Introduction: The State of America in 2023

Weaver opens with Proverbs 28:4 and describes the desperate moral straits in America and the world, citing raging immorality, acceptance of perversion, and transgender insanity.

Book of Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 4. Proverbs 28 and verse 4. The title of the message is "Where We Are and How We Got Here in 2023." I think you'll see the title will be very appropriate momentarily. Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 4, very simple verse, very straightforward. The Bible says,

It is no secret that we're in desperate straits in America. And the truth is that all the world is in a mess. In all probability, Europe is worse off than America. When you look around, you'll notice that immorality is raging. Perversion is accepted.

Transgenderism is looked upon benevolently. And when you go so far as to believe that men can have periods and produce babies, then you've fallen into absolute insanity. No matter how many drugs you take, how many surgeries you endure, and how many psychiatrists counsel you, you're still the gender in which you were born. You may change your appearance, but you cannot change your gender. The fact remains that there are only two genders, male and female. And I have often said, if you do not believe that there are only two genders, male and female, just try milking a bull and see how far you get with that. It just simply will not work. Now insanity is reaching even farther because now it's not just transgenders, it is now trans-species. There are adults and even children who are now identifying themselves as animals. I want you to listen to a couple of news clips that I picked up this week that's going

to demonstrate that Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 4. The first one is Kentucky School District: Students are dressing and acting like cats. Meade County, Kentucky. The Meade County School District is dealing with an unusual situation: a group of high school students attending school is acting like and dressing as cats. The superintendent tells WLKY the situation is being addressed, but according to a concerned grandparent, it's an ongoing problem and has many students on edge.

Examples of Societal Insanity

He provides news clips about students identifying as cats, a prisoner identifying as an infant, and the absurdity of prison conditions, illustrating how far society has fallen.

Transgenderism is looked upon benevolently. And when you go so far as to believe that men can have periods and produce babies, then you've fallen into absolute insanity. No matter how many drugs you take, how many surgeries you endure, and how many psychiatrists counsel you, you're still the gender in which you were born. You may change your appearance, but you cannot change your gender. The fact remains that there are only two genders, male and female. And I have often said, if you do not believe that there are only two genders, male and female, just try milking a bull and see how far you get with that. It just simply will not work. Now insanity is reaching even farther because now it's not just transgenders, it is now trans-species. There are adults and even children who are now identifying themselves as animals. I want you to listen to a couple of news clips that I picked up this week that's going

to demonstrate that Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 4. The first one is Kentucky School District: Students are dressing and acting like cats. Meade County, Kentucky. The Meade County School District is dealing with an unusual situation: a group of high school students attending school is acting like and dressing as cats. The superintendent tells WLKY the situation is being addressed, but according to a concerned grandparent, it's an ongoing problem and has many students on edge. Apparently, from what I understand, they're called furries, the grandmother said, who asked to remain anonymous. They identify with animals. These people will hiss at you and scratch at you if they don't like something that you're doing. She said, this is not a new problem. Wow. The truth is that there are people today that are even identifying as deer, as wolves, and as other animals. In fact, I glanced a headline, I did not take time to read the article, where one man who was dressed as a deer was shot. That's very dangerous during deer season to dress as a deer, but he was identifying as a deer and got shot as a deer as well. But here is one that might really surprise you. Listen to this headline: "Killer now identifies as an infant who wears nappies and demands baby food in prison."

Sophie Eastwood, who was named Daniel at the time of their sentencing, is serving a life sentence at Polmont Prison in Brighton, Scotland, for using shoelaces to strangle a cellmate to death in 2004. Sophie Eastwood now identifies as an infant. A killer who transitioned from male to female while in prison has demanded guards hold her hand while outside her cell because she identifies as an infant. Sophie Eastwood, 36, who was named Daniel when she was jailed for life in 2004 after using shoelaces as a garrote to strangle her cellmate. Eastwood, who has lived as a woman in Her Majesty's prison for the past four years, has been described as an attention-seeking and manipulative individual by sources inside the jail. The murderer has now told chiefs at Polmont Prison in Brighton, Scotland that she identifies as a tot and should be allowed to wear diapers and have her meals pureed like baby food. She has also demanded guards hold her hand while she is escorted to and from her cell. Prison bosses are taking Eastwood's request seriously and have already supplied her with a dummy—I guess a pacifier—as sources tell the Daily Record.

