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Michael Dirrim Pastor of Sunnyside Baptist Church OKC "Godly Resistance to Tyranny" Sunday, April 25, 2021 PM
Rwy 'n gobeithio eich bod chi 'n gweithio 'n fawr iawn. Rwy 'n gobeithio eich bod chi 'n gweithio 'n fawr iawn. Rwy 'n gobeithio eich bod chi 'n gweithio 'n fawr iawn.
Rwy 'n gobeithio eich bod chi 'n gweithio 'n fawr iawn. Rwy 'n gobeithio eich bod chi 'n gweithio 'n fawr iawn.
Rwy 'n gobeithio eich bod chi 'n gweithio 'n fawr iawn.
Mae cyfrifiadau gyda 'r Llywodraeth yma yng Nghymru, oherwydd bod gwybodaeth biblol yn cael ei ysgrifennu yn ein darluniadau cyntaf, ac mae
Gwydr a 'i sŵn, ar rai lefelau, efallai 'n nominol, yn ymwneud â 'n sefydliadau gwreiddiol.
Efallai y bydd y Prif Weinidog yn cael ei ysgrifennu gyda 'i ddechrau ar y Bible, yn gyntaf, ei ddechrau ar y
Bible cyffredin ar Deuteronym 28, sydd wedi 'i ysgrifennu 'r bleidlaisau a 'r gwrthwynebiadau o 'r wlad, o ddilyn y
Llywodraeth. Ac felly, ar gyfer nifer o fuddsoddiadau, er bod y wlad hwn yn fawr o 'r perffaith, nid oedd yn mynd i fod llawer o bryder am y
Llywodraeth, o lefel Llywodraeth, neu lefel Llywodraeth, neu lefel lleol, ar gyfer y bobl
Christian a 'r ymdrechion Christian, ar unrhyw ffordd. Felly, mae hwn wedi bod yn y gwrthwynebiad genedlaethol.
Nawr rydyn ni 'n byw mewn amser pan nad yw hynny 'n y ffordd. Mae wedi bod drwy ymdrech drwy 'r sefydliadau o marxwm ddiwylliannol sydd wedi gwneud y
Llywodraeth, ond wedi rhannu y Llywodraeth nomynol neu 'r llwyr gyda 'r pegyniaeth, yw 'n ymdrechol a 'n ddiddorol.
Felly, mae 'r Llywodraeth yn cael ei ystyried yn ddangosol, radigol, llwyr o ddiddorol.
Mae 'r Llywodraeth yn ymdrech gyda 'r ddiddorol, sy 'n y swydd newydd sy 'n golygu popeth sy 'n iawn gyda 'n wlad, yn y meddyliau a 'r ysgrifennau a 'r siarad o lywodraeth.
Felly, mae 'r Llywodraeth yn ymdrech i ddiddorol cael ei gosod i 'r ffyrdd a 'i hyrwyddo pan mae 'n cael ei wneud o 'i gilydd.
Dyna 'r syniad o 'r bobl sy 'n ymdrech, nid dim ond ar lefel
Llywodraeth, ond hefyd mewn rhai asbectau, y Llywodraeth a 'r leol. Wel, nid yw hyn ymdrech gwych oedd hynny wedi bod yn ymdrech i ddiddorol am mwy na 'r genedlaeth, a 'r pwynt ymdrech ar gyfer addysg cyhoeddus am ychydig o amser.
Wel, nid ydyn ni 'n ei ymdrechu pan ydyn nhw 'n ymdrechu 'r ffwrdd, rydych chi 'n ymdrechu 'r ffwrdd byr, beth bynnag rydych chi 'n ymdrechu, byddwch chi 'n ymdrechu.
Mae 'r Beibl yn ei ddweud hynny i ni. Felly, rydyn ni 'n byw mewn ddiwylliannau sy 'n mwy na 'r genedlaeth ar gyfer addysg cyhoeddus.
Byddai 'r addysg hyn yn cael ei ymdrechu nid ond o sefydliadau ddiwylliannol, ond hefyd sefydliadau llywodraethol.
Beth yw ein cyrraedd? Sut ydyn ni 'n hymdrechu Iesu? Sut ydyn ni 'n hymdrechu
Christus, ymdrechu Gwyddon Cymru ac ymdrechu 'r eraill yn iawn pan mae 'n rhaid i ni ymdrechu 'r sefydliad ar ryw le?
