1 00:00:04,719 --> 00:00:09,980 Greetings, this is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with the 2 00:00:09,980 --> 00:00:14,779 Moment of Truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. 3 00:00:15,119 --> 00:00:22,480 And today, I want to ask you about this text from the Bible. What did the prophet Hosea mean 4 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:29,359 for Israel, first of all, that my people perish for a lack of knowledge? You've heard this text 5 00:00:29,359 --> 00:00:37,000 before. God said despairingly of Israel, my people perish for a lack of knowledge. And what does 6 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:47,560 that text mean for us today in the 21st century here in America? This verse is cited, oftentimes, 7 00:00:48,780 --> 00:00:57,219 you hear it by preachers, statesmen, commentators, and they cite it in order to lend weight to a more 8 00:00:57,219 --> 00:01:03,140 general point that they make, that perhaps Americans are ill-informed. And if they had 9 00:01:03,140 --> 00:01:08,939 only the right information, that is, that they listened to the particular commentator in question, 10 00:01:09,079 --> 00:01:13,379 well, then they would have the right knowledge and be able to think right, vote right, and live right. 11 00:01:13,579 --> 00:01:21,760 But does this exhaust the meaning of this text? I would suggest no. This text, Hosea 4, verse 6, 12 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:28,540 my people perish for a lack of knowledge, has never been more pertinent to America than it is 13 00:01:28,540 --> 00:01:33,760 today. First of all, we must ask, what kind of knowledge is God speaking of when he says my 14 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:40,939 people perish for a lack of knowledge? Sailors perish at sea from scurvy for generations they did 15 00:01:40,939 --> 00:01:46,200 for the lack of knowledge that they had a vitamin C deficiency. General Custer and his men perished at 16 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:51,900 little bighorn for a lack of knowledge that the plains tribes had gathered en masse for war. Whole 17 00:01:51,900 --> 00:01:58,159 societies perished from famine for a lack of knowledge that they exhausted soils by failing to rotate their 18 00:01:58,159 --> 00:02:05,079 crops among other factors. Wow. It is possible to perish from a lack of knowledge, isn't it? But is this 19 00:02:05,079 --> 00:02:11,439 what God means when he proclaims through Hosea, my people perish for a lack of knowledge? Well, is the lack 20 00:02:11,439 --> 00:02:16,719 of knowledge a bare ignorance of certain pertinent facts? No, I submit to you, not here, not in this 21 00:02:16,719 --> 00:02:23,300 text, in its context. If you read this statement in its context, you know that the people are dying for 22 00:02:23,300 --> 00:02:31,080 not knowing the Lord. Hosea says in chapter 4, verse 1, the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants 23 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:38,560 of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love and no knowledge of God in the land, unquote. 24 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:47,520 So Hosea puts this in context earlier in his prophecy. So, dear listener, this is the first and prior of 25 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:55,639 all knowledge to know the Lord. This is that knowledge that America lacks, the knowledge by which in the 26 00:02:55,639 --> 00:03:04,439 lack of she perishes. America is perishing for a lack of the knowledge of God. God can be known as a 27 00:03:04,439 --> 00:03:11,099 person. Yes, the person. It is ensconced in the Emmanuel. That is the God with us principle. It is 28 00:03:11,099 --> 00:03:16,240 the promise of the new covenant, which Jeremiah says, puts it this way in chapter 31. I will put 29 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:22,719 my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be 30 00:03:22,719 --> 00:03:28,439 my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying, know the Lord, 31 00:03:28,439 --> 00:03:34,300 for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest declares the Lord, for I will forgive 32 00:03:34,300 --> 00:03:40,860 their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more, unquote. Extensive quotation from Jeremiah 31. 33 00:03:41,439 --> 00:03:48,560 This sense of knowledge is critical to understanding the Bible. It is not a bare comprehension of facts. 34 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:54,759 It is not a shallow acquaintance one may have with a neighbor. It is not a simple recognition of 35 00:03:54,759 --> 00:04:00,900 something you've seen before. No, the knowledge of God in the Bible is deep, personal, and intimate. 