The Restraining Orders of God
The Word Of God Should Be The Guiding Force Of Our Conscience.
Matthew Maher
Mar 21, 2021 39m
What guides your moral decisions? This message reminds us that as a Christian, your conscience should be guided by the unchanging truths found in the Word of God, rather than by the changing beliefs of the culture around you. Video recorded at Ocean City, New Jersey.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
Matthew Maher: 00:00 Are you paying attention? Church, are you paying attention? Christian, there are those who are using our freedom to destroy our freedom. That's their strategy, their desire is to de-Christianize our society. For example, holding to biology that there are two genders, male and female, is now considered bigotry. And since Christian values are accused of being outdated, it makes it easier for immorality to be legislated. But if you're paying attention, you will notice that being politically correct is often morally corrupt. And human rights may be the banner of the various movements, but human rights are wrong when they contradict what God says is right for humans. It's been a slow fade that has increased rapidly these days, from the spirit of relativism, to the glamorization of socialism. Ours is a backwards land that puts the sin in paganism. So pay full attention to truth, lest your attention be paid in full by lies, the goal of the Marxists mainstream media is to pull the wool over your eyes. 2020 was a year of numerical fabrications, which makes one thing absolutely certain, the enemy wants you to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Church, we are not in Kansas anymore, this is not the land our grandparents once regarded. When the celebration of sin replaces the confession of sin God's presence has departed.
Matthew Maher: 01:41 Yeah. Welcome to Coastal Christian. I don't know if you're sensing what we are currently witnessing in the disintegration and the total collapse from the inside out of a nation. Are you sensing that? Are you seeing that? How did we get here? How did we land here? I'll tell you, when sin becomes commonplace, and legalized, and celebrated, and righteousness becomes criminalized, we are operating in rebellion against the Holy God. Proverbs 14:34 says it like this, "Righteousness, exalts a nation." Any given people, righteousness, right standing with God, right living before God out of the good book, the Bible, will exalt that people, will exalt that nation, because they're living for the glory of God. Conversely, it says, "Sin is a reproach to any people." Sin bring shame and condemnation, and we've replaced the confession of sin with the celebration of sin. And any land, civilization, society, people, that celebrate sin will lose God's favor and his presence.
Matthew Maher: 02:56 Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint." Translation, where there is no biblical vision, when the Word of God is not front and center, when it is not the divine order that determines human order, the result is disorder. Let me say that again, when the Word of God is not the divine order that determines human order, the result will always be disorder. Or as the Proverbs says it, "People will cast off restraints." That is outright rebellion against the restraining orders of God. With a show of hands who knows what a restraining order is? Security, keep an eye on all those people up in here. But God has put in place four restraining orders, and they are for the flourishing of humanity and society. But when the Word of God, or the standard of God, is not the governing agent of conscience, community, civil duty, and the church, you will see the result of immorality, the degradation of society, and of course, tyranny.
Matthew Maher: 04:07 So your four restraining orders that God has put in place. First, beginning with conscience, that's moral order internally. And then it goes out to social order, or what is called the family, the bedrock of society made up of families. And then we enter into law and order, or political order. And the fourth and final restraint is the church, spirit filled believers that make up a church of Jesus Christ. Now, sadly, our reality, when we start to see these restraining orders of God break down, is because the church and Christian are bowing down. It's because we bow down to the culture, to the popular opinion, to political correctness. We are silent in places where we should be speaking. We are sitting down in spaces where we should be standing for truth.
Matthew Maher: 05:01 Ezekiel the prophet, in chapter 3, and chapter 33, he presents it like this, that the watchmen were supposed to have their position on the wall, and they were supposed to look out and announce, or sound an alarm, for coming doom or destruction. That was their only role, to be vigilant, to be attentive, to be aware of their surroundings, so that when they saw an imposing force, an army coming in, they would turn to the people and they would sound the alarm. And I'm convinced, we're seeing man self-destruct because watchmen aren't warning of destruction. Pulpits are shirking their responsibility. The same pattern, or the layers, that God put in place in their society, in Israel, which included prophets, priests, princes, and the people.
Matthew Maher: 05:53 Prophets, they were supposed to bring the Oracles of God, speak on behalf of God, thus says the Lord. The priests, they were supposed to be in the office of God, to administer and usher in the economy of God, to show the people the officiating of God. The princes, what was their role? They were supposed to administer the ordinances of God governmentally, princes, royalty, nobility. And of course, who would reap the benefits if they were all in their rightful place, the people, the people. But what we see in Ezekiel is prophets not speaking on behalf of God, priests shirking their responsibility in the office of God, prince's taken advantage of the people of God, and of course the people were engaging in idolatry and all forms of immorality.
Matthew Maher: 06:48 And in chapter 22 of Ezekiel, this is what God said through the prophet. "I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, who would stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, and I found none." God was looking for a man or a woman who was willing to stand in the brokenness, that's what that meant. The walls were breaking down, the people were casting off restraints, and God was like, I'm looking for an intercessor who is at least willing to broach the breach. Broach the breach, are we at least willing to talk about the breakdowns in our society? Oh we can't go there, we can't talk about at least the fractured state of humanity, we can't talk about these things politically, are we at least willing to have the conversation? Can we broach the breach? If we're willing to broach the breach, then I'm saying, let's get in the gap and besiege God on behalf of the breach. Let us be in our rightful place as the church, and beseech our God on behalf of the breach.
Matthew Maher: 07:51 Here's the second part of that Proverb, "But happy is he who keeps the law." Right, there's was that push against the restraining orders of God, and you see the ripple effect, but happy is the man or woman, the Christian, who loves God's law. Favor falls on that man or that woman, protection falls on that man or that woman. So let's talk about the conscience. What is the word conscience, scripturally. It's two words combined, it means with knowledge con science, with knowledge. What knowledge, it's two more words, moral knowledge, the difference between right wrong, and spiritual knowledge, which is the Word of God. Combine the two, and your conscience is vibrant, your conscience is alive. And that can only happen when you spend time in the word, it sets your moral compass.
