Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.”

This verse is often used as a catalyst for people in churches to ‘cast a vision’; they have some goal in the future that they wish to attain, and they use this verse as a springboard for their vision. Some claim that God has given them a vision and, as such, this now becomes the defining focus of their lives. But nothing could be further from the truth. This verse is actually talking about the proper teaching of the Word of God. Where there is no clear teaching of the Word of God – no proper expository, contextual teaching of the Word of God – people, referring to the society around us, cast off restraint; they are unable to control themselves. I recently read this account offered by a dear brother in the Lord who is a student of History:

On OCTOBER 11, 1798, President John Adams wrote to the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Division of the Militia of Massachusetts: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.” Adams continued: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

British Statesman Edmund Burke told the National Assembly, 1791: “What is liberty without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils…madness without restraint. Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites.” Edmund Burke continued: “Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without.”

U.S. Speaker of the House Robert Winthrop stated on May 28, 1849: “Men, in a word, must be controlled either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet.”

Here we see that these very wise men understood that man will not control himself. He must have the Word of God preached and taught or the government will be forced to control him. The Bible is the foundation of all moral law. In it we find right and wrong very clearly laid out so that even a child will know them. King David wrote this in Psalm 119:11-16,

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.”

The first part is familiar to many; God’s word memorized in our hearts and minds helps us to stop sinning against God. We will still fail; we live in the flesh but we will fail less. We will sin less, but in this life we will not be sinless. God’s Word is a restraint to sin and lawlessness, but it is only effective if people know it. Like medicine, it is only going to fight the universal infection of sin if it is taken in consistent doses. Lately, the attacks on those that are Christians have become more and more overt, and frankly more and more acceptable to the masses. This was reported by Fox News on October 3rd, 2019, and confirmed by Ben Shapiro on his news as well:

“Dr. David Mackereth, 56, a National Health Service employee, was fired from his post at the Department for Work and Pensions in July because he would not use a transgender pronoun, saying he believes ‘gender is defined by biology and genetics’ and the ‘Bible teaches us that God made humans male or female.'”

Over the past 50+ years, we have allowed the Left-leaning politicians to take the teaching of the Bible out of the public view, beginning with the schools; and we have a generation of children that simply does not know that there are only two (2) genders. All else are mental issues and used to be considered so until the ‘revelation of the Bible’ was moved out of the public sphere. Sadly, the main issue is not the Left-leaning politicians; it is that the Lord’s ‘churches’ are not teaching the truth either. Many are not teaching the truth; every sermon is about how good we are and how God is bringing us from one season to the next, and the idea of sowing seeds, and on and on we go. Look, the Bible has all of that; but first and foremost, we are told by the apostle Paul that the scripture is given to us for doctrine first, but also for other things. See 2 Timothy 3:16-17,

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Notice the order: doctrine, then reproof and correction, then instruction in righteousness, and then we are furnished “unto good works.” All reproof must be based on doctrine. Doctrines are the fundamental and eternal principles that are clearly laid out in the Holy Scriptures. Here are a few of the doctrines that we find clearly laid out in the scriptures:

1. God created everything: Genesis 1-2; John 1: 10; Psalm 33:6; Job 26:13.
2. God made man and woman (the only two genders in His image): Genesis 1:27, 5:2; Mark 10:6.
3. God designed marriage for a man and a woman in sexual and matrimonial union only. Nothing else is good; all else is evil and wrong: Mark 10:6; Genesis 2:24.
4. God prepared Salvation: Genesis 3:15; Romans 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-10.
5. God gave us clearly laid-out laws that apply to all people everywhere in the Ten Commandments: Exodus 20. While they were given to the Jewish people as a part of the giving of the Law, the Ten Commandments are designed to work with any people anywhere. These are the framework for our restraint.
6. We need Laws, we need the rules because we are sinners, born that way and living that way: Romans 3:10, 3:23. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the “heart of man is deceitfully wicked.” A man/woman should never follow their hearts; they should only follow the expressed written word of God in obedience to it.
7. Salvation is a gift of God: Roman 6:23; John 3:16; Ephesian 2:8-9. One can never do enough good works to win God’s salvation.
8. God intended for men to work; even in the Garden, Adam was given work: Genesis 2:15. Even in the Garden, before sin came, man had to work. In 2 Thessalonians 3:10, we are told that if a man is not willing to work, he should not eat. This has nothing to do with the sick, infirmed or crippled. But if an able-bodied man is not willing to work, he should not eat. Don’t feed him and feed his laziness. Why? Read verse 11; they have undisciplined lives and are accomplishing nothing. This one verse here would save us billions on our Welfare system.
9. God gave us clear rules on how to administer the death penalty: Deuteronomy 19:15. You must have credible witnesses; if found to be lying, they are to suffer the fate that would have been administered to the accused. Then, Genesis 9:6 mandates the death penalty for murder. There are other death penalty crimes as well including rape, kidnapping and others. But it is clear that the death penalty is prescribed by God as just remedy for murder.
10. Salvation is by and through Jesus only: John 14:1-6; Acts 4:12; 1 Corinthians 2:2.