Now, I understand a prisoner milking the system and getting the best of prison life while at the same time mocking and ridiculing those who are in authority over him. But what I cannot understand is the ignorance, the stupidity, and the senselessness of bureaucrats that go along with such drivel and such wicked stupidity and actually either go along with and/or making believe that they're going along with. And when you stop and think about prisons, you have to ask this question: Where are the chain gangs? Where are the chain gangs? Where are the prisoners out working on the roads? Now, occasionally you see some, but not in chain gangs like they used to. We've come a long way since the days of Cool Hand Luke. You remember Paul Newman back in that movie back in the 50s? And even as a boy, I saw chain gangs. I saw prisoners working alongside the road. That was 75 years ago, but they were there back then.

Now, I understand that prisons basically are an unbiblical form of punishment. But the truth of the matter is, if you're going to use a prison as punishment, why not make it so absolutely miserable and so absolutely difficult that once you get out, you never want to go back? But now today they have color TV, they have workout rooms, they have tennis, they have everything that you can imagine in these prisons. Years ago, I had a friend who had to go into a federal prison for nine months because he had taken a stand against abortion. And of course, they came against him for taking that stand. I remember him showing me the letter. In fact, I read the letter to our church at that time where they were telling him to report to prison and they were informing him that they did not supply tennis rackets or golf clubs. And if he wanted any of those he needed to bring them with him. For nine months that was a federal prison. I'm just simply asking that: Where we are and how in the world we got where we are in this day and time. Moreover, you will see that crime has increased, the penalties

Lenient Justice and Child Trafficking

Weaver highlights cases of light sentences for sex traffickers and a state trooper, then shares statistics on child sex trafficking to show the depth of national depravity.

for crime has decreased. And when you look at cities like Chicago or the state of California or New York or Portland, Oregon or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, these places now are nothing more than hell holes where criminals basically have a free reign and free run and they attack at their will and at their pleasure. And very seldom are they ever punished. I just read where in California three men—I'm going to read some of it to you—but three men who were involved in sex trafficking a hundred women, when they were captured, were given sentences of three years each. Listen to this: "And three men, Nary Naharo Rodriguez, 42, George Perez Hernandez, 37, and Luis Mata, 30, were sentenced for running a prostitution ring in Northern California comprised mostly of undocumented women from Mexico who were sold for sex to as many as 20 clients in a single day. Each man received just three years for his involvement in the ring."

In comparison—now hang on—in comparison, many cases involving growing or selling weed, marijuana, get much longer sentences. In recent months, this California man—there's a picture with his name—was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, this Oregon man to 15, and this Iowa man to 20 years, all for growing or distributing marijuana. Those cases are all on long in for marijuana related sentences. The average time served for drug related offenses is about 2.2 years. But they help illustrate just how desperately or how comparatively short sentences for pimping can be. Can you imagine trafficking over 100 women and only getting three years? Here's one that takes the prize. This is from Fox News. Elizabeth Pritchett reported this was Sunday, February the 5th, 2023. "A former Arizona State Trooper will spend five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to multiple sex related charges stemming from his actions during traffic stops." According to Fox 10 in Phoenix, Tremaine Jackson, who was a 13-year veteran of the Arizona Department of Public Safety at the time of his arrest, was initially charged—are you listening?—with 61 counts of sex-related kidnapping and fraud charges, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety website. So here's a man that is charged with 61 felonies. Felonies. And he gets five years. Which means he'll probably be out in two years. Just like these men who trafficked these women will probably be out in a year, year and a half, something like that, since they only got three years.

