Note Our Preaching/Devotional Series Below: Why Do The Heathen Rage? Numbers 1-19
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Our Highest Motivation Is In Serving the Master
“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)
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(In Spirit and In Truth: 5-20-13)
No. 1
Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
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See Psalm 2 in the Bible.
Some things should make the patriot, the child of God, and the respectable citizen fume, presumably on a level above this angry world:
People who murder their unborn children, often driving scissors into their brains less than a month before they are due to appear on this earth.
Countless teenagers whose lives are ruined before they begin because they are gripped by the maddening tentacles of this slimy humanism that says “Let’s eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. And let’s get what we can because we deserve it and because that’s all there will ever be.”
Immorality that has swept over our land like a flood --- sexual sin of all kinds; vicious themes in film and video games; drug culture glorified in singers and songs; defiling hatreds toward common decencies featured in rap music; vindictive public behavior everywhere; total collapse of sensibilities in entertainment, athletics, the press, and politics; and leader malfeasance, cheating, duplicity, agenda pushing, ecumenism, and brainwashing in the whole caboodle of public education.
And fifty percent of conventional marriages go to the dogs of divorce.
Then we have selfishness and greed ruling our banks, our healthcare megalith, our computer industry, and the insurance trade. Business is out of control, big government bristles at the seams, and the national debt can’t be paid until the people decide to pay it. Nothing is further from our small American minds.
And our military seems to have little righteous energy left. We have a war that no one seems to be fighting until they show up dead on some lonely sand dune somewhere in Afghanistan or Pakistan. God, forgive us for this phony baloney.
And yet, there are brighter stars than these that glow white hot in their lust for blood: the internet is the most Satanic snare ever dreamed up by the Master Deceiver; this era of tolerance, inoffensiveness, political correctness, and shutting down the dissent has to be the most disgusting reversal of American fortunes we have ever seen and has introduced a filth of person no decent man could have ever thought able to walk on our precious and blood-bought soil; and the once glorious churches of America are rotting under the scum of unbelieving clergy, false Christianity, and dirty living.
THE HEATHEN RAGE BECAUSE GOD’S WRATH IS COMING!
No. 2
Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because They Are Cursed Children: See 2 Peter 2:14
1. Our church leadership today is very immature and you can measure that immaturity by that same Scripture. Some good Bible examples of men having childish spirits are: Cain (Genesis 4:3-16); King Saul (1 Samuel 18:8-9), and Haman (Esther 6:6-9). Each of these harbored enormous hatred toward God’s people while they pretended to walk after Him. They were wolves in sheep clothes, and they are wolves today, FILTHY WOLVES!
2. The story of the prodigal son is about, first, a young man who immaturely turned his back on God; and then, as he matured, his younger brother immaturely judged him who “once was lost but now was found.”
Jesus told the fickle religious leaders that the generation of which they were the leaders were “like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.” (Luke 7:32)
3. They wanted neither wedding or funeral. They were corrupt, capricious, wanting their own way, and despising constituted authority. It didn’t matter what ministry God put among them, they found a way to ignore it, abuse it, or openly mock it. John the Baptist was demon-possessed; Jesus was a glutton, a drunkard, a deceiver, and a blasphemer. You and I come into their midst, and we’re dividers in the church and they speak evil thereof. Nothing can please them but a shiny new toy --- a new idea, a new wagon, a new tune, or a new fad. The old paths, the ancient landmarks, and the doctrines of the Faith are all obscured by their playthings and musings.
4. They are immature (1 Cor. 13:11), foolish (Prov. 22:15), unstable (2 Peter 2:14, 3:16), unruly (1 Thess. 5:14; Tit. 1:6), desirous of fables (2 Peter 1:16), and in need of instruction (Prov. 22:6). They are disobedient children, children of Hell!
5. And what shall we look for? Childish behavior always begins with love for attention. They are carnal and fleshly --- they seek not the glory of God, nor His way, nor the sufferings of a life well-lived, but they seek the praises of men, selfish gain, and the easy road.
6. Children are spiteful: they come not for your comfort and joy, but for their own. Don’t be surprised when they sulk, throw tantrums, backslide, and smite you. Jesus said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith,” (Matt. 23:23)
THE HEATHEN RAGE OVER SUCH IMMATURITY IN GOD’S HOUSE
No. 3 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because “Their Foolish Heart is Darkened.” (Romans 1:21)
1. The heart and the eyes are the conduit for spiritual perception and one cannot see light when the heart is dark. “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” (Ephesians 4:18)
2. There are only two kinds of people in the world --- the saved and the unsaved. The saved walk in the light of the day and the unsaved walk in darkness. It isn’t any more complicated than that. The Word of God says: (1) God is light and in Him is no darkness at all; (2) they who know the truth will be children of the light; (3) the saved would be the lights of the world; (4) the unsaved would not come to the light because their deeds are evil; and (5) unregenerate men will always love darkness more than the light.
