Understanding the Times

1 Chronicles 12:32; Acts 17:22-34

There are two opposing spiritual ideas vying for the American mind today: Biblical Christianity, on the one hand, and Secular Humanism on the other. Secular in that it focuses on the moment, and humanism in that it exalts man above everything else. There are those who want to build on the Judeo-Christian heritage that was the foundation of this great nation, and there are those who want to abandon those principles in favor of the shifting sands of pluralism and liberalism. I think we can best understand the times if we see the battlefront on four areas.

I. The conflict between the belief in the

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and

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.

A. The Christian worldview is based on a belief in the

.

1. We believe there is a God who is Creator and that he

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   is to be worshiped.

2. We believe that God has revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ and that he alone is

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   .

B. The humanists

the supernatural altogether.

1. Humanism begins with a premise that there is no
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   , or if there is he can’t be
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   and he’s irrelevant.

C. The humanist teaches that we are not here by divine creation, but we are here by a series of cosmic

.

D. Humanists believe we are evolving into

beings and that we will eventually be able to resolve all our problems on our own.

E. Naturalism rejects the idea that the Bible is the

Word of God.

F. Atheists are not the only ones who reject the basic premises of Christianity,

theologians are doing the same.

II. The conflict between the spirit of

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and

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.

A. The Christian worldview is that God had a

in the establishing of nations.

B. God

us and

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us through the history of nations.

C. Multiculturalism is the breaking down of national barriers and the exalting of a

of cultures.

D. According to the humanist, the hope for the future is a

government where man is able to redeem himself.

E. It’s no accident that so many of our national heroes are

these days.

F. Cultural

are underscored.

G. Western civilization is constantly

these days because it represents Christianity and because there has been a strong patriotic feeling in America.

H. The result of multicultural emphasis is twofold:

1. There is little or no sense of

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   .

2. There is little sense of

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   .

III. The conflict between a respect for

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verses

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.

A. The Christian worldview is that God has established

for behavior for our benefit.

B. It is extremely important that we reestablish a standard for the

and

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realm.

C. The humanist is seeking to abolish any absolute standards, so truth is determined by a

opinion, or by personal

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, or by the latest

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evidence.

D. If we come to a place in society where, just because we

like doing something that gives us license to do it, it’s going to be

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.

E. The adversary is encroaching on Christian territory and it’s time to get in the

and to take a

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.

IV. The conflict between the

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verses the

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.

A. The Christian believes there is

beyond the grave.

B. The humanist still

at the idea of life after death.

C. We believe that God is our Creator – He alone is worthy of

.

D. We believe Jesus is our Savior – He alone can forgive our

and conquer the

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.

E. We believe that God has established absolute guidelines for our benefit and they are communicated accurately in the Bible – and it alone is the infallible

of

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.

F. We believe every day has meaning because it is just the

to eternity.