How Do We Know Right from Wrong?

[Music] while we were in Australia we learned that they're spending 128 million dollars at this time the government on a non-binding referendum that's taking place to decide whether to accept same-sex marriage I think that all of us know that the way the world is going the spirit that's behind this movement that it will eventually be the law of the land in Australia as it is in almost all the Israelitish nations around the world it's amazing how the Gentile nations are more righteous in some of these areas not in every area but in some of these areas then then the Gentiles and the Israelites it's not an irrelevant question to ask what makes an action right or wrong I think all of us know the answer to that however sometimes it does as well to think about it and to meditate on it and to consider it because sometimes we forget and our actions what it is that makes an action right or wrong is it human reason now you know that it's not human reason but not everybody does I've read a few of the quotes I'm going to give you today this one I know I've given in the past some place either in writing or a telecast or perhaps here but Edmunds handbook to the history of Christianity says the ancient world had a great respect for tradition and precedent especially in religion Christianity seemed to be quite new so this set a serious stumbling block the Christian writers tried to overcome this problem by demonstrating that the faith had centuries-old roots in Israel it certainly did and in the wisdom of Greek philosophers Justin Martyr wrote quote Christ is the logos in whom every race of man shared those who lived in accordance with logos true reason nor as defining logos as true reason our Christians even though they were regarded as atheists for example Socrates and Hera Cletus among the Greeks so you are a true Christian if you know how to reason properly according to Justin Martyr Thomas Paine published a series of pamphlets titled the age of reason these were published in three sections 1794 95 and 1807 Thomas Paine was a deist he believed in God but he rejected to organized religion and when I say organized religion he rejected Christianity he rejected the Bible but looked to reason as the answer and he advocated that reason should replace revelation that revelation was not the answer but reason not all that far from Justin Martyr except that Justin Martyr was talking about Christianity and Thomas Paine was talking about the natural order of things that God created certain natural laws and that all kinds of religions as long as you believe in God in a deity a higher power that somehow you were okay now when we use the expression here's what I think which we often do don't we in reality we are looking to true human reason here's what I think and what I think really isn't all that important is what God thinks it's important but so often as human beings we look to our own human reason to determine certain things now it's not human reason is right or wrong determined by majority vote well it seems that that is the way that many people conduct their lives as an example going to bed with someone before marriage everybody's doing it so it must be okay and even within the Church of God we find that this is sometimes a problem now I'm not trying to make people feel bad who have made that mistake and have repented but I mention this to try to help all of us to avoid that and other sins but it does seem that people are not as adverse to that as they might have otherwise been because everybody's doing it when nobody's doing it there's a certain social tendency to avoid certain problems but when everybody's doing it well it must be okay at least many of our young people think that way but I've noticed over the years that older people have the approach that fornication is okay because I'm an adult it's kind of like going to an adult bookstore or adult movie place but after a certain age that that law doesn't apply it was really written for teenagers I've noticed that a long time ago that sometimes older people think that it's okay because they're more mature so is right and wrong determined by majority vote or is it determined by political correctness now I've put this as a separate category because it involves human reason and majority vote but this human reason and this majority vote is imposed by force by a small elite group that determines what is right thinking and what is wrong the media the educational institutions various individuals in our society have determined what is right and what is wrong and they call it political correctness or we refer to it everybody decries political correctness but how often do we go along with it I've quoted this at different occasions particularly ladies do not have it I really strongly recommend it it's called unprotected I have one of the early editions because it is anonymous MD the author's is Miriam Grossman she's a psychiatrist or was a psychiatrist at UCLA one of the most prestigious universities in North America or the world but she wrote anonymously because she knew that she wouldn't have a job very long if it was known what she was saying and it's a tremendous book and I only want to read a little bit on political correctness there's so many good quotes in here but try to stay to the subject she writes you probably didn't know what some insider psychologists are now revealing that psychology psychiatry and Social Work has been captured by an ultra liberal agenda and that there are special interest mafias in our national organizations likely you didn't hear that certain points of view are squelched that there are horror stories of shunning and intimidation and that many will not speak up fearing ridicule vicious attack or loss of tenure or stature a past president of the American Psychiatric Association and a book about this alarming situation wrote I lived through the McCarthy era and the Hollywood witch hunts and as abominable as these were there was not the incipio sense of intellectual intimidation that currently exists under political correctness then she writes a little bit later hmm excuse me yes the University and my department were committed to the principles of diversity and multiculturalism this commitment was plastered all over our policy