3. Have you ever sat in a restaurant and looked across the room to see a pair of flesh and steel cold black eyes staring you down? Even to the point that you begin feeling unsafe? This fiend is a professing Christian. This fiend is a church pastor. This fiend is an apostle of love. This fiend‘s foolish heart is darkened. This fiend no longer has light, and therefore he can no longer obey the light.
4. Truth is not this man’s forte. For him, deceit is the only important truth. You cannot call this man to repentance because he is morally respectable, he is much too strong to allow himself to be weakened by repentance. If all men would be as loving and sinless as he is, there would be no need of salvation for anyone. That’s why he methodically obscures any mention of Jesus Christ and why he rules iron-handedly. When he says he likes to see people “saved,” he means he likes people to fawn over himself. He’s their savior and he decides what sins people need to be saved from. If he doesn’t think something is a sin -- and he doesn’t think anything is a sin unless it involves himself being slighted --- then there can be no need of standing up to it, preaching against it, or bringing discipline to correct it or enforce it.
5. He is antinomianism personified. He long ago took up mocking the fundamentals of the Faith and joined with the persecution of the true people of God. He aspires to be the antipathy of Acts 26:18, which says, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” This, if it were to happen, would well end his preeminence -- his reign as Master Manipulator.
THE HEATHEN RAGE BECAUSE THEIR HEARTS ARE VEXED
No. 4
Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because, The Church Has Been Overrun by the “Sons of Belial.”
1. At Deuteronomy 13:13, the expression “sons of Belial” is used to characterize those becoming involved in idolatry and at 1 Samuel 2:12 and 10:27 to characterize those in rebellion. The sins of drunkenness, sodomy, self-indulgence, and unbelief are also given ample affinity with this expression (1 Samuel 1:16; Judges 19:22). The meaning of the expression can include: useless persons; the worthless; the wicked; the perverse; the evil; the lawless.
2. There is much argument about whether this word Belial is a noun or a name. It goes beyond the male gender -- Hannah divorced herself from being a “daughter of Belial” when Eli the priest thought she was drunk: she was actually praying!
3. But given that the Hebrews used “sons of Belial,’ we have to understand that in almost every case where “sons of” is used it marked off lineage (parentage or bloodline) and always referred to a person by name. The whole concept is summarized at 2 Corinthians 6:15, where we are led to understand that “sons of Belial” have their personification in Satan himself. And it is no accident that the man of sin at 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is the “son of perdition.”
4. If you do your Book work, every time you see an enticer or seducer, think sons of Belial. Every time a person acts foolish in rebellion against God, think sons of Belial. Every liar, every deceiver, every idolater, every false priest, prophet, or pastor, that you see, think sons of Belial. Every time the Devil sticks his nose in the holy business of the church, think sons of Belial. When you see the wiles of the Devil at work in ungodly church folk, think sons of Belial. Every time they turn you out of their company as a trouble-making doctrinal fanatic, think sons of Belial. Keep in mind, they called blessed King David a “son of Belial” and they’ll speak of the evil of the same dignity concerning you.
5. The sons of Belial are personified in the Devil, their pride was revealed in their willful disobedience. The sons of Belial are spiteful, defiant, self-righteous, and un-teachable. They seek their own way and despise all other ways. The Bible is only a book, the Gospel is only a fable, souls are only people, and truth is Self.
6. There are too many Christians today who think that it is Christian to be silent. There are so many Christians who do not take a stand on important issues even when truth is at stake. You hear the old cliché “Silence is golden.” Friends, sometimes, it is yellow --- not golden --- to remain silent and not to take a stand. Note that a minority speaks for God yet many are caught in the judgment that follows.
THE HEATHEN RAGE WHEN THE UNRULY SONS OF BELIAL RULE
No. 5 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because The Heathen Walk In Crooked Paths. See Isaiah 58-59
1. The people of God ought to take delight in approaching to God. The light of life and the peace of the Christlife should rise forth in us in some fashion or another. In seeing this, we are committed to speaking His words, traveling His paths, and obeying His will. We should have no pleasure in our own things. We will be the “King’s cup bearers” in our time and the “repairers of the breach” in our generation.
2. But the reality is that our iniquities have separated us from our God, and our sins have hid His face from us: He will not hear us, He will not hear this crooked generation. Be careful to know that the message is for us all; we are a nation gone astray. We are vile --- all our works are of vanity and iniquity. Violence is in our hands. We cannot know the way of peace, we have made for ourselves CROOKED PATHS. And we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as if in the night.
3. Our sins testify against us horribly.
4. Our whole world is turned topsy-turvy. Justice is turned away backward (it serves the wicked and not the righteous), truth is fallen in the street (truth never dies, it falls from our hands and is trampled upon), and equity cannot enter (these are the just claims that come with a covenanted relationship with God).