We can go on, but all of these are doctrines; these are the rules that God has set up for us to live by, for us to govern society by, and to have order and, yes, restraint. In Judges 21:6 and 17:25, we are told that “in those days they had no king, and every man did what was right in his own eyes.” If we pair this with Jeremiah 17:9, that man’s heart is deceitfully wicked, then we see that when men do what is right in their own eyes, it is almost always evil and sinful. In Deuteronomy 17:18 we are told that the King that rules Israel was to have a copy of the Law with him at all times so he could govern justly. You see, the Law restrained the King, and the King obeying the law judged the people, properly executing justice.

The Left ideologies are that we don’t need God, we don’t need the Word of God, and we can simply live to please ourselves and all will be well. When left to ourselves without the Word of God, we never choose what is right. We need the restraint of the Bible to help us. We, the Lord’s people, with our voting record, have allowed the Left to take away the Bible from the public view, taken them from our schools, diminished free speech and limited where and how we can use the Bible. The NFL just tried to fine a man from one of the teams for wearing a headband saying “Man of God.” This used to be celebrated, but now it is vilified.

In an article from June 8, 2017, about a man named Russell Vought who was nominated by the President for the Office of Management and Budget, Bernie Sanders made it clear that he, Vought, was unfit for the job as he was a devout Christian who believed that Jesus was the only way of salvation and had expressed that thought in a paper saying that Muslims did not believe in the God of the Bible. This is a doctrine. Jesus clearly states that He is the only way, the only truth and the only life; no one can come to the Father but through Him. Mr. Vought clearly stated his beliefs. But Mr. Sanders came this conclusion:

“I would simply say, Mr. Chairman, that this nominee is really not someone who is what this country is supposed to be about,” Sanders said. “I will vote no.”

A man who has Christian beliefs is NOT WHAT THIS COUNTRY IS ABOUT? Now, go back to the quoted piece at the very beginning of this article, and you will see that, in fact, this man, Mr. Vought, was the very epitome of what the USA was about; he was a man who understood the restraint that the Bible brings to men when we obey its doctrines. Then, as Paul tells Timothy, we can do proper reproof, we can do proper correction, and we can produce proper works (proper lifestyle, both individually and as a nation; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

The Desire to be a Man in the image of God

This will be the last part of this series. The Lord may lead me to do more later, but this one is the last for this time. As I have mentioned before, the issue in North America is not Toxic Masculinity as the feminists would have you believe but a lack of good, strong Biblical masculinity. We have too many men who are ignorant of the Bible and what it teaches and are not equipped to stand up and defend what it says. In Hosea 4:6, we have these sobering words from the Lord:

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.”

God’s people are destroyed because of the lack of knowledge of God’s word. Look at the last line, “Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.” Wow! These are hard words. Words that are haunting us here in North America right now. We have a generation of kids that literally do not know right from wrong, and it is because their parents have forgotten God’s laws. As such, these children are plagued with lawlessness. It is a dad’s job to make sure his kids know God’s law.

We talked about the fathers being the priests in their homes. The main job of the priest was to make sure that everyone knew God’s laws. Look at the rates of murders and suicides amongst our young people, and it sure looks like God has forgotten them. We have a generation of kids that have been convinced by Google that they know more than their parents; and we, the parents, have stood for it.

If you have come to the point in your life where you agree with God that you are a sinner, lost, unable to help yourself, and deserving of God’s righteous punishment in a place called Hell forever, and you have come to humble yourself before God, putting your complete confidence in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection as the only means for your salvation, then you are saved. See Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 10:9-10, John 3:16-17, and on I can go; but read these and make sure that you know Jesus as Savior.

