The Reign of Mother Nature

Our worship of God is not based on what others think of him, but is based on who God is here. Stephen so we like Paul say the world dishonors and bars and Sean's and hates you all God, but you are blessed forever and forever. The world will not worship you were here today father to say we will worship you, for you are the last forever and ever. As mankind is given over to ask one of the consequences is a misconception about teacher in man's place in God gave us this earth to sustain us and for us to enjoy and manage. However, people often elevate nature in un-biblical ways.

The apostle Paul brings out an interesting truth in Romans 125, the very world that scientists and scholars are claiming to be divine and the mother of all is actually pointing us to the true divinity.

In other words, the very thing men today increasingly worship as God is imploring us to worship the true God.

How does nature do this.

Stay tuned to find I had the privilege of addressing the graduates of the nearby Christian school and as I prepared the baccalaureate speech which I turned in with a sermon. I don't do speeches that struck me again how far our country has fallen from the faith of his father's Newsweek magazine revealed as much in a recent worldview article entitled the character of our campuses. The author wrote of her concern about these graduates who were super achievers quote yet have little interest in developing moral character toys interesting to hear a secular author write in a secular journal about this kind of thing she contrasted this graduating class with the class of the early 20th century and wrote these words those students were relatively unconcerned with academic achievement, but went to great lengths still character. We on the other hand place enormous emphasis on achievement, but are tongue-tied when it comes to what makes a virtuous life. The author went on to quote John Hibbing, the former president of Princeton University as he addressed the graduating class of 1913.

Hibbing said that class the world commands you to take your place and fight the fight in the name of honor and chivalry against the powers of organized evil and commercialized vice against the poverty, disease and death which followed in the wake of sin against all the innumerable forces which are working to destroy the image of God and man and unleash the passions of the beast two generations since that speech have brought up the rise of display and approval of those passions of the beast have a nod in the digression and the loss of the image of God in man. The apostle Paul virtually prophesied under inspiration that this would occur in Romans chapter 1, when he said that whatever mankind refuses to honor him to thank God they wander around in spiritual darkness, filling their minds with all sorts of speculations that do not satisfy the human heart, and do not give human existence, dignity and meaning said in verse 25 they exchanged the truth of God for the lie that we have taken note of several of these lies.

They all emanate from the original.

Why do they not that assaulted the character of God and diluted the power of his word when Satan whispered even affect did God really say something to you and did he really mean what he said all Shirley if you ate that fruit would God be so trivial as the cause you to die know you beat that for you will not dies of the fruit and they what the began to die. She was deceived so was Adam.

Jesus Christ said of Satan. John 844. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Several lies that are predominant in our culture today that are so obvious to see. We began talking about those only briefly review one is the lie. The truth is a personal creation that is personal relative truth is truth that is true for you. Does Ernesto have the writer truth for anybody else. As long as you believe it, especially when it comes to spiritual matters then were all right. You can believe it. The lie of relative truth is now the sand upon which our culture attempts to stand confused when it can't stand another popular deception is that salvation is universal but is everybody going to heaven.

That seems to be at least one absolute truth, most agree on. People want to believe anything you want to believe they want to behave any way to want to behave and then get to the end of light die and go to some form of paradise of just about everybody believes him some sort of immortal bliss, but they differ on how to get there and what is another lie that follows closely behind that one is the lie that judgment is nonexistent.

We need that one right so that you can believe whatever you want to believe that I can believe whatever I want to believe and ultimately we all go to paradise. So, there cannot be any form of judgment that is true then Jesus Christ was deceived, for he said brought is the path that leads to destruction, and many there be that find it a narrow is the path that leads to life and few there be that find it. Matthew 713 the apostle John was also deceived as he wrote in the book of Revelation. Those fearful words and if anyone's name was not found written in the Lamb's book of life. They were cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 2015. How do you get into the Lamb's book of life.

Get into the Lamb's book of life by coming to the Lamb who was Jesus Christ. John's Gospel informs us. If you do not come to him in repentance and confession, you had better hope Jesus Christ was deceived you had better hope that the apostle John was deceived you had better hope that they were both wrong or there is a terrible future for you. Another lie is that man evolved will address that a little later again in the sermon. Finally, we noted the lie that God is uninvolved in his creation that the Bible ladies and gentlemen, as you know teaches that God is so involved so involved that he took on the form of man he was born the God man, the second person of this triune God became intimately involved in the died on the cross.

