot i will not retract anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience i cannot do otherwise here i stand may god help me our men now you hear that you think what was the fire in his bones that enabled him to do that pushing him to what he knew was a death sentence and he says that what what was in him well just a few moments before he spoke those famous words he'd explained to the emperor exactly what drove him here it is he said we ought to think how marvelous and terrible is our god lest we begin condemning the word of god it is knowing the marvelousness of god that stops us from betraying the word of god well let me take you back to hugh latimer the preacher we saw earlier dying in oxford in the flames with such bold cheer now a few years before that latimer explained what strengthened him what gave him courage latimer he was due to preach before king henry viii who that fearsome king of many wives many mistresses of hot temper and zero tolerance and latimer decided to preach on the text whoremongerers and adulterers god will judge and before the king he held back nothing he spoke plainly what god's word says concerning the guilts of lust when he was done the king said next time you are to preach which was to be the next sunday you will apologize and eat your own words latimer thanked the king and left and the next sunday came and he got into the pulpit and he said hulatima thou art this day to preach before the high and mighty prince henry king of great britain and france if thou sayest one single word that displeases his majesty he will take thy head off therefore mind what thou art at but then he said hulatima thou art this day to preach before the lord god almighty who is able to cast both body and soul into hell and so tell the king the truth outright and he did and the king respected him for it he loved the glory of god more than the glory of man fear him ye saints and ye will have nothing else to fear the glory of god in the face of christ has always been the lodestar and guiding light of reformation and faithfulness in the church when christians have appreciated god as all sufficient all beautiful all satisfying they've been strengthened and made fruitful even the timid ones and for them the world is not enough it's glory and acclaim pale beside the splendor and the allure of jesus christ may i finish with an insight from song of songs song of songs is a book with two main characters the lover and the beloved the bridegroom and the bride the love of the bridegroom is a shepherd king the son of david he stands at the door and knocks in chapter five his carriage in chapter three looks like the temple and like the lord in the exodus he comes up from the wilderness like a column of smoke that's what the bridegroom is like he's perfumed with the scents of the temple and the bride the beloved is described as being like israel coming up from the wilderness leaning on her lover like israel in the exodus she's compared to a vineyard like israel she's compared to jerusalem and here's the verses i want you to see song of songs chapter 6 verses 4 and 10. he says to her you are beautiful as tears of my love lovely as jerusalem awesome as an army with banners verse 10 who is this who looks down like the dawn beautiful as the moon bright as the sun awesome as an army with banners the bride is like an army she's bright like the sun with the reflected beauty of the moon from the shy embarrassed girl you meet at the beginning of the book she has become awesome and so it is with the bride of christ as moses face reflected the glory of the lord so the church comes to reflect the bridegroom's radiance and awesomeness we know from the apostle paul that believers are being transformed into the image of god from one degree of glory to another second corinthians 3 18. but here we see the bride's transformation is a growth in reflected awesomeness like the bridegroom the church becomes awesome as an army with banners when god's people the church love christ and look to him they change from being weak frightened vacillating they begin to exhibit to the world fearsome divine qualities reflecting the glory of the lord they become holy blessed happy whole beautiful in christlikeness and so the church shines like the moon in the world in the darkness adoring him believers become like their god blessedly beautifully fearsome dear friends press in to know christ better press in to enjoy the holy beauty of his glory so that you love the glory of god more than the glory of men for if we love the glory of god more than the glory of men then however testing the days to come may be we will shine with valiant faith awesome as an army with banners then we will be of good cheer like latimer and luther as we face down opposition and temptations to abandon god's word and then friends the days of hard testing will in the pages of church history shine as among the brightest days of glory and so now may the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord lift up the glory of his countenance upon you and give you peace amen that was dr michael reeves with a call to stand firm in god's truth dr reeves is one of many contributors to table talk ligonier's monthly devotional for 45 years this magazine has helped christians take their bible study deeper so they can apply the word of god to their lives if you still aren't a subscriber to table talk you can try it out for free visit trytabletalk.com to receive the magazine for three months in a row with no cost to you no credit card information is needed so it's a no risk trial we're taking a break here in orlando but we'll be back at 2 30 eastern time with our next q a session i'm nathan w bingham and i'll see you back here this afternoon you

Channel: Ligonier Ministries

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Length: 206min 5sec (12365 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 25 2022