36 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:06,919 Ah, do you know this God, dear listener? It can be, he can be known through a relationship with Jesus 37 00:04:06,919 --> 00:04:13,460 Christ. The knowledge of God in the Bible is deep, personal, and intimate. And we know this from how 38 00:04:13,460 --> 00:04:21,040 knowledge is used in personal relationships throughout the Bible to know someone. For example, 39 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:29,920 Genesis 4, 1 says, now Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bore Cain, knew his wife. That is 40 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:37,379 intimate relations, including sexual. Hosea 13, verses 4 and 5 says, I am the Lord your God from the land 41 00:04:37,379 --> 00:04:44,639 of Egypt. You know no God but me. And besides me, there is no Savior. It was I who knew you in the 42 00:04:44,639 --> 00:04:50,620 wilderness, in the land of drought, unquote. Here, once again, that knowledge is reciprocal too, 43 00:04:50,620 --> 00:04:57,240 intimate, personal, reciprocal. And then from Matthew chapter 7, verse 23, not everyone who 44 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:03,339 says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. And then I will say to them, I never knew 45 00:05:03,339 --> 00:05:11,079 you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Here, it is important that God know you. It is not 46 00:05:11,079 --> 00:05:19,620 enough that you know God. Is it true that God knows you? So that knowledge of God in the Bible 47 00:05:19,620 --> 00:05:27,240 is deep, personal, and intimate. To know in the Bible is to love so as to act in deep, personal, 48 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:33,319 and intimate ways. And it does so, this knowledge does so out of covenantal faithfulness and obedience 49 00:05:33,319 --> 00:05:42,899 too. These are not mutually exclusive ideas, the idea of obedience and love, but rather they are requisite. 50 00:05:42,899 --> 00:05:49,000 This is the kind of knowledge that America lacks, dear listener, the knowledge of the Lord. So when I 51 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:54,480 use this verse, my people perish for a lack of knowledge, this is what I mean. This is the prior 52 00:05:54,480 --> 00:06:01,120 of all knowledge. That is the knowledge of the Lord. It is the kind of knowledge that politicians, 53 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:07,879 statesmen, preachers, and commentators should have in mind when they use these words. My people perish 54 00:06:07,879 --> 00:06:14,459 for a lack of knowledge. We perish for a lack of knowledge of the Lord. It is the kind of knowledge 55 00:06:14,459 --> 00:06:20,540 that used to suffuse the hearts and minds of Americans, so much so that even our founders 56 00:06:20,540 --> 00:06:25,199 could characterize us as a Christian nation. George Washington puts it this way, 57 00:06:25,879 --> 00:06:31,540 Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the 58 00:06:31,540 --> 00:06:37,100 privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers, 59 00:06:37,100 --> 00:06:43,180 unquote. George Washington would be censored for saying those kinds of things today. Facebook and 60 00:06:43,180 --> 00:06:49,519 Google probably ban him for doing so, but it's true. We've had more character. We would have more 61 00:06:49,519 --> 00:06:56,699 character in Congress instead of more characters in Congress, right? This, despite our holy trinity of 62 00:06:56,699 --> 00:07:01,920 progressivism, which is tolerance, diversity, and radical egalitarianism. Once more, as I have 63 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:06,839 articulated it clearly in other sermons, we owe the very values and virtues of tolerance, diversity, 64 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:12,740 and egalitarianism in their proper form and perspective. We owe them to Christianity. 65 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,519 Our founders assumed as a working principle that America was a Christian nation. 66 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:25,600 So did entire branches of early government. In fact, in reflecting upon the early colonial charters 67 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:31,699 and their purposes, that is, they were founded, as the Mayflower Compact puts it, for the glory of God 68 00:07:31,699 --> 00:07:38,920 and the advancement of the Christian faith. In fact, the Supreme Court of 1892, in a case called Church of 69 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:46,399 the Holy Trinity versus the United States, the Supreme Court of 1892 tediously goes through charter after 70 00:07:46,399 --> 00:07:53,079 charter and then concludes, and I quote, there is a universal language pervading them all, having one 71 00:07:53,079 --> 00:08:00,319 meaning. They affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation. These are not individual sayings, 72 00:08:00,420 --> 00:08:05,800 declarations of private persons. They