Barry Stagner: As in the Days of Noah

[Music] would you open your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter what Romans chapter 1 and as you're turning there I'll remind you that this Wednesday night we are going to be in 1st Samuel 20 I mentioned that last week and then we took another pause to look at a prophetic message which we are going to be doing again this morning breaking from our time in the book of Acts now there are multitudes of things concerning prophecy that draw our attention to to them immediately we only need to think about and talk about the Middle East and the alliance between Russia and Iran and Turkey and all those mentioned in Ezekiel 38 that are now working and cooperating together militarily and now we see unrest in the Sudan and Libya and all of these players that are named in Scripture that are going to at some point in time invade the nation of Israel and these very high-profile things obviously grab our attention quickly now there are other elements of eschatology and eschatology means a study of last days things that also grab our attention that may not be as sensational so to speak or high-profile but they are no less biblically stunningly prophetic even though they may not be making the news every day now what we're going to talk about this morning is something I want to look at actually in kind of reverse order and what I mean is we're going to start with the fulfillment of those things and then we're going to back into how they have come to pass now where are we in the prophetic timeline well Luke 21:28 tells us when these things what what's it say begin to happen look up and lift up your head because your redemption draws near or the King Jimmy will say draws nigh now if we were to put a label on where we are chronologically in the prophetic timeline I would say we are at the end of the beginning these things not only have begun to come to pass they are well into coming to pass and there's a major transition that is about to happen now we are at so to speak the end of the birth pangs that Jesus described in Matthew 24 verses 3 through 8 now let me also remind you that before the Great Tribulation is the wrap through the church so before all these things take place we are going to be supernaturally translated in a moment and twinkling of an eye as we talked about a few weeks ago on our message on the rapture but this morning we're going to talk about another time period that of course we know the rapture is an intimate dark eminent doctrine it doesn't really need any signs to be fulfilled that could happen at any moment that's why Jesus said therefore you also be ready because when he's coming there's no time to get ready when he snatches us off the faith's to this giant dirt clod and takes us to be with him forever more now what we're told about the times in which we live is from Matthew 24 37 to 39 in the heart of the olive discourse where Jesus says but as the days of Noah were so also will the coming of the Son of Man be for as in the days what are the next three words before the flood as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the Ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away and then Jesus says so also will the coming of the Son of Man be now most Bible interpreters believed that the Olivet discourse deals strictly with the 70th week of Daniel the day of Jacob's trouble the Great Tribulation now I would submit to you and disagree with that because that is biblically unsupportable now the flood was a specific time period of God's global wrath it wasn't a localized flood all the mountains of the earth were covered with water and God judged the whole world now during the tribulation God is going to judge the whole so we have a parallel between the flood and the Great Tribulation now the Lord mentions the days before the flood so these are the days prior to God's actualized wrath on the earth now that tells us that within the Olivet discourse is a description of things that are before the Great Tribulation are outside the 70th week of Daniel outside the day of Jacob's trouble now here's why this is worth mentioning because the fact is if we are talking about the times preceding the Great Tribulation we're talking about the church age we're talking about things that you and I are going to experience and Jesus said that prior to his coming things would be as they were before the flood people are eating and drinking they are marrying and giving in marriage it's kind of a business-as-usual type of attitude with an indifference to the impending signs of judgment do people have an indifference today to all the things that are happening in the world concerning prophecy do people have kind of a eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die type of attitude today now the fact is specifics about the time before the Second Coming are recorded in Revelation 16 to 18 because the second coming of Jesus is given in great detail in Revelation chapter 19 and we often read it just because it's so incredible and magnificent as he is displayed in his power and glory returning to Earth as a Lion of Judah now what we're told is in Revelation 16 and 18 is that God's final Wrath and all of its undiluted measure is going to be poured out in those chapters it's a time of catastrophic and cataclysmic geological and Astrophysical events on a scale unprecedented in human history the son is given power to scorch men's bodies there's a darkness that is so dark that men know their teeth because of the pain there is an earthquake that is so huge it's described as greater than any earthquake that has ever happened since men were on the earth this is what happens before Jesus returns it is also a time where revelation 17 says the commercial system of the world is going to be utterly destroyed when Babylon is fallen is fallen and the merchants of the earth seeing the destruction of Babylon say who's gonna buy all