What in the world has happened to America? What has happened? It seems like everything is totally out of control. Let me give you one more that's just actually worse. This is the top. This is reported by John Whitehead and his wife, Nisha. John Whitehead is a constitutional attorney. He's the head of the Rutherford Institute. And I'm just taking a short paragraph or so out of the article that I read, and he is talking about the trafficking of children in America. He said, consider this: every two minutes a child is bought and sold for sex. Hundreds of young girls and boys, some as young as nine years old, are being bought and sold for sex as many as 20 times per day. Adults purchase children for sex at least 2.5 million times a year in the United States alone. In Georgia alone, it is estimated that 7,200 men, half of them in their 30s, seek to purchase sex with adolescent girls each month, averaging roughly 300 a day. On the average, a child might be raped by 6,000 men during a five-year period.

It is estimated that at least 100,000 to 500,000 children, girls and boys, are bought and sold for sex in the United States every year, with as many as 300,000 children in danger of being trafficked each year. Some of these children are forcibly abducted, others are runaways, and still others are sold into the system by relatives and acquaintances. Child rape has become big business in America. This is America now. We've become a nation that is absolutely teeming with predators. So let me just tie this together by saying this: lies, wickedness, bribery, injustice, tyranny are seemingly prevailing. We've lost our minds. We've lost our courage. We've lost our character. We've lost our common sense. And so you have to ask this question: what has happened and why has it happened? And how far down this road have we gotten?

The Root Cause: Forsaking God's Law

He returns to Proverbs 28:4, arguing that the law forsaken is God's law, not man's, and that rejecting God's rule leads to praising wickedness.

And how much further will we go? Well, I believe the Bible has the answer and I think the answer is very plain in Proverbs 28 and verse 4. If you look at that verse again, the Bible says, "They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them." Now the very first question I believe that must be asked and answered in our verse is: whose law or what law was Solomon referring to when he wrote this passage? Clearly I believe, and obviously, this has to be the law of God simply because we've already seen that man's law is extremely humanistic and unjust. In fact, man's law is in competition with and in opposition to the law of God. I want you to hold Proverbs 28, but look in your Bibles, if you would please, to 1 Samuel chapter 8. 1 Samuel chapter 8. I've preached on this passage a number of times in times past, but I want you to see it in light of what I'm teaching today.

There was one message I preached many years ago, which I entitled "Trading God for a Man." And that is exactly what is happening in 1 Samuel chapter 8, because Israel is now demanding a man as king. Well, of course God was the king, and so when they asked Samuel to give them a king it displeased him and he went and prayed to the Lord. And notice if you would what the Lord said in verse 7. 1 Samuel 8 and verse 7,

In other words, they were trading God for a man. They no longer wanted God to be their king. They wanted a man to be their king.

Now, here's the important thing. I want you to skip down to verse 9, because God says, I want you to give them that king that they want, but I want you to show them the difference between my rule and his rule. Show them what man's rule will be like. So in verse 9 God says, "Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them." And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, "This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains

over fifties; and will set them to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectioners, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which

Now if you will turn right over to 1 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 12, you'll see Samuel repeating the same truth that they have rejected God as their king. So he says in verse 12 of 1 Samuel 12, "And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your king." Now the only way that you can really understand 1 Samuel chapter 8 is to view it as a transition from one law structure to another law structure. I've told you this repeatedly in times past, that a king rules by his law. That is certainly true of God. That is true of any king. That is true of any ruler, whether it's a king or not. Whether you agreed with Trump or not is immaterial. Let me ask you this question: Is there a difference between the administration of Trump and the administration of Biden?

