This Means War! (Part 2)

·         Two weeks from tomorrow, the citizens of Canada will speak in a general election – and our country needs your vote! As a church, we do not endorse candidates or political parties – but we do endorse morality and common sense. Consider the present state of affairs in our nation:

·         Our tax system continues to discriminate against parents who choose to stay at home to care for their own children. Federal income tax for a typical single income family with children is 136% higher than tax paid by dual income families with children.

·         Possessing child pornography with “artistic merit” or “for the public good” is now a legitimate defence for sex perverts. Adults can legally have sex with your 14-year-old children. Hence Canada has become a paradise for pedophiles.

·         Abortion remains legal and fully funded by your health care dollars, and there is absolutely no protection for the unborn at any stage of pregnancy.

·         Our government is extending all benefits historically afforded exclusively to married couples to common law and homosexual couples. Millions of Canadians asked their MPs to “reaffirm that marriage is and should remain the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, and that Parliament take all necessary steps within the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Canada to preserve this definition.” For the most part, they were ignored; one MP stated publicly: “There is no political consequence for ignoring you people.”

·         30 years ago they gave us no fault divorce laws, 20 years ago they made common law relationships equivalent to marriage, today they want to do the same with homosexual relationships!

·         Bill C-250 adds “sexual orientation” as a protected category to the hate propaganda section of the criminal code. Criminal Code 319 combined with C-250 is an anti-free speech law that could criminalize people who express an opinion opposing homosexual behavior for any reason, including views based on religion, conscience and morality. It will be left to judges to interpret terms what “promoting or inciting hatred” means, and whether certain religious texts are deemed to promote hatred. Weak “protective clauses” for churches and ministers are simply not adequate – this bill needs to be defeated outright.

·         To ignore the issues when so much depends on our elected representatives is irresponsible as a Canadian and as a Christian! You need to know how your MP is voting – and vote accordingly!

·         Jesus said that Christians need to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” – they need to be INFLUENCERS! But sadly, many Christians end up at one of two extremes: either they isolate themselves from the world and lose their influence, or they become influenced by the world and lose their influence.

Matthew 5:13-14  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

·         I am equally angered by those who would like us to be isolated from the world and those that would like us to be influenced by the world! And as you heard last week, it is the sacred responsibility of pastors to stand up for righteousness and speak up for truth!

Ezekiel 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.

·         Because of our stand for truth and godliness, our church has recently been assaulted with an attack from hell itself. The casualties have been several and severe; even our services have felt the onslaught. But the devil is not more powerful than my God! So I stand here in the strength of the Holy Ghost, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, and on the authority of God’s Word to fight back. Are there any apostolics left who are indignant at the assault of the enemy? Where are the redeemed who are still proud of their God and still mad at the devil? Where are the Christians who love righteousness enough to live it and hate sin enough to leave it? This means war!

Psalm 107:2  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

 

Hebrews 1:9  Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

 

Isaiah 59:19  So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

·         As you heard last week in Terry Kennedy’s dream about our church, we have been attacked by a trinity from hell – spirits of deception, division, and divorce. I am compelled again to raise the standard!

·         Christianity has disgraced itself in the eyes of the world, “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” Christianity now boasts a higher divorce rate than the world in North America! The statistics scream at us and we still refuse to listen:

·         For both men and women, staying married boosts their chance of surviving to old age to more than 90%.

·         The National Population Health Survey declares that single mothers report consistently worse health than married mothers.

·         40% of married people are “very happy” with their life, much higher than common law couples, the separated and the divorced, who consistently rate as the least happiest.

·         The HRDC reports that children living in post-divorce custodial arrangements have a higher prevalence of behavioral and emotional problems than children living with both parents.

·         Children of single-parent families are more likely to repeat grades, have poor language skills, and be in poorer health.

·         Boys raised without a father in the home are twice as likely to engage in criminal activity; girls raised without a father in the home are three times as likely to get pregnant or have an abortion before marriage.

·         A 25-year study on the effects of divorce found that children of divorced parents are much more likely to abuse drugs and seek therapy, 40% more likely to avoid marriage themselves, and twice as likely to see their marriages fail if they do marry.

·         Why in the name of all that is decent would anyone subject the children they claim to love to such odds? Because of sin and selfishness! My needs! My feelings! My happiness! My! My! My!

·         But for Christians, there is another much more important reason – keeping our marriages together is a commandment of God! We’ve been talking about it in our Corinthians study – God plainly says “DON’T LEAVE!” Don’t give up on your marriage!

Malachi 2:13-17 (MES)  You fill the place of worship with your whining and sniveling because you don’t get what you want from God. Do you know why? Simple. Because God was there as a witness when you spoke your marriage vows to your young [spouse], and now you’ve broken those vows, broken the faith-bond with your vowed companion, your covenant [partner]. God, not you, made marriage. His Spirit inhabits even the smallest details of marriage. And what does he want from marriage? Children of God, that’s what. So guard the spirit of marriage within you. Don’t cheat on your spouse. “I hate divorce,” says the God of Israel … “I hate the violent dismembering of the ‘one flesh’ of marriage.” So watch yourselves. Don’t let your guard down. Don’t cheat. You make God tired with all your talk. “How do we tire him out?” you ask. By saying, “God loves sinners and sin alike. God loves all.” And also by saying, “Judgment? God’s too nice to judge.”

