Okay, ready? I'll pray really loudly so those of you who are down near the kitchen will know we're beginning the class. All right, let's. Let's pray, everybody. Let's ask the Lord's blessing in our time. Our Father, thank you that you met with us in our worship. We bless you for this new year of our Lord. We are thankful that we've been able to work through the book Strange New World, though it's not been a pleasant experience. Now today, help us. We talked about the virus. of the strange new world. Now today let's deal with the antibodies and the things particularly that Dr. Truman suggests. So hear us we pray in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. All right, incidentally the promotion World Magazine. I encourage you to subscribe to World Magazine. It is an excellent, it's the best Christian commentary on the news that you'll get. And I point this out because Dr. Truman had an article, a lengthy article, called The Twisted Self. feelings as truth, sex as destiny. Carl Truman on the new cultural orthodoxy and how we got here. So, World Magazine, you can just check worldnewsgroup.org. Okay, ready? I do want to be done by quarter till so that we can have lunch. Okay, we are in the last chapter of Strange New World. And it's entitled, Strangers in this Strange New World. And one of my favorite texts about what Christians are in the world is in Hebrews chapter 11. It speaks about some of the Old Testament saints, particularly your Abraham. And it says, these all died in faith. not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, kind of like we do at the Lord's Supper, and having acknowledged that they were Foreigners, we get the word xenophobic, people who are afraid of foreigners, foreigners or strangers and exiles or pilgrims on the earth. And of course we learned about exiles in the sermon. Those are rich words. Nan is a stranger. She comes from a foreign country and she's here. We're all pilgrims, we're heading to our homeland and we're both. We are from heaven, and we're on earth, and we're heading to heaven, strangers and pilgrims. And therefore, you're going to be in a lot of hostile territory, right? So strangers in the strange new world is the last chapter, chapter 9, in Dr. Truman's book. And this is important because as we go into the new year, we're going to face these things and we want to minister to them. And this is nothing against Bible studies. Believe me, I'm all for them. But you know, you can get in a ghetto in a Bible study. You can just get in, I'm learning the Bible, I'm learning this, and so on and so forth. This is another way of getting at the Bible and things you wouldn't normally deal with and teaching you how to minister to other people. So what we're calling this is the antibodies against the virus of the strange new world. And let me begin as Dr. Truman does in chapter nine. And he just, this is his introduction. To object to same-sex marriage, as an example, in our strange new world, is in the moral register of the day not substantially different from being a racist. The era, thank you my dear, the era when Christians could disagree with the broader convictions of the secular world and yet still find themselves respected as decent members of society at large is coming to an end, if indeed it has not ended already. The truth is that the last vestiges of a social imaginary shaped by Christianity are rapidly vanishing, and many of us are even now living as strangers in a strange new world. And I would add, especially in New York. Incidentally, I don't know if you heard this, you mentioned it last night, and it was the first thing I heard on the radio at six o'clock this morning. Our governor, and this is really important, folks. With all the issues, I am so thankful that our legislature passed legislation, which our governor signed, which now allows you, after you die, to be composted. They now have bags. They have bags that you can be put in after you die, and it has composting materials so that in a month, you can just be put into the ground. Now, what's interesting, you bury your dog in your backyard, you've broken the law. But this folks is an example of the insanity of the strange new world. Anyway, that's no extra charge for that. The revolution, and incidentally, please don't let your body be... One of you asked a question about cremation or burial. The biblical pattern is the care of the body after death. We're not Greek Platonists or pagans. The body's worth something, okay? And so anyway, but that's all right, that's for another day. The revolution in selfhood. particularly as it manifests itself in the various facets of the sexual revolution, is set to exert pressure on the lives of all of us from kindergarten, hello, you read this in the news, from kindergarten education to workplace policies on pronouns. Kindergarten education, excuse me, drag queens? teaching kindergartners, and if you oppose it, then you are bigoted and racist? This is what you're dealing with right now. Christians might still be able to run, so to speak, and avoid some of these things for some period of time, but they cannot hide forever. Sooner or later, every single one of us is likely to be faced with a challenging situation generated by the modern notion of selfhood. And this means that for all of us, the questions of how we should live and what we should do when facing pressure to conform are gaining in urgency. And so that's kind of the setting. for what we deal with here. Okay, so if you're taking notes or you've got your book, I'm giving his headings. A couple places I added a few things. I don't honestly think this chapter is Dr. Truman's strong point, but he is an historian and you'll get that flavor of it. But still, very helpful. Okay. Okay, so he has what I call antidotes, antibodies, and he has five of them in living as strangers in the strange new world. And the first one, interestingly, understanding our complicity. It is amazing. how much modern Christianity is dominated by the rise and triumph of the modern self. And as you'll hear, it affects Reformed churches too. But that's what he's getting at, understanding our complicity. Expressive individualism, these are the terms we've been using over the last few weeks. Okay, the self is important. I mean, the scriptures. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Not I, but Christ who lives in me, and the life that I live. I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. The beginning of Calvin's Institutes, which is a classic statement. If you're going to understand yourself, then you've got to understand God. But yes, you understand yourself in that way. Probably the finest theological book written in America, Religious Affections, is about how the gospel changes individuals. But, historically again, knowing self begins with knowing God. Now, There has been a shift, even in Christianity, over, I'm going to say the last 150 years. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not against hymns, there's so many wonderful hymns of the Christian church, but there's a change. Beginning in the 19th century with Romanticism, the hymns become a little bit more self-centered, a little bit more feeling-oriented, some really feeling-oriented, some just plain mystical. That doesn't mean they're bad, but the focus moved away from how firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, He's laid for your faith in his excellent word. What more can he say? He's very God-centered. Anyway, so that began to change in the 19th century to the self and individualism. Now it's on steroids. The modern view of the church is no different than your view of Walmart. Why megachurches attracting people? Look at the coffee bar they have. Look at the music they provide for me. In some of the megachurches in the Midwest, you go and you get your oil changed in your car while you're in worship and the programs that they have. I'm not criticizing size for size's sake. That's a Walmart mentality. You offer to people what they want and what do people think of? They're consumers. and let Tarjay come along, another megachurch, offering something better, and guess where you're gonna do your shopping? And the issue is what makes me happy? What makes me feel good? What gratifies me? Historically, folks, be honest, people went to worship in no small measure because they felt miserable. They needed to hear about God. Today, you make people feel bad about something, and you're not seeker-sensitive. So you're going to turn people off, all right? So that's a big, big change. Formerly, you tried to understand the misery of the world. Now, with Joel Osteen, you just got to basically deny it and try to alleviate it. So that's just part of understanding our complicity. And reform people, reform people can do this. You know, I like the preaching at this church. It appeals to my mind. Or Pentecostalism, I'm emotionally, I'm thrilled by what happens. Or, you know, the beauty of a liturgy. And all those things can, if that's what your first focus is, that's a consumer mentality. But how do you respond to it? So Dr. Truman suggests three things to which I say amen. Number one, self-examination, individually and corporately, and doing it all the time, where have I capitulated to a self-centered view of church or community? Where have I capitulated to seeking my own gratification rather than the good of others? And then repentance and reformation that comes. And folks, we do this in community. We're not Lone Rangers in this stuff. And let me tell you where this will come. It's easy to say, well, you know, the gay and lesbian lifestyle is evil, is wicked. Let you find out you have a son or daughter or other relatives who is gay or lesbian. It will change your whole outlook. How do I speak to him or her without alienating him or her, unless you just love to have fights in the family? And we make mistakes. You need the church to help with that, okay? So we're not complicit in what's done. So self-examination, individually and corporately, always, and repentance and reformation. That's why folks speaking the truth in love. I love when Brother Joe had said some week ago, we were chatting here, It was reflecting on Cleft of the Rhine, not critically, but observationally. We became too ingrown. And don't ever lose the emphasis on evangelism. See, that's the kind of thing we need, speaking the truth and love to one another. Humility in dealing with others. Folks, it was the Pharisees. I thank you, God, I'm not like this guy. I thank you God I'm not like this, as our brother Socrates mentioned a couple of weeks ago, but for the grace of God, there I go. And here, this is interesting, in Galatians 6 and verse 15, this is when we come to biblical counseling, instruments in the Redeemer's hands, this is a pivotal text. Brothers, it doesn't say if another Christian is caught in any transgression, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual, you're full of the Holy Spirit, should restore him, the word is to mend ripped nets, in a spirit of gentleness, watching yourself, lest you too be tempted. bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Folks, most people that are caught