statements but somehow through the years I got the sense that the diversity that I represented wasn't the same type to which they were so profoundly committed so you can understand why she would write that anonymously especially when you read the rest of it it's an easy no it's a small book kind of book I liked when I was young small fairly large print not that many words on a page and just absolutely dynamite for I think every young lady should read that fellow's too but especially our ladies and it's written from a woman's perspective and many of the issues or women's issues but today political correctness defines how you are to think and act it's okay to be intolerant of traditional or biblical values but not the politically correct values and through PC it is censorship by force in sheep's clothing of tolerance and openness yet on the Word of God the Bible we're taught that the objective standard of right and wrong is the law of God the very thing that human reason majority view and political correctness are trying to replace and destroy the question what makes an action right or wrong is relevant even to those of us in the church and here's why first of all God warns against human reason some of these scriptures are quite familiar to us proverbs 14:12 this is passage of Scripture that I cut my teeth on you might say that many of us who were in the church years ago cut our teeth on it was something that we memorized that we understood it was a part of our thinking there's a way that seems right to a man but it's end is the way of death and that's repeated in chapter 16 and verse 25 there's a way that seems right it seems like the thing to do I reminded of the fellow that the minister walked into services one day this was back in worldwide days and he was telling me about it he walked into the services and the local deacon there handing him a paper said have you seen this well he hadn't seen it but what it was the headlines on the front page of the local newspaper was man moons Church and the man that mooned the church was a church member and it was a Sunday morning and I guess he was he was driving down the street with some friends and he he mooned the church I think most of you know what mooning is if you don't ask your neighbor after services and if the minister is relating it to me he confronted the fella and asked him and he said well it just seemed like the thing to do it's a way that seems right it just seemed like the thing to do how often do we do something because it seems like the thing to do and then he said he wasn't really very repentant he could tell he wasn't repentant because he said well sir it wasn't really it wasn't like a full moon it was more like a half moon so anyway it seemed like the thing to do and yet proverbs tells us that the things that seem right end in death ultimately we're all so familiar with Jeremiah the 17th chapter specifically verse 9 but I want to read a little bit earlier Jeremiah 17 beginning in verse 5 says thus says the Lord cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength whose heart departs from the Lord or the eternal verse 6 Jeremiah 17 verse 6 for he shall be like a shrub in the desert and shall not see when good comes but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a salt land which is not inhabited blessed is the man who trusts in the eternal and whose hope is the eternal for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters which spreads out its roots by the river and will not fear when heat comes but it's leaf will be green it will not be anxious in the year of drought nor cease from yielding fruit and then verse 9 we're familiar with this the heart the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it I the eternal search the heart I test the mind even to give every man according to his ways according to the fruit of his doings so God tells us not to trust in ourselves notice also in the tenth chapter of Jeremiah Jeremiah 10 this should be familiar to us as well it says Oh eternal verse 23 Jeremiah 10:23 Oh a journal I know the way of man is not in himself it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps Oh eternal correct me but with justice not in your anger lest you bring me to nothing do we realize that it's not within us to know how to direct our own steps Jeremiah was the one who made this statement and I don't think that we have anything at all over Jeremiah if he didn't know how to direct his steps do we this is why this whole question of what's right and what is wrong is so important because we must look to the right source in making our decisions in Proverbs a third chapter proverbs 3 beginning in verse 5 proverbs 3 verse 5 it says trust and Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding don't look to your own human reasoning in other words in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths do not be wise in your own eyes fear the eternally depart from evil it will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones these are powerful words when you think about it they're very meaningful words but they're only meaningful if we allow them to be a part of us if we internalize them so the first reason that it's relevant to those of us in the church is that God warns us against human reason now the second reason is that it's relevant because the world does affect our thinking it really does affect our thinking think back on lot God called lot righteous righteous lot and yet when you look at some of the things that Lott did we would be horrified today to do the things that he did we have two nations that were created because of an incestuous relationship he allowed himself to get drunk and have relations with his daughters they put him up to it but still he allowed that to happen the give you three examples of things that I've heard many members buy into three examples of things in fact I probably offend a few people because you've heard it so long and so many times and if you hear a lie long enough loud enough you begin to believe it and we take some things as true this even though we've never thought through what is being said by society around us we've all heard that alcoholism is a disease now to challenge that is really to put yourself in a category of not living in reality I'd like to converted