And of course there is. And whoever is elected next there will be a difference in the administration again. Why? Because everyone has their own agenda and everyone has their own principles from which they're going to run things. So clearly what you have in 1 Samuel chapter 8 is a transition from God's law to man's law. Now if you look back in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 4, let me emphasize this: the Bible says, "They that forsake the law." And I'm already pointing out, this is God's law. It is not man's law because man's law again is in opposition to God's law and is distinct from God's law. But however, the word "law" is the Hebrew word Torah, which not only means law, it refers to God's law. In fact, the word Torah actually means authoritative instruction or authoritative direction. You'll remember that the first five books of the Bible written by Moses are referred to as the Torah because they're the books of the law. However, here's something else I want to point out: all of God's Word is Torah because all of God's Word is authoritative direction and authoritative instruction. And interestingly, you'll find this over and over in the New Testament, even by our Lord, where He is referring to the entire Old Testament as the Law and

the Prophets. Now normally, when we divide the Old Testament books, we think about, here's the books of the Law, here are history books, here are poetical books, here are major prophets, here are minor prophets. But in the New Testament, our Lord just refers to everything as the Law and the Prophets. So even the poetical books, the historical books, are labeled as Law. Look in your Bibles, hold Proverbs 28, but turn if you would to Matthew chapter 5, and let me show you a few of these passages. Matthew chapter 5, and let's begin looking there at verse 17. Matthew 5 verse 17. Look at it. Matthew 5 verse 17. Our Lord said,

So now He's referring to the Old Testament as the law or the prophets. All right. Notice if you would Matthew 7 and verse 12. Matthew 7 verse 12. Our Lord says, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them:

for this is the law and the prophets.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John." There it is. Then if you look in Matthew chapter 22 and verse 40. Matthew 22 in verse 40. Notice clearly what our Lord says here. Matthew 22 verse 40, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it."

Now there are other scriptures, but I think you're beginning to see the truth that this phrase,

really refers to the entirety of the Old Testament.

And yet, it can also be applied to the entirety of the Word of God, since all of God's Word is authoritative instruction and direction. Now, so, when you look at Proverbs 28 and verse 4, when he says, "They that forsake the law," we're talking about God's law.

The Transition from God's Law to Man's Law

Using 1 Samuel 8, Weaver shows Israel's rejection of God as king in favor of a human king, symbolizing the shift from theonomy to autonomy.

There was one message I preached many years ago, which I entitled "Trading God for a Man." And that is exactly what is happening in 1 Samuel chapter 8, because Israel is now demanding a man as king. Well, of course God was the king, and so when they asked Samuel to give them a king it displeased him and he went and prayed to the Lord. And notice if you would what the Lord said in verse 7. 1 Samuel 8 and verse 7,

In other words, they were trading God for a man. They no longer wanted God to be their king. They wanted a man to be their king.

Now, here's the important thing. I want you to skip down to verse 9, because God says, I want you to give them that king that they want, but I want you to show them the difference between my rule and his rule. Show them what man's rule will be like. So in verse 9 God says, "Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them." And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, "This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains

over fifties; and will set them to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectioners, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which

Now if you will turn right over to 1 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 12, you'll see Samuel repeating the same truth that they have rejected God as their king. So he says in verse 12 of 1 Samuel 12, "And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your king." Now the only way that you can really understand 1 Samuel chapter 8 is to view it as a transition from one law structure to another law structure. I've told you this repeatedly in times past, that a king rules by his law. That is certainly true of God. That is true of any king. That is true of any ruler, whether it's a king or not. Whether you agreed with Trump or not is immaterial. Let me ask you this question: Is there a difference between the administration of Trump and the administration of Biden?