up in the quote-unquote gay and lesbian lifestyle, they're not doing as social rebels. There have been factors that have affected them that caused them to be caught in a transgression. And notice the language, you who are spiritual, help them to mend their nets in the spirit of gentleness, keeping watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Okay, so very, very important, humility in dealing with others. That's why we're gonna be working through instruments in the Redeemer's hands beginning in February and looking at what the scriptures say about how you minister to one another. And then the third response, understanding our complicity, be committed to your local church and its ongoing biblical reformation. Learn from Japanese businesses, not all of them, but many of them. See, among the Asians, there's a sense of community. We learned this with Nan. The way Nan speaks about her small town community, it almost sounds like a church. where you don't think in terms, first of all, of yourself, but your neighbor and how the community helps. Okay, that can go overboard, you get it. But that's an Asian mindset that we can learn from. Japanese businesses, many of them, they function as a team. They want the team to assist, the team to contribute, so that the team sticks together and they prosper. That's what the church is supposed to be. Not, oh, I didn't like the way they did this, so I'm going to go find another church. Folks, you don't leave the family because you have a grievance. You'll see why this is so important when we come back to this later. So there's the response in understanding our complicity. And remember, Dr. Truman is a church historian, an historian. Learn from the ancient church, and I put in parentheses, beginning with the New Testament, which is the ancient Christian church. Learn from the ancient church. Now, in our circles, We love the Reformers, okay, we love Luther and Calvin and Knox and to some extent Zwingli and the Confessions and Durotan and the Puritans, and that's great, that's fine. But go back further. Go back to the early church and learn lessons, especially from the first few centuries, and they are fascinating. In fact, a primer for me on evangelism is Evangelism in the Early Church by Michael Green. where he looks at what the church did for outreach that did turn the world upside down in the first four centuries, and it's fascinating. So that's what Dr. Truman is getting at, learn from the ancient church. And here in page 174, if you've got your copy of the book, Dr. Truman says, if we are to find a precedent for our times, I believe that we must go further back in time to the second century and the immediately post-apostolic church. Let me give you one reason, okay? And this is why it's not good to just take the Puritans and apply them to our day. They were dealing with an established church. where everybody who had been baptized was a Christian even if they lived like the devil. We don't live in a culture like that. People are not baptized and they live like the devil. They're pagans, okay? And so that's what he's saying. The early church, they didn't deal with an established church. He says go further back in time to the second century and the immediately post-apostolic church. There, Christianity was little understood and it was regarded as a despised marginal sect, as Christianity is today. Christianity was suspected of being immoral and seditious, eating the body and blood of their god, and calling each other brother and sister even when married made Christians and Christianity sound highly dubious to outsiders. And the claim that Jesus is Lord was on the surface a pledge of loyalty that derogated from that that was owed to Caesar. I love the statement, because Jesus is Lord, Caesar isn't. That is much like the situation of the church today. For example, we are considered irrational bigots for our stance on gay marriage. In the aftermath of the Trump presidency, it's become routine to hear religious conservatives in general, and evangelical Christians in particular, decried as representing a threat to civil society, like our spiritual ancestors in the second century we too are deemed immoral and seditious. Not completely, but it's coming, folks, down the way. So in that sense, we are very much like the early church. So what do we learn from the ancient church? One, community is central to church life. Folks, please, let's get over this. Jesus is my personal Savior, and that's the beginning and the end of your Christian life. He needs to be your personal Savior. He loved His church and gave Himself for it. And He is the one who builds His church, and He's given His head over all things for the sake of the church. All right? And so community is central to church life. Particularly an early book on Christian living called the Didache emphasized the morals of the community. Incidentally, the early church was against the killing of little babies. And that was part of its testimony in the culture. But they took the babies that had been thrown on rocks and protected them. Their women were treated with great respect in the early church. And the adherence to, I'll put it this way, moral prescriptions that are the mark of the church. This is not the social imaginary, it's social reality, okay, where the life of Christ is lived out in a real body of people and it's not so much expressive individualism as expressive community. That's why worship is so important. As a body we worship together, we respond together with hallelujah and amen and taking the word of God in our lips and singing these