If you are a child of God, my dear brother, there are two admonitions that I would like to give you from the word of God today. This will not be a long read, but I hope that it will challenge you to be the Godly man that we need today and to step up, put God first above every other thing or person in your life, including you, yes, the one looking at you in the mirror.

1. Ezekiel 22:29-31

“The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and exploited the foreign resident without justice. ³⁰ I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one. ³¹ So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

God is looking for men to stand up for what is right, publicly. What if more Godly men ran for office? What if more Godly men were our mayors, our governors/premiers (Canada), presidents/prime ministers (Canada and the Commonwealth). What if more Godly men were policemen, teachers, and on we could go. What if those Godly men actually stood up for the laws of God? Well that is what God is looking for; read the verse. God was looking for ‘a man to stand in the gap on behalf of the land.’ But, somewhere along the way, the Godly man shied away from standing up. Whether for fear of loss of life or job, and here we are.

Well, since we would not stand up for God, then verse 31 comes to play; God is pouring out His anger on us, and we are being consumed. Men, we as a society are not good; we are not going to be good without the Word of God. And we need Godly men to stand up and rescue us from the wrath of God. You can only turn a blind eye for so long. Edmund Burke is quoted as saying this,

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

Well, we have done nothing to stop it, and it is prospering right in front of our eyes. Too many Godly men have become spectators, and we sit and try to ignore. But eventually the evil ends up on your door step. Someone kills your family, steals your daughters, the drugs end up in your home, and the weapons on your property. When does it get to be enough? According to the information on Statistics Canada, suicide for age 15-19 went from 168 in 2013 to 223 in 2017, a 13% increase in just 4 years; and death by homicide went from 36 to 44 in the same time frame, an increase of almost 20%. Even accidental injuries went down, but these two went up.

Children and adults alike need rules; they need a framework to be free in. God knew this, and so He built us a framework of laws that keep us safe and teach us that life is precious. God wants Godly men to step up and take their place and act as a balm for society at large. God is not ignoring the role of our precious ladies, but it is the men that He calls to stand up and save the people in our nations from His wrath and judgments.

2. Jude 3-4

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. ⁴ For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God is calling Godly men to stand up for truth in our churches. Jude intended this letter to be a joyous celebration of our ‘common salvation’ in Jesus. But the Holy Spirit led him to write a scathing epistle about defending the truth of the scriptures. God calls us men to ‘earnestly contend’; that is to fight for the faith. We have churches filled with people who are going to Hell. They have come to believe in a Jesus that is NOT the Jesus of the Bible. This false Jesus takes you just the way you are and apparently leaves you just the way you are. His Holy Spirit does not challenge you, change you, purge you of sin nor transform you in any way. These are lies from Hell.

We that have children know that children grow, they learn to turn over, they crawl, they sit up, then walk, then run; and they say the first words, then a phrase or two, then complete sentences. They learn how to toilet themselves, and on and on we go. There are milestones that mark proper development. Yet we have people in churches that have never progressed in their growth in the Lord. Now, some kids may walk at 9 months, some at 12 months, but they walk. If they are not walking at 18 months, we go to find out what is wrong. God’s churches are filled with people who are not growing in Jesus; they show no desire to grow, no desire to mimic the person of Christ, and no desire to serve others. They show up, sing a few songs, get through the sermon and go back to their lives until next week.

Our churches need Godly men who will contend for the faith. Men who will study the Bible, read the truths, know the doctrine and then stand for it. Men who will call out false doctrine and not allow other ungodly men to come in and stifle the growth of the Lord’s people with false doctrines. Sometimes the reason a child is under-performing in his/her development is that they need better food. Their bodies are not being fed. In churches, the very same thing can happen: not enough good spiritual food to spur on growth and progress.

Men, you need to be the ones contending for the faith. Bring the good food to your Sunday School classes, to your men’s Bible studies, challenge each other, pray for each other and hold each other accountable in Godly love so that false doctrine and evil teaching will not creep in and corrupt the truths that we hold dear, and upon which our common salvation is based.

If you and I want to be Godly men, if we want to be men who make a difference in our homes, our nations and our churches, then we need to stand up for the Lord and be counted. I heard a preacher this year at one of our conferences say this: “If you want to be outstanding, you must first stand out.”

Come on, men, come on, my brothers, and let us be outstanding for the Lord, and so much more as we see the last days approaching and the Lord’s return looming on the horizon.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca