23-1022p Transcript

Preacher: Scott Reynolds

(1:35) Good evening. So we are continuing with part two of the fourth session of the Seven Threats of (1:43) Our Time webinar series by Del Tackett, author of the Truth Project and the Engagement Project (1:50) tonight, called The Consolidation of Massive Earthly Power. And we’re actually going to get (1:57) to see what that is tonight.

So in part one, we talked about God’s modus operandi. And the (2:04) background of that is that God is the one who has not only created man, both male and female, (2:12) in the image of God, but he then created an entire universe, as well as human beings and living (2:20) creatures in systems. For human beings, we call those systems social order or social systems.

So (2:30) all of the social order that God has designed is important for us to understand because it is (2:36) that design that we need to continually move towards. That’s the benchmark for how we should (2:44) live our lives. Well, in each of these social spheres, those social systems that God created (2:52) carry the notion of authority, submission, and roles associated with who you are in that social (2:59) order.

But there are limits upon that authority, upon that submission, as well as those roles (3:06) according to God’s word. So Del believes there are six social institutions that God has created for (3:13) man, and he says, yea, seven. The last institution is about the prime social system, and that is God (3:22) himself.

He is the God who is socially complex. He is, as the young man sang this morning, he is the (3:33) three-in-one God, the triune God. And I have that if you see the notes in brackets, three-in-one.

(3:42) God, and it should not surprise us, therefore, that the triune God, who is socially complex, created (3:50) a universe of systems of diverse pieces and parts that all work together for some higher good. (3:59) And so in studying the scripture, these are the six that Del believes God has instituted. The (4:07) family, state, church, the sphere of labor, and we would understand that as business, (4:13) the social order of God and man, which is our relationship to God, and there are clear (4:19) biblical expressions of authority in that social system and the submission roles that we play.

(4:26) And then the final one is the sphere of community, and that is how we are supposed to be engaging (4:34) our neighbor. So this leads us up to (4:45) God’s modus operandi, in that it appears that God has created, equipped, empowered, (4:54) and then he delegates authority and responsibilities to his creatures to operate (4:58) within social systems so that even the smallest creature may flourish and bear fruit, and that (5:05) fruit brings glory to God. And in contrasting God’s nature and Satan’s purposes, we find (5:11) that God delegates authority down to the lowest level so that the smallest creature might flourish (5:17) and bring him glory.

Satan’s modus operandi is the opposite. Satan consolidates power at the top, (5:25) increasingly enslaving people, making them dependent and destroying their desire and (5:31) incentives to be fruitful. God creates his creatures, he then equips them, empowers them, (5:38) and then he delegates authority to them down to the smallest creature so that the smallest (5:43) creature might flourish and bring forth fruit, and that fruit brings glory to God.

Satan (5:50) consolidates power at the top, making them dependent and destroying their fruitfulness, (5:56) and Satan hates the glory of God, and this is one of the prime ways in which he attempts to destroy (6:04) the glory of God by destroying the fruitfulness of his creatures, (6:12) and he has done that oftentimes through the consolidation of power. (6:19) Now, let’s talk about this modus operandi of God and Satan from the standpoint of what happens (6:27) when we are obedient to that, when we reject it, and the consequences associated with that, (6:33) and we’ll look at the state as an example and talk about God’s design. (6:39) But very clearly in the scripture, when God talks about the state, God himself (6:45) is a member of that system.

He delegates authority to the king, but the king is in (6:51) submission to God. The citizens have a dual submission. They are to submit to the king, (6:58) but they are also to submit to God in such a way that if the king requires them to do (7:06) that which is disobedient towards God, we are to first obey God.

So this first example that we have (7:15) of the state exceeding its authority was Nebuchadnezzar, who became puffed up and began (7:20) proclaiming how he was the one that put all of Babylon and everything in the empire together, (7:26) and by his might and his power, and God immediately taught Nebuchadnezzar a lesson, (7:33) and Nebuchadnezzar found himself out in the pasture eating grass like a cow without his senses, (7:42) and the scripture says he remained there until he came to his senses, and then he acknowledged (7:48) that God is the one who is sovereign over all the nations, and God gives power to whomever (7:55) he wishes. So let’s continue now with part two. I was tempted to say with the rest of the story, (8:08) and I said it anyway.

Well, the other two examples, Saul and Uzziah, (8:16) require us then to talk about the design for the church. So God has designed the church, (8:23) if we look at the new covenant, where Christ is the head of the church, there are leaders, (8:29) and we read about this in Ephesians 4 and other places in the scripture that talk about (8:35) how this institution is designed. The saints are to be submissive to the leaders, (8:41) but they are to be submissive to Christ.