are organic utterances. They speak the voice of the entire 73 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:14,800 people, unquote. Then again, an early American historian, a man named Benjamin Franklin Morris 74 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:22,420 in 1864, had this to say in summary. He said, this is a Christian nation, first in name and second 75 00:08:22,420 --> 00:08:27,819 because of the many and mighty elements of a pure Christianity, which have given it character and 76 00:08:27,819 --> 00:08:33,299 shaped its destiny from the beginning. The chief security and glory of the United States of America 77 00:08:33,299 --> 00:08:39,700 has been, now is, and will be forever. The prevalence and domination of the Christian faith, 78 00:08:39,700 --> 00:08:49,039 unquote. Now, dear listener, I have only begun to document for you that indeed America used to thrive 79 00:08:49,039 --> 00:08:57,059 in an abundance of knowledge. Now we perish for a lack of knowledge. Make no mistake about it, 80 00:08:57,100 --> 00:09:04,360 dear listener, that knowledge is the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God is deep, personal, 81 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:09,700 and intimate. And the knowledge of God is bound closely with covenant faithfulness 82 00:09:09,700 --> 00:09:17,440 and obedience. It is to this knowledge that we must return. It is to this knowledge that we must cling 83 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:25,759 in our daily circumstances. But to date, my people perish for a lack of knowledge. There is cause for this 84 00:09:25,759 --> 00:09:31,700 lack of knowledge, too. And Hosea puts his finger on it, once again putting this verse in context. Hosea says, 85 00:09:31,700 --> 00:09:38,320 the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. Yet let no one contend and let no one 86 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:46,799 accuse. For with you is my contention, O priest. No, the contention, the people were dying for a lack 87 00:09:46,799 --> 00:09:53,139 of knowledge because of the priests in Israel of that day. It was not kings, not prophets, not the pagan 88 00:09:53,139 --> 00:09:59,279 soothsayers, but the priests of the land. It is to their charge that Hosea lays the blame for the 89 00:09:59,279 --> 00:10:04,600 people's lack of knowledge. It is to them, the priest, that he says, my people perish for a lack 90 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:11,299 of knowledge because you, that is the priest, have rejected knowledge. I reject you from being a priest 91 00:10:11,299 --> 00:10:18,879 to me, unquote. Is your knowledge increasing, dear listener? Do you begin to see the fuller context? 92 00:10:19,519 --> 00:10:24,919 The priests were the teachers of Israel, the pastors of Israel, who were to teach the knowledge of the 93 00:10:24,919 --> 00:10:31,919 Lord. Leviticus 10 and 11 says, to Aaron and his sons, you are to teach the people of Israel all the 94 00:10:31,919 --> 00:10:39,200 statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses. And then in Deuteronomy 33, final words of Moses to 95 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:47,340 the Levites were, they shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law. Ah, listener, dear listener, 96 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:54,440 by this knowledge of the word, the people would come to know God. This is how God works. And it's still 97 00:10:54,440 --> 00:11:01,980 true today. Pastors serve this priestly function today. The priests of the land were those who not 98 00:11:01,980 --> 00:11:07,840 only interceded for the people at the altar of God, the Bible says they shall put incense before you 99 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:14,259 and hold burnt offerings on your altar. But the priests also made the people to understand God's word 100 00:11:14,259 --> 00:11:20,159 so that they might obey and come to know him. My people perish for a lack of knowledge. And that 101 00:11:20,159 --> 00:11:29,200 knowledge is the knowledge of God, the relationship of living with him, knowing him. And when Nehemiah 102 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:35,080 called all of the returnees from Babylon to Israel to hear the reading of the book of the law, that is 103 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:43,740 the Torah, who was it who exegeted the text, right? Nehemiah chapter 8 says, the Levites helped the people 104 00:11:43,740 --> 00:11:49,899 to understand the law while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the law 105 00:11:49,899 --> 00:11:57,480 of God clearly, and they gave the sense, and the Greek word there is exegete, to draw out the meaning, 106 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:03,720 so that the people understood the reading, unquote. Behold the mandate of the priest under the old 107 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:09,580 covenant. Behold the mandate of the pastor under the new covenant. The roles are the same. Behold the 108 00:12:09,580 --> 00:12:16,080 condemnation of Hosea to false priests. Hosea says, my people perish for a lack of knowledge, 109 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:22,179 because you, that is the priest, have rejected knowledge. I reject you from being a priest to me. 110 00:12:22,580 --> 00:12:28,139 And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children, unquote. 