5. And lo! He that would depart from evil becomes himself a prey. The enemy comes in like a flood, but the sweet Spirit of our Dear LORD shall certainly lift up His standard against any who would lay down a crooked path and beat up on the family of God. EXCEPT YE REPENT, YE SHALL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH!
6. Still, God looked to and fro and He saw that there was no man to serve as intercessor, to stand in the gap, so He sent His Son to do that very thing! His strong and extended arm brought salvation and His own righteousness bore Him up. The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto all them that turn from transgression.
7. For they who enter at the straight gate, and who make their pilgrimage along the narrow way, God says, “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.”
THE HEATHEN RAGE BECAUSE THEY WALK A BITTERLY CROOKED PATH AND THEIR RAGE REACHES UP INTO THE HIGHEST HEAVEN OF THE ALMIGHTY GOD!
No 6 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because They Are Falling Away See 2 Thessalonians 2:3
1. See 2 Peter Chapter 2. The first thing that catches your attention is that there are a superabundance of Bible example, precedent, warning, and constructive teachings that should restrain anyone from allowing himself to come to this calamity.
2. But a characteristic of the last days is that the restraint will be lifted. Whether that restraint is the true church or the Holy Spirit, or both, and both will diminish in power during apostasy, we have to stand amazed that men --- charlatans we might say --- can’t be impacted by these more-than-dramatic specimens of self-destructive behaviors. And not only that, they have no controlling nerve that will keep them from risking the same damnation for the vast multitudes that will fall in behind them.
3. Normally the false is brought alongside the truth without drawing any honest admissions or comparisons. Most people see these falsehoods in the church all the time and have no idea that they are completely fabricated by false teachers, some of them going back many centuries. Much is simply pure fiction.
4. The most basic explanation of apostasy through false teachers is to say that those teachers seduce professing Christians using effective bait. The teachers bring an alluring antinomian liberty, saying grace is permissive and God is happy with your sin. All the while they themselves are in bondage to their own corruption. They also appeal to materialism, the Scriptures saying that they make merchandise out of their quarry. It is important that they impress their audiences --- the lure of money, popularity, power are nonpareil incentives even with the elusiveness of such prosperity. Many [most] will follow these evil ways instinctively. In the world men chase other men’s dreams all day long until they become their dreams. Jesus said it would be the blind leading the blind and both will fall into the terrible ditch teeming with brimstone and underneath are the bitter cisterns.
5. The false teacher cannot cease from sin: he will be unstoppably covetous, adulterous, and animalistic in his appetites. His heart is full of venom and ill-will. Still, he will be highly admired for his “moral respectability,” but no one will seem to know what morality he subscribes to. He is inclined to make selfish choices, marked by self-deceit, self-will, self-love, and self-destruction. The idol of Self is an idol of ruin.
6. There are men in this city, only a few miles from where I’m sitting this minute, who will meet Christ one day, and will claim a place in Paradise. Jesus will say, “I never knew you; you never knew Me. You went your way and I went Mine. And why did you tear down My name, My church, and My people? Depart from Me you who have worked so hard for the wages of unrighteousness.”
7. I weep day and night because it is impossible for these men to see it coming. But it’s coming at warp speed. Christ our Savior will be Christ their Judge. It needn’t be.
THE HEATHEN HAVE FALLEN AWAY; THEY FELL AWAY FROM TRUTH!
No. 7 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
The Heathen Rage Because They Won't Have Christ Reign Over Them
[] “But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. (John 6:64-66; see also Luke 19:11)
[] When Jesus explained that He would be their Master and Lord (alongside being their Savior) many walked away. Notice that His betrayers is plural, certainly many many people have betrayed Christ and vast numbers betray Him even in our day. .
1. Jesus Christ demands attention. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24)
2. Jesus Christ demands acceptance. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (John 1:12)
3. Jesus Christ demands abnegation. “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
4. Jesus Christ demands abasement. “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” (Matthew 2:12)
5. Jesus Christ demands man’s abandonment. “And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,.” (Mark 10:29)
6. Jesus Christ demands avidness. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” Colossians 3:23)
7. Jesus Christ demands adherence. “By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:” (Romans 1:5)
8. Jesus Christ demands man’s affection “If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15) “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” (John 15:10)
9. Jesus Christ demands accountability. “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:36)
10. Jesus Christ demands ambassadorship. “Ye are the salt of the earth: Ye are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-6, various)
No. 8 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
The Heathen Rage Because They Are Reprobate.
1. “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8) These are words spoken by the Lord Jesus, speaking of those who have spurned His sacrificial love. It may seem a light thing in our modern society to ignore or reject Him, but it will eventually prove a “fearful thing” (Hebrews 10:31) to face Him in judgment. Those who follow false teachers are very likely to end up in this state. Notice in this litany of sinful conditions the anger and malice that underpins it.
2. First, we better understand that even life, faith, and virtue --- as wonderful as they are --- seem deprave in the presence of God’s light. It is that pure!
3. But today, false religion, superstition, science, philosophy, humanism, cultural relevance, and sheer vanity determine much of what men believe. And to make matters much worse, we have high treason in the pulpits. (See 1 Timothy 4:1-2.) The Holy Spirit declares that ministers will depart the faith and will do that from within the church. They once claimed to believe, but they have turned away from Jesus and the Bible, teaching falsehoods. (See Jeremiah 4:22;8:10; 2 Timothy 3:13; 1 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Timothy 3:1-15).
4. Living in the world involves a bondage to death and death replicates vile, rotten, and evil things. Man is lost; the society of man is corrupt. Man will not himself choose to know the God of life and light but God has chosen to extend His grace and mercy, His forgiveness, love and salvation. Man chooses darkness over the light!
5. And then there is the ubiquitous professing Christian who, the Bible teaches, is tested and rejected --- found reprobate (rejected) by God. Jude 4 tells of this creepy person: subtle, clever, insidiously the enemy of God. These are many and they get in among God’s real people to sell their evil doctrine and turn people from the true Faith in God. They are reprobate in mind (Romans 1:28); they are spiritually disqualified from the good things that come with the Kingdom of God, yet are thought to lead it.
6. Today, the sincere and godly Christian ought to say “I will not follow this kind of wicked person. I will not listen to him; I will not entertain his teachings, his writings, or the organizations that he involves himself in.”
7. As I look at the world today, I have come to the conclusion that our hope is no longer in statesmen or politicians; our hope is no longer in science and education --- they are all more or less failures. And our church has departed the old paths. We are going to do what David did all through the Psalms and what God’s people always do. We will start looking up! God is our only hope today. --- J. Vernon McGee
The Heathen Rage Because They Pretend, Yet Are Unconverted
No. 9
Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Part 1. Because They Have Not the Doctrine of Christ.
[] Some of you reading this have been labeled a wolf because you overtly obey God’s Word, take open stands on doctrine and teachings, and live clean and holy lives. I’ve noticed in my Christian life, the general contempt for me has never been any harsher on me since the day I gave commitment to Christ. But the adversarial numbers grow all the time: and I refuse to fight the true Christians. The wolves are cruel, insatiable, and virtually without any spiritual discernment of any kind. Of course, some people of God even today endure sore persecution.
[] If you’re really a wolf, you’re a lone wolf, and the Bible knows nothing of such an idea --- wolves move in packs and they are what is conceived in Scripture as false teachers. At Acts 20:29 clearly Paul, in tears, is talking about false leaders --- grievous wolves --- moving into the local church and being unmerciful toward the true flock of God. In the Book of 1 Timothy, Paul describes false teachers (wolves) as some who will depart (willfully withdraw) from the Faith and seduce (entice) the people in the churches away from the true Faith (Spirit-led Bible Christianity).
[] Then, in the book of 2 Timothy you will see that false teaching will attract great companies of hearers, a point strengthened by Peter at 2 Peter 2:2. John warns that “Many deceivers are entered into the world.” (2 John 1:7) Since this is a departing of the Faith, we know that these Scriptural men are speaking about the visible church in the last days. It will be overrun by many who will not hold the doctrine of Christ, but the doctrines of devils, or of demons. (1 Timothy 4:1)
[] In the last days God will send a strong delusion and people will believe a vast lie. God has the right to test the professing world; in this case the professing world will be tested and rejected (found reprobate). It will face judgment. (Matthew 7:21-22)
[] All the true Biblical doctrines of the Bible belong under the major heading of the “Doctrine of Christ.” Note the use of the singular. “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” (2 John 1:9)
[] Beloved, now pay attention. When we come to the actual meaning of “transgresseth,” we find that it means going further than called for. Did not God at Revelation 22:18 warn not to add to His Word? When we come to the actual meaning of “abideth,” we find that it means to hold fast, so “abideth not” means unable to hold; perhaps even to drop. Did not God at Revelation 22:19 warn not to subtract from His Word? The false teacher has itching ears: he wants novelty, fad, and fantasy, the admiration of his audience, the preeminence. Read 3 John and learn what God has for false leaders who seek the preeminence.
The Heathen Rage Because They Have Not The Father And The Son!
No 10. Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And the People Imagine a vain thing?
Part 2. Because They Have Not the Doctrine of Christ
1. Almost as the other bookend to John 3:16, good doctrine is defined at 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
2. Beloved, mark those who hate you and impede you --- COMPARE DOCTRINE and you will mark them even more carefully than ever. The whole world may pat their backs non-stop, may flood their vaults with all manner of man pleasing, but you the child of God will know bad doctrine when you smell it. At Romans 6:17, Paul made it clear that the doctrine he delivered -- in the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost --- was the only true doctrine. And it is borne out when it has been made a part of the canon God has given us as the Bible. And in 2 John 9 we’re not so much as to bid “Good luck” to any who does not bring THAT DOCTRINE! Should we do so, God will consider us partakers with them in their evil deeds!
