Dr. John Goetsch: A Clash of Cultures

take your Bible let's go to Acts chapter 17 if you will the book of Acts chapter 17 we will stay for the most part in this chapter tonight Acts chapter 17 I call your attention to verse 10 and will read down to verse 12 as a text and then keep your Bible handy in this passage Acts chapter 17 and starting with verse number 10 the Bible says in the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea the coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews these were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so therefore many of them believed also of honorable women which were Greeks and of men not a few a word based culture and a world based culture will never mix they are in a constant clash when you have people that are basing their view of life through the Word of God and you have people who are basing their view of life through a world prism there's going to be a clash because a word view and a world view are opposite first John 2 verse 15 says love not the world neither the things that are in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the pride of life these things are of the world they're not of the Father but of the world and the world passeth away in the lustre of but either doeth the will of God abideth forever so God is teaching us there that the world and God and His Word nothing in common another text that would be familiar perhaps is Psalm 1 and verse 1 blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful world-view verse 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord Word view and in his law doth he meditate day and night these two views are constantly clashing in every culture now America up until most recently has experienced what I believe to be abnormal Christianity and the reason for it is because we as a nation in America were founded upon God we were founded upon the principles of God's Word we have a Christian heritage regardless of what some of the revisionists would have us believe we in our history have a Christian heritage one nation under God in god we trust' the delegates at the Constitutional Convention we're trying to compose the United States Constitution in an attempt to give us a more perfect union after five weeks of heated discussion nothing had been accomplished our fledging nation had thirteen states which had different monetary systems different tariffs and different foreign policy approximately half of the people lived in three states and the other half in ten the leadership in some states wanted slavery while others did not and the nation was at an impasse the meeting for this constitutional convention started to break up and George Mason a very influential delegate got up and started to walk out George Washington the president of the convention walk with him and Washington caught up with him as he got to his carriage and convinced him to come back in because dr. Ben Franklin was about to address the convention Franklin was one of the six out of the 56 who had made it back from the signing of the Declaration to the same room to draft the Constitution SiC and in his 80s Franklin rose to speak and he gave the following address and I quote in this situation of this assembly groping as it were in the dark to find political truth and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us how has it happened sir that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding in the beginning of the contest with Great Britain when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for divine protection our prayers sir were heard and they were graciously answered all of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor and have we now forgotten that powerful friend or do we imagine we no longer need his assistance I have lived sir a long time and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth that God governs in the affairs of men and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice it is probable that an empire cannot rise without his aid we have been assured sir in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it I firmly believe this and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in the political building no better than the builders of Babel I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business what Ben Franklin was telling the convention delegates with all their intelligence purpose and sacrifice was that they had forgotten the most important thing prayer with that address finished the Constitutional Convention adjourned and for the next three days many of the delegates walked across the street prayed and fasted and attended church services when they reconvened three days later there was a most remarkable and completely different tenor among the delegates several weeks later the most remarkable governmental document and history of mankind was completed the Constitution of the United States now the question tonight in 2018 is are we as individuals are we as a nation tonight groping in darkness because we have forgotten God the neglect of a word view will automatically result in a worldview how important is this book which reveals God to us to you we learned yesterday morning to have revival we must come to a place of silence so that we can listen so that we can hear God we've got to blot out the noise that's all around us and we've got to get still before God once we get still God will speak and then as he speaks we must submit but tonight to have revival we now learn that we must search the Scriptures for in them you think he have eternal life and these are they which testify of me study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth till i come give it attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine the writer job said neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food is this book God's Word more important to you than eating is it more important than food on your plate is it more important than lunch is it more important than a good meal Jeremias said thy words were found and I did eat them and thy words were the joy and rejoiced of my heart for I'm called by the name of Lord God of hosts the psalmist said all how I love thy law it is my meditation all the day here in