Welcome to From the Pulpit in Classic Sermons.
Each week we bring you a different message
from some of history's greatest speakers in the
Christian faith and powerful sermons from modern preachers
too.
This week we have Ken Ham with his
message The Great Delusion, The Spiritual State of
Our Nation.
Good evening.
Well it's great to have you all here
at the Answers Genesis megaconference 2013.
I'd be interested to know how many of
you have been to the Creation Museum?
Wow, how many of you have not been
to the Creation Museum?
Hmm, all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God.
I trust you will repent this week and
make sure you get to the Creation Museum.
Well as we kick off the Answers Genesis
megaconference I'm sure like myself you're looking at
this nation and realize something catastrophic has happened
in regard to the world view of people
in this nation.
We're on catastrophic spiritual decline.
The first verse of scripture I want to
bring our attention to 2 Thessalonians 2.11
For this reason God will send them a
strong delusion that they should believe the lie.
A great delusion, a great lie has crept
across this nation and has had evil consequences.
As I read Romans 1 and passages from
Romans 1 I'm thinking about this nation of
the USA in fact our whole western world.
Romans 1.18 For the wrath of God,
God's judgment is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Because his invisible attributes are clearly seen.
People without excuse.
Verse 21 They did not glorify him as
God.
Verse 23 Change the glory of the incorruptible
God into an image made like corruptible man
and birds and four-footed animals and creeping
things.
Verse 24 So God gave them up.
He gives them over to judgment.
Withdraws the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit.
These people dishonor their bodies.
They exchange the truth of God for the
lie.
And worshiped and served the creature rather than
the creator who is blessed forever.
Verse 26 God gave them up to vile
passions.
For even their women exchanged the natural use
of what is against nature.
Likewise also the men leaving the natural use
of the woman burned in their lust for
one another.
And even as they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge.
Verse 28 God gave them over to a
debased mind.
Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,
evil-mindedness, they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of
God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,
unmerciful, who knowing the righteous judgment of God,
that those who practice such things are deserving
of death, not only do the same but
also approve of those who practice them.
Verse 18 For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men.
My assertion in this presentation is that as
you read Romans 1, I believe you're reading
a description of the culture in America in
2013.
I believe you're reading a description of our
western world in particular.
In fact, the wrath of God, God's judgment
is revealed from heaven.
And God judged, He turned them over.
He turned them over to their vile passions.
It is my assertion in this presentation that
America is under judgment.
You know, I want you to think about
the founding of this nation.
Many of the founders of this nation were
Christians who built their thinking on the authority
of the Word of God and as a
result we've seen Christian morality permeate this nation,
a Christian worldview permeate this nation in many
ways.
In fact, this nation has had an incredible
Christian heritage in many ways.
And America has been, I believe, the greatest
Christianized nation on earth in our modern era
of history.
It has more churches and seminaries and Christian
colleges, Christian bookshops, resources, Christian radio, Christian TV.
In fact, America has more Christian resources right
now in 2013 than it's ever had in
its history.
But for all of that, we see the
Christian worldview collapsing in this country.
We see catastrophic spiritual decline.
In fact, in many ways, as I look
at America, as I watch Fox News, CNN,
MSNBC, whatever it is, it seems to me
I'm almost reading what the days of Noah
must have been like with the wickedness that
we see in this nation, with the moral
relativism that pervades this nation.
This nation is no longer what it used
to be.
You know, when he was still Senator Obama
back in 2006, now President Obama spoke at
a conference called Building a Covenant for a
New America.
I don't believe many people understood what he
meant by a new America, but I believe
if you look at America in 2013, you
start to see what he did mean by
a new America when he said this.
Remember where we once were, we are no
longer a Christian nation, at least not just.
We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim
nation, and a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu
nation, and a nation of non-believers.
Whatever we once were, we are no longer.
It was in his book, The Audacity of
Hope.
It was published in 2006.
We're no longer just a Christian nation.
In fact, it's interesting, the American Humanist Association
put an ad in the Washington Post on
January 20, and this was on the first
inauguration of President Obama, and they quoted from
the book, The Audacity of Hope by Barack
Obama, and they quoted this section, I was
not raised in a religious household without the
help of religious texts and outside authorities.
And then it goes on, given the increasing
diversity of America's population and so on, whatever
we once were, we are no longer just
a Christian nation, and there's that quote.
It's interesting to note, the first inauguration address
on January 20, President Obama said this.
We are a nation of Christians and Muslims,
Jews and Hindus, and non-believers.
We are shaped by every language and culture.
It was certainly a reference to the same
basic statement.
And then in 2009, President Obama speaking in
Turkey to the President of Turkey, April 6,
2009, said this.
It's something that's very important to me.
I've said before that one of the great
strengths of the United States is, although as
I mentioned, we have a very large Christian
population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian
nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim
nation.
We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who
are bound by ideals and a set of
values.
And by the way, as you hear that,
bound by ideals and a set of values.
Whose values?
Who determines those values?
Who determines what's right and what's wrong?
Because if they're just mans, in the book
of Judges, when they had no king, no
absolute authority to tell them what to do,
they all did what was right in their
own eyes.
