Do Not Forsake My Law — Shane Idleman

Lord, thank You for Calvary. We thank You for sending Your Son. Lord, would You please visit this service tonight. Lord, just bring hope to those who need it. Lord, bring repentance to those who need it.

Lord, bring joy and peace and comfort to those who need it. Lord, I pray that even healing would take place tonight, not only physically, Lord, but spiritually. Lord, we know that a remnant can just call upon Your name and there's power in the name of Christ.

Lord, we plead the blood tonight. Lord, I pray for clarity. I pray for direction. Lord, I pray for precision in Your Word. I pray that You would lead me into those areas that You want us to cover tonight.

Lord, but more than anything else, we pray that You are glorified, that Your Son is magnified in this place tonight. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I've got a lot to say and not a lot of time to say it.

I don't know else to say it, but we're in Proverbs 4. If you have your Bibles, we're in Proverbs 4. This is going to be a little bit different tonight. We're not doing really expositional through Proverbs 4.

What we're doing is topical based on the text from Proverbs 4. And Monday night we'll be going through more expositionally and how this relates to each of our lives. But I want to read something that's on your bulletin.

And let me just preface this entire message by saying that sometimes in the course of a church, we've got to address heavy issues and that tonight is one of those nights. It's no secret to most people in this room that our nation is on a collision course to disaster.

There's no other way to say it. We're calling good evil and evil good. We are not, we have forsaken God in many ways. And sometimes the church has to sound the alarm. That's what we've been called to do in many regards.

You see the pulpit used to, and I've said this before, used to be the conscience of the nation. It used to direct and to encourage and to reprimand and to rebuke and to exhort. But now many times the churches have been silenced.

And I'm going to get to that in a little bit on pulpit freedom and what we're doing here. But first, let me read this quote. We have forgotten God and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our own hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own, wrote Abraham Lincoln many years ago.

And I'm gonna have, there's so much here that I'm not gonna actually be able to get to the practical application of this. That's why we gave out copies of One Nation Above God. As you're perusing through that this week, you can get a lot more practical application.

And for those of you who are new, you must understand something too. We are not what I would consider a political church. I mean, politics is not the focus. The cross of Christ is the focus. But that permeates all areas of life.

It does, there's no way around it. So we can't avoid these things that are too controversial, too just, they're hot buttons, the world would say. Just church, keep your nose out of our business. But the problem is we can't.

The Word of God compels us to share in all areas of life, marriage, families, men leading at home, political arena. And on that note, politics, as I've shared before, just means governing or directing a group of people.

Do we think that God's Word has anything to say on governing or directing a group of people? Yes. That's, and I'm not, again, not getting political. What I'm trying to do is get biblical and pull from Proverbs 4.

And I'm gonna give recent examples and past examples on Proverbs 4 and how this relates. The first, I just pulled up the news the other day, and this is absolutely incredible. Let's give a state of the union really quick, if I may.

Normally, state of the unions are, here's the state of our union, blah, blah, blah, a lot of clips, or a lot of bullet points there, a lot of talking points, and we're doing great here, and we're doing great there.

How you give a real state of the union address really is the state of the union based on God's Word. Where are we at in relation to biblical principles and the truth of God's Word? And just last week, over the weekend, September 29th, I made sure I checked note of this, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a controversial ban on counseling and therapy for youth that is not affirming to same-sex attraction.

You know what that means? You cannot counsel, I cannot counsel young adults and say that same-sex attraction is wrong. Folks, that is enormous. Absolutely. As we're watching X Factor and sipping our latte and not worrying about what's happening, trust me, the other side is gaining ground and they're coming in, and they're working in these ungodly initiatives.

It's against the law to tell a young adult that same-sex attraction is wrong? God, help us. That's just September 24th, 29th. Recently, 13 New York City public schools began dispensing the morning after pill without requiring parental notification or consent.

Basically, here, you're gonna have sex, we know you are, it's okay, here's this pill, abort your child. Promoting this in the schools. I mean, I could sit here for the next hour and the news is absolutely alarming.

You talk about a nation shifting, what about Delaware Governor Jack Markell, September 12th, just signed into law, Senate Bill 234, making Delaware the first state to outlaw corporal discipline of children by their parents.

Hold on. Now any parent who knowingly causes their child pain can face up to a year in prison in Delaware. Welcome to America, folks. You want me to keep reading? If that child's three years and under, you are now a felon.