acts 17 we see two contrasting cultures clashing against each other the first culture we see has an alarming evolution now the problem with change and the world is always changing God never changes God's Word never changes truth never changes but the world is constantly in flux the world is constantly moving the world is constantly in a state of change but the problem is the change is often so slow and subtle we don't perceive it or recognize it as change this morning when you got up or perhaps shortly after you got up or slightly before you got up you notice that the Sun was over on the eastern horizon perhaps it was just coming up as you made your commute down to Los Angeles perhaps it was rised as you made your way over to school with the children perhaps it was it was kind of a little ways up in the air as you ran some errands but you noticed that the Sun was over nice now we're not supposed to look at the Sun don't look at the Sun blind you but throughout the day and by the time we were getting ready for church and perhaps coming home from work and making our way to the meeting tonight the Sun had made its way all the way to the western horizon now I know the Sun doesn't move the world revolves but obviously the Sun without really seen it move has gone all the way from one horizon to the other very slow but subtle change undetectable I'm noticeable we don't think oh there goes the Sun if we glance enter a watch it's approximately 733 and I could stare at my watch I won't go blind looking at my watch and I can stare at my watch for the next hour and I will not detect the hands moving but in an hour it will no longer be 733 it'll be 833 I'm not watching the hands move but they are moving but the movement is so subtle it's so slow this undetectable oftentimes to us and we notice here in this passage this alarming evolution that takes place in a world culture we see an abolished inspiration in verse number 13 but when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the Word of God was preached of Paul at Berea they came thither also and stirred up the people an abolished inspiration the Word of God was being preached the inspired infallible inerrant preserved Word of God was being proclaimed by the Apostle Paul in this place and yet these people were stirred up against it they were rejecting God's Word instead of a word culture a word based view they were now turning away from it and following a world view do you find yourself critical of the Word of God you find yourself reading it sometimes and sin and I don't know if that's true I don't know if that really happened be careful you find yourself when Pastor stands in this pulpit and declares the Bible that you're saying well I you know there's there's probably another interpretation be careful it's subtle but when you begin to reject the Word of God when you no longer believe the Word of God to be absolute truth we're in trouble because Jesus declared thy Word is truth the psalmist said thy Word is true from the beginning every one of the righteous judgments endureth for ever now O Lord God thou art God and thy words be true which made heaven and earth and all the sea in them that is therein and keepeth truth forever Satan's oldest trick in the book is to say hath God said is that what God really meant he doesn't really mean that does it really say that's the only way to heaven does it really say that that they you must live this way or that this this direction is that principle really effective is it really true be careful the very first thing Satan ever said to man was half God said listen God is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should repent hath he said and shall he not do it has he spoken shall he not make it good God is a rock his work is perfect all his ways are truth a God of of righteousness without iniquity is he the Bible says it's in possible for God to lie all the promises of God are in him yay and in him Amen be careful with what you're doing with truth a slight deviation a slight rejection a slight resistance to the Word of God you begin to abolish that inspiration and it leads to an agitated insurrection look at verse 13 again as Paul preached this word of God to them they came to their also and stirred up the people then immediately the Brethren sent away Paul to go at word of the sea but Silas and timotheus abode there still and they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens and receiving a commandment unto Silas and timotheus for to come to him with all speed they departed yield friend when you get a little cross ways with this book when you get a little doubtful about what God says it's true when you begin to reject the preachin in your heart and you say well I'm not gonna sell out completely to that I'm not gonna believe all of that when that starts happening you know what no church is gonna please you no pastor is going to satisfy you because once you eject the authority of God you reject all authority once you say no to God it's real real easy to say no to the church it's real easy to doubt what the preacher saying if you're doubting what God is saying I think of Stephen in the New Testament who stood in Acts chapter 7 and he began to basically preach God's Word Acts chapter 7 is a wonderful history sermon by Steve and as he reviews the Jewish history there before those who he stood before and and and those people listened and the Bible says that Stephen looked at them realizing their resistance and he said in verse 51 you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears he do always resist the Holy Ghost as your father's did so do you which of the prophets have not your father's persecuted in verse 54 when they heard these things they were cut to the heart and gnashed upon him with their teeth in verse 57 they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one Accord and they cast him out of the city and stoned him an agitated insurrection which leads to an accelerated idolatry verse 16 now while Paul waited for them at Athens his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry see when you eject God when you reject his word when you reject truth God has designed you to worship something you're gonna ascribe Worth to