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The Light of Men, Pt. 3

Pt. 3, On the Mount

January 18, 2019

There Are None So... Pt. 4

March 22, 2024 • Central Baptist Church

March 22, 2024 There Are None So… Part 4, Sad This month we are playing off the theme of “There are none so…”.  For example, “There are none so blind as those who will not see!”  “There are none so deaf as those who will not hear!”  And last week, “There are none so confused as those who will not think.”  This week, we’ll consider, “There are none so sad… as those who will not RESPOND.” We all know the adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”.  It might be best if the horse drank, or even critical that the horse drinks, but regardless of what is healthy or even life-sustaining, it’s the half-ton animal that must make up its mind to do so.  We apply this parable to all kinds of human behavior and misbehavior.  Regarding the adolescent diet, “You can lead a child to broccoli, but you can’t make him eat!” Regarding the teenage student, you can legally force a boy to attend school. Still, you can’t make him learn!”  And regarding our human society, “You can convince a man of his evil, but you can’t make him repent.  This is because repentance is an act of the human “heart” and “will”.  True repentance convinces us of our sin, repudiates it, turns FROM it, and then turns TO God for forgiveness and empowerment!  True repentance is pictured by the repentant publican (in Jesus’ parable of the Praying Pharisee and Publican) who in deep contrition cried out, God be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:13). Consequently, many know they ought to eat their broccoli, to study their math, or to seek the forgiveness of God for their sinfulness… but sadly, they will not respond because of their stubborn will and pride.  They don’t want to, and they often have the attitude, “And no one can make me; not even God!” Our world has always been messed up, but it seems that today everyone competes to see just how messed up they can be!  Of course, everyone has their definition of “messed up”!  Everyone does what is right in their own eyes.  So, we need an Ultimate Standard.  And the only objective standard that exists is the standard that our Creator—Jehovah God—has provided in His written revelation to humanity: the Bible.  God’s definition of “messed up” is the only one that counts because by it He will ultimately judge every soul that has rejected His grace! The problem, according to God’s standard, is not that you are just a little messed up and I’m a lot messed up.  No, God says we are ALL totally messed up.  And because we are messed up, we are separated and alienated from Him.  And worse yet, in and of ourselves, we don’t have a fix!  We can’t pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.  God says, …all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and that the wages or payment for this sin nature is death (Romans 6:23a)!  We see the consequence of sin manifested all around us in physical death.  But the most terrifying consequence of sin is unseen to the natural eye!  It is spiritual death! And so, what will you and I do about it?  We can respond wisely like that proverbial publican who in deep anguish of soul, smote his breast, and cried out, God be merciful to me a sinner.  Or we can, like the proud Pharisee, stiffen our necks in religious self-righteousness and feel content NOT to respond.  But I want to ask just one question: How good do you have to be to EARN your way to Heaven?  God’s answer is, “You can’t earn my forgiveness… by works OR religion!”  Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8, 9, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast, and in Titus 3:5 we read,  Titus 3:3-7 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.  4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,  5 NOT by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;  6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;  7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. How ultimately sad—and dangerous—it is to recognize our dire spiritual need, and yet not respond. God bless and consider!

