Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / This Is Not Your Grandfather’s Family Msg 18 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

This Is Not Your Grandfather’s Family Msg 18 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: We're beginning today a series on the home and family
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: in the 21st century. To help us do that, we
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: want to read from the scriptures for guidance as well
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: as look over an outline I provided for you. You'll
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: find that in your worship folder, which you'd like to
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: take out perhaps right now and place it here in
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the second chapter of Genesis, where we will begin our
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: reading together. Genesis 2, and I'll begin at verse 18,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: and then we'll move over to Deuteronomy chapter 6. Genesis 2, 18,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Then the Lord God said, It is not good for
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the man to be alone. I will make him a
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: helper suitable for him. Out of the ground the Lord
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: God formed every beast of the field and every bird
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: of the sky and brought them to the man to
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: see what he would call them. and whatever the man
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: called a living creature, that was its name. The man
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: gave names to all the cattle and to the birds
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: of the sky and to every beast of the field,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: to fall upon the man, and he slept. Then Adam,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: He took one of his ribs and closed up the
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: woman the rib which he had taken from the man
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: and brought her to the man. The man said, this
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: She shall be called woman because she was taken out
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: of man. Then, if you will, please turn to the
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: fifth book of your Bible, Moses' final written work, Deuteronomy
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: chapter 6. And we'll begin reading at verse 4. Deuteronomy 6, 4. Hear,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: and with all your soul, with all your might. These
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: words which I am commanding you today shall be on
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: and when you walk by the way, and when you
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: them as a sign on your hand, and they shall
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Then it shall come about when the Lord your God
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: and Jacob, to give you great and splendid cities which
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: you did not build and houses full of all good
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: things which you did not fill and hewn cisterns which
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: you did not dig. vineyards, and olive trees which you
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: did not plant. And you shall eat and be satisfied.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: who brought you from the land of Egypt out of
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: the house of slavery. You shall fear only the Lord
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: your God, and you shall worship him and swear by
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: his name. Verse 24. So the Lord commanded us to
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: for our good always and for our survival as it
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: is today. Before the morning offering, would you bow with
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: me as we come to God in prayer? Our adoration
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: and praise goes to none other as it goes to you,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: our Father, from whom all blessings flow. All of us
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: as creatures here below lift our voices of praise, for
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: your faithful care over us, for your attention to the
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: details of life, not excluding the soft, cooler breezes of
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: the summer, for the relief from the heat, for fresh, clear,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: and clean water to drink and with which to cleanse ourselves.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: the blessings of home and family, of children and grandchildren
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: and parents and grandparents, from whom all blessings flow. You
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: give us these in your great grace. Thank you for
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: the teaching that many of us have received from good
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: and godly parents, from faithful teachers and pastors. for those
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: who have committed themselves to truth to live by and
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: to die with. Thank you for your word. What a
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: blessing comes to us from it, which lives and abides forever.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Heaven and earth will pass away, but not your word,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: not one word of it. We bow before you, our Father,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: and while we do not make the word the point
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: of our worship, We do worship your son revealed in
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: your word. We worship you. We revere your will. We
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: seek to know your mind. In the cacophony of our
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: times where there are so many voices, so many opinions,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: broad and wide, often shallow, we ask for depth of
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: understanding of truth. We seek that, our Father, in our
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: worship and in the time of instruction. Thank you for
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: the way you have honored your name in blessing this church.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: We all sit in amazement, surprised and full of wonder
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: for your grace in giving us growth for the pleasure
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: of visitors who seek to know us. and to be
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: a part of this family. Thank you for each one. Today,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: we're grateful for our occupations, for the privilege of earning
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: a living. We pray for those without work and ask
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: you to bring encouragement and guidance and lead them to
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: a place of employment. Pray for their families as well.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: I pray especially for those who struggle today, confused, Disjointed
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: in mind and emotion, feeling dysfunctional and removed from a
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: place of safety, I pray that you will bring encouragement
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: and comfort and direction and hope. Now, our Father, from
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: what you have provided, we give now. We thank you
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: for the joy of doing so. We've learned how to
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: do it from you, joyfully and generously. And as we participate,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: we continue our worship and our praise of you from
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: whom all blessings flow. In the name of the Father
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: and the Son and the Holy Ghost, we pray and
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: we give. And everyone said, Amen. For the next few moments,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: let's play Let's Pretend. Let's pretend you're a modern-day Rip
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Van Winkle. And it's back in the mid-60s, and you
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: decide to lie down and take a nap. When you do,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: your kids are all 10 years old and younger, and
