Refuse to succumb to demonic efforts to decontextualize The Great Commission.

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1. 0:00Darkness is not an affirmative force.
2. 0:03It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
3. 0:06This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
4. 0:10It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite.
5. 0:15Delivery people out of the bondage of mainstream media.
6. 0:18And the philosophies of this world.
7. 0:20God has called you and me to be his ambassador.
8. 0:24Even in this dark moment.
9. 0:26Let's not miss our moment.
10. 0:28And now, the Hamilton Corner.
11. 0:32Good evening, everyone.
12. 0:33Welcome to the Hamilton Corner here on American Family Radio.
13. 0:36I am your host, Abraham Hamilton, the third, joined by
14. 0:40producing extraordinaire often imitated, never duplicated,
15. 0:43also known to start mess in the studio,
16. 0:47troubling young folks and things of that nature.
17. 0:50Talking about the real Jay Mac ladies and gentlemen,
18. 0:52and we are ready to rock and roll with today's edition
19. 0:55of the program.
20. 0:56It's something that has been on my heart quite a bit.
21. 1:00And I just want to present it to you today,
22. 1:06because there are many, unfortunately,
23. 1:09who are allowing our context,
24. 1:14particularly if you are an American citizen,
25. 1:17to manipulate us away from an aspect of faithfulness
26. 1:24that God calls us to, frankly,
27. 1:26and kind of duping us into refusing to use everything at our disposal to be ambassadors
28. 1:33of our king to set the tone for executing the Great Commission in our nation.
29. 1:40You know, the Lord is at work all over the world. I rejoice to learn about the saints that
30. 1:46literally are staring death in the face, but who would declare for Christ I live or for Christ
31. 1:51out die, you know, in nations like Iran where it's being reported that the largest numbers
32. 1:57of conversions are taking place.
33. 2:01It's amazing what's happening in China.
34. 2:04It's amazing what's happening in Nigeria and in Sudan.
35. 2:09And you know, the gospel is exploding in Puerto Rico.
36. 2:13You know, we, my wife and I, they plugged into what's going on in the Spanish speaking
37. 2:16parts of the world.
38. 2:19It's amazing what God is doing all over the world, all over the world.
39. 2:21The Lord is also at work here in America.
40. 2:23And we'll talk about that a little bit
41. 2:25and to just remind us of our assignment.
42. 2:30At this very moment, many of you,
43. 2:32if not most of you are making your transition
44. 2:35from your part-time jobs,
45. 2:36where you generate an income to your full-time jobs.
46. 2:41And that is cultivating an outcome.
47. 2:43As you do so, I want to remind you to do it
48. 2:46with intentionality, understanding the primacy
49. 2:48that God places on family,
50. 2:51welcoming his view to guide us and to instruct us in terms of what our view should be.
51. 2:58And then welcoming his view to direct our engagement.
52. 3:04It's we will never, ever, ever be able to out politic or even out church deficiencies in the home.
53. 3:11But God's grace to turn our homes into sanctuaries for his presence.
54. 3:18And it will come in that our homes become discipleship station number one.
55. 3:23starting in our own homes and working outward from there.
56. 3:28That is what we have the opportunity to do.
57. 3:31And there are lots of things that we can do,
58. 3:33but this one thing Jesus instructed us to do
59. 3:36to go into all the world,
60. 3:38making disciples of all nations,
61. 3:40teaching them to obey everything that he has commanded us.
62. 3:44With that, let us turn to the word of God.
63. 3:46Matthew chapter five is where we're gonna go today.
64. 3:49Matthew chapter five, we'll have some additional
65. 3:51cross references throughout the show.
66. 3:53Matthew chapter 5 verses 13 through 16 is where we're going to begin the program.
67. 4:00This is the longest recorded sermon of Jesus, the sermon on the Mount.
68. 4:06There's an aspect there and these are the verses where we get the description of the believer's
69. 4:12salt and light duty. All right, this is what the Word of God says, you, excuse me, are the salt of
70. 4:22of the earth. But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is
71. 4:29no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are
72. 4:37the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp
73. 4:44and put it under a basket, but on a stand. And it gives light to all in the house. In
74. 4:53the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works
75. 5:00and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. The conclusion of verse 16 there is the objective.
76. 5:11The result of our fulfillment of salt and light duty is that our Father, our heavenly Father,
77. 5:20Father is glorified.
78. 5:22Let me take a few steps back.
79. 5:25Straight away in verses 13 and 14,
80. 5:27you are the salt of the earth,
81. 5:28you are the light of the world.