hymns. Now here The children of this age are shrewder in their generation than the children of light. You know why it's so hard for people in the LGBTQ plus community to break away? They've got a strong community. They are supporting, they're almost like a counterfeit of what the Christian Church is meant to be, and it's very difficult to break away. Rosaria Butterfield drew attention to that in her book, what is it, The Surprising Something of Confessions of a Recent Convert. It was hard for her to break away from the LGBTQ community, and she was head of the Lesbian Studies Department in a university in upstate New York. But there was a family that had her in, and she got to know other Christians, and she esteems now the importance of community. In Franklin Square, the first time I ministered to homosexuals and lesbians was the first time I saw a man converted from a homosexual lifestyle. And he was very honest. He was the one who said, thank you, pastor, for not calling me gay. I was miserable. But he needed families. He needed to be with families. And the families didn't need to know all the details. I mean, they needed to know the lifestyle he came from. Not all the specifics, because he was a filthy lifestyle and he knew it. But he needed to be in a home with men and women that didn't treat him like a second-class citizen. And so, you know, you've got to be careful. You know, if a man is converted out of life of pedophilia, you still don't leave him alone with little children, okay? But you still gotta minister to them, and that takes community, okay? And he said, he said, if I didn't have families to go to, I'd be tempted to go back to that other community. Okay, so that's one thing. Number two, being the church in its worship, fellowship, and service. The best evangelism program for the church is in Acts chapter two. Beginning at verse 42, they, those who came to faith in Christ, devoted themselves, they bent their schedules so as not to miss the apostles' doctrine, the Word of God, focused on Christ, the fellowship, the communion to the breaking of bread, which was kind of like this, the Lord's Supper with a meal in the homes, and the prayers, the stated times of prayer. And awe, fear, the fear of God, came upon every soul. Fear, folks, is not necessarily a quaking fear. It's a reverence. Take the sandals off your feet. The place we are is holy ground, okay? And they sensed what we call the presence and the power of God. Awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles that authenticated their words. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. There's community. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing proceeds to all as any had need. It wasn't enforced communism. They were filled with joy. I've got a brother and sister in need. I give it to them. And there was that wonderful outpouring of confidence in God and love. And day by day, attending the temple together, and breaking bread in their homes. They receive their food with glad and generous hearts. Morose, melancholy Christians are not much of a testimony for Jesus. They're thrilled with what God's done. I hope you are. Praising God and having favor with all the people. and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." I think that's the best evangelism program you're going to have. The church being the church, but you're with other people. You can't have favor with all the people if they don't even see you. People saw them and they were attracted to that lifestyle. That's what Dr. Truman is getting at. And so it's not so much, I love this, as he puts it, it's not so much engaging culture. You know, people say, well, we've got to engage culture with our music. We've got to engage culture with our language. I mean, God forbid. that I should preach a sermon without mentioning one of the latest movies out. You know folks, engaging culture, okay, you want to be able to speak to the culture, but as Dr. Truman puts it, it's not engaging culture, it's presenting another culture. A culture of grace, the culture of heaven itself. And I love the phrase, and I know Dr. Truman's a Bob Dylan fan, as I am in many ways. Incidentally, Bob Dylan's thing, what did he do, the 70s, Slow Train coming? I don't know who influenced him when he did that album, but that's solid theology, Slow Train. Anyway, cultural protest, counterculture, and let's say it, This culture is in a surge going to its own destruction unless there's repentance. In the name of God, let's be counter-cultural, right? The culture of heaven, the culture of grace, the culture of love, okay, all these things that the scriptures lay out. The culture of grace is amazing, okay, because what we're doing is you're offering a true view of God and of the world and of what it is to be a Christian, what it is to be human, And this is for another day, but this is why legalistic views of Christianity, they're not real. What's a Christian? I don't smoke, I don't chew, I don't go with girls who do, right? That kind of a thing. And I don't drink. If your Christianity is defined by what you don't do, you ain't going to be very attractive to the world. Not that we do everything, but you do what you do heartily unto the Lord, and you enjoy it, okay? So that's, and that brings us to the last one, the last of the learning from the ancient church. Dr. Truman points us out, and it's true, there were writers in the early centuries called apologists, and apologize, apologia is to give a reason for the Christian faith. And Augustine was one of them, and others. Tertullian. It's amazing how gracious