Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. Isn't it interesting in light of the day that we live in with all of the myriad of conspiracy theories, of which there probably are thousands now, making us all cynics, that Satan started with a conspiracy theory. This whole thing about the tree is a conspiracy. And of course, you know, that's when cynicism entered the human race.
Cynicism is so crucial because when you really study it and understand it, where you find cynicism, you find no hope. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. Last week, I was watching the local news and they had an education expert on. And they were talking about the opening of schools. And he said that we must do it.
It has to be done and done right away. And he went on to say, he said, if we don't do it, there will be permanent brain damage to the children, even into adulthood. And he threw around some words like neurons and synapses, which I guess gave him credibility.
And when he was finished, I began to think about what he said and I had some questions in my mind. I mean, people have not been going to typical school for much of the history of man. I mean, school is a relatively newer thing. But secondly, thousands upon thousands of people in America have been homeschooled.
And it appears that they've done very well into adulthood, that there wasn't something that they were missing, some handicap to overcome. And online education in America is 25 years old. They've been online educating Americans for 25 years. So as I thought about it. I became angry. And the reason I was angry is I thought this man is making parents.
More fearful than they already are about the education of their children. So I did what I usually do when I feel that way. I began ranting about it to Velma. I just started just ranting. And I can't say I didn't enjoy the rant, but the next day I began to feel some conviction. And the reason was I was convicted about my attitude. I came to realize that I had become.
Through all these circumstances that we're facing. A cynic. I'd become cynical. I also imagine many of you have as well. That's what I want to talk about this morning. Now, if you want to know how many sermons I've ever preached on cynicism, this is it. If you want to know how many sermons I've ever heard anybody else preach on it.
This is it. It's a topic that we don't really talk about very much. Cynicism, by definition, is simply a general distrust of other people's motives and actions. A general distrust of anybody else's motives or actions.
It's not new. It began formally in Greece about 400 years before Christ was born. The man's name was Antisthenes. Antisthenes or Antisthenes, whichever way you pronounce it. He became known as the father of cynicism. The school of cynicism came out of the School of Socrates, and it was a school that decided that they didn't trust or believe anybody for anything. They didn't believe anybody's views and viewpoints on family, money, goals, opinions, gratifications. They didn't believe any of it.
They said life should never be like that. They were cynics. In fact, when Antisthenes, what he said, what he did is he backed it up and he lived on the streets of Athens. He believed in living a life of complete poverty, which he did. He ate raw meat when he could, and he became famous for barking at people when they came by him.
He would just bark at them. By the way. The Greek word that was used to describe him is kinos. It's the root word for the modern English word cynic. Kinos. In Greek, it means dog.
He barked at him, so they called him the dog. And that's the beginning of cynicism as far as a form of philosophy. But it's not the beginning of cynicism. I want you to go with me to Genesis three to see the beginning of cynicism. Now, in three, you know the story, it's Adam and Eve, it's the great temptation, it's all that.
We know the fall of man, but I want you to see what happens. The woman talks to the serpent, she says, you'll not eat or touch the tree or you'll die. And he says in verse four, you surely will not die. And then he says this, for God knows that in the day that you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
What's he saying? Well, first thing he's saying is the tree in the center of the garden is not for your protection. God said, no, no, no, he's not telling you the truth, it's not for your protection. God's deceiving you. You see, God's deceiving you. What he's doing is open deception. In other words, the implication is God is two-faced. He tells you one thing, but it's something else. And he says, look, this is what's really going on. Isn't it interesting, in light of the day that we live in with all of the myriad of conspiracy theories, of which there probably are thousands now, making us all cynics, that Satan started with a conspiracy theory.
This whole thing about the tree is a conspiracy. And of course, you know that's when cynicism entered the human race. Cynicism is so crucial because when you really study it and understand it, where you find cynicism, you find no hope. Cynics are not hopeful people at all. No culture in the modern era is as cynical as ours.
We're the most cynical culture. The shift for all this began in the 19th century. You see, up until the 19th century, the optimism that man had was based on optimism based on the goodness of God. But when the 19th century got started, we made a shift, and our optimism was based on the goodness of man.
That's what we were optimistic about. The goodness of man replaced the goodness of God. Think about it this way, in the Great Depression, FDR rallied America by telling them that we need to have faith in faith.
