24-0211p Transcript

Preacher: Scott Reynolds

(1:59) Continuing with our second part of today’s lesson, we have been bringing you sessions of a webinar (2:08) series entitled The Seven Threats of Our Times by Dr. Del Tackett, author of The Truth Project (2:14) and The Engagement Project.

Today we will cover the eighth and last session of The Seven Threats (2:21) called Wrap-Up, Where Do We Go From Here? And as a reminder, the seven threats that we looked at (2:29) are, number one, the rise of the scoffer and the depraved mind. Number two, the rise of Homo Deus (2:38) and Neo-Christianity. Number three, the loss of the noble male and the rise of malevolent (2:45) compassion.

Number four, the consolidation of massive earthly power. Number five, the rise (2:54) of a demonic worldview and the national rift. Number six, America addicted and soft, dependent (3:01) and lost.

And number seven, that we did just the last time I was up here, the attack upon (3:09) the biblical family. And hopefully you remember what some of that was all about. (3:16) And those aren’t new terms to you anymore.

So understanding the times in which we live will (3:22) help us with God’s wisdom know how we should respond to those around us in our times. And Del (3:31) continues this session for a context for part two. I’m going to read Colossians 4, 5, and 6. (3:42) Again, from the New American Standard, conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, (3:49) making the most of the opportunity.

Let your speech always be with grace as though seasoned (3:56) with salt so that you will know how you should respond to each person. And if you’re on the phone, (4:05) and can you please mute your phone? Thank you. So we’re looking at three threads that run through (4:14) the seven threats.

And the first of the threads that we covered this morning is the destruction, (4:22) the overall destruction and desire to destroy God’s social design and God’s social order. (4:31) Number two and three we’ll cover tonight. The second is the rise of homo deus, (4:38) which actually is the second threat.

And therefore the consequence of that, and this is the thread, (4:45) the hunger for significance that is so deeply pathological in our culture. We’re sick. We’re (4:55) trying to find some kind of significance in our life.

Number three, the third threat is back again (5:05) at the very first threat, the depraved mind, in this giving over of the people to a depraved mind. (5:12) And as we’ll see in Romans, as we kind of end up tonight driving us, driving our culture, (5:22) this depraved mind towards an almost self-inflicted destruction, a suicidal tendency. (5:31) Now we will continue with the second and third threads.

So let’s talk about the rise of homo (5:41) deus and the hunger for significance, which is a major thing that we need to understand (5:48) what’s going on. So in our culture, as we have walked away from the larger narrative of God, (5:56) the story of God, understanding who he is and who we are, and therefore his design for culture and (6:05) life and all of that, and we begin to sink ever more deeply into the notion that it’s all about (6:14) me. And if it’s all about me, at some point I begin to think more highly of myself.

In fact, (6:22) I begin to think so highly of myself that I begin to think that there’s something divine about (6:29) myself, and in particular, something divine about my heart. And so how I feel becomes a divine (6:38) proclamation. And so that is why, as we’ve talked about before, that someone can say, (6:45) I am a woman, and the culture has to bow down to that as if that is a divine proclamation.

(6:53) And if you don’t accept that, then you are a blasphemer. And of course, you will be dealt with (6:59) as a blasphemer in our culture. But this leads to a desperate search for significance, because (7:07) when you lose sight of who you are in the larger story of God, and in particular, (7:14) have no concept and understanding of the significant love of God that extends to his (7:21) people as demonstrated by Christ in the sacrifice of Christ for us, then we find ourselves in this (7:30) desperate search to be significant, to find significance in the world around us through (7:36) people or things, material goods and all of these things that will make me believe that I am (7:43) somebody.

So there’s an interesting passage when Jesus gave us what we call the Lord’s Prayer. (7:53) He preceded that by saying, do not be like the scribes and the Pharisees who stand in the street (8:00) corners and with their lofty prayers in order to be seen by others. And he said, truly, I say to (8:08) you that they have their reward in full.

You know, people go, ooh, and ah, and that’s all they get. (8:18) That’s their reward. And he also mentioned the same thing several places when he said, (8:25) when you fast, you know, paraphrasing here, don’t go around with that gloomy face like the scribes (8:33) and Pharisees.

You know, woe is me. Look at me. I’m fasting and so forth to be seen by man.

(8:41) And Matthew 23 said that everything they do, speaking of the scribes and the Pharisees, (8:46) the teachers and the law and all of these, everything they do is done for people to see. (8:53) They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels of their garments long. And why did they do this? (9:00) Because they’re attempting to gain some significance by the praise of man.