these men are as they wrote against pagans. They speak understanding, though. They don't blast them. They try to win them. I'll give you an example of a book that does it beautifully. But be respectful dealing with this strange new world. Don't be antagonistic. Be positive. Argue that Christians make, and I'll give you an example of this, the best citizens, or they ought to make the best citizens, the best parents, the best workers, and the best neighbors. And Dr. Truman adds this, and I would as well. And essentially say, please leave us alone. Leave us alone so we can practice that faith that makes us the best citizens and so on. China, 2002. the OPC is invited to go to Xintai, China. First Western delegation invited to speak in a state church. We meet with the Communist Party officials. And we had a translator, and basically this is what they said. They didn't say our culture is falling apart, but they said we have problems with our culture, big time. The problem of drunkenness, huge. And we want to support the church because we know it makes the best citizens of the state, to which I responded and got kicked for it. Yeah, but they're not first citizens of the state, they're citizens of the kingdom of heaven, which they didn't like, that's right. But the point is, they say we need Christians or we're gonna lose our society. Well, I think that's what Jesus said when he said, be salt and be light, right? So that's what the appeal that we need to make. And I'll give you a great model. It's a great book. And it's a great model. Alvin Schmidt's book, I've got so many on the topic, his is How Christianity Changed the World. I quoted it last week. He was a professor at a secular college. And he, I don't know if this is how he came to faith in Christ, but anyway, he's working through how the world is different because of the Christian faith. And it's one of the most winsome and warm and gracious presentations. You want to be a Christian! when you get done reading that book. That's what Dr. Truman is saying. Don't be antagonistic and be positive and gracious and kind with others. And as he points out, that was remarkably effective over time. Christians didn't take guns, they didn't take swords, they used words. So that by the 5th century, the 400s, the Christian church was being blamed by the state for being the downfall of paganism. That's why Augustine wrote The City of God. And see, they thought that the state, the beast, thought that the idols, their gods, were being offended by this Lord, Jesus, and that's why Rome was falling. Augustine writes the city of God, and says, no, this is because the city of God is intruding on the city of man, and idolatry is meant to fall. And we're the better for it. Anyway, so that's the point that he's making. You can read that and develop it. To me, that's one of the most fascinating areas of study, how the early church dealt with it. And the last three, four, and five are quick. Number three, I love this one. Dr. Truman says, teach the whole counsel of God. And folks, if there's, Anytime that a church should not be light on doctrine, it is right now. When you have pastors say, well, doctrine divides. Yeah, it does divide. All teaching divides. Okay? But to some extent it's meant to. Paul says there must be divisions among you, and you don't look for that. But you either say Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, or he's not. But it's going to divide. But the point is, you've got to have sound doctrine. Now, this text is fascinating, particularly for ministers. And notice the language Paul uses in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy 4. This is his last, probably the last, could be the last book of the New Testament written. Certainly Paul's last letter. He's near to being executed. And so he writes to Timothy, listen to this, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead. Timothy, you're gonna stand before him for your work as a minister. and by his appearing in kingdom, preach the word, be ready, that is, always be on duty, in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching." Now listen carefully. He says, you preach and teach the whole counsel of God for, because, The time is coming when people won't endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, consumer view of the church, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry, but it's that word for the time is coming. We're told this today. People, they're not gonna listen to long sermons, and you gotta be careful with length of sermons. And these big words, people don't want those big words, and we've gotta be careful with big words. And too much doctrine, people don't want it. Paul says it's because. They don't want to listen to sound doctrine. You teach the whole counsel of God. Why? Because that's the counterculture against myths and error and, quite frankly, just plain foolishness. You teach sound doctrine, okay? So the biblical warrant for that, teach the whole counsel of God. And that's why our confessional standard, no, they're not the Bible, I know that. What does the Bible say about God? What does it say about the scriptures? What does the Bible say about who Christ is, about what salvation is, how it's accomplished, how it's applied? What does the Bible say about the state, about marriage, about the church? Folks, we're living in a world that's crumbling because people can't put these pieces together. Sound doctrine helps you to put all those pieces together, okay? And we're seeing this, it's coming slowly, oh, we'll see it more. Pastor Silva was speaking to a