Matthew Maher: 08:45 Where did we go to find God's will? The Bible. Where do we go to discern the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, light and darkness? You guessed it, the Bible. Hebrews chapter 5 says it like this, "For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe." That is not a compliment, it is saying Christians who are biblically illiterate are still sucking the bottle. The Apostle Paul is like, it's time to grow up, it's time to spend time in the Word of God. Verse 14, "But solid food, meat, belongs to those who are of full age, (mature) that is, (Ready?) who by reason of use have their senses exercised." That's the word gymnasium, the Greek word is the word gymnasia, that's where we get the word gym or gymnasium. Having your senses, your spiritual senses, your spiritual eyesight, what you see, your spiritual hearing, what you hear, your heart and the compass therein, by reason of use. What does that mean? It means habit, habitual application. What does it result in? Ready, watch this, "They're able to discern the difference between good and evil." You have a human lie detector. in Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is able to discern, through you, the difference between that's good and that's evil.
Matthew Maher: 10:22 I heard in 2020, something that I wanted to bring up, it was about honoring your conscience, just follow your conscience, they kept saying, you know, just do what your conscience says. And I go, it's okay to allow your conscience to be your guide, I'm good with that, if it's God's word that guides your conscience, it's gotta be God's word that determines our decisions. Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp that guides my feet, a light on to my path." Our conscience is only as good as the moral standard that informs it. Our conscience is only as good as the foundation that upholds it. If it's not the Bible, if it's not the Word of God, where I inform my conscience, you better believe my conscience is going to be informed by other mediums, and sadly, that is often culture. Taking the moral high ground in our culture today is affirming LGBTQ, affirming abortion, affirming transgenderism, taking the moral high ground.
Matthew Maher: 11:29 Here's the sad reality, the context of truth, as I hold it in my hand, does not change regardless of the context of culture. Yeah, but that book's outdated, they say. That book is archaic, they say. Christian values, that isn't applicable in our present culture, you've got to get with the times, man. No, I'm saying this book in my hand, no contradictions within it. What you will find is it doesn't contradict itself, it contradicts man, it contradicts my sinful nature, and there's a reason why I don't want to get into it. Moral order is always linked to social order, families. Alright, and vice versa, social order made up of families is linked through moral order.
Matthew Maher: 12:23 Recently I saw a video, went viral, it was entitled, Young Child Reading His gay BC's. And it was a mom, or an aunt, or somebody that was an authority over this three or four year old boy. And he's reading through the alphabet, A is for ally. B is for Bi, C is for coming out, D is for drag, E is for equality, F is for family. Do you see what they did there? Equality and family, word association, G for gay, H is for hope, I is for intersex, J is for joy. And then some other choice letters, N was for non-binary, T was for trans, V was for vogue. They got a little boy whose supervision, a mother perhaps, was searing his conscience, leading his little sensitive, innocent mind astray. You cannot tell me that that moral order breaking down, that restraining order, is not going to affect the social order. Social order made up of family, as the Bible prescribes family.
Matthew Maher: 13:42 Let me define my terms here, Genesis chapter 1:27, Genesis chapter 2:24 and Genesis chapter 5:1, they all say the same thing, it's God said, I created man in my image. I created them male and female. I created them man and woman. And then in chapter 2, you see a marriage. Man, Adam, was supposed to leave who? Mother and Father, two new terms. And he would become one with who, his wife. And then Jesus reiterates it in Matthew 19, they asked them a question about divorce. And Jesus, knowing the times, knowing that we would one day make an argument about cultural norms, social consensus, and he throws the divine design of marriage all the way back to Genesis, so that we couldn't one day say, well, it's culturally acceptable for a man to marry a man and a woman to marry a woman. Jesus goes, no, do you remember, in the beginning, God created them, male and female? And a man shall leave his mother and father and become one with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. And then he said this, and what God has brought together, let no man separate. Now, if you're the devil and you hear Jesus say, what God has brought together, let no man separate. What do you think your chief aim, and tactic, and strategy, would be? Whatever God has divinely designed, you better believe he's trying to internally break it apart, you better believe he is doing whatever he can to divide and destroy the family.
Matthew Maher: 15:26 The Shema, Deuteronomy 6, the Shema was the commandment that Jesus quoted in response to the question, what is the greatest commandment, Jesus? He quoted from Deuteronomy 6 and he said, "Shema, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." And of course in that particular part in the Bible, Jesus added, "And the second is like, it love your neighbor as you love yourself." But when you go into Deuteronomy 6 and you keep reading, in verse 6 it says this, "And these words, the Shema, they shall be in your heart." As they're commanded, put them in your heart. And you'll never be able to impress them upon somebody else's heart, if they're not in your heart. If you aren't loving the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength, you're never going to convince a husband, a wife, a child, a coworker, a stranger, a family member, that they should love the Lord their God.
Matthew Maher: 16:27 What are we to do? "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Are you seeing this? Expose your household to the Word of God, so that whatever way they turn, they cannot escape the Word of God. I said this before, I want my house to be like Hobby Lobby just threw up all over it. I want Willow, I want to Ezekiel to see his name with a Bible verse, and make the association. Dad, why is my name on the wall? And it gives me an opportunity to instruct my child in the way of God. One of the joys of my life is walking into the living room and seeing my wife mother Willow, teaching her worship songs. One of her favorite worship songs is The Blessing, and she sings amen. A is for amen, Willow. B is for Bible, Willow. Or if you have young children, apples and bananas.
Matthew Maher: 17:38 There was a young boy at the dinner table with his family. He turned to his father and said, dad, is it safe to eat bugs? The father snapped back, son, we don't talk about type of stuff at the dinner table, now finish eating. The son shrugged it off, an hour went by, dinner was complete. The dad remembered, he turned to his son and he said, what were you saying? Is it safe to eat bugs? The son said, oh, never mind, there was a bug in your soup, but it's gone now. See moms and dads, when your children bring up the bug, talk about the bug. And in fact, go out of your way to ask about the bug, ask them what they're learning in history class at school, read through their curriculum, find out the English books that they're being assigned. And you read through them first, you vet them, you be the filter. Before it can get to them, it's got a pass through you. Find out what they're teaching in the social studies class, the history class, get involved. If you are expecting the church for an hour on a Sunday to raise your children, newsflash, the world will be more than available to disciple your children for you. They are waiting.