There Are None So... Pt. 3

March 15, 2024 • Central Baptist Church

March 15, 2024 There Are None So… Pt. 3, Confused Continuing in the theme of, “There are none so blind as those who will not see”, and “There are none so deaf as those who will not hear”, let’s move on to our third thought for this month: “There are none so confused, as those who will not think, or, a better word would be, REASON.” There is a subset of citizens on our planet who pride themselves on their supposed objectivity[1]; they call themselves “Free Thinkers”.  These “free thinkers” would also probably ally themselves with philosophical titles such as Atheist, Agnostic, Humanist, or Intellectual.  Whatever else these folks infer from the title “Free Thinker”, this one tenant would probably be first and foremost: they believe that THEY are objective, or at least attempting objectivity… and that the thinking and reasoning of a vast majority of the remainder of this planet’s citizenry, is, to some degree, perverted, clouded, or biased by subjectivity[2].  And they would most likely contend that the citizenry’s subjectivity (to whatever degree) is a function of cultural and/or religious “bias”. But the problem with this argument is that everyone—even the so-called “Free Thinker”—is biased!  No human being can be 100% objective.  Everyone looks at the world, at life, at ethics, and at morality, and they form ideas, opinions, and conclusions based upon a baseline set of preconceived ideas and/or human reasoning.  We call this a filter, a worldview, or a paradigm.  Cartoonist Dan Leitha[3] pictured this “bias” as Worldview Goggles (see the cartoon on page 2).  As we mature intellectually, we build this set of “Worldview Goggles”, and we wear them freely, using them as an interpretive filter to make sense of our world. The “Free Thinking” atheist, agnostic, or Humanist starts every quest, whether it be scientific or ideologic, with a baseline set of conditions: 1) there is no Creator; 2) everything came from nothing, and 3) life started by accident and Darwinian evolution can be the only allowable answer for the myriad of lifeforms on our planet.  We will call this the “No God” or “Natural” set of “goggles” (a Natural worldview). The born-again Christian looks at the same set of data (cosmology, geology, biology, ethics, and morality), but through a set of “goggles” that we will label “God’s Word”, i.e., a Biblical worldview. Yes, every human being forms his/her own set of worldview goggles; pure objectivity is an impossibility.  There is no such thing as the “blank slate” concept.  A child growing up in a home and culture shaped by a Deistic faith-set will usually be influenced by that Deistic faith-set.  A child growing up in an atheistic faith-set will usually be influenced by that atheistic faith-set.  No human can grow up totally isolated from an ideology. If we truly are driven by a goal of objectivity, then we will be honest and admit that Atheism, Agnosticism, and Humanism are just other forms of religion, when “religion” is defined as a faith-set or dogma.  Yes, atheists operate by faith!  None of their baseline assumptions can be proven scientifically or even logically supported!  Consider these premises, 1.     “No God?”.  How can you prove or disprove that? 2.     “Everything came from nothing?”  This is a logical impossibility unless you invoke a Supreme Being that SPOKE the Universe into existence. 3.     “Darwinian evolution?”  This hypothesis has never been scientifically demonstrated, the fossil stratas do not support it, and even our coarse understanding of biology and life itself precludes “evolution” as a ludicrous joke! All of the Naturalist’s baseline tenants must be accepted by faith and in this instance, blind faith, i.e., faith with no foundation, and sadly, hopeless faith. If human beings want to find and know The Truth, it is available and obvious to all.  It is available to all who would stop and consider, think, and REASON!  Our Creator isn’t afraid of our questions, in fact, He begs us to ask, to seek, to search, and then to find!  God, through the prophet Isaiah, cried out to his people, Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD… (Isaiah 1:18).  And through the prophet Moses our Creator invited his people to consider!  Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else (Deuteronomy 4:39).  God built his Human creation with not only an innate knowledge of ethics and morality but with an innate knowledge of God’s very Triune existence!  The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans… Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.  20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse… (Romans 1:19, 20).  God says that with a mind that is open to The Truth and is honest in its reasoning, we can look at the Triune Universe—we can look at the trinity of space, time, and matter—and understand the Trinity of the Godhead![4]  This is amazing! Those who are truly wise will look, consider, think, and reason.  And when they consider God’s proclamation in Isaiah 45:22—Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else—they will bow the knee!  They will admit that the “rational man”, the “thinking man”, the “reasoning man” is a man of Biblical faith and that he is the climax creation of a loving God Who came as a man so that He might redeem us from the curse of our rebellion. God bless and consider!                                                                         [1] In regard to a person’s judgment — not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.  Synonyms include impartial, unbiased, unprejudiced, nonpartisan, disinterested, neutral, even-handed, equitable, fair-minded, open-minded, and etc. [2] In regard to a person’s judgment — influenced by personal feelings, tastes, and opinions, which in turn come from one’s social environment, i.e., culture, religion, and etc. [3] Leitha, Dan.  Worldview Goggles.  October 1, 2008.  Published in Answers Magazine, Answers in Genesis.  https://answersingenesis.org/media/cartoons/let-there-be-truth/worldview-goggles/ [4] Morris, Henry M. III. The Triune Universe.  Institute for Creation Research.  http://www.icr.org/article/triune-universe/

There are None So... Pt. 2

March 8, 2024 • Central Baptist Church

March 8, 2024 There Are None So… Pt. 2, Deaf Continuing in the theme of, “There are none so… blind”, I want to consider another gift of God: the sense of hearing.  Solomon wrote, The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them(Proverbs 20:12).  And just like there are none so blind as those who will not see (the obvious), I suggest that we can also assert, “There are none so deaf, as those who will not hear (obviously speaking of God’s wisdom) and then DO or IMPLEMENT it!”  In this installment, I want to discuss a common ailment that plagues all of the human race: that tendency to ignore advice, roll our eyes at instruction, and stiffen our necks when admonished.                                             Human beings—ALL human beings—have a problem with self-will, self-importance, and self-knowledge (i.e., what we think we know)!  We think we know what is best, we want to do things our way, and woe to the person or being who gets in our way!  Truly, one of the most valuable achievements of life is to learn enough humility and wisdom—or at the very least, temporary acquiescence—to follow good advice, to learn from those who have walked the path before us, and to obey our authorities.  But admittedly, it is also one of the most difficult lessons to learn… because we are prideful! God says that the causative agent of every problem ever faced by the human race, has been a prideful heart, a willful soul that will not listen to instruction.  Solomon wrote, Only by pride cometh contention…(Proverbs 13:10).  That word contention means a quarrel, fight, or conflict.  We all tend to live by the mantra that Sinatra made famous, “I did it my way!”  We all, by our very nature, tend to close our ears when given advice that is contrary to our way of thinking, to stiffen our necks when we are instructed, and to outright rebel when we are corrected or disciplined. God’s books of wisdom literature (Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Psalms) are chock-full of admonitions to hearinstruction.  But the Hebrew word translated “hear” as a command, means much more than just to listen politely and then go about to consider your options.  No, the word shaw-mah´ literally means “to hear intelligently”, with the implication that there should be obedience.  There are 11 scriptures alone in the book of Proverbs where God commands us to HEAR (listen to) our authorities and DO (implement) their instruction.  Here are a few… Prov 1:5  A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels… Prov 1:8  My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother… Prov 4:1  Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. Prov 4:10  Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. God hates the pride that causes us to shun and ignore wise instruction!  The Preacher wrote, These sixthings doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:  17 A proud look… (Prov 6:16, 17).  Pride is the first thing mentioned; it is public enemy #1!  God hates pride because it will destroy us in this life AND in the life to come!  It is pride that will prevent us from entering into that Heavenly rest that Jesus has prepared for all who will bow their knee and cry out in humble faith for His divine forgiveness. Therefore, we are wise to HEAR and obey the admonitions of all of our God-ordained authorities, but especially the admonitions of our Creator and Owner!  Jesus will either be our Judge or our Redeemer/Savior; it depends upon whether or not we will LISTEN!  Our Creator cries out, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else (Isaiah 45:22). So, we have heard God’s admonition and warning.  The only question that remains is, “What will we do with it?”    God bless and consider!