Pride & worldliness aren’t the most “exciting” things to talk about, but they are sins that have devastating consequences on individuals and societies. God promises to exalt the humble and destroy the proud. Do you want to be destroyed or exalted? James gives us the remedy to these seemingly “small” sins.
This message looks at James 4:4-10. Approx. 36 min.
John Gill was the first great Baptist commentator, and the church he pastored has had some of the greatest pastors in history (Baptist or otherwise). This brief message looks at his life and his commentary.
Approx. 23 min.
Are you still hoping that maybe, just maybe, it’s possible to “save America” by voting for good politicians? I hate to burst your bubble, but there are no signs of political hope at the national level. How did I come to this conclusion? By looking at what politicians do, as opposed to what they say.
There is a handy website that ranks the votes of every U.S. Senator and Representative according to the Constitution (thenewamerican.com/freedom-index/). If all of a politician’s votes are in line with the Constitution, then they get a score of 100 (%). If half of their votes are Constitutional, then their score will be 50, and so on. After looking at the scores of every Senator and Representative, I have come to the conclusion that we are doomed. I actually came to that conclusion before I did this little survey that I’m going to tell you about, but this confirms it.
I looked at every state’s legislators and calculated the average score for that state. As would be expected, some of the lowest scores came from places like New Hampshire and Connecticut. These two states actually had the lowest scores; they both scored a 10. This means that their average legislator violated the Constitution with 90% of their votes!
Surely, the rest of the country was much higher, right? Nope. When I looked at the scores from the legislators of all fifty states, the average state scored a 32.75! That’s right, the score of the average legislator at the national level is 32.75. That means over 2/3 of the votes cast in the U.S. Congress are unconstitutional, which means they are illegal. Congress can only vote according to the power given to them by the Constitution. If they go beyond that, they’re acting illegally.
Were there any good states? Nope, not one. Some were better than others, of course, but none of them were good. The more conservative states like Texas and Oklahoma only scored a 39.5 and 45.8 respectively. In fact, there was only one state which had legislators that averaged over 50%. That state was Louisiana, which scored a 53.3. Think about that! Only one state out of fifty obeyed the Constitution more than half the time! And they scored just barely over 50%. The best state’s legislators violated the Constitution with almost half of their votes.
But the Republicans will save us!
Do you really think that? Well, let’s take a look. As I looked at the voting records of Republicans, I noticed an interesting phenomenon: Republicans in liberal states often had higher scores than the ones in more conservative states. For example, Colorado had an overall score of 35. But the Republicans in CO (all two of them) had an average score of 75. Virginia had a total score of 27.5, but their Republicans (all three of them) averaged a 70.
While those numbers look good, the rest of the Republicans didn’t do nearly as well. Remember, Republicans are generally considered “conservative” and conservatives claim to follow the Constitution (though that is debatable). So, you’d think that the average for America’s Republican legislators would be fairly high, say above 66% (2/3). You’d be mistaken however; the average for Republicans in all states was 46.8. Less than half! Again, these are the guys (and gals) that claim to love the Constitution. Their score was higher than the Democrats, of course, but still nothing to write home about. Sorry, but the Republicans aren’t giving us much hope either as far “saving America” is concerned.
The conservatives will save us!
I’ve written in the past about some of the failings of the conservative movement, so I won’t rehash them here. But when you look at the politicians that conservatives end up supporting, I’m not sure they have the wisdom to be of much help, at least as far as helping Americans know which politicians will obey the Constitution.
Of course, some of the legislators that are favorably spoken of by conservatives are not too horrible. Guys like Louie Gohmert (70), Mike Lee (75), and Rand Paul (80) are much better than the average, and most conservatives speak favorably of them. As a side note, the only one with a perfect score (100) is Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
But many of the legislators that conservatives champion are downright liberal! In my state (Florida), our two Senators are Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. They scored a 20 and a 40 respectively, and yet I’ve heard some conservatives speak favorably of these guys! It’s the same with Lindsey Graham, who also scored a 20. To be fair, not every conservative likes Rubio, Scott, and Graham. But there are other legislators that most conservatives support, which are almost as bad. For example, many have labeled Marsha Blackburn (TN) as “the most conservative” Senator, yet her score is a 40. Apparently, violating the Constitution 60% of the time makes you a great conservative! I could cite many more examples, but you get the picture.