God, help us. This is what's happening. So the minute somebody tells me that leadership does not matter, that legislation does not matter, they better wake up, folks. They are legislating everything that goes against God's standard.

Well, it's no big deal. The church needs a little persecution, needs to wake us up, okay, I got it. I buy into that argument a little bit. But the laws of a nation are the very foundation on which it is built.

I mean, I could keep reading and reading and reading. There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow. Our destruction, wrote Daniel Webster in the late 1700s, 1800s, early 1800s, our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter, from the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and their neglect.

You see, what happens is, like Rome, a nation is destroyed from the inside out. So what in the world is the pulpit supposed to be doing, folks? I could make half of you in this room grab for that Kleenex box if I explained a partial burst of abortion right now.

It's no big deal. Saline abortions. They inject saline solution into the wound as a child is fighting for its life and dying. They tell the mother, don't worry, it's just a contraction. Evacuation abortions, dilation and evacuation, pulling limbs out.

Folks, this can get pretty ugly. And I'm sick and tired of the passive, lukewarm, coward church doing nothing and saying nothing because it offends people. It's a hot button. Yeah, it's a hot button, absolutely.

But if the truth doesn't come from here, where does it come from? We don't mind other hot buttons. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life. That's pretty narrow. We don't mind that hot button.

Oh, it's a hot button. But these other ones, we don't wanna touch with the 10-foot pole. And I heard one emergent church pastor a few years ago say something that has forever been entrenched in my mind.

He said, we need to get over abortion. It is so 1980s. I hope I can get through this one today because this is just, if I were to be honest, there's cowards in our pulpits, in our nation. That's what's happening.

If it wasn't for the power of the Holy Spirit today, I would be one of those cowards. But God's word compels me. As you bow and submit your life and surrender it to the word of God, it compels you to preach the truth.

I'm gonna come up here and preach about being nice to your neighbor and painting neighborhoods as limbs are being pulled from uteruses, vacuumed out because we don't want it. Let's support that, let's fund that.

It's ridiculous. If more and more churches were preaching, not that we've got it right, I'm just saying, just sound an alarm, say, people, this is the direction we're heading. God's word has some serious warnings on shedding innocent blood, in case you haven't read the Old Testament lately.

These are warnings to a nation on the brink of disaster. Now you understand 2 Chronicles much better. 36, I've quoted before. God sent messengers to his people because he loved them, he had compassion on them and on his dwelling place.

But they mocked his messengers, despised his word and scoffed at his prophets until the anger of the Lord arose against his own people, until there was no remedy. That's truth, that's Bible. See, the real crime isn't necessarily what's happening, the real crime is this message is being mocked, it's being ridiculed, it's being despised and the culture says, I don't care, we're gonna keep doing it.

The problem is you're confusing God's patience with his approval. Thomas Jefferson, who probably wasn't even Christian, I could care less if he was or wasn't at this point, he said, indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and that his justice cannot sleep forever.

Sometimes we need a wake up call. Sometimes the weight you're feeling right now, guess what I've been feeling all week? There's nothing wrong with that weight because weight causes a weight lifter to put on muscle and be strengthened.

Weight causes a steamroller to crush the pavement. Weight can be good. If that weight begins to what? Weigh us down until we're on our knees petitioning and praying. If my people who are called by my name will just humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from these wicked ways, I'll hear from heaven.

That's how important this is. And I've told you before, I didn't plant a church where everybody, where we can invite our friends. I planted a church that's gonna glorify God. Because when they come in, when they come in, Paul says in Corinthians that they will come in and see that God is among you.

They will fall on their face and worship God. We need to stop being so seeker sensitive and politically correct. And I just wanna be a motivational speaker up here. We need to go back to proclaiming the truth of God's word and the power of the spirit and hitting on these difficult topics.

Because if you avoid the difficult topics, out of sight, out of mind, nothing is done. Nobody's challenged. Number one, the pulpit used to be the moral compass of our nation and of the people. Do you realize that the priests and the prophet in the Old Testament, they were the moral compass of the nation.

Then what happened is the churches of America, the churches of Europe, the church, the pulpit used to proclaim truth and instruct the people on how to live to be the conscience of the nation. You know what I've said before about Martin Luther King Jr., right?

He said, the church must be reminded that it's not the master of the state, but it's not the servant of the state. The church is the conscience of the state. That's what he said. The church isn't the master or the servant.