something that's what the word worship means worth-ship and all of us are going to give worth to something or someone so as soon as you start downplaying God's worth ship something else is going to rise up to take its place and so as these people rejected the inspiration of the word of God they got agitated in their spirit they began to fight against it too to resist it now we see the whole city of Athens given over to idolatry what's ahead of God in your life idolatry is basically anything ahead of God it could be a hobby it could be a possession it could be a person could be a job it could be a relationship the God said thou shalt not have any other gods before me take heed to yourselves that your heart be not deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them little children keep yourselves from idols I am the Lord that's my name my glory do I not give to another nor my praise to graven images think about it this way how long would it take God to cast down your idol we ascribe Worth to this or that instead of God the job the person the relationship the thing the hobby the recreation whatever it is takes precedence over God every time it Trump's every decision in our life and we've built this Idol and you know what all God has to do is think it and it's gone and by the way Jesus said in Matthew 15 13 every plant which my Heavenly Father's not planted shall be rooted out you see God is a jealous God and what that means is he is so jealous over your well-being he knows that he's the only one that can give you what's best and when you get something ahead of God God is more than willing to remove the competition so that he's first whether you put him there or not this accelerated idolatry then leads to an anointed inclination in verse 17 therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews with the devout persons and in the market daily with them that met with him then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him and some said what will this babbler say others some he seemeth to be a centre forth of strange gods because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection they took him and brought him unto aragão Apogee saying may we know what this new doctrine were of the speakest is for thou bring us certain strange things to our ears we would know therefore what these things mean for all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing Wow these people rejecting God his truth his word agitated against God now build their own idols begin to worship their own things and now their whole life is spent on some new thing some new thing you see God had become the old thing the truth of God's Word had become the old thing truth is the old thing why do we make the Bible defend itself against every new thing shouldn't we rather make every new thing defend itself against the Bible it's amazing to me we would say well that's the old thing and and we got this new thing and so you got something to say about that then say it how foolish to make the Bible defend itself against some new thing to make the Bible that's from everlasting everlasting to make the Bible that's true from the beginning as true as God was from the beginning to make it defend itself against some new thing how foolish I'm not a carpenter by any means but on occasion I've needed a two-by-four for something and a lot of times I need that 2x4 to be a certain size now let's suppose that I need a 2x4 that's 15 inches long now look at this particular 2x4 and I think well that's that's about 15 inches long I think this will work but when I go to put it into place prescribed for 15 inches it it doesn't fit well what am I gonna do well I need a standard AHA a tape measure the tool to measure I need a board 15 inches so I place the standard on the board and uh this board is longer than 15 inches and so that's the problem so I I mark it off here at 15 inches yeah right there so now I need to saw this board to that mark because this is the standard so I get my square because I don't want to I don't want to saw crooked line so I get my square and I put it up to the board put it up to that little dot I made it 15 inches and I draw a line now I take my saw and I saw the board on that line now I have a board that fits the spot that I need because it's exactly 15 inches because I measured it by the standard now I found that sometimes when I'm building something I don't need just one 15 inch board I need like 20 of them I need like 20 15 inch boards so I need to saw another board well the easy thing to do is to take this board and take this board that's now 15 inches we will to him and I put it up there like this kind of line up that edge and I use this new thing to make another new thing bad practice and if you've had this experience like I have if you saw 20 of these like this when you get done with it you're gonna have boards about these two different sizes why because you measured this new thing by this new thing and the more you measure a new thing by a new thing by a new thing by a new thing by a new thing pretty soon you got a board doesn't fit and you wonder why and you say well some went wrong here I don't know what was I better measure this board should go back to the standard throw it down there oh my that's 21 and a half inches but here's the sad thing here's what we do there's something wrong with that cuz this is 15 inches right that's exactly what's happening in our religious culture today we want the new thing and well we want the new thing and we keep measuring the new thing by the new thing we throw away the standard because it's an old thing and that's what these people had done but God says concerning thy testimonies thou has founded them forever the standard of God's Word does not change heaven earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away the grass withers the flower fadeth but the words of our God shall stand forever this doesn't change ya it takes some time to go to every board measure it put the square up there draw the lines saw the board yeah it takes a little more time but when you get done you're gonna have twenty boards exactly fifteen inches well when you saw one and create a new thing and then you measure the next thing by the new thing