Think about that. He didn't say faith in God. We need to have faith in faith. Now, the optimism that you get from believing in the goodness of man collapses completely whenever man or the culture goes through the dark side of life.
So when you go through the dark side of life, you lose your confidence in man. You lose your confidence in the media. You lose your confidence in government. You lose it.
We're going through tough times, so you lose all that. And shattered optimism free falls directly in to a cynical heart. That's what we become. A lot of the philosophers of our day and age call this the age of cynicism. I read an article this week from a psychological journal talking about cynics.
And if you are one, I just want to tell you something, because one of the things they said I never thought about. Most of the people who are cynics in our culture believe they're really smart. Cynics really believe they're smart.
And they said, so we did a study. And after we studied in every measurable way, we found out cynics aren't smart. People who are non-cynical are smarter generally than people who are cynical. So if you're a cynic because you think you're so smart, a modern study said that's just not true. So what I want to talk about is I think Jesus gives us again the way in which we handle cynicism. The thing about Jesus is amazing. And please, not being a cynic doesn't mean you're naive.
No one talking about that, I'll make that point in just a moment. Jesus Christ was never cynical. He confronted lots of things, but not with cynicism.
He didn't do it at all. I want you to go with me to Matthew Chapter 10 now. The very first missionary journey before there was a church. Matthew Chapter 10. Jesus is going to send them out.
And so he sends the 12 out. And in verse 16, he makes this statement. He says, behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves. Beware of men. You've heard that often.
That's how we need to be. A lot of Christians have misapplied that. I've known Christians that actually in some way can justify shady business practices because they're being shrewd as serpents. That's not exactly what Jesus has in mind here. What he's saying is, as we live in this fallen world and this culture, we must be gentle and cautious. You need to be gentle and cautious. Beware of men. Don't be naive. Don't be naive. Don't just because men are saying something, believe them.
We live right now in the middle of this whole pandemic thing. It's just amazing how many voices are speaking and then how you have to decide which voices you listen to. Well, this voice is the truth. No, that's a false voice. That's a true voice.
That's a false voice. It's nothing wrong with being discerning. But watch it when it turns you into someone becoming a cynic.
Someone who finds yourself very cynical about it. You see, when Jesus says that, he says beware of men for a good reason. You're either for Christ or against them. There's no neutral ground here. There's no neutral ground. You can't think, no, no, that's not the voice of Jesus. That's not the voice of the Bible.
But it's kind of neutral. Jesus said, no, you've got to watch out for men. You see, you've got to beware of men. You have to have that as part of it. He said you have to be as shrewd as a serpent.
You have to understand what is going on here. And what's interesting about it is that he said, look, we need to be cautious, beware of men, because of the fall. But we need to be hopeful because of redemption. That's why we should be hopeful. So we need to be cautious because that's the way men are.
That's the way this operates. He said, beware of men. He said, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you when they're synagogues. And you will be even, he said, be brought before governors and kings for my sake as testimony to them and to the gentiles. And when they hand you over, don't worry about how or what you'll say. It'll be given to you in that hour what you have to say. For it is not, he said, you who will speak. It's the spirit of God.
Once again, the same thing I've been on for several weeks. He said, whenever they show you their hate and they arrest you and they're going to prosecute as well as persecute you. Don't worry, I got this. I got it. Now, this is a little bit unnerving to them.
I mean, their circumstances become much worse than what you and I are facing right now in America. In fact, except for John, they all died a martyr's death. They all did. That's bad. He just said, that's OK. You see, he said, look, I got this.
I know how this works. He said, even if it came down to death, notice what he says in verse 31. So do not fear. You're more valuable than a sparrow that falls.
What's he mean by that? My father sees a sparrow fall. Whenever a sparrow falls, God says a sparrow just fell and died. It has my attention. How much more valuable are you as a child of God than a sparrow?
So here's the point. Is God keenly aware of the overall situation and your situation and my situation? Is he keenly aware of that?
Jesus said, yeah, he's got that. He said, but when you live in the world, in this world at which we live now, he said, I want you. He said, I want you to be gentle and cautious. He said, that's the way I want this to be. Then he moves on. I want you to go with me to Luke Chapter seven. The second thing Jesus says that can protect us from cynicism.
