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Now, here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffers, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program on today's edition of Pathway to Victory. You know, we keep hearing over and over again that our culture is evolving. We are getting better and better as a civilization. But the evidence suggests the contrary.
We are devolving, and it is that moral and spiritual deterioration that is the final sign of the coming of Jesus Christ. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. As you read the headlines these days, our country seems to be spiraling deeper and deeper into moral decline. How much worse will things get?
Today, on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffers explains why our country's rapid spiritual decline will ultimately lead to its demise. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Did you ever think we'd come to this dark place in our country where animals would take priority over human life?
Where one's God-given gender could be eclipsed by personal preference? This is the new normal in which we live today, and it's frightening. At Pathway to Victory, it's our privilege to reflect God's glorious light in the darkness that pervades America today. This is one of the many reasons we were thrilled to be recipients of a $1.5 million matching challenge. We decided to call it the In God We Trust matching challenge, and we're inviting you to participate.
Your gift is now doubled, and you're becoming a testament to the enduring strength of the Christian spirit in America. I want to thank you for your generous gift by providing a special book to bless your family. It's our 250th commemorative edition of America is a Christian Nation. Plus, I'm going to send you the In God We Trust DVD. Featuring teaching from me on the future of our nation, and a patriotic MP3-format audio disc featuring 12 powerful performances by the First Baptist Dallas Choir and Orchestra.
David and I will give further details later. Right now, it's time to resume our series called America and the Bible. Today's message is titled: The New Moral Disc Order. Perhaps you've seen this headline. Most Americans think country headed in wrong direction.
Did you know a recent survey revealed that 66% of Americans agree with that sentiment? We saw what happened. When an Amtrak train went off of the tracks, Many were injured, some were killed. But as tragic as that was. Even more tragic is when a nation goes off the rails.
The results are even more disastrous. And we're seeing that happening right now in our nation and our world. How is it that our nation has gotten so far off track. Billy Graham provides an insightful answer. He writes, That moral and spiritual decadence is upon us today becomes evident at every turn of our daily newspaper.
We live in a day when old values are rejected and the sense of significance and purpose has disappeared from many people's lives. Yes, we need to cry out to be saved. save from ourselves. For it is the soul of a nation and a culture that is dying. The world is on a moral binge, such as was not known even in the days of Rome.
We have at our fingertips every pleasure that man is capable of enjoying. And man has abused every gift God ever gave him, including sex. until he no longer finds joy and satisfaction in them. Dr. Graham wrote those words in his book, World Aflame.
That was published. In nineteen sixty-five. Fifty years ago. If it was true then, how much more true is it now? You know, we keep hearing over and over again that our culture is evolving.
We are getting better and better as a civilization. But the evidence suggests the contrary. We are devolving as a nation and as a world. And it is that moral and spiritual deterioration of our world that is the final sign of the coming of Jesus Christ. And that's what we're going to talk about today as we continue our series.
We're going to look at what the Bible says about the moral deterioration of our world and how it will be a precursor to the return of Jesus Christ. Is our culture really devolving? What evidence is there, Pastor? Let me point out three signs of the moral deterioration of our nation and of our world. First of all, consider the spiritual deterioration of our culture.
Pew Research released a major survey in which they revealed that the number of Christians is declining in America. From 2007 until now, that number has gone from 78% of the population who identify as Christians to 70%. For the first time ever, the number of people who don't identify with any faith has risen to one-fourth of our population, nearly 75 million who don't identify with any faith at all. This decline in Christianity doesn't just affect Christians. It affects our entire nation and our world.
You see, for the first 200 years, this nation benefited from a Christian foundation. And although the beliefs of Christianity were not accepted by everyone, everyone, including non-Christians, benefited from that Christian foundation. It gave our nation a universal and a common understanding of right and wrong. It provided a compelling reason for people to obey what is right because of a fear of God. And for the last 200 years in essence, 250 years, everyone, including non-Christians, have been preloading, so to speak, off the benefits of a Christian nation.
But now that that foundation is deteriorating and eroding, we are beginning to see the cultural effects of a nation that has moved away from God. You see that, secondly, in the family. That spiritual and moral deterioration manifests itself in the family. Did you know that from 1970 to 2010, the rate of marriage in our country? Declined by 50%.
We had the lowest rate of marriage in 93 years, and that presents all kinds of instability in society. Single parent homes, children being reared without the benefit of a father and a mother. It's also of interest that since 1960, the divorce rate in our country has nearly doubled. You see, thirdly, the deterioration of our culture in violence. Every year for the last 20 years, there have been over 1 million violent crimes in our country.
In 1947, a sociologist named Dr. Carl Zimmerman wrote a book entitled Family and Civilization. He identified 11 symptoms of decay that were the cause of the fall of the Roman and Greek civilizations.
Now, I want you to listen to these 11 signs or 11 symptoms that caused the decay of these civilizations. See if any of them sound familiar. Number one: no-fault divorce. Number two, what he calls the birth dearth, increased disrespect for parenthood and parents. Number three, meaningless marriage rites and ceremonies.