And of course there is. And whoever is elected next there will be a difference in the administration again. Why? Because everyone has their own agenda and everyone has their own principles from which they're going to run things. So clearly what you have in 1 Samuel chapter 8 is a transition from God's law to man's law. Now if you look back in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 4, let me emphasize this: the Bible says, "They that forsake the law." And I'm already pointing out, this is God's law. It is not man's law because man's law again is in opposition to God's law and is distinct from God's law. But however, the word "law" is the Hebrew word Torah, which not only means law, it refers to God's law. In fact, the word Torah actually means authoritative instruction or authoritative direction. You'll remember that the first five books of the Bible written by Moses are referred to as the Torah because they're the books of the law. However, here's something else I want to point out: all of God's Word is Torah because all of God's Word is authoritative direction and authoritative instruction. And interestingly, you'll find this over and over in the New Testament, even by our Lord, where He is referring to the entire Old Testament as the Law and

the Prophets. Now normally, when we divide the Old Testament books, we think about, here's the books of the Law, here are history books, here are poetical books, here are major prophets, here are minor prophets. But in the New Testament, our Lord just refers to everything as the Law and the Prophets. So even the poetical books, the historical books, are labeled as Law. Look in your Bibles, hold Proverbs 28, but turn if you would to Matthew chapter 5, and let me show you a few of these passages. Matthew chapter 5, and let's begin looking there at verse 17. Matthew 5 verse 17. Look at it. Matthew 5 verse 17. Our Lord said,

So now He's referring to the Old Testament as the law or the prophets. All right. Notice if you would Matthew 7 and verse 12. Matthew 7 verse 12. Our Lord says, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them:

The Meaning of 'Law' as Torah

He explains that 'law' in Proverbs 28:4 is the Hebrew 'Torah,' meaning authoritative instruction, and that Jesus referred to the entire Old Testament as the Law and the Prophets.

And of course there is. And whoever is elected next there will be a difference in the administration again. Why? Because everyone has their own agenda and everyone has their own principles from which they're going to run things. So clearly what you have in 1 Samuel chapter 8 is a transition from God's law to man's law. Now if you look back in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 4, let me emphasize this: the Bible says, "They that forsake the law." And I'm already pointing out, this is God's law. It is not man's law because man's law again is in opposition to God's law and is distinct from God's law. But however, the word "law" is the Hebrew word Torah, which not only means law, it refers to God's law. In fact, the word Torah actually means authoritative instruction or authoritative direction. You'll remember that the first five books of the Bible written by Moses are referred to as the Torah because they're the books of the law. However, here's something else I want to point out: all of God's Word is Torah because all of God's Word is authoritative direction and authoritative instruction. And interestingly, you'll find this over and over in the New Testament, even by our Lord, where He is referring to the entire Old Testament as the Law and

the Prophets. Now normally, when we divide the Old Testament books, we think about, here's the books of the Law, here are history books, here are poetical books, here are major prophets, here are minor prophets. But in the New Testament, our Lord just refers to everything as the Law and the Prophets. So even the poetical books, the historical books, are labeled as Law. Look in your Bibles, hold Proverbs 28, but turn if you would to Matthew chapter 5, and let me show you a few of these passages. Matthew chapter 5, and let's begin looking there at verse 17. Matthew 5 verse 17. Look at it. Matthew 5 verse 17. Our Lord said,

So now He's referring to the Old Testament as the law or the prophets. All right. Notice if you would Matthew 7 and verse 12. Matthew 7 verse 12. Our Lord says, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them:

for this is the law and the prophets.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John." There it is. Then if you look in Matthew chapter 22 and verse 40. Matthew 22 in verse 40. Notice clearly what our Lord says here. Matthew 22 verse 40, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it."

Now there are other scriptures, but I think you're beginning to see the truth that this phrase,

really refers to the entirety of the Old Testament.

And yet, it can also be applied to the entirety of the Word of God, since all of God's Word is authoritative instruction and direction. Now, so, when you look at Proverbs 28 and verse 4, when he says, "They that forsake the law," we're talking about God's law.

Consequences of Forsaking God's Law

Weaver describes how forsaking God's law destroys foundations (Psalm 11:3), leads to unjust judges (Psalm 82), and results in self-rule (Judges 17:6; 21:25).

"Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked." But they're not doing that. In their ignorance, look what he says in verse 5. "They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness." Now look what happens. "All the foundations of the earth are out of course." In other words, by their acts of ignorance, insanity, injustice, they turn everything upside down. The foundations are being destroyed. Now, there is absolutely no individual, no family, no church, no community, no state or nation that can exist without law. Everyone must have a law system. So the question is not whether or not you will have a law system. The question would be: whose law will you have? Will it be God's law or will it be man's law?

So the issue really comes down to what is known as theonomy versus autonomy. Theonomy is made up of two Greek words, theos, God, nomos, law. So, theonomy just refers to God's law. Autonomy is made up of two Greek words, autos, which is self, and nomos, which is law. So, you only have God's law or you have man's law or self-law. So, when you and I refuse the law of God and the rule of God, we then condemn ourselves to be ruled by man. So you're going to say, "Well, I don't want God to rule over me and I'm certainly not gonna let man rule over me. I'll just rule over myself." Really, that is still man's law. That is still man's rule. You remember two times in the book of Judges, in Judges 17 and verse 6 and Judges 21 and verse 25, the Bible says, "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes." In other words, it was self-law. Now I want you to turn if you would to the book of Proverbs chapter 12 and look at verse 15. Someone who's going to say, "Well, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do.

I will just do the very best that I can." Really? You reject God's law and do the very best that you can, and here's what the Word of God says: "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." So the man's going to do his own thing, God refers to as a fool. Now I've asked this question: the Bible said when they forsake the law they praise the wicked. Now think about this. How in the world do we forsake the law? Well, there are different ways that the law of God can be forsaken. One way is to deny its validity or deny its authority, as Pharaoh did in Exodus chapter 5 and verse 2. You remember in that passage Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and they said, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may serve me." Straightforward, clear, plain. But Pharaoh responded and asked this: "Who is the Lord, that I should let Israel go?

How People Forsake God's Law

He outlines ways people forsake God's law: denying its authority like Pharaoh, treating God with contempt, or misinterpreting grace as nullifying the law (Romans 6:14).

I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." So what Pharaoh was saying is this: I don't recognize God as sovereign. I don't recognize God as God. I don't even recognize His authority. He has no right to even address me and command me to let Israel go. I deny that He is God. Of course Pharaoh claimed to be a god himself. Thus Pharaoh then denounced God, he denied God, and he despised God, and he defied God. Now, I know that there are some people who are as brazen and as rebellious as Pharaoh, but very few. Most people are not going to come out and say something so asinine and so plainly as, "Who is the Lord? I know not the Lord, neither will I obey him." Most people are not going to say that.

So you could just forsake God's law by taking that kind of attitude. But here's what most people are going to do. Most people are just simply going to treat God contemptuously. They're going to pretend like God does not exist. They're going to pretend like He has not spoken. They're going to live as if God has no authority to tell them what to do, to direct their lives, or to tell them how to live. In fact, some of them are going to go so far as to think that they have an absolute right to transgress God's law because they are a god unto themselves. And unhappily, there are people who profess to be Christians who take this attitude, because they may acknowledge God, but they ignore His word.

They don't read, they don't study, they don't listen, and they certainly do not obey. So clearly, then, most people just treat God with contempt. Now, there's another reason some forsake the law of God, and that is because of misinterpretation and misunderstanding. So if you will look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Romans chapter 6 and just look at verse 14. Because there are several passages like this in the Bible, but you always have to take things in context. And when you look in Romans chapter 6 and verse 14, note if you would what the Bible says. Romans 6 verse 14, the Apostle Paul writing says, "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."

