1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,300 I just wonder if we lowered the lights in the auditorium, if that would help with the heat 2 00:00:12,300 --> 00:00:13,480 buildup out there a little bit. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:15,280 So why doesn't someone do that for me? 4 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:21,980 Thank you. 5 00:00:21,980 --> 00:00:28,240 Tonight I want to talk to you about a religious movement in our nation which is sweeping our 6 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:30,240 society. 7 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:37,680 I'm not talking about Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism, Herbert W. Armstrong, or any of 8 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:43,000 the traditional cults, but I am talking about a religious movement which really embraces 9 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,760 many of those and others. 10 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:50,640 It is the religious movement of humanism. 11 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,960 Whatever you just turned off, I need that one still. 12 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:54,960 Thank you. 13 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:55,960 That's fine. 14 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:56,960 Thanks. 15 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:02,720 I'm talking about the religious movement of humanism. 16 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:09,840 A few days ago, a number of us had the opportunity to attend a pastor's conference sponsored 17 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:16,480 by the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts here locally. 18 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:22,520 Some information was presented there which stirred me to bring this material afresh to 19 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:24,760 your attention. 20 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:35,960 I'm going to be using a set of overhead transparencies supplied by the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts. 21 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:39,720 So it's a little bit difficult because my heart is stirred with the message and I'm 22 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,920 using another man's outline. 23 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,060 If you know anything about being a preacher, that's a little tough. 24 00:01:45,060 --> 00:01:50,980 So I'm going to give you my message and my burden using the outline basically that Mr. 25 00:01:50,980 --> 00:02:02,020 Gothard gave to us on the transparencies. 26 00:02:02,020 --> 00:02:06,640 The title of the transparencies and of a good deal of what we're going to say is the real 27 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,920 power and purpose behind humanism. 28 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:14,200 There's a certain truth in this statement that Gothard presents which says whenever 29 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:20,800 God's people abandon scriptural principles, God raises up a heathen power to judge them. 30 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:25,720 And he uses the verse in Judges chapter 2 verse 22 which applies to Israel. 31 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,760 And it certainly does say there that God intended to do that through those people that were 32 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:35,840 left in the land when they did not entirely conquer the tribes of Canaan. 33 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:40,880 In Matthew chapter 5 he reminds us of the principle that we are the salt of the earth 34 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:51,240 but when salt has lost its zestiness, its real saltiness, that it loses its purpose. 35 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:58,080 I believe that one of the reasons that we are facing an onslaught, a flood of humanism 36 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:06,240 in our day is because we Christians in too many cases have lost the real zestiness of 37 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,420 our salt in our testimony. 38 00:03:10,420 --> 00:03:16,780 Instead of preserving truth and righteousness, we have allowed the lie and unrighteousness 39 00:03:16,780 --> 00:03:19,400 to have its way. 40 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:25,880 Every heathen power is an expression of the lie which says that man is equal with God. 41 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,840 I'd like for you to open your Bible to Romans chapter 1 for a moment as we review something 42 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:35,800 we saw a year ago in our study in that chapter. 43 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:41,880 We are living in a Romans 1 society. 44 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:47,200 Whether the apostle had in mind the society before the flood or the Roman world in his 45 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:55,320 own day, he certainly pictures for us what's happening around us. 46 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,480 Beginning in verse 18 he warns of the wrath of God which is revealed from heaven against 47 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:07,160 all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 48 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:12,640 because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. 49 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:19,480 For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature 50 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:26,480 have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without 51 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,100 excuse. 52 00:04:28,100 --> 00:04:32,800 For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks. 53 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:37,680 But they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 54 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:43,920 Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God 55 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:50,360 for an image in the form of a corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and 56 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,360 crawling creatures. 57 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:58,800 Therefore, God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies 58 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,360 might be dishonored among them. 59 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:10,120 For they exchanged the truth of God for the lie, very specific, the lie, and worshiped 60 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:17,480 and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. 61 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:26,280 And so the lie, as it says here on our transparency, is that man is equal with God and is therefore 62 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:28,340 worthy of worship. 63 00:05:28,340 --> 00:05:35,960 The religion of humanism or the cult of humanism teaches that man is worthy of worship. 64 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:40,440 He reminds us further of the verse in 2 Thessalonians 2, 65 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:44,800 They receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 66 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:54,240 For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie. 67 00:05:54,240 --> 00:06:04,200 In 1933 and again in 1973, ten years ago, the lie was enunciated in the human manifestos. 