Beth mae hynny 'n edrych? Rydyn ni wedi meddwl am y ffaith bod storïau yn y
Beibl yn ymdrechu am bobl ifanc yn Gwyddon sy 'n mynd i ddewis i ymdrechu Gwyddon a hyfforddi Gwyddon a dilyn
Gwyddon, gan ddilyn ei ffyrdd yn hytrach na 'r sylwadau o ddictadur pêg.
Mae gennym llawer o storïau anhygoel o hynny, yn enwedig yng Nghaerdydd. Ond rydw i eisiau i ni meddwl ymdrechu am y sylwadau sy 'n cael eu rhoi i 'w ddisgyblion.
Rydw i 'n credu bod hynny 'n sylwadau robus. Rydw i 'n credu bod yna gysylltiad yma. Rydw i 'n credu bod yna rhan i 'r creadigrwydd a 'r gwybodaeth ar gyfer mynediad strategig a 'r sylwadau tactig i ddod â hoffi honno a 'i gloriau i
Gwraith yn cymryd y misiwn y mae 'n ei roi i ni. Rydw i 'n credu bod yna rhan bwysig ar hynny yw edrych ar
Matthew 10. Felly rydw i eisiau i nifro i Matthew 10 i gyd, o ddechrau hwnna a phryd y bydd y cyfleoedd yn dod yn dod, i ddod o
Matthew 10 i mewn i gyfraithoedd gwirioneddol sy 'n cael eu gweld yn y Llyfr Gwraith. y byddwn i 'n meddwl ynghylch beth mae 'n edrych fel i fod yn ddiddorol i
Jesus Christ ac mae 'n rhaid i ni ddod o 'r statwm, beth bynnag byddwn yn ei wneud, beth byddai 'r peth da i 'w wneud ac ati.
Mae 'n rhaid i ni meddwl am hyn ymgeisyddol y mwyaf y gallwn i y bydd gennym adroddiad da. Felly, ym 10
Matthew, gan ddechrau yn fers un, ac wrth iddyn nhw ddweud i 'r twelve ymgeisyddol, roedd yn rhoi llawer iddyn nhw dros anhygoel ysbrydol i 'w ddod allan a chael pob ffordd o anhygoel a phob ffordd o anhygoel.
Nawr, mae 'r enwau o 'r twelve aposglwydd yw hyn, cyntaf Simon, a oedd yn cael ei eithrio i Peter ac Andrew, James, son o
Zebedi, ac John, ei bro, Philip a Bartholomew, Thomas a Matthew, y cyllideb,
James, son o Alphaeus a Lebeus, sy 'r enw oedd Thaddeus, Simon y
Canaanwyr a Judas Iscariot, sydd hefyd wedi 'i ddod â 'i.
Nawr, yn y llwybr hon, mae gennym Peter, sy 'n gwybod eu bod yn edrych ar ei ffordd yn ei mynydd.
Mae gennym James a John, yr enw oedd Jesus yn enw 'r Sons o Fwndr, oherwydd rhai o 'u hygyrch.
Mae gennym hefyd Matthew, y cyllideb, sy 'n gwybod sut i fod yn gysylltiad cyflwynol gyda
Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig. Roedd yn cyllid taxus ar gyfer y
Roedigion, a gweithiodd gyda swyddogion, ac ati. Ac yna Simeon, neu
Simon y Canaanwyr, a fyddai hefyd yn cael ei ddefnyddio ymlaen ymlaen mewn goswmau eraill fel zealwyr.
Felly, diolch i unrhyw un sy 'n gweithio gyda sefydliad lleol.
Felly, mae gennych nifer o ddisgyblion sy 'n dilyn Jesus.
Nid yw 'r hollion yna 'n codi o 'r un llwybr, yw 'r hyn rwy 'n ei ddweud. Felly, mae gen Jesus ychydig o gysylltiadau iddyn nhw yn mynd ymlaen, ysgrifennu 'r goswm, adlewyrchu 'r pŵer o
Jesus Christus, y gwybodaeth da, y gwybodaeth da, yr adlewyrchu 'r pŵer a bydd yna bethau 'n mynd i ddigwydd nad ydyn nhw 'n mynd i 'r ffwrdd.