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: you've got four of them. Your mate is right there nearby,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: enjoying life with you as it is rolling along, rather spasmodically.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: You're aware as you go to sleep that your times
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: are a little uneasy. There's this unusual war going on
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: over there in Southeast Asia. Probably not going to amount
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: to much. You're bothered because the president was assassinated, and
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: now there's a 36th president who has taken office, Lyndon Johnson.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: You're getting a little concerned about your kids listening to
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: the Beach Boys and watching the swiveling hips of Elvis
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Presley when they do allow that to be shown on television.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: You'd much rather be sitting by them. Well, you kind
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: of endure the Smothers Brothers, and some of those off-color
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: jokes on Laugh-In are sort of a concern to you.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: You'd much rather they enjoy Lawrence Welk on Saturday night
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: or Bonanza on Sunday. Back in those days, weed is
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: what grew in your garden, and pot is what you
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: put plants in. A mouse was a rodent, and a
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Coke was a soft drink, and gay meant you were happy.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: Back then, words like pregnant and abortion and incest and
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: condom and homosexuality were never used in pulpits, ever. Occasionally,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: you'd read some of those words and you'd pass on
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: by knowing it's a little raw. Back then, beatniks had
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: become hippies. But you weren't worried about them because you
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: live in Texas. And they're all out there somewhere between
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Santa Cruz and Portland, Oregon, or maybe up at Cape Cod.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Nobody with hair that long would show up in your state,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: especially if they live in communes. Most of all, and
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: best of all, You enjoyed your home. It was a
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: safe place to be. You loved your kids. They could
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: still take bike rides leaving in the morning on Saturday
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: and not come back till noon for lunch. You never
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: worried about them. You really didn't. And then last week,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: you woke up. Kind of gives new meaning to the
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: words shock and awe, doesn't it? You woke up. Not
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: only are your kids surprisingly older, 50 and in their 40s,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: but your mate's gone. She decided you never would wake up,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: so she walked out on you. Your homestead's been taken
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: down and now there are high-rises where... Pretty affluent people
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: live alongside other high rises. The neighborhood doesn't even look
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: like the neighborhood used to look. There's a green screen
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: in the study. And amazingly, by simply pointing and clicking,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: pornography is on it. And Prayer is illegal and abortion
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: is legal. And four-letter words are not only on most
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: of the programs, including especially the late-night talk shows, that
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: they're even used on newscasts and sports shows. And sex
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: scenes are not that uncommon in, if not the movie
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: you've gone to see, at least in the preview of
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: what's coming. suddenly we no longer were playing let's pretend.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: I remember distinctly back in the, I guess the late 60s,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: listening to a three-day lectureship by Francis Schaeffer. I sat
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: spellbound as he made sense out of the art and
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: out of the literature of our day and days past.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: I saw him as something of a Prophet, I'll never
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: forget how we ended the lectureship and where I was
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: at the time, sitting between good friends as we were
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: all busy taking notes from this unusual man standing there
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: in turtleneck sweater and knickers. He closed his lectures with
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: these very words. Someday we will wake up and find
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: out that the America we once knew was gone. The
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: room was as silent as you are right now. He turned,
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: and with an explosion of applause, standing ovation, we said farewell.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: That day has come. I don't speak today as a politician,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know that life and I have no interest
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: in that personally or professionally. I speak today as a dad,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: as a granddad, as a pastor of this church, as
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: a husband, as a friend. My message is pointed and direct,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: but it's not meant to sound cranky or old-fashioned. I
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: have no interest in returning to yesteryear. I love the
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: conveniences and delights of this current time. I wouldn't go
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: back if I could. I wouldn't be another age if
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: I had the choice. But being the age I am
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: has given me shall we say, a fresh and a
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: little more clear perspective. Much of which I'll be sharing
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: with you in our series together on the family. Don't
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: turn me off, please. Don't see it as some old
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: fuddy-duddy sort of getting a lot of crankiness out of
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: his system. I speak today, hopefully, to help you see
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: some things you've not seen before or perhaps you haven't
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: thought about for a long time. Now, you talk about
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: major changes and radical changes. I sat down at my
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: study and on an 8 1⁄2 by 11 piece of
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: tablet paper, I wrote out 3 1⁄2 pages of changes.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Single space. So I have condensed those to a few
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: that I think are worth mentioning that describe our times.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Listen closely. Same-sex marriages will soon be legal. We've read
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: about them now for weeks, even months. It will not
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: be long before that will be considered acceptable and good.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: And you are considered a person of hate speech if
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: you will speak out against it. Condoms are now distributed
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: freely and without parental approval to the young based on
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: the fact that they promote safe sex, even though no
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: one would ever say they're safer than 85 to 87%.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: And I also... ask you on your own to describe