111 00:12:29,100 --> 00:12:36,279 The priests or pastors of Hosea's day neglected their teaching, knowing function. It's a teaching, 112 00:12:36,279 --> 00:12:41,899 knowing function that they had, because they were too busy satisfying their appetites at the expense 113 00:12:41,899 --> 00:12:48,820 of the people. Sounds like many of the pastors today, doesn't it? As Hosea says, they feed on the sin of 114 00:12:48,820 --> 00:12:56,360 my people. They are greedy for their iniquity. By this time, the people of Israel had lapsed into 115 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:02,960 idolatry and all of the corruption and debauchery that that entails. Hosea says that the priests saw it, 116 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:07,659 and they were hungry, greedy for that same corruption and debauchery, the wine, women, 117 00:13:07,759 --> 00:13:12,480 and song of the pagan festivities, the worship of the priests, pursued as eagerly as the people. 118 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:20,259 Ah, what then? Was God's judgment against these pastors? He said, God says, it shall be like people, 119 00:13:20,340 --> 00:13:26,059 like priests. I shall punish them for their ways, and I'll repay them for their deeds. Ah, like people, 120 00:13:26,059 --> 00:13:32,320 like priests. That was the condemnation, the punishment God visited upon Israel. God's judgment 121 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:36,840 against these false pastors was that they would become like the people they so envied for their 122 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:43,440 wickedness. It would be a punishment and judgment, not a relief and reward. Now, this fate is exactly 123 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:50,379 180 degrees opposite of their role. They were to be leaders, not followers. The true model, it is like 124 00:13:50,379 --> 00:13:57,240 priests, like people. The model at the time of Hosea, like people, like priests. And Jesus himself was 125 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:03,120 fond of telling his disciples this truth, extant throughout the ancient world, that like teacher, 126 00:14:03,259 --> 00:14:09,059 like student, like master, like servant. Jesus said that many times. And this Jesus would do, 127 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:16,279 especially when he wished to underline the certainty of suffering in their future. The true pastoral 128 00:14:16,279 --> 00:14:21,320 model is that of Jesus and Hosea. Like priests, like people, pastors are to be leaders out in front, 129 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:26,179 sometimes halting the advance of the people when its direction is wrong, not following them in their 130 00:14:26,179 --> 00:14:33,159 error. Pastors are to declare clearly, this is the way, walk ye in it, not which way are you guys 131 00:14:33,159 --> 00:14:38,059 going? Okay, I'm right behind you, right? Leading from behind? No, pastors are to be out front. 132 00:14:40,700 --> 00:14:46,720 No, we do not follow the Obama model of leadership leading from behind. We see where that's gotten us 133 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:51,100 in the world. And you see where it gets the United States when her pastors lead from behind, 134 00:14:51,100 --> 00:14:56,679 like the priests of Israel. And for many of us, it is like people like, pastor, we are so afraid of 135 00:14:56,679 --> 00:15:01,759 offending too many people or preaching the whole counsel of God. Oh, pastor, if you're listening, 136 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:08,620 this is on us. Rather than crying crocodile tears and wringing our hands and pointing the finger at the 137 00:15:08,620 --> 00:15:14,360 people for the sad spiritual state of the nation, perhaps we ought to look first to our own house. 138 00:15:14,500 --> 00:15:19,679 This is on us. God holds us responsible for this mess. The Lord has a controversy with the 139 00:15:19,679 --> 00:15:24,679 inhabitants of the land for with you is my contention. Oh, priest slash pastor. 