82. 5:29I've explained this before,
83. 5:30but you there in both verses is plural, all right?
84. 5:35It's plural, it's a reference to the people
85. 5:37who are immediately present
86. 5:39when Jesus is delivering the Sermon on the Mount.
87. 5:42But it also applies to the disciples
88. 5:44who would come to know Jesus Christ.
89. 5:49that salt and light obligation is a pluralized Christ follower obligation.
90. 5:56Every believer has the responsibility of being salt and light.
91. 6:03Many of you know this.
92. 6:04What I'm about to say next, first and foremost, salt is a preservative agent.
93. 6:10You know, before the wonders of refrigeration, the innovation that allows things like first
94. 6:15and foremost, uh, central air condition, air conditioning and refrigeration where we can
95. 6:21store our food thing foods and things of that nature. And Jesus is dang salt was employed
96. 6:27in se- in several ways, but one of the ways it was employed was as a preservative agent.
97. 6:33All right. It was used to preserve the integrity of various various, various proteins. I'm
98. 6:40I'm gonna cross reference the scripture in a moment about that.
99. 6:44In addition to being a preservative agent,
100. 6:46it also function in a way similar to the way
101. 6:48solids used today as a seasoning agent for various foods.
102. 6:54Light in verse 14, and y'all have heard me say this,
103. 6:57light is a force of power.
104. 7:00It is an affirmative force.
105. 7:02You've heard me explain.
106. 7:04Darkness is not an affirmative force.
107. 7:08Darkness merely reoccupies the space
108. 7:11that is vacated by the light.
109. 7:14All right?
110. 7:15This is something we know intuitively.
111. 7:17I've stated this before,
112. 7:19because none of us goes home at the end of a long work day
113. 7:21and say, hey honey, would you turn the darkness off?
114. 7:23No, we don't do that,
115. 7:24because we know intuitively that light is affirmative.
116. 7:28Darkness is not affirmative.
117. 7:31Darkness merely is a reoccupant.
118. 7:34Now the thing about darkness is that it has
119. 7:38a robust marketing department.
120. 7:40It has the capacity to advertise itself, to present itself as if it is ubiquitous.
121. 7:47And because of its ubiquity, meaning that it can appear to be everywhere, all at once, even
122. 7:53in some instances, because of its ubiquity, we can often misinterpret that appearance as
123. 7:58being synonymous with being an affirmative force.
124. 8:01But it simply is not an affirmative force.
125. 8:08Jesus explaining the sermons that if salt has lost its saviour, if salt has lost its
126. 8:13saltiness, what is it good for?
127. 8:15It's good for nothing.
128. 8:18In order for salt to have efficacy, its saltiness must persist.
129. 8:26And I have lamented on this program time and time again that when the believer refuses
130. 8:33to embrace the transformation as Paul articulates in Romans 12, verses 1 and 2, instead conform
131. 8:40comes to the world, we move away from being salt and light to being lightly salted.
132. 8:48You know, we become a worldly Christian as if that is okay because it's not.
133. 9:02Concerning the light, Jesus goes on to explain the purpose of the light and what it's supposed
134. 9:07to accomplish. You are the light of the world. Jesus immediately turns to a metaphor, a city
135. 9:13set on the hill and Jesus says it plainly a city that is set on the hill cannot be hidden.
136. 9:20Then say it tries to hide. No, it cannot be hidden because of its posture on the hill.
137. 9:27And then he explains, you turn it to the light, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket.
138. 9:31When Jesus refers to a lamp, he's referring to what was often employed in the first century,
139. 9:38where you would have a candle to some sort, combined with oil of some sort,
140. 9:43and explaining his awareness of the first century home that if you have light,
141. 9:50most likely produced by the fire that you have ignited in an attempting to
142. 9:55preserve and extend, if you have it, you would not be content with having a
143. 10:01self-centered or self-exclusive exposure to this light. You wouldn't put it under
144. 10:12basket for merely personal consumption, personal illumination, and personal warmth.
145. 10:19Jesus continuing this metaphor, said, no, but you would put the light on a lampstand.
146. 10:25Again, understanding the first century home, the first century Jewish home, that the utilization
147. 10:33of the light placing it on the lampstand, it becomes maximally beneficial.
148. 10:40Not only for the one who ignited it or who had it personally, but it becomes maximally
149. 10:44beneficial to all in the house.
150. 10:49This phenomenon, I understand very, very well.