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: to yourself what safe sex means. Domestic roles are no
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: longer clearly defined. At least they're not as defined as
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: in 40 and 50 years ago. The masculine father who
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: enjoys his role and delights in being a spiritual leader
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: and truly a man. The feminine mother who delights in
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: her role and sees the joy and the dignity of
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: being the mother of the young and of growing children.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: The authority of parents and the corresponding obedience of children,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: never knowing that rebellion is even a possibility, though all
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: of us have rebelled at times. And the home is
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: no longer a safe place. I just finished reading a
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: number of pages out of The Day America Told the
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: Truth by Patterson and Kim and was taken back once
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: again with their statement that America is the most violent
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: country on the planet. And the home is often the
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: core of the violence. It isn't uncommon now to read
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: of wife and or husband abuse, of child abuse, of
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: the sacredness and the permanence of marriage being trivialized. We
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: are no longer really shocked to read of mothers who
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: kill their children or of wives who run over their husbands,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: deliberately murdering them. If you're a person of some financial means,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: you're considered foolish if you marry without prenuptial consent. And
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: there is this myth that life doesn't really begin at
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: conception in the womb, but whenever we say it does.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Affairs and unashamed acts of adultery are not new, though
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: they are certainly more common. Now the difference is they're
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: in the church. Men are hesitant to be men. Women
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: are offended being seen only as feminine ladies who adore
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: husbands and enjoy families, finding fulfillment in their husbands' love
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: and protection. Somehow that's now a put-down for the woman.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: As a result, little girls aren't sure what it means
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: to be a little girl, and little boys are confused
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: knowing how to be little boys. And there, of course,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: exists the misguided stance that homosexuality is a valid and
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: acceptable lifestyle. And if you disagree with that publicly, you're homophobic.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: And now, since it takes a village to rear our children,
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: we're not sure as parents that we're qualified to do
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: it on our own. So we're unsure of our roles.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: And because of the fallout of all its moral sewage
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: that's now flowing through our homes, pornography is taking a
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: major toll. If the statistics I read are accurate, some
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: of the better estimates are that about 50% of Americans
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: view it regularly, many of them children under 12. Some
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: of you. This is not your grandfather's family. This is
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: another world. And we live in it. And we must
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: make a living in it. And we must continue on
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: through it. And none of it comes as a surprise
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: to God. I have observed in my years on this
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: earth that there's sort of an evolution of responses. First,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: when some of this occurs for the first time, there's shock.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: I remember the chill that ran down my spine when
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: I read the article of the mother who drowned all
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: of her children. And a number of others I could mention.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: Too horrid to repeat. Shock is then because of the
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: frequency of such similar amazing and shocking event turns to acceptance,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: which is a big leap. Who am I? Just one.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Who are we? Just a couple. So we then decide
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: to be indifferent about it. I'll live my life and
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: I'll let others live theirs. I certainly don't want to
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: be misunderstood or unpopular. Apathy reigns. I remember a friend
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: of mine who taught math in high school. Tough subject
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: for that age. And kids couldn't get there early enough
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: to get a back seat. A couple of the boys
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: that really hated the subject were forced to sit on
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: the front row. They sat right next to each other,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: these two athletes, and they thought they would endure another class.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: And they yawned and rolled their eyes and snoozed and
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: poked one another. And finally, the teacher, my friend, got
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: his belly full of it. He turned around with chalk
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: and chalk sparking over the room. He smears A-P-A-T-H-Y. on
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: the chalkboard, big, inch-high letters, and underlines it. That is
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: the problem in this class. One kid says to the other, apathy.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: What's apathy? His buddy says, who cares? Who cares? There's
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: a plan underway to desensitize us. Never doubt it. In
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: an article titled, The Gospel According to Saint Madonna, out
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: of a magazine called The Advocate, which is a homosexual magazine,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: entertainer Madonna understands this all too well. In an interview
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: with the publishers of The Advocate, The Queen of Shock
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Rock assessed the impact homosexual imagery in music videos will
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: have on straight viewers. These are her words. They, meaning
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: the American public, digest it on a lot of different levels.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: Some people will see it and be disgusted by it.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: But maybe they'll be unconsciously aroused by it. People keep
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: seeing it and seeing it and seeing it. Eventually, it's
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: not going to be such a strange thing. Another producer
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: of a homosexual cable show said their goal, and I quote,
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: is to desensitize the audience so that people will realize
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: we're just like everybody else. May I pause here and
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: put your heart at ease? I realize in a congregation
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: our size, there are many who struggle with some of
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: the things I'm addressing. I'm too much a realist to