pastor of a well-known megachurch not far from where he lives. The man said, we're great at getting people in because of the music. He said, we have just as many that go out the back door. Now, they're either not going anywhere because they're not getting a concert or the same. There's got to be more to Christianity than this. And we will see, and the haven will see, people, not just the trickle, but I think you'll see more people come and say, we just want to learn what the Word of God really says, okay? So teach sound doctrine. Number four. shape intuitions, this is Dr. Truman, through biblical worship. And he doesn't do as much with this as I wish he had. He emphasizes singing, praise the Lord, and he says especially singing the Psalms. And why? And incidentally we'll have, should have some copies, extra copies of the Trinity Psalter hymnal, they're here. But anyway, please folks, use a Psalter, use a hymn. The Trinity Psalter hymn was excellent. Why? Because that's reality. And the Psalms particularly, they take up the whole range. of the experience of a believer. Psalm 1, the man of God who doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on it he meditates day and night, and it'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. That's very individual. Psalm 2 is the big picture. Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Ask of me, and I'll give you the nations for your inheritance. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little." That's reality, folks. Especially the Psalms can give you that full range. And one of the reasons why modern evangelical Christianity isn't real big on justice, is because most of their hymns don't even speak of it. It's kind of a sweet, often a very sappy Jesus that's sung of. Anyway, Dr. Truman emphasizes that. But I'm going to add this. I think you would agree. Presbyterians have historically not like the imposition of a worship book or a church calendar on the church. We celebrate Christmas, we celebrate Good Friday, we celebrate Easter, we celebrate Ascension Day, we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, and any number of other things. And Presbyterians have said, don't impose that on the church because the Bible doesn't impose it on the church. And to that I say, absolutely, amen. But we live in a very ah historical society where everything goes back to people's experience. It's my view, while we don't want to impose the church calendar, You do something to remember the great events of human history, because this is the backbone of human history. So yeah, I love to preach about the birth of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the crucifixion of Christ, the reign of Christ. Why? Whether people believe it or not, that is the real world. And so for the church to emphasize that backbone of history is really, really important. The cross is the elephant in the room of human history. I guess you can deny Christ died on the cross, but it takes an awful lot of evidence to disprove it, and you can't. It happened in history. And why? What did it mean? He wasn't a, Jesus wasn't a martyr. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And see, that enables you to tell others about Jesus. Okay, so that's, so we'll do more of the shaping intuitions through biblical worship. And then last but not least, I changed his language. Brothers and sisters, we need a healthy doctrine of the natural. I don't like natural theology. It carries freight with it that I'd rather not get into. So a healthy doctrine of the natural. This is one of two of our great weapons as we deal with the strange new world. I'll deal with the second one in a moment. 1 Corinthians 11.14, does not nature itself teach you? And without getting more graphic than I should, Nature itself teaches you that a man is made for a woman and vice versa. Biology teaches that. Now psychology, which is the rise and triumph of the modern self, tries to dethrone that, but you really can't do it. So a healthy view of the natural, and not just biblical reasons, God made the male and female, but the rationale for Christian morality. That's what Nan was getting at when she interviewed Margaret and me about marriage. She said, I'd never seen a home where a couple doesn't fight. What's the secret kind of thing? And we said, well, it's about Christ. But we didn't just say, the Bible says, love one another. It says that. But frankly, it promotes happiness. It promotes life. It promotes goodness. and you demonstrate those natural things to people as part of your biblical rationale. There's a lot we could do. I'm just laying this out right now. In other words, God's commands make sense of the world as it really is, okay? Another example, folks, it's unnatural to think of the state raising your children. I mean, quite frankly, even the state today doesn't want to raise children. They have too many to do it. Some of the public schools do, but the state doesn't. Parents are meant to do that. Why, children are given to parents. They're put in a home. So there's a theology of the natural. So he says, have a healthy doctrine of the natural. That's one of our swords. Does not even nature itself teach you. But here's the other sword. I've mentioned it, and I want to not end on this note, but close to it. There is a self-destructive power of sin and foolishness. And it doesn't make any difference how many psychology books you write about the rise and triumph of the modern self. The Bible has language like this, Proverbs 22.3, the prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. Proverbs 13 and verse 