You can't get any more involved than childbirth and crucifixion. He has not waved goodbye to the universe. He is infinitely caring and interested in sovereign.

Well, what happens when man believes the law hear the consequences number one man rejects a personal, loving, forgiving God to mankind replaces God with other objects of worship sexual addict.

The drug addict long for that high and that experience because they do not long after God. The materials does not long after God and so he longs after things, the proud person does not long after God and so he longs after power and prestige and popularity. Ladies and gentlemen if I could put it as simply as possible. It would be this.

The human heart was created to crave and if it does not crave God and the things of God will crave someone else or something else. Furthermore, third, mankind abandons the only basis for morality if you will evolve, then you're just an animal. If you're an animal you can do it. Other animals do like the lyrics of number 17 on Billboard's top 200 album chart a song that repeated over and over and over again.

You and me quote ain't nothing but mammals so let's do it like they do it on the Discovery Channel.

I have read that MTV regularly aired the video that's on, which featured band members dressed as monkeys simulating sexual acts with one another. The man said it was all a joke song.

However, relied on this wing can nudge assumption that man is Darwinian and's believe, is just another animal in whatever behavior seems natural and normative for animals could be natural and normative for human beings as well were just evolved a little further along the food chain new paperback for children ages 9 to 12 is called the beast in you, which attempts to relate human characteristics back to our animal predecessors full of cartoons. I have read the book gushes that fingernails are proof that we once had claws that goose bumps are proof that we once had for the trouble is, even evolutionists are recognizing that their theory undercuts morality and troubled by the loss of morality and you have others like Robert Wright who believe it's time that we got over our human tendency and rid ourselves of any restrictions of the tendency to morality. He writes in his book the moral animal these words, there is definitely no reason to assume that existing moral codes reflect some higher truth apprehended via divine inspiration. Instead he writes this morality is merely an idea that evolved in the human mind is a tool for increasing reproductive success. Whatever gets our genes into the next generation that is morally right, goes on to postulate, then both men and women are biologically programmed to be unfaithful to their spouses wanderlust is an innate part of our minds.

Thus, lifelong monogamous devotion just isn't natural when you make a wonderful husband. Princeton's president was right all way back in 1913 whenever you abandon the revelation of God himself and his moral direction within that revelation called the Bible.

Whenever you abandon that you unleash the passions of the beast. There is no longer moral restraint you lose moral boundaries. You wander in all sorts of perverse and destructive behavior. There are consequences rejecting God and his word. The fourth one is this mankind gives away his personal God-given nobility to follow this carefully. Since God is the one who told us of our infinite value and since God is the 1 Who Defined Our Special Pl. within creation. Since we learned that from the Bible when God is rejected when the Bible is ignored, the rejection is followed by the loss of everything that God tells us about ourselves so we could believe that were just another animal, what is the Bible say turn to Genesis chapter 1 and let's look again at the record of Scripture started back in verse 24 Genesis 124 then God said, but the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind, and it was so.

And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind in the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind in God saw that it was good. Then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. You catch that.

Let them rule over all of this, verse 27 and God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them. And God blessed them and 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 now, according to God's creative plan. Adam and Eve are in effect king and queen over the planet and all of the animal kingdom.

Adam and Eve were told to subdue the earth.

The Hebrew word subdue, bass could be rendered to tread down to bring into bondage to control to order.

Furthermore, in chapter 2 God gives man the role of caring for creation.

The word caring some air means to keep, to preserve you could translate it to cultivate. God has delegated, then the care and the cultivation in the management of the planet as well as the rule of man over all the animal kingdom, but when God's word is rejected when God's order is denied. Not only does mankind lose his place of dignity and honor. But there's another consequence 1/5 one mankind loses the value of human life in favor of animal life. In other words, man either rules, nature, or he is ruled by nature, he either exercises is God-given sovereignty over the natural world, or he loses his perspective in the midst of his speculations and ultimately just becomes another member of the food chain God made him to be the ruler. He instead is rule and here's how it happens, people are really just animals and animals are what people someone might say what's wrong with that, to believe that human beings are worth more than animals and have a special place in creation was nothing more than arrogance and pride right will apart from God's word apart from what we learn in this created order and scheme of things, and what he teaches about creation, it could be Eric. It could be something that we've created simply because were able to walk upright and make guns then build fences and and so were just a little smarter a little further along the line people or animals. Animals or people Peter Singer the evolutionists at Princeton University, which is interesting to me that he is now the University where this man I mentioned earlier 1913, one spoke to his class, but he calls the creationist views speciesism that is is just another form of racism to not give animals equal rights with human being were just racists.

