But this is gonna be the last historical overview, and then we're gonna start dealing with the antidote a little bit more today, but let's pray. Our Father, once again, we pray that the Spirit would work in us, that we would, as the Apostle Peter put it, gird up the loins of our minds, that our minds would be ready for action, and help us especially as we think about, and we really come to the strange new world that we're in right now, and as we understand it, And Lord, but don't let us get depressed by it because you tell us the light shines in the darkness and the darkness doesn't overcome the light. And so remind us of that. So make this a fruitful time, we pray. Thank you for meeting with us in worship. We ask in Christ's wonderful name. Amen. Amen. Okay. So we are in Chapter 8. For those of you visiting, we have one more copy of the book. So Dana or Rudy, if you'd like a copy of the book, you can get the one that's left. We're going through Carl Truman's Strange New World, which is an abridgment of his book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, probably with good reason. That book has won a lot of awards. It's one of the best Christian commentaries on things. I'm going to sit down. The chapter 8 is called Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. But let me, before we get to it, let me remind you, and it fits with the sermon today, in Genesis 2 and verse 18, let's In Genesis 2 and verse 18, sorry, my voice is louder, Adam and Eve are called, or Adam is called to name all of the animals. Okay, yeah, let's close the door. Called to name all of the animals, and that's significant because the power to name or the power to define is the power to control. If you don't get anything else out of this class, please get this. The power to name something, which is really the power to define something. Somehow the names of all the animals said something about them. The power to name or define is the power to control. Now this will give you a window in the present. In the past, we'll say going a lot of centuries past, okay? Just Christian past. Man's chief, we understood things vertically, okay? By and large, at least where there was Christian influence, man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. Or if you will, we understood things theologically, vertically and theologically. And that applied both individually and corporately. So there were categories of the way you thought about yourself that were related to God. And there were categories in which you thought about the state in reference to God. I'll give you some example. How do you define justice? Well, that was defined by the Word of God, by the character of God as just. How do you define love? It was defined by God's self-giving love, and even truth, right? I mean, God is truth. So there was this vertical reference in the past. Today, and that's really what we've studied in the survey of history up to chapter 8, where now the focus is horizontal and psychological, not vertical and theological. It's horizontal and psychological. It's expressive individualism, right? And that has an individual aspect, which we looked at last week, but it also has a corporate aspect that we're going to look at this week. So that's kind of the big picture. Without any doubt, the most, I want to say the most striking comment made by, in this case, by a public official, in this case by a Supreme Court Justice, Justice Anthony Kennedy, was made in 1992 in the Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood against Southeastern Pennsylvania, in which Pennsylvania's anti-abortion law was struck down. Justice Kennedy, now listen carefully to what a Supreme Court Justice of the United States said in this chapter on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Quote, at the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe and of the mystery of human life. Notice the emphasis on the right to define something. Beliefs about these matters, existence, the meaning of the universe, and the mystery of human life, beliefs about these matters could not define the attributes of personhood where they formed under compulsion of the state. And that's what's quizzical, because the state's always making some moral dictates. But the point here is, the heart of liberty is your right to define your own existence, okay? So that's the epitome of expressive individualism. So that brings us to this class. And it is the last cultural analysis in the book, Strange New World. This is from the Declaration of Independence, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Dr. Truman says, rightly, these three things, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, capture in a beautifully concise form what the dominant Western approach to what it means to be human, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And each of these is in the process of being redefined in our culture. We're going to focus on the pursuit of happiness, but just for example, life. Formerly, life had value in itself, just by virtue of the fact that it existed. And in fact, frankly, there was even a respect for the life of an animal, because the Old Testament speaks of concern for your animal, but particularly human life. Why? Because human life is the image of God. And the sixth commandment says, you shall not kill. And the death penalty does apply if someone has committed murder. Whoever sheds blood, by man his blood shall be shed, because in the image of God