And people, that's really what's happened to this
nation.
We really have changed.
Whatever we once were, a nation that in
many ways was founded on the word of
God and therefore the morality, the worldview of
this nation.
And not all, of course, had that worldview
and morality.
But nonetheless, it was predominant in this nation
because most of the founding fathers started with
the word of God and absolute authority who
determined right and wrong.
But if we no longer build our thinking
on God's word, there is only one other
foundation.
Go back to Genesis 3.
If you don't trust God, then you become
your own God.
And really the battle right from the beginning,
right from Genesis 3, has been a battle
between God's word and man's word.
Between building our thinking on the authority of
the word of God and saying that we
determine truth.
And really right back there in Genesis 3,
Adam and Eve decided to determine truth for
themselves instead of building their thinking on the
word of God and listening to the word
of God.
And people, that's the change that's really occurred.
It's a foundational change.
It's a change of religion.
See, people think there are hundreds of religions.
There really aren't.
There's, in essence, only two religions.
You either start with God's word or you
start with man's word.
Back in 2008, let me share a video
clip with you and then a series of
quotes and video clips to help us understand
what progressively has been occurring in this nation.
In 2008, while Barack Obama and John McCain
were campaigning for the presidency, Obama was interviewed
by Rick Warren.
And listen to what he said.
And, by the way, listen to what he
doesn't say.
I believe that marriage is the union between
a man and a woman.
Now, for me as a Christian, for me,
for me as a Christian, it's also a
sacred union.
You know, God's in the mix.
I'm not sure what he means by God's
in the mix.
What does that mean?
But I think it was said in a
way to make people who are listening think
that what he was saying was that marriage
is between a man and a woman.
That's it.
That was in 2008, before the election, in
August 17.
But then again, June 1, 2009, what do
we read on the White House website?
President Obama says, I am proud to be
the first president to appoint openly LGBT candidates
to the Senate-confirmed positions.
And then in regard to the fiscal year,
federal budget, which ran from 2009, October 2009
to September 2010, we read from the White
House website, President Obama's fiscal budget for that
year, the federal budget defunded all abstinence-based
education.
And then, on October 11, 2009, at a
human rights campaign dinner, we read where President
Obama said, I've called on Congress to repeal
the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.
And then at the same human rights campaign
dinner, he said this, When you look back,
my expectation is, when you look back on
these years, you will see a time in
which we as a nation finally recognize relationships
between two men and two women as just
as real and admirable as relationships between a
man and a woman.
And then, January 27, 2010, in his State
of the Union address, he said, This year
I will work with Congress and our military
to finally repeal the law that denies gay
Americans the right to serve the country.
And then, in 2012, ABC News showed a
video here, showed an interview by Robin Roberts,
where President Obama talks about gay marriage.
I have to tell you, as I said,
I've been going through an evolution on this
issue.
It is important for me to go ahead
and affirm that I think same-sex couples
should be able to get married.
And, by the way, I suggest, when you
look at the evidence, that he's always had
that belief.
That what he said back in 2008 wasn't
that he didn't believe that.
And, in fact, I believe there's been a
deliberate agenda, a deliberate agenda, to push the
gay marriage issue across this nation and to
condone homosexual behavior.
It's interesting.
Many of you might remember, on January 10,
2013, Pastor Louis Giglio withdrew from Obama's inaugural
ceremony over remarks he made against homosexual behavior
that went back to the mid-1990s.
And, because there were some negative remarks about
homosexual behavior, he had to withdraw from giving
the inaugural prayer.
And, in a news item about what happened,
we read this.
Obama's inaugural planners have put an emphasis on
reflecting diversity in the festivities, including the participation
of conservative Christians and gay Americans.
Obama personally selected Richard Blanco, whose work explores
his experience as a Cuban-American gay man,
as the inaugural poet.
And the Lesbian and Gay Band Association of
St. Louis was one of the first selections
to march in the inaugural parade.
People, it's a deliberate agenda.
It's been an agenda ever since he became
president.
And then Newsweek cover, January 18, 2013, seems
to equate Obama with the second coming of
Christ.
And then in the second inauguration address, January
21, 2013, we heard this.
Our journey is not complete until our gay
brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else
under the law.
For if we are truly created equal, then
surely the love we commit to one another
must be equal as well.
In his 2013 State of the Union address,
we heard this.
This was February 13, 2013.
We will ensure equal treatment for all service
members and equal benefits for their families, gay
and straight.
And then February 21, 2013, Fox News reported
that Obama was considering intervening in the gay
marriage case.
This was over California's Proposition 8, which banned
same-sex marriage.
Well, Obama filed that brief to oppose Proposition
8 later in the month.
You realize that the President of the United
States is also the honorary head of the
Boy Scouts.
And we know that the gay issue has
been really pushed in the Boy Scouts.
And first of all, allowing gays into the
scouting movement.
But the next step, as they've already said,
is for leaders to be allowed in as
gays.
In a pre-game interview, a pre-Super
Bowl game interview, February 3, 2013, President Obama
was interviewed about the Boy Scouts issue.
Next week, the board of the Boy Scouts
of America is going to vote on whether
to end their national ban on gays in
scouting.