our stuff who's going to purchase the things that we have manufactured and that means that commerce buying and selling are going to cease as we know it before the second coming of Jesus there will not be a likening unto the days of Noah because there will not be a buying and selling before the second coming of Jesus secondly in Revelation 1823 we're told the light of a lamp shall not shine in you any more the voice that we are like a light like and by Jesus as a lab a city on a hill a light that is not is to give its light to those both in the house and those who are below the city so the church is likened unto a lamp and a light and therefore there is no light during the tribulation from the church because we're out of here somebody say Amen now this is again revelation 18 I know this is going to be heavy but hang on you ready revelation 18 is before revelation 19 you can write that down I'll wait for you well listen right before the second coming of Jesus revelation says the voice of the bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you any more for your merchants were the great men of the earth for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived this again talking about the Babylonian world commercial system now therefore this implies that prior to the second coming there is no marrying and giving in marriage nor is there going to be a business as usual attitude indicated by Jesus in the Olivet discourse likened unto the days before the flood what's going to be happening before the second coming of Christ is people are going to be running for their lives trying to survive not giving their kids in marriage not conducting business as usual now with that said I believe the days before the flood should be interpreted as the days before the flood not during the flood not during God's cataclysmic wrath on the earth and therefore when Jesus says as the days before the flood were we can liken that unto the days before the tribulation and therefore we can make the case for it simply by examining what's going on in our world today and letting scripture interpret Scripture knowing that before the second coming it is not going to be like it was in the days before the flood therefore I believe quite clearly that we are living in the time before the Great Tribulation because the time prior to the flood is described in terms related to human character we're told the thoughts and intents of man's heart is only evil continually we're told the earth was filled and filled with violence in Revelation six five and thirteen respectively now are the thoughts and intents of man's heart only evil continually today is the earth filled with violence today and therefore we are in the time before they before the cataclysmic wrath of God on the earth now remember the Messiah is coming again first in the air to meet the saints of all the ages and then to the earth as king of kings and Lord of lords with the Saints from the church age and beyond now before the flood three figures at times before the rapture a time where our materialistic world is going to be indifferent to the obvious signs of impending judgment carrying on with business as usual just like they did in the days at Noah built the ark for over a hundred years and therefore the question we need to ask is what will the moral character of the world be like before the rapture man stop will be filled with evil there'll be an indifference to the signs of impending judgment the earth will be filled with violence Paul highlighted some specifics about this in second Timothy regarding the same time period in which we now live we're told in second Timothy 3:1 2:5 but know this that in the when in the last days perilous times will come for men will be lovers of themselves lovers of money boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy unloving unforgiving slanderers without self-control brutal despisers of good traitors headstrong Oddie lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such people do what turn away now i think if we were to hold this as an overlay on society today we could check all the boxes the moral digression and the character flaws that dominate the world culture prior to the rapture of the church and ensuing tribulation are happening all around us now this is where I want to focus on eschatological focus our attention this morning since it seems clear we're at the end of the beginning and it's time to look up Jesus is coming for his church soon amen so here's the question how do we get there how did we arrive in the condition that we are in as a world and specifically as a country today is there evidence that we can look back on much like we look to the Middle East for specific data that tells us our redemption is nigh and to keep our heads lifted up well I'm glad you asked because we're going to answer that question this morning through Romans 1 and if you haven't guessed our title this morning is as in the days of Noah so let's start off with Romans chapter 1 verses 15 to 17 and would you stand and read those with me please as we introduce the balance of our subject this morning via this digression or reverse progression if you will that we're going to look at today let's start off in Romans 15 115 so as much as in me I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes for the Jew first and also for the Greek for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith and Lord as you have instructed us regarding our gatherings together as the church that we are to be equipped for the work of ministry when we come together would you bring that to pass this morning through our time Lord as we focus on where our world is at and where we are in the prophetic chronology and Lord with the end result be a greater passion for those lost and perishing around us and a motivation to reach them with the truth we thank you for our time together today in Jesus name we pray a man you may be seated