Number four, defamation of past national heroes. Number five, acceptance of alternative marriage forms. Number six, widespread attitudes of feminism, narcissism, and hedonism. Number seven, propagation of anti-family sentiment. Number eight, acceptance of most forms of adultery.
Number nine, rebellious children. Number ten, increased juvenile delinquency. Number eleven, common acceptance of all forms of sexual perversion.
Now, Dr. Zimmerman wrote that in 1947. Citing the cause of the decline of civilizations thousands of years ago. What is the solution? to our moral deterioration.
How do you reverse this downward trend? In a word, Repentance. You know, when we think of repentance, we think of the scraggly guy. With a sandwich board, roaming the streets saying, Repent, the end of the world is near. The word repent actually is a Greek word metanoeo.
It means a change of mind. that leads to a change in behavior. As individuals and as a nation, we need to have a change of mind that leads to a change of direction in our lives. Instead of rebelling against what God has said, we need to start obeying what God has said. Listen, as an individual or a nation, we will never experience God's blessing when we are rebelling against Him.
It is impossible. No individual, no nation will be blessed that rebels against God. And as a nation, we are rebelling against God. We are shaking our fist in the face of God in two distinct areas. First of all, in the area of what God says about marriage.
Let's look and see what the Bible really says about marriage. And the best place to start is at the starting place. That's profound, isn't it? Let's go back to the book of Genesis. And I want you to look at the opening sentence in the Bible.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In this simple statement, we find the answers to the question: where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? And we find in these opening chapters of Genesis a description of how God created everything that is in the world.
And you'll remember that on the sixth day of creation, He performed his crowning work of creation, the creation of mankind. Look at verses 26 through 28. Then God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him.
Male and female, he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over everything that moves on the earth.
Now, in this passage, we find several important principles about God's purpose from the beginning. First of all, man is created in the image of God. Look at verse 27: And God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. That Hebrew word for image literally means statue.
A statue is a representation of something else. You and I have been created as statues, as images of someone greater than us. We are created in the image of God.
Now, you may love your dog. You may love your. Cat? You may treat them like little gods, but they're not, okay? They were never created, the Bible said, in the image of God.
Only man has been created in the image of God. There is a great gulf between the animal world. and in humanity. The Bible says there is a great gulf of separation between men and animals. In 1 Corinthians 15:39, Paul said, All flesh is not the same flesh.
There is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. The Bible says God created man in his own image. Principle number two: God separated mankind into two categories. Male And female. Look at verse 27 again.
He created him male and female. There are two categories of creation. It is male. and female.
Now, I don't want to get off into the weeds, but we understand. That since the fall, because of the fall, there have been some genetic abnormalities that occur. You see it in people who are born deformed, people with handicaps. There are genetic deformities that are part of the fall, but don't miss the big point. The big point is: God's original purpose in creation is two categories of human beings: male and female.
And in those two categories, you find an equality. The fact that he said he created them male and female. means that both are equal in the sight of God. Don't ever forget that principle. Don't let somebody tell you that the Bible says that women are inferior to men.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Peter said women are fellow heirs with men to the grace of God. He created them male and female. There's an equality. But listen, equality doesn't mean sameness.
God never meant for men and women to be the same. If men and women were created to be the same, then one is unnecessary. Why didn't God create everybody to be a man? Or why didn't God ever create everybody to be female? Because there is a difference in function, even though there's an equality in stature before God.
And you see this difference from the very beginning in creation: He created them male and female. And that means. There's a difference in the way we act. There's a difference in responsibility. There is a difference in how we relate to one another, including how we relate to one another sexually.
And that's why you find the prohibition against homosexual behavior. Listen to what the Bible says. Leviticus 18, verse 22. You, talking to men, you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is.
an abomination. Leviticus 20, verse 13. If there is a man who lies with a male, as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood guiltiness is upon them.
Could you be any more clear about what God thinks of the homosexual act? He says it is detestable. He says it is an abomination. That's the word of God.
Now, some people would say, well, wait a minute. You Christians, you are so hypocritical because you just pick and choose which verses out of the Bible you want to obey. Because in those same Levitical passages, it also prohibits what you can eat and how you can dress and it prescribes that you go through all of these rituals in your worship and offering bloody animals as a sacrifice. You don't do those things. Why do you disregard those rules, but you pull out and adhere to these rules?
Well, there's a very simple reason for that. There's a very simple answer. The only rules of the Old Testament that apply to us today. are those rules that are repeated in the New Testament. We don't live under the Old Testament.
We don't follow the Jewish rituals for diet and worship and law. We don't follow those anymore. They are part of the Old Testament. The word old means old.
Okay? It doesn't apply to us any longer. We live under the New Testament, the new agreement, the new law of God. And the only parts of the Old Testament we follow are those parts of the Old Testament that are repeated in the New Testament. The New Testament says nothing about dietary restrictions.