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: live in a dream world. I've spent 40 plus years
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: in ministry, not only addressing these things, but trying my
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: best to help those who struggle with them. If you
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: are a homosexual, you are welcome in this church. If
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: you struggle with some of the things related to home
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: and family battles, you're welcome in this church. We want
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: to be of help. We want to offer hope. There
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: isn't one cell of my body that has hate in
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: it for any of you. I missed you greatly while
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: I was away on vacation. I thought a lot about
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: these things, thinking, is this the message I want to
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: deliver my first Sunday back? Sounds like I've gotten older
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: and crankier while I've been gone. On the contrary, my
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: love is deeper and my appreciation for this congregation is
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: broader than it has ever been before. It only deepens
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: as the years go by. And that includes all, visitor, friend,
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: member alike. We may not agree with the lifestyle and
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: we may not agree with the way you're acting it out,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: but we want to help you see in the scriptures
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: there is hope. There are answers you've not been able
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: to find in the system that's long since lost its way.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: And my hope is that we as a flock will
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: broaden our arms and open them to those who are
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: different than we are. Understanding that if they can't find
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: hope here, there isn't another place they can. I agree
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: with Robert Lewis, a pastor up in Little Rock, who
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: wrote in one of his works, Real Family Values, the
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Christian family looks on while people in authority make decisions
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: that contradict everything they know to be true. Anesthetized by
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: a corrupt culture, many families have lost the ability to
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: discern between good and evil. Our moral edge has become dull.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Our children sit next to us on the sofa at night,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: soaking up the opinions, values, and images of a godless society.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Our silence and passivity are lethal to them. And then
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: we have the audacity to marvel at their lack of
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: spiritual passion. and their propensity for moral compromise. If you
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: have been asleep during any part of the last number
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: of years, it's possible that your senses have been desensitized.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: If you have found yourself rethinking some truths that you
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: know are in the scriptures but wonder now if they're relevant,
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: you're on your way down a slide. Hopefully, we can
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: get back on our feet. and have a message that
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: rings with hope and relevance and love and truth. Now,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: how's that for an introduction? I realize our time is short,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: so let's go after what hasn't changed. What hasn't changed? First,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: the heart of humanity hasn't changed. You are by nature,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: by choice, and by birth depraved. Without the redeeming power
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: of Christ, you cannot pull yourself out of a moral nosedive.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: And even with Christ, if he is not in control,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: you will still erode. So the power of the Holy
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: Spirit working alongside the power of Christ, this hasn't changed.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: You are able to do something, but you can't do
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: it on your own because the human heart hasn't changed. Second,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: God's desire for his people hasn't changed. God is holy
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: and just and pure, and he tells us in the
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: scriptures to be like he is. So he expects his
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: people to be holy and just and pure, not prudish,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: not dated. Not cranky, but holy and just and pure.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: And it can happen. Or he's given us a directive
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: that's impossible to fulfill. God doesn't do that. God is
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: faithful and compassionate. He wants us to be faithful and compassionate. Yes,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: we can think correctly and still have compassion. Yes. We
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: can take a stand against what is clearly wrong and
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: against the scriptures and at the same time love and
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: reach out in true interest to the lives of those
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: who differ with us. Yes, Christ spent his life doing that.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: They crucified him, didn't they? Come to think of it.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: Don't expect that you will be embraced by the public
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: in general because you stand for the truth. Just know,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: that if you do it correctly, there will be lives impacted.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: You may be starting at a school where you'll have
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: roommates who are of a different way of thinking. Your
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: life will speak volumes to those roommates and those in
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: the student body. It will be remarkable what a difference
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: your life can make. Not preaching, not carrying banners, not crusading,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: but living a life that's godly and holy and faithful
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: and compassionate and pure speaks for itself. Third thing, God's
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: truth remains unchanged as revealed in the scriptures. By the way, Ben,
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you thought about this or not.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: We'll think more about it next time. But God holds
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: the pattern on marriage. His idea. It wasn't ours. He
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: came up with it. In fact, in Genesis 2, finally,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: we're getting into the scriptures. In Genesis chapter 2, we
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: come in this creative plan to the moment when God
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: says that is not good. Up until now, everything's been good.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: He made the earth. It was good. He made the seas.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: They were good. He made the sun, moon, and stars.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: They were all good. He made the creatures. They were good.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: He made the plants. They were good. Everything is good.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: In fact, Very good until you get to verse 18
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: of chapter 2. And for the first time in the Bible,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: the word not appears. It is not good. What is it?