15, the way of the transgressor is hard. When we were taught counseling in seminary, that was almost our first text. The way of the transgressor is hard and the word means to be on a bumpy road with lots of potholes in it. And eventually you're gonna destroy your tires and your chassis. if you keep going on that hard way. That's why we pray, Lord, please make them miserable in their sin until they come to Christ. Or Psalm 9 in verses 15 to 20. I was going to sing it, but I'm not going to, but it is the language, the wicked are sunk in the pit they prepare. But anyway, Psalm 9 in verse 15, the nations, have sunk in the pit that they made, in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. The Lord has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. And there's the word higeon and silah. It's a way of saying stop and think about this on steroids. The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. The wicked shall return to Sheol all the nations that forget God. that the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O Lord, here is to the rise and triumph of the modern self. Here's the text. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the nations be judged before you. Put them in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know They are but men. That's the second secret weapon in your quiver. And see, the devil loves it. If he can get you thinking that he's really triumphing in the world, he's really gonna get at Christ through this and dethrone him. And you start thinking like that, and you are a patsy of the devil. Lord, the light shines in the darkness. Don't let man prevail. And you take something like this and you sing it. The tune, I love that. This is the old book of Psalms for singing that we used in Franklin Square. And the psalm is to the tune of immortal, invisible, God only wise. Listen. The nations are sunk in the pit they prepared, Their foot in the net which they hid is ensnared. The Lord by his judgment has made himself known, He by their own works has the wicked o'erthrown. The wicked to death's dark abode shall be brought, In all of the nations whom God has forgot, forgotten no longer the cause of the weak, nor perished forever the hope of the meek. Rise, Lord, that mere man may not make himself strong. Let nations be judged in your presence for wrong. Strike terror within them, O Lord, always then. Let nations know truly that they are That's why I'm singing the Psalms. All right, so with that, I did sing. Happy New Year. All right, so let me conclude with, oh, this is the very end of the book. Let me let Dr. Truman have the last word, literally, in the very end of his book. And so, he said, this book comes to an end. The world in which we live seems set to be entering a new, chaotic, uncharted, and dark era, but we should not despair. We need to prepare ourselves, we need to be informed, we need to know what we believe and why we believe it. We need to worship God in a manner that forms us as true disciples and pilgrims intellectually and intuitively, and keep before our eyes the unbreakable promises that the Lord has made and confirmed in Jesus Christ. This is not a time for hopeless despair nor naive optimism. Yes, let us lament the ravages of the fall as they play out in the distinctive ways that our generation as children, but let that lamentation be the context for sharpening our identity as the people of God and our hunger for the great consummation that awaits us at the marriage feast of the Lamb. Okay? So we're done. Strange new world. Well, we're not done with it. We're going to face it. But I hope this has been helpful for you. Questions? I'm running a little bit. Yeah, Jim. And one of the man's accomplishments was the book that he wrote for many, many years. Only I learned this yesterday, because I wasn't remembering this at all. But his book titled The Dictatorship of Relativism. Yeah. And when I heard that title, and then I thought about Truman's book, and thank you for the outline and reading his book, and I was thinking about that there are no absolutes according to those who follow relativism, which is a plague upon our society at present, and it's been going on for many, many years. And then I thought about, OK, well, according to these books, everything is right in one's own mind. And there are no absolutes. There's no ultimate law. And yet, at the same time, that's confounding, because there's conformity of thought, even when you say you cannot condemn one's sexual proclivity. Or you can't rail against illegal immigration, that's mean-spirited, or that's cruel. So, there's absolutism in conformity, of course, in the world of conform, because, like, even yesterday, we were laughing, we watched this comedian, he's very popular, I'm not gonna mention his name, but he found it so peculiar, he's very popular, he found it so peculiar that he took his five-year-old to class, And all the parents have to participate. And he's like, what is this? I have no idea what this is. And one of the things that they all wanted to do is he was like, I'm leaving now. I'm going to come back at three. And the teacher was like, well, where are you going? You have to participate. What are we going to do? Oh, we're going to sit down in a big circle. And then he goes, oh, what, like Indian style? And then he caught himself. Say that. Relativism has really wreaked havoc in our society. And notice it's self-contradictory when people say there are no absolutes. What have they just affirmed? An absolute? Well, brothers and sisters, let's be wise as serpents and gentle as doves, okay?