68 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:10,620 We must understand their basic tenets in light of God's perspective. 69 00:06:10,620 --> 00:06:18,120 And so my purpose is going to be to contrast the tenets of the human manifesto with the 70 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,440 principles of God's Word. 71 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,160 We're going to look at several principles. 72 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:33,940 The first one is the principle of design. 73 00:06:33,940 --> 00:06:42,160 And that simply stated is that God created all things for His purpose and glory. 74 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:48,320 Let's turn to that first passage mentioned in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. 75 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:54,080 I suppose most of us could quote that verse, but let's look at it afresh and understand 76 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,800 the implication of it. 77 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:01,600 It says in the beginning God created. 78 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:02,600 And what did He create? 79 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,520 He says, the heavens and the earth. 80 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,800 And down a few more verses in the same chapter, verse 26. 81 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:16,600 Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. 82 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:23,240 And so God not only created the physical universe, the heavens and the earth, but He created 83 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,280 specifically man. 84 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:29,840 And it says, let them rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, 85 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:34,000 and over the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 86 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,520 And God created man in His own image. 87 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:39,880 In the image of God He created him. 88 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:45,160 Male and female He created them. 89 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:50,900 Turning to the New Testament to Colossians chapter 1 and verse 16. 90 00:07:50,900 --> 00:08:00,360 And here we learn something more personal about the creation. 91 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaking about Jesus Christ, it says Colossians 1 and 16, for by Him all things were created, 92 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:16,520 both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions 93 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:26,520 or rulers or authorities, all things have been created by Him and for Him. 94 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:31,200 There are basically two propositions in the world today. 95 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:32,720 One proposition is the truth. 96 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,840 It is the truth of God. 97 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:40,720 And specifically in the principle we're thinking about, the truth that God created, that God 98 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,520 designed the universe as it is. 99 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:53,920 The second proposition is the lie, the lie that's enunciated most recently in humanism. 100 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:58,400 In the humanist manifesto, the first tenet is this. 101 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:05,840 Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created. 102 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,480 In other words, matter is eternal. 103 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:12,400 It always has been and always will be. 104 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:24,320 It is self-existing, not created, an absolute denial of the biblical principle of design. 105 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:30,920 Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he has emerged as the result of a 106 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:35,160 continuous process, which is called what? 107 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:36,160 Evolution. 108 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:45,240 And so evolution is a basic tenet of humanism. 109 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:51,640 Tenet number three in the manifesto declares this, holding an organic view of life, humanists 110 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:58,800 find that the traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected. 111 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:05,000 In other words, humanists see only material as being real. 112 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:11,800 This is a denial of the spiritual, the immaterial aspect of man. 113 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:16,800 So that dualism of mind, the immaterial and body must be rejected. 114 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:22,400 They hold only to an organic view of life. 115 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:28,480 As long as you are in this organic body, you exist and when your organic body ceases to 116 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:33,080 exist, you no longer exist. 117 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:42,880 We want to talk about the inroads and destruction so far of humanism in our society. 118 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:51,840 As regards this specific scriptural principle, let's talk about their inroads in education. 119 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:56,000 This is a strong statement, but it's one that I believe. 120 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:04,240 In education, secular humanism is now the established religion in public schools. 121 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:10,480 That is not a broadside attack against every person who's in a public school or parents 122 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:16,240 who put their children in public schools or teachers who teach in public schools. 123 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:25,700 But I believe it is a fair and viable statement that secular humanism is the established religion 124 00:11:25,700 --> 00:11:28,380 in public schools. 125 00:11:28,380 --> 00:11:34,800 That humanism is a religion as recognized not only by their own writings, in which they 126 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:44,280 declare that it essentially is, but also by the Supreme Court in the case that is footnoted 127 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,560 here for you. 128 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:52,920 And we must keep in mind that a neutral education is impossible. 129 00:11:52,920 --> 00:12:00,720 Teaching knowledge without God is the religion of secular humanism. 130 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:08,080 That of course is what we are facing today in our public educational system. 