So, do we just give up?
Yes, and no. I’m not saying that we Christians should stop working for a more biblical government (which the Constitution represents to some extent). But I do believe most efforts at the national level will be fruitless for the most part. It would be much better to focus on the state and local level. We need to vote for local officials who understand good government and have the courage to stand up to the national government. Local leaders have the right, in fact the duty, to defy any unconstitutional acts of the national government.
Of course, God can do anything, but as it looks right now, there isn’t much hope for the nation as a whole. It would be better to work to preserve (and regain) our liberties at the local level, rather than waste time and energy with what looks to be a hopeless national cause.
The phrase “money printing” is sometimes used as a nickname for the process of creating money out of a worthless material (or thin air). Even when money creation is done by typing digits into a computer, it’s still sometimes called money “printing.” This issue is especially important because, in the U. S. and around the world, a whole bunch of money printing is going on.
You won’t find the phrase “money printing” in the Bible, and you certainly won’t find talk of creating money with a computer, but the concept is right there in Scripture. This concept can be a bit complicated, but hang with me because this is super important.
God actually hates money printing! He hates it so bad, He calls it an abomination! Again, this issue can be a little hard to explain, but I’ll try to do it in three points.
Point #1: Dishonest scales. Deuteronomy 25:13-16 says that anyone who uses a dishonest (unjust) weight or measure –that person is an abomination.
What does that have to do with money printing? Well, in those days, money was measured by weight. It was made out of gold, silver, or copper, and each coin had a weight to it. Today, we use ounces (oz.), so that’s the term I’m going to use. So, if I wanted to buy some wheat, I would go to the store and ask for a pound of wheat. The cashier tells me that it will cost me one oz. of silver.
I agree that’s a fair price, so she measures out a pound of wheat and puts it on a scale (picture a balance scale). She would then put a one-pound weight on one side of the scale and the wheat on the other, in order to make sure it was really a pound of wheat.
Now, what if she wanted to cheat me? One of the ways she could do that was to make a weight that weighed 1/2 a pound and stamp the words “one pound” on it. So, when she measured out a 1/2 pound of wheat, it would look like it weighed a whole pound, because it weighed the same (on the scale) as the “one pound” weight (that really weighed 1/2 pound). And so, she could make me think I was buying onepound, when in reality, I was only buying a 1/2 pound.
Now, let’s say I wanted to cheat her. She has the wheat and the scale, so I can’t tamper with those, but I can cheat her by tampering with the money. After she weighs out the wheat, she’s going to weigh my coin to make sure I’m giving her a full oz. of silver. (remember, the price of a pound of wheat is one oz. of silver).
But, let’s say I took my one oz. silver coin, and melted it down. Then I added one oz. of a worthlessmetal to the melting pot. Now I can make two coins that weigh one oz. each. But each coin is only half silver and half worthless metal. So, each one oz. coin only has a 1/2 oz. of silver in it.
When I go to the store and give my coin to the cashier, she thinks it’s an oz. of silver. But it’s not. It’s only 1/2 an oz. So, I get a whole pound of wheat for 1/2 an oz. of silver, when I was supposed to give her a whole oz. of silver. By making money out of a worthless metal, I can cheat people.
Point #2: Making money worth less. When you make money out of a worthless metal, you are stealing from others. First, you are stealing by giving people the false impression that your one-oz. coins have one oz. of silver in them, when they only have 1/2 oz.
But you’re not just stealing from the wheat store. You’re stealing from everyone in your town, even if they don’t do business with you!
Here’s why: the more of something there is, the less that thing is worth. Why is paper so cheap? Because there’s a whole bunch of it. Why are big diamonds so expensive? Because they’re rare! If big diamonds grew on trees, no one would pay millions of dollars for a big diamond.
It’s the same with dollars. The more of them there are, the less those dollars are worth. So, if I’m printing lots of money (or making it out of worthless metal), the value of everyone else’s money goes down because there’s now more dollars in my town (or nation). So, money printing makes everyone’s money lose value.
But if I’m printing money, do I care if my money loses value? No! I’ll just print more money! But, of course, this will make other people’s money lose even more value.