he made man. So that's been the historic Christian view. Again, notice it's vertical and theological. Today, without getting into all the evidence, the proof of this, personhood assumes self-consciousness and an ability to respond. And there's a utilitarian view that basically says, we need to secure the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people, and those people are those who are people because they're self-conscious, because they can respond to things, they can make decisions, they can think about things. Well, if that's true, then abortion's not a problem for you. Because a child in the mother's womb, you can say, is not self-conscious with an ability to respond. But it goes even farther than that. Not only, and it's interesting that the term that's used in some cases for abortion is a selective reduction. Why? Well, because you may have a child that's very sick, or are you really gonna be able to raise two or three children? Or do you want to raise any children at all? Greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. But now it's gotten worse. A person has dementia or advanced Alzheimer's. then there should be the right for a person to be put to death by what's called euthanasia, a good death. Why? Well, because they can't make decisions on their own. And they're just a burden to people. And we need to seek the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Now, mental illness is becoming a grounds for physician-assisted suicide. I don't know if you followed what's going on in Canada, but in 2016, an act was passed, medical assistance in dying. Ask Dr. Gaffey how she would respond to that, medical assistance in dying. This last week, It was expanded so that if a person has mental illness, however you define that, then a person can request physician-assisted suicide. Why? Because a person can't make decisions on his own. And you're looking for the greatest good for the greatest number of people. He's just a burden or she's just a burden to other people. So there's how concept of life has changed from value in itself by virtue of existence to we've got to do what's the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Liberty. Formerly liberty was freedom to do what I ought to do. There was a vertical reference, theological reference, God says you shall not or you shall. And I had freedom and I ought to have freedom to do that. That incidentally is why in America in particular we emphasize freedom of worship. People may not worship the right God, but they need to be free to do what they ought, worshiping God. Today it's changed. Now it's freedom to do what I want. Notice it's horizontal and psychological. That, incidentally, is not liberty, that's license. License is basically, no matter what form of iniquity I want, so long as it doesn't hurt somebody, and we'll deal with that in a minute, then I can do it. That's where the LGBTQ plus sexual revolution has come in, freedom to do what I want. Now, folks, a culture like, no culture, no culture, can exist with everybody doing what they want to do. It doesn't work. Our founding fathers knew, whether they were Christians or not, if you're going to have a republic where there is self-government, it's got to begin with personal self-government. If a man, if a person doesn't have control over his own spirit, he is like a city broken down without walls. And they knew if there's not self-control, There would have to be tyranny. And that's where we're heading. So that's liberty. Now, pursuit of happiness, and let's spend more time in that. Formerly, pursuit of happiness, there was free speech. unless it incited immediate violence or turmoil. The old line is, they've used the Supreme Court, you can't go in a theater and yell fire, right? Because that's going to immediately create chaos. That's not free speech. But so long as it doesn't incite immediate violence or turmoil, then you are free. Violence was physical or financial. Again, in the news. this FTX scandal and Sam Bankman Freed, that's spelled F-R-I-E-D, who is now fried because of the way he did cryptocurrency. That's violence about people's finances. It's stole. And so he didn't have that, shouldn't have had that freedom to do what he did. And just a little note, I would be careful if you get involved with cryptocurrency. Okay, I'm not saying don't do it, but be careful. All right. Now today, Freedom of speech, remember, it's not theological and vertical, it's horizontal and psychological. Now listen carefully, and there's a name connected with this. Today, it's violence and oppression if I am offended by somebody's speech. or if a predominant view perpetuates injustices and inequalities of the status quo. I'm going to say that again and then give you a name attached to it. This is where I lit up because this name was common when I was a teenager in my early years in college. It's violence and oppression. if I am offended or if a predominant view perpetuates injustices and inequality regarding the status quo. In other words, if there is, let's assume, let's say there is a certain systemic racism, okay, and there is systemic racism. Any view that would perpetuate that must not be permitted. Now, the name attached to this is Herbert Marcuse, who was a German Marxist. He lived from 1898 to 1979, and he was the leading theorist for those of us who were influenced by the New Left back in the 1960s. And basically, this is what Marcuse said as a Marxist. His key book was One