now a couple of historical considerations concerning the time in which Paul was writing and let's see if we can catch on to some parallels here about the day in which we live Paul was writing to a culture where homosexuality was widely accepted both of men and women there's some two hundred years the men who had ruled the Roman Empire practiced open homosexuality or pedophilia if you will with young boys and even at the time of Paul's writing the Roman Empire actually imposed a tax upon homosexual prostitution and gay boy prostitutes illegal holiday so it was except that it was recognized is that happening today what was the delay there is that happening today yes listen legal marriage between same gender couples was recognized even some of the Emperor's married other men at the time that Paul wrote Nero was Emperor and he took a boy names for us and had him castrated then married him in a full wedding ceremony brought him into the palace with a great procession and said that the boy was his wife later Nero would marry another man and Nero would play the role of the wife in that relationship it was to such a society that Paul Road I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes and then chronologically he noted it came to the Jew first and then through the Jew to the Greek or the non Jew now this would not be an ethnic Greek but rather the cultural Greek the Greek thinking person which was the dominant thought process of the day now Paul would say in first Corinthians 1 22 to 25 for Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness but to those who are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of God is wiser than men somebody say amen to that and the weakness of God is stronger than men so Paul is saying listen it doesn't matter if people think what we believe is foolish it doesn't matter if it's a stumbling block to people we preach Christ crucified anyway now it was to a culture that thought the gospel and plan of God was foolishness that Paul said not only am I ready I am unashamed to preach the gospel and I submit to you that we live in just such a time now he says the gospel in the gospel is the righteousness of God and the call to live by faith no no wonder we see an exploitation and misrepresentation of faith in our day now faith in and of itself is not the power to create something but rather it is a belief in something to the point that you act upon what you believe in other words faith requires an object in which it is placed you're sitting on a Pew this morning you believed it would hold you up because it was properly constructed and the evidence from the past says that these pews are going to hold you up as you sit through the sermons each week listen believing it was going to hold you didn't make it hold you it was a construction that made it hold you and you simply believed that it was properly manufactured and therefore as we understand faith as presented in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of not seen now faith in the context of Romans 1 is to believe that what God did through his son on the cross has the ability to save your soul even though you've never seen God even though you've never seen his son Jesus therefore God is the object of our faith is presented in his word and as we're going to see in our text he is presented since the creation narrative all the way back in Genesis chapters 1 through 11 now in an age where many think the gospel is foolishness in turn age where immorality is celebrated in turn age where purity is disparaged and even scorned we need to be ready to preach the gospel and not be unashamed not be ashamed of the message that God has given us to declare and after Paul makes his declaration that he's ready to preach even in Rome and is unashamed of the gospel even enroll he then identifies the moral digression of Rome which will be true for any nation which follows the path presented in Romans chapter 1 now we're also going to find as we follow this spiritual and moral digression that there are three things that many in the so-called church today are actually ashamed of and therefore let's take a glance at verses 18 through 21 and we'll get into the heart of our comments today read with me please again Romans chapter 1 18 through 21 and we'll begin this digression and back into how we arrived at such a state as we are in today for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because what may be made known of God is manifest him in them for God has shown it to them for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse because although they knew God they did not glorify Him as God nor we're thankful but doodle in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were what we're darkened now one thing we need to remember and many are disconnecting from it today and it's what's called the protoevangelium it's the first preaching of the gospel recorded in the Bible now the fact is it's recorded in the creation narrative thus establishing a connection an eternal connection between creation and presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ God is creator of all things he therefore has authority over all humanity and he has the right by ownership to define morality and we find in the creation narrative his supremacy over the realm of angels we find in the creation narrative his judicial nature his hatred of sin is established there and on and on and on we could go about the doctrines that we teach and believe that are just found in the first three chapters of the Bible but we also find this in Genesis 3 14 to 15 immediately say immediately immediately after the fall of man the Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this you are more cursed than all cattle and more than every beast in the field on your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel now some like to point out and rightfully so that in future texts the Bible talks about a woman through whom the Messiah will come and that woman is representative of the nation of Israel even in the book of Revelation and that is true however I think the Bible is a little a little bit more intentional about its meaning here when it talks about the seed of a woman we know biologically that it's the man who carries a seed the woman carries the egg and therefore in my mind this implies a prediction of a supernaturally conceived male child all the way back in the garden in other words what we see right after man fell the Lord tells Satan on send somebody into the world through a supernatural conception that's going to crush your head and you will bruise his heel now again this reminds us of the connection between the gospel and creation yet many today are ashamed of the creation story that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth they're ashamed of it because many in the scientific community say first there was nothing then it blew up then it became everything that we see today over billions of years listen this warning as a teaching in the church today called theistic evolution theistic evolution is basically the teaching that God used evolution to create all things let me just say this this morning in my normal tender careful sensitive matter God is not okay with the istic evolution he doesn't want the istic evolution taught in his church because the fact is the Bible not only tells us the time span in which God created the world and everything in it it also gives us the interpretation people like to argue well you know day can mean just an indeterminate time period no not in Genesis it can't because it's interpreted for us as six night day cycles the evening and the morning were the first day the evening in the morning for the second day the evening in the morning with a third day and on the seventh day God rested there's a sequence that we still recognize today consisting of one week listen God didn't need billions of years to let things just happen into existence God didn't initiate all the elementary particles have pulled around in the universe and then just wait for them to bump into one another and form simple proteins and become complex life forms listen God just said let there be light and there was light that's who we're serving I'm not ashamed of the creation narrative God spoke all things into existence and he did it in six days and he took sunday off so he'd go to church kidding now listen constantly throughout scripture we find reminders of the Lord maker of heaven and earth the Lord creator of all things the Lord who made the Seas the Lord who numbers the Stars the Lord who put all things into existence the Lord who hangs the earth on nothing the Lord who spoke the expanding universe into existence we're told over and over and over in the book of God that creation is attributed to God and God alone and therefore creation as it's presented in the Bible is essential to the whole of the Bible's message including the gospel of Christ because there is a constant connection all the way back in Genesis chapter 3 through the end of the tribulation and God's right to judge the world because he is the one who made it Paul says since the beginning of creation God's invisible attributes his omnipotence as omniscience his omnipresence is clearly seen elissa in case you're wondering let me just clear it up I don't believe in Darwinian evolution if any of you thought I was iffy on the subject let me just throw it out there I don't believe in gradualism I don't believe in materialism I don't believe in any of the descriptions that describe a march from molecule to man for multiple reasons not the least of which is the Bible says differently let me just say this as well the fact is it's bad science evolution is bad science and a lot of Christians want to bow to the scientific community as though no scientists whatever tell a lie listen science is basically the investigation of facts by definition but they are presenting information to our children they are cramming it down their throats and causing many to fall away at the college level because they're saying listen creation simply couldn't exist the way things came into being is first there was nothing then it exploded then all the planetesimals and other things began to form all by themselves over a course of billions of years of nah living materials became organic all on their own without a supernatural agent involved listen that's nonsense that's beyond stupid it's insulting to anyone of intelligence somebody say Amen now I'm going to introduce some terms to you this morning that may be foreign to some of you some of you may have heard them before and let me just say this and preface my comments so I can save some of you some time at the keyboard are leaving a note in the offering box somebody always says to me why are you talking to the church about evolution and exposing it for the falsehood that it is why are you telling us that we already believe that well listen because the church is doing a terrible job at defending our position that's why I'm going to share with you the things I want to share with you this morning so you can give and informed an intelligent answer to those that you are debating in the world today because the fact is listen when somebody doesn't believe the Bible saying to them the Bible says is irrelevant you need to engage them on a level that they can understand now the two terms of phrases I want to introduce you to some will be familiar with them the first is this I want you to write these things down because if you can't remember what they mean you can look them up later and this is how we're going to engage our culture today since the creation narrative is continuously and everlastingly attached to the gospel presentation now the first phrase I want you to become familiar with and I'll explain it in a moment is irreducible complexity irreducible complexity is the first