151. 10:52One of the things I learned since joining AFR and dealing with radio and radio towers, I learned
152. 10:57a little bit about this elevation principle.
153. 11:00Many of you may remember the old school Verizon commercials.
154. 11:03Can you hear me now?
155. 11:05Good.
156. 11:06You know?
157. 11:07And then you had other cell phone companies trying to say, hey, you should consider working
158. 11:12with us.
159. 11:13And what was their advertisement line?
160. 11:15We have our cell phone communication equipment, our cell communication equipment on all the
161. 11:21same towers where Verizon has theirs.
162. 11:23What is being communicated?
163. 11:26Hey, if you think Verizon's service is good, you should consider our service.
164. 11:30Why?
165. 11:31Because we're on all the exact same towers.
166. 11:34And that advertising messaging is a wee, a wee little bit deceptive, deceptive love.
167. 11:40It's a wee little bit deceptive.
168. 11:42Why is it deceptive?
169. 11:44Because when they tell you they have their cell communication equipment on the same towers
170. 11:48as Verizon, they're really not telling you anything.
171. 11:51Because anybody who deals with cell towers and radio towers, what they will communicate
172. 11:55to you is that the benefit of being on a cell tower has nothing to do with simply being
173. 12:01on the tower.
174. 12:02The question you want answered is that what is your elevation on the tower?
175. 12:06There's a whole industry called the tower business, the tower industry, to where tower
176. 12:10owners rent space on their tower.
177. 12:13You want to guess which space on the tower is the most expensive?
178. 12:16You want to guess?
179. 12:17Yeah.
180. 12:19The space on the towers that's the most expensive are the highest spots on the tower.
181. 12:25Why?
182. 12:26Because the higher you are on the tower, the less likely it will be for your communication
183. 12:32signals to be intercepted.
184. 12:34The lower you are on the tower, the more likely you are to suffer all manner of interference.
185. 12:41Hence Verizon's initial advertising.
186. 12:45Can you hear me now?
187. 12:46Good.
188. 12:47anywhere on the world, in the planet, and you're going to get our communication.
189. 12:52Why? Because we got our communication signals at the top of these towers.
190. 12:56This is the principle that Jesus was explaining. It's not enough. It's not sufficient for you alone
191. 13:03to have the light. Praise God that you have the light. Praise God that you have the lamp.
192. 13:07Praise God that you have illumination. Praise God that you have warmth. But the Christ followers task
193. 13:12is to not just have the light, have the illumination and have the warmth, but to put it on a lampstand,
194. 13:17to put it at the highest elevation possible so that it could be a benefit to the largest number of people possible.
195. 13:25That is what Jesus' attempted to communicate.
196. 13:29This dual function, salt and light, functioning, you know, as a preservative agent, we who are believers in the 21st century,
197. 13:40we have inherited a gospel that has been passed on to us intact by the grace of God.
198. 13:46what a miracle it is. And it is the Lord's desire for us to preserve the integrity of the gospel,
199. 13:54that we refuse to allow compromises of the gospel. We are to earnestly contend for the
200. 13:59faith that was once and for all passed down to us, the saints. That's a part of our preservative
201. 14:05capacity that just as the Orthodox Christian faith, the authentic biblical gospel has made its way to
202. 14:12us, we have a duty to preserve that, but that's one part of the
203. 14:18Sultan-like mission. We also have the light responsibility, the
204. 14:21affirmative advancing, invading component to where we let our
205. 14:27light so shine among men so that glorify our Father in heaven,
206. 14:31so that the gospel is proclaimed to the entire scope of this
207. 14:35world. That is a part of the light function. The disciple
208. 14:40making is a part of the light function, salt and light. That
209. 14:47the what of the Christ following duty. When we come back, we're going to talk about the why,
210. 14:52the where, and the when. Those who place their faith in Jesus are elevated to an extraordinary
211. 15:04position. As co-heirs with Christ we share in His inheritance. The gospel is the ultimate
212. 15:10dignity giver, elevating the unworthy to unimaginable heights. Our lives should reflect this dignity,
213. 15:17empowering us to extend the same grace and love to others that has been so generously given to us.
214. 15:22I'm Jordan Shambly and you can read the rest of the gospel signifies the undignified on the stand.net
215. 15:35Shining light into the darkness. This is the Hamilton quarter an American family radio
216. 15:40Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner Abraham Hamilton the third here. We're talking salt and light duty
217. 15:45That is the what if you will of Christ following now. We're gonna get into the
218. 15:50the why the when in the where and
219. 15:53Simply put the scripture already gives it to us. We don't even we don't have to a question
220. 15:58these things because the Lord has already given us answers to them in Scripture.