Dimensional Man. It was kind of a textbook for many of us. Capitalism, or the status quo in the United States, represses opposing critical theories as a way to perpetuate oppressive and unjust systems. Capitalism, and the status quo basically in the United States, represses opposing critical theories as a way to perpetuate oppression and an unjust system. Now don't write that off. I heard an interview this week with a black teacher in Alabama. And for Black History Month, she was told there were certain black figures, like Martin Luther King, for example, that she was not to speak about. Well, that was perpetuated by, frankly, an unjust system. So don't write that off. But you've got to go further with Marcuse. To permit ideas that promote oppression and injustice is to further their perpetuation, which means that if you think a view is unjust and you permit it, you are perpetuating injustice. Is that true or false? The answer is yes and no. We should be wrestling with different ideas. Part of it is if it's a bad idea or a stupid idea, you want to hear it so you know it's bad or stupid. But Marcuse says to perpetuate ideas, to permit ideas that perpetuate oppression and injustice, is to further their perpetuation. Therefore, according to Marcuse, who was a Marxist and believed in revolution, remember campus revolutions, okay, every effort must be made to stop the affirmation and promotion of these unjust, oppressive ideas. Now, at that point, you say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. There is something called free speech. And I'll defend the right of someone to have free speech to say something that I frankly think is ridiculous. But for Marcuse, every effort must be made to stop the affirmation and promotion of these ideas. Let's stop for just a minute. The power to define is the power to control. Who is defining justice? Injustice? Fairness? Unfairness? Who's defining oppression? Who's defining violence? See? Because we've gone from vertical to horizontal. Vertical is when I treat other people, regardless of skin color, as made in God's image. That's vertical, and it's theological. Horizontal is, you offend me by your speech, and that's oppressing me. This, folks, is the root of so-called woke culture. I'm awakened to how I've oppressed people. Cancel culture certain views are not permitted in college campuses or in other forums and even critical race theory which has basically our whole view of Race in the United States right from the beginning has been wrong Now if you want a contemporary example, he had contemporary examples every week the so-called Twitter files and and the suppression of views that were not acceptable to the previous Twitter establishment. That's cancel culture. Or, from a couple weeks ago, from 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act, which said marriage is between one man and one woman, and that needs to be acknowledged in all the states. To the Respect for Marriage Act, which is really the Disrespect for Marriage Act, 2022, every state must recognize same-sex marriage. So you see, this is how we've gotten to the strange new world. Now here's the turmoil today in every level of society, and let me finish this and we'll start with the antidote, and then I know you're going to have questions and comments. The turmoil today in every level of society, tolerance is not enough because it doesn't affirm the identity or the lifestyle of what a person believes is wrong. Okay, this is the modern view. Tolerance is not enough because it doesn't affirm the identity or the lifestyle of what a person believes is wrong. And that becomes an assault on my personhood. I see how you're going from person as made in God's image, which could be warped by sin, to my personhood as my own personal identity. And at this point, your eyes are probably glazing over, and you say, well, what significance is that? Well, again, this is from the news this past week. Federal court rejects a challenge from female athletes, biologically female athletes, to a Connecticut transgender sports policy. Four female, biologically female, athletes who sought to overturn a Connecticut policy that permits males who identify as females to compete in girls' athletic events have lost their case in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The Second Circuit opinion, which is going to be appealed incidentally, also relied on the Supreme Court decision in a case called Bostock v. Clayton, which ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act's prohibition of discrimination, listen carefully, on the basis of sex, includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, which is what we talked about last week. Okay, so no discrimination because of sex is if I choose to identify as a female, you can't discriminate against me. And this just blew my mind. The ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union, that defended the transgender athletes Now listen, this is the thinking, folks. Today's ruling is a critical victory. Power to define is the power to control. For fairness, equality, and inclusion, said Joshua Block, senior staff attorney for the ACLU's LGBTQ and HIV project. Quote, now listen carefully, The court rejected the baseless, zero-sum arguments presented by the opposition, that is women who are biologically women, to this policy. and ultimately found transgender girls have as much of a right to play as cisgender girls under Title IX. Now folks, that's not