The leaders are submissive to Christ, (8:46) and this leads us then to the term sphere sovereignty. This is a term that was coined (8:53) by Abraham Kuyper, but it is a good term for us because I believe the scripture does indeed teach (9:01) that when God created these institutions, he created them with a great deal of sovereignty, (9:08) not a sovereignty over God, but a sovereignty associated with the role and purposes (9:12) that God made for them, so that the church was not to superimpose its authority over the state, (9:20) and the state was not to superimpose its authority over the church. (9:25) They were to operate properly under God’s design, under the sovereign delegation of authority (9:32) that God had given them.

So in the first case, you recall, the story of King Saul, (9:39) where Saul was anointed king. He wasn’t anointed as priest, but as king, but you recall that Saul, (9:47) in a particular event, became impatient for the priest to arrive, so he took on that role himself. (9:54) Well, God condemned him for that and punished Saul as a result, and the punishment of that (9:59) was the loss of his kingdom.

Uzziah, another very, very graphic illustration for us. (10:07) Uzziah was a wonderful king. Scripture talks at length of all that he had done and honored God, (10:13) and then the second part begins with these horrible words.

It says that when (10:21) Uzziah became powerful, that he began to do that which was wrong. And so Uzziah, (10:28) when he became powerful, began to believe that he had the right to go into the temple (10:35) and offer and burn incense. Well, God judged him for that, and he had leprosy until the day that (10:42) he died and was buried separately and not with the other kings.

So God is very serious about this (10:49) notion that we refer to here as spirit sovereignty, that the king is not supposed (10:58) to assume he has authority in the other institutions that God has made. (11:05) So this then leads us to talk about the consolidation of meta-earthly power. (11:14) One of the primary ways that we’ve seen in past history, and we see it today, is often termed (11:21) statism.

And that is when power is consolidated into an increasingly larger and larger state. (11:31) So if we look at these institutions as God has designed them, we look at the state, (11:36) at the church, there’s the sphere of the family, the sphere of labor, God and man, and community. (11:43) So here we have an example of what happens when the king, who was supposed to be subject to God, (11:49) and to rule in the way God has caused him to rule and given him authority to rule, (11:54) he is to punish evil and to condone what is good.

And that’s not evil and what the king (12:00) thinks is evil, not good and what the king thinks is good, because the king can begin to think that (12:07) what is good is what’s good for the king, rather than goodness associated with the absolute truth (12:15) of God. And so under that design, in an ideal world, things should work well. And each one of (12:28) these spheres is really, from Del’s perspective, is built in order to ensure the fruitfulness of (12:35) the members.

So the family is there to raise children, to ensure that they are raised as (12:42) noble men and virtuous women, and that they flourish in their life. The sphere of labor is (12:49) there to take the largesse, or the generous gifts that God has given us, and to enlarge the pie, (12:56) to plant seeds and reap a hundredfold. The church, the leader’s job, as we read, as you read in (13:03) Ephesians chapter 4, is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

(13:09) And the king is to punish evil and to condone what is good, so that the citizens are free (13:15) in their property rights, and they are free to be able to flourish. So all these systems (13:21) are to ensure the fruitfulness, the flourishing of God’s creatures. But under statism, what happens (13:30) is, the king begins to act, and the government then begins to act, as if God does not exist.

(13:38) Of course, God does exist, but if the king, the government, begins to act as if God is not there, (13:45) or if God is just giving a little bit of an acknowledgement here on the side and so forth, (13:52) the king has to do that. He has to get rid of God in order for him to begin to usurp (13:59) and grow the power beyond what God has given him. And so statism is what occurs when the (14:08) state then begins to pull each of these sovereign institutions underneath its authority and power, (14:16) and increasingly begins to reign over institutions.

To a large extent, unfortunately, (14:22) that is what’s happening in our culture. There is an increasingly powerful state, (14:30) primarily at the federal level, and also at the state level, that has assumed authority. (14:37) Authority over labor.

Authority over the church. What he can’t say, what he can say. When you can (14:43) meet, when you can’t meet.

Authority over the family. Ever hear of parents' rights? (14:51) Or parents don’t have the right to raise their children? And so forth. So this is what happens (14:58) when the state begins to assume more and more power, and then goes beyond its bounds.