Matthew Maher: 19:03 My aunt took her granddaughter recently to the library to get books, biographies for class. And this sweet young librarian was waiting at the desk with books she recommended, and they were all transgender books. Moral order is linked to social order, and when the fabric of the family is sewn in righteousness, society reaps less lawlessness. Society is going to reap lawlessness, because it's filled with sinners like you and I. The only difference is we've come to the conclusion that Jesus is our savior, and the Holy Spirit then gives us new life, new hearts, new minds, and we now have a moral compass that is held captive to the scriptures. But when families are in their rightful place, mothers, fathers, husbands wives.
Matthew Maher: 20:01 And let me just say this, because there's single parents, and I want to encourage you to keep looking to God as you raise a grandchild or somebody else's children. You keep looking to God, and he will be the one that fulfills that gap. The Bible says he is a Father to the fatherless. He is the security of any widow. And I love that, because we want to always support our single parent homes. We want to applaud the teachers in here, and you're up against a secular culture in the public school system, we want to encourage you to keep being the salt and light. But let's have the conversation, right, that many of the ills of society can be traced to fatherlessness, the man being out of the picture. Can we broach the breach, can we talk about it at least? Can we not excuse it away, could we not make all these other excuses. No, it's fatherless homes, it's when the man is not in his rightful place.
Matthew Maher: 21:08 An interesting study took place after this phenomenon, Kruger National Park was overpopulated with elephants. And the harness that they brought in to remove some of that population was too small to move an adult bull elephant, so they started with the juveniles, the children elephants, and even the female elephants, and they moved them all to other game reserves. Over time at the new game reserves, they started to see something that was extremely tragic and alarming, and they were discovering rhinos that were murdered. At first they thought it was a poacher, but the rhinos didn't have any gun wounds, and the tusks, they were left intact. They couldn't figure it out, so they set up cameras. And to their astonishment, they saw these juvenile elephants in mob form, gang activity, not only chasing after the other animals, but the rhinos, tackling them and literally murdering them and leaving them. They were blown away, this was uncharacteristic of an elephant. They got together and they figured out in that juvenile elephant is what's called musth, M U S T H, it is a surge of testosterone. It's like puberty for our teenagers, they begin to change, but they've never seen them act out in such a way. You know what they figured out? They were missing their dads, so they shuttled in the adult bull elephant. And on those same cameras they watched when a male dominant figure was on the scene, he not only began to discipline these juvenile delinquents, knocking them over, but all of the ravaging from them completely ceased, they found no other rhinos. It's remarkable, when the man is in his place.
Matthew Maher: 23:18 Are you surprised to see that our culture is trying to emasculate men, trying to feminize men, no wonder. At the end of 2020 on the cover of the Vogue magazine, pop icon, first solo artist male, to ever be on the cover of Vogue, Harry Styles wearing a dress. Wearing a dress, and all the applause, and the comments, and they cheered him on, and the world was celebrating that. A quote on the front of the cover said this, anytime you are putting up barriers in your life, you are limiting yourself. Anytime we put up restraints, boundaries, people were opposing that off course, that is not the divine design, trying to feminize men, and you saw this war go back and forth. I've gotta be honest, I don't care how big the person is, the man, if he's wearing a dress, I'm confident that I could take him. And I said that in the first service, and somebody shot me a text and said, Matt, I am confident you can too, but let's love them first. I'm pretty sure I could do both at the same time.
Matthew Maher: 24:36 But are you sensing this if the family breaks down, that's because the moral order, which was supposed to be governed by that family order, it then leads to what social order, law and order. Law and order broken down, political order. What has God put in place to restrain crime and evil? Romans 13 verse 1 and 2, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God. and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. It goes forth by saying that government is a minister in God's hands to do two things, honor good, penalize or squash evil. Now that's great, and that's grand. And every Christian should be the most upstanding citizens in any given society. That's you and I, we should be the most upstanding citizens because we have an eternal context, which means as we're passing through, we're leaving it prayerfully in a better condition than we found it like salt, preserving meats from decaying. I'm going to be in the way, to delay the decay, of the day, until the Lord calls me out of the way.
Matthew Maher: 25:59 But here's the problem, I'm not talking about tax laws, I'm not talking about traffic laws, I'm not even talking about tort laws. Tort laws can be summed up by saying, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Every Christian should have no problem with tax laws, regardless of how high they go. No problem with traffic laws. No problem with tort laws. Jesus said to something like this, hey, render to Caesar, what is Caesar's? They were trying to trip him up. He said, who's insignia, whose images on the coin? Caesars, okay, so rendered to Caesar what is Caesar's. You rendered to God, what is God's? And what is God's? Where's his image? It's on you, as image bearers of the most high God, what happens when that image is not honored in man? You get genocide, you get racism, you get slaughtering of people, the Holocaust, abortion. When we don't honor the image of God in man, there's no value, so it doesn't make a difference how we treat one another. That is relativism, and this is where we're at.
Matthew Maher: 27:09 We are in a position where government is now honoring evil, and punishing good. And I'm going to with the disciples, did it is better to obey God rather than men. And there's a current concentration and an effort to de-Christianize our society, and that's why it's only a matter of time before Christians, you, are considered the enemy. I brought this up before, it's a 28 page document, Google it, research it yourself, I'm not making this up. It was drafted by the secular Democrats of America, their entire mission is to de-Christianize America. The 28 pages, they begin with a top-down approach, I call it, a funnel. And at the top of that funnel, they of course identify very dangerous ideologies and I affirm that, white supremacy, white nationalism. But when you keep reading, you'll eventually see them change the language from white supremacy, white nationalism, to be careful of Christian nationalism, now they just made association with white supremacy and Christianity. And if keep reading, these are radical mentalities that need to be dealt with, they need to be reeducated. That is a 28 page document that was handed off to the current administration.