And it makes sense when you understand what cynicism does. Jesus says you have to be hopeful. You have to be hopeful. When all the time.
Where everywhere. Under what conditions, all conditions. You have to be hopeful. You have to be hopeful. See, if you're hopeful, you won't be cynical.
But if you're cynical, you won't be hopeful. That's the way this works. So in Chapter seven, starting in verse 11.
What's what happens? It says soon afterwards, he went to a city called Nain and his disciples were going along with him, accompanied by a large crowd. Now, as he approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother. And she was a widow and a sizable crowd from the city was coming with her. OK, let me ask you, how bad is her situation?
Compared to yours right now. She's a woman. That's not easy in Israel. She's a widow. That's not easy. She has one son, even to take care of her. And he's dead.
That's that's a trifecta. That causes great despair. You can't imagine circumstances much worse than this. Now, when the Lord saw her, he felt compassion for her and he said to her. Do not weep.
What? I just lost my only son. Isn't there a time for weeping? I mean, isn't there a time for weeping, losing my only son?
I've already lost my husband. Isn't this a time for me to cry? Notice nothing's happened. Nothing's happened. He said, do not weep. The only thing I can think of is because he's offering her hope.
He hasn't done anything. He just offered hope. He said, do not weep. There is a time for weeping, but not now. What do you mean?
I'm going to give you hope. Now, look how it's followed. He came up, he touched the coffin, the bears came to a halt. And he said, young man, I say to you, arise. And the dead man set up and began to speak.
Jesus gave him back to his mother. Notice hope didn't come after Jesus performed the miracle. Hope was offered before Jesus acted. You see, I offer you hope before. Be hopeful. You see, be hopeful. That's such an important part for us if we're going to fight the cynicism of our own age.
I need to be hopeful. Go with me to Luke 8, verse 50. Next chapter.
Same idea. Verse 49, while he was still speaking, someone came in, he said, from the house of the synagogue official, and said, your daughter has died. Do not trouble the teacher anymore.
How bad a day is that? Now it's a child. My daughter's dead. But when Jesus heard this, he said, do not be afraid any longer, only believe. She'll be made well.
He offers it up front. Notice in verse 52, they were all weeping and lamenting for her, and he said, stop weeping. She has not died.
She's just asleep. Verse 54, he says, arise. In other words, be hopeful.
And then he acts. One of the things I say over and over again, redundantly, probably to the chagrin of a lot of people, but I keep saying the worst thing that can happen to you can't happen to you. The motive behind that is those are words of hope. The worst thing that can happen to you can't happen to you.
It can't. You see, I know from scripture, if I'm absent from the body, I'm present with the Lord. Just on the little basis of what I've read, it's probably better to be in heaven than here.
I'm just guessing this, but I think it's probably better, exponentially so. That's the hope of it. That's where our hope is.
That's where the ultimate outcome is. Notice then Luke 13. Luke 13 in verse 12.
Again, he is teaching in one of the synagogues in verse 10 on the Sabbath, and there was a woman for 18 years who had been sick, caused by a spirit, and she bent double and could not straighten out at all. So you could imagine what she looked like. How's her life going? 18 years. She could never stand up.
The pain she's in. When Jesus already called her over and he said to her, woman, you're free from your sickness. He hadn't done anything yet. He said, I got this.
He laid hands on her. Immediately, she was made erect and started glorifying God. The whole point is God says, look, don't despair. The same God who sees the sparrow fall sees your life and mine. So the idea that I'm a child of God, Romans 8, 28, all things that work out for my good has to apply to every circumstance of life, including the ones we're in. It has to.
That's the way this works. So he said, you need to be hopeful. That's what these are, just pictures of hope. Think of what he writes in Romans 15.
Paul says this. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. How do you measure how much hope you have? Let me ask you how much joy and peace you have. If you don't have joy and you don't have peace, you don't have hope. He said, but God is the God of hope. That's what God wants to give you here.
And again, if you have hope, you won't be cynical. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.
At that website you will find not only today's broadcast, but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word, we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help this radio ministry continue its broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly or with just a one-time gift. A donation for our ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word 4600 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, Louisiana 7006. If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcnola.org.
That's fbcnola.org. At our website you will find the message of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word. .
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