And again, (15:07) I wish that God could sometimes strike with leprosy or put people out in the pasture eating (15:13) grass like a cow. But the dustbin of history is littered with nation states that have gone this (15:20) route and have eventually collapsed. Primarily because the fruitfulness of the people has been (15:28) destroyed.

And as that fruit begins to wither, the state itself becomes more desperate to try and grab (15:37) onto more and more of our declining resources, and it becomes a death spiral. And so it’s tossed (15:44) eventually into the dustbin of history as another failed nation state. (15:52) That is why, of course, many people are warning that what is happening here in this culture is a (16:01) result of statism.

That brings to mind, again to me, having done a great deal of study on the (16:09) founding era, how the founding generation were so wise. If we look at America, they were good (16:18) historians, by the way. The founders were deeply concerned with this propensity towards statism (16:25) and acted objectively to prevent it.

They created a constitution that gave limited power to the (16:34) federal government, declaring all other power was to be retained by the people and the states, not (16:41) the federal government. They wrote a bill of rights to reinforce the federal boundaries. Their intent (16:48) was that the people and the states would be the balance of power that would keep it in check.

(16:55) They knew history. They knew that history was littered with the tragedy associated (17:01) with nation states that have gone this route, and so they did the best they could in creating a (17:08) governmental system that had balance of powers to try and prevent this from happening. One balance (17:15) was the balance between the federal government and the state, which has pretty much been done (17:21) away with today.

If you want to read more about that, if you look at the articles we linked, (17:27) and Del has written before about the rise of the federal beast and the call for a balance of powers (17:33) act, which he wrote, that he says needs to be enacted, and those links are in the notes, (17:39) tonight’s notes, to reign in the state’s insatiable lust for ever more power and control (17:50) and reverse what’s happening in our culture, if it can be. This also brings to mind what has (17:57) been happening in Eastern Europe today, where the kings become so powerful that it is not sufficient (18:03) for him to simply rule over the institutions within his borders, but then to reach out and (18:09) to attempt to try and take. And of course, when we talk about what has happened today, because when (18:15) you go back and look at what has been called statism, this is a horrific situation for people.

(18:22) As we are seeing today in Ukraine, as we’ve seen in the history of many nation states, (18:29) the mass graves, the millions of people that have been slaughtered, the result of this can (18:33) be horrific. And this is the typical thing that has happened in the past, that power usually was (18:41) consolidated with the king rather than following the biblical role that he is subject to God, (18:48) and he has limited authority and limited power. But we’re facing today, but what we’re facing today (19:01) is something unique, and this is what I’m trying to represent here.

And again, I tremble a bit (19:08) by talking about seven horns, but I’m doing that because of what I believe is the hardwood (19:14) that’s riding the beast that has arisen. It’s a beast that is different from any beast that we’ve (19:20) ever seen in the history of man, and that is primarily a result of the technology that is (19:27) available to us today. So the state and the situation that we talked about, this massive (19:34) beast and power, the consolidation of earthly power, the state is only one partner in this power, (19:45) only one of the seven horns, we should say, in this beast that has arisen.

On the other end (19:54) is the sphere of labor, state and labor. And I’ll be honest with you, 20 years ago, (20:01) I would never believe that the sphere of labor would have risen to be a horn of power, (20:07) but it has. And most of you probably are probably familiar with what is happening.

(20:14) If you look simply at things like social media and other kinds of internet platforms, (20:21) many people’s businesses are now tied directly to that technology and other technologies. (20:28) Well, what has happened is that those major technological businesses, corporations, (20:35) multinational corporations have begun to assume a new worldview. And we’re going to talk about (20:43) that the next time, the next threat, the rise of a demonic worldview.

And I wondered whether (20:51) I would do that first or second, but this is the right way, I think. So there is a new worldview (20:57) that has assumed authority within our culture at the elite level. And so what has happened is (21:05) we find these major large technological multinational corporations are now imposing (21:13) that worldview in such a way that you have probably heard that if you do not walk according (21:19) to that worldview, then you are going to be hindered in your online presence.

We felt that here. (21:27) I felt that, Del says. We’ve seen that as we have been denied service as a result of our stand, (21:38) which has not been thoroughly a stand that has been dramatic, but it’s sufficient enough (21:43) for us to be labeled as hostile and to be limited in what we can do.

(21:50) So the sphere of labor has become an extremely powerful horn in this beast that we’ve never (21:58) really seen in the past. There have been some times in early America where there have been (22:04) the railroad barons and those things where you see part of that to begin to arise, but nothing (22:12) like what we see here today. And that is because of the ubiquitousness, (22:22) the present appearing and found it everywhere-ness of the technology and how that (22:29) technology has now become increasingly necessary for people to do business.