Should scouting be open to gays?
Yes.
This was on CBS.
But I want you to listen to how
he then followed up.
Listen carefully.
Why so?
Well, because I think that, you know, my
attitude is that gays and lesbians should have
access and opportunity the same way everybody else
does, in every institution and walk of life.
Did you hear that?
In every institution and walk of life.
People in England, the Prime Minister, wanted to
have laws passed that churches had to marry
gay couples.
That's coming in America, I believe.
Because, you see, one of the things that
has been very clear from the White House
is that they have tried to make out
that the gay marriage issue is a civil
rights issue.
It is not a civil rights issue.
It is a behavioral issue.
It is a moral issue.
You can't change the shade of your skin,
but you can change your behavior and your
morals.
There was a very sad event that occurred
in 2012 when a number of dear children
were killed by a gunman in Connecticut.
And President Obama was at the prayer vigil
held on December 16th.
And it's interesting.
What he did was he quoted from 2
Corinthians 4.
In fact, he read 2 Corinthians 4, verse
16 right through to 2 Corinthians 5, verse
1.
I'll just play you a little bit of
that.
Scripture tells us, do not lose heart.
Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we
are being renewed day by day.
Now I've got the whole passage there that
he quoted.
But I want you to hear that, just
so you know that that's what he did.
He quoted from 2 Corinthians 4, verse 16
to 2 Corinthians 5, verse 1.
Now we know that all of the Bible
is God's Word.
All Scripture is inspired by God.
But we also know that God moved people
by His Spirit to write down what He
wanted written for us that we have today
in the revealed Word of God.
Paul wrote that section.
It's interesting that President Obama will quote from
Paul in Corinthians, but would he vote from
Paul in Ephesians?
Ephesians 5.1 For this reason a man
shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife, and two will become
one flesh.
In fact, that's the very same passage that
Jesus referred to in Matthew 19 when He
was asked about marriage.
And His answer, Have you not read the
authority of the Word of God?
That He which made them at the beginning
made them male and female.
Not male and male.
Not female and female.
Male and female.
He quotes from Genesis 1, verse 27 and
said, For this reason shall a man leave
his father and mother and be joined to
his wife, and the two shall be one
flesh.
He quotes from Genesis 2.24 where God
had made Adam from dust and put him
to sleep because he was alone.
There was no one that was like Him.
And out of His side He made the
first woman.
You become one.
You're one in marriage based on the one
flesh because the woman came from the man.
The first marriage, the marriage that God invented,
was a man and a woman.
People, what Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
who's the truth and the Word is saying,
is marriage is a man and a woman.
Not a man and a man.
Not a woman and a woman.
It's a man and a woman.
God is the one who invented marriage.
But I know, President Obama will only quote
from the passages that he wants.
Not ones that contradict his false view of
marriage.
His incorrect view of marriage.
By the way, not just marriage.
Ultimately, every single biblical doctrine is founded in
Genesis 1-11.
Why did Jesus die on a cross?
Genesis 1-11.
Why is there sin in the world?
Genesis 1-11.
Why do you wear clothes?
Genesis 1-11.
Why is Jesus called the last Adam?
Genesis 1-11.
They're all founded in Genesis.
The whole gospel message is founded in Genesis.
We better go and tell the President of
the United States and the Vice President and
all the senators and the congressmen, right?
Actually, we've talked to some senators and congressmen
and you know what they say?
Oh yes, but not every Christian leader believes
Genesis is literal history and by in, therein
lies a major problem in this nation.
You see, I'm going to shock you all
in saying this.
I believe the state of this nation actually
reflects the state of the church and we'll
talk more about that as we go on
here and you know, what we've seen happening,
a gay marriage agenda pushed from the top
down in this nation and now we're seeing
all sorts of aspects of the culture getting
on this bandwagon and it's interesting that in
April, Time Magazine had on its front cover
the headline Gay Marriage Already Won and people,
I'm sorry to say, sad to say, in
a way, I think it is already won
in this nation because of what's happened in
this nation but, God is, God is on
our side and if God's people would only
stand up and stop compromising His word and
stand up and be counted in this nation,
we could have a great effect in this
nation.
You know, even the United Nations posted quite
a significant video on YouTube recently to promote
gay marriage.
This is just a section of the United
Nations video.
You are not alone.
LGBT rights are human rights.
Together, we will build a world.
We will build a world that is free
and equal.
You know, it's interesting in that video they
also talk about persecution and all the rest
of it but, of course, they wouldn't talk
about Christian persecution throughout the world, would they?
And then, of course, we know what happened
June 26, 2013 where the Supreme Court in
America struck down a provision of the Defense
of Marriage Act that denied benefits to gay
couples and, of course, this opened the way
for further action to legalize gay marriage across
the country.
You're going to see that in the future.
And also, in a separate ruling, they paved
the way for same-sex marriages to resume
in California because of what they ruled concerning
Proposition 8 there for which a majority voted
for Proposition 8.
And you know what happened as a result
of the Supreme Court rulings?
And, people, this is indicative of the problem
in this nation.
The National Cathedral began pealing its church bells
along with some other Washington churches to celebrate
the Supreme Court's decision on gay marriage.