even logical. They had a right to play. They had to play as their biological gender. But now we're told they didn't have a right to play because they believed they were really females. And that's as far as it goes. This critical victory strikes at the heart of political attacks against transgender youth while helping ensure every young person has the right to play. Hello? They have the right to play. What this doesn't ensure is that biological women are competing against biological women rather than biological men, who in the nature of the case are usually stronger than they are. But you see how twisted things have gotten. Okay, so there's an example right from this week. The point is, if you are bigoted, you are bigoted against, in this case, transgender, you are hindering my pursuit of happiness. That's why it's related to this material. And Carl Truman says this so well, for those of you following along, pages 157 and 158. He says, this tracks back, of course, to the modern psychological construction of identity. If we are above all what we think, what we feel, what we desire, then anything that interferes or obstructs those thoughts, feelings, or desires inhibits us as people and prevents us from being the self that we are convinced that we are. That's exactly what this is. Such obstructions inhibit identity in a deep and substantial way. So it said, with the rise of the psychological self, words have taken on a new cultural power as witnessed by the fierce debates that now rage over pronouns. The use of a word deemed harmful or denigrating becomes, in the world of psychological identity, an assault upon the person as real in its own way as a blow from a fist. And this is where religions, especially religions such as Christianity and Judaism, that hold to strict codes with regard to sex and sexuality, will end up in trouble. because they're going to find themselves in a world that operates with what we might call a different grammar and syntax of identity. In other words, words mean different things than we do. For example, when the Christian objects to homosexuality, he may well think that he's objecting to a set of sexual desires or sexual practices. But the gay man sees those desires as part of who he is in his very essence. Now listen to the application. The old chestnut, the old line, love the sinner, hate the sin, simply doesn't work. in a world where sin is the identity of the sinner. And the two cannot be separated, even on a conceptual level. In a time when the normative notion of selfhood is psychological, then to hate the sin is to hate the sinner. Christians who fail to note this shift are going to find themselves very confused by the incomprehension of and indeed the easy offense taken by the world around them. Next page. In a world where inner psychology dominates how we think of ourselves, then feelings, too, become very important in how we conceptualize harm. It's not physical or financial, but if I feel harmed, I am harmed, and that's all. To wrap this up, this is a comparison of the older liberal view of education. I mean liberal politically. That word has actually been kidnapped. Liberal used to be a very good word and still is in many ways, okay? This was the older liberal view in comparison today. Formerly, freedom of speech on the older liberal view You had good ideas and bad ideas that competed, and you may regard a person's bad idea as abhorrent. But you in the market of ideas deal with that and show why it's abhorrent, and you hope that that good idea will prevail. So somebody believes there was no holocaust, all right? I mean, that's just ludicrous. You in the field of ideas, they say that, show why that is ludicrous. And you've won, you make advance. That's the older liberal view, so to speak, of education. Today, freedom of speech, freedom of speech must not be allowed to reinforce and maintain ideas regarded as ignorant, racist, sexist, classist, homophobic, and outdated. Let me give you a realm so we get off the sexual thing. I frankly have very little patience when people say, if you believe the doctrine of creation in the space of six days by an immediate act of God, it's not scientific. Pray tell, how do you define science? On that, and you know, when it comes to apologetics, you put yourself on the presuppositions of those you disagree with. Evolution, scientific, yes. One, are you observing it going on? No. Did you observe the world being formed by a big bang? No. Are there a media, are there species, transitional species? No. But evolution, macroevolution is scientific. Now see, there's an example, again, of where cancel culture works. No, we're not going to have creationism taught, and we're simply going to say, if you believe it, you're ignorant. Let me give you one of my favorite illustrations about real liberal education, in the right sense of the word. I enjoy economics. It's a fun kind of thing for me to study. Frederick Allen Hayek, who wrote The Road to Serfdom, which is a classic about the advance of Nazi Germany. Hayek was a brilliant economist. And he took to task John Maynard Keynes, who was a socialist and a homosexual. That's not the issue here. He disagreed with Hayek. They disagreed principally on economics. John Maynard Keynes gave an office to Frederick Allen Hayek, and even came to say, I realize he showed some of my views were wrong. They were friends, even though they differed. And in the world of ideas, they dealt with things. That's true liberal