phrase I'd like you to jot down and the second phrase is often presented as si si and what that stands for isn't crime-scene investigation it is actually complex specified information these are both familiar phrases within the scientific disciplines especially biology irreducible complexity complex specified information you can put si si beside that now in difficult irreducible complexity is a proverbial final nail in Darwinian evolution scoffing all living organisms are irreducibly complex now by definition irreducible complexity is applies to living organisms means each part has no value except within the context of the whole functional unit that's what irreducible complexity means by definition each part has no value except within the context of the whole functional unit now in other words if you remove any part is it applies to living organisms then the assigned function of that unit is going to be hindered or even sinks now let me give you an example our bodies can live without appendix I am our bodies can live without tonsils I am our bodies can live without adenoids I am I've pretty much had everything removed that you can't have her move but listen you can lose a finger still live right you can lose a toe still live you can lose an appendage and still live amen you can you lose all four appendages and still lives however remove the lungs can you still live remove the brain I haven't had that removed by the way can you still live remove the heart can you still live remove the liver can you still live no why because you have breached the boundary of irreducible complexity and listen the synchronicity of function between organs in any life-form make gradualism impossible simple life forms could not evolve upwardly through mutations into more complex life forms man had to be created as a fully functioning human being or else his existence would have been impossible and this is true for any complex life form now reverse the gradual March from molecules to man and try and march from man back to molecules and any microbiologist will tell you even an evolutionary microbiologist will tell you when you get down to about 400 integral integral related functions within any organism you cannot go without causing immediate and catastrophic death of the organism because the symbiotic relationship between organ functions in any complex life form in an effort to reach first life by backtracking from man to molecules breaks down at step 400 they chemically and biologically cannot scientists chemically and biologically cannot make the backward jump from complex to simple life-forms now that leads us to our the the only rightful conclusion based on evidence and that is this in the beginning God created the complex universe and everything that is within it that's where you say Amen now the second term that we also need to be familiar with as I said is complex specified information now we know that the way to identify whether an event was by chance or design is to look for the presence of complex specified information now there are two kinds of information within the scientific disciplines there's what's called Shannon information it's just general observable information the sky is blue that's Shannon information grass is green that Shannon information now there is also complex specified information that is productive or it causes something to happen or even like we would describe to a recipe if you would consider predetermined portions of ingredients placed in a prescribed container into heated and specific temperature for a predetermined time period is going to from the ingredients of flour eggs and milk and a few others yield a cake or a cupcake or whatever you want it to be this morning whatever you're actually thinking about while I'm speaking now it is possible for random chance to create limited information think about it if you take a container of Scrabble pieces with the 26 characters of our alphabet you empty them on to a table and occasionally you're going to see the word if or is paired side by side or maybe even a little bit more complex you might once in a while after a few roll find out as you straighten the little tiles out and lay them side by side you might run across the word run you might even find the word dog once in a while even cat may appear and this happens through random chance however take the 26 pieces of the Scrabble tiles and throw them on a table and lay them out in order just randomly as they came out line him up side by side and if you find that the word complexity is there you know something else was involved it couldn't have happened by chance it was too far outside the probability bound or the likelihood of something happening on its own that tells you that an intelligent agent was involved in arranging the tiles because the information was too complex listen when science entered the age of microbiology what they found was not proof of the theory of evolution but rather than necessity of an intelligent agent to have authored and written the book of life as they call it or DNA each DNA molecule is a mini factory where DNA and RNA are transferring information and this complex specified information builds proteins from amino acids and the deeper we dig into the subatomic world the more complex things become and just like the march from bandha molecules it can't be made unless there was a supernatural agent who said let these complex organisms come into being instantly now one of the favorite illustrations and distinction between chance and design is that of a coin toss now if you take a coin and flip it a hundred times each of the 100 flips has the same odds of being heads or tails 50/50 shot right 50% chance it's going to be heads 50% chance it's going to be tails now the law of probability says that with each hundred sets of coin tosses the probability or the acceptable outcome plus or minus a few is going to have a 50/50 chance so forty sixty