131 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:13,680 Education by its very nature must have a moral base. 132 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:21,080 That moral base will either be God's or man's. 133 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:27,880 John Dewey is the guru of modern education. 134 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:34,240 He is the founder of what is called progressive education, which has basically ruined our 135 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,160 educational system these days. 136 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:44,880 John Dewey wrote the 1933 Humanist Manifesto. 137 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:54,840 Charles Francis Potter, the former honorary president of the NEA, the National Education 138 00:12:54,840 --> 00:13:03,280 Association, and a manifesto signer stated this, education is the most powerful ally 139 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:11,120 of humanism and every American public school is a school of humanism. 140 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:18,360 That is not a statement by Tim LaHaye or by some fundamentalist, but that is a statement 141 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:23,760 by Charles Francis Potter. 142 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:28,600 In addition to that statement, let me read to you a statement that came to my attention 143 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:30,540 in the seminar. 144 00:13:30,540 --> 00:13:38,580 This statement was taken from an address given at a childhood education seminar in 1973 by 145 00:13:38,580 --> 00:13:44,600 a professor of educational psychiatry at Harvard University. 146 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:48,560 Unless you think that this statement is something he said ten years ago and he doesn't believe 147 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:55,240 today, the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts called him in March of this year, read this 148 00:13:55,240 --> 00:14:01,000 statement to him to make sure that it's not been taken out of context and to affirm the 149 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,920 fact that it's still his position. 150 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:05,880 And he affirmed that both are true. 151 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:10,440 He made this statement and he still strongly believes it. 152 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:16,640 Here's what he said, every child in America entering school at the age of five is mentally 153 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:23,840 ill because he comes to school with certain allegiances toward our founding fathers, toward 154 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:31,920 our elected officials, toward his parents, toward a belief in a supernatural being, toward 155 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:38,320 the sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity. 156 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:43,840 Because he believes in those things at the age of five, he is mentally ill. 157 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:51,600 It's up to you teachers, says this man, to make all of these sick children well by creating 158 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:56,800 the international children of the future. 159 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:03,420 That is a man who is instructing our teachers in our educational system. 160 00:15:03,420 --> 00:15:11,480 In the January, February issue of the Humanist Periodical, these statements, and by the way 161 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:19,060 it's January, February this year, page 26, the battle for humankind's future must be 162 00:15:19,060 --> 00:15:26,720 waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role 163 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:31,400 as the proselytizers of a new faith. 164 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:38,440 The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new, the 165 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:45,300 rotting corpse of Christianity and the new faith of humanism. 166 00:15:45,300 --> 00:16:00,960 That written six months ago, some of these things you will be aware of. 167 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:06,200 Courts have ruled that it's illegal to display the Ten Commandments in a classroom of a public 168 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:07,200 school. 169 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:12,280 When we lived in Kentucky, those commandments were displayed in the classroom and this became 170 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:16,000 an issue that was taken to the courts and this is the case cited. 171 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,480 It was decided it was unconstitutional for the Ten Commandments to even be hung on the 172 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:27,280 wall even if those were donated to the classroom by some organization so there was no cost 173 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:31,040 to the public school. 174 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:36,200 Another ruling has prohibited a moment of silence before class because it might be interpreted 175 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:41,160 as a time of prayer by public school students. 176 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:46,020 In the Lubbock Civil Liberties Union versus Lubbock Independent School District decision 177 00:16:46,020 --> 00:16:55,480 in 1982, the Supreme Court upheld the lower courts ruling that it is unconstitutional 178 00:16:55,480 --> 00:17:04,360 for students to meet before or after school to read the Bible. 179 00:17:04,360 --> 00:17:09,520 In the Humanist Manifesto 2, there is this statement. 180 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:15,280 We affirm that moral values derive their source from human experience. 181 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:21,880 Ethics is autonomous and situational, needing no theological or ideological sanction. 182 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:24,440 Ethics stems from human need and interest. 183 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:28,640 To deny this distorts the whole basis of life. 184 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:33,720 And so the ethics being taught in our public schools are the ethics of humanism, which 185 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:38,360 says it is not necessary to have a theological or biblical basis. 186 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:43,640 Our ethics arise out of situations and out of human needs. 187 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:51,080 We've already gotten into this somewhat, but what about the inroads in the courts? 188 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:58,760 Humanist fairness laws are being made which are contrary to biblical laws of justice and 189 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,560 mercy. 190 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:07,120 Every legal system must by its very nature have a religious foundation. 191 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:09,480 That would seem to be obvious. 192 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:14,240 There are those, however, who say, well, you cannot legislate morality. 193 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:16,360 That is a myth. 194 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:22,600 Laws legislate morality, either God's morality or man's morality. 