140 00:15:26,899 --> 00:15:32,259 Oh, dear pastor, if you're listening, if we are not preaching Christ crucified first, foremost, 141 00:15:32,379 --> 00:15:37,639 and boldly, then with us is God's contention. If we're not preaching Christ alone, by grace alone, 142 00:15:37,740 --> 00:15:43,279 through faith alone, based upon scripture alone, then with us is God's contention. If we as pastors 143 00:15:43,279 --> 00:15:48,879 are letting the worldling dictate our worship styles, like the seeker would make music and make 144 00:15:48,879 --> 00:15:53,360 praying and make sermons, that is insipid, comfortable worship to make the seeker, 145 00:15:54,059 --> 00:15:58,919 read unbeliever, feel comfortable, then with us is God's contention. If we are still preaching 146 00:15:58,919 --> 00:16:03,639 blood, moon, buffoon, balderdash, revelation, red heifer, rapture, ring of my role in end time 147 00:16:03,639 --> 00:16:09,500 prophecy with no end in sight, then with us is God's contention. If we're not preaching God's true 148 00:16:09,500 --> 00:16:14,720 economy with man, that is his mode of dispensing grace and law, blessing and curse, judgment and 149 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:20,480 salvation, that is covenant, then with us is God's contention. If we're not preaching the Christian's 150 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:25,480 obligation under the civil covenant, that is to do all within his power to ensure godly culture, 151 00:16:25,620 --> 00:16:33,240 society and government, then with us is God's contention. Now, God has dealt with us, dear 152 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:38,860 listener, under four great covenants. We need to be preaching covenant as God's economy, not 153 00:16:38,860 --> 00:16:44,879 dispensationalism. Four great covenants we are under at this point, at this time, we are under the 154 00:16:44,879 --> 00:16:52,240 covenant of creation, for example. This bond God made with the creature who bore his image, that is 155 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:58,440 Adam. God made all of creation out of nothing and put it all under someone that is our first father, 156 00:16:58,639 --> 00:17:04,380 Adam. And under that covenant, he gave him the dominion mandate, which is be fruitful and multiply 157 00:17:04,380 --> 00:17:10,200 and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the 158 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:16,279 heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth, unquote, from the covenant of creation. 159 00:17:16,519 --> 00:17:23,099 But we are also under the covenant of marriage, too. This bond God makes between the man and woman, 160 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:29,400 between husband and wife. As Adam says, this at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. 161 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:34,579 Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall 162 00:17:34,579 --> 00:17:40,440 become one flesh. And by the covenant of marriage, we find fruitfulness, too. We can fill the earth and 163 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:47,220 take dominion. We find companionship, too. And God gets for himself godly seed, as Malachi says. Malachi 164 00:17:47,220 --> 00:17:53,460 says God wants godly seed. Well, thirdly, then, we are also under the great covenant of redemption, 165 00:17:53,460 --> 00:17:59,720 redemption, the covenant of redemption. This is that great solemn covenant by which we are saved. 166 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:04,539 God the Father has covenanted with his Son to purchase and redeem a people for himself 167 00:18:04,539 --> 00:18:12,359 from among the lost of mankind. As John records Jesus praying to his Father, revealing this covenant, 168 00:18:12,500 --> 00:18:19,319 he says, Father, the hour has come. Glorify the Son, that the Son may glorify you, since you have given 169 00:18:19,319 --> 00:18:25,880 him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal 170 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:32,640 life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Unquote from John 17. 171 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:40,319 Then, we are also under the civil covenant. Under the civil covenant. And here, God rules the temporal 172 00:18:40,319 --> 00:18:47,839 affairs of men immediately through his image bearer, that is man. God does not sit on a cloud every day 173 00:18:47,839 --> 00:18:53,380 with his gavel yelling, hey, you, off to jail. You, a big fat fine. You, off with your head. No. 174 00:18:53,960 --> 00:19:00,920 God rules immediately, doesn't he, through godly men. God first ordained this covenant, that is the civil 175 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:08,319 covenant, after the flood. He laid it out in principle in Genesis 9. For your lifeblood, I will require a 176 00:19:08,319 --> 00:19:15,000 reckoning, he said to Noah. From every beast, I will require it, and from a man. From his fellow man, I will 177 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:20,819 require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be 178 00:19:20,819 --> 00:19:27,299 shed. For God made man in his own image. Unquote. This was the first obligation of government, that is 179 00:19:27,299 --> 00:19:33,240 justice. And to those who would be magistrates, he commands justice, and only justice you shall follow, 180 00:19:33,660 --> 00:19:39,140 that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Now, this is reinforced 181 00:19:39,140 --> 00:19:45,059 for us in the New Testament, too, where Paul says, rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. 