Felly, beth yw hynny? Yn ysgrifennu 'r goswm, roedd Jesus wedi 'i ddod allan a 'i hyrwyddo, yn dweud, nid ydyn nhw 'n mynd i 'r ffordd o 'r
Gentiliaid ac nid ydyn nhw 'n mynd i mewn i sefydliad y Samarwyr, ond yn aml i fynd i 'r llwybrau o 'r cais
Israel. Gallwch weld yma sut mae Jesus yn cydweithio 'r amrywiaeth o 'i chwrdd.
Mae 'n ddiddorol.
Pam ydyn nhw 'n ei wneud y byddwn ni 'n ei weld nesaf. Nid ydyn nhw 'n dweud nad yw 'r goswm ar gyfer y
Gentiliaid a 'r Samarwyr ac yn y blaen. Oh, mae 'n debygol, ond mae 'r goswm yn dod i 'r Gentiliaid yn gyntaf, ac yna i 'r
Gentiliaid. Ac wrth gwrs, ddaeth y goswm i 'r Gentiliaid yn gyntaf yn y Deyrnas Gweinidog, ond mae rhaid iddyn nhw i 'w mynd i 'w myfyrwyr i sefydlu ar y ddinasoedd o 'r
Gentiliaid. Yn gyntaf, ac wrth i chi mynd, ysgrifennwch yn dweud bod y Deyrnas Gweinidog ar gael. Mae 'r
Deyrnas Gweinidog ar gael. Mae 'r Deyrnas yn cydweithio 'r system o awdurdod.
Mae gen i ddyn, ac mae gen i ddyn yn golygu bod yna sefydliad o ddinasoedd. Mae yna sefydliad o, mae yna, mae yna ddiddorolwyr sy 'n cael eu hysbysu yma.
Mae yna sefydliad o awdurdod cyffredin. Mae yna awdurdod cyffredin yma ar gyfer beth?
Y Deyrnas Gweinidog, y rhedegau o
Judea a Galileoedd. Mae awdurdod yma sy 'n cael ei ddifrifio.
Yng nghanol yr holl beth sy 'n cael ei ddifrifio, mae awdurdod yn sicr yn cael ei ddifrifio yma. Yn ysgrifennwch i 'r ddysg, ysgrifennwch i 'r ddysgwyr, tynnu 'r ddysgwyr, tynnu 'r ddysgwyr, tynnu 'r ddysgwyr, tynnu 'r ddysgwyr, tynnu 'r ddysgwyr, tynnu 'r ddysgwyr, tynnu 'r ddysgwyr, tynnu 'r ddysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysgwyr, tynnu 'r dysg byddwch yn ffynno 'r llwyr o 'ch pethau.
Rwy 'n siwr iddo dweud i chi, bydd yna fwy golygol ar y ddau o Sodom a Gomoraeth yn y
Dydd Ioniad na ar yr ddwyrys honno. Felly, beth mae
Jesus arall yma? Mae e 'n golygu a hyrwyddo 'r myfyrwyr i 'r ymgyrchu, mae 'n cymryd ymweld â 'r 12 myfyrwyr ar y gynrychiad sylweddol.
Gofyn i chi fynd i 'r ddwyrysau a 'r ddwyrys, y lleoledd y mae 'r bywyr yn ymwneud â 'r
Ac neidwch chi 'r amser chi. Neidwch chi 'r amser chi.
Os ydych chi 'n mynd i 'r ddinas ac nid ydych chi 'n cael unrhyw un sy 'n ddaeth i ddysgu 'r gwasanaeth goswm, ac maen nhw 'n ymwneud â 'r hyn rydych chi 'n ei ddweud, er maen nhw 'n ymwneud â 'r sylwadau a 'r gwirioneddau, neidwch chi 'r amser chi.
Wipe the dust off your feet and move on. Judgment's coming for the rejection of the kingdom.
So the kingdom, so they're the heralds of the kingdom. They're saying, hey, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Well, what are you supposed to do? Repent and believe in the gospel. And here's all the signs and wonders that prove it.
If they reject the gospel, then what's going to happen? There's going to be judgment. And he says, don't take too long.
Verse 16, behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. And here's where now we're getting to the fact that, okay, we've already heard the possibility that they're going to reject you.
Maybe the whole city will be against you. Maybe the city elders will get together and say, we've got some newcomers in town and here's what they're saying.