We're the conscience of the nation. It's things that are too controversial. Yeah, that's the things we need to be addressing head on. That's why they're controversial. Because as a nation begins to reject God, the only way you can hope and bring hope for that is to confront the air, confront the direction that they're heading.

That's what the whole role back in the Old Testament was the prophet was to bring the church back to him. Now the argument goes something like this. Let me tell you where this whole thing is with the church.

I'm gonna have a long introduction then I'll get to Proverbs 4. But the argument goes something like this. God doesn't deal with nations anymore. Many of you guys know Josh McDowell. You've heard of him.

I talked to his son Sean McDowell a few years ago and he told me this. He said, ah, you're off on this. God doesn't deal with nations anymore. That's Old Testament stuff. Okay, we can agree on certain things, but what do you do, or disagree, I should say, what do you do with Proverbs 29 .2?

When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan. Just, can we, do you have any white out? I mean, is that, well, really, let's be honest. And you think wicked, this isn't some warlock holding a sign saying 666.

Wicked is anything that opposes the wills and ways of God. Look up your Hebrew, look up your Greek, look up your Aramaic. Wicked is those things that oppose God. So when legislation, when policy, when leaders oppose God, the Bible calls them wicked leaders.

When those are in power, the people groan. Proverbs 14 .34, righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. We are becoming a reproach. You know, we are a laughingstock of the world now?

Are we getting in that direction? We have become a reproach. What about 2 Samuel? He who rules over men must be just. God wants righteous leadership. So what do you do with all these? Do you just throw them out?

The place we've aired is in Romans 13. The church just says, well, look there. I don't have time to go through it, but see, we're supposed to submit to the government authorities. That's right, but put it in context.

Paul is saying, do not repay evil. The purpose of who will repay evil for evil is the government, the institution. They are ordained by God. Not the evil of the government, the authority of the government.

So he goes on to say, if you do evil, be afraid because they do not bear the sword in vain. They are there to protect those who do good. That's the whole role of the government, to administrate, to protect, and to defend.

You see the distinction there, the difference? So to say that that body, that group that is under God's shelter and protection shouldn't govern according to his word makes no sense to me. But that's the trap that the church is in.

You hear both sides. Well, we're not, God doesn't deal with nations anymore. In some regards, I see that because now the blood-bought church of Jesus Christ is not a nation. We are everywhere. There's Uganda and the Middle East.

You know, we're everywhere. The church is there, so I understand that. However, the principle still applies, that God looks at how our nation is leading its people. Do we honor him or are we rejecting him?

So it begs the question, does God desire godly leadership? That's what this all boils down to. Does God desire godly leadership? Well, a couple things I wrote down. The gospel permeates all areas of life.

Do you realize that? The gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ permeates everything. I run into people all the time, they say, I don't wanna talk about Paul. He mentioned that the whole government's corrupt, or whole this, or.

They're people. Our government doesn't depend as much on our laws as it does the character of the people instituting those laws. The character issue. So the gospel changes all areas of life. It should permeate into that culture as well.

I don't find any verses saying that God no longer values godly leadership. I don't see any of those in scripture whatsoever. Next I put down, America was blessed greatly by God. Right? One would assume that if seeking God brought blessings, just call me silly, seeking him brought blessings, rejecting him might bring the opposite.

I'm just throwing that out there. Just think about that. You say, well, what do you mean blessed by God? We hear that a lot, God bless America, blah, blah, blah. Well, God, you know, America needs to start blessing God.

I understand that. But when you look at how a nation was formed, see the pilgrims and the Puritans came over, 1620s, 1630s. They came over for religious freedom. They came over to worship God freely, the Mayflower Compact, to the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.

Then as they instituted forms of government, states had their own governments honoring God. Did you know you couldn't even run for office unless you profess a faith in God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit?

You couldn't even run for office. They brought the Bibles over and the whole reason the public school system was founded was to teach the kids the Bible. William Blackstone's commentaries on the laws of England.

All the legal professors, all the attorneys use William Blackstone's commentaries on the laws of England. You know what they're based on? Scripture, Old Testament scripture, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, rape, adult.

Everything was pulled from the Bible. The founders quoted the Bible four times more than any other source, anything. Now, sure, there are a few people in there that weren't. I'm not saying that every founder was a Christian.

I'm not saying that every citizen was a Christian. What I am saying clearly is the foundation was built on Christian principles. Look at the Delaware Constitution. Look at the Constitution of Maine. Look at all these things.

Look at their writings. John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he said, who unto him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for his unmerited blessings and for his redemption through his beloved son.