Now it may seem like this isn’t a big deal. After all, if more money is being added to a community, won’t everyone be getting richer? The answer is, no.
Let’s say I print a bunch of money in the year 2021, when the price of a car is $30k. I basically get the car for free, because I’m the one making money out of a worthless material (paper). That $30k goes to the car dealer. He saves some of that money in his bank for 5 years because he wants to buy a boat. After he buys the boat, the boat dealer saves some of that money for 5 years because he wants to go on a month-long road trip. On that trip, he spends some of that money at a fancy hotel. The hotel uses some of that money to pay their workers. One of the hotel workers saves some of that money for about 5 years to buy a car.
Only now, the year is 2036, and a car doesn’t cost $30k. That same car now costs $40k. So, even though the money I printed eventually gets to the hotel worker, by the time it does, her money is worth less than when I first printed it in 2021 (because I keep printing money every year). So, she ends up having to use more dollars to buy a car. By printing money, I made her costs go up. But I don’t care about rising costs, because I can just print more money!
I’m getting rich, while everyone else gets poorer (because their money is worth less). This is why God hates money printing. The ones who print money are stealing from everyone else, and it happens in a way that the people being stolen from don’t know it’s happening.
Point #3: Destruction. When people do what God hates, He will always put a stop to it eventually. Isaiah 1:22-25 tells us what God will do to money printers. Some people in Israel were making coins with worthless metals (“dross”; v. 22). In that day, the government (the “princes”) had a deal with the “thieves” (the ones making money with worthless metal; v. 23). The government was protecting the thieves. But God wasn’t going to let this go on; He would soon take vengeance on those money printers (v. 24).
In the United States today, the ones who print money are at the Federal Reserve. They are not really “federal” in that they aren’t part of the government. It’s a private “bank,” and it’s stealing from us all. The government does help the thieves, however; they make sure the Federal Reserve can continue to print money with no accountability. This is very similar to the situation in Isaiah’s day! When will God take vengeance on the “princes and thieves” of America like He did to the ones in Israel? I don’t know. But every nation in history that has had this “abomination” money system has suffered economic calamity.
What you can do about it:
1. Stop voting for “princes” who help out the money printing thieves.
2. Get some money that isn’t “dross.” As more money gets printed, your fake money (dollars) will lose value. Real money (gold & silver) will hold their value better than printed money. It would be good to have some.
3. Prepare for hard times as God brings down this thieving economic system. And work with others in planning for hard times.
4. Learn more about how this evil money system works. And then, teach others in your family and church.
There are many wrong views of freedom in our day. For some, freedom means the right to sin. For some Christians, freedom in a nation can be seen almost as a bad thing (i.e., Christians are strengthened by persecution, therefore, freedom is a hindrance to the church).
But the Bible views freedom as a desirable thing, if it is used correctly. This message looks at what the Bible says concerning freedom.
Approx. 43 min.
The Bible is full of “warfare” language. The battles we fight today may not be like the battles of Old Testament saints, but God has called us to war. While prayer is a major component of spiritual warfare, it’s not the only weapon that God has given us.
This message gives a brief overview of warfare in the Bible, and gives examples of some of the weapons God has equipped us with.
Approx. 20 min.
The Bible has something to say about every area of life. The subject of which English Bible version we should be using is an important issue. Since it is an important issue, you would think the Bible would have something to say about it. Guess what? It does.
Of course, you’re not going to find the names of common Bible versions in the text of Scripture. You won’t see “Thou shalt use such and such a version…” But you will find principles in Scripture that give us guidance in the area of choosing a Bible version. The two main questions to consider when choosing a Bible version are: 1) how is it translated? And, 2) which ancient manuscripts was that version translated from?
The first issue we are faced with when choosing a Bible version is how that version was translated. There are two main ways this is done. There is the “word for word” method, and the “thought for thought” method.
A translator who uses the word for word method will read the text of Scripture in the original language. They take the first word they read, and then translate that word into English. Then, they come to the next word, and translate that word into English, and so on. Because word for word translations are more accurate, they are often somewhat harder to read.