Everybody turn them out. Now, this is in a culture where hospitality means if somebody comes into your town has no place to stay, you give them a place to stay.
Inns and hotels were not the place that people went to stay. If you are a Jew and you're traveling from village to town to village to town as a
Jew, when you went into a city, you go to the city square, kind of announce who you were, and then somebody would take you in.
If nobody did, that meant that you had a horrible town and there's stories in the
Old Testament of what happens to people who do that. So if they go to a town preaching the gospel, doing the signs and wonders, and nobody will give them hospitality, there's no person of peace in the whole town, then there's judgment coming for that town.
Now, behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Look, there are going to be many people who are going to be opposed to you.
You're like sheep in the midst of wolves, so that's not very encouraging. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Well, this is the case of the matter. Look at them, they're going through, they don't have nothing to steal, right? They're not carrying a bunch of stuff with them that can be stripped from them to be stolen.
They're traveling light. Their success depends on people accepting them in and giving them hospitality.
But the fact of the matter is, if they go from village to town, if the city government doesn't want them there, there's nothing they can do.
They're sheep amongst wolves. If the elders want to take them to the marketplace and have them flogged or whipped, what are they gonna do?
They can't do anything about it. They're like sheep amidst wolves. What happens if they get in trouble with even higher authorities?
Some regional governor is going to take offense at what's going on or get reports from people, hey, these people are unsettling us.
And then the regional governor was like, well, I'm gonna put that down. It sounds like one of those uprisings of a messianic movement.
We've had those before, I better put this down. And then what might he do to them? You're like sheep in the midst of wolves.
You don't have anything, you can't stop them from doing these things to you. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
So wise as serpents. Anytime you want to get persecuted, you can do it.
Anytime you want. It's easy. It's very easy.
Just go to a college campus and start yelling about Jesus.
Persecution will come before you know it. They're gonna ask you about permits. They're gonna be all, you can't stand right there.
This is not the place for this. This is not your free speech zone. This is a safe space, blah, blah, blah. You're melting our snowflakes, get out of here.
Being wise as serpents means what will be the, not being pragmatic, but what will be the most effective way to succeed in the mission that Christ has given us.
Now, be as harmless as doves. Don't be wicked. Don't be impure.
Don't do things that are indeed wrong, evil, and so on, so that there's nothing they can do to impugn your character.
So be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. This is a great, just rule of thumb, this is a great bit of a proverb, some wisdom from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You're like sheep amidst wolves, therefore, be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
That gives us a starting point for some meditation, like how, according to the scripture, how should we proceed in any given case?
I'll give you an example. So up in Edmonton, Alberta, James Coates' church, the health authority of Alberta says, you can have services, but here's the thing, here's what you gotta wear, and here's all the things you can't do when you get together, and here's how many people you can have, but other than that, you're free.
So James Coates says, well, there's one Lord of the church, and you're not it, so we're gonna do things his way.
Fines, citations, harassment, persecution, James Coates gets thrown into jail, gets thrown into prison.
He finally gets released, but not too long after that, the state authorities show up, and they arrest the church building, and they surround it with three layers of fence, one of them having privacy fence on it, it's a cloth, so you can't see through what they're doing to the building that doesn't belong to them, they just stole it from this church.
They're trespassing, illegal seizure, and since they can't get the church people to wear masks, they put a mask on the church building.
Now, well, we're like sheep in the midst of wolves, what are we gonna do? They're the royal
Mounties, it was the Mounties who did it. The thing is, they've got way more guns, that's just the facts, they've got way more guns and way more ammo, what are you gonna do?
So James Coates and his church, they were as wise as serpents and harmless as doves, what did they do? They said, well, you can't arrest the church by surrounding the building, and that's just evidence of their materialistic pagan way of thinking, well, that was pretty dumb, you just wasted a bunch of effort because they'd met the next week in an undisclosed location, right?
And they had church the same way they always do, just in a new place, right? Wise as serpents, harmless as doves, there were protesters out there who tried to mess with the fence, the church members up there, they had done it once, they didn't go trash government property, okay, they're harmless as doves, or also wise as serpents.
They are resisting the order of the state, but they're doing so wise as serpents, harmless as doves, okay, good example.
That is a good way to begin to meditate and think about, okay, when the state says, thou shalt not, but then
Christ says, thou shalt, well, we've got to resist the state, but remember, we're sheep among wolves, so how do we do this?
Well, we start off by thinking, wise as serpents, harmless as doves. And then verse 17 says, but beware of men, but beware of men.
Now that's helpful to meditate on and ponder on, beware of men.
Notice Jesus does not say, beware of some men, he says, beware of men.
It's important to apply that across the board. And he goes on to talk about those who are in positions of civil authority, okay?
So beware of men in positions of authority in the state, in general, be wary.
The reason why? Well, remember that Jesus did not commit himself to men because he knew it was incitement,
John 2. What is in the heart of men?
Read Romans 3. Romans 3 verses 10 through 20.
What's going on in the heart of men? Read Romans 1 verses 18 through 32. What goes on in the heart of man?
What is there? And then so in this depravity of man, having state authority, and we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but the principalities and powers and rulers of world forces of the darkness are working through men in positions of power.
And listen, they're going to do some things. Beware of men in general. That means beware of President Biden.
It also means beware of President Trump. Beware of men, okay?
Just because somebody is in a position of authority and you agree with them on, let's say 80%, 60%, it doesn't mean that you let your guard down.
Beware of men, okay? Beware of men. Our hope is not in men.
Our confidence is not in men or in princes. We need to know what really is going on.
Notice what happens, but beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
Now that's a very Jewish kind of persecution, isn't it? Okay, councils, synagogues, so Sanhedrin and the lower councils, synagogues, the local place where Jewish matters would be sorted out in their society.
So you're gonna be delivered up to councils and they're gonna scourge you in their synagogues. Now, of course, this happened.
We think of Peter and John being brought before the Sanhedrin, before the council. Verse 18, you will be brought before governors and kings.
Now, those are Gentiles. Those are, that would be the Idumean Herod on the throne or it could be the
Roman pro -council or who knows where all they will go in service of their
King Jesus, but there are going to be governors and kings who will bring them before them because they're causing a disturbance, an
Acts 17 type disturbance. Those who turn the world upside down have come here also, claiming there's another
King other than Caesar. Well, that was true. So notice what he says, you will be, they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You'll be brought before governors and kings, why? For my sake, for my sake as a testimony to them and to the
Gentiles. So when there is conflict between church and state,
Jesus says, the purpose of this is for my sake.
When you say you're preaching the gospel, you're worshiping King Jesus, not submitting to the pagan tyranny of a state, trying to keep you from doing those things.
I want to teach my children in my home that the truth of God's word. And then other people say, well, that's a child abuse and hatred.
And we're going to take your children from you. And all these different things that happen around the world and happen now in our part of the world.
When we resist the state and be brought before these men, it's for Christ's sake, then what is the purpose?
As a testimony, as a witness, as an opportunity to speak to the value, the truth, the worth, the power, the authority of Jesus Christ.
It is not an opportunity to come before them and then use weasel words. It's not an opportunity to come before them and say, well,
I didn't really understand the point of the ordinance and try to weasel your way out of it. No, this is your opportunity to give testimony to Jesus Christ.
This is not an opportunity to say, well, see, they don't like Jesus and they hate the Bible. So I won't use any of that language when
I talk to them because I don't want to make them mad. That's not being as harmless as doves. You've got your opportunity.
Now's the time to point out according to the word of God, what is true, where they're wrong, how to get right and how to live
God's way. Now's the time. It's exactly what Peter and John did when they were brought before councils.
It's what Paul did. He was looking for that opportunity with Nero. Like, yeah, I'm gonna preach the gospel to Nero. I'm gonna preach the gospel to the emperor.
Okay, so Jesus says when we're brought before the civil authorities for the sake of Christ, this is for us to be a testimony to them and to the
Gentiles. All right, so testimony to them. Verse 19, but when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak for it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak for it is not you who speak but the spirit of your father who speaks in you.
Just a reminder that God's word is the best. So don't worry about how you're gonna get yourself off the hook through some fancy maneuver.
The word of God is what needs to be said in this moment. And there's plenty of clarity in the word of God to answer the issues at hand.
So there's gonna be all sorts of potential run in with the state.
Now, what does he say overall then? Just kind of the beginning instructions. What are the kind of the beginning instructions?
Well, here they are. Recognize our position is generally weak.
Sheep among wolves, but God is glorified in our weakness. His strength shines forth in our weaknesses.