195 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:28,960 If you stop to think about it, even tax laws are based upon morality. 196 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,000 Why should I pay anything to the government in my taxes? 197 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:37,200 Well, because, says the government, I have an obligation to help pay for the defense 198 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:42,920 of this nation and to care for the impoverished of this nation, etc. 199 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:48,280 Is not that a morality? 200 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,440 God's laws promote life. 201 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:53,680 Humanistic laws promote death. 202 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:59,000 We'll see an example of that in just a moment. 203 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:03,680 Humanistic evolution reduces man to a species of animal. 204 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:10,160 Court cases based on humanism justify killing unborn and handicapped children and punish 205 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,640 doctors and hospitals which do not cooperate. 206 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:19,880 I'm going to prove that in just a second, but I want to back up to the statement here 207 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:25,320 that humanistic fairness laws are being made which are contrary to biblical laws of justice 208 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,180 and mercy. 209 00:19:28,180 --> 00:19:35,640 We think that justice has to be fair, and yet justice and fairness are not necessarily 210 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,520 the same. 211 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:48,920 For example, justice is based on the universal, unchangeable principles of God's Word that 212 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,360 right is right and wrong is wrong. 213 00:19:52,360 --> 00:20:00,600 And fairness is based on the variable customs of a society and change with the will of the 214 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:02,960 majority. 215 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:09,040 So that what is fair at one time in a society may be unfair at another time, but justice 216 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,080 remains the same. 217 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:20,160 Another example, justice establishes guilt when God's standards are violated, but fairness 218 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:27,120 tries to remove guilt by lowering God's standards. 219 00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:35,040 A third example, justice causes us to confess our failures and to plead for mercy. 220 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:40,960 That's why we came to the cross, because we saw what justice was to bring us, what we 221 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:49,200 truly deserved, and therefore we cried out for mercy, which God manifested at the cross. 222 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:55,200 And fairness causes us to justify our failures so that we do not think that we need mercy. 223 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,960 And then a fourth example of the contrast. 224 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:05,440 Justice and mercy are based on personal responsibility to a holy God, and they will produce revival 225 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,060 in a nation. 226 00:21:08,060 --> 00:21:15,780 If we could help people to see that they are personally responsible to God for their actions, 227 00:21:15,780 --> 00:21:18,520 it would produce revival. 228 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:25,220 But our judicial system has turned rather to fairness than justice. 229 00:21:25,220 --> 00:21:34,000 Fairness is based on personal rights and leads to rebellion within a nation. 230 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:41,000 Justice has to do with personal responsibility, but fairness focuses on personal rights. 231 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:48,640 And of course, that's what we hear so much about these days. 232 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,520 Let me give you some examples of this last statement. 233 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:54,520 I apologize if that's a little low for some of you. 234 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,680 Let me lift it up a bit. 235 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:05,400 That court cases based on humanism justify killing unborn and handicapped children. 236 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:14,280 In 1973, the Supreme Court decided in the now infamous decision that abortion should 237 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:22,520 be legalized, and that was based upon humanistic reasoning, that the fetus is not a person. 238 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:27,540 And yet our law system is in conflict on that because there are some laws that declare that 239 00:22:27,540 --> 00:22:32,120 the fetus is a person. 240 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:37,440 New York's highest court ruled that their legislature must determine which human beings 241 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:44,640 are actually persons who are entitled to live, that and a decision that is cited here. 242 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,760 Now, do you understand what they're saying? 243 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:54,360 The Supreme Court of New York said that the legislature had to determine which human beings 244 00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:59,240 are actually persons and who have a right to live. 245 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:04,480 That has to do with abortion. 246 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:09,840 And yet we ask the logical question, what about the elderly? 247 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:15,400 What about a person who's had a stroke or who is senile? 248 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,760 Does that person have a right to live? 249 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,080 Or what about Jews? 250 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:25,180 Should they be allowed to live? 251 00:23:25,180 --> 00:23:29,580 What about Christians? 252 00:23:29,580 --> 00:23:33,400 Are they human beings who have a right to live? 253 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:38,000 You see, you can't imagine a society saying that they shouldn't. 254 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,120 Remember Nazi Germany. 255 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:48,480 And realize that we're moving in the same direction, dear people. 256 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:57,080 Germany's Supreme Court ruled that a handicapped child can sue his parents for being born. 257 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:58,880 Here's the case. 258 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:05,880 Parents sued a Sacramento hospital for not informing them of prenatal tests for brain 259 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:07,040 damage. 260 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:13,080 The courts required the hospital to pay $900,000 in damages. 