182 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:52,720 He is God's servant, that is the magistrate, is God's servant for your good. And that good 183 00:19:52,720 --> 00:20:01,140 is good defined by what standard? Huh? By what standard? That of the Code of Hammurabi? Well, 184 00:20:01,140 --> 00:20:08,880 I don't think so. That under Islam? No. The good that is to be enforced is good defined by the Bible. 185 00:20:09,019 --> 00:20:14,200 That is biblical standards of justice and mercy. By what other standard will you measure the good, 186 00:20:14,299 --> 00:20:19,559 dear listener? By what other standard will you measure the good, or the bad, or the ugly, for 187 00:20:19,559 --> 00:20:25,720 that matter? Dear fellow pastor, dear fellow priest and servant of the Most High God, we are under covenant 188 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:31,680 obligation to strive after godly government. And if we're not doing so and preaching this to our people, 189 00:20:31,759 --> 00:20:39,059 then with us is God's contention. It is an abrogation of duty as a pastor to say, get him saved and let 190 00:20:39,059 --> 00:20:45,019 the devil take the hindmost. No. It is a partial gospel we preach if we do not preach sanctification 191 00:20:45,019 --> 00:20:51,099 of the whole man, including his obligation under the civil covenant to sanctify his culture, society, 192 00:20:51,099 --> 00:20:58,380 and government insofar as he is able. Because we do not do this, my people perish for a lack of 193 00:20:58,380 --> 00:21:04,180 knowledge, dear pastor. Knowing and fulfilling God's covenants is part and parcel of knowing God. 194 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:10,240 If the knowledge of God is deep and personal and intimate, a bond of covenant and obedience, 195 00:21:11,079 --> 00:21:16,500 then knowing and obeying his covenants is crucial that my people thrive for an abundance of knowledge, 196 00:21:16,500 --> 00:21:22,319 not that my people perish for a lack of knowledge. And that requires that we engage with our culture, 197 00:21:22,460 --> 00:21:27,079 society, and government, not withdraw from it and keep silent about it, pretending that all we have 198 00:21:27,079 --> 00:21:32,299 to do is cloister ourselves into the four walls of the church and preach the gospel in season and out 199 00:21:32,299 --> 00:21:37,299 of season. We pick at faults and foibles, pimples and piccadillos, but ignore the big cancerous tumor 200 00:21:37,299 --> 00:21:44,039 that's mushrooming in our gut as a nation. We must call evil for what it is and the evil for who 201 00:21:44,039 --> 00:21:49,440 they are. It is part of the prophetic stance of the prophet pastor and part of the teaching function 202 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:57,599 of the priest pastor. Here, there is an implicit warning. God judges an obstinate people by confirming 203 00:21:57,599 --> 00:22:03,680 them in their ignorance. Sinners do not go on at their own timing and discretion, letting God know 204 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:08,579 when they're done sinning, ready now for an accounting. No, rather, it is God who decides 205 00:22:08,579 --> 00:22:14,440 when he has had enough and when he should bring judgment and what kind of judgment that should be. 206 00:22:16,079 --> 00:22:20,839 He said to them, to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, 207 00:22:21,019 --> 00:22:27,039 everything is in parables, Jesus said, so that they may indeed see but not perceive and may indeed hear 208 00:22:27,039 --> 00:22:33,380 but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. Oh, dear listener right now, our people, 209 00:22:33,380 --> 00:22:38,880 including us, fellow pastor, we are wandering around in the wilderness of our civil society 210 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:43,680 like sheep without a shepherd. This has not always been so. The history of this nation, you have the 211 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:49,400 church through the centuries, is that the church has always been a prophetic voice to its ruling 212 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:55,019 magistrates. That is, it's been faithful to the civil covenant in seeking justice and only justice. 