The Supreme Court said that? Yeah, they did. Noah Webster used to define words in his dictionary using the Bible. John Locke's commentary on the formation of a nation referenced, I think it's two treaties on civil government, referenced the Bible 1 ,500 times.

They had prayer meetings. They petitioned God. You can call it deism. You can call it this. You can call it whatever you want, but they were men seeking God. That's what the nation was built on. And of course, people throw in all the things, the atrocity of slavery.

Well, I've got footnotes in that book of how many founders abhorred that practice and tried to stop it. Ever heard of a guy named William Wilberforce out of England? Many founders were against that. So don't start throwing the baby out with the bath water.

This, God blessed America. There's nothing wrong in saying that. The reason is now we should put the blessings back to him. Thank you, Lord, for the blessings. Thank you that we live in the most blessed nation on the planet.

Why is that? Because they honored God. Even a Frenchman came to America in the early 1800s. He said, I have to study. Where is America getting all this greatness from? So it records, and he didn't necessarily say this.

We can't find it in his writings, but it's often attributed to him. He said that I look for America's greatness on her vast world commerce and in her gold mines. It was not there. I look for it in her harbors and in her shores, and it was not there.

I look for America's greatness in her boundless prairies and her fertile fields, and it was not there. He says it was not until I went to the churches of America and I heard the pulpits aflame with righteousness that I understood the secret to her success.

Now the famous part of the quote. America is good because she is great. And if she ever ceases to be great, she'll cease to be good. He went all over and he concludes with, the pulpits were aflamed with righteousness.

They confronted the issues. They called sin, sin. They called people to repentance. They spoke about the fear of God, the love of God, the joy of God, the mercy of God, the judgment of God. They called the nation to places of repentance.

They would speak out against issues where the nation was running off course. So you just go look at the original writings. Not revisionists, not what secular interpretations say of it, not what CNN's news says about it.

Go look at the original writings. I have the diaries of the founders. I have their wills and testaments. I have their words as they're putting the constitution together. The God permeates throughout it all.

Biblical principles, it's everywhere. Everywhere. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. But I believe that God used that and blessed that. Now, if you compare it to the direction we're in now, that's what I mean about a nation off course, calling good evil and evil good.

And I believe that God still calls us back. Now you know what Deuteronomy was talking about. Now it shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all his commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all the other nations of the earth and all these blessings shall come upon you.

And he lists all the blessings. Ironically, many of those who framed this nation will quote this verse. I mean, that's what they were thinking. They were gonna bless God and have God bless us. See, this is the result of what God did.

Paul said that the Old Testament was given to us as an example that we might not lust after evil things. So the Old Testament can be looked upon as an example. Let me read this quote. Some of you have heard from Arnold Toynbee.

He wrote a study of history. Of the 22 civilizations that have appeared in history, 19 of them collapsed when they reached the moral state that America is in today. You wanna let that sink in for a minute?

Of the 22 civilizations that have appeared in history, all of history, 19 of them collapsed when they reached the moral state that America is in today. Now the shocker, written in the early 1960s. Pornography is a free speech?

Really? God help us. We have drifted so far. If that's not enough, this will do it for you. Historian Edward Gibbon recalls the conditions of Rome before her fall. The rapid increase in divorce and the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home.

Hmm. More taxation and the spending of public funds on food and entertainment. Hmm. The mad craze for pleasure and sport. Sport becoming every year more and more exciting and brutal. Oh, we just love cage fighting.

You just beat them up to pulp and it's just the mad craze for pleasure and entertainment. It's getting worse and worse. The building up of the military when the real enemy is within and the decadence of the people in themselves.

Number five, the decay of religious faith. Faith fading into mere form. He could have just pointed out the United States of America right there. See, these are wake up calls. That's all this is. If we could get this message out and say, wake up.

Wake up. God does not send a lightning bolt. He doesn't send a letter in everybody's mailbox. He sends the Word of God and the pulpits with the power of the Holy Spirit preach the Word so that people turn back to Him.

We use this as practical examples as a wake up call. So in a nutshell, I'd rather err on the side of honoring God. That's the answer to my question. Does God desire godly leadership? Absolutely. And I would rather err on the side of honoring God than falling away from His truth.

Leadership clearly matters. So now, before I get into Proverbs 4, what happened? What happened? You might say, well, Shane, how in the world did all this happen? Well, that's one of the reasons Pulpit Freedom Sunday, it was launched many years ago, and I wasn't even pastoring.