first John one first John one and some might say well why why even take this on because there's so many people that just simply believe it because that's what they've heard all of their lives but think about what is the meaning of disease and what is being talked about here in first John 1 and verse 8 it says if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us now what I like to go to on this is the new Bible Commentary revised because it has a very interesting statement about this verse it says sin is something that persists it clings to the sinner when we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us but to say such an obviously false thing as that we have no sin excludes the possibility of the truths dwelling in us and then this has been I've quoted this and of times in a Bible study on the book of first John this has relevance for the modern man who says that sin is a disease or a weakness and claims that is due to heredity environment necessity or the like so that he regards it as his fate not his fault such a man deceives himself now when someone falls into drunkenness to the point of what we call an alcoholic we might say whether their actions are sick or whatever but the problem is that we find more and more in our society that it's not your fault it's not your fault there was an individual who whose defense when he was fired from my believe was the US Postal Service was that he had compulsive tardiness syndrome showed up late for work all the time wasn't his fault because he had a disease a tardiness syndrome compulsive I remember living up in Asheville and they had an advertisement this was back in the 80s and they had an advertisement from some Hospital do you overeat it's not your fault and oliver's gluttony is a disease and more and more it's not our fault the opiate opiate problem that we have in our culture today has been labeled a disease do people need treatment I would say they probably do but it's a way of saying it's really not your fault if you're an alcoholic is because of heredity now it is true that individuals have different weaknesses and proclivities please understand we're not saying that that's not the case but still there's a decision that has to be made concerning these things and there are people that make decisions not to do certain things because they realize they can't handle things so they stay away from them but the meaning of the days of unleavened bread is that sin is bondage and then we must come out of that bondage the bondage of Egypt and it's not always easy to do so but there are truths that are missed because we've been taught this so long that we accept that a person who drinks too much is an alcoholic and therefore he's is because of a disease it's not his fault he's caught a disease somehow it's his background and again there are some people that are more prone to one sin or another but sin is sin let me give you another example something that we buy into and I thankfully there are voices that have spoken out against it but that is the example of the self-esteem movement now I understand that the term may be used in an OK manner even our child Buckley uses it but tries to point out the balance between encouraging and the self-esteem movement which is just to build somebody up unjustly how often do we hear such things as you can't love others until you first love yourself I dare say probably some in this room have said that well you can't learn you can't love others till you first love yourself what does the Bible say let's go to Ephesians the fifth chapter Ephesians 5 all of these things have legs they have consequences and when we buy the product that is deceptive it does affect our thinking and our actions in Ephesians 5 notice verse 28 it says so husband's ought to love their own wives as their own bodies he who loves his wife loves himself for no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it just as the Lord does the church now what we see here is that we are to love our wives first of all and the other will take care of itself by loving our wives we're loving ourselves there's a different order it really this is one of those things that I had a very difficult time figuring it out because I had bought into the self-esteem movement everybody it was the mantra of the day 30 years ago and then I moved to a particular area and everybody was talking about their self-esteem and they had this club to build their self-esteem and that Club to build their self-esteem they had a Poetry Club they had I should have brought that letter I didn't think of it but I had a not a letter but a pawn this woman had written for the Poetry Club and he said you know it's something like you build me up when I am down you give me strength when I'm weak you do this you do that you do all these sort of things you are this thing we call self esteem and giving credit to self love instead of God instead of looking to God and what I found with all the people that got hung up in the self-esteem movement was that their their whole lives were in the tank part of the reason is that they're depending on other people to build them up and when you have a child for example we we know that the Bible tells us not to discourage our children it tells us in fact here in chapter 6 verse 1 children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth and you father's do not provoke your children to wrath but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord as fathers we should we should lift our children up we should hold them up we should encourage them but when they do wrong we shouldn't tell them that's okay we shouldn't have them do stupid things to build their self-esteem as one young fellow cut a couple of lightening rods and his hair you know shaved at certain ways and when I asked him why well help my self-esteem we had all kinds of problems amongst people and a lot of that is because they they're depending on others to lift them up now you can give Johnny all the self esteem in the world but if it doesn't have anything to back it up what is he going to do when he gets into the real world his employer doesn't care about his self-esteem he just you know it's concerned whether the job gets done this notice first Timothy three first Timothy three this is what God tells us about our end time I'm sorry second Timothy second Timothy three this is what God says of the latter days the last days verse one but know this that in the last days perilous dangerous times will come why why is it that these times will be that way he says for men will be lovers of themselves now we all love ourselves but it's talking about obviously something that is abnormal something that is exaggerated and we have a whole society where we spend all of our time trying to build people's self-esteem and again there's a there's a balance in this as the childbearing booklet brings out to you you you you try to build people up but you don't do it artificially Mill will be lovers of themselves lovers of money boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents you know they've done studies and found that people in prison don't lack self-esteem they're doing just fine when it comes to self esteem they think a lot of themselves notice verse three unloving they love themselves but what about others do they love others when we love others and we do what is right the self esteem takes care of itself we feel good about ourselves when we do something right you feel good about yourself don't you when you do something wrong you feel bad and you should feel bad but the idea that we can just build people up make them feel good about themselves tell them they're wonderful they're great when they're not he's not working or creating a lot of narcissistic people in our society so that's something to think about one thing I've learned over the years is that when the whole world is on the bandwagon is probably time to get off and some of these things that seem so absolutely certain in the long run they don't always prove to be so now a third example of how it affects the church I've already mentioned is that something that fornication is okay because everyone's doing it so that's why sometimes it's important to look at these things what is the standard for right and wrong today we're looking at to answer that question what makes an action right or wrong now it seems obvious to many of us may not be obvious to everyone in this room and certainly not the majority in the world Jesus summed up the law and two statements sermonette actually kind of went along with this in so many ways or was this going along with the sermonette Matthew the 22nd chapter Matthew 22 and verse 37 36 teacher what is the great commandment of the law Matthew 22:37 jesus said to that to him you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind this is the first and the great commandment and the second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two Commandments hang all the law and the prophets now don't you think that Jesus should have said love yourself first but he didn't say that did he he didn't say that I'm trying to think in the Bible where does it say love yourself it really doesn't it says that no man ever hated him himself but wouldn't you think that if self-esteem getting back to that subject again if it's so important that God would have said something about it the closest he says about it is fathers don't discourage your children and you can you can beat your children down to the point where they have no more spirit in them it's important to give them encouragement to help them to to do things well so they do have a good feeling about themselves in the right way but it says you shall love God with all your heart and you shall love your neighbor as yourself he inspired this wisdom many centuries earlier because Jesus is the God of the Old Testament one who became Jesus Christ and so if we go back to Deuteronomy the sixth chapter we find that he knew the words that were written in the book and verse five he says verse four it says hear o Israel the Lord our God that the Lord is one you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength so Jesus was quoting from the Old Testament that he had originally inspired in Leviticus the nineteenth chapter Leviticus 19 and verse 18 it says you shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself I am the eternal that's Leviticus 19:18 but what is it that goes before that statement well let's just pick it up here in verse 9 it says when you reap the harvest of your land you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest but you shall not glean your vineyard and you shall not glean your vineyard nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger I am the eternal your God so it's giving us instruction of caring for the poor and what is interesting about this it is saying that if you have a field where you are planting wheat or barley or something like that leave the corners of the field leave the edges there for the poor that they can come in and glean and it's such a different world isn't it from our world today at that time if they rapport they still went out and they had to glean they had to work for their food but it was made possible for them to do so when I was living up in Asheville again we had a fella that raised apples apple orchards and so when he came into church he understood this and so he invited the people out to the orchard to the members that they could glean from those that were left behind and a few people came out and they were thankful for it the next year he let the people know again and people tell them well can't you just bring a bag yourself they didn't want to have to actually do the work because they had to drive there spend the money to get there and one thing another and so they were wanting him to give him freebies but not follow what the scriptures say and so eventually he stopped doing it nobody really wanted to take him up on it you shall not steal nor deal falsely verse 11 nor lie to one another and you shall not swear by my name falsely nor shall you profane the name of your God I am the eternal I gave a sermon on that some years ago that God is the standard he sets a standard verse 13 you shall not cheat your neighbor nor rob him the wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning in a society where they normally were paid on a daily basis apparently that's the way it was at that time I remember down in South Africa one time one of the fellows had some agriculture there and we were outside and talking and and one of his workers came up and pulled him aside and he and found out later that he needed a cash advance or at least and for that day so the the individual went in his house got some money came out and gave him the money he didn't withhold those wages that the man was earning realizing that there was a situation where some people are not very good money managers they just need extra help he was following I think the scripture here now in general our society we get paid once a week once every two weeks once every or twice a month sometimes once a month over in England they they get paid once a month that's the kind of the standard over there it takes a little getting used to but it's done differently but the point is if someone has worked for something and needs the money then you take care of that since you shall not cheat your neighbor nor um rob him verse 14 you shall not curse the death nor put a stumbling block before the blind but you shall fear your God I am the eternal in other words if someone is blind you don't put a rock or something cause them to stumble and then have a big laugh about it it's talking about actions here verse 15 you shall do no injustice in judgment you shall not be partial to the poor nor honor the person of the mighty in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor so you don't judge somebody because of who they are in the terms of maybe their their wealthy and so ok stick it to him or someone is poor and cannot defend himself very well so you stick it to him no we are to judge righteous judgment you shall not go about as a tail bearer or a gossiper among your people nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor I am the eternal you shall not hate your brother in your heart you shall surely rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him you shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself I am the eternal now notice that in that passage about loving our neighbor what we find here is that is based on actions it's not a feeling that we have but it's the actions that we have we see from all this that the end result of the law is love and that love is how we treat one another now and not how others make us feel now does this mean that we must accept every act and every behavior that somebody has and be supportive of it well I think we know the answer that why is loving God loving neighbor right why is it right to love God and love our neighbor why why did God give us his law what is it what is the purpose of the law and I say at the eighth chapter Isaiah 8 says when they say to you verse 19 seek those who are mediums or wizards who whisper and mutter should not a people seek their God should they seek the dead on behalf of the living to the law in the testimony if they do not speak according to this word it is because there is no light in them there's no light in them if they're not speaking according to the law or according to God's Word now it's interesting that it says there's no light in them it doesn't say that there's no truth in them because the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has both good and evil it might have some truth but it's got a twist to it doesn't it so often when you watch the news and you see people carrying into one another they tell a truth but then they mix it with an untruth and so the end result is that it's all a lie there's no light we're not going to be enlightened we have religion today that does way with the law of God and yes there may be some good things that are happening but in the end were not brought into light we're left in darkness notice psalm 119 psalm 119 and verse 105 very familiar passage for many of us says your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path if we don't have a lamp or light and we're walking along a path at night what happens we stumble we fall we injure ourselves and God's word is a lamp it shows us the right way proverbs 6 proverbs 6 and verse 20 proverbs 6 and verse 20 so if my son keep your father's command and do not forsake the law of your mother bind them continually upon your heart tie them around your neck so the commands are our fathers the laws that our mothers give us they'll bind them continually upon your heart and tie them around your neck when you roam they will lead you when you sleep they will keep you and when you awake they will speak with you for the commandment is a lamp and the law is light the law a light reproofs of instruction are the way of life God's law lights the way it shows us the way that we should live I gave a telecast up in Canada one time on what was it a particular airline that crashes fifty percent of the time now how many people would fly on an airline if you knew that you had a 50-50 chance of a crashing I don't think we'd want to would we even if we're twenty five percent chance I wouldn't want to fly on it or 10 percent chance we fly because we have a certain amount of confidence that we're going to arrive safely Cameron what I called that can't uh like something the crash airline or whatever was but anyway we wouldn't do that would we but how many people live their lives violating the laws of God when the results of that are going to be a crash we we have certain ways of dating today as an example but if you look at our dating practices what what's the end result of them there's more than just the dating part of it but when we look at marriage today the way that we approach marriage the roles in marriage the the whole panorama of what marriage is today how many succeed how many failed it is encouraging that we have many people who have been who are in the church who have been married thirty and forty and fifty and sixty years now they're quite a few actually however when you look at the world as a whole especially in the United States right now and some of the other is realized countries it's somewhere between forty and fifty percent failure and it would be higher if people bothered to get married now this should tell us that something is wrong that something is not working very well and you would think that people would make an adjustment I think I talked about that or the program a scientific approach toward morality if we looked at morality and we looked at the evidence we'd say that what we're doing is not working we wouldn't