FOR THE LORD'S SAKE

#1 · January 19, 2010, 3:57 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on January 19, 2010, 3:57 pm
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

FOR THE LORDS SAKE

JANUARY 17, 2010

Text: 1 Peter 2:13-25

Does the name Barry Lynn sound familiar to anyone? Does it ring a bell with anyone? I can understand if this is not a familiar name to you, but maybe it should be. You see, Mr. Lynn believes that he has the authority to limit what I preach from this pulpit and what you hear from this pulpit. Think about that and let it soak in. Some stranger we will likely never meet would not hesitate to write this church your church a letter threatening legal action if he happened to find out that I preached the wrong thing in our own church. Again, I ask you to let this soak in.

Mr. Lynn is the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and they respond to accusations lodged against churches that might be in violation of breaking IRS rules regulating the role churches can play in the American political process. The IRS rules actually apply to all not for profit organizations, but Mr. Lynns target is churches. This man is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ denomination, yet he has made it his focus in life his lifes work - to tell me what I can preach and what you can hear from our own pulpit. Now thats some worthy accomplishment, isnt it?

How can he do this? How does he get by with it? I know of some pastors and churches in the state of Indiana that have received his threats because they dared to overstep the boundary that Mr. Lynn believes is appropriate. Why is it that he can be taken seriously? Well, because enough Americans have bought into enough lies and fictional characterizations of the separation of the Christian faith and civil government until we have gotten to the point where elected and appointed leaders in our communities, states, and nation provide Mr. Lynn with the legal backing he desires.

A few weeks back, Jeff Moore shared with this congregation his concern with a letter that the Maconaquah School Corporation received from the Freedom From Religion Foundation threatening legal action if school team coaches, many of them volunteers from our communities plain people like you and me just trying to make a positive difference in the lives of our children, do not stop having prayer with their teams. Because of the cost of threatened litigation, these volunteer coaches have been directed by the school board and administration to cease and desist from the vile practice of praying with their team. One letter, folks. Thats all it took. Thats all it takes these days. One letter, and we allow our freedom of speech and the public expression of our Christian faith to be silenced. Does that make you feel good? Or, perhaps, does that make you feel threatened, angered, and even embarrassed? How did we get to this state? Ill say it again: because enough Americans have bought into enough lies and fictional characterizations of the separation of the Christian faith and civil government until we have gotten to the point where elected and appointed leaders in our communities, states, and nation provide these organizations with the legal backing they desire.

In their letters, both Paul and Peter instruct Christians to be good and obedient citizens. Submit yourselves for the Lords sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. (1Peter 2:13) As a whole, Christians are a pretty law-abiding group. Thats a good thing. Peter goes on to tell us, For it is Gods will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. (1 Peter 2:15) This was true in Peters day, and it is true in our day. Those who insist on trying to make American evangelical Christians equivalent to Islamic terrorists are taken to the woodshed by reasonable men and women who can clearly discern the difference between these two groups. There is no similarity between us and Islamic terrorists, and those who would say that there is are ignorant, foolish men in every sense of the terms. So what God tells us through Peters letter is great counsel, and we take it seriously.

However, pay close attention to four words included in verse 13: for the Lords sake. We humble ourselves to authority for the Lords sake, not ours, and that makes a significant difference. Nowhere in the New Testament are we instructed to replace Gods will with the will of civil authority. Nowhere in the New Testament are we instructed to replace Gods law with the law of civil authority. Nowhere in the New Testament are we told to replace Gods justice with the justice of civil authority. Yes, we are to submit to every authority instituted among men, but at the same time we are never to abandon the authority of God. Therefore, as is held together throughout Scripture, when civil authority abandons God, we abandon civil authority. If two authorities make opposite demands, we can only obey one of them. Joshua put it best when he gathered the Israelite assembly at Shechem to renew the covenant: Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:14-15) Who do you choose to serve this day?

Never before in the history of the world has a major government been created without a monarchy or tribal leader or some form in which the ruler was born into power. Never before, that is, until the formation of these United States of America. And the firm foundation upon which this nation was established, built, and sustained came directly from the laws, morals, and ethics of the Judeo-Christian faith found in Gods Word. The very basis of our national being and freedom come from the truth that our freedoms are derived from God and not from government. Government is subservient to God and not the other way around. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:16) Brothers and sisters, this verse is being violated more and more, and we stand to lose everything precious and sacred to us in this nation because of it. Evil will kill us; it will kill our children; and it will kill our grandchildren. If you do not believe me, just take a walk back through the pages of history and see what happens every time when totalitarians are allowed to trump freedom.

When we humble ourselves to authority for the Lords sake, the Christian announces to a world that makes its freedom licentious and wicked that there is a freedom that is responsible. For the Lords sake, then, we must open our eyes and our ears to what is going on around us in our halls of government, for it is from those halls that men like Barry Lynn are gaining their power to close the mouths of born-again, evangelical Christians with simple letters. As long as we live in a land in which there is representative government, Christians must pay attention to who they help put into office. Do you believe that when men and women are placed into office who have already openly expressed their disdain for Christian morals, ethics, and belief that we are going to get laws and policies that reflect our Christian belief and heritage? No, we get, instead, letters instructing preachers not to preach truth from our own pulpits and coaches to not pray with their teams for guidance, protection, and well-being. Is this the kind of America you are wanting? Is this the kind of America you want four your children and grandchildren? If your answer is no, then you had better be paying attention to the choices being given come election times.

John Francis Mercer, a delegate to the original Constitutional Convention, declared, It is a great mistake to suppose that the paper we are to purpose will govern the United States It is the men whom it will bring into the government and interest [they have] in maintaining it that are to govern them. The paper will only mark out the mode and the form. Men are the substance and must do the business. (Madison, Papers, 1840, Vol. III, p. 1324, on August 14, 1787, by John Francis Mercer) In our day, of course, we state that men and women are the substance and must do the business. Our Constitutional form of government gives us the power to elect leaders, but when the wrong kind of leaders are elected, the Constitution will be rendered absolutely worthless. We are seeing it today, as freedom is used as a cover-up for evil. One of the most frequently quoted Bible principles invoked by the Founders comes from Proverbs 29:2, When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.

Those men back in the 1700s got it, and we had better get it in our day. Ill tell you why. Let me go back to the letter received by our school corporation from the Freedom from Religion Foundation. It instructs, as I understand it, that the adult coaches cannot initiate and lead prayer with their teams. We have been reminded, rightly so, that the students can initiate and lead prayer. However, we dare not sit back and warmly think that this is the solution. We dare not sit back and warmly think that all is well because our children can do what we cannot. I take you back to 1995 to a rural town outside of Houston, Texas. Like many a small town, it has a long tradition of student led public prayers at graduations and athletic events. Nevertheless, in Jane Doe v. Santa Fe Independent School District, Federal Judge Samuel Kent ruled, The Court will allow that prayer to be a typical nondenominational prayer, which can refer to God or to the Almighty or that sort of thing. The prayer must not refer to Jesus or anyone else. And make no mistake, the Court is going to have a United States marshal in attendance at the graduation. If any student offends this Court, that student will be summarily arrested and will face up to six months incarceration in the Galveston County Jail for contempt of Court Anybody who violates these orders, no kidding, is going to wish that he or she had died as a child when this Court gets through with it. (Civil Action No. G-95-176, U.S.D.C., S.D. Tx. 1995, pp. 3-4) The enemies of God are attacking His people through politics, government, and our own courts established for the people. Isnt it about time that we take it seriously? Isnt it about time we know why we are voting and who and what we are voting for?