So people will say,

And they think that God's law somehow has been nullified, negated, and set aside. Well, they never consider the context, nor even the immediate context or the remote context. The interesting thing is the apostle Paul started an argument in Romans chapter 3, teaching justification by faith alone. And that argument runs all the way through the end of Romans chapter 8. And so actually what you're seeing in Romans chapter 6, I'll show you just for a moment, when he said in verse 14,

What he's saying is you're not under the law as a standard for justification. You're under grace as your standard for justification. Now, although the law is not our standard for justification, it is our standard for sanctification. If you look in Romans chapter 7, watch it if you would please at verse 12. Romans 7 and verse 12, the Apostle Paul says, "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." And he's

defending the law of God and he's showing that God's law was used to convict him of sin. He did not even know what sin was apart from the law of God. And that's what the Bible says very clearly in Romans 3 and verse 20, "For by the law is the knowledge of sin." You don't even know what sin is apart from the law of God. Then if you will look back in your Bibles very quickly to Romans chapter 3 and notice if you would please verse 31, but before we read there, let's go back and look at verse 24. He says,

So Paul begins this argument for justification by faith in Romans chapter 3. And then if you skip down to verse 31, he makes a statement: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." That is, perish the thought, don't even let that enter in your mind. He said we establish the law. So any preaching of justification by faith alone, any preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that negates and nullifies the law is heresy. He said it is only through faith that we establish the law.

Now, if you have forgotten some of these truths, I would suggest that you go back and listen to that 23 message series I did on the promises of the law. If you've never heard it, I encourage you to hear it. If you've forgotten it, relisten again. But please understand this: it's impossible to be sanctified and to be holy without obedience to God's law. Would you count a serial murderer as a holy sanctified man? Would you count a serial rapist as a holy sanctified man? Would you count a serial thief as a holy sanctified man? And of course not. Of course not.

The Call to Keep the Law and Contend

Weaver explains that 'keep' (shamar) means to guard and protect, and 'contend' (gara) means to fight; believers must actively defend God's law and oppose wickedness.

The law of God, as I've pointed out before, demands three things of every individual: a personal, a perfect, and a perpetual obedience. None of us can give that to the law; only the Lord Jesus Christ did that. But there is a sense in the word way that we keep the law. He said, "But such as keep the law contend with them." The word "keep" is the Hebrew word shamar, which literally means to keep, to guard, to observe, to give heed to, to watch, to protect, as well as to celebrate and obey. Now here's the importance of that word. You remember the book of Genesis chapter 2, God put Adam in the garden and he gave him some commands and he told Adam that he was to dress and to keep the garden. You remember that? Guess what? The word "keep" is the word shamar. Adam not only had to dress the garden, that is make it productive, he had to keep it. He had to guard it. He had to protect it.

And of course, he failed to do that when he allowed the serpent in. I hope you remember also that God gave a charge to Aaron and his sons that they were to keep the charge of the tabernacle. The word "keep" means to guard and protect. It's the same word shamar. And then the Levites, who were given to Aaron and his sons to help them, God gave them the charge of Aaron and his sons, as well then as the tabernacle, to keep. Once again, it's the word shamar, which means to guard, to obey, and protect. That's why if any stranger came into the tabernacle who was not supposed to be there, the Levites were responsible to take his life, because they were guardians. They were protectors of Aaron and his sons and of the tabernacle and everything around it. Now, so he says, "They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep"—guard, protect, observe—"such as keep the law contend with them." Now what about the word "contend"? The Hebrew word is the word gara, and it means to fight, to contend with, to engage in strife, to wage war, and to stir oneself up or to excite

oneself in defense. So he is saying it's only those that obey God and believe God that are going to fight for God's law. And in fighting, they're going to be fighting against the wicked and they're going to be fighting for that which is good, just, and holy. In other words, those that keep the law are siding with God against the wicked who forsake and violate the law. Let me point something out. It is time that Christians did indeed stir themselves up and get excited. It is time that we stirred ourselves up and get excited for defense of the faith and defense of the gospel and defense of the Word of God and defense of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's time that we recognize that the enemy is making war upon us and trying to exterminate us. I hope some of you read even this week where the FBI was trying to criminalize Christians. Yeah. And did you read about the fact that they were going to investigate the conservatives in the Roman Catholic Church?

Applications: Rise Up and Stand

He applies the message by calling for men to rise up against evildoers (Psalm 94:16) and laments the lack of real men (Ezekiel 22:30), urging personal obedience and proclamation.