In fact, in this news item here in
CBS says Cathedral spokesman Richard Weinberg said that
the bells rang at noon Wednesday for 45
minutes to an hour.
Bells also rang at other Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian,
Unitarian, and Christian churches.
The Cathedral scheduled a prayer service for gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender families.
You know, when I read that, I could
almost imagine these same people in charge of
those churches standing in front of Sodom and
Gomorrah and ringing their bells and saying, what
great cities.
You know, on Fox News, Mike Huckabee made
a very strong stand, actually, against gay marriage.
It's interesting to see one of the political
cartoons that had him saying Jesus wept and
it had a bishop from the church saying
with joy.
And then we've seen things like this.
February 28, 2012, a church in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, the United Methodist Church, said that
they would not do weddings for straight couples
until same-sex marriage is legal.
To me, they shouldn't do any weddings.
April 2012, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, launched the GayChristianYes.org program.
And then, earlier this year, 2013, Reverend Olive
White, who's the Senior Minister of Grace Community
United Church of Christ in Seppor, Minnesota, was
interviewed by Sean Hannity and Terry Jeffrey.
Listen to what this minister of a church
said.
You disagree as a Christian minister with what
is described as marriage in Genesis and what
Jesus himself described as marriage.
Do you disagree with that?
Well, yes, I do because I think that
the book of Genesis is not necessarily...
Do you disagree with Jesus on marriage?
Do I say that again, please?
Well, Jesus, as you know in the Gospels,
said that a man and a woman should
come together in marriage and be as one
flesh.
He personally, Jesus, our Christian Savior, defined marriage
as a man and a woman.
Do you disagree with the way that Jesus
Christ defined marriage in the Gospels?
I don't disagree with Jesus Christ, but what
I do say is that if Jesus were
alive today, I think that he would be
more inclined to say, you know, I didn't
know at all.
In Christ are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge.
He's the infinite creator God, infinite in power,
infinite in wisdom, infinite in knowledge.
He didn't know it all.
Wow.
People, I want to say this as well.
Do you realize that gay marriage is not
the end?
In the book of Judges, when they had
no king to tell them what to do,
they all did what was right in their
own eyes.
So why shouldn't any other view about sex,
relationships, be allowed?
What about polygamy?
In fact, Julian Keenan, who's an independent journalist,
who's also contributed to the New York Times
and the Washington Post, stated this.
Gay marriage is a slippery slope.
What's next?
Legalized polygamy?
We can only hope.
Let's not forget that the fight doesn't end
with same-sex marriage.
We need a legalized polygamy too.
The definition of marriage is plastic.
People, when you abandon a foundation in the
absolute authority of the word of God, and
you build, you're thinking on man's word, the
definition of everything is plastic, basically.
And that's what's happening to this nation.
Newsmax reported, polygamists see gay marriage ruling opening
door to multiple marriage.
This was posted after the Supreme Court's decision
regarding gay marriage.
And in the article it said this, polygamists
cheered the Supreme Court for their gay marriage
rulings Wednesday, which they considered one step forward
for the legal and social acceptance of multi
-person relationships.
But people, it's not going to stop there.
It's going to go beyond that.
Ultimately, anything goes.
Why not?
Who determines what's right and what's wrong?
If man determines it, why shouldn't he allow
everything?
Of course, it's interesting the way that the
secular humanists work, they talk about people like
us who say gay marriage is wrong.
They say, we're intolerant.
And they say, you've got to allow all
views.
I say, okay, well my view is that's
wrong and this is the right view.
Well, you can't have that view.
You've got to allow all views.
And by doing so, they're intolerant of our
view, which is based upon the Bible because
it's a clash between a Christian worldview and
a secular worldview between the absolutes of Christianity
and moral relativism because at a foundational level,
it's a clash between God's word and man's
word.
They went on to say in the Newsmax
article, the nuclear family with a dad and
a mum.
Mom, as an Australian, every now and then,
I slip back into my ways of saying
things.
You know what?
I'm going to say it properly.
The nuclear family with a dad and a
mum and two or three kids is not
the majority anymore.
And then you had this article in CNN.
It was a CNN opinion piece posted June
21, 2013.
Headline, face it, monogamy is unnatural.
And then in the article, we read this.
Biologically, we humans are animals.
You know, the Bible says we're made in
the image of God.
We're different to the animals.
He said, let the earth bring forth the
animals.
But he said, let us make man in
our image.
We are not just an animal.
But generations of our kids are being taught
in our public education system in the secular
universities that we're just animals.
We're just animals that evolve from ape-like
creatures.
We're no different to the animals.
And so the article goes on.
So it makes sense to look at the
animal kingdom for clues as to what we
are built for.
And so they look to the animal kingdom
and say, see, we've got all our gay
marriage, homosexual relationships and so on.
By the way, do they look at the
animal kingdom and say, oh, look, here are
some animals that eat their young.
Here are some animals that eat their own
kind.
We should allow that too.
See the absurdity of the position.
The inconsistency.
Those who don't build their thinking on the
Bible, there's always major inconsistencies.
We've even had the founder of eHarmony get
on this gay marriage bandwagon.