Secondly, we are to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We are to think about the best way to approach things to be as successful as we can in the name of Christ without sacrificing our commitment to Christ and our character, not doing something that will bring dishonor to the name of Christ.
And thirdly, we are to beware of men, period, general.
We are not to put our trust in men. We are to understand what goes on in the heart of men according to the scriptures and recognize that anybody who is an authority is not our hope and our trust.
We shouldn't be looking for that next conservative leader to get us out of this mess. No, that's not the answer.
Okay, and then we are to recognize that, fourthly, we are to recognize when there is conflict, this is an opportunity for giving testimony to Christ.
This is an opportunity, this is success. Many people today think that if there's ever conflict between church and state, that means that the church has failed somehow.
Like, why did you get the state mad? You know, why are you getting ticketed in citations?
Why did you get on the news? And people think that's a failure of the church because there's conflict.
Actually, Jesus says here's opportunity to declare who he is.
It's a success when we are faithful to Christ, even in the midst of conflict. Fifthly, we are not to worry, we are not to worry about how to say things in just the right way so that everybody's happy.
No, through the Holy Spirit, we have a faithful word ready to speak, okay?
We have a faithful word ready to speak, we're able to respond to the situation through God's word so we don't have to worry.
So those are five lessons from the beginning section of Christ's discipleship when his apostles are going to face hostility, even from the state.
Any observations, input from the elders on what we've talked about so far tonight?
Many people being seen as going along to be frivolous, keeping the battle.
Well, these are some vestiges of the Christian heritage that we have in our country wherein, clearly, the founders of the country designed a government that was designed to be suspicious of man.
Checks and balances, nobody should have ultimate power.
A total belief in the depravity of man was inherent in many of the structures of our nation.
And a lot of that will, has bled through down the ages, not to just simply, you know, the divine right of kings theory of whatever somebody in authority says you have to obey no matter what is not something that is very
American, why not? It's not very biblical and there was a lot of work done at the very beginning for good reason to not simply unthinkingly always obey state authority.
Half the pilgrims who came over were, after all, religious refugees running from the state who wanted them dead just because they wanted to raise their children in the fear and the admonition of the
Lord. So yeah, watchfulness is the price of liberty and there needs to be a watchfulness even at the
Christian school we support. Anybody, Dwight or Ken or Randy?
Missing somebody. Me. Yes. Yeah, our coinage says that in God we trust.
Yeah, our choices still matter in the society. I mean, what, and there is a difference between, there is a difference between someone who celebrates the murder and the butchery and the selling off of dead infants versus somebody who says that's abhorrent.
Right, there's a difference between a Democrat and a Republican, right?
You know, yeah. I'm not saying that the Republican is virtuous by being red any more than in the day of Jeremiah there'd be people who, you know, they were working that valley where they were slaughtering infants and offering them up to Molech every day versus some in the city of Jerusalem who sighed in their heart about the wickedness but didn't really do much.
You know, there is a difference though trust should be put in neither.
You know, we should exhort both to repentance but I'm certainly more thankful for at least those who are bothered by it than those who, you know, the
New York assembly who stands up and applauds the butchery of children. There is a difference.
You know, we should recognize that and try to strive for righteousness wherever we can. Yes, yeah.
Yeah, and that's something that, again, in paganism everything has to be one and that's why the doctrine of sin is under attack in the church to say, well, one sin is as sinful as another sin and there's no difference between any kind of sin.
Well, that's paganism where everything has to be one and interchangeable. God does not say that in his word and there is a difference between sins and the degree of sins and so on.
And so, yeah, it's not a bad thing to advocate for the lesser of two evils if that's the choice that you have.
It is still worthwhile to try to make a decision that way. Where you're gonna have to choose a
Canadian situation is just kind of a foreshadowing of that.
Yeah, and to be clear, one of the reasons why the state in Canada has been so successful in persecuting, arresting and fining and stealing the property of local churches there has been because of the church in Canada because a whole bunch of them are closed doing whatever the magistrate tells them to do, claiming the divine right of kings.
Listen, there are some things that belong to Caesar. Jesus said that, render unto the Lord the things that belong to God, which is everything and then render unto
Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. But one thing that certainly does not belong to Caesar, one thing that does not belong to Caesar is the ability to decide what belongs to Caesar.