221. 16:02So we talked about being salt and light.
222. 16:06Why then are we to this? Verse 16, why then are we to do this?
223. 16:10Verse 16 is already told us that our objective, the investment that we apply,
224. 16:15and let me take a few steps back.
225. 16:17When we're talking about the salt dude, preserving the integrity of the gospel, right?
226. 16:23You know, refusing to allow heresies to persist.
227. 16:27You know, thank God for brothers like Athanasius and others in the past who fought against
228. 16:35heretical presentations like
229. 16:37Arianism and in all the others in our day you have modern
230. 16:41Heruses presented like so-called gay Christianity a lie no such thing as gay Christianity
231. 16:47No more than that something called murderous Christianity lying Christianity leaving Christianity adulterous Christianity
232. 16:53You know it's absurd. It's frankly it's absurd
233. 16:58that one would attempt to define being a follower of the way by a particular sin proclivity.
234. 17:05It's heretical. And this is blasphemous, frankly. That's an aspect of contending for the faith that's
235. 17:15been once and for all passed down to the saints. The Apostle Paul explained by the Spirit of God
236. 17:18that the Lord ordained his church to be the pillar and ground of the truth. Of course,
237. 17:24not in and of ourselves, Jesus is the cornerstone of his church, but Paul is using his awareness
238. 17:29of Greco-Roman architecture in communicating that notion, being the ground of the truth refers to
239. 17:34the foundation of a building at the Greco-Roman architecture. The pillars would be the columns,
240. 17:41the pillars that would sustain the structure, the undergirded sustaining mechanism, the Lord
241. 17:46ordained his church to be the protector and purveyor of his truth. That's a part, again, of the salt
242. 17:55light duty, maintaining the integrity of authentic Christ following
243. 17:59North Indian Christian witness and proclaiming,
244. 18:01propounding that reality.
245. 18:03Why? What is the ultimate objective?
246. 18:05Verse 16 already says it, so that others will see what you're about
247. 18:10and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
248. 18:13This all, the salt and light duty is all about glorifying our Lord and
249. 18:19King to the maximum.
250. 18:21Our objective, we're contending for the faith that has been once and
251. 18:26for all passed down to the saints.
252. 18:27When we're proclaiming his gospel, living his gospel,
253. 18:30it's in the forefront of our minds at all times,
254. 18:32is the glory of our Lord.
255. 18:36That's the why.
256. 18:37So that the Lord will be glorified.
257. 18:39It's not for the purpose of me,
258. 18:40that being argumentative,
259. 18:41for being the sake of being argumentative,
260. 18:43or just being opposite, opposite for the sake of being opposite.
261. 18:45No, the Lord is the one who's doing this to be peculiar.
262. 18:48So our quality of peculiarity gives him glory.
263. 18:55It's amazing that there's so much conversation about culture.
264. 18:58And sometimes people describe and discuss culture
265. 19:00That's if it is some disembodied phenomenon.
266. 19:04The culture has become, the culture has become.
267. 19:07Well what is culture?
268. 19:09Culture, our English word culture derives from, the root word cultist in Latin.
269. 19:16Simply put, culture is comprised of the ideals, beliefs, preferences, pursuits, and practices
270. 19:22of the people who populate a particular region.
271. 19:26Simply put, people create culture.
272. 19:31American culture is determined by what we Americans think, by what we want, by what we do.
273. 19:39That is what creates culture.
274. 19:45The presence of the people of God in any particular region should ultimately have an impact, an
275. 19:51influence, that culture.
276. 19:55The degree to which that influence takes place is left to the sovereignty of God.
277. 20:02But when we are proclaiming the gospel and appealing to people's hearts and minds, it
278. 20:07will invariably have an impact.
279. 20:13And this is where I want to get a bit more specific.
280. 20:15So we've talked about the what, something like the why for the glory of the king.
281. 20:23Where?
282. 20:25Go ye therefore into the world.
283. 20:29It's the king of kings' desire that his ambassador to carry his gospel and make disciples in his
284. 20:35name all over the world.
285. 20:40I've explained before that the Lord has this.
286. 20:44There's a principle in scripture that the Lord begins to work and
287. 20:46leaves room for its offspring to fulfill it in the very beginning.
288. 20:50Yahweh had the capacity to make the earth filled with 10 billion people with
289. 20:53the snap of his fingers.