and the next thing by that new thing and the next thing by that new thing pretty soon you're not close to the standard it's not the standards that's the problem it's not the old thing that's the problem it's the new thing but it often happens as in this culture we see an admired ignorant in verse 22 then Paul stood in the midst of Mars hill and said he men of Athens I perceived that in all things here too superstitious for as I passed by and beheld your devotions I found an altar with the inscription to the unknown God whom therefore ye ignorantly worship Him declare I unto you they had actually made an altar to the unknown God and they were proud of it this one over here we don't know who the God is but we got one over here in case none of these others fit we got this one to the unknown God I'm proud of it and admired ignorance today illegal activity is admired killing policeman is admired lying and deception is admired same-sex marriages are admired confused children about gender is admired hold your spot here go a few pages forward to Romans chapter 1 let me show you what happens to this world culture when you throw away the standard of God and His Word and you keep saw in your life according to the new thing instead of the standard of truth God tells you exactly what's gonna happen to your life or to your society to your culture to your generation look at verse 21 Romans 1 because that when they knew God hey our nation knows who God is in god we trust' was on the sails of the Mayflower as it came across the Atlantic we put it on our coins our currency we know who God is in this country but when they knew God they glorified him not as God Hey most of us in this room tonight we know who God is is he God of your life are you glorifying him as God neither we're thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like two reputable man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their own bodies between themselves who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed for every men for this cause God gave them up unto vile affections for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which is meat and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient being filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickedness covetousness maliciousness full of envy murder debate deceit malignity whisperers backbiters haters of god despiteful proud boasters inventors of evil things disobedient to parents without understanding covenantbreakers without natural affection implacable unmerciful who knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death not only do the same but have pleasure them to do them theirs America 2018 we know God but he's no longer God of our life we've exchanged the creature for the Creator and gods turning us over do you realize what God says here these things are worthy of death and it's not just the drunkards or the sodomites that are on this list disobedience to parents is on this list worthy of death you know why that's your attitude cuz you forgot about this you've been sawing new boards and you look at some of those things on that list of 20 anything oh yeah that's bad yeah that's bad nother things on this Chuck I'm guilty of that it's not a big deal okay I whispered about somebody worthy of death now let's compare this worldview to a word view I promise we're almost done but let's go back to Acts chapter 17 and chinois I want you to see this this world view this amazing evolution compared to the word view an authentic example these people in Berea back up in verse 11 notice these people for a minute they had a discovered priority in verse 11 these were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind they received the word is there a receptivity to the Word of God tonight in your life how is the soil of your heart is it hardened is it thorny is it stony or is it good ground the psalmist said I'll delight myself in thy commandments which I have loved the law of thy mouth is better than me than thousands of gold and of silver thy word is very pure therefore thy servant loveth it listen some of us have been around here for a while we've been saved for a while have we lost our desire our sensitivity to the Word of God I thank the Lord I walked in this auditorium tonight a little before six o'clock and I saw mrs. Weibull coming in over an hour before the service so she could get a seat libels been here longer than all of us but still excited about revival still excited about getting a seed to hear the Word of God listen if we're not careful we can lose that priority we can lose that that time with God and His Word every day all we might check off the box we might we might have our did our deed though as we might we might spend a little time to make sure that we can answer the right questions the right way but do we love the Word of God or if we become insensitive now's in college my freshman year I met a young man in the dorm his name was rusty Pettit rusty was kind of a jolly big guy he had red hair and he was always smiling making everybody else laugh didn't take long for us to realize in the dorm there that rusty was a diabetic and I don't know everything about diabetes I have some great friends that are diabetics but I I don't understand the disease completely for sure but many of them have to give themselves insulin shots in order to balance their insulin and sugar and rusty had to give himself these shots I'm not real big on shots but rusty you know it was just part of his life had been part of his life since there's a little kid and in the door me he wouldn't tried to hide it he wouldn't go in a closet or in the bathroom to do it he just you know take the needle could give himself a shot but you can't give yourself a shot in the same place every time you wear out the vein it gets weak she got to move the needle around sometimes rusty put the needle in his arm sometimes in the thigh of his leg but his favorite place was his stomach he'd stick that needle right in his stomach and rusty he he'd he'd get in that dorm and he'd he'd open his shirt he doesn't button his shirt he kind of pull it back and he'd take that that needle need to stick it in his stomach and let he'd let it hang there and