Matthew Maher: 28:28 Couple that with the current tool that the federal government is using called critical race theory, which identifies people, and puts them into groups based on their skin color. Interesting, what is it called when somebody or something focuses on race, they obsess. What's it called? It's called racism. So you've got a tool focusing and obsessing on race to combat racism, and all they're doing is ushering in more racism. California is about to sign in a bill, it's the clear act. It is the California Law Enforcement Accountability Reform Act. And with the same idea, they are looking to vet their police officers. If anybody in the past has used such language that would relate to conservative views or religious views, they are a danger and a threat to those departments and they are going to be terminated. This is not about Republican versus Democrat, this is about good versus evil, about light versus darkness, this is about whether or not you will be a part of the church of Jesus Christ in the American context.
Matthew Maher: 29:46 Charles Spurgeon said it in the 1800s, he said. "This present age is so flippant, that if a man loves the Savior, he is styled a fanatic. If he hates the powers of evil, he is named a bigot." And the further, a society drifts from the truth, the more they will absolutely despise and hate those who preach it, and speak it, and live it. I get the emails, I get the comments, I get the personal direct messages, and they're mad at me, and all I'm doing is reading my teleprompter, just watching it as it scrolls by. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Isaiah 59 says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against the enemy." And that standard of course was fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ, and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is the standard that was lifted up by God. And then that standard, that banner, is carried forth by the church. We are the representation of God on earth, we are people filled with the Holy Spirit, that is the definition of the church.
Matthew Maher: 31:20 Which I will introduce to you, is the fourth and final restraint that God has put in place, we are the ones who usher in spiritual order. And heaven arrives, when the church chooses courage over compromise. Do you want heaven to arrive in your life? Choose courage in Christ, choose to stand up, when everybody else is sitting down, choose to speak up, when everybody else is silent. Heaven arrives, conversely, all hell breaks loose when pulpits fail to preach truth. I'll take responsibility, I'm in that position right now. Anytime a pulpit fails to preach the Word of God, hell will break loose. Why are pulpits compromising? Simple, for fear of man. When churches gear to the comfort of the people at the expense of the gospel, my responsibility is simple, it's to encourage you to be conformed to God's standards, that's it. Not encourage you to be comfortable in your standards, in man's standards.
Matthew Maher: 32:22 Real story, testimony, a family went to a new church, mega church. The father testified, he walked in, he felt welcomed, he felt warm, he had a hot cup of coffee handed to him. He walked into the cushy, comfortable sanctuary theater, like. The worship, dynamic, it was amazing. Preacher likable guy, told some really good jokes, the best part about it, he got me out in 30 minutes and I was able to make it to my favorite brunch spot. The family went week after week, same experience, come as you are. It was great, they felt loved, they felt accepted. Then a connections coordinator finally met them, how long have you been coming? A few weeks now, we love it. Hey, let me introduce you to some of the people in the church, she started to highlight certain people. Then she pointed out a gentleman, see that guy over there, he owns half the city's strip clubs. The father was taken aback, how long has he been coming here, he said, Oh, he's been coming here for years, he's one of our biggest donors. The dad said he still owns the strip clubs, the lady said, yeah, but at least he's coming to church.
Matthew Maher: 33:30 And that's because the lie is told from pulpits that people can have the Son of God, without letting go of the God of sin. You cannot have peace with God, if you are still at peace with your sin. And here's what happens in those compromised pulpits, sin is not addressed, the flesh is caressed, and people can sit in the seats without being distressed. Paul said to Timothy, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word!" In season and out of season, before COVID, during COVID, post COVID, in spite of, because of racial tension: preach the word. Talk about politics, and give a spiritual context. "Convince, rebuke, exhort, with long suffering and teaching. For the time will come." And I say, the time is now, "When they will not endure sound doctrine. That means sobering, stabilizing, doctrine. "But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers" And I gotta tell you, I'm not going to be one of those teachers heaped up by people that want their ears tickled. My role and responsibility is not to tickle ears, it's the scratch souls. "And they will turn their ears away from the truth." We're seeing that now. "And they will be turned aside to fables." Senseless, silly stories.
Matthew Maher: 35:10 The previous strategy in the American church was one that was called seeker sensitive, it's turned into culture sensitive. We're now looking at what the culture's doing, and the narratives of the culture, and we're allowing that pollution to seep into the church. A video just went viral recently on Tik Tok, it made its all the way to other social media outlets. And it was a Satanist, a worshipper of the devil, looking into the camera and thanking by name, ready, progressive Christians. I want to thank the progressive Christians out there, the world needs more of you. Need I say more, you're being affirmed by a devil worshiper, and you think you're on the righteous side of things. Progressive Christianity is always in association with the progressive gospel, which is willing to bend to sinful man, as it offends a Holy God. They are champions of social justice, they're out there in the streets, they're virtue signaling, they're all sounding good in all. And all they're doing is creating more noise, more distractions, because they're not willing to lead with the gospel.
Matthew Maher: 36:19 I know biblical preaching is unpopular, but I also know preaching to be popular is unbiblical. And the church is not called by God to reflect the views of society, rather, the church is called to inspire conscience so that people may know God, and instigate conviction so that people may show God. The church's role in the world is to be a voice of God's truth, to be a vessel of God's light. The church has never called to popularity, the church has always called to stand on integrity. Jesus said in light of a confession from Peter, that he was the Christ, Old Testament, the Son of the living God, New Testament, that he was going to build his church on that confession. Anybody who's done anything, who says Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, he has purchased me from the debt of sin that I owe and I can't pay, I'm now going to live for him, you become part of the church of Jesus Christ. And Jesus said, I will build my church. Notice the onus of responsibility to build the church is Jesus, he's going to build his church, and the Gates of Hades will not prevail against it, the kingdom darkness will not prevail.
Matthew Maher: 37:32 He then said, I'm going to give you, ready, the keys of the kingdom. What are the keys of the kingdom? There's an interesting usage of words, he's actually talking about the will of his father. And when somebody dies, somebody needs to be an executor of a will. And when Jesus died, and he gave us his Holy Spirit, we become the executor's of His will. We execute his will, his will being done on earth. And until he takes his church out of the way, Second Thessalonians 2:7 says it like this, "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work." The spirit of Antichrist is already at work, restraints are already being broken down. Only he, who now restrains, that's the Holy Spirit, he'll do so until he, the Holy Spirit, is taken out of the way. And where's the Holy Spirit on earth right now? In us.