arts education. Today, basically you demonize. You demonize those you disagree. And it's the outdated one. And this is the way, really? You believe the Bible? When was it written? It's outdated. Well, excuse me, do you study the Greek philosophers? Do you learn from them? Anyway, okay, so let me wrap this up. So in the goal then... is not to expand our way of thinking, which is good. For example, dealing with black history in the United States, blacks made great contributions in history, and so we'd be thankful for that. So this isn't a way of expanding our way of thinking, but it's shattering, or may I use the word canceling, former ways of thinking and replacing them with views regarded as correct by the victims of injustice and unfairness. They're the ones that now, in most cases, call the shots in these things. Now here, let me just wrap up with Dr. Truman's comment at the very end of the book. The claim that certain narratives are psychologically oppressive is plausible to many because our modern institutions are to see themselves as psychological beings, and anything that obstructs our psychological happiness, our sense of self, is inevitably bad, oppressive, and something to be opposed. Victimhood has an intrinsic virtue to it, and anything that can lay claim to the vocabulary of the victim has unlocked a major, even irresistible, source of cultural power. Freedom of speech and academic freedom are simply licenses to oppress and marginalize the weak. True freedom is found in closing down such traditional virtues and replacing them with a victim-centered authoritarianism. We have an ironic, and we'll wrap up the book with this, we have an ironic situation at present. Radical and individual freedom has led to rather authoritarian forms of social control from elementary schools that teach gender ideology to Ivy League schools that have abandoned traditional curricula. from workplaces, workplaces that require sensitivity training on transgender issues, to big tech giants boycotting states because of religious freedom legislation passed by democratically elected assemblies, from local school boards promoting ideological uniformity via the rhetoric of diversity to national governments broadening civil rights legislation to protect chaotic views of gender. The world where freedom of religion, let alone freedom of speech, is now regarded by some, many, he says in a question mark, as a problem for a free society. rather than a basic freedom of the sane is indeed a strange new world. Now, let me, a few minutes, because I know this can be discouraging, and I don't want you to be. Let's deal with the antidote, or the antibiotic. We talked about the virus. This is kind of the COVID-19 of strange new world. Let's deal with the antibodies and vaccinations. On January 1st, we're gonna kind of put all this together as far as what this says to us as a church. Macro-level response, listen very carefully. There must be the support and promotion by all of us of every effort to form a generation of truly Christian countercultural thinkers. There must be the support and promotion of every effort to form a generation of truly Christian countercultural thinkers. Christian schools. And there's all different ways of doing Christian education. There's homeschool, there's a Christian school like Grace Christian Academy, a classical conversations, all these different ways. But Christian schools and other ways of doing this. And maybe there are places where you can supplement what the public schools do. But anyway, there's got to be, again, the support and promotion of every effort to form a generation of truly Christian countercultural thinkers, world news groups doing a tremendous job, great magazine to subscribe to and learn from. Patrick Henry College is training young people in how, with a Christian view, they can influence government. That kind of thing is great, and there's other schools that do it. worldview conferences and so on. That's part of making disciples. Why is support and promotion of every effort to form a generation of truly Christian countercultural thinkers? Why is it so important? And brothers and sisters, I don't say this out of hate, I say it out of truth. We're talking about wisdom against foolishness. And there is going to come a time People are going to say, are you kidding? There was a time in the United States of America where they let people, if it was a male who really thought he was a female, compete with women? Are you crazy? Are they crazy? And so there needs to be wisdom, not only in understanding, but how to present it. Freedom versus slavery. That's why you do this. This, folks, this ideology is slavery to people. I know because as a pastor, I dealt with people bound to all forms of sexual sin, and it's bondage. We're talking about freedom. And to be even more blunt about it, it's life against death. We're living in a culture of death right now, in a strange new world. So that's macro level. Micro level. 