would work 43:57 would work all of these other carbon Asians are within the probability bound however if somebody flips a coin a hundred times in it comes out a hundred heads that's impossible the laws of probability will not allow for it even though the odds are only one to two one out of two chances heads and tails that it would come out heads it is never going to even end just a hundred coin tosses come out to a hundred heads so when that happens or should it happen that demands that there was an external force that was influencing the outcome of the coin cause coin toss rather now when outcomes outside the realm of possibility for undirected random chance occur or information is present in such a way that is functional and not just Shannon or general information an intelligent agent is always the cause now things happen by chance all the time right things happen by chance all the time natural selection is not an abstract concept but natural selection isn't Darwinian evolution natural selection the survival of the fittest is going on today there's always if you see lion cubs or tiger cubs or bear cubs there's always a runt in the litter and it's as strong that gleaned from the nursing off of their mother and oftentimes the runt of the litter does not survive because this is survival of the fittest but that's not Darwinian evolution that's not gradualism that's not materialism that's just a fact of nature things happen by chance all the time however if you see a donkey win the Kentucky Derby you know that either it's been genetically altered or the race was fixed there was some type of outside force or influence at predetermined the outcome now I want to remind you of something I've shared in the past about a Sunday school teacher who asked her class of fifth graders what is fate and one little boy was aggressively waving his hand and he was notorious for his answers she was hoping somebody else would but nobody did so she said Billie what is faith Billy said faith is believing his stuff you ain't true you know and then that's exactly how the world looks at the church you're believing in a bunch of stuff that ain't true well the fact is good science says there's only one way that everything came into existence and that is in the beginning God created now we're told here that evidence is being suppressed and the word in the Greek here means to withhold to detain to restrain or even hinder the advice or advance of we're told about the futility of their thinking and that means passive it can be translated as morally wicked idolatrous vain or empty and this is the end result of following after were denying that God is creator and following the evolutionary model now in Psalm 19 7 through 11 we're told the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure making the wise simple the statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes the fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether more to be desired are they than gold yea than much fine gold sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb moreover by them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is what great reward now we live in an age where the truth about creation has been suppressed by the lie of evolution and is continuing to be propagated today and what is the consequence of doing so and here's the first of the how we got to where we are today I'd like you to jot down listen what our opening verses in 18 to 21 are telling us is to reject God as creator is to deny the existence of absolute truth to reject God as creator is to deny the existence of absolute truth and the law here mentioned in Psalm 19 is representative of the whole of God's Word and therefore the whole of God's Word is perfect and therefore it has a capacity to save or convert the soul reject creation is presented in the Bible is to reject the Bible as being perfect and therefore caused the causes the Gospel message to be put under suspicion now in psalm 119 1:6 team were reminded by I believe King David wrote the psalm the entirety of your word is truth and every one of your righteous judgments indoors for three to four weeks how long forever listen the Bible is irreducibly complex you cannot remove portions of it without doing damage to the whole and the functionality of it is also hindered when it alters the Gospel message and therefore we cannot allow mutations into the Word of God they degrade it as all mutations do listen mutations are never upward they always degrade function they never enhance it that's just bad science denying an intelligent designer God as a creative source of the universe is to suppress the truth and that cannot be done without confidence our consequence rather and damage to the society that does so and to reject God as creator is to deny the existence of absolute truth leaving society to do what is right in their own eyes is that happening today therefore our redemption is near let's look at 22 to 25 professing to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts to dishonour their bodies among themselves who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and who worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever somebody say Amen now listen there's obviously a link back to our previous verses since we're reading them in order here but I want to address something first verse 25 says they worship the creature rather than the Creator now that's an interesting Greek word the word is actually consistent then it means the act of creating so what this says is that they worship the act of creating rather than the creator himself which is exactly what is happening today listen worship simply means to prostrate and submit and people are prostrating or bowing before and submitting to the teaching of evolution today they are worshipping the creative process instead of the Creator and the creative process they are worshipping is based on lives now the consequences