He says he's a follower of Jesus.
I'm not sure what he means by that.
But he said this in April 12, 2013,
quoted in the Christian Post.
I have said that eHarmony really ought to
put up 10 million and ask other companies
to put up money and do a really
first class job of figuring out homosexuality.
I want to challenge the founder of eHarmony
to give Answers in Genesis that 10 million
dollars because we've got the answer already and
I'll give him this book.
Then we've seen articles like this.
February 12, 2013 in Florida.
A Miami, Florida court rules that a homosexual
threesome can be named on a baby's birth
certificate.
Then we see this one.
February 20, 2013.
The Massachusetts Department of Education issued directives to
schools that students who call themselves transgender can
choose the boys' or girls' restrooms and they
can choose the girls' or boys' sports teams
and students who refuse to affirm transgender classmates
face punishment.
In California in 2013, a new book for
children was released.
A is for activist.
Go to L.
L for LGBTQ.
Love who you choose.
Go to T.
T is for transgender.
The he, she, they, that is you.
People as well as the gay marriage issue.
Then we can go and look at the
abortion issue.
Senator Obama said this.
And this was in his plan for America
2008.
It was called the blueprint for change.
Obama and Biden put this together for their
election campaign.
And it says in that particular document that
President Obama will make preserving a woman's right
to choose under Roe versus Wade a priority.
In other words, abortion is going to be
a priority.
And then January 22, 2010.
On the White House website.
Today we recognize the 37th anniversary of the
Supreme Court decision in Roe versus Wade.
This is the President of the United States,
President Obama speaking, which affirms every woman's fundamental
constitutional right to choose whether to have an
abortion.
I have and continue to support these constitutional
rights.
In other words, we have a President who
totally condones the killing of nearly 55 million
children in their mother's womb since Roe versus
Wade.
Which comes down to about 3,500 abortions
or children killings per day.
That was back in 2003.
About 146 an hour.
About one every 25 seconds.
President Obama is the first President ever to
speak to a Planned Parenthood conference and he
pledged his full support for an organization that
kills children in their mother's wombs.
We've also had interesting conferences like this where
Planned Parenthood, the YWCA, and the Girl Scouts
headed a pro-abortion conference.
And then, in Boulder, Colorado, earlier this year,
in 2013, a policeman shot an elk and
killed an elk in the suburbs of Boulder,
Colorado.
So people got together and had a vigil
for the elk.
And they held candles, they held hands, they
had speeches, and then they sang a song
to the elk.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
By the way, they got the words wrong.
They don't even know the words.
When you have people singing Amazing Grace to
an elk and on the same day, 3
,500 or so children were killed in their
mother's wombs and they said nothing, there is
a major problem in this culture.
Yes, America has changed.
Remember we once were, we are no longer
a Christian nation, at least not just.
No, we're no longer a Christianized nation as
we once were.
No, America has changed foundation from God's word
to man's word.
And think of what's been going on.
In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled school prayer
unconstitutional.
In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that Bible
reading in public schools was unconstitutional.
In 1973, Roe versus Wade, the killing of
children was ruled legal, the killing of children
in their mother's wombs.
In 1985, the Supreme Court ruled that nativity
scenes on public lands violate separation of church
and state.
Remember, January 27, 2010, the State of the
Union Address, President Obama said, in the end,
it's our ideals, our values that built America.
No, it wasn't.
No, many of the founding fathers said, it's
God's word that we build our thinking on.
He says, they're American values, our ideals, our
values.
You know, really to me, that's a paraphrase
of Judges 21, 25.
In those days, there was no king in
Israel.
Everyone did what is right in his own
eyes.
And when everyone does what is right in
his own eyes, God's word tells us about
what our heart is like.
The heart is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked.
Really, as I read Matthew 24, as in
the days of Noah, so shall the coming
of the Son of Man be, in many
ways, we could look at today and say,
it's just like the days of Noah.
And God saw the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and every intent of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.
Certainly true of an increasing part of this
culture.
Remember the verse we started with, and for
this reason, God will send them a strong
delusion that they should believe the lie.
What greater lie can there be than God's
word is not true?
What greater lie can there be that there
is no God?
And people, that lie is permeating the culture
and it permeates the public schools and it
permeates the television and permeates our education system.
I wrote about that lie back in 1987
when we first published the book called The
Lie.
Because what's happened is that we live in
a culture in which people are being taught
that they're just animals.
They're no different animals.
Legislation protects that students not be allowed to
be taught that God is creator, or even
that possibility, but that they're animals that evolved
over millions of years.
It's a reminder of Romans 1.23, they
changed the glory of the incorruptible God because
it used to be that kids in our
public schools were taught that God is creator.
But now they've changed the glory of the
incorruptible God in our public schools and the
education system.
And they've made an image made like corruptible
man and birds and four-footed animals and
creepy things, creeping things from which we all
supposedly evolved.
They exchanged the truth of God for the
lie and they worshipped and served the creature,
even a dead elk, rather than the creator
who was blessed forever.
Yes, this lie, the lie of evolution, big
bang, millions of years has permeated our culture
and it's had evil consequences because as generations
of our young people have been taught the
lie and they've doubted and walked away from
the word of God, now we see a
change in this nation from God's word to
man's word.
We see a change from the absolutes of
Christianity to moral relativism pervading the nation.
What does God think of a nation like
this?
Oh, back to Romans 1, for the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
And even as they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a debased mind to do those
things which are not fitting.
Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness
in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor
their bodies among themselves.
And for this reason, God gave them up
to vile passions for even their women exchanged
the natural use for what is against nature.
People, a sign that God is giving a
culture over to judgment, a sign that God
is withdrawing the restraining influence of the Holy
Spirit is that sign of homosexual behavior, gay
marriage that is permeating this nation.
Therefore, it is my assertion, America is under
judgment.
It's under judgment by an almighty God who
looks upon this culture that has thrown God
out of the culture.
By and large, it has thrown God out
of the culture.
God out of the public schools by and
large.
If that is so that America is under
judgment, then how should we view the President
of the United States who has promoted gay
marriage, pushed the gay marriage homosexual agenda in
a big way, has condoned the killing of
55 million children that makes what Hitler did
at the Holocaust pale in comparison.
Daniel 2.21 says he removes kings and
raises up kings.
God removes kings, God raises up kings.
Isaiah, Isaiah.
45.1, thus says the Lord to his
anointed, to Cyrus, a pagan king, whose right
hand I have held, to subdued nations, he
raises up whom he wills to do his
work, to subdued nations, and loose the armor
of kings, to open before him double doors.
Romans 13, let every soul be subject to
the governing authorities, for there is no authority
except from God, and the authorities that exist
are appointed by God.
President Obama has been appointed by God to
be where he is.
Scripture makes it clear.
If America is under judgment then, the leader
is there for America's judgment.
And that's a sobering fact.
It's true, and I believe it is.
If the leader is there for America's judgment,
wow, we need to fall on our knees
before a holy God, if my people humble
themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked
ways, then I will heal the land.
This nation needs to fall on its knees
before a holy God and repent.
You know, when you go to Washington, D
.C., you can still see the reminders of
the Christian heritage of this nation.
You go into the rotunda of the Capitol
building, you'll see the painting of founding fathers
on their knees in a prayer meeting.
You see Bible verses or the Ten Commandments
on the Supreme Court building.
When the president stands there and does his
State of the Union address, he's looking at
a carving of what represents the face of
Moses, the law giver.
I have 12 stones here, and those 12
stones really remind me of the reminders of
the Christian heritage of this nation.
Bible, prayer, creation used to be in the
public schools.
Christian symbols like crosses, Ten Commandments, nativity scenes
used to be in public places.
Marriage was considered a man and a woman.
Abortion was considered wrong because you're killing a
human being.
But you know what's been happening?
What's been happening is that those reminders that
were once there have been removed and replaced
with a whole different worldview, a reminder of
the change of foundation from God's Word to
man's Word.
You know, I use 12 stones because in
Joshua we read, when Joshua went across the
Jordan River, a great miracle of the Lord
to cross the Jordan River.
And after they crossed the river, he said,
take yourselves 12 stones from here out of
the midst of the Jordan.
What do these stones mean?
That they may be a sign, that they'll
be a memorial.
These 12 stones are to be a sign,
a memorial to remind the next generation of
what God did.
So when your children ask their fathers in
time to come saying, what are these stones,
then you will let your children know.
Make sure you pass on that spiritual legacy
to the next generation.
Make sure you do that.
That is so important.
Remind the next generation.
Don't lose that spiritual legacy.
Pass that spiritual legacy on.
And not only for the next generation, not
only for your children, but that all the
peoples of the earth may know the hand
of the Lord.
People, there were times in the past in
this great nation in America when that spiritual
legacy was passed on to the next generation.
And America sent missionaries out around the world
so that all the peoples of the earth
may know the hand of the Lord.
But just like in Joshua, you know what
happened in Joshua's day?
Sadly, the next generation was not reminded as
it should have been.
The fathers did not pass on that spiritual
legacy as they should have done.
We read that Joshua then dies.
The elders that were with him died.
And then the next generation, what happened?
Then the children of Israel did evil in
the sight of the Lord.
And they followed other gods.
They lost it in one generation.
It only takes one generation to lose a
culture.
We are losing this culture before our very
eyes right now.
It only takes one generation.
Statistics show very clearly that two-thirds of
young people from the church in America are
walking away from the church by the time
they reach college age.
As this exodus from the church continues to
happen, and if we don't stop this, I
believe America will be where England is today,
where statistics indicate two-thirds of teenagers don't
even believe in God.
Church attendance in England is down from, what,
50%, 60% around World War II to
7% or 6% right now.
What's happened there is happening here.
And as we see in England, United Kingdom,
across Europe, across our Western world, moral relativism
pervading the culture, it sure is a reminder,
I think, of what it must have been
like in the days of Noah.
So what's the solution?
Well, we could look to Bill O'Reilly
for the solution from Fox News.
Let's see what he says is the solution.
Bill Russell, Brighton, Michigan.
As Laura tried to explain, our belief system
is our policy.
We believe there are only two sexes and
that marriage is between a man and a
woman.
We see other lifestyles as sin.