I said, I can't wait to do that someday. But many pastors, it started, I think, with 50 and then 500 and 1 ,000. Now it's over 1 ,500 to 2 ,000 churches are actually challenging the IRS. We're sending these sermons to the IRS.

You're saying you wanna remove our 501c3 status? Go for it. We'd love to take that to court because you have just infringed on freedom of speech. So what they wanna do is try to get what happened in 1954 repealed.

It's called the Johnson Amendment. Lyndon B. Johnson did not like non-profits attacking him. So they pass an addendum or amendment that said non-profits now cannot endorse political parties and they can't talk about political issues.

Isn't that nice and sweet? Silence the church, 1954. Nobody wants to lose their 501c3 status, so we're, can't talk about that, dare we not? We can't, it's a law now. So what they're trying to do is, come on, let's, come on, IRS, challenge us.

The IRS has never brought one case to court. Only one church has ever lost their status over this. But they wanna take this legal action and say, listen, let's talk about the First Amendment. You are silencing the First Amendment, freedom of speech.

If a church can't say, here we go, and say, Obama this, Romney this, here's what they believe. One says he's a Christian, clearly not. One's not a Christian because he's in a cult. But what's, we can't say this stuff?

I mean, you came to the wrong place. Because it's just truth. I don't care if it's Romney, or Ron Paul, or Obama. We govern according to principles. Not a particular party. I don't care if you're a Democrat or a fourth-generation Republican.

We vote according to principles. Unchanging, biblical principles. Now, I'm getting worried because what we're seeing out there is a modern-day civil war. It's getting worse, and worse, and worse, and worse.

The dividing line is going greater and greater. So all we do is we look at principles. Abortion, gay marriage, embryonic stem cell research, teaching kindergartners, sex education, God help us. I don't care if you claim to be a Christian or not.

You do not deserve to be leading in our nation. We vote on biblical principles. And we should, it's a God-given right. You think for a minute, if Paul was here, even Jesus, and we're like, hey, we're in a nation blessed of God, we can actually choose our leaders, wow.

You think they'd say, I don't worry about it, don't get involved, it's no big deal. Really? Because those who say the church shouldn't get involved have a terrible exegetical approach to New Testament theology.

Just because Paul was under Nero in Rome, it doesn't apply to America, because we've been blessed of God. We can go put people in positions of leadership. It's a gift from God. We say, I don't care, half the people don't even vote, and half aren't even registered, it doesn't matter, it's no big deal.

Now, do I make this a big issue every week? No, I'm here because of that. And that's what I preach, and that's my focus. But sometimes we take a little sidetrack because of what the cross did. Because of the cross, the gospel permeates all areas of life.

So as little children, 44 million, are being murdered in the womb, we should say, silence, no big deal, it's so 1980s. God help us, what happened? I'll tell you what happened, we've become so politically correct and worried about 501c3 status that we don't wanna say anything.

Now, what's the next biggie? Separation of church and state. Doesn't appear anywhere in the Constitution. What? Does not appear anywhere in the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Baptist of Danbury, Connecticut in 1802, saying, don't worry, Baptist, don't worry.

The government will never impose on your religious freedoms. Read his letter. He said, don't worry, that'll never happen. There'll always be a wall of separation of church and state. So for 150 years, no big deal, then Barry Lennon and his cohorts get ahold of something decades ago, and now they wanna say, see, separation of church and state.

Read Jefferson in his context, number one. Number two is, understand the First Amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion. The Establishment Clause. Congress can't establish anything.

The states could, did you know that? You could be a Baptist state, you could be a congregation, you could be an Anglican state. The federal government had no jurisdiction. Nothing. Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.

The Establishment Clause. They cannot establish anything. Now here we go. Nor can they prohibit the free exercise thereof. The Free Exercise Clause. Why don't they read that? That's exactly what they're doing.

Throw the Bible out of the schools, but let Buddha come in there and teach them, let the guru and the yoga master come in and teach. What are you doing? Congress should shut their mouth. They have no jurisdiction.

They have no say so. If you wanna put a cross on a cemetery, if you wanna have a Christmas tree, if you wanna have a nativity scene, now this whole thing counts. Say Christmas, why? Because there's Christ in that name.

There's power in the name of Christ. It's exactly right. So what's happening is there's power in the name of Christ. They wanna remove God from everything because out of sight, out of mind. I don't want that conviction in my life.