1 Corinthians 9.21, to those who are without law, strange new world, I became as those without law, that I may, although under law to Christ, that I might win those who are without law. What did he mean by that? Without violating any biblical conviction, The law of Christ is, what do I do that I might be God's instrument to save this person who is without law? That's basically what it is to be under law to Christ, who is the Savior. So on the micro level, four things, and then we'll talk. One, self-examination versus defensiveness. See, people hear this and they say, well, I'm not a racist, I'm not a bigot. Folks, I don't think I'm a racist or a bigot either. But I have to examine my heart, especially in this supercharged culture, that racism and bigotry doesn't creep in. And incidentally, that doesn't apply just to whites toward blacks. It's blacks toward whites. It cuts right across the board. And, okay, so anyway, for all of us as Christians, self-examine. Pluck the beam out of your own eye before you pluck the splinter out of another's. If a man be overtaken into fault, your spirit will restore such a one in the spirit of weakness, okay? So we examine ourselves regarding bigotry, regarding homophobia, regarding elitism, regarding sexism, because these things have been promoted by society. When I read the way certain parts of our society speak about women, even when it's professed Christian speaking about women, I recoil at that. And I said, we need to do some self-examination about that. And there's three keys to that. One, humility. Two, humility. And what's the third one? Humility, that's right. Augustine said those are the three most important graces of the Christian life. My watch told me it doesn't understand. I'll explain it to you later. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. So please folks, let's examine ourselves. And when you find yourself looking down at the trans person, Instead of maybe shedding a few tears Then you need to repent and I do too. Okay, that's second which brings to the second always Speak the truth in love Ephesians 4 15 and Jesus don't want the salt the salt is lost its salt is lost its savor if you don't call what God calls wrong wrong and All right, and the light, putting your light under a bushel. Well, you do that if you don't let the light shine in darkness. So speak the truth and do it in love. What is love? Seeking the true good, the eternal good of the one to whom you are speaking. And I think we need more tears, frankly, than we have, rather than anger, some tears, okay? Number three, and ideally, this goes to Dr. Truman's point, you know, loving the sinner but hating the sin, ideally, The person that you speak with may say he or she rejects my life choices, but he or she doesn't reject me. And that's kind of what you want. They don't agree with my life choices, but they're not rejecting me as a person. Number three, here's our special weapon. Pray and watch what God does. Pharaoh oppresses the Israelites for 400 years and God raises up a Moses to stop him. Nebuchadnezzar has the Israelites under his thumb and God humbles him. Herod opposes the church, God stops him. Saul persecutes the church, God stops him. Pray and watch what God does because brothers and sisters, we too quickly forget but God. But God, but God, okay? And here is our secret weapon in this war. Doesn't even nature itself teach you? Now let's talk about hair. I know a woman's hair is given to her as a covering. It's called natural theology, and I have problems with it. But anyway, doesn't even nature itself teach you the way a man is made? is not so that he has sex with another man. It's made so that he has sexual relations with a woman. And when I start dealing with emotional makeup, doesn't even nature itself teach you that when there are multiple lovers, particularly the woman is devastated, does not even nature itself teach you. That's our secret weapon as we pray and watch God works. And then number four, rescue people with the gospel. The law of Christ is what? He comes into the world to save sinners. And you're still under the law of God, but what does it take to rescue sinners? I have a friend of mine, and I have to admit, I'm not comfortable doing this, I'm not really sure a minister should, but I have a friend of mine, he is deeply concerned with homosexual men. And when he has time, he'll go to quote-unquote gay bars, and he'll tell these men about Jesus. Well, that's part of what it is to be under law to Christ. He doesn't give in to homosexual desires, it doesn't happen. He's a good-looking guy, too. He doesn't give in to that. I'm not saying you need to do it. But I admire him. Under law to Christ by which I see people saved. Incidentally, I love the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. We can be pretty stodgy when it comes to reaching out. Folks, when you're rescuing people, you don't worry about being stodgy. You do what it takes, yes within the bounds of propriety under the law of Christ, but what does it take to see somebody won to Christ? And we'll deal with that a little bit more later. How can I speak and act to save this person from himself, or from herself, to rescue the person who's drowning in the horizontal, and bring him up to the fresh air of the vertical. Okay, so that, those are my four micro-level things. Self-examination against defensiveness, because folks, if you have a haughty, condescending attitude toward trans people, or Q people, or Q plus people, or what, they're gonna pick it up fast. All right, so self-defense, self-examination, always speaking the truth in love, ideally with the goal the person says he or she may reject my lifestyle, they don't reject me. Pray and watch what God does, remember does not even, is not even nature itself teaching right now, and then rescue people with the gospel. Okay, that's my, ooh. All right. Jim, you had an interesting comment beforehand. I said to you as we were coming