213 00:22:55,019 --> 00:23:02,700 For example, just a couple, St. John Chrysostom, back in the early century of the church, preached 214 00:23:02,700 --> 00:23:09,380 against the injustices of Queen Eudoxia, and he was persecuted severely for it. John Knox preached 215 00:23:09,380 --> 00:23:17,880 against the injustices of Bloody Mary to her face, preached to Bloody Mary's face, and so stunned her 216 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:23,880 into silence that for a full 15 minutes, she had never been spoken to so frankly before. And John Knox 217 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:29,380 was thrown into prison for it. Preachers as well in the colonies spoke relentlessly against the 218 00:23:29,380 --> 00:23:35,079 injustices of King George and Parliament against the American colonies and made the hanging list of 219 00:23:35,079 --> 00:23:41,920 General Cornwallis. Well, on and on we could go, dear listener. The Bible, church history, are filled 220 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:48,880 with examples of those knowledgeable of and faithful to their covenants, even the civil covenant. Brother 221 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:54,380 preacher, if we do not shake off these false notions of pacifism and compartmentalization 222 00:23:54,380 --> 00:24:00,019 of the gospel, we must not soil the garments of the gospel with culture, society, and government. 223 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:05,980 Oh, unless we wake up from this, then my people will continue to perish for a lack of knowledge, 224 00:24:05,980 --> 00:24:14,099 and God's contention will continue to be with us, dear preacher. Oh, in order to do and to be faithful 225 00:24:14,099 --> 00:24:19,519 to our charge, brothers, we must do several things. We must fully awaken the people. First 226 00:24:19,519 --> 00:24:24,200 of all, we're right to call people to repentance and salvation in Christ. Awake, O sleeper, rise 227 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:29,380 from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. But as we have outlined above, that awakening 228 00:24:29,380 --> 00:24:35,519 involves the whole consciousness of the Christian life. Yes, and then we must also hearken back 229 00:24:35,519 --> 00:24:40,539 to biblical models of government and teach them. Number two, hearken back to biblical models 230 00:24:40,539 --> 00:24:45,640 of government and then teach them to the people. We here in the United States especially have a rich 231 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:51,339 tradition of a constitutional republic. Hearken back to biblical models of government and teach 232 00:24:51,339 --> 00:24:58,039 them. And then thirdly, mitigate the ignorance of our people with true sources. Thirdly, mitigate the 233 00:24:58,039 --> 00:25:02,640 ignorance of our people with true sources. Indeed, people perish for a lack of knowledge, and that 234 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:08,559 knowledge begins with the truth of scripture. But it does not end there, does it? No. Continue to teach 235 00:25:08,559 --> 00:25:13,940 and preach from the scriptures and mitigate the ignorance of our people with true sources. Three 236 00:25:13,940 --> 00:25:19,480 things that we can do. Well, this has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian 237 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:24,859 Church with a moment of truth, where we've challenged you to think through an important issue of life and 238 00:25:24,859 --> 00:25:30,839 faith. What I encourage you to do is visit us here in Idaho Falls at New Geneva Presbyterian 239 00:25:30,839 --> 00:25:40,039 Church. And we are located on the corner of 4th and Boulevard in Idaho Falls. And we meet for holy worship on 240 00:25:40,039 --> 00:25:46,859 Sunday at 10 a.m. And you can call us for further information and feedback. Give me some feedback from time 241 00:25:46,859 --> 00:25:57,759 to time. Area code 208-523-0196. Area code 208-523-0196. Or check out our websites. We've got two of them. 242 00:25:57,759 --> 00:26:06,059 First of all, our church website, which is newgenevaopc.org. And then we also have a website 243 00:26:06,059 --> 00:26:13,500 where these radio messages are chronicled and cataloged. And you can find that website at 244 00:26:13,500 --> 00:26:27,700 omnispotestas.org. That's Latin, omnispotestas.org. O-M-N-I-S dash P-O-T-E-S-T-A-S dot org. 245 00:26:27,759 --> 00:26:35,319 Omnisprotestas.org. And there you'll find our radio sermons catalog for you. And once again, 246 00:26:35,660 --> 00:26:41,440 call me for feedback. Call me for further information. Pastor David Bass, New Geneva 247 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:49,759 Presbyterian Church at 523-0196. Area code 208-523-0196. 248 00:26:49,759 --> 00:26:50,200 Okay. 249 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:50,980 Thank you. 250 00:26:57,460 --> 00:27:07,460 Thank you. 251 00:27:07,460 --> 00:27:07,799 Thank you.