of this progression of saying there is no God at Psalm 14:1 says is the profession of fools is to Allah so exchange the glory of the uncorruptible God for glorifying corrupted man birds animals and insects and because of this practice God will give those who do this over to uncleanness and a longing in their hearts for things that dishonor their bodies this results in an exchange of truth for a lie and the on lie of evolution is certainly part of it which is the lie also of idolatry now in 2nd Thessalonians 2 9 through 11 we're told about the coming of the lawless one an antichrist title is according to the working of who Satan with all power signs and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did receive the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this reason God will send them what strong delusion are we living within that today absolutely that they should believe the lie that they may all be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness listen there are grave consequences for being ashamed of the creation narrative where the gospel is first recorded and therefore eternally attached because it questions God a thought God's authority over his creation and therefore the authenticity of his word now the second consequence of this and the digression that our country has experienced is denying the existence of absolute truth can only lead to believing lives denying the existence of absolute truth can only lead to believing lies this a man was created with the need to believe in something greater than himself an object of worship something that can explain the big questions of life where did we come from why are we here is there life after death the materialist or the Darwinian evolutionist believe we came from nothing life has no meaning there's nothing after this life and billions follow that belief system because it's at least something to believe in that explains away some of the big questions the Christian creationist believes we were created in the image and likeness of God life is rich with purpose and meaning and there is life after this one that is far longer and way better than the one we're now enduring and Peter says in 1st Peter 1:13 2:16 therefore gird up the loins of your mind protect your thoughts be sober rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lust as in your ignorance but as he who called you is holy you also be holy and what's the next word all your conduct because it is written be holy for I am holy Peter then would say in a second epistle 3:11 to 13 therefore since all these things will be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness looking or the and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire the elements will melt with fervent heat nevertheless we according to his promise look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells now I want you to think about what has happened to our nation ever since evolution became the prominent and dominant thought within our educational system it is forced upon our children as we said worshipping the act of creating over the Creator himself the vehicle the thrust evolution into the forefront of American higher thinking was a Scopes trial often referred to as a Scopes Monkey Trial it began on July 10 1925 in the defendant John Thomas Scopes was actually a high school teacher a substitute teacher he had been charged with violating the butler Act which forbid the teaching of any theory that denied the biblical record of creation it was illegal to teach anything other than creation in the public school right here in the good ol US of a well he was basically bribed into teaching evolution or at least mentioning it he was charged with breaking the law the trial took place in Dayton Tennessee it was a result of a carefully orchestrated series of events by local merchants who were trying to draw people into the town and therefore benefit financially from it and scope was actually unsure whether he actually taught the theory of evolution but he did review the chapter in the evolution chapter in a textbook that he had been given with the students he agreed to incriminate himself so the butler act could be challenged by the ACLU the American Civil Liberties Union boy what a misnomer that is now students were encouraged to testify against Scopes at the trial he was found guilty and he was fined a hundred bucks but what Scopes did was he introduced to all of America the theory of evolution think back on the moral slide that has taken place since then world war ii took many women out of the home i put the in the workplace one generation later what did we have we had the sexual revolution of the 60s and the moral slide is now continued to the point where people worship the act of creation over the actual creative people today believe that gender is a choice instead of a genetic predisposition something that has determined chromazone aliy or by D in a they simply ignore biology physiology and genetic coding and say you can choose to be whatever you want but the Bible says that God created them male and female and it has been exchange for the lie that there are now 63 genders and it's multiple choice for every person now all this went mainstream because one man the defense attorney in the Scopes trial Clarence Darrow about believing in the Bible was something to be ashamed of and millions of Americans now agree with him no as for me in my house I'm gonna stick with the Word of God amen provable facts testable facts recorded in the Word of God now we're told in Colossians 1:16 218 and yes we're going a little over this morning but not much longer we're told he is the image of the invisible God speaking of Jesus he is the firstborn that's his position over all creation for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth visible and invisible there's again a connection between Jesus himself and creation Thrones dominions principalities or