Matthew Maher: 38:29 The church is heaven's witness on earth, you are to testify to the gospel, you are to testify unto the goodness of God, you are to testify about the grace of God, you are to testify to the glory of God. And how do we do that? We do it by broaching the breach. Let's just talk about it, and then when we talk about it, let's be willing to beseech God on behalf of the breach. Let's stand in the gap and lift up the gospel, this is our reason to exist in this world, to glorify God, to testify to his truth. And we do so by learning of the word, by loving the word, and by, beyond the building, living out the word, and since we're not dead, we're not done. We've heard it by God's grace, would you empower us to do it? God bless.
Recorded in Ocean City, New Jersey.
Matthew Maher: 01:41 Yeah. Welcome to Coastal Christian. I don't know if you're sensing what we are currently witnessing in the disintegration and the total collapse from the inside out of a nation. Are you sensing that? Are you seeing that? How did we get here? How did we land here? I'll tell you, when sin becomes commonplace, and legalized, and celebrated, and righteousness becomes criminalized, we are operating in rebellion against the Holy God. Proverbs 14:34 says it like this, "Righteousness, exalts a nation." Any given people, righteousness, right standing with God, right living before God out of the good book, the Bible, will exalt that people, will exalt that nation, because they're living for the glory of God. Conversely, it says, "Sin is a reproach to any people." Sin bring shame and condemnation, and we've replaced the confession of sin with the celebration of sin. And any land, civilization, society, people, that celebrate sin will lose God's favor and his presence.
Matthew Maher: 02:56 Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint." Translation, where there is no biblical vision, when the Word of God is not front and center, when it is not the divine order that determines human order, the result is disorder. Let me say that again, when the Word of God is not the divine order that determines human order, the result will always be disorder. Or as the Proverbs says it, "People will cast off restraints." That is outright rebellion against the restraining orders of God. With a show of hands who knows what a restraining order is? Security, keep an eye on all those people up in here. But God has put in place four restraining orders, and they are for the flourishing of humanity and society. But when the Word of God, or the standard of God, is not the governing agent of conscience, community, civil duty, and the church, you will see the result of immorality, the degradation of society, and of course, tyranny.
Matthew Maher: 04:07 So your four restraining orders that God has put in place. First, beginning with conscience, that's moral order internally. And then it goes out to social order, or what is called the family, the bedrock of society made up of families. And then we enter into law and order, or political order. And the fourth and final restraint is the church, spirit filled believers that make up a church of Jesus Christ. Now, sadly, our reality, when we start to see these restraining orders of God break down, is because the church and Christian are bowing down. It's because we bow down to the culture, to the popular opinion, to political correctness. We are silent in places where we should be speaking. We are sitting down in spaces where we should be standing for truth.
Matthew Maher: 05:01 Ezekiel the prophet, in chapter 3, and chapter 33, he presents it like this, that the watchmen were supposed to have their position on the wall, and they were supposed to look out and announce, or sound an alarm, for coming doom or destruction. That was their only role, to be vigilant, to be attentive, to be aware of their surroundings, so that when they saw an imposing force, an army coming in, they would turn to the people and they would sound the alarm. And I'm convinced, we're seeing man self-destruct because watchmen aren't warning of destruction. Pulpits are shirking their responsibility. The same pattern, or the layers, that God put in place in their society, in Israel, which included prophets, priests, princes, and the people.
Matthew Maher: 05:53 Prophets, they were supposed to bring the Oracles of God, speak on behalf of God, thus says the Lord. The priests, they were supposed to be in the office of God, to administer and usher in the economy of God, to show the people the officiating of God. The princes, what was their role? They were supposed to administer the ordinances of God governmentally, princes, royalty, nobility. And of course, who would reap the benefits if they were all in their rightful place, the people, the people. But what we see in Ezekiel is prophets not speaking on behalf of God, priests shirking their responsibility in the office of God, prince's taken advantage of the people of God, and of course the people were engaging in idolatry and all forms of immorality.
Matthew Maher: 06:48 And in chapter 22 of Ezekiel, this is what God said through the prophet. "I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, who would stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, and I found none." God was looking for a man or a woman who was willing to stand in the brokenness, that's what that meant. The walls were breaking down, the people were casting off restraints, and God was like, I'm looking for an intercessor who is at least willing to broach the breach. Broach the breach, are we at least willing to talk about the breakdowns in our society? Oh we can't go there, we can't talk about at least the fractured state of humanity, we can't talk about these things politically, are we at least willing to have the conversation? Can we broach the breach? If we're willing to broach the breach, then I'm saying, let's get in the gap and besiege God on behalf of the breach. Let us be in our rightful place as the church, and beseech our God on behalf of the breach.
Matthew Maher: 07:51 Here's the second part of that Proverb, "But happy is he who keeps the law." Right, there's was that push against the restraining orders of God, and you see the ripple effect, but happy is the man or woman, the Christian, who loves God's law. Favor falls on that man or that woman, protection falls on that man or that woman. So let's talk about the conscience. What is the word conscience, scripturally. It's two words combined, it means with knowledge con science, with knowledge. What knowledge, it's two more words, moral knowledge, the difference between right wrong, and spiritual knowledge, which is the Word of God. Combine the two, and your conscience is vibrant, your conscience is alive. And that can only happen when you spend time in the word, it sets your moral compass.
Matthew Maher: 08:45 Where did we go to find God's will? The Bible. Where do we go to discern the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, light and darkness? You guessed it, the Bible. Hebrews chapter 5 says it like this, "For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe." That is not a compliment, it is saying Christians who are biblically illiterate are still sucking the bottle. The Apostle Paul is like, it's time to grow up, it's time to spend time in the Word of God. Verse 14, "But solid food, meat, belongs to those who are of full age, (mature) that is, (Ready?) who by reason of use have their senses exercised." That's the word gymnasium, the Greek word is the word gymnasia, that's where we get the word gym or gymnasium. Having your senses, your spiritual senses, your spiritual eyesight, what you see, your spiritual hearing, what you hear, your heart and the compass therein, by reason of use. What does that mean? It means habit, habitual application. What does it result in? Ready, watch this, "They're able to discern the difference between good and evil." You have a human lie detector. in Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is able to discern, through you, the difference between that's good and that's evil.