fly in a plane like that but we live our lives ready to crash this Opa Opa Opa a damn it epidemic as they call it do you realize it's killing more people every year than we lost in the entirety of Vietnam the whole time 50 some odd thousand people are dying mostly from overdosing on illegal drugs but some of it is prescribed by doctors and people become dependent upon it I personally know an individual that died because of it and how many people are there out there it's a terrible scourge on our society but why do people take them they somehow think they can beat the odds but nevertheless if we obey God's law there would be no penalty there we would not miss out on something scripture reveals that the true source of this light is God in Christ let's notice over in John the 1st chapter John 1 and this begin in well we'll begin in verse 1 in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God he was in the beginning with God all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made verse 4 in him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it in other words that were the word the spokesman the logos is a light it's a light to the world Christ it's a very character was a light for mankind the light shines in the darkness and the darkness that is the world the ways of the world the people the world did not comprehend it they did not comprehend this light and then it says that there was a man sent from God whose name was John this man came for a witness to bear witness of the light to bear witness of Christ who is the light that all through him might be believe he was not that light John was not but was sent to bear witness of that light that was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world Jesus Christ very life his very character what he is is the light he was the one that inspired the law he was one that lives by the law or lived well lived by the law and is continuing to live by the law in us if we are yielding to him notice the connection that we find in the book of first John between light and law and the source of that light turn over to first John the first chapter and we'll begin in verse five it says this is the message which we heard from him and declared you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth but if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us but if we confess our sins verse 9 he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness now we see that he is the light that Jesus Christ is the light and if we have fellowship with him we're going to walk in light we're going to walk as he walked notice it in second chapter beginning of verse three very familiar verses now by this we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments he who says I know him and does not keep his Commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him but whoever keeps his word truly the love of God is perfected into him by this we know that we are in him he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked now if he is the light we are to walk just as he walked not only does the light show us the way but we see that this is the very character of God the law of God expounds upon the very character of God brethren I write no new commandment to you but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning the old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning again a new commandment I write to you which thing is true in him and you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining and then it tells us that he who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now he who loves his brother abides in the light and there's no cause of for stumbling in him but he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he's going because the darkness has blinded his eyes you see God as it tells us in the fourth chapter and verse 8 his love he who does not love does not know God for god is love now as we've already seen to love our neighbor requires actions it's what we do we don't put a stumbling block in front of the blind I don't think that most of us are guilty of that hopefully nobody's guilty of that but there are people like that out there that are willing to do that or someone who may not be as mentally bright as the average person will make fun of them we may not put a stumbling block in front of the blind but do we make fun of people who may not be totally there yet children can be cruel in that way they really can be and we need to make sure that we work with our children so that they they don't fall into that trap that they're not that way that they stand up for the weak instead of making fun of the weak it's repeated down in verse 16 and we have known and believed the love that God has for us god is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God and him so let me summarize this a little bit right from wrong is determined by what God is it isn't just that God is telling us to do this simply because he decided that well this is a way that I can persecute people I can make life hard on them make it difficult for them I mean certainly our children think that of us sometimes don't they they think that mom or dad is just trying to make life hard on them when in reality we're trying to protect them and when we look at the light which is Jesus Christ his example his life the law is a reflection of God is telling us what God is it is protecting us from ourselves and it's showing us a better way God teaches us about himself through his law God is love and his law teaches us what it means to love he is a standard of right and wrong not only because he is the creator and ruler of all that is but because his nature sets the very standard for us now in light of this let's look at some big questions facing our world today and the time that we have left and these are things that I think that most of us are aware of but we have to remind especially our young people but I think everybody in general that it is a standard the law of God that determines things I was out in Newfoundland for example had given a tramonto of presentation and I was invited over to a man's house to talk to them and I found out I think after I accept the invitation he was a United minister from the United Church of Canada not the United Church of God but the United