you can't draw a shirt Beckley's he's hurt he just walk around the Dharma this needle hanging out of his belly and you'd see him come here and rusty he got a needle in your stomach and he'd pull that needle out and he'd start stabbing himself he'd go needle what needle not about you but this is a pretty sensitive area on this body I got bit by dog one time in Detroit and the Secretary of the church I came hobbling back I'd been out slowly winning against bit by this dog and he had got my ankle pretty good and it was starting to swell and it was bleeding and the church secretary she had a first aid kit there and she's trying to help man the pastor looked at he said that didn't look good brother guess she said I better take you to the hospital get some rabies shots I said rabies shots he said yeah well last time I checked it's 13 shots in the stomach I said 13 shot stomach I'd rather have rabies seriously I'd rather phone with the mouth bite people in the head that take 13 shots of my stomach but you know some of us died are like rusty Pettit we got the Bible sticking in us well your sermon after sermon after sermon we read devotional after devotional we've memorized scripture we've got the Bible sticking in us but it's no longer affecting us because we've developed a callus over our heart we've become uncircumcised in heart and ear and while the Word of God is given to us we become hardened to it oh not these people at Berea they had a discovered priority the Word of God and they had a delightful preparation the Bible says they in verse 11 they received the word with all readiness of mind how ready do we make our mind for the Word of God Oh tonight I think of the the hours of preparation - - ready even the sanctuary for a service - - ready the choir to sing - ready the message to preach - ready you know the the the the order of what goes on tonight but did any of us come to church ready in our mind preparing our mind our heart for the Word of God Ezra said that he prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it so often we come to church and our mind is on everything but the Word of God and then we see a daily pursuit verse 11 they search the Scriptures daily whether these things were so daily in Exodus 16 and verse 4 then said the Lord unto Moses behold I will rain bread from heaven unto you and the people should go out and gather a certain rate every day that I met proved them whether they will walk in my law no God didn't give a man a once a week he said no I'm gonna give it every day because I want to see if you will trust me for something from heaven every day exhort one another daily while it's called today lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin I don't know about you I can't my heart can get pretty hard between Sunday's it was a daily pursuit years ago I was I was holding a meeting for a pastor who had pastored the same church for over 50 years and I was complimenting him on his people and how hungry they were for the Word of God and how easy they were to preach to and what a receptivity there was and the services to to preaching and and God's truth and with tears in his eyes he said brother Goetsch I learned a long time ago that if my people were going to be what God wants them to be they're not going to be able to do it by hearing me preach Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night that's not gonna be enough he said of my people in this church we're gonna be what God wants them to be if we're gonna live in a state of revival they've got to be in this book every single day we've got a search you want revival we got to be silent we've got to submit we've got to search the Scriptures house preaching at Christian school and one morning after I preached I barely got away from the podium and a group of students jumped up on the platform and they all kind of had some questions and I was more than happy to set my Bible back on the pulpit and just stood there and began to talk to them and answer some questions and I noticed that there was a boy standing down on the main floor who had not come up with the others he was in about eighth grade kind of disheveled and it appeared that he too wanted to talk to me but he had not come up with the others and he seemed somewhat perturbed that I was taking so much time talking to these I'm not getting to him he was kind of making sounds like he'd kind of put his hands on his hips and fold his arms like this and finally I I finished with these and he waited until they got completely out of the chapel and once everybody else had left he he started up the stairs and as he did he stomped on everyone he came and he threw up his arms he said problems problems problems problems and I thought what kind of a nut I said son are you saved he said of course I'm saved okay I said you read the Bible every day no I said well let me ask you one more question then you go back to class was there ever a time when you used to read the Bible he thought of men he said yeah about two years ago I read it every day I said well when did your problems start his head hung tears began coursing down his face he said about two years ago I said young man I don't know what your problems are but your real problem is you got away from this you know what your real problem is and my real problem is we've developed a worldview instead of a word view because we refuse to search perhaps up to this point now we've allowed God to search but now are we willing to search his word to find that direction for our life or are we gonna let the world all around us form our view of God and truth and right and wrong and good and bad or are we gonna come back to the strong meat that belongs to them who are a full age who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil you chase all your life after some new thing but tonight we need to do is come back to the standard

Channel: Lancaster Baptist Church

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Keywords: lancaster baptist church, lancaster baptist, baptist church, paul, chappell, paul chappell, pastor paul chappell, Dr. John Goetsch, revival, clash, culture

Id: gEd_AmDb5tA

Length: 47min 23sec (2843 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 29 2018