3. When we speak of hypocrisy, we speak of playacting -- that’s the ancient origin of this word “hypocrite.” In Isaiah 29:13 God warns than “His people” will draw near Him with their mouth and will honor Him with their lips --- as if acting on a stage or maybe from behind a pulpit --- but their heart will be far removed from Him. Their “fear” of Him will be a counterfeit taught by the prophets of men, the Bible says these will speak doctrines of devils.
4. And then in Matthew 15:9, Jesus completes the warning by saying “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Our Lord gave these counterfeit doctrines a special name, “the leaven of the Pharisees,” and cautioned every generation to beware of them. Leaven was often used to symbolize moral influence, whether good or bad; certainly, when used here it is a decadent influence.
5. Bad doctrine has its own characteristics: it normally twists the words of Scripture, is rooted in human thinking, and produces unworthy worship marked by disordered priorities and obsession with unbiblical traditions. When doctrines come from man and not from God, evil conduct and evil fruit will be produced. Don’t lose sight of the rage that Jesus’ rebuke of their false doctrine builds in the religious leader like the scribes and the Pharisees, and how it drives them into the most gruesome murder in the history of this planet.
6. See 2 Samuel 24:14. When in various parts of Scripture we’re taught to put our confidences in God’s hand rather than in man‘s, we’re inclined to think that it is a matter only of focus. When you read this text, you’ll see that David knew that falling into God’s hand had far greater prospects for mercy than falling into the wicked hands of men.
The Heathen Rage Because They Are Carried About With Every Wind of Doctrine.
No. 11. Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because They Feign Compassion
1. Man’s daubed façade of being a compassionate creature cannot hold up because in truth he is volatile, easily insulted, warlike, bad tempered, selfish, critical of others, and ill at ease at incoming criticism. He is also a sinful being.
2. Jesus spoke of man’s love (and compassion) as being unreachable, for example:.
A. “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Matthew 24:12
B. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:” Matthew 15:19
3. The Bible says that during the apostasy of any generation, “men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;” 2 Timothy 3:2,4 It will be out of control at the end of the Church Age.
4. Jesus healed a man, and then the man wanted to go with Jesus. Jesus told him to go home to his family and friends and tell them that Jesus had had compassion on Him. That is the true Gospel; false gospels have man as the compassionate figure.
5. Here is what the Bible teaches us about the final five times the word “compassion” is used:
A. Only Jesus is capable and qualified to give compassion to the ignorant and out of the way. Hebrews 5:2
B. The true Christian has compassion toward fellow servants under affliction and persecution. Hebrews 10:34
C. The brethren are to be tenderhearted, holding up one another. 1 Peter 3:8
D. If a brother’s compassion is shut up and is not given to brethren in need, that man’s compassion is bogus. 1 John 3:17
E. Making a difference is considered in the context of soul-winning. Jude 22-23.
6 Jesus never spoke well of human compassion. In three parables, he again illustrated that man’s love (and compassion) are unreachable. In each of them, the “hero” clearly pictures Christ Himself. In all three parables, the genuine compassion of Christ was on display, the compassions of man were shown to be anything but Christ-like. (See Matthew 18:27; Luke 10:33; Luke 15:20.)
7. In 1 Samuel 23:21, with a heart full of hatred and revenge, Saul thanked his friend who had compassion on him. The story also pins non-repentance on Saul.
8. The Bible, and especially Jesus, gives very little reason that we should be particularly enamored by human compassion. Most of it is convenient, ostentatious, and affordable -- it is an ecumenical nomenclature for universal brotherhood among men that are beset with pride, lust, covetousness, envy, and much more.
Because Compassion Eludes Mankind
No 12. Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because They Are Workers of Iniquity.
1. It would seem to me that “workers of iniquity” is a specific class of sinners that our Lord warned against severely, and which the Bible eschews profusely. Let there be nothing left unsaid: GOD HATES ALL WORKERS OF INIQUITY! (Psalm 5:5)
2. There are two classes of sinners that most Bible students should be already familiar with: the common unbeliever who comprises the mission field; and the apostate who has gone so far in his rebellion, we hold little hope of any return to sanity in the Faith. Neither of these will be particularly surprised at the judgment that they “didn’t make it.” They might be desperate, but they won’t be surprised, even the professed believer who recanted Christ in his heart long ago. Neither the unbeliever nor the apostate will have any real zeal for the words, “Lord, Lord,” (Matthew 7:22) only resentment.