261 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,640 The case I was thinking of about a child suing parents was a different one. 262 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:22,440 This one is the parent suing the hospital for allowing the child to be born $900,000 263 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:24,280 in damages. 264 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:29,080 The Attorney General of Delaware issued an opinion stating that a doctor who has failed 265 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:41,480 to kill two unborn babies with lethal saline injections could be sued for criminal malpractice 266 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:46,440 because he did not commit murder. 267 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:53,080 Indiana courts, parents, and hospitals allowed an unwanted newly born child to starve to 268 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:55,560 death last year. 269 00:24:55,560 --> 00:25:02,880 Do you remember the tragic story of Infant Doe who was born with a number of physical 270 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:07,120 problems? 271 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:14,380 The parents and the doctor ordered that the baby should not be fed but should be starved. 272 00:25:14,380 --> 00:25:18,160 And when some people tried to intervene and it was taken into court, the process was dragged 273 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,800 out and the baby was not fed day after day. 274 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:28,600 The nurses who worked on that floor in Bloomington, Indiana were so upset by the cries of that 275 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:34,280 little baby being starved to death that they finally put the baby in a closet and locked 276 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:43,040 the door where the baby died in darkness. 277 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:46,640 Now does that shock you? 278 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:53,720 That is the result of the religion of humanism being promoted in our public schools, now 279 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:59,600 the basis of many court decisions in this land. 280 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:06,880 I'm going to take time to talk about one more scriptural principle tonight. 281 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:11,040 This is the scriptural principle of authority. 282 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:19,000 The inspired word of God is to be the final authority in our lives, isn't it? 283 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:27,920 Our doctrinal statement is that God's inerrant word is our final authority in all matters 284 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:32,160 of what we believe and how we are to behave. 285 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:34,640 It is the final authority. 286 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:41,840 Jesus said, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 287 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:47,000 And there are multiplied scriptures that affirm the same. 288 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:48,360 What does humanism say? 289 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:57,420 Well, let's talk about tenets four, five, and six of humanism. 290 00:26:57,420 --> 00:27:03,000 Humanism recognizes that man's religious culture and civilization, as clearly depicted 291 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:10,240 by anthropology and history, are the product of a gradual development due to his interaction 292 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:14,040 with his natural environment and with his social heritage. 293 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:19,240 The individual born into a particular culture is largely molded to that culture. 294 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:26,720 In other words, humanism is saying that anthropology and history prove to us that religion has 295 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:37,400 evolved with man, that it was not delivered from God as a final word, as an authority, 296 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:42,960 but that a religion evolves within each culture. 297 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:49,040 It furthermore asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by modern science makes 298 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:57,080 unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of human values. 299 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:02,600 In other words, they say that there is nothing beyond man that should tell us what is right 300 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:04,800 and wrong. 301 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:11,720 There's nothing supernatural or cosmic that should guarantee or insist upon certain standards 302 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:16,000 of right and wrong. 303 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:23,360 They furthermore say we are convinced that the time has passed for theism, deism, modernism, 304 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:29,720 and the several varieties of new thought. 305 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:39,120 Now let's talk about authority. 306 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:46,400 Have you ever heard of values clarification? 307 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:52,400 That is a certain teaching which has swept the public schools in the last ten years or 308 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:53,400 so. 309 00:28:53,400 --> 00:29:00,520 Humanistic values clarification courses indoctrinate children to reject the authority of God and 310 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:04,000 of their parents. 311 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:09,800 Rather than being clarification of values, what these exercises actually do is to tear 312 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:17,840 down the values the child may have learned at home, for example, not to steal, and inculcate 313 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:24,800 within the child situational ethics so that in certain cases or situations it's really 314 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,520 okay to steal. 315 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:37,320 I've heard parents give examples of this, such as a teacher asking the classroom if 316 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:44,720 you had a little brother who was starving to death and you had no money to buy the child's 317 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:50,080 food, and yet there was a rich person who owned a store down the street and there was 318 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,600 food in that store. 319 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:58,160 Don't you think it would be right to go down there and take some food for your little brother 320 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,440 who was starving to death? 321 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:03,520 How many of you children think that would be right? 322 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,700 Lift your hand. 323 00:30:05,700 --> 00:30:12,600 You come up here into the front, and then those who think it's not right to steal are 324 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,200 left by themselves. 325 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,480 You can imagine the tremendous peer pressure in that kind of a situation. 