First of all, here's my first application. Number one: God is looking for men that will stand up and rise up against the wicked, expose their sins, expose their wickedness, and declare His righteousness. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 94 and look at verse 16. I could quote this verse, but I want you to see it. Look if you would at what God asked. Psalm 94 and verse 16. Here it is. Psalm 94 verse 16. God asked,

Look at that. Who will rise up? Who will stand for me? It's true that once you rise up and once you stand, you're not going to be the most popular man in the county. You're not gonna be the most popular man in the state.

In fact, you'll probably be persecuted, may even be prosecuted. But the truth of the matter is God will be with you and on your side. God is asking for men to rise up. God is asking for men to stand against the workers of iniquity and against the evildoers. That's what Psalm 94:16 is all about. That's really what Proverbs 28 and verse 4 is all about. But I want you to go ahead and turn in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 22 and get ready, if you would please, for the second application. I want you to watch this. The first application is this: that God is looking for men. Men who will rise up, men who will stand. Here's the second application. Here's the sad and unhappy truth concerning most communities, churches, states, and nations. And that is that there is a lack, a dearth of real men. So let me show you in Ezekiel chapter 22. Let's begin reading with verse 25. God is condemning Judah and Jerusalem. Look how he starts verse 25.

"There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof." So the prophets are worthless. They're false prophets. They're prophets for profit, P-R-O-F-I-T. But notice it's not just the prophets. Look in verse 26. "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." God says my prophets are no good, the priests are no good. Ah, look at verse 27. "Her princes"—now the rulers—"her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain." That's a good description of Congress. It is. The princes, the rulers. Note if you would, God has dealt with the prophets, God has dealt with the priests, God has dealt with the princes. He mentions the prophets again in verse 28: "And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the

Lord God, when the Lord had not spoken." Now look at verse 29. "The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully." Now note if you would, God has dealt with the prophets, He's dealt with the princes, He's dealt with the priests, He's dealt with the people, and now look at verse 30. "And I sought for a man among them"—out of all these groups—"I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." "Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them." Out of all the prophets, out of all the priests, out of all the princes, out of all the people, God could not find one man. Not one. Not one. There's a dearth of real men. Bishop Hall, he's been dead for a long, long, long time, but here's one thing he said that we need to learn. He said, "It is fearful to sin. It is more fearful to delight in sin. And even worse, to defend sin." And when we forsake the law of God, that is exactly what we end up doing. We end up defending sin. And if we do not lift up our voices and cry out, if we do not hear, heed, obey, and keep the law of God, protect it, we deserve all the judgment He's going to send upon us. And He will send it. We must never defend sin.

Now let me point something out. When we hear a message like this, usually it rings a bell in our mind, but I cannot control the president. I cannot control the executive office. I know that. You can't. But one thing you can do by the grace of God is keep the law of God, obey it yourself. Well, I can't control Congress. I know that. But one thing you can do is obey God and keep the law of God yourself. And well, I can't change the judicial system. I know that. But one thing you can do is obey God and keep the law of God yourself and proclaim that law and say what is wicked and what is righteous. The truth of the matter is this: God calls upon us to keep His law, and in keeping His law we're fighting against the wicked. Every one of us is. Every child of God should desire to be as holy and as obedient and as godly as he can be by the grace of God. Because in keeping that law, we're fighting against the wicked.

We need to be obedient to keep the law of God and to fight against the wicked. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, we do pray that You will give us men, real men, men that will stand. We pray, Lord, that You would change the course of this nation. We pray, Lord, that You would open our eyes. Turn us, O Lord, and we shall be turned. Quicken us and we shall call upon Thy name. Enable us, Lord, enable us, empower us to keep and obey Thy Word and to bring our lives in conformity unto it, and to honor Thee and to glorify Thee. Teach us, we pray, Lord. Build us up. Give us Your grace and Your mercy, courage and strength. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.