Matthew Maher: 10:22 I heard in 2020, something that I wanted to bring up, it was about honoring your conscience, just follow your conscience, they kept saying, you know, just do what your conscience says. And I go, it's okay to allow your conscience to be your guide, I'm good with that, if it's God's word that guides your conscience, it's gotta be God's word that determines our decisions. Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp that guides my feet, a light on to my path." Our conscience is only as good as the moral standard that informs it. Our conscience is only as good as the foundation that upholds it. If it's not the Bible, if it's not the Word of God, where I inform my conscience, you better believe my conscience is going to be informed by other mediums, and sadly, that is often culture. Taking the moral high ground in our culture today is affirming LGBTQ, affirming abortion, affirming transgenderism, taking the moral high ground.
Matthew Maher: 11:29 Here's the sad reality, the context of truth, as I hold it in my hand, does not change regardless of the context of culture. Yeah, but that book's outdated, they say. That book is archaic, they say. Christian values, that isn't applicable in our present culture, you've got to get with the times, man. No, I'm saying this book in my hand, no contradictions within it. What you will find is it doesn't contradict itself, it contradicts man, it contradicts my sinful nature, and there's a reason why I don't want to get into it. Moral order is always linked to social order, families. Alright, and vice versa, social order made up of families is linked through moral order.
Matthew Maher: 12:23 Recently I saw a video, went viral, it was entitled, Young Child Reading His gay BC's. And it was a mom, or an aunt, or somebody that was an authority over this three or four year old boy. And he's reading through the alphabet, A is for ally. B is for Bi, C is for coming out, D is for drag, E is for equality, F is for family. Do you see what they did there? Equality and family, word association, G for gay, H is for hope, I is for intersex, J is for joy. And then some other choice letters, N was for non-binary, T was for trans, V was for vogue. They got a little boy whose supervision, a mother perhaps, was searing his conscience, leading his little sensitive, innocent mind astray. You cannot tell me that that moral order breaking down, that restraining order, is not going to affect the social order. Social order made up of family, as the Bible prescribes family.
Matthew Maher: 13:42 Let me define my terms here, Genesis chapter 1:27, Genesis chapter 2:24 and Genesis chapter 5:1, they all say the same thing, it's God said, I created man in my image. I created them male and female. I created them man and woman. And then in chapter 2, you see a marriage. Man, Adam, was supposed to leave who? Mother and Father, two new terms. And he would become one with who, his wife. And then Jesus reiterates it in Matthew 19, they asked them a question about divorce. And Jesus, knowing the times, knowing that we would one day make an argument about cultural norms, social consensus, and he throws the divine design of marriage all the way back to Genesis, so that we couldn't one day say, well, it's culturally acceptable for a man to marry a man and a woman to marry a woman. Jesus goes, no, do you remember, in the beginning, God created them, male and female? And a man shall leave his mother and father and become one with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. And then he said this, and what God has brought together, let no man separate. Now, if you're the devil and you hear Jesus say, what God has brought together, let no man separate. What do you think your chief aim, and tactic, and strategy, would be? Whatever God has divinely designed, you better believe he's trying to internally break it apart, you better believe he is doing whatever he can to divide and destroy the family.
Matthew Maher: 15:26 The Shema, Deuteronomy 6, the Shema was the commandment that Jesus quoted in response to the question, what is the greatest commandment, Jesus? He quoted from Deuteronomy 6 and he said, "Shema, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." And of course in that particular part in the Bible, Jesus added, "And the second is like, it love your neighbor as you love yourself." But when you go into Deuteronomy 6 and you keep reading, in verse 6 it says this, "And these words, the Shema, they shall be in your heart." As they're commanded, put them in your heart. And you'll never be able to impress them upon somebody else's heart, if they're not in your heart. If you aren't loving the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength, you're never going to convince a husband, a wife, a child, a coworker, a stranger, a family member, that they should love the Lord their God.
Matthew Maher: 16:27 What are we to do? "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Are you seeing this? Expose your household to the Word of God, so that whatever way they turn, they cannot escape the Word of God. I said this before, I want my house to be like Hobby Lobby just threw up all over it. I want Willow, I want to Ezekiel to see his name with a Bible verse, and make the association. Dad, why is my name on the wall? And it gives me an opportunity to instruct my child in the way of God. One of the joys of my life is walking into the living room and seeing my wife mother Willow, teaching her worship songs. One of her favorite worship songs is The Blessing, and she sings amen. A is for amen, Willow. B is for Bible, Willow. Or if you have young children, apples and bananas.
Matthew Maher: 17:38 There was a young boy at the dinner table with his family. He turned to his father and said, dad, is it safe to eat bugs? The father snapped back, son, we don't talk about type of stuff at the dinner table, now finish eating. The son shrugged it off, an hour went by, dinner was complete. The dad remembered, he turned to his son and he said, what were you saying? Is it safe to eat bugs? The son said, oh, never mind, there was a bug in your soup, but it's gone now. See moms and dads, when your children bring up the bug, talk about the bug. And in fact, go out of your way to ask about the bug, ask them what they're learning in history class at school, read through their curriculum, find out the English books that they're being assigned. And you read through them first, you vet them, you be the filter. Before it can get to them, it's got a pass through you. Find out what they're teaching in the social studies class, the history class, get involved. If you are expecting the church for an hour on a Sunday to raise your children, newsflash, the world will be more than available to disciple your children for you. They are waiting.
Matthew Maher: 19:03 My aunt took her granddaughter recently to the library to get books, biographies for class. And this sweet young librarian was waiting at the desk with books she recommended, and they were all transgender books. Moral order is linked to social order, and when the fabric of the family is sewn in righteousness, society reaps less lawlessness. Society is going to reap lawlessness, because it's filled with sinners like you and I. The only difference is we've come to the conclusion that Jesus is our savior, and the Holy Spirit then gives us new life, new hearts, new minds, and we now have a moral compass that is held captive to the scriptures. But when families are in their rightful place, mothers, fathers, husbands wives.