326 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:24,720 Of course, the teacher doesn't give any of the alternatives how God might provide, or 327 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:29,760 maybe there are some other ways that food can be received. 328 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:35,120 They create situations to try to convince children that there are situations when it's 329 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:42,160 right to steal or right to lie. 330 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,560 All traces of Christianity are being removed from public schools and institutions by the 331 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:53,600 misapplication of the idea of the separation of church and state. 332 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:58,000 Did you know that the Constitution does not even mention the separation of church and 333 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:02,080 state? 334 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:09,600 It does talk about religious freedom, and it says that the Congress shall not infringe 335 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:14,640 upon the states regarding religious freedom. 336 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:20,080 Did you know, in fact, that when the Bill of Rights was adopted to the Constitution, 337 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:29,760 that one-third of the states at that time had state churches or preferred denominations, 338 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:33,920 and that was not unconstitutional? 339 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:39,560 The point of the first amendment to the Constitution is simply that the federal government is to 340 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:48,400 keep its hands off the states with regards to religion within the states. 341 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:53,240 In 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to someone and he talked about the wall of separation 342 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:58,200 between church and state, and that's where the phrase came from. 343 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:03,960 But in his inaugural address a few years later, Jefferson made it clear that he was simply 344 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:09,960 talking about a wall of separation between the federal government and religion in the 345 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:10,960 church. 346 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:18,240 It had nothing to do with the states and whatever laws they may have even favoring certain denominations 347 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:21,120 or churches. 348 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:26,280 And so this whole concept of separation between church and state has been grossly twisted 349 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,400 and perverted. 350 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:33,360 Until today, most people are convinced that the Constitution states that there is to be 351 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:38,040 absolutely no interference from the part of the church into the federal government, and 352 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:43,360 nothing could be further from the truth of what the founders of our nation intended. 353 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:51,000 They intended for morality and for religious truth to influence the course of these great 354 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:52,520 United States. 355 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:58,240 An example of how this is being carried out today is the recent decision by the Supreme 356 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:04,560 Court in the case of Bob Jones University and the IRS, in which Bob Jones University 357 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:16,720 has now lost its tax deductible status. 358 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:22,160 I am not here to particularly support Bob Jones University in the policy that brought 359 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:28,480 the case to court, which was a policy against interracial dating on their campus. 360 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:33,700 Nor am I particularly supporting the reaction of Dr. Bob Jones, which I saw on television 361 00:33:33,700 --> 00:33:38,600 after the decision of the Supreme Court was announced. 362 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:46,120 But the principle behind all of that is that that particular religious institution is convinced 363 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:54,000 that it is a biblical theological issue, that there should be no interracial dating on their 364 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,360 campuses. 365 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,240 Students of any race are welcome to come. 366 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:05,920 There is not discrimination that way at all, but they simply are not allowed to date because 367 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:08,240 they don't believe in intermarriage of the races. 368 00:34:08,240 --> 00:34:10,800 Again, I'm not necessarily promoting that. 369 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,080 That happens to be their position. 370 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:16,760 They base that upon the Bible as they interpret it. 371 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,680 It is a theological issue with them. 372 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:31,480 But now the Supreme Court of the United States has said that public policy, in this case 373 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:40,040 against discrimination of race, overrules the guarantees provided in the Constitution 374 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:44,880 for religious conviction and liberty about that. 375 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:51,240 So that even though this university has a religious conviction, which they hold to sincerely, 376 00:34:51,240 --> 00:34:57,160 the public policy of the United States of America overrules their freedom to have that 377 00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:58,160 conviction. 378 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,600 You say, what's that got to do with us? 379 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:09,760 Folks, what's going to happen when it becomes the public policy of the United States that 380 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:19,120 homosexuals should have certain rights in our society? 381 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:25,760 What's going to happen when churches like ours take a position, as we do now, against 382 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:32,120 the practice of homosexuality and would not allow a practicing homosexual to be a part 383 00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:33,120 of our church? 384 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:38,720 I'll tell you what will happen. 385 00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:44,440 We'll be in the same position as Bob Jones University if the court acts as it acted in 386 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,560 this case based upon public policy. 