Barry Lynn sends out a letter. 60 ,000 churches, you better not talk about these issues because separation of church and state. Number one, it's not even in the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson just agreed with the Baptists that there should be a wall of separation between the church and state.

The church and state are separate in their duties and functions, but they're interwoven. They should be in their core beliefs and in their principles. Yes. So in one regard, I believe in separation of church and state.

We shouldn't, the church, I should not be governing the state or vice versa. They have separate duties and separate functions, but what they've done, separation of church and state, government cannot allow anything Christianity.

Our military, you must ordain gay people. You must not pray in Jesus' name. Whoa, whoa, hold on. That seems way against the First Amendment. What's happening here? I'll tell you what's happening here.

The light is shining in the darkness and the darkness says I don't want it anymore and the darkness is winning. Let's remove all these things so now the churches are scared, the pulpits are silent. Think about this.

For 150 years, they could say whatever they want. And then some 40, 50 years ago, the First Amendment is coupled with the 14th Amendment and now the churches are silent. There's a big separation of church and state.

You can't bring Bibles into our schools. It sounds like you're getting involved, Congress, versus staying out of it. So those are the big issues. That's why the church is not very involved in these things.

One of the other reasons I put down here is reacting to political extremism. We've all seen the abuses of churches becoming very political and I don't think that's the number one role of the church whatsoever.

The number one role of the church is the spiritual condition of the people, not political. So we should not become a political influence having candidates and endorsing, endorsing. Let's make sure section eight's in right.

Let's get the roads paved. It's not a political movement. We are a spiritual influence. But there comes a time in the day when the pulpits of America need to start proclaiming the truth and tell the nation you are in a collision course to disaster.

Look at these laws. These are pathetic. We're not talking about paving the road. We're not talking about overspending in certain areas. We're talking about creating life simply to destroy it. And as Christians, we need to, let me just throw that out there, we need to come to the realization that some people aren't gonna vote for your guy or my guy.

And we need to start having much better attitudes than the junk I'm seeing on Facebook and the put-downs and the shirts and the bumper stickers. And what happens too is a lot of people, the reason why, one thing why Christians are divided on this issue, number one, I have my personal opinion that many, not all, many people who say they're Christians are not.

That's just biblical, that's just sound doctrine. Many, many, many, many, many, many, many draw an eye to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Narrow is the road that leads to eternal life.

If you truly know Christ, you will follow his commandments. The reason there's also divide is what we consider priorities. Is going green and social injustice and poverty priorities? Or is abortion, gay marriage, the sanctity of life priority?

One group makes this the priority, one group makes this the priority, so you have a divide. But I will present to you today that not all things can be a priority or nothing is a priority. So you have to say what are the priorities according to God's word?

And what we should do is study church history. The church has been involved a lot. Tertullian of Carthage, 160 A .D. wrote, in our case, murder being once and for all forbidden. We may not destroy even the fetus in the womb.

Or the didache or the diocte or however you want to pronounce it. Early church writing said, and the second commandment of the teaching is this, you shall not commit murder. You shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor killing that which is born.

Early church history, what do you do with John Calvin in Geneva? What do you do with Martin Luther coming after the church and the state? Does anybody know that Charles Spurgeon preached many sermons against slavery and they outlawed his sermons here?

John Wesley? Politics were preached from our pulpits because you're preaching God's word and how it applies to our life. That's all it is saying. Here's how God's word applies to our life. When we can put little baby pieces in a trash can at a medical facility, I have a problem with that and so should you.

If you don't, your heart is seared. Your conscience is seared. It's a woman's right to choose. Not to murder a child. Not to murder a child. It's easy for you to say you're a man. That's true. But I'm also a father.

God help us. I don't think I can do it. I don't think I can do it or I won't finish my sermon. Told my wife today that, I don't think I've ever spoke on this, but I would have a son or daughter. It'll be okay, because God's grace.

That was my closing point. Not midway through, but it felt, it felt to me, because they would be 20. So please don't tell me it doesn't affect people. If it affects a father, how much more the mother?

20 years ago, I'd have a son or daughter. But thank God, our greatest weaknesses are gonna be our greatest strengths of ministry. This is why I can come up here and proclaim the truth of God's word. Because I've had His grace cover me.

There's weeks that go by, no problem. But there's days like this morning that I'm a basket case. That's why these issues are so important, because they touch people's lives, and we don't even know. I'm tired, I'm tired of the secular media saying, it's no big deal, they get over it, doesn't affect the mom, doesn't affect the dad.