He was quoted in the national review is saying this insofar as animals feel pleasure and pain and are capable of enjoyment and suffering they have legitimate interests that must be given equal weight with those of human beings. Now how do we know which animals feel pain in the enjoyment. How do we know those ants that I recently pointed out my yard didn't feel extreme pain as they died. How do we know that well in the ice as they can feel pleasure, pain, and they should be given equal weight so I guess I should make room in the house while he also went on to say, a chimpanzee, a dog or pig will have a higher degree of self-awareness and the greater capacity for meaningful relations with others in a severely retarded infant or someone in a state of advanced senility. Thus, the life of a human infant with irreversible brain damage is no more valuable than the lives of animal is actually following the logical progression of his believe that comes from Darwinian evolution. This philosophy, by the way, is rampant in our culture today, animals are being treated more and more like human being, all the time. In fact, one of the fastest growing segments within the law is what's called patent law or animal law for the opportunity to talk with an attorney on a couple of occasions about this and it is startling to see what has happened that I have been clipping articles from magazines and journals and newspapers and I can only give you a few, but I have a file stuffed with illustrations. We redo you a few USA article said this, there is a growing movement that asks courts to abandon centuries of precedent and treat pets not as property or livestock, but is something akin to humans and courts across the United States.

There are signs that patent law is awakening in the past four years.

Juries in six states have awarded large judgments to pet owners 12 law schools now, including Georgetown and Harvard offer courses in animal wall. Perhaps most significantly, courts have begun to allow owners of damaged or destroyed pets to sue not only for the animals cash value which is typical but also for loss of companionship and their own pain and suffering as if the deceased Pat on quoting had been their child or spouse like Kate Corriveau. The article went on to say who want to suit against an animal hospital that had switched the remains of her late dog with those of a cat.

The error was discovered during her pets open casket funeral.

She sued for emotional distress and one since medieval times, courts have considered animals to be property to be chattel is the medieval word in legal terms, owners whose animals were harmed were limited to recovering only the cost of replacing the animal. Not now. Today world magazine says a national network of animal rights lawyers are pushing the envelope until quote we succeeded Joyce till sure said the founder of this network and presenting a case in which the animal is the plaintiff world magazine reported also the Lowell Massachusetts judge who became the first jurist in that state to allow the dog owner to sue for the emotional distress of the animal. The owner had watched as the dog was roughed up by a neighbor's dog sued, claiming emotional distress on his dog and one settled, the envelope is really being press says Richard couple professor at Pepperdine University school of Law in Malibu California right now. There's still kind of a giggle factor when you're talking about emotional distress. For pets, he says, but as more and more cases are filed, we will be giggling less and paying more. Here's the logical outgrowth of the evolutionists philosophy that refuses God's created order and the dignity of mankind. People can treat people like animals, but you need to treat animals like people in Tennessee, a pet owner can now sue up to 4000 for the wrongful death of a pet recently in Southern California judge awarded a woman $27,000 for suffering brought to her dog, not death, but suffering as a result of the dogs botched dental repairs. Americans are spending more than $11 billion a year on pet healthcare. Would you let that sink in.

$11 billion a year on cats, dogs, Boulder, Colorado. Just change their legal language to the pet owners are no longer called owners with guardians.

I got a dog. I want you know I like animals. Okay, don't misunderstand any of this sermon that I don't think we can have two dogs.

We have a neighbor that has a Bassett hound and they wanted anymore in our dog is half Bassett and my kids been worked over fairly well and where you have two why, I took my dog to the vet sometime ago II believe that every dog would have rabies shots.

I do believe that and when I was there filling out the forms. You know, I'm the mother or father notice on the application. I want to preach to this dear girl she does know any thing about what I'm studying lately, and then she asked me, she said, and what is your dog's last name. I said my last name is Davey and she just cutting eroded down and I really wanted you know dog does not have a last name my dogs last name is not Davey doesn't have our heritage.