387 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:52,280 And even though we may have strong religious conviction about that issue, it will make 388 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:57,100 no difference if public policy is otherwise. 389 00:35:57,100 --> 00:36:00,440 What about an ERA passage? 390 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:06,200 And we say that we will not allow women to be elders in our church because of a biblical 391 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,800 conviction that we have. 392 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,080 Suppose someone were to take us to court for that. 393 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:18,200 Based on the logic of this particular decision with Bob Jones University, our tax status 394 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:21,200 would be in jeopardy. 395 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:26,840 Maybe we'd better off without the tax status and without that hanging over our heads. 396 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:28,600 Let me go on. 397 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:33,200 Marriages and families are being destroyed by liberalization of divorce laws. 398 00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:34,200 Divorce for any reason. 399 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:36,600 In fact, there are some places you can get a divorce. 400 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:38,720 All you have to do is fill out certain papers and send them in. 401 00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:39,720 You don't have to go to court. 402 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:41,920 Very little cost involved. 403 00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:43,640 Very easy. 404 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:48,520 The family is being attacked by children's rights laws. 405 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:52,000 Did you know there's a bill of rights for children? 406 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:56,480 These were publicized in the International Year of the Child a couple of years ago. 407 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,960 For example, the right to self-determination. 408 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:04,800 Children should have the right to decide the matters which affect them directly. 409 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:06,400 The right to alternative home environment. 410 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:08,600 If they don't want to live at home, they should have the right to live wherever they 411 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:15,280 want to, even if it's in another home that's run by children. 412 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:17,520 The right to educate oneself. 413 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:22,960 Children should be free to design their own education, choosing among many options. 414 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:28,420 The right to freedom from physical punishment from parents, schools, etc. 415 00:37:28,420 --> 00:37:33,280 The right to sexual freedom to conduct themselves in the way they want to without any restriction 416 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,540 of adults. 417 00:37:35,540 --> 00:37:36,920 The right to economic power. 418 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:41,760 The right to vote, etc. 419 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:47,360 Those are children's rights being promoted by some. 420 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:53,920 Christians are being sued for giving their children a godly education. 421 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:58,840 It would seem that there is a new movement coming in our land, following on the heels 422 00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:03,080 of the Christian school movement, and that is the home school movement. 423 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,960 It's growing in strength amazingly right here in the Twin Cities. 424 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:10,320 There are some people who say if you think the Christian school movement has mushroomed, 425 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:16,900 wait until the home school movement has reached its blossom, where parents choose to teach 426 00:38:16,900 --> 00:38:18,660 their children at home. 427 00:38:18,660 --> 00:38:23,180 By the way, there are apparently viable studies that have been done showing that children 428 00:38:23,180 --> 00:38:33,000 learn better in a home environment fewer hours a day than they do in a school classroom. 429 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:37,840 So authority of every kind is being challenged by humanism. 430 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:47,600 God's authority, parental authority, government authority, church authority. 431 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:50,520 We're going to continue next week. 432 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:56,680 But please make no mistake about it, you and I, who are Christians, are on the battlefield 433 00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:59,320 of a war. 434 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:02,240 It makes no difference if you choose not to be on the battlefield. 435 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:05,640 If you are a Christian, you are on the battlefield. 436 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:09,200 And the question is now, will you take the stand you ought to? 437 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:16,140 I believe, along with some others who have written some books these days, that we may 438 00:39:16,140 --> 00:39:23,840 not be far from the time when we Christians will have to perform acts of civil disobedience 439 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:32,960 and even be willing to pay the price in terms of law for that disobedience in order to uphold 440 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:36,520 the convictions that God has given to us. 441 00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:39,560 The reason that we're talking about all of this is so that we can be aware of what 442 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:45,920 humanism is, what it teaches in contrast to what God has declared in His Word. 443 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:50,680 And so having that knowledge, we may be better equipped to fight the battle that we are in. 444 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:55,560 Well, to be continued next week. 445 00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:59,560 Would you stand with me and let's have prayer together? 446 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:12,560 Father, we thank You that You are God and that though the enemy may threaten to undo 447 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:20,880 us, yet the truth will emerge as the victor. 448 00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:26,920 And I pray that we will be strong as Your people, that we may understand clearly the 449 00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:34,960 issues, that we may resist the brainwashing taking place all around us, and that being 450 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:41,920 armed with the Word of God, we may be effective soldiers of Jesus Christ and be armed with 451 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:47,680 the might of the Lord to fight this spiritual battle. 452 00:40:47,680 --> 00:41:15,680 In Jesus' name, amen.