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Ezra&Nehemiah
“Building God’s People and Projects”
G.K Chesterton
We are perpetually being told that this rising generation
is very frank and free, and that its whole social ideal is
frankness and freedom. Now I am not at all afraid of
frankness. What I am afraid of is fickleness. And there is
a truth in the old proverbial connection between what
is fickle and what is false. There is in the very titles and
terminology of all this sort of thing a pervading element
of falsehood. Everything is to be called something that it
is not; as in the characteristic example of Companionate
Marriage. Everything is to be recommended to the
public by some sort of synonym which is really a
pseudonym.
G.K Chesterton
It is a talent that goes with the time of electioneering
and advertisement and newspaper headlines; but
whatever else such a time may be, it certainly is not
specially a time of truth. The sensitive youth of the
future will never be called upon to accept Forgery as
Forgery. It will be easy enough to call it Homoeography
or Script-Assimilation or something else that would
suggest, to the simple or the superficial, that nothing
was involved but a sort of socializing or unification of
individual handwriting.
G.K Chesterton
When somebody wishes to wage a social war against
what all normal people have regarded as a social
decency, the very first thing he does is to find some
artificial term that shall sound relatively decent. He has
no more of the real courage that would pit vice against
virtue than the ordinary advertiser has the courage to
advertise ale as arsenic. His intelligence, such as it is, is
entirely a commercial intelligence and to that extent
entirely conventional. He is a shop-keeper who dresses
the shop-window; he is certainly the very reverse of a
rebel or a rioter who breaks the shop-window.
G.K Chesterton
If only for this reason, I remain cold and decline the due
reverence to Companionate Marriage and the book
which speaks so reverentially about the Revolt of Youth.
For this sort of revolt strikes me as nothing except
revolting; and certainly not particularly realistic. With
the passions which are natural to youth we all
sympathize; with the pain that often arises from loyalty
and duty we all sympathize still more; but nobody need
sympathize with publicity experts picking pleasant
expressions for unpleasant things; and I for one prefer
the coarse language of our fathers.
Seemingly innocent changes in
the Social setting…
- The Jews welcomed different religious
perspectives and ideas at the heart of their
faith and walk with God…They embraced
Ecumenism…converting their faith into a
spiritual buffet of random choices and beliefs
-
Seemingly innocent changes in
the Social setting…
- They failed to stop supporting God’s work
with their gifts, tithes, and offerings. Other
personal projects took on greater
significance…there were vacations to plan,
children to send to college, bills to pay, home
repairs to make….the work of God lost its
luster….. the sacrifices of their spiritual
leaders were taken for granted
Seemingly innocent changes in
the Social setting…
- They put their economic wellbeing, interest
in wealth accumulation, and desires for
things and the time to enjoy them before
their commitment to God and to his request
that they gather at a specific time and place
to meet with him and enjoy him.
Seemingly innocent changes in
the Social setting…
- They downplayed the importance of
nurturing a vibrant faith within themselves
and looking for others to share and support
that faith with…instead choosing close
friends and marriage partners based on sex
appeal, emotional connection, how much
fun they were socially, and what their gross
income was.
The clear line in the sand
Luke 11:23 (ESV)
Whoever is not with me is against me, and
whoever does not gather with me scatters.
Colossians 1:13-14
He has delivered us from the domain of
darkness and transferred us to the kingdom
of his beloved Son, in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
What can a person do who wishes
to reverse that trend in their own
life or culture?
Take to Heart the Word of God…
and obey it
VV 1-3
Take the time and effort to get
emotionally engaged and
practically involved.
VV 8-30
The willingness to confront Evil
comes from three things:
Being concerned about the things God is
concerned about
Ephesians 4:25-29
Therefore, having put away falsehood,
let each one of you speak the truth with
his neighbor, for we are members one of
another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do
not let the sun go down on your
anger,27 and give no opportunity to the
devil.
The willingness to confront Evil
comes from three things:
Being concerned about the things God is
concerned about
Being willing to confront wrongdoing at
whatever level it is found
The willingness to confront Evil
comes from three things:
Being concerned about the things God is
concerned about
Being willing to confront wrongdoing at
whatever level it is found
Being confident of God’s memory and
capacity to reward
Job 34:21-22
“For his eyes are on the ways of a
man, and he sees all his steps. There
is no gloom or deep darkness where
evildoers may hide themselves.
I John 3:19-23
By this we shall know that we are of the truth and
reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our
heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart,
and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart
does not condemn us, we have confidence before
God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him,
because we keep his commandments and do what
pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that
we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and
love one another, just as he has commanded us.