Church of Canada and it was very educational experience because he asked me what I thought about homosexuality and I referred to the Bible what it says and then he proceeded to explain how he knew somebody who had committed suicide who was of that persuasion and one thing another and he began to use human reason to explain to me his thoughts about the subject and although I knew academically that the ministry of this world doesn't see things the same way we do and that they use human reasoning it was just interesting to see it firsthand it was an education for me now homosexuality and same-sex marriage is being shoved down the throats of our children and and mankind in general and it's amazing how many adults have no problem with this I was watching the news one morning in I don't remember where it was he was either New Zealand or Australia and Dolly Parton was on there and hugs Australia is where it was now remember because the question of same-sex marriage is hot in their minds at this time and so they asked her a lot of different things and point out that she has a faith-based life the things that she does some of the charities that she has and everything is based on faith in other words religion her Christianity its although the question was asked what she thought about this subject and she said well she just believed and live and let live and what's wrong with love as long as there's more love in the world human reason and I think that sometimes even in our teenagers for sure in some cases if they're in public schools but even adults sometimes don't realize just how bad these things are because they think that well it doesn't affect but it does it does affect you we heard some interesting things from the members over there some of the members were reporting the kind of intimidation that they have at work to cast their opinion as yes and there are businesses that let the their employees know that that's what's expected of them when you see government buildings with the rainbow flag being flown a government building which should be neutral in that case it tells you that there's a certain there's certainly they're promoting it I just want to read a couple scriptures simply because if we don't you've been told we're being told all the time that the bible does not condemn this practice and yet in leviticus 18 and we've quoted this a number of times in our publications and verse 22 you shall not lie with a male as with a woman it's an abomination now there are a lot of other abominations in 18th chapter here incest and adultery and fornication all those things are listed here and it talks about how if we fall into that you know do those things that God is going to vomit us out of the land just as he vomited the previous inhabitants out of land that doesn't sound very encouraging and that's rather interesting when you think about Laodicea later sins may not be guilty of the sin but they may be amenable to support it or at least not condemn it now in the twentieth chapter verse 13 this is a verse that we we do not quote on our programs simply because in this verse is considered hate literature so I'm presenting this to you and showing you why and his hate literature in that context verse 13 of Ludacris 20 says if a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman both of them have committed an abomination now that part is fine well there's not fine but it can get away with it but the part that becomes hate literature is they shall surely be put to death their blood shall be upon them and that's considered stirring up hatred and violence against people who commit these sins so we have to be wise as serpents and careful how we approach some of these things Romans the 1st chapter we're all familiar with Romans 1 and I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this however let's just notice that it talks about those who knew God did not glorify Him as God nor we're thankful but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened they profess themselves be wise verse 22 they became fools we read in verse 18 or we could read that these individuals suppress the truth and unrighteousness and so as a result God gives them up to uncleanness verse 24 to dishonour themselves among themselves and verse 26 for this reason God gave them up to vile passions for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature also men leaving the natural use of the woman burned their lust for one another men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due and there are penalties natural penalties that come upon people who commit these sins they would like to talk about love but they don't want to talk about the actual practice and the result of those practices and then it lists all these different sin God gave them over to a debased mind in verse 28 a mind void of judgment a deranged mind and then it lists all these sins and verse 32 it says who knowing the righteous judgment of God that those who practice such things are discerning observing of death not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them those who approve of those practices those who accept those things now we're not to go out there obviously and start doing harm to people that's a little natural consequences we'll do plenty of harm and God will deal with them and someday but we are not to sit back and approve of these things today they have the lgbtt iqq to si+ movement lesbian gay bisexual transsexual transgendered intersexual queer questioning too spirited and allies and then they put a plus at the end of it simply because they keep adding letters new behaviors Szilagyi me or you marry yourself then there's a fellow that married his computer you can't make some of this stuff up people marry themselves and they actually have friends it'll come and celebrate with them do we buy the propaganda that people are born this way it is propaganda we could read first Corinthians the sixth chapter verse 9 and 10 where it's visiting you the homosexuals nor sodomites will inherit the kingdom of God along with others will not be a part of the kingdom of God what about abortion abortion is another one I'll just refer you to the program I gave on tiny fingers and toes I things a lot of information in there there are people in the church who have had