Daily Encouragement

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in San Diego

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"Lawlessness At Work"

Note: As we prepared this message terrible news crossed the airwaves of another example of lawlessness at work with the tragic school shootings in Texas. Lawlessness is pervasive on many fronts.

Message summary: Today's message shares a perspective on the increasing lawlessness of our times.

Listen to this message on your audio player.

"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only He who now restrains it will do so until He is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12).

While in California Brooksyne talked to a mother of five who described what her children were being subjected to in the public schools; various, practically unimaginable perversions of sexuality, even to very young children. What she described is too vile to even comfortably place in this message.

As this fast-moving slide into decadence progresses there has been, among many other issues, a growing delusion regarding the fundamentals of human sexuality. Right now it's the issue of "sexual identity" but who knows what will be next on their twisted agenda.

The fundamental teaching in Scripture regarding sexual identity is introduced in the Bible in Genesis 1:27 "He created them male and female". Jesus validated this in Mark 10:6, "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female".

These are powerful verses, rich in meaning, Up to the last several years understood and agreed upon by everyone. If I would have used the text the teaching probably would have focused on being created in the image of God.

Years ago the Geico insurance company had a series of ads where someone sees a Geico ad that states, "Switching to Geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance" but the other snidely says, "Everybody knows that". So he responds with, "Did you know..." followed by a silly, implausible scene.

Throughout most of my life, each generation that preceded mine all the way back to Creation, knew that we were created male and female, no discussion needed. During my years as a pastor from 1976 till 2001 if I were to have preached a message that God created us male and female, as if I were teaching something new, I would likely get a response like that of the Geico ad, "Everybody knows that!"

But now a growing number of people do not know that. As many readers know, the current battle line in the regression into sexual anarchy is the confusion of both basic biology and Scripture, as expressed, "He created them male and female". This is an absolutely consistent teaching throughout the Scriptures and affirmed by the Lord Jesus Christ in Mark 10:6, "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female".

Now modern fads assert this is really not the case, that there's really not just male and female but many sexual "identities" or "expressions".

Seeking to apply spiritual and Biblical discernment to this matter, consider that the fundamental nature of marriage is specified in Genesis 2:24, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh". This has been the common understanding of marriage from Creation right up to our current generation. When my dad died in 1998 it was unthinkable that marriage was anything but a sacred union between a man and a woman. Look at how far morality has plummeted in just over 20 years! It has now gone from a perversion of God-ordained marriage in Genesis 2 to a perversion of the God-ordained male and female sexual identity in Genesis 1.

The year we married in 1976 Francis A. Schaeffer wrote a book with the intriguing title, "How Should We Then Live". Here's a summary description:

"Schaeffer's central premise is when we base society on the Bible, on the infinite-personal God who is there and has spoken, this provides an absolute by which we can conduct our lives and by which we can judge society. This leads to what Schaeffer calls "Freedom without chaos." When we base society on humanism, which he defines as "a value system rooted in the belief that man is his own measure, that man is autonomous, totally independent", all values are relative and we have no way to distinguish right from wrong except for utilitarianism. Because we disagree on what is best for which group, this leads to fragmentation of thought, which has led us to the despair and alienation so prevalent in society today."

This really seems prophetic given the direction our society has taken since it was written!

Our daily text is from Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians. Chapter 2 has long been somewhat a mystery to serious Bible students with a variety of interpretations. The section begins, "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work". It is quite apparent that lawlessness is already at work and increasing day by day. In many ways it has been at work ever since the Fall of man but there are times of increase and times of decrease. The text states, "Only He who now restrains it will do so until He is out of the way". When that happens there will be an even greater lawlessness.

Finally let us consider the phrase "a strong delusion". When people reject the truth they inevitably subject themselves to error. This leads to spiritual blindness and deception. I believe what we are now seeing is "a strong delusion".

Today we urge each of our readers "to love the truth and so be saved".

Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, we cry out to You for help as Satan seeks to eradicate the essential underpinnings of our Biblical faith through his ever-growing distortions of that which is derived not only from Scripture but even from our good common sense, our natural ability to make good judgment and to behave in a practical, sensible way. In these changing times when a large majority make judgments not based on truth, but on their preference, their emotion or what they personally perceive to be truth, keep us unswerved by such erratic babble. "True wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere" and it is derived from You, "the Father of lights who does not change like the shifting shadows." Keep us steady, immovable, and abounding in Your truth and works that honor You, seeking Your approval above all others. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

In light of the horrific news from Texas, the killing of innocent young school children and an instructor, we pray for their heartbroken family members and friends. We look to You, Father, to heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds as they grieve the senseless slaughter of innocent life which included their own precious loved one. We pray for miraculous intervention in the lives of those who are barely clinging to life and those who lives will be affected in terribly adverse ways. Help our country to realize the only lasting reform that will heal our nation is Jesus Christ who changes the hearts of men and women, boys and girls. Amen.

Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

"Geico 'Did You Know' Commercials Compilation" Video These really were rather funny!

A steady stream of surfers walked down Sunset Cliffs Blvd this past Sunday afternoon. Look carefully and you will see Brooksyne with her camera getting ready to take a photo from where they were staying, while Ester is standing on a cliff opposite her taking photos.

Click on photo to enlarge

Ester caught this surfer appearing to be airborne.

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