3. But the workers of iniquity will be surprised because they literally worked at getting into heaven. The Scriptures seem to teach that there are principally three kinds of “workers of iniquity:”
A. Those whose ignorance is exposed by the warped way that they mistreat (persecute) the true people of God. (See Psalm 14:4) These unscrupulous men somehow had decided that they were doing God a favor in persecuting the true believers. (See John 16:2) They worked at this diligently!
B. Those who have rejected pure grace and have set upon good works, what they would call works of charity or compassion. See John 12:5 where Judas was in this sense a “worker of iniquity.” The great Book of Jude, what some call the Acts of the Apostates, wastes no time in listing this particular “work of iniquity” in its lengthy litany of “crimes” of apostate church leaders. (See Jude v. 4.) Psalm 94:4 says they boast themselves of their commiserating spirit. Matthew 7:23 and Luke 13:27 clearly indicate that this boasting will continue right up to and into the judgment bar of God on the last day, whereupon Christ the Judge will deny their “motion” and cast them into the lake of fire. At Luke 13:27, and elsewhere, the picture is painted that Christ would soon depart into Heaven, they into Hell!
C. Those whose entire access to Christ is deception and though they operate in the darkness, eventually the darkness cannot hide them. We come to Christ only at the cross, but the cross is far from their hearts. For them, the offence of the cross has ceased! (Galatians 5:11) They will eventually be revealed as having spoken lies in the very name of Jesus Christ. (Zechariah 13:3) They will speak peace to their neighbors, but Heavenly peace eludes them. (Psalms 28:3) In fact they will actually be bloody men and will devise wicked schemes. They will store venom on their tongues. (Psalm 59:2) They will unite in a large effort to destroy the godly. Their future will be one of falling hard. (Psalm 37:6)
4. We conclude this in posing the great question every Christian MUST face: Who will stand against the evildoers? Who will stand for Christ against His enemies, these workers of iniquity. (Psalm 94:16) If you’re looking for a reason to answer affirmatively, read verses 17-23 of this Psalm 94. You owe Him big time!
The Heathen Rage Because Their Works Are Filthy Rags of Iniquity.
No. 13 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because They Rise Up To Play When The Man of God’s Away
See Exodus Chapter 32. Outline: Note the Order! Note Modern Applications.
1. The people became impatient, restless, we would think idle. Idle and idol often go together. We’ve heard the old adage, the Devil loves an idle mind.
2. They don’t know what became of Moses, the man of God. Fundamentalism was suddenly swept under a rug. They were in a hostile land; they were angry for being taken from the harsh but livable conditions in Egypt: Angry at God, Angry at Moses! They were unthankful murmurs. Did you note that they were mostly under grace? The law had not “officially” been given! They had it made, yet sold out to idols.
3. They compel the good man Aaron to sin with them. How many good men just give in to compromise (and worse); it’s just too hard to not do, and just too easy to do. He knowingly led them in their idolatry, actually manufacturing the idols! Note Aaron’s minced confession: he just put it in the fire and out popped a calf!
4. Aaron then built an altar and declared a feast --- the Head Religious Guy does this! (Did not Adam say the woman made him eat the forbidden fruit? Some things never change.)
5. The people rose up early in their mischief; they rose up TO PLAY! What are Americans rising up to do in our day? Certainly, we should be mindful of the Devil in a counterfeit: the expression “rising up early” appears 6 times in Scripture, every time describing God: once to speak to the prophets, once to teach the prophets, AND FOUR TIMES to send the prophets out! SHADES OF THE GREAT COMMISSION!
6. The Lord tells Moses (on the Mount) of the urgent trouble, and He sends Moses down. Moses intercedes for the people. Urgency has practically gone out of our society today. The model of the laid-back American has settled in nicely in the do-nothing church! Isn’t the problem actually a bit lower than the back?
7. The first thing Moses hears is the singing (often the first signs of apostasy); then deeper into sin -- dancing! And then nakedness! (It was the religious leader who said it was okay to be naked in the church!) Not far from today at all; just look around you in much of churchianity --- the singing is blasphemous, the hootin’ and hollerin’ is a dance style, and people have no shame in “dressing down” to bring appeal.
8. Moses destroyed the calf! He didn’t put it in as closet; he didn‘t try to salvage the jewels. This is a picture of sin as it is ultimately to be eternally punished (“destroyed” in Hell).
9. The punishment was harsh --- it takes harshness to restore the non-apostates. Goodness and severity are two sides to the same coin. Romans 11:22
10. Moses offers himself to be blotted out (similarly to Paul at Romans 9:3): God corrects it quickly -- they that sin against Him will bear their own sin and punishment. Hence the need of the Redeemer, and the closing promises and warnings of the chapter.
The Heathen Rage Because Materialism Deceives!