out of service, I said, in order for this to fast forward and get even worse at an accelerated pace, these woke individuals in this movement, they have to crush Christianity and even Judaism. on Muslim things, this all has to be crushed in order for this to proceed. The other thought was, you mentioned, the author mentions happiness. So whatever impinges or intrudes on my happiness has to be or can be eliminated. For example, late-term abortion. This very baby is a baby. Down syndrome, right? Euthanasia, right? Anything that you want to dispose of because it impinges on your happiness. Correct. The other thing that I found interesting when he said, you know the old phrase, hate the sin, not the sinner. Now it's flipped on its ear and it's reversed. It's like, well, if you hate the sin, then you hate me. Right. That's exactly right. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. And we've got to communicate that that's not the case. You know, Jim, over the years, I've had people sit down with me and say, I know you're a pastor, you're homophobic. I say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, hold on. I believe homosexuality is wrong and I believe it's dangerous and it hurts you. I'm not homophobic, I'm not afraid. I've worked with homosexuals. What bothers me is you're destroying yourself. Okay, something like that. Yeah, Rudy. Rudy, right? Yeah, got it. Talk to us. Do they struggle with these things in Jamaica? You kill people for that? Wow. And for them it's a crime in Jamaica. That's why you have a lot of them escape to the States. Wow. Very interesting. Very, very interesting. Whoa. Okay. I'm sorry? Muslims throw gay people off buildings. Yeah, that's right. That's true. And see, this is the kind of thing Marcuse even accuses Christians of. Incidentally, Marcuse was a Marxist and he didn't like communism. He didn't like Soviet communism. So it's tyranny that they oppose. Iris? Yeah. The longer and the more this culture wins out, the harder it is for you to either, I know all things are possible with God, but it's a challenge. the harder it is for you to be able to speak to these people in any way other than accepting. Because now everything is like they just signed whatever, the homosexual, whatever that sign. So that's already justifying it. Everything is justifying what they're doing. When you come across and you just want to share your life with them or the gospel, it's like an immediate aversion that they're like, oh. Yeah, you hate me. That's right. My problem, not my problem. Look, I'm accepted by everyone. My mother accepts me. My father accepts me. My friends accept, who are you? Oh, you're one of those Christians. So it's getting harder and harder and harder to deal things to all men in these days. It's really getting hard. Yeah, I don't think, I think in fairness, Iris, when our culture, what is it to be without law to Christ, or to deal with those without law? We've had a predominantly Christian culture, right? Now, the Lord's saying, uh-uh, see what this text is, and what does it mean? But I really am convinced that that's what, because commentators don't say a lot about that. You know, okay, the law, I'm under law to Christ. Well, Christ upheld the law, but the law of Christ is he came to save people, and so he must. But yeah, you're right, Iris, it's a challenge. I think the model of Ken Smith and his wife having then Rosaria, it wasn't Rosaria Butterfield, it was Rosaria Butterfield at the time. I mean, she was a lesbian. And they invited her to their home. They said, you know, we want to get to know you. And I think it was three meals with her. They didn't even talk about church, or they had devotions, which had struck her. They just got to know her as a person, and it disarmed her. And then they began to talk about things. And she said, these people aren't flaming. They are showing real love to me. And she came to faith in Christ. Okay, so it's a lot big commitment, but folks you want to be the haven ministering in this culture That's why we're doing this stuff. Okay, yeah Just yesterday I was channel surfing for a moment and I came across channel 13. It's not about channel 13 but this Broadcaster was interviewing the assistant commissioner of education in new jersey and he came across the topic of indoctrinating children at a tender age of third grade, because they really pushed the preschool. And the commissioners straight up said, we've got to get them at a very young age to teach them these things and change their minds. And if you raise someone, you raise a child in the way they should grow, they will not soon depart from it, right? Oh yeah. My dear brother, if that woman is the commissioner of a school system that I'm in, and I hear her say that, then I go to her and lovingly say, ma'am, do you know what the word no means? No to what you said. That's what I said last week. You do it graciously. You do it firmly. That's probably the most important word for Christians today. No. and live out of it. Anything else? Yeah, Joe. I'm curious to know how the Episcopal Church deals with Romans 1. Well, that's a massive question because there's conservatives and liberals in the Episcopal Church. If the liberal branch, they don't believe it. Or they say it only applies to Israel and only applied the first century, something like that. But basically they just don't believe it. Iris, then Jim, you're gonna, Joe, you're Joe, you're John. What's my name? I don't know. Iris, yes