Let me break this to you as gently
as I can, Bill, because this is the
crux of the matter.
Your belief system is constitutionally protected, and I
respect it.
But if you think you will influence any
U.S. policy with a sin analysis, you
are misguided in the extreme.
I've got news for you, Bill O'Reilly.
The problem is we have not been standing
up and giving a sin analysis in this
nation.
And that's what we do need to do
from the authority of the Word of God.
Now, I know there are some that are.
There's a remnant that do out there, but
as a whole, no, the nation doesn't want
to consider a sin analysis.
People, we need preachers of righteousness as Noah
was a preacher of righteousness.
Wow, are you depressed?
Is there any good news?
You know, as I travel throughout America and
I visit with people at the Creation Museum,
I'm reminded of that passage in Elijah, who
himself was reminded that there were thousands that
hadn't bowed the knee to Baal.
There is an incredible remnant of God's people
in this nation who do stand on the
authority of the Word of God.
That's where many of you are.
And I believe you're all part of that
remnant.
But we need to mobilize that remnant in
this nation, because in many ways they feel
intimidated.
In many ways, many of them don't even
really know how to defend the faith and
answer questions and don't know how to confront
these issues.
You know, that's one of the reasons why
I believe the Lord has raised up Answers
in Genesis and other ministries, ministries like Living
Waters and Ray Comfort.
The Lord has raised up ministries like Answers
in Genesis and the Creation Museum to be
reminders, to call people back to the authority
of the Word of God, to remind people
that the history in the Bible is true.
That's why the gospel based in that history
is true.
He's raising up ministries like that in this
nation, that they may be a sign and
a memorial to the children, and that all
the peoples of the earth may know the
hand of the Lord.
As we do at the Creation Museum, we
walk people through the history in the Bible
from Genesis to Revelation.
We call it the seven seas of history.
And we help people understand that history in
Genesis concerning creation of a perfect world, the
entrance of sin and death, corruption because of
man's rebellion against God, the catastrophe of Noah's
flood, and the terror of Babel.
That history is true.
And we have researchers who help people understand
that we can go out in biology and
geology and astronomy and chemistry and so on,
and we can show how the evidence confirms
over and over again the Bible's history.
And the gospel is based in that history.
Actually, the greatest reminder, I believe, of the
gospel is the cross.
Because of what happened on that cross.
Death and resurrection of Jesus paid the penalty
for our sin.
Offers a free gift to salvation.
Other than the cross, I believe Noah's ark
is the greatest reminder of salvation.
You see, God had Noah build an ark,
and the world was so wicked.
And he was going to judge the world
with a flood.
And Noah did what God commanded him to
do.
He's a righteous man.
He's in the Hebrews Hall of Fame.
And you know, God sent the animals to
Noah to go on board that ark.
And then eight people went on that ark.
Only eight people went on that ark.
Only those who went through the doorway could
be saved.
You know, Noah's ark is really a picture
of salvation.
God's son stepped into history and said, I
am the door.
By me, if any man enter in, he'll
be saved.
Just as Noah and his family had to
go through a doorway to be saved, we
need to go through a doorway to be
saved.
Wow.
And of course, the flood was a judgment
because of the wickedness of man, but it's
also a message of grace and salvation because
of what God provided for those who trust
him to go through a door to be
saved.
Sadly, the evidence of the flood, fossil layers
all over the earth, is used today to
teach students that that event is not true,
that those fossil layers are a result of
millions of years.
Imagine.
Imagine if we were to rebuild Noah's ark
in our day, in this age of wickedness,
as a great reminder that God's word is
true, that he's a God who judges sin
and wickedness, but he's a God of mercy
because he provides a free gift of salvation.
Imagine if we were to rebuild Noah's ark.
CBS 60 Minutes, back in November 2009, in
conjunction with Vanity Fair magazine, I'm sure you'll
get that, they conducted a web survey asking
what archaeological discovery would people want to be
made next.
Noah's ark, 43%.
I mean, that outstripped everything else.
And they said this on their website.
This is in the secular world.
Noah's ark continues to capture the imagination of
the general public and this interest spans all
social, religious and economic segments.
The ark and the flood is one of
the few historical events which are well known
in the worldwide global circle.
And that's true.
People all over the earth have heard of
Noah's ark.
There are flood legends and cultures all over
the world.
Whenever there's a supposed sighting of the remains
of Noah's ark on Mount Ararat, not that
we necessarily believe that that is there, but
in fact the Bible says it landed on
the mountains of Ararat, but we won't get
into that discussion tonight.
But whenever there is such a mention, what
happens?
There's newspaper headlines across the world.
TV headlines.
People are fascinated by Noah's ark.
And sadly, many people twist the account of
Noah's ark.
But we have said to ourselves, what if
we were to rebuild Noah's ark as a
real boat, out of wood, the size of
the ark.
And as you walk through it, answer questions
that people have like, how many animals could
he feed on board and how could he
take care of them and so on, with
a purpose for helping people understand the history
is true.
If there really was a global flood, you'd
expect to find billions of dead things buried
in rock layers laid down by water all
over the earth.
And that's what you find.
