Speed Limits and Stop Signs
March 7, 2021 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: We must stand firm in God’s righteousness.
Focus Passage: Romans 1:18-32 Especially v 32
Supplemental Passage: God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:27-28 NASB)
Introduction: I am a “law abiding citizen.” How many of you would agree with that statement about yourself? Have you ever accidentally run a stop sign? How about rolled through one without coming to a complete stop? Have you ever exceeded the speed limit? Have you ever changed lanes or turned a corner without using your blinker? Most of my infractions are definitely in the area of motor vehicles. Even though I call myself a “law abiding citizen,” I am actually a law breaker. Now, I call myself law abiding because I do my best to stay within the law. I consciously drive the speed limit. I do proper lane changes. My motivation is threefold: I am an adult who takes responsibility for my actions; I am a pastor; I am a police chaplain. But no matter how much I try, I break the law. That is bad enough. But what about someone who encourages someone to break the law? There is a movie filmed back in the 70s called “Smokey and the Bandit.” It is about a man and a truck driver who are trying to bootleg beer from Texarkana to Atlanta within a specified time limit. They get entangled with a Texas sheriff who is determined to stop him. All along the way, regular people cheer on the Bandit and even help him by interfering with the Sheriff. If the truth be told, those people are guilty of obstruction of justice. In cheering on the criminal, they, too, became criminals.
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In our immediate future, we are likely to become criminals, too, if the Equality Act gets full passage. It will make it illegal to speak out against the ungodly issues regarding sexuality and gender. But I think there is something far more serious than breaking the law in this regard; it is approving of the behavior in the first place. Those who are passing the law will face serious judgment from our Righteous God but those who go along with the law are just as guilty. We must stand firm in the righteousness of God. We cannot call Evil, Good. Nor can we call Wrong, Right. We may answer to the court of men for doing so, but it is more desirable than standing before God trying to explain why you did.
I. The Concern
a. The perversion of sexuality
b. The perversion of gender
c. The normalization of the above
i. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20 NASB)
II. The Cause
a. vs 21 They did not honor God
i. Last month, Congressman Jerry Nadler stated “God’s will is of no concern with this Congress.”
b. v 25 They accepted a lie instead of the truth
c. v 28 They thought it foolish to acknowledge God
III. The Cure
a. The cure is not to condemn those who practice unrighteousness. God will take care of that.
b. The cure is not to go along with the delusions, giving them approval for their sin. We will answer to God for that.
i. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. (Romans 1:32 NLT)
ii. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; (Ephesians 5:11 NASB)
c. The cure is to continue to proclaim the Name of Jesus without compromise. How do you extinguish darkness? WITH LIGHT!!!!
i. "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." (John 3:19-21 NASB)
d. The cure is to love people, even sinners, like Jesus loved you before you were saved. We can love our family, friends, and even strangers who have been deluded, without giving approval for their delusion.
i. We’ve all heard “Love the sinner; hate the sin.” We must be certain there is a specific effort to distinguish between the sinner and the sin. We are NOT their judge. We are, however, the keepers of the Truth and the Light. (Don’t be stingy)
Application/Call to Obedience: Our job is not to judge but to proclaim Truth and Righteousness. You are guaranteed some push-back by some who call themselves Christians. Don’t despair. Don’t give up. Don’t grow weary from doing right. And above all, do not condone sinful behavior! Be concerned about yourself regarding sin and salvation! The Bible says “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10 NASB)