Anyone who does not believe that history repeats itself is not paying attention. One of Americas great evangelical, revivalist preachers during the early and mid 1800s, the Reverend Charles Finney, reminded Christians of the gravity of the situation then: The Church must take right ground in regard to politics [T]he time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But the time has come when they must act differently God cannot sustain this free and blessed country which we love and pray for unless the Church will take right ground It seems sometimes as if the foundations of the nation are becoming rotten, and Christians seem to act as if they think God does not see what they do in politics. But I tell you He does see it, and He will bless or curse this nation according to the course [Christians] take [in politics]. (Charles G. Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion, New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1868 (first published in 1835), Lecture XV, pp. 281-282)

Its not easy. Most, if not all, of us would rather be doing almost anything other than dipping our toes into politics. It takes some effort on our part to find out who is running for political offices and what they stand for. It takes even more effort to support that Godly man or woman running for an office. But it is an effort that must be made. While it is an option, I am here to tell you that failure to seek out and elect into office confessing, professing Christians who uphold Biblical truth, principles, and morals will be a disastrous option. Ive heard enough whining from those who say, I cant make a difference. My vote doesnt make any difference. Are you kidding me? Thats a lie from the devil. One person or one organization can write one letter to shut up a Christians testimony, and you want me to believe that you cannot make a difference? You want me to believe that born-again evangelical Christians across this land cannot make a difference? For the Lords sake, you had better think again. Another preacher, the Reverend Matthias Burnet, charged one audience in 1803, Finally, ye whose high prerogative it is to invest with office and authority or to withhold them and in whose power it is to save or destroy your country, consider well the important trust which God [has] put into your hands. To God and posterity you are accountable to them Let not your children have reason to curse you for giving up those rights and prostrating those institutions which your fathers delivered to you. (Matthias Burnet, An Election Sermon, Preached at Hartford, on the Day of the Anniversary Election, May 12, 1803, Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1803, pp. 26-27)

The good news is that there are candidates running for political offices who openly declare their support for our Constitution and, more importantly, their faith in Jesus Christ. There are candidates running for political offices who submit themselves to authority for the Lords sake. There are candidates running for political offices who declare that they will serve their tem in office, if elected, for the Lords sake. It is our job, then, to prepare ourselves to vote for and to support Godly men and women who will lead our communities, states, and nation for the Lords sake. Submit yourselves for the Lords sake to every authority instituted among men For it is Gods will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. (1 Peter 2:13, 15)

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

179 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com

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Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

FOR THE LORDS SAKE

JANUARY 17, 2010

Text: 1 Peter 2:13-25

Does the name Barry Lynn sound familiar to anyone? Does it ring a bell with anyone? I can understand if this is not a familiar name to you, but maybe it should be. You see, Mr. Lynn believes that he has the authority to limit what I preach from this pulpit and what you hear from this pulpit. Think about that and let it soak in. Some stranger we will likely never meet would not hesitate to write this church your church a letter threatening legal action if he happened to find out that I preached the wrong thing in our own church. Again, I ask you to let this soak in.

Mr. Lynn is the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and they respond to accusations lodged against churches that might be in violation of breaking IRS rules regulating the role churches can play in the American political process. The IRS rules actually apply to all not for profit organizations, but Mr. Lynns target is churches. This man is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ denomination, yet he has made it his focus in life his lifes work - to tell me what I can preach and what you can hear from our own pulpit. Now thats some worthy accomplishment, isnt it?

How can he do this? How does he get by with it? I know of some pastors and churches in the state of Indiana that have received his threats because they dared to overstep the boundary that Mr. Lynn believes is appropriate. Why is it that he can be taken seriously? Well, because enough Americans have bought into enough lies and fictional characterizations of the separation of the Christian faith and civil government until we have gotten to the point where elected and appointed leaders in our communities, states, and nation provide Mr. Lynn with the legal backing he desires.

A few weeks back, Jeff Moore shared with this congregation his concern with a letter that the Maconaquah School Corporation received from the Freedom From Religion Foundation threatening legal action if school team coaches, many of them volunteers from our communities plain people like you and me just trying to make a positive difference in the lives of our children, do not stop having prayer with their teams. Because of the cost of threatened litigation, these volunteer coaches have been directed by the school board and administration to cease and desist from the vile practice of praying with their team. One letter, folks. Thats all it took. Thats all it takes these days. One letter, and we allow our freedom of speech and the public expression of our Christian faith to be silenced. Does that make you feel good? Or, perhaps, does that make you feel threatened, angered, and even embarrassed? How did we get to this state? Ill say it again: because enough Americans have bought into enough lies and fictional characterizations of the separation of the Christian faith and civil government until we have gotten to the point where elected and appointed leaders in our communities, states, and nation provide these organizations with the legal backing they desire.