And the main purpose is then to present
the door.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
As Noah and his family went through a
door to be saved.
You need to go through a door.
We contracted with Rick Beamer, head of America's
research group, to go out and do a
general population study.
And we said, go out and do a
general population study.
Find out if we rebuilt Noah's ark, would
people actually come?
When he did the study on the creation
museum, he predicted 400,000 people would come
for the first year, which would be the
biggest year.
It always is for an opening of a
new facility like that.
And we had 404,000.
He missed it by that much.
But it was pretty well what he predicted.
So he went out and did the research
for us.
Do you think the idea of building an
exact replica of the ark is a worthy
idea?
76% say yes.
Would you personally like to see this ark
built?
81% say yes.
If a replica of the ark were constructed
in America, would you take your family to
see it?
63% say yes.
That represents 200 million people.
Actually, just from America alone, when he distilled
down all the figures and how they do
their research and so on, he said this
would mean, as he said for the creation
museum, you would expect 400,000 in the
first year.
He said you should expect 2 million people
in the first year.
Wow.
Do you know of any other Christian facility
that could reach so many people like that,
of which his statistics indicate 60% or
so would be unchurched?
Wow.
Another question he asked, is it important that
children see the ark so they could easily
believe the Bible?
You know, it's interesting.
When people come to the creation museum, one
of the things they've said to me is,
when we bring our children here, it helps
make it real to them.
You see, the secular world put figures of
so-called ape men and so on to
try to make a lie real to them.
We need to make the truth real to
them.
That's what we do at the creation museum.
I remember when a particular atheist visited the
creation museum in opening year, so it was
just over six years ago, and she was
quoted in the newspaper afterwards as saying something
like that, that place is dangerous, it is
so well done, kids are going to believe
it.
Actually, we asked America's research group, what would
be worst, worst, worst, worst case scenario in
regard to attendance at the ark?
And he sat down and did some calculations
and said, hmm, worst case scenario, 1.2
million, but I don't believe that would be
so.
He said, I really do believe you'll get
2 million people a year.
He actually indicated probably double the attendance at
the creation museum.
So you know what?
We stepped out in faith a few years
ago to build what we call the ark
encounter project, to rebuild Noah's ark as a
reminder, as a reminder that God's word is
true, as a reminder of the gospel.
We want people to understand this event did
happen.
God did send the animals to Noah.
Eight people did go on board that ark.
You know, the Bible seems to indicate that
when it was fully loaded, that ark stood
for seven days before God shut the door.
I don't know what Noah was doing in
those seven days.
I like to think that maybe he was
out being a preacher of righteousness, standing in
front of the door saying, come through the
door to be saved.
There's judgment coming.
But nobody else came in.
And God shut the door.
Let me do that again.
And then the people outside realized something was
wrong, and the flood did come.
And it's left its mark indelibly across the
earth.
Fossil layers, canyons.
You know, today many people are out there
saying, we've got to tell people about Jesus.
But what we don't realize is, many of
them don't believe the book from which the
message of Jesus comes, because they've been indoctrinated
to believe that Noah's flood never happened.
No, the evidence of the fossils is evidence
of evolution and millions of years, supposedly.
We need to tell them the truth.
They've been told a lie.
And of course, the main reason for rebuilding
the ark is to remind people that God's
son stepped into history.
He became one of us, our relative.
You see, there are no different races.
There's only one race of people.
Actually, there's two races.
Well, really, there's only one race.
Well, there's one race biologically, but there's two
races spiritually, the godly and the ungodly.
But he stepped into history to be of
our biological race, to be the God man,
to be one of us.
To suffer death on a cross, because death
was a penalty for sin.
You didn't have millions of billions of dead
things and diseases, and as you see in
the fossil record, like cancer and brain tumors,
millions of years before man.
No, it's man's sin that resulted in death
and disease.
And our bodies will die, but we're not
like the animals.
We're not an animal.
We're made in the image of God.
Our body will die, but our soul will
live forever, separated from God.
But God wanted to save us from what
we did, because when we rebelled in Adam
and we're descendants of Adam, what he did,
we did, we really said, we don't want
God.
And God said, but I want you.
I love you so much.
And he stepped into history to pay the
penalty for our sin.
And he said, I am the door.
You know, that door is open.
But one day, like Noah's ark, that door
is going to shut.
And then the judgment will come.
See, when we look at the world, we
could get all depressed.
And people, if America really is under judgment,
and the president is there because God is
judging America, and he's there for our judgment,
we could easily get depressed.
But we need to occupy until he comes.
You know what we need today?
We need people like Noah who are preachers
of righteousness.
And I want to mobilize all of us
that we would get out there and stand
upon the authority of the word of God
and preach with boldness and be unashamed and
preach with authority because we believe the authority
from which it comes and get equipped with
answers so we're not going to be intimidated
by the secularists.
And we will stand tall and not compromise
as many, sadly, of our Christian leaders have
done.
You've been listening to the From the Pulpit
in Classic Sermons series.
This week you heard Ken Ham with his
message, The Great Delusion, The Spiritual State of
the Nation.
Tune in next week to hear William Blackburn
talk about the Salvation Test on From the
Pulpit in Classic Sermons.