Matthew Maher: 20:01 And let me just say this, because there's single parents, and I want to encourage you to keep looking to God as you raise a grandchild or somebody else's children. You keep looking to God, and he will be the one that fulfills that gap. The Bible says he is a Father to the fatherless. He is the security of any widow. And I love that, because we want to always support our single parent homes. We want to applaud the teachers in here, and you're up against a secular culture in the public school system, we want to encourage you to keep being the salt and light. But let's have the conversation, right, that many of the ills of society can be traced to fatherlessness, the man being out of the picture. Can we broach the breach, can we talk about it at least? Can we not excuse it away, could we not make all these other excuses. No, it's fatherless homes, it's when the man is not in his rightful place.
Matthew Maher: 21:08 An interesting study took place after this phenomenon, Kruger National Park was overpopulated with elephants. And the harness that they brought in to remove some of that population was too small to move an adult bull elephant, so they started with the juveniles, the children elephants, and even the female elephants, and they moved them all to other game reserves. Over time at the new game reserves, they started to see something that was extremely tragic and alarming, and they were discovering rhinos that were murdered. At first they thought it was a poacher, but the rhinos didn't have any gun wounds, and the tusks, they were left intact. They couldn't figure it out, so they set up cameras. And to their astonishment, they saw these juvenile elephants in mob form, gang activity, not only chasing after the other animals, but the rhinos, tackling them and literally murdering them and leaving them. They were blown away, this was uncharacteristic of an elephant. They got together and they figured out in that juvenile elephant is what's called musth, M U S T H, it is a surge of testosterone. It's like puberty for our teenagers, they begin to change, but they've never seen them act out in such a way. You know what they figured out? They were missing their dads, so they shuttled in the adult bull elephant. And on those same cameras they watched when a male dominant figure was on the scene, he not only began to discipline these juvenile delinquents, knocking them over, but all of the ravaging from them completely ceased, they found no other rhinos. It's remarkable, when the man is in his place.
Matthew Maher: 23:18 Are you surprised to see that our culture is trying to emasculate men, trying to feminize men, no wonder. At the end of 2020 on the cover of the Vogue magazine, pop icon, first solo artist male, to ever be on the cover of Vogue, Harry Styles wearing a dress. Wearing a dress, and all the applause, and the comments, and they cheered him on, and the world was celebrating that. A quote on the front of the cover said this, anytime you are putting up barriers in your life, you are limiting yourself. Anytime we put up restraints, boundaries, people were opposing that off course, that is not the divine design, trying to feminize men, and you saw this war go back and forth. I've gotta be honest, I don't care how big the person is, the man, if he's wearing a dress, I'm confident that I could take him. And I said that in the first service, and somebody shot me a text and said, Matt, I am confident you can too, but let's love them first. I'm pretty sure I could do both at the same time.
Matthew Maher: 24:36 But are you sensing this if the family breaks down, that's because the moral order, which was supposed to be governed by that family order, it then leads to what social order, law and order. Law and order broken down, political order. What has God put in place to restrain crime and evil? Romans 13 verse 1 and 2, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God. and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. It goes forth by saying that government is a minister in God's hands to do two things, honor good, penalize or squash evil. Now that's great, and that's grand. And every Christian should be the most upstanding citizens in any given society. That's you and I, we should be the most upstanding citizens because we have an eternal context, which means as we're passing through, we're leaving it prayerfully in a better condition than we found it like salt, preserving meats from decaying. I'm going to be in the way, to delay the decay, of the day, until the Lord calls me out of the way.
Matthew Maher: 25:59 But here's the problem, I'm not talking about tax laws, I'm not talking about traffic laws, I'm not even talking about tort laws. Tort laws can be summed up by saying, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Every Christian should have no problem with tax laws, regardless of how high they go. No problem with traffic laws. No problem with tort laws. Jesus said to something like this, hey, render to Caesar, what is Caesar's? They were trying to trip him up. He said, who's insignia, whose images on the coin? Caesars, okay, so rendered to Caesar what is Caesar's. You rendered to God, what is God's? And what is God's? Where's his image? It's on you, as image bearers of the most high God, what happens when that image is not honored in man? You get genocide, you get racism, you get slaughtering of people, the Holocaust, abortion. When we don't honor the image of God in man, there's no value, so it doesn't make a difference how we treat one another. That is relativism, and this is where we're at.
Matthew Maher: 27:09 We are in a position where government is now honoring evil, and punishing good. And I'm going to with the disciples, did it is better to obey God rather than men. And there's a current concentration and an effort to de-Christianize our society, and that's why it's only a matter of time before Christians, you, are considered the enemy. I brought this up before, it's a 28 page document, Google it, research it yourself, I'm not making this up. It was drafted by the secular Democrats of America, their entire mission is to de-Christianize America. The 28 pages, they begin with a top-down approach, I call it, a funnel. And at the top of that funnel, they of course identify very dangerous ideologies and I affirm that, white supremacy, white nationalism. But when you keep reading, you'll eventually see them change the language from white supremacy, white nationalism, to be careful of Christian nationalism, now they just made association with white supremacy and Christianity. And if keep reading, these are radical mentalities that need to be dealt with, they need to be reeducated. That is a 28 page document that was handed off to the current administration.
Matthew Maher: 28:28 Couple that with the current tool that the federal government is using called critical race theory, which identifies people, and puts them into groups based on their skin color. Interesting, what is it called when somebody or something focuses on race, they obsess. What's it called? It's called racism. So you've got a tool focusing and obsessing on race to combat racism, and all they're doing is ushering in more racism. California is about to sign in a bill, it's the clear act. It is the California Law Enforcement Accountability Reform Act. And with the same idea, they are looking to vet their police officers. If anybody in the past has used such language that would relate to conservative views or religious views, they are a danger and a threat to those departments and they are going to be terminated. This is not about Republican versus Democrat, this is about good versus evil, about light versus darkness, this is about whether or not you will be a part of the church of Jesus Christ in the American context.