In their letters, both Paul and Peter instruct Christians to be good and obedient citizens. Submit yourselves for the Lords sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. (1Peter 2:13) As a whole, Christians are a pretty law-abiding group. Thats a good thing. Peter goes on to tell us, For it is Gods will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. (1 Peter 2:15) This was true in Peters day, and it is true in our day. Those who insist on trying to make American evangelical Christians equivalent to Islamic terrorists are taken to the woodshed by reasonable men and women who can clearly discern the difference between these two groups. There is no similarity between us and Islamic terrorists, and those who would say that there is are ignorant, foolish men in every sense of the terms. So what God tells us through Peters letter is great counsel, and we take it seriously.

However, pay close attention to four words included in verse 13: for the Lords sake. We humble ourselves to authority for the Lords sake, not ours, and that makes a significant difference. Nowhere in the New Testament are we instructed to replace Gods will with the will of civil authority. Nowhere in the New Testament are we instructed to replace Gods law with the law of civil authority. Nowhere in the New Testament are we told to replace Gods justice with the justice of civil authority. Yes, we are to submit to every authority instituted among men, but at the same time we are never to abandon the authority of God. Therefore, as is held together throughout Scripture, when civil authority abandons God, we abandon civil authority. If two authorities make opposite demands, we can only obey one of them. Joshua put it best when he gathered the Israelite assembly at Shechem to renew the covenant: Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:14-15) Who do you choose to serve this day?

Never before in the history of the world has a major government been created without a monarchy or tribal leader or some form in which the ruler was born into power. Never before, that is, until the formation of these United States of America. And the firm foundation upon which this nation was established, built, and sustained came directly from the laws, morals, and ethics of the Judeo-Christian faith found in Gods Word. The very basis of our national being and freedom come from the truth that our freedoms are derived from God and not from government. Government is subservient to God and not the other way around. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:16) Brothers and sisters, this verse is being violated more and more, and we stand to lose everything precious and sacred to us in this nation because of it. Evil will kill us; it will kill our children; and it will kill our grandchildren. If you do not believe me, just take a walk back through the pages of history and see what happens every time when totalitarians are allowed to trump freedom.

When we humble ourselves to authority for the Lords sake, the Christian announces to a world that makes its freedom licentious and wicked that there is a freedom that is responsible. For the Lords sake, then, we must open our eyes and our ears to what is going on around us in our halls of government, for it is from those halls that men like Barry Lynn are gaining their power to close the mouths of born-again, evangelical Christians with simple letters. As long as we live in a land in which there is representative government, Christians must pay attention to who they help put into office. Do you believe that when men and women are placed into office who have already openly expressed their disdain for Christian morals, ethics, and belief that we are going to get laws and policies that reflect our Christian belief and heritage? No, we get, instead, letters instructing preachers not to preach truth from our own pulpits and coaches to not pray with their teams for guidance, protection, and well-being. Is this the kind of America you are wanting? Is this the kind of America you want four your children and grandchildren? If your answer is no, then you had better be paying attention to the choices being given come election times.

John Francis Mercer, a delegate to the original Constitutional Convention, declared, It is a great mistake to suppose that the paper we are to purpose will govern the United States It is the men whom it will bring into the government and interest [they have] in maintaining it that are to govern them. The paper will only mark out the mode and the form. Men are the substance and must do the business. (Madison, Papers, 1840, Vol. III, p. 1324, on August 14, 1787, by John Francis Mercer) In our day, of course, we state that men and women are the substance and must do the business. Our Constitutional form of government gives us the power to elect leaders, but when the wrong kind of leaders are elected, the Constitution will be rendered absolutely worthless. We are seeing it today, as freedom is used as a cover-up for evil. One of the most frequently quoted Bible principles invoked by the Founders comes from Proverbs 29:2, When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.