God says what belongs to Caesar and he says what doesn't belong to Caesar. But the reason why tyranny is effective against the church in Canada is because of the church in Canada who bows the knee and does not worship
Christ, but bows the knee and says, well, yeah, whatever they want, we'll do in the name of whatever good they claim. And in America, it's going to be the same way.
Success against those who follow Christ, who want to worship Christ, persecution will come in the name of righteousness, in the name of health, in the name of love, in the name of brotherly kindness, persecution will come against Christians in America.
In the name of everything holy and good, persecution will rise against Christians in America. And a whole bunch of the church has already hollowed out, spineless, squish, best friends with the state.
And because of that, they're going to, now notice in Matthew 10, persecution was twofold.
Persecution came from the synagogue and the state. Well, it's already happening where the respected, accepted, celebrated church leaders and church movements are very down in the mouth about any
Christian resistance. They're in agreement with the state. So when the state levels fines and comes after the church, they have parts of the church saying, oh yes, you're right to do that, and they're wrong to resist.
There's always a religious plus the state persecution tandem. That's what's happening in Canada, is what happens here.
There's all kinds of people who in the name of Jesus, oh, they love Jesus, they have Bibles just like we do, they sing songs, some of the same songs we sing.
They have all those same kind of affirmations, oh, we're biblical, we love Jesus, repeat ad nauseum, we're biblical, biblical, biblical.
Who will join with the state in condemning those who resist. That's part of how it happens.
And so there has to be a clarifying moment where we say, you know, not everybody who says that they're being biblical not everybody who says that they're being faithful to Christ really is.
That's not something proven by mere assertion. Not something, now maybe they've been discipled that way to think that way.
You can be sincere and sincerely wrong. But you have to have, the state will have to have a cooperating compromised church.
Right, that's how the Nazis took Germany. They had a compromised cooperating
Lutheran church. Where other Lutherans resisted, but they were in the minority.
So there's persecution on two fronts. And the one we can understand if the state is against some sort of competing authority structure, but the one that really hurts is when the persecution comes from those who should be your allies.
So there is a need in our day to be, not to be ecumenical, to stand for what we believe in the scriptures, to be clear about the gospel of Jesus Christ, to give testimony and witness to that.
And then being wise and to be harmless as doves in that regard, but also be wise as serpents and recognize that we have a lot of allies that we have not stood with, and we have a lot of at least co -belligerence that we could stand with against tyranny.
The story comes to mind, and I know, we talked about this in Sunday school this morning, but the story comes to mind about how
Caligula wanted to put a statue of himself in the temple in Jerusalem, Caligula came before Nero, and tens of thousands of Jews protested to the local procurator, the procouncil there from Rome.
They hounded him, said, this is not going to happen, you might as well kill us now, line up all your soldiers, kill us now, they just, they got down and they said, here's our necks, slice our throats now, because this is not going to happen in our land.
And so moving it was that he dared, the procouncil dared to defy the
Roman emperor, Caligula. This was no democratic republic, this was an empire, whatever
Caligula said, went, even making his horse a senator, whatever he wanted.
But this procouncil said, no, I'm not doing this to these people, they're noble and right in this regard, and we're not going to do that here.
And then Caligula, wrote back a letter, said, well, you best kill yourself. But Caligula was dead before the letter got to him, so he was okay.
But there has to be part of our stewardship, part of being harmless as doves and as wise as serpents, is going to be standing up and making a fuss about things.
Right, that is actually what we're called to do, the freedom of speech, freedom of the right to assemble.
We have all of these amendments in the Bill of Rights that we should exercise, as if they are absolute.
And to bring attention to what is righteousness and what is truth, that's part of our stewardship.
So if we have opportunity, let's take opportunity. Whatever that is, recognize that that's part of our
Christian stewardship. I'm not saying that that's going to fix everything, I'm saying that that's one thing we can do.
Feeling, and it gives them the perfect giver.
So sometimes it just takes that first person to have the courage to take a step.
Yep, that's right. So that's encouraging to, remember the last thing, remember the lesser magistrate in Jeremiah's day, they were ready to kill
Jeremiah because he was preaching against the temple, and they were ready to kill him.
And then one of the elders said, that would not be the right thing to do.
And then all of a sudden the other one spoke up and said, yeah, he's right. Just breaking the ice and saying what the truth is.
Sometimes all is, we live in a fear of man too much, where he's like, I don't want to say anything. Might as well say it. Might as well say it, these are opportunities.