No. 14 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because They Have Become Spiteful.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)
1. Tom Malone (Dr.) was a man of God greatly loved among the fundamentalist circles of the last half of the Twentieth Century. As a very young man, he gave himself to preach on the very day he was saved. He was a “gung-ho” soul winner all of his life. He was an undeterred pastor for 62 years, founded Midwestern Bible College (1953), and spoke at many preaching conferences and lectured widely. John R. Rice called him the greatest preacher of their era. Quite a compliment by a man who himself could have held that title.
2. I have studied and heard the preaching of this godly and anointed man and am wholly satisfied that the Lord worked greatly through him. Several years ago I picked up a CD of one of his finest messages, the point of which was that no one likes a bond slave of Jesus Christ. No one! It came at a time when I was struggling, ironically, under the cowardly persecution of one of his bolting students.
3. Remarkably people will think that the testimony of the “bolting” adversary of ours reflects salvation: they don’t seem to notice that Jesus has faded; the Bible is given only token attention for credibility; the church becomes a star and not the Founder; salvation is just a weak aspiration that everyone will ultimately achieve (except Bible-believing, soul winning fundamentalists); good deeds and compassion are the stuff of any good person (though more is said than done); sin is just a word for the human mistakes people make; love reigns as the only power man needs to win over God; and religion is the canvass every man paints on. Yet, the blood of Christ is mocked.
4. Though this man emerged out of a fiery furnace of fundamentalism, we have to search diligently to find any evidence of it: where is:
[] His love for Jesus Christ; that Name is rarely mentioned by Him.
[] His integrity; gossip, slander, and character assassination are his toolbox.
[] The Truth; his whole persona aims at not offending anyone that he can deceive.
[] His Christian love; his love is extolled: he hates those who can’t admire it.
[] His passion for souls; if his love doesn’t work, then you don’t deserve heaven.
[] His compassion; notable for its convenience, ostentation, and affordability.
[] His love for the true church; to be blunt, modern church is a crooked crap game.
[] His love for Scripture; he trusts in tradition, in spite of Christ’s warnings against it.
[] His joy; he masks the lack behind an iron hand; it appears when he loses control.
[] His credibility; every shred of his believability is tied to moral respectability.
The Heathen Rage Because They Inwardly Mock The True Faith.
No. 15 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
They Have Not the Love of the Truth.
[] “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10)
1. The antichrist is in view in our verse and the implications for his followers are equally clear. He is the “Lawless One” and “lawlessness” means not obeying the truth. It is anarchy and it seeks to void human responsibility and accountability. Our text verse describes these who perish:
A. They are unrighteous. “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,” (Romans 2:8)
B. They are unbelieving. “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” (Galatians 3:1)
C. They are unsteady and unfruitful. “Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” (Galatians 5:7)
2. When the Bible says not to remove the ancient landmarks, it is no stretch to include responsibility and accountability among them, for in periods of apostasy, those are the two landmarks that are often removed early.
3. We are all familiar with the “Woe” that Jesus publicly pronounced on the Pharisees at Matthew 23:23; they were big on minutia but small on the important things. Certainly in our discussion here, we can see that when you accept that compassion is unimpeachable and you tear away at responsibility and accountability, are you not neglecting the weightier matters of our Faith? Removing the ancient landmarks?
4. When at Matthew 7:22, the people say “Lord, Lord, did we not…” can’t we speculate that they said or meant, “Lord, Lord, didn’t You see all our compassionate works?“ But Jesus will say, “I never knew you, you never knew me, you must have forged my name.” These men who were on the surface given a new heart by which to know God will have come up way short of bringing any evidence of it for their trials at the Great White Throne bar of divine justice.
5. At paragraph 1, sub-points A-C, we listed how the children of the antichrist are viewed in the text verse; following, with respective lettering, is how 2 Peter Chapter 1 describes how that can be avoided and the kind of evidence that can be produced:
A. The divine nature will produce godliness, knowledge, holiness of life. (v. 3-4)
B. The believer’s calling and election can be made sure, eternal life is secure, and we can be established in God’s Truth. (v. 10-12)
C. The things of Christ ought to abound in you so as to be fruitful in knowledge, but lacking them will cause spiritual blindness. (v. 8-9)
The Heathen Rages Because He Cannot Adhere To truth
No. 17 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because He rejects the grace of God (Jude 4)
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” (2 Peter 2:20)
1. For what it’s worth. I’ve always thought it strange that when the Red Sea was parted, there were only two kinds of people crossing it. There weren’t people standing around idly who suddenly were caught dead in their sins. There weren’t people giving up to return to Egypt. There weren’t people waiting to see where the advantage would lie at the conclusion of the tumult. There were only God’s people escaping the bondage of Egypt; and the Egyptian Army trying to pull them back into the bondage. God destroyed the latter (“persecutors,” at Nehemiah 9:11). The former went on to be tested in the wilderness and fell under the weight of the Sinai law. Only two men of the original bunch went on in to deliver the land.