dear. Everything that they also, they want you to interpret, that that's love. We are just, what's wrong with, How, why can't we love the same sex? What's wrong with that? I'm not very, but I guess that's a great initiator for you to say, but God is love. He's the one that's love. And this is what God has stated, the God of love in his word. Everything is so difficult to talk to that. I'm a kind person. I love, you know, we love each other. What's wrong with loving, you know, but God made me like that. Yeah, don't use the word frustrating. Don't use the word nice. Frustrated is an adult temper tantrum. Iris, again, you have to answer wisely. Say, may I ask you a question? If I see somebody drowning and I don't rescue them, do I love them? Okay. Oh, yeah, Socrates, sorry. So, I heard it said, I think it was the Archbishop of Canterbury or somebody said, the only difference, or a Roman Catholic priest said, the only difference between me and a sinner is that I'm saved by grace. We're all sinners. Wow. We don't see ourselves and have compassion on the lost. Amen. We're no different than a homosexual. That's right. A trans person. We are all depraved. and should not look down our noses to anybody, but have really compassion. And I think that's where you see a lot of this idea of tolerance and acceptance and loving others, even though it's kind of artificial in our culture today. But it comes across like everybody's very accepting and loving. That's the way the Christians community should be, we all should be. We're nothing except we were saved by grace. That's right. That's it. And I think we all know what's going on. We see the depravity, we see the condition of our culture. It hasn't changed since the beginning of time, right? There's been that fall. There's a fall, yeah. And that depravity kind of escalates and civilizations are destroyed as a result of it. So we have to just Trust that the Lord, this will be my, what I think we need to do is just trust that the Lord will bring people into our lives he wants us to minister to. Like just stick to your sphere of influence and as you pray that God would use you, God brings people into your lives and you just have to nurture that relationship and it's a marathon. That's right. It's a long-term back game where we're going to have to slowly, slowly, slowly build relationships and show love to people like that woman. Rosaria Butterfield. Rosaria Butterfield, because if it's not about relationship and loving people, then what is it about? Well, that's a wonderful way to wrap things up. Thank you. to remember is that, in line with what we spoke about in the earlier sermon today, that God isn't only the genesis of the birth of Christ, the incarnate word, he's also the one who gave us language itself. Yes. And his word will never fail. And we can trust that in the end, he brought the Israelites through 400 years and 40 years. And he might have to bring the church through a period now, in which they learn to return to him, come back to him, rely on him. So his word will never fail, and he's the one that writes language. Yeah, amen. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. And brothers and sisters, for your encouragement, Corinth was the bastion of homosexuality and lesbianism in the first century. And there was a church in Corinth. And Paul says, neither homosexuals nor idolaters nor adulterers order shall enter the kingdom of heaven. and such were some of you, okay? So may the Lord make us to be a place in which people can say, I was that, but I'm not anymore. Now I'm a Christian, okay? All right, let's stand. Thank you for your patience. Joe Pulio, Linda, what did you cook for us today? A surprise. Pulled pork and some pulled chicken, delicious it was. Wow, okay. Excellent, excellent. Now, we'll clap just a little bit. John, you're gonna lead us in prayer. You're gonna get to know Dana, and you're gonna get to know Rudy from Jamaica, and I don't know if Quentin and Gwendolyn are still in there, but you wanna get to know them as well, okay? So greet them, abandon greeting. Let's stand and let's pray. John, lead us, please. How heavenly Father, how we do thank you for this glorious day, O Lord. And even with this class, the wickedness that we hear, you have given us that great antidote and that in the fullness of time, oh Lord, you sent your only son to die for our sins, oh Lord, and the sins of man. And even in that dark time, Christ came, oh Lord, and he was not afraid to be with sinners, to be with prostitutes and tax collectors and cheats. And that's where you would find him, oh Lord, Lord, he is a great physician, and he was with those who needed to be healed of their sins. And we ask that even as of today, we are reminded that we do wrestle not against principalities and powers, oh Lord, but against wickedness and Satan and his realm. And these are just parts of that, and yet you have promised that the gates of hell will not prevail. where people can come, sinners can come, O Lord, and hear of the great work of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and be forgiven of their sins and find forgiveness, O Lord. We pray and give you thanks now for the food that you provide to us, We thank You for those people who have visited with us today, Lord. We pray that they might gain from Your Word. We thank You for the work that went behind providing this food. We pray that You listen to us. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.