powers all things say all things all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things consist he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he may have the preeminence now William Jennings Bryan was asked question by Clarence Darrow like where did cain get his wife a lot of people are embarrassed to answer that question he asked the question how can a man be swallowed by a whale well even though we're gonna say yuck Cain married his sister that's where he got his wife it's the only way for Humanity to increase a number at that time and both were near genetically perfect there was no risk of mental or physical deformity and the law of Moses had yet to be ridden written forbidding doing such a thing now might be a yucky explanation but it's a factual explanation listen Jonah wasn't swallowed by a whale Bible says God prepared a great fish now listen if God can speak the universe into existence he can prepare a great fish to house a man for three days with a capacity for puking him up on the beach so he do what the Lord had told him after that time God prepared a great fish to take Jonah on a three-day medical Mediterranean cruise now I'm not ashamed of these elements of God's message that began with in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth amen now one last thing we'll wrap it up here as quick as we can 26 through 32 for this reason God gave them up to vile passions for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust for one another men with men committing what is well shameful not a normal part of any given society is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their which was due and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting being filled with all unrighteousness sexual immorality wickedness covetousness maliciousness full of envy murder strife deceit evil mindedness air whispers backbiters haters of God violent proud boasters inventors of evil things disobedient to parents undiscerning untrustworthy unloving unforgiving unmerciful who knowing the righteous judgment of God knowing these things these things violate God's plan that those who practice such things are deserving of death speaking of a second death not only do the same but also do what but prove of those who practice those things listen our text has given us a moral digression we followed the digression beginning with being ashamed of the creation narrative which was presented in which is presented the first mention of the gospel to reject God as creator is to deny the existence of absolute truth denying absolute truth can only lead to believing lies and the final stage of this digression is what we just read now the consequences obviously are cataclysmic women and men acting against what is biologically and physiologically clear they violate the natural reproductive process by lusting for one another committing what is shameful and even experiencing the temporal and eternal consequences of rejecting God what is written in verses 29 to 31 is an exact parallel of what Paul said would come in the last days in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 they will invent things that are evil like abortion and they will call it a woman's right they will call those who stand for good evil believe in things about sexuality that even nature denies and those who believe in absolute truth it will call bigoted haters now verse 32 is the end result of such thinking and it broadens the scope of the consequences beyond those who practice such things but also those who approve of the practices Paul said there will be within the morally and spiritually degraded society a form of godliness with the denial of the power and even in such a society he said as we read in Romans 1:16 that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ I hope we aren't either this morning amen and the last thing I want you to note in our digression is this believing lives will always lead to moral a rampant moral failure believing lies will always lead to rampant moral failure and when the moral failure reaches a place where God gives people over to it the digression is complete and therefore irreversible and the only way for it to be brought to an end is judgment just like in Noah's day are we there yet are we there yet we are absolutely there absolutely time for us to look up for our redemption is nigh we've arrived at a time comparable to that of Noah's how did we get there it all started when we began denying that God was creator and it will end God giving man over to his decision Jesus is coming soon look up our redemption is nice somebody say and father we again are grateful for our time together this morning thank you that we have the opportunity to be better equipped to engage our culture in society and even more confident in the message that we proclaim to others thank you for continually showing us the attachment between creation and the gospel and the necessity of recognizing your authority over all that you spoke into existence in order to proclaim that there is a standard that man is violated and therefore man is in need of a savior so lord I pray for us all that we would leave this place today better able to feel the attacks and questions that come our way and Lord also more passionate about giving an answer to everyone and defending the reason that we have a hope that their living without help us in these things we pray and I pray for the retention of all who were here today that as they are pushed with these questions that are plaguing our society today that we can give an answer that would open the door to share the only message by which one can be saved the gospel of Christ and him crucified thank you for our time together in Jesus name we pray these things all God's people said amen [Music]

Channel: The Truth About God - Barry Stagner

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Length: 56min 12sec (3372 seconds)

Published: Wed May 01 2019