So the sphere of labor (22:37) is now exercising extreme authority with a contrary worldview that can mean that people (22:46) can be canceled. They can be shut down and so forth, and you’ve heard of those things. (22:53) So there are five horns in the middle.

Entertainment, science, media, medicine, (23:00) and academia are technically, from my perspective, a part of the sphere of labor or sub-entities of (23:08) the labor. In other words, they operate under the design and scripture for a sphere of labor, (23:16) but they’ve become so powerful in our culture that they wanted to call them out because (23:21) each of them in its own way is a horn of increasing power. On the one end of the five (23:29) is academia.

My guess is that most of you understand how powerful academia has become (23:36) in our culture. If you do not understand this, then I’m sorry to say you are ignorant about (23:41) what’s coming out of our schools, even grade school up through high school and our universities. (23:50) This new worldview is being taught with a vengeance, and the product that comes out of (23:56) academic institutions in many, many cases is carrying that worldview.

Academia (24:05) holds a huge sway within our culture. On the other side is entertainment. No one in the history of (24:14) man, I think, could ever have begun to think of how a song could become so powerful or a movie (24:22) could become so powerful.

Of course, we didn’t know what movies were. Entertainment was done (24:28) maybe once a year when the traveling troops came through town and you went to watch somebody (24:33) perform a play or something like that. Now, entertainment is the ubiquitous thing.

It’s (24:42) everywhere thing. The stats are that teenagers spend nine hours a day in screen time. Primarily, (24:53) that screen time is entertainment.

It’s watching videos. It’s all kinds of sports, (24:59) all kinds of things. It’s not just through phones.

It’s TVs, all of those (25:04) ways that we entertain ourselves. In fact, we will, in one of the threats, (25:11) we will talk about how we have become addicted to entertainment. That entertainment today (25:18) carries this new worldview.

If you haven’t heard anything about Disney, you will know. (25:26) If you have heard anything about Disney, you know entertainment’s a big part of that. (25:32) You will not see a biblical worldview portrayed well in any way positive (25:37) through the entertainment that comes to us through every quarter of our lives today.

(25:45) The three in the middle, science, media, and medicine, and we’ll talk first about media. (25:51) The media, of course, is also ubiquitous everywhere today because of technology. (25:57) The news that you hear and read about, your understanding of what’s really going on (26:04) is going to be basically formed and molded by what the media tells you and me.

(26:12) No one could ever have guessed that anything like this, that the media would become so powerful, (26:18) would have ever happened. There was a time where the most ubiquitous media was the newspaper. (26:26) The newspaper was printed locally.

You could go down and talk to the newspaper folks. If you (26:32) didn’t agree with what they were doing, you could talk about it, chat about it, and so forth. It was (26:38) primarily the local newspaper.

Before that, it was something like maybe a courier or a messenger (26:45) that would arrive by horseback and so forth. Now, media is delivered to us instantaneously. (26:53) We can all watch an event together, or there are millions of people that are listening to (26:59) a commentator who’s telling you what’s happening.

It is an extremely powerful, powerful horn (27:08) in our culture today, and it can sway people. The other two horns, science and medicine, (27:14) there are some other horns that possibly we could put here, but I thought I’d put these (27:23) here to talk about maybe something that’s even more current for us to understand. (27:28) I guarantee you that nobody five years ago would have said that medicine is a very powerful force (27:36) in our culture today, but it is.

It’s extremely powerful. As we have seen over the last few years (27:43) with the influence it’s had on our policies throughout the pandemic, that is also coupled (27:50) with the notion of science. There are major worldwide policies that are being enacted (27:59) as a result of science.

I’m fighting for the right word to say without causing a lot of people to be (28:07) upset. Scientific theories and hypotheses, we’ll put it that way, that have been bought such that (28:15) major, major policies are being enacted as a result of these things. We’ve also seen that (28:23) referred to in terms of medicine and science in terms of what we’ve just been through as well.

(28:31) So these are the seven horns that are in our day and in our time have arisen, (28:38) have aligned themselves together. Each one of these has a powerful influence over the people (28:43) in our culture today, and we as believers need to understand that not only, (28:50) need to understand that not only so that we can act with wisdom toward outsiders and others, (28:57) but also for us to be wise to recognize and understand that these things, these horns, (29:04) can mold us into the world’s form, into its view. And we have been warned about that, haven’t we? (29:11) In Romans chapter 12, do not be conformed, do not be squeezed into the world’s mold.