abortions sometimes as teenagers I don't know about adults but I do know young adults get themselves in trouble and so they compound one sin upon another people often bring up the subject of rape and incest and that's really not the issue in our society those are the rare cases Pam stencil is a very powerful speaker it's a woman she went to Liberty University I think she's probably a Baptist minister I don't know if that absolutely but I think I'm pretty sure she is and she's very powerful speaker how many of you are familiar with Pam stencil okay number of you are she gives speeches to presentations to schools to church groups to young people mostly on why fornication is wrong and the the consequences of it and it's hard to listen to her not be affected by what she says she is just a very very unique speaker and she talks a little bit about abortion and she spends a little bit of time on the subject of of rape and she describes an individual a young lady up in the state of Michigan who was raped and was pregnant as a result of the rape she chose to have the child even though it was after Roe V versus Wade she could have had a legal quote legal abortion but she chose to have the child and to put it up to a for adoption and she did that and a nice family adopted this this child a little girl I guess say a little girl all babies are little but she she adopted had the child adopted and the child grew up she said that young girl could have had an abortion but she didn't and she said the girl that she produced or that came from her that was adopted out is me and I've heard that a number of times I've played that for people and I just get choked up every time she says it's so much better than I can but here she said I don't know who my father was and she says very strongly I did not deserve to die because of the sin of my father so it's quite a statement and yet it's always thrown up what about rape or incest in reality those are the few cases those are not the main cases but I think she answered the question quite well if you've not seen the program tiny fingers and toes I encourage you to do so what about assisted dying or Ethan Asia because that is becoming a big thing Exodus 20 verse 13 says you shall not murder but also there's a purpose even in suffering notice over in Hebrews the second chapter Hebrews 2 verses 17 and 18 says therefore in all things he that is Christ had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest of things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people for in that he himself has suffered being tempted he is able to aid those who are tempura tempted so Christ suffered not only suffered temptation but he suffered on the stake but that makes him more able to appreciate what we go through there is a purpose for suffering if you have a dog okay maybe you take that dog out of his misery if he's going to the end because he's not gonna learn much from it he's not going to be resurrected but God tells us that we should not murder and whether that's yourself or someone else we should not do so but there is a purpose through suffering notice Hebrews 5 verse 8 though he was a son yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered then we learned things through suffering it's more than just the temporary life that we're here for there are other scriptures that talk about that as well romans 8 verses 16 to 18 if you've not seen it we have something called viewpoint that is out there some programs that are put out by the canadian work and you can just go to tomorrow's world view point and we have one on assisted dying a very well presented four or five minute program giving facts about assisted dying and where is going in our world today and how there is creep it starts out one way and it's voluntary and then how more and more it is involuntary what about people who are not able to make the decision for themselves shall we do that what about recreational marijuana you know they're actually people who have asked the question well now if marijuana is legal is it okay I think I may have touched on that earlier and at the time I would encourage you to go to viewpoints tomorrowsworld.org Canada or our site here and you can find the viewpoints there's one on on that subject on marijuana and of course we have the latest magazine where the lead article there is on the subject of marijuana it'll be a two-part series and it's very relevant because July I think it's the 18th of next year it will become legal across Canada so we have it about eight states here where it's legal and I don't remember exactly the number and it will be legal across Canada so is a good idea if it's legal is it okay well it's legal to work on the Sabbath it's legal to do a lot of things that are not legal in God's sight the question being asked shows a lack of understanding some clues conclusion let's summarize God is the ruler of all things he is our Creator the one who brought us into being and the one who sustains our lives therefore he has every right to determine what is right and what is wrong but the law of God is not to make life hard on us it is a reflection of who he is and that's why when he lives his life in us through the power of the Holy Spirit he is building in us his very character he is teaching us love and so he's given us his law because it reflects his character this is why we know that there is an objective standard of right and wrong we don't have to use human reason we don't have to take a vote on it God's law spells out his character of what is right and what is wrong now I think that we need to look at these things we need to evaluate the direction of the world whether it be alcohol whether it be marijuana whether it be abortion whatever it might be whether it be self esteem we need to look at it not from what the world is teaching but from the way that God is teaching us so this is how we know what is right what is wrong and I hope we'll evaluate our own thinking it's very easy to get in the habit of human reasoning instead of accepting what God says [Music] you

Channel: Living Church of God

Views: 7,571

Rating: 4.8947368 out of 5

Keywords: sin, right from wrong, God's laws, commandments

Id: C45mfCS3l8M

Length: 73min 38sec (4418 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 05 2018