Those men back in the 1700s got it, and we had better get it in our day. Ill tell you why. Let me go back to the letter received by our school corporation from the Freedom from Religion Foundation. It instructs, as I understand it, that the adult coaches cannot initiate and lead prayer with their teams. We have been reminded, rightly so, that the students can initiate and lead prayer. However, we dare not sit back and warmly think that this is the solution. We dare not sit back and warmly think that all is well because our children can do what we cannot. I take you back to 1995 to a rural town outside of Houston, Texas. Like many a small town, it has a long tradition of student led public prayers at graduations and athletic events. Nevertheless, in Jane Doe v. Santa Fe Independent School District, Federal Judge Samuel Kent ruled, The Court will allow that prayer to be a typical nondenominational prayer, which can refer to God or to the Almighty or that sort of thing. The prayer must not refer to Jesus or anyone else. And make no mistake, the Court is going to have a United States marshal in attendance at the graduation. If any student offends this Court, that student will be summarily arrested and will face up to six months incarceration in the Galveston County Jail for contempt of Court Anybody who violates these orders, no kidding, is going to wish that he or she had died as a child when this Court gets through with it. (Civil Action No. G-95-176, U.S.D.C., S.D. Tx. 1995, pp. 3-4) The enemies of God are attacking His people through politics, government, and our own courts established for the people. Isnt it about time that we take it seriously? Isnt it about time we know why we are voting and who and what we are voting for?

Anyone who does not believe that history repeats itself is not paying attention. One of Americas great evangelical, revivalist preachers during the early and mid 1800s, the Reverend Charles Finney, reminded Christians of the gravity of the situation then: The Church must take right ground in regard to politics [T]he time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But the time has come when they must act differently God cannot sustain this free and blessed country which we love and pray for unless the Church will take right ground It seems sometimes as if the foundations of the nation are becoming rotten, and Christians seem to act as if they think God does not see what they do in politics. But I tell you He does see it, and He will bless or curse this nation according to the course [Christians] take [in politics]. (Charles G. Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion, New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1868 (first published in 1835), Lecture XV, pp. 281-282)

Its not easy. Most, if not all, of us would rather be doing almost anything other than dipping our toes into politics. It takes some effort on our part to find out who is running for political offices and what they stand for. It takes even more effort to support that Godly man or woman running for an office. But it is an effort that must be made. While it is an option, I am here to tell you that failure to seek out and elect into office confessing, professing Christians who uphold Biblical truth, principles, and morals will be a disastrous option. Ive heard enough whining from those who say, I cant make a difference. My vote doesnt make any difference. Are you kidding me? Thats a lie from the devil. One person or one organization can write one letter to shut up a Christians testimony, and you want me to believe that you cannot make a difference? You want me to believe that born-again evangelical Christians across this land cannot make a difference? For the Lords sake, you had better think again. Another preacher, the Reverend Matthias Burnet, charged one audience in 1803, Finally, ye whose high prerogative it is to invest with office and authority or to withhold them and in whose power it is to save or destroy your country, consider well the important trust which God [has] put into your hands. To God and posterity you are accountable to them Let not your children have reason to curse you for giving up those rights and prostrating those institutions which your fathers delivered to you. (Matthias Burnet, An Election Sermon, Preached at Hartford, on the Day of the Anniversary Election, May 12, 1803, Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1803, pp. 26-27)

The good news is that there are candidates running for political offices who openly declare their support for our Constitution and, more importantly, their faith in Jesus Christ. There are candidates running for political offices who submit themselves to authority for the Lords sake. There are candidates running for political offices who declare that they will serve their tem in office, if elected, for the Lords sake. It is our job, then, to prepare ourselves to vote for and to support Godly men and women who will lead our communities, states, and nation for the Lords sake. Submit yourselves for the Lords sake to every authority instituted among men For it is Gods will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. (1 Peter 2:13, 15)

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

179 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

http://www.bhfirstbaptist.com

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