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: Verse 18, chapter 2. That the man remain alone. Some
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: of you cynics are saying that's because he wasn't married.
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: He said that. But stay with me. This is a
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: passage of primary reference. This is a passage that can't
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: be repeated, or I should say, isn't seen before this one.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: When it comes to marriage, this is the first passage.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: This is the first one. God's plan. You can't go
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: back to a better, more complete account of it, or
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: even a mention of it until you get to 2.18.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: So in this passage of primary reference, let's let this
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: shape our thinking. God looks at the man as he
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: is alone, and God says, not good. That's not best.
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: The aloneness is not good. And then he says, I
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: will make him a helper suitable for him. I hear
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: the brakes. All of a sudden, women say, helper? The
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Hebrew word means slave. No, it doesn't. I'm just... Come on.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: You know I'm jerking you around with that. None means slave.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: Here's the way I like to describe it. The man
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: sings the melody and the woman sings the harmony. It's
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: a beautiful duet that's put together by God. And all alone,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: your voice can't carry it, Adam. You can't do it alone.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: It's not something that pleases me, nor will it really
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: satisfy you. There is another you need who is suitable
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: for you. This is all part of his plan. Put
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: into words that we can do our best to understand.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: I will make him a helper suitable for him. I'll
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: bring someone alongside who will harmonize with his life. who
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: will fill in the spots that are missing and add
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: the things that aren't there on his own. Now, remember,
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: Adam's never read Genesis 2, so he doesn't know what's coming.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: And as he watches things happen, all of a sudden
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: the animals begin to walk in front of him. Verse 19,
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: out of the ground... The Lord forms every beast of
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: the field, every bird of the sky, and brought them
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: to the man to see what he would call them.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: And whatever the man called a living creature, that was
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: its name. Did you know that Adam named all the animals?
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: He was never stumped. He was never at a loss
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: to know what a good name would be for each
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: one of these birds and animals, cattle or whatever. Why?
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: Because there's innocence. There's no sin. His IQ was off
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: the charts. The sin nature, the sin factor, beginning at
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: chapter 3, took a massive toll not only on us
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: volitionally and in our emotion, but in our minds. The
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: boundaries were much closer and our minds became darkened because
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: of sin. But Adam is now operating in a context
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: of innocence. It must have been magnificent. breathing clean air,
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: drinking and enjoying clean water, and eating fresh and good
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: and healthy food. And along come these wonderful first-made animals,
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: and Adam names one after another. Watch closely, verse 20.
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: The man gave names to all the cattle and the
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: birds and every beast of the field, and for Adam
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: there was not found a helper suitable for him. He
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: was looking. He was looking. Maybe one of these. Maybe
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: one of these. And there was not found, it means
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: he was looking. And so the Lord, knowing that there
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: wasn't any one of those who would fill his life
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: as she could and as she should, verse 21, the
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: man and he slept. And God took one of his
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: ribs and closed up the flesh at that place and
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib of
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: which he had taken from the man and brought her
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: to the man. Oh, this is so good. Adam's recovering
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: from surgery. He looks up. There she is. Verse 23.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: Verse 23 could simply be rendered.
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: Wow. Wow.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: But there's more here. Notice the word now. That's the
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: emphatic word of the verse. Now, in other words, at last,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: finally someone to fill the aloneness of my life. Finally, look, look,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: shall be called woman. She was taken out of man.