It says nothing about how you dress, about wearing pieces of garments that have two fabrics in them. It says nothing about how you plant crops. It has nothing about sacrifices. Those things are old. But the Bible does repeat in the New Testament commandments about adultery and premarital sex and homosexuality.
You know, I just don't understand why it is some Christians want to go back and try to live under the Old Testament. It's gone. It's been done away with. It is idiotic to go back and try to keep the dietary restrictions and the feast and all that. Paul said they are shadows of what is in the past.
We live under the new agreement. But in this new agreement, there are prohibitions against homosexuality. For example, in Romans 1, verses 26 and 27, Paul said, For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions. For their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. And in the same way, also, men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another.
Men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their persons, their bodies, the due penalty of their error. God's word says homosexuality is unnatural. Literally, that means it is against nature. It is against the laws of God. It is against the natural law of God.
And there are severe consequences in every area of life for it. Or consider 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 and 10. Paul said, or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Who are the unrighteous? Don't be deceived.
Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, or revilers, or swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. Did you get that? Homosexuals, Paul said, will not inherit the kingdom of God. And neither will adulterers. If you've ever committed adultery, You don't get to go to heaven, the Bible says.
And by the way, Jesus said: if you've ever lusted in your heart after another person who's not your mate, you're guilty of adultery.
So nobody who's lusted gets to go to heaven. No homosexual gets to go to heaven. No fornicator, that's premarital sex. If you've ever had premarital sex, you're out as well. If you're a covetous person, That is, somebody who has ever desired what somebody else has.
You're not making it to heaven. You're going to hell. If you're an idolater, What's an idolater? It's anybody who loves something. more than they love God.
If you've ever loved a possession or a person more than you've loved God, Count yourself out. You're not going to heaven. Nobody's going to heaven. on their own. Verse 11 says, but You were washed.
You were covered with the blood. You were sanctified. You were forgiven. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no sin. from which you can't be forgiven.
Homosexuality is not the unpardonable sin. You can be forgiven of homosexuality. You can be forgiven of any sin, but get this: to be forgiven of a sin, you first must admit that you have sinned. And we have to admit what the Bible says: homosexuality is a sin. That's what the Bible teaches.
There is a prohibition against homosexual behavior. Secondly, that leads to there is certainly a prohibition against homosexual marriage. You can take this message when you hear this said in your classroom and hear it in other places in the university.
Well, Jesus never talked about homosexuality, and he certainly never said anything about homosexual marriage. Oh, yes, he did. Where did he talk about it? He talked about it in Matthew 19. Turn over to Matthew chapter 19.
Remember, the Pharisees were trying to trip Jesus up? And they came to the Lord and they said, Lord, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?
Some of the Pharisees believed in no-fault divorce. Others were very strict about it.
So they wanted the Lord to try to take a stand and trip himself up.
So they said, Lord, answer this divorce question for us. He was so wise, and now he did it. He went to the Old Testament that they said they revered. Verse 4, Matthew 19, And Jesus answered and said, Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female? And he said, for this cause, a man shall leave his mother and father, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
Consequently, they are no longer two. but they are one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. When we fast forward from the first century to our own, you can certainly see the parallels of moral confusion in our day. Our critics, those who oppose Christian values, often try to trip us up with their clever barbs, just as the Pharisees did with Jesus.
Most of those assaults do little more than take the dialogue off the main point. At Pathway to Victory, I promise to remain on point and never stray from biblical truth. But I need partners like you who will stand beside me and who agree to generously support Pathway to Victory. Gratefully, we're in the middle of the wonderful In God We Trust matching challenge of $1.5 million. Because of this fabulous opportunity, you're able to double the size and impact of your generous gift.
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So while there's still time, please step forward with your generous gift to the matching challenge. In a moment, David will describe several resources we've set aside for you as a means for saying thanks for your generous gift. But allow me to add these deeply personal comments. When you give to Pathway to Victory, I take personal responsibility for how that gift is used. For 30 years, we have built this ministry on one foundation: trust.
trust between you and me. Trust between this ministry and the God we serve. And the fruit has been undeniable. Lives changed, families strengthened, and the gospel reaching places we never imagined possible.
So hear me now. Your gift to the In God We Trust matching challenge will be doubled and deployed for maximum eternal impact. I promise you that. Here's David with all the details. When you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory, you're invited to request the brand new 250th commemorative edition of America is a Christian Nation.
In addition to the book, you'll also receive In God We Trust, a brand new two-disc set featuring music performances by the First Baptist Dallas Choir and Orchestra and teaching from Dr. Robert Jeffress. To request these resources, call 866-999-2965, visit PTV.org, or text PTV to 78800. And when you give $100 or more, we'll also send you the America and the Bible Message Series on DVD video and MP3 format audio disc set. And remember, because of the In God We Trust matching challenge, your gift of pathway to victory will be matched and therefore doubled in impact.
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Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins. We'll hear the conclusion of this timely message called The New Moral Disorder next time.
So be sure to join us Thursday for Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible.
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