A thought for thought translator translates the Bible by reading portion of Scripture and then asking himself “What is the idea (or thought) contained in this verse?” He then writes down, in English, the thought or idea that he thinks is expressed in that verse. Thought for thought translations are easier to read, but aren’t as accurate.
In reality, there isn’t a purely word for word or thought for thought translation. But every translator will lean toward one method or the other.
So, which translation method does the Bible suggest to be the best? I would argue the word for word method. True, the Bible contains the “thoughts” of God, but those thoughts come to us in words. When God had something to say to His people, He inspired men to write down that message. God didn’t merely give those writers ideas, He gave them the words that He wanted them to say (Jer. 1:9; Rev. 22:18-19, etc.). So, the word for word method of translating would be more in line with what the Bible says about itself, because that method recognizes that every word which God inspired is important.
The second issue we must look at when choosing a Bible version is which ancient manuscripts that version was translated from. We have many old manuscripts of the Bible in the original languages (Hebrew & Greek). But there are some differences in some of these manuscripts. This can be a complicated issue, so I’ll be oversimplifying a bit.
Most of the debate over which manuscripts to use for the basis of our English versions is centered around certain groups of New Testament Greek manuscripts. Most of the more recent English Bible versions are translated from an older group of manuscripts that weren’t used by most Christians until more recent times. These manuscripts make up what’s known as the Modern Critical Text.
The other group of manuscripts that some of our Bibles are translated from is known as the Received Text. These manuscripts are younger, but have been in use by the church for a longer period of time. There also is another group of manuscripts known as the Majority Text. The Majority Text and the Received Text are fairly similar to one another, so I’ll mostly be comparing the Received Text and the Modern Critical Text.
Again, you won’t find the Bible telling us explicitly which ones are the better manuscripts, but it does give us guidance. So, if we were to use the Bible to build our view as to which group of manuscripts to translate from, which would it be?
The argument for the Modern Critical Text goes like this: because it is older and closer to the source, it is more accurate (again, I’m oversimplifying). With any other book, the more times it is copied, the more chance there is for mistakes to happen. It’s kind of like the game “Telephone”; the message gets changed as it is whispered from person to person. So, the argument goes, the older manuscripts will be closer to the source, and therefore, more accurate. While that sounds like a good argument, it’s not an argument based on the Bible.
God’s word is clear: the Bible is not just another book! God wants His people to have and know His word (Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:15; etc.). Furthermore, God will keep His word pure throughout the generations (Ps. 12:6-7). The manuscripts that have been in use by the church throughout the centuries would seem to be the ones that are approved by God. The manuscripts that were not in use throughout most of church history (The Modern Critical Text), would not be the ones that God providentially preserved for His people to use. Please note that I’m not saying that the church gets to determine which manuscripts are best; I’m only saying that the manuscripts which have been in use by the church are the ones that God has preserved for His people to use. The Received Text is the group of manuscripts that best fits the biblical principle that God will make sure His people will have His inerrant word throughout the generations.
So, which Bible versions would be the most in line with what the Bible teaches about itself? As far as modern versions go, the only one that would qualify is the New King James Version. The old King James (aka the Authorized Version) would fit these criteria as well. While I’m not a “KJV Onlyist,” it is probably the most accurate English version. The Geneva Bible (1599) is the one that the Pilgrims brought with them on the Mayflower, and that one would fit these criteria too.
God has taught me a lot through Bible versions that I now know are inferior translations. And if a person has trouble reading English, a lesser version might suffice for a time, though they should be encouraged to use a better translation if they can. Of course, if you want the most accurate version, learn Greek and Hebrew. Then you can read the Scriptures in the language that God inspired them to be written in.
At various times throughout history, God shakes things up. Is America headed for a “shaking”? If God is just (and He is) then yes, we are headed for tough times.
This series of messages looks at:
1) How God’s judgment works.
2) Steps we can take to prepare for hard times.
3) Some possible scenarios facing American Christians.
There are many different versions of “Christianity” out there. Our current version doesn’t seem to be making too much of an impact on our world. There is, however, an alternative to weak, modern Christianity.
This message looks at seven principles that form a Christianity which has had great success when it has been applied in the past.
Approx. 48 minutes.