It doesn't take responsibility for that name. It can run the neighborhood. I don't care on Michael is my pastoral office because of how my dog acts. It's a dog. It is not Davey.

Amen thank you own anything got a stay with one dog bed will if animals are worth the same as people in and you should be doing with literally tens of thousands of Americans are now finding it easier to do with animals being given organ transplants, and chemotherapy. They are taken on vacation.

They are buried in cemetery lots, what is the Bible say one thing it does say is that we are to rule and where to rule with kindness. There are many passages in the Old Testament the talk of kindness, one about intrinsic value. That's the issue is that dog or cat worth the same as a person does it have equal weight does it have equal rights with Jesus Christ on a couple of occasions was preaching to his audience and he delivered in that sermon on the mount these words in Matthew 10 he said, look at the birds of the air, they do not. So they do not read, they do not gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than that.

Now the point he was making had nothing to do with the point that I'm making, because in his culture. They knew human being was worth more than an animal. He was simply telling the look of God takes care of his created order, and they don't worry about it then certainly he will take care of you because aren't you worth more than them. To our culture.

We need to emphasize that last phrase you are worth more. You have more intrinsic value to God than animal.

Furthermore, a few chapters later, the religious leaders were trying to stop Jesus from healing a man with a withered hand was on the Sabbath day they were all upset because he was declaring the man to be healed and hadn't performed it yet, but he was headed there and they knew that and so they got on the him saying that he was breaking the Sabbath and he said to them, in effect, listen.

If, on the Sabbath day one of your seat falls into a pit you know that you would go and take that sheep out of that pit. Many said this phrase of how much more value then is a man then a sheet and he said be healed. Cement has greater value. Intrinsic value will talk a little bit more about how we know that to be true for those who disregard the words of Christ.

There are consequences. There are inverted values. There is the loss of human dignity.

There is the loss of foundational morality is men and women do not know why they can't act like animals and why animals can be treated like people, there's one more step downward in the spiral digression as mankind rejects the word of God. Romans chapter 1 verse 25 said the rebellious man disregards the creator and worship then serves creature instead what here's number six. Mankind becomes bound to meet the needs of nature rather than meeting the needs of mankind. Just one step further. But now we care more about animals than we do about you. God's created order is.

He sustains all or is he owns. And even though the world refuses to acknowledge him, denies him. It refuses to worship the wonderful Creator got the believer does just what Paul does at the end of verse 25.

Paul is going to this litany and it's like he stopped as though I just gotta say something positive to say something good and wonderful and something of our Lord and so he ends it by saying the creator was blessed for ever and ever. Amen.

The world denies God is blessed forever so we like Paul say the world dishonors and ignores and shuns and hates you all God, but you are blessed forever and forever.

The world will not worship you where here today father to say we will worship you, for you are the last forever and never amen thank you Steven and thank you friends for listening. This is wisdom for the heart with pastor and author Stephen Davey the lesson you just heard is called the rain of mother nature and is part of our current series called the banquet table of consequences. I want to invite you to get a resource that we have available, but first I'll tell you about an exciting training opportunity. How would your life be impacted if you set aside one year to study God's word experience authentic community growing discipleship study in Israel and earn your Masters degree in theological studies. In addition to being our daily Bible teacher. Stephen is also the founder and president of shepherd's theological seminary brand-new this fall is the launch of shepherd's Institute. This unique one year program offers a life-changing opportunity to all believers no matter your career shepherd's Institute invites you to invest one year of your life to equip yourself for the rest of your life.

You can learn more about this program@shepherds.edu. Now, as I mentioned we have a resource and I want to make sure you've heard about it.

It's called heart-to-heart magazine. Heart-to-heart is a resource that gives you a daily devotional guide articles to equip you in your walk with Christ and information about our ministry next month. Stephen deals with the topic of friendship.

He looks at ways to build solid friendships and traits that will destroy friendships if you don't receive heart-to-heart magazine.

We'd like to send you the next three issues for you to read and enjoy as our gift to you. Give us a call at 86 648 Bible 48664824253 will take down the information we need to send this to you and will get you the next three issues. I'm Scott Wiley and for Steven and the wisdom to thanks from