2. I believe this is a picture of our text verse. Yet, Nehemiah Chapter 9 paints the picture of a “peculiar people.” What people of the earth, having no real home on earth but in Heaven, was so extraordinarily cared for by a patient, loving Father than these rebellious, idolizing, stiff-necked, immoral and murderous, and God-mocking people who could never contain themselves from anarchy and apostasy and who raised up generations of defiant clone-like children?
3. Many nations will rot in total in Hell for their sins against a holy God, but this is one nation that sovereign God gave far more than a fair share of His compassion and forbearance yet they continually frustrated His grace as they went a-whoring under every green tree. No one was in line for greater favor from God and deserving it less than Israel. Such is the way divine mercy is played out in the annals of God’s love for mankind. And the glory of Israel is still a matter of the tale of the tape, for God‘s plan for them is yet a great cluster of prophecy we‘re now beginning to see fulfilled in these latter days.
4. And just where in that scheme of divine providence will America be seated: at the throne of the Lamb or with the great whore of Babylon? Think on those things when you are thinking to keep your mouth shut in the face of this modern anger, animosity, antinomianism, addictive arrogance, and apostasy. We are put to speak: “Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.” (Acts 18:9-10)
The Heathen Rage Because They Defy The Living God!
No. 18 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because There is no Fear Before Their Eyes.
[] Our first fear is to fear God. Our second, is to fear them who do not.
1. “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28)
2. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
3. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:17)
4. Man incessantly vaunts himself as a person under the rule of God but who is in reality a dismal failure. In Exodus 19:7, the Jewish people make a vow of obedience, as a man would who sits at the feet of a man of God as great as Moses, or similarly deserving respect. But watch Israel: the golden calf; the broken tablets; the neglected ordinances; the stoned messengers; the rejected and crucified Christ. The evidence and certainty of pattern as man’s vows are dishonored.
5. It is a remarkable choice man must make --- he can either have a healthy fear and respect for God in submission to Him, or he can spite God in disobedience and fall into a nagging cold fear of judgment. When a preacher quits talking about Jesus he is in effect spiting God’s undeniable mandate that the cause of Christ be pursued in the name of Jesus Christ [of Nazareth]. Man’s heart will not let him align with a holy God; it will take God’s master craft in giving him a new heart whereupon a godly fear will avail itself to him as now being a new creature in Christ.
6. Fear in the sense of respect, awe, and obeisance works itself well beyond convenience, moral respectability, and model religion. It’s an awareness of a very high standard that can only be kept when grace is freely given, freely accepted.
7. We are not perfect in this flesh, and that ought to scare us to death; Jesus still commanded without equivocating, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) And how does God solve that problem? “”Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1)
10. This is all about conforming to Christ; obeying His commands, growing in grace, growing in faith, growing in knowledge, growing up in Him in all things, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13) Then will you have a proper fear of God. God will teach his children’s hearts to fear! (See Psalm 34:11 and 86:11.) As the song goes, “’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear!”
The heathen rage because man will not surrender his will to God.
No. 19 Why Do the Heathen Rage?
And Why Do the People Imagine a Vain Thing?
Because the Nations Forget God.
1. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” (Psalms 19:17)
2. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
(Mathew 7:13-14)
3. “But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” (Jesus’ words at Luke 12:5)
4. There can be no question that Hell should bring a soaring fear in the heart of mankind; Jesus never spoke of it lightly. Should any man fail to accept the Son of God as Savior of his soul, that man must one day be cast into the lake of fire.
5. Man is not confronted much with Hell today --- the field marshals of departure and apostasy virtually ridicule Hell and make Heaven a universal cul-de-sac where all folks, good and bad, are to be havened in the final turn of things. The fear of God has been so awfully softened and so humanly mitigated that man is not restrained by it when he considers sin, vindication, and violence. Why should he not leave this old world some blasphemous reminder of large scale that it will know the greatness of him and the stupidity of not exalting him.
6. When God says the wicked will be turned into Hell, who are the wicked? Certainly they are the workers of iniquity; they are the folks who rebel against God; in our first text verse, they have forgotten God. These all have one thing in common, they are all in unbelief, they are willfully oblivious to the true God, they do not trust Christ.
7. Having begun as a Christian nation, we are now on a mortally dangerous slippery slope. America has forgotten God. Just look at Jeremiah 18:15! How can you not weep for our precious land? ”Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;” (Jeremiah 18:15)
8. America continues to conduct herself as if God doesn’t care anymore, even exist anymore. We once would have abhorred any accusation of being nationally reproached for our sin. But today we tacitly outlaw the very idea from pulpits, schools, government, and even family altars. Sin and death and Hell have not gone away. We Christians ought to pray for this nation, that this people would remove themselves from wickedness and violence, and restore the ancient landmarks of love for God, devotion to His Word, belief in His Son, and reliance on His leading hand.
Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. (Psalm 14:34)