(9:07) It is the consequence that is driving so much of what we see today. It manifests itself in each (9:15) of these individual threats that we looked at. And it’s the consequence of turning our back (9:21) upon the larger story, the divine narrative of who God is and who we are and why we’re here and (9:30) the institutions that he has given us and the blueprint for those institutions, by the way, (9:36) which is the word of God.

And you lose sight of the larger story. You get caught up in your own (9:45) little story, and it’s all about me. It’s all about my script.

And what happens is we lose (9:51) our true identity. We lose the source of absolute truth. And so we begin increasingly to think that (10:00) we are the source of truth, or in a cultural aspect, might becomes right.

And so we become (10:09) tossed to and fro by the things that go viral. We’re without any kind of root that gives us (10:15) stability. Our culture is just like a cork bobbing on the ocean, and a viral thing can (10:23) blow us one way or the other, not rooted in the word of God.

So headlines and tweets and YouTube (10:30) videos and entertainment stars who have become the cultural cleric can sway us one way or the other. (10:37) So you can’t really predict what’s going to happen in a few months. You know, our culture (10:43) is just so rootless.

And so, therefore, we lose any transcendent source, any source outside of us, (10:53) of significance of who we are. This then dumps us into this frantic and desperate struggle (10:59) to be somebody significant. And that becomes increasingly hard in an increasingly insignificant (11:07) world where everything becomes increasingly boring and common.

We thrash around to become (11:15) significant. And so I hang on to my sexuality, and a culture then feeds that, and I find some (11:23) significance in that. We also find significance in one of the most perverted things that’s happened (11:29) in our culture today, that people who are offended somehow can become significant.

Why? (11:37) Because I’ve been offended. It’s a crazy, crazy world. And where it plays havoc is in all of our (11:45) institutions.

Because no longer are we noble males and virtuous females who are seeking the (11:52) true good of others and the good of the culture and so forth, but we are seeking our own (12:02) significance. And it becomes a frantic, frantic form of manipulating everybody and controlling (12:09) everybody. And at some point, maybe even dropping out because you can’t control everybody.

(12:16) And this is what happened, you remember, with Solomon. Solomon tried to find this in all kinds (12:22) of ways, with knowledge, with pleasure and possessions. He talked about having slaves to (12:28) cater to his every whim.

He then tried to deny himself nothing. Anything was open for him. He (12:35) gave himself all kinds of amusements and comfort and gratification and pleasure.

And in the end, (12:41) he said, it was all meaningless. And of course, that is exactly what will happen in our culture. (12:50) And people find themselves at the bottom of that as they pursue this lie of the enemy, (12:57) the world, the flesh and the enemy, that you can be significant in this world if you’re pretty, (13:05) if you’re handsome, if you’re rich, if you’re funny, if you have the right form, if you have (13:12) the right clothes, whatever.

And in the end, it all becomes dust and sawdust and becomes empty. (13:20) It could well be that one of the main reasons behind such a high degree of suicides today (13:26) is because people have been led astray, and they can’t find anything in this world (13:32) that will satisfy them. We have a great opportunity, by the way.

(13:40) And so, we end up as we talked about threat six with a culture that is so filled with addictions, (13:54) people trying to cover up these lonely feelings and isolated feelings and feelings like Solomon (14:00) did. It’s all meaningless. It’s all empty.

And so, we try to have that as well as the pathologies (14:08) of life around us with all kinds of alcohol and drugs and even activities and so forth. (14:14) And then, we become dependent. We allow the state as in Argentina to make us dependent.

(14:22) And so, we lose our desire to be fruitful. We’re suffering in the culture right now (14:27) where many people who don’t want to work because they’ve been trained that if you don’t work, (14:34) they still get taken care of. This is malevolent compassion, by the way.

(14:40) And so, the third threat, it really brings us back to the first, and I did it again. And so, (14:47) the third threat, it really brings us back to the first threat. And I think it’s significant for us (14:55) to talk about, and this is the depraved mind, which is the first threat that leads us to the (15:04) third threat, self-destruction.

This came from Romans 1 where we’re looking at the success of (15:13) giving over to pronouncements. As a culture, as a people reject God and exchange the truth of God (15:23) for a lie, God gives them over, first of all, to sexual immorality. Then, He gives them over to (15:31) shameful lusts.

And then, finally, gives them over to a depraved mind. We looked at that chronologically (15:40) in the life of our culture and wondered if, in fact, God was giving us over to our culture, (15:47) to a depraved mind, a mind that was no longer capable of thinking logically, a mind that was (15:54) no longer capable of understanding truth and untruth. And that then leads to this blind rush (16:03) to self-destruction.