So many Christians today see disobeying the government as a sin. To be sure, in many cases it is a sin. But, if the Bible teaches submission to the government in all or almost all situations, why do tyrant governments ban Bibles studies? You’d think that evil rulers would require Bible reading, if that’s what the Bible taught.
The reason bad governments don’t like the Bible is that it doesn’t teach unlimited submission to the government. In fact, it teaches us to defy tyranny. Here are some examples:
1. Running from the police.
The job of the police is to enforce the law. If the laws are good, that’s not a problem. But, if the laws are bad that can become a big problem. Sometimes, the police are used by tyrants to enforce, not the law, but the will of that tyrant. Either way, it is the job of the police to arrest those who defy the will of the government.
One day Paul got into some trouble. He made the government mad, and they sent the police to arrest him. Did Paul submit? Did he let them arrest him? Nope. He ran.
In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul is reluctantly “boasting” about some of his qualifications for being an apostle. After mentioning some of the things he suffered (vv. 23-28), he then goes on to “boast” about the time he escaped from the authorities that were sent to arrest him (vv. 32-33). He even enlisted the help of other disciples to escape the police (Acts 9:24-25).
2. Breaking out of jail.
Peter also made the government angry, and they sent the police after him. Peter, however, was unable to escape the police like Paul did. Peter was arrested and put in jail (Acts 12:4). While he was in jail, God sent an angel to break him out. (vv. 6-10). At first, Peter thought he was seeing a vision, but after realizing that he really had escaped the jail, he praised God for his deliverance (v. 11).
While it is rather unusual for an angel to break people out of jail, the point is that God doesn’t consider escaping from jail to be immoral (assuming one is jailed for unjust reasons, of course).
3. “Lying” to the government.
Generally speaking, God is opposed to taking another person’s life. However, there are exceptions (Exo. 22:2; Deut. 20:12-13; etc.). Generally speaking, God is opposed to saying things that aren’t true. But again, there are exceptions. There are many times in Scripture where God approves of people being deceitful, and in every such case (that I know of), that person is lying to the government.
In Exodus 1, the Hebrew midwives were told by the government to kill babies (vv. 15-16). The midwives defied the government. When asked why they weren’t obeying orders, the midwives lied, and said that the Hebrew mothers were giving birth before the midwives could get there (v. 19). However, this wasn’t true, it was merely an excuse. The real reason the midwives disobeyed was that they feared God, not because they couldn’t get there in time (v. 17). God approved of their disobeying and deceiving the government, and He blessed them for it (vv. 20-21).
In Joshua 2, Rahab hides the Israelite spies that the government is trying to arrest (vv. 1-4). When the government asks her to turn the spies over to them, she lies to the police and says that the spies escaped through the city gate (v. 5). This wasn’t true, and Rahab knew it. The spies were hiding on her roof and she was the one who put them there (v. 6)! Did God approve of Rahab’s deceit? You bet He did! In fact, Rahab’s lying is what God considers as proof of her faith (Heb. 11:31; Jam. 2:25)!
Some may say that God approved of hiding the spies, but not of the lying. However, the deception was part and parcel to the hiding of the spies. The government wanted her to give the spies over to them. If she had told the truth (or even just said nothing), the police would have known the spies were there, and would have searched Rahab’s house instead of leaving. Rahab sent the spies out “another way” (Jam. 2:25). She did that in order to deceive the authorities. In fact, the very act of hiding something is a form of deception.
There are many more examples of God blessing His people when they disobey, deceive, and run from ungodly governments. That being said, I need to remind you that these examples which I have cited are all dealing with life and death situations. In each case, someone’s life was in danger. I’m not saying that is the only time to disobey (see Acts 5:27-29), but we should do our best to live at peace with all men, including the government (Rom. 12:18). However, when governments are a threat to life, gospel proclamation, or a godly living, we don’t have to bow down to them. God is not only okay with disobeying the government in those cases, He actually blesses that disobedience.
I’ll leave you with a quote that represents what Christians from the past have thought about defying the government (“princes”) when they are behaving in an ungodly way:
“For earthly princes lay aside their power when they rise up against God, and are unworthy to be reckoned among the number of mankind. We ought, rather, to spit upon their heads than to obey them.” – John Calvin (1509-1564)