(29:18) Well, let me tell you, here are seven squeezers that are attempting to squeeze us into its mold (29:23) and have a power and control and sway over our lives. Okay, so then, (29:30) let’s move on to the next idea and superimpose what we were talking about last time, (29:36) malevolent compassion. This, to me, is a very interesting thing to ponder and think about, (29:44) that as we see in the imagery in Revelation, it’s a strange imagery.

It’s hard to really (29:54) understand, but the scripture talks about a harlot, a feminine imagery that’s riding on top (30:01) of this beast with seven horns. Well, in our day, the way I’m looking at this today is that we have (30:08) here today, and that is what we talked about last time, this is not, again, a dissing about women, (30:17) about their femininity. God designed them to be feminine, to lead with grace and compassion, (30:23) but he also designed them for that grace and compassion to be bridled with truth and wisdom (30:30) and righteousness.

When that is unbridled, we talk about that earlier, we end up with a malevolent (30:42) compassion, and in my mind today, right or wrong, I’ll pass it on to you, that this has become the (30:49) prime ethic in our culture today, the prime ethic. Everything is weighted against this malevolent (30:58) compassion, and I would say to you that virtually all the policies that are passed, the governor of (31:07) Colorado in 2022 he’s talking, just passed yesterday one of the most onerous abortion bills (31:15) ever passed in this culture, and some even think that this bill is going to allow for infanticide, (31:23) but if you read about it, and you read the way it was presented, and that those that are (31:29) promoting it and so forth, it was constantly promoted under the guise of compassion. (31:36) All of those policies that we, I wrote about in terms of what was happening, for example, (31:44) in California, the rise of crime, we talked about what was happening, the rise of crime and the (31:50) policies that are being passed, for example, to exempt anything under $1,000 is a misdemeanor.

(31:57) Have you seen what’s happening, by the way, in California? Stores are closing up in the year (32:04) since this was written because of theft, because of the policies they put in place, (32:14) and so therefore people can walk in, ride a bike into a log ring and start pulling off expensive (32:20) drugs and ride out with the security guard watching them because it is simply a misdemeanor, (32:26) so that this drives almost everything that we’ve seen happening today. It’s behind everything you (32:33) see about trying to implement a different worldview about human sexuality. Everything, (32:39) listen to it, watch it, everything is under the appeal of this prime ethic of compassion.

It’s all (32:46) sold on being compassionate, evil compassion, but it’s a malevolent compassion. In my mind, (32:54) as I borrow the imageries from the book of Revelation, this is the harlot that sits on top (33:00) of each of these seven horns, so that malevolent compassion, that notion of compassion driving (33:07) everything, you see it everywhere. In every one of these horns of power, it drives every one of them.

(33:15) All you have to do is think about it and watch it and you’ll see it. (33:20) Okay, so this is the point at which we drop back and say, listen, listen, dear remnant, (33:28) let your heart not be troubled. This is not a time to cower.

It’s not a time for us to (33:36) have a melting heart or to wring our hands, to faint with fear or to become hopeless. (33:43) I know it’s hard. It’s hard when we see all these things happening around us.

(33:49) Read the scriptures, just read the scriptures, read the Psalms, and the Psalms will tell us (33:55) over and over again that yes, it appears that evil will flourish, but they only do that for (34:02) a short time. God is still sovereign, he is in control, and true justice will be brought (34:09) eventually. This is a time for us to remember that we are here for a reason.

God has placed us here (34:18) for a reason. We need to return to our first love and to engage that kind of true agape love and (34:26) build those significant relationships with those who are providentially living near us, (34:32) to pray for them with diligence that that’s the way we’re going to break through the depraved mind. (34:40) That’s the way we’re going to break through the skeptic.

That’s the way we’re going to break (34:45) through the walls that are being built, increasingly being built between those who (34:50) hold a biblical worldview and the rest of the world. And we do this, why? In hope that God will (34:59) grant them repentance and they will come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil who has (35:06) taken them captive to do his will. Does that not express what’s going on? So may God give us the (35:18) grace and the wisdom and the strength of character to live in an increasingly hostile world, yet (35:26) it is a world in which we find ourselves as God’s people.

So therefore, God has a plan for us (35:37) in our day. The invitation is now being extended. So if you’re subject to it, come while we stand (35:48) and sing.