So, let me read it. Almost a terrible ending to Romans 1 after God shows us (16:11) this progression of giving people over to this final giving people over to a depraved mind. (16:20) And so, Romans 1 ends this way.

And I’ve added verse 31. He had just verse 32. (16:27) But in reading the context, verse 31, I think, also well defines the depraved mind.

(16:35) And in Romans 1, 31 and 2, 31 and 32, they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, (16:45) no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve (16:52) death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice (17:01) them. So, even though they know that this leads to death, they continue to do them.

These are the (17:09) actions of the depraved mind. And they encourage others to do the same thing. We see that throughout (17:17) our culture today.

It makes us angry. And to some extent, it should make us angry. Why? Because (17:25) people are being led down a death row.

Let’s end it by, again, bringing ourselves back into the (17:33) proper context of who we are in a culture that almost appears to be self-destructing around us. (17:41) That we are not to lose hope. We are a people of hope.

The spirit of hope goes within us. (17:48) We are not to give up. And Galatians 6, 9 says, let us not become weary in doing good, (17:54) for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

And so, (18:02) that is our admonishment to all of us tonight. In the midst of all of this, (18:06) it’s easy for us to lose hope. It’s easy for us to find ourselves complaining all the time.

(18:12) It’s easy to find ourselves sometimes as if our hearts are melting, our knees (18:19) are knocking, our hands are being wrung together as a result of all of this. (18:25) Do not give up. Do not lose hope.

In Romans 15, 4, Paul writes this, (18:33) for everything that was written in the past was written to teach us that through the endurance (18:40) taught in the scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope. All of the (18:48) scripture leads us to this, that we might have hope even in a culture that seems crazy. (18:55) So, my encouragement to you, to all of us, is to stand strong in the midst of all of this.

(19:01) I believe there is great hope. That’s why we’re doing the engagement project. I believe that is (19:08) the answer.

It’s not my answer. It’s the Lord’s answer. It’s what he designed from the very (19:14) beginning, and that we need to return to that.

We need to stay true to God’s word, true to his (19:22) design, true to his purposes, even though the world is yelling nasty names at us. We need to (19:30) be noble males. We need to be virtuous females, and we need to raise up noble males and raise up (19:37) virtuous females.

We need to concentrate on building and nurturing our family with a fierce (19:43) determination, because the attacks of the enemy are here and ever present, and they are relentless. (19:51) Sometimes they even seem to be overwhelming, but they are not. So, as we’re talking about the (19:57) engagement project, so as we’re talking about in the engagement project, to lead your family (20:05) in a common ministry, as you minister together as a family in your Jerusalem, that is, (20:15) the minister to those who are providentially near you, those that God has placed near you, (20:22) let me close with two verses, 2 Timothy 2, 24 through 26.

(20:29) And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, (20:36) not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed in the hope that God will grant them (20:44) repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses (20:50) and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (20:58) What a great passage from God’s word, that our mission is in a world of increasingly skeptic (21:06) people, lost people, lonely people, hostile people, people with depraved minds that cannot (21:13) respond to our logic, that we must first of all begin to build that relationship with them.

(21:19) This means we’re going to have to get rid of the notion that bigger is better, and we have to (21:25) concentrate on building a relationship with a fewer number of people, that we might then have (21:31) the opportunity to begin to deal with them as we read in Colossians chapter 4, verses 5 and 6. (21:40) Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your (21:46) speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should (21:53) respond to each person. And that will be the case if we concentrate on doing what the Lord has asked (22:00) us to do, to build those relationships with people in the culture around us, and to pray for them (22:08) diligently that God is going to begin to allow them to come to their senses.

He is the one who (22:14) allows them to escape from the trap of the devil. He is the one who will grant them repentance. (22:22) We need to call on God to do that, so this is actually a time where we might even say that (22:29) this could be our finest hour.

You know, the post-COVID scare. We now live in a culture so radically (22:39) different, but I can guarantee it is a culture that’s filled with all kinds of fears, whether (22:46) we’re afraid of the glaciers melting, we’re afraid of viruses, we’re afraid of so many things, and (22:54) we’re isolated, and we increasingly don’t have relationships with anybody, true relationships. (23:01) We have a lot of likes, we have a lot of follows, but we don’t have true relationships.

In fact, (23:10) I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of our culture doesn’t even know what it’s like to (23:17) have a true, trusting relationship with someone who has no agenda other than to love them, (23:25) and of course, that is what God is calling us to do. (23:36) So, Del finishes out by saying, I thank you for being with us here tonight, (23:43) and now we are extending the invitation to anyone subject to it, come while we stand in the same.