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: And then principles are given for the first marriage. A man,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: a woman permanently, sacredly joined in harmony and hope for life.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: That's the plan. Never forget it. That's the plan. Can't
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: be improved on. That's the plan. It hasn't changed. In
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: God's plan, there is monogamy, a heterosexual relationship between a
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: man and a woman joined by God, and to be
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: lived out in the harmony of life. That's the plan.
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: Sin has messed up the whole thing. You know that.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: But don't forget the plan. In fact, it is so
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: lovely and fulfilling. The last verse of the chapter describes
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: them as both being naked without shame. There is no self-consciousness.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: There is no uneasiness with one another. There is no reluctance.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: There are sexual relations enjoyed. to the maximum and frequently
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: and fulfillingly from God. All from the Heavenly Father who
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: made them saying man alone is not as good as
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: man joined. And in the beauty and intimacy of this
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: innocent setting, there is even freedom in their nakedness. That
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: hasn't changed. That's still God's desire. In the bonds of marriage,
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: there is this delightful intimacy found nowhere else. Now when
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: you move from Genesis chapter 2 over to Deuteronomy chapter 6,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: much has happened. Just a whole lot of things. Stay
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: with me now. Abraham has been brought on the scene
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: and with him the beginning of a Hebrew race. The
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: Hebrew race has grown now to the millions. They spend
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: over 430 years or over 400 years in the bondage
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: of Egypt. And God delivers them through a leader named Moses.
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: He's at the age of 80. And by the time
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: he comes to about 120 and the Lord says, this
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: is it for you, Moses. Moses sits down to write
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: his last will and testament. His swan song is Deuteronomy.
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: And like an old grandfather or great-grandfather dying on his bed,
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: he pulls his family around him and he sets some
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: principles in place so that they will all understand how
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: the family is to operate. Why is it so important?
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: Because they are on the edge of a land that's
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: been promised them. They will move into cities that they
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: did not put together, live in houses they didn't build.
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: They will eat from trees and vines that they didn't plant.
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: They will drink from wells they didn't dig. And they
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: will enjoy a lifestyle... so broad and big, it'll be
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: easy for them to forget the monotheistic, deliberate, Trinity kind
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: of lifestyle lived when things were simple. So Moses said,
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: I want to warn you. Hear, O Israel, the Lord
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: our God is one. Chapter 6 of Deuteronomy, verse 4.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: It means one in a cluster used for grapes. The
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: Lord our God is Father, Son, Spirit. The Lord our
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: God is one. He is to be your focus. Next verse.
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: You're to love him with all your heart, with all
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: your soul, with all your might. And not only that,
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: you're to teach such to your kids. Verse 7. Teach
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: them diligently in the word is the term sharp. sharpen
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: the thinking of your kids when you are sitting in
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: your house, when you talk with them, when you are
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: walking by the way, when you lie down, when you
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: rise up. It's not a family altar once in the evening.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: It's a lifestyle of teaching. It's a way of life
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: that you pass on to them. Why is it so important?
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: Why is he so exercised over this? Well, he tells us.
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: He says in verse 10, at the end of the verse,
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: I'm giving you great and splendid cities you didn't build,
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: and I'm putting you in houses that are full of
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: good things that you didn't fill. And you will drink
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: from cisterns you didn't dig and eat from vineyards and
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: trees you didn't plant. You will eat and, listen, you'll
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: be satisfied. And before you know it, the Canaanite lifestyle, which,
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: by the way, is the foundation of the first steps
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: of pornography. you will find the Canaanite lifestyle a lot
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: more appealing because you're living in Canaanite homes and dwelling
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: in Canaanite cities and eating from Canaanite plants and drinking
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: Canaanite water. And because not all of them have been removed,
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: you'll start to change. Don't go there. In fact, verse
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: 13 says, You're to fear only the Lord your God
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: and worship only him and swear by his name. You say, Chuck,
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: wait a minute. You are really pressing the point. I mean,
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: this is nothing but a club that he's beating them
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: over the head with. Wait a minute. Wait. Verse 24
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: doesn't say that. I'm giving you these commandments and statutes
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: to fear the Lord your God. Why? Why? I have
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: my Bible marked. The two reasons are for our good
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: and for our survival. For our good and for our survival.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: You know the implication? If you don't go there, it
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: won't be good for you. And if you won't do that,
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: you won't survive. Like I want you to survive. All
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: this leads me to some principles that are true and timeless.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: Listen closely. Complacency still blinds us from seeing realistically. Complacency
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: still blinds us from seeing realistically. Easy to drift. Easiest
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: thing in the world. Second, knowledge still frees us to
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: think clearly. Knowledge still frees us to think clearly. You
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: shall know the truth and what? The truth shall make
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: you free. The truth will help you think clearly. Knowledge. Third,
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: discernment still prompts us to act courageously. As I see
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: these things and as I read God's truth and compare
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: or contrast them to my world in which I live,
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: I realize it's going to take some courage to take
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: a stand, to be different. It's going to take a
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: lot of wisdom to know how to help my kids
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: do that without looking like freaks or sounding like they're weird.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: Though some will jump to that conclusion no matter what.