Matthew Maher: 29:46 Charles Spurgeon said it in the 1800s, he said. "This present age is so flippant, that if a man loves the Savior, he is styled a fanatic. If he hates the powers of evil, he is named a bigot." And the further, a society drifts from the truth, the more they will absolutely despise and hate those who preach it, and speak it, and live it. I get the emails, I get the comments, I get the personal direct messages, and they're mad at me, and all I'm doing is reading my teleprompter, just watching it as it scrolls by. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Isaiah 59 says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against the enemy." And that standard of course was fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ, and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is the standard that was lifted up by God. And then that standard, that banner, is carried forth by the church. We are the representation of God on earth, we are people filled with the Holy Spirit, that is the definition of the church.
Matthew Maher: 31:20 Which I will introduce to you, is the fourth and final restraint that God has put in place, we are the ones who usher in spiritual order. And heaven arrives, when the church chooses courage over compromise. Do you want heaven to arrive in your life? Choose courage in Christ, choose to stand up, when everybody else is sitting down, choose to speak up, when everybody else is silent. Heaven arrives, conversely, all hell breaks loose when pulpits fail to preach truth. I'll take responsibility, I'm in that position right now. Anytime a pulpit fails to preach the Word of God, hell will break loose. Why are pulpits compromising? Simple, for fear of man. When churches gear to the comfort of the people at the expense of the gospel, my responsibility is simple, it's to encourage you to be conformed to God's standards, that's it. Not encourage you to be comfortable in your standards, in man's standards.
Matthew Maher: 32:22 Real story, testimony, a family went to a new church, mega church. The father testified, he walked in, he felt welcomed, he felt warm, he had a hot cup of coffee handed to him. He walked into the cushy, comfortable sanctuary theater, like. The worship, dynamic, it was amazing. Preacher likable guy, told some really good jokes, the best part about it, he got me out in 30 minutes and I was able to make it to my favorite brunch spot. The family went week after week, same experience, come as you are. It was great, they felt loved, they felt accepted. Then a connections coordinator finally met them, how long have you been coming? A few weeks now, we love it. Hey, let me introduce you to some of the people in the church, she started to highlight certain people. Then she pointed out a gentleman, see that guy over there, he owns half the city's strip clubs. The father was taken aback, how long has he been coming here, he said, Oh, he's been coming here for years, he's one of our biggest donors. The dad said he still owns the strip clubs, the lady said, yeah, but at least he's coming to church.
Matthew Maher: 33:30 And that's because the lie is told from pulpits that people can have the Son of God, without letting go of the God of sin. You cannot have peace with God, if you are still at peace with your sin. And here's what happens in those compromised pulpits, sin is not addressed, the flesh is caressed, and people can sit in the seats without being distressed. Paul said to Timothy, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word!" In season and out of season, before COVID, during COVID, post COVID, in spite of, because of racial tension: preach the word. Talk about politics, and give a spiritual context. "Convince, rebuke, exhort, with long suffering and teaching. For the time will come." And I say, the time is now, "When they will not endure sound doctrine. That means sobering, stabilizing, doctrine. "But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers" And I gotta tell you, I'm not going to be one of those teachers heaped up by people that want their ears tickled. My role and responsibility is not to tickle ears, it's the scratch souls. "And they will turn their ears away from the truth." We're seeing that now. "And they will be turned aside to fables." Senseless, silly stories.
Matthew Maher: 35:10 The previous strategy in the American church was one that was called seeker sensitive, it's turned into culture sensitive. We're now looking at what the culture's doing, and the narratives of the culture, and we're allowing that pollution to seep into the church. A video just went viral recently on Tik Tok, it made its all the way to other social media outlets. And it was a Satanist, a worshipper of the devil, looking into the camera and thanking by name, ready, progressive Christians. I want to thank the progressive Christians out there, the world needs more of you. Need I say more, you're being affirmed by a devil worshiper, and you think you're on the righteous side of things. Progressive Christianity is always in association with the progressive gospel, which is willing to bend to sinful man, as it offends a Holy God. They are champions of social justice, they're out there in the streets, they're virtue signaling, they're all sounding good in all. And all they're doing is creating more noise, more distractions, because they're not willing to lead with the gospel.
Matthew Maher: 36:19 I know biblical preaching is unpopular, but I also know preaching to be popular is unbiblical. And the church is not called by God to reflect the views of society, rather, the church is called to inspire conscience so that people may know God, and instigate conviction so that people may show God. The church's role in the world is to be a voice of God's truth, to be a vessel of God's light. The church has never called to popularity, the church has always called to stand on integrity. Jesus said in light of a confession from Peter, that he was the Christ, Old Testament, the Son of the living God, New Testament, that he was going to build his church on that confession. Anybody who's done anything, who says Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, he has purchased me from the debt of sin that I owe and I can't pay, I'm now going to live for him, you become part of the church of Jesus Christ. And Jesus said, I will build my church. Notice the onus of responsibility to build the church is Jesus, he's going to build his church, and the Gates of Hades will not prevail against it, the kingdom darkness will not prevail.
Matthew Maher: 37:32 He then said, I'm going to give you, ready, the keys of the kingdom. What are the keys of the kingdom? There's an interesting usage of words, he's actually talking about the will of his father. And when somebody dies, somebody needs to be an executor of a will. And when Jesus died, and he gave us his Holy Spirit, we become the executor's of His will. We execute his will, his will being done on earth. And until he takes his church out of the way, Second Thessalonians 2:7 says it like this, "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work." The spirit of Antichrist is already at work, restraints are already being broken down. Only he, who now restrains, that's the Holy Spirit, he'll do so until he, the Holy Spirit, is taken out of the way. And where's the Holy Spirit on earth right now? In us.
Matthew Maher: 38:29 The church is heaven's witness on earth, you are to testify to the gospel, you are to testify unto the goodness of God, you are to testify about the grace of God, you are to testify to the glory of God. And how do we do that? We do it by broaching the breach. Let's just talk about it, and then when we talk about it, let's be willing to beseech God on behalf of the breach. Let's stand in the gap and lift up the gospel, this is our reason to exist in this world, to glorify God, to testify to his truth. And we do so by learning of the word, by loving the word, and by, beyond the building, living out the word, and since we're not dead, we're not done. We've heard it by God's grace, would you empower us to do it? God bless.
Recorded in Ocean City, New Jersey.
Read More