·         The spirit of divorce and the spirit of adultery are TWINS. Is everyone that gets a divorce physically unfaithful? No. Is everyone that gets a divorce emotionally disloyal? YES! Is this emotional disloyalty like committing adultery? YES!

·         You don’t just wake up one day with “no feelings” for your spouse. That happens when you allow a thousand little acts of disloyalty to fracture your marriage over a long period of time.

Exodus 20:14  Thou shalt not commit adultery.

 

·         The English word “adultery” comes from the same root as the word “adulterate,” which means “to contaminate or make impure.”  The Hebrew phrase is “Lo Na’aph,” which also means “no apostatizing.”

·         To apostatize means to abandon one’s principles or promises. Forsaking our marriage vows may not be adultery in the eyes of the world, but God’s opinion is very different!

·         John Sanford, in his book “Why Some Christians Commit Adultery,” gives a checklist of symptoms that identify this kind of adultery:

·         Sharing private intimate matters with a friend of the opposite sex before sharing them with your spouse – that’s adultery!

·         Spending inordinate amounts of time with a member of the opposite sex, inventing reasons to work alongside that person – that’s adultery!

·         Finding more delight in being with some person other than with your spouse – that’s adultery!

·         Thinking your friend understands you better than your spouse, while finding it difficult to communicate at home – that’s adultery!

·         Being unwilling to hear the warnings of others and stubbornly maintaining this platonic relationship – that’s adultery!

·         Looking for opportunities to be with that person away from the scrutiny of others – that’s adultery!

·         Developing aggressive defensiveness when you try to keep from admitting you are into something wrong, accusing others of attacking you when they are really trying to warn you – that’s adultery!

·         Finding reasons to avoid the wise counsel of long-time friends, alienating yourself from them, while accepting the unwise counsel of fools – that’s adultery!

·         The Bible weighs in even stronger on this critical issue:

Job 24:15 – adulterers love darkness

Proverbs 6:32 – adulterers destroy their own souls

Jeremiah 23:14 – adulterers are living a lie

Ezekiel 23:45 – adulterers have innocent blood on their hands

Malachi 3:5 – adulterers are under the judgment of God

Matthew 5:28 – adultery starts in the head, not the bed

Mark 10:11 – leaving your spouse to marry another is adultery

1 Corinthians 6:9 – adulterers will not inherit God’s kingdom

Galatians 5:19 – adultery is a work of the flesh

Hebrews 13:4 – God will judge adulterers

2 Peter 2:14 – adulterers are powerless to cease from their sin

·         Couples, you need to regularly remind yourself of the devastation and destruction that is caused by sexual sin.  SEXUAL SIN LEAVES PERMANENT SCARS!  You may be in a difficult, struggling marriage that is not satisfying to you. But remember that no matter how high the cost of restoring and maintaining your marriage, the cost of adultery is always higher!

·         Here are six reasons not to commit adultery:

1.     You do incredible damage to your spouse (1 Corinthians 6:16)

1 Corinthians 6:16 (NLT)  And don’t you know that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.”

2.     You do incredible damage to yourself (Proverbs 6:32)

Proverbs 6:32 (NLT)  But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own soul.

3.     You do incredible damage to your children (Exodus 34:7)

Exodus 34:7b (NLT)  Even so I do not leave sin unpunished, but I punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations.

4.     You do incredible damage to the church (1 Corinthians 5:6)

 

1 Corinthians 5:6b (NLT)  Don’t you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected?

5.     You do incredible damage to your witness (2 Samuel 12:14)

2 Samuel 12:14 (NLT)  But you have given the enemies of the Lord great opportunity to despise and blaspheme him …

6.     You sin against the Lord (Genesis 39:9)

Genesis 39:9b (NLT)  How could I ever do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.

·         I have one last Scripture for those who have sat comfortably through this message, pointing their finger mentally at someone else:

James 4:4-10 (KJV)  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. [5] Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? [6] But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. [7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. [9] Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. [10] Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

·         SPIRITUAL ADULTERY IS JUST AS BAD AS EMOTIONAL OR PHYSICAL ADULTERY! AND ITS CONSEQUENCES ARE ETERNAL!

·         Being more involved with the world than with God – that’s adultery!

·         Inventing excuses to avoid church – that’s adultery!

·         Finding more delight in worldly activities than in serving God – that’s adultery!

·         Thinking the world understands you better than the church does – that’s adultery!

·         Being unwilling to hear the warnings of your pastors and stubbornly maintaining your sin – that’s adultery!

·         Looking for opportunities to do secret, sinful things away from the scrutiny of others – that’s adultery!

·         Getting defensive when you refuse to admit your sin, accusing the preacher of attacking you when he is really trying to warn you – that’s adultery!

·         Finding reasons to avoid the wise counsel of fellow Christians, alienating yourself from them, while accepting the unwise counsel of backsliders and lukewarm people – that’s adultery!

·         God has only one solution for adultery – STOP NOW!

·         John 8:11  And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.