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: Complacency still blinds us from seeing realistically. Knowledge still frees
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: us to think clearly. Understanding or discerning still prompts us
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: to act courageously. Fourth, God still loves us unconditionally. That
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: is such a great truth. God still loves us unconditionally.
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: He doesn't look down on us in these times and say,
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: I'm finished with you. I've had my fill. You know,
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: God's a God of great grace. Of course, he has
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: the right at any time to pull the plug. And
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: he hasn't told me when he plans to do it. Frankly,
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: I think we're sort of living on borrowed time. So
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: time is of the essence. Therefore, I've got some two-word
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: applications to go with each one of these principles. First,
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: wake up. Since complacency blinds and numbs us, we need
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: to wake up. There's no time to be asleep, especially
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: if you've still got small kids in the home, especially
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: if you've still got teenagers running around looking for direction
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: in the midst of what is for them a time
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: of confusion, understandably. Wake up. Second, listen up. Listen up.
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: Since knowledge frees us, we need the directives of God's
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: word to counteract the messages and missiles of the media.
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: Listen up. Third, since understanding and discernment prompts us into action,
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: we need to step up and even speak up. stepping
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: into it rather than stepping away from it. We need
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: to be modern-day sons of Issachar who understood their times
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: and knew what Israel should do. 1 Chronicles 12, 32.
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: If there's legislation that comes out in defense of the family,
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: step into it. Step up. Connect with that legislation. Cast
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: your vote. Protect your family. There aren't many such things
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: statements available for us as a country, when you see
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: them and know of them, speak up, tell your friends,
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: talk about it. Your oven may be self-cleaning, but society isn't.
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: And I can assure you when society casts its vote,
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: it will not be with Scripture. It will be against it. Fourth,
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: and perhaps most important of all, since God continues to
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: love us, look up. Let's look up. You say, well,
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: that sounds like a great way to end a sermon.
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: Does that ever help? Well, let me tell you a
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: quick story and I'm through. In the middle of the
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: 18th century, Great Britain was in such a sad state
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: of decline that Parliament had to be dismissed in the
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: middle of the day because so many of its members
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: were in a drunken stupor. Immorality was rampant in the land.
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: Children were abandoned. Families were forsaken and fractured and in chaos.
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: And God reversed the trend. How? Through the preaching of
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: a man named John Wesley and another named George Whitefield.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: There began, through the strength of the pulpit, a message
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: that spread into a revival that swept the land. And
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: some historians believe that revival spared Britain the bloody fate
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: of France, torn by violent revolution. It was the courage
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: of a few who who said we will look up
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: to God and he will give us direction and strength.
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: I'd like us to bow together. Please sit quietly before him.
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: Don't know where the message today finds you, but I
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: have the feeling there's been a twinge of conviction at
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: various places. Good for you. That's the beginning of change.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: Your feelings of uneasiness could very well lead you to
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: decisions that could begin a change and a whole trend
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: in a new direction for your home and family, beginning
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: with you personally. If you've never met Christ, the Lord Jesus,
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: who paid the price for your sins, certainly that is
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: the place to begin. And if you have met him,
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: Your decisions now could not be more important, if for
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: no other reason, than for the good and for the
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: survival of your family. We'd love to talk with any
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: of you struggling with these issues, needing direction, needing Christ.
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: Go there. Start today. Thank you, Father, for the pleasure
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: of being in your presence and with your people. Thank
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: you for your word. And it's penetrating message to all
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: of us. May we as a result of hearing. And learning.
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: And making decisive action. Make a difference. In a world
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: that's long since lost its way. We pray in the
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: name of Christ our Savior. And everyone said. Amen.
• 51:22
  Speaker 2: The preceding message. This is not your grandfather's family. Was
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2004 and 2006. and the sound recording was
• 51:30
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2006 by Charles R.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.