290. 20:55Yet he divinely and intentionally began with a Dom and from his
291. 21:01rib formed Eve and invited him to join him and filling the earth by
292. 21:07yielding to his instructions.
293. 21:11Similarly, Jesus always intended for the gospel of the kingdom of God to be proclaimed in the entirety of the world,
294. 21:18yet He limits His physical incarnate ministry to the geographical boundaries of Israel.
295. 21:23Why?
296. 21:24Leaves room for His offspring beginning with His apostles to execute His commission.
297. 21:29That is His principle.
298. 21:34And not only that, He instructs them in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, let me turn there.
299. 21:43Well, verses 1 through 8, I'm going to turn there briefly.
300. 21:46Next chapter one, I'll get my pages to work with me.
301. 21:51This is the resurrected Christ in the process of providing
302. 21:55many convincing proves after his resurrection.
303. 22:01He says this in Acts chapter one verse eight,
304. 22:04but you will receive power, the Greek word for power,
305. 22:07there's dunamis from which we get our English word dynamite.
306. 22:11You will receive dunamis power when the Holy Spirit
307. 22:15has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem.
308. 22:20in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
309. 22:28Jesus told his apostles, you will be in dude with dunamis, dunamis power,
310. 22:33by Holy Spirit, and you will be my witnesses.
311. 22:37I've explained before the Greek term for witness there is Martis,
312. 22:40from which we get our English word martyrdom from.
313. 22:43Most often we think about a martyr being someone who loses their natural lives and
314. 22:47furtherance of a cause.
315. 22:49I understand that explanation, but martyrdom,
316. 22:51biblically is becoming the living dead.
317. 22:55You will be in due with power,
318. 22:56due to this power, to be my witnesses,
319. 22:59becoming the living dead, dead to your own objectives,
320. 23:02own prerogatives, own agendas,
321. 23:04and alive to the agendas of Christ,
322. 23:07to the agenda of Messiah.
323. 23:09Being witnesses is a state of being,
324. 23:11not merely an activity.
325. 23:15That's why I say you will be my witnesses.
326. 23:18Being a witnesses is a state of being,
327. 23:19that's why we are called to be witnesses,
328. 23:21when we're on stage in front of people,
329. 23:23when there's lights, camera, action,
330. 23:24and we're called to be witnesses,
331. 23:25when there's no one around.
332. 23:29And it's just us, our computer screens,
333. 23:33and the Holy Spirit, because he's always there.
334. 23:36We call to be his witnesses.
335. 23:37Being witnesses includes various activities,
336. 23:40like evangelism, Greek word there is Yuan Gellian,
337. 23:45the proclamation of the availability
338. 23:48of free gift of salvation as a result of Messiah's
339. 23:52atoning sacrifice.
340. 23:55As a witness, we do other things to obey our King.
341. 23:59But the doing should flow from being,
342. 24:01from the state of being as a witness.
343. 24:07And you'll notice when Jesus explained that you'll be
344. 24:10in due with power, you'll be filled with power
345. 24:13by the Spirit, it's not merely a feeling for consumption.
346. 24:16Ooh, they show fear good.
347. 24:19They feel good.
348. 24:22No, it's a feeling for function.
349. 24:26The Lord has given us his Spirit for functionality.
350. 24:31you'll be in due with power for the purpose,
351. 24:35for the function of being his witnesses.
352. 24:41Then you, we cross-reference this command to be,
353. 24:44or should I say this description of what we would be
354. 24:46as witnesses with the command in Matthew 28.
355. 24:51And then we'll go back to Acts 17.
356. 24:52I know this is a lot of scripture,
357. 24:53but this is very, very important
358. 24:56because the same Messiah in resurrection posts his resurrection
359. 25:06gathers his apostles again.
360. 25:09Well, Matthew's recording this.
361. 25:13In Matthew 28, he says,
362. 25:16simply put,
363. 25:18all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
364. 25:22Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
365. 25:25baptizing them in the name of the Father
366. 25:27and the end of the Son,
367. 25:28and of the Holy Spirit,
368. 25:29teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.
369. 25:33And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
370. 25:37It's a great commission.
371. 25:39Jesus says, all authority is mine.
372. 25:42Therefore you go.
373. 25:44whose authority upon which do we go to execute it?
374. 25:47It's his authority.
375. 25:49It's not ours.
376. 25:50We go because he said so.
377. 25:52We go expecting effective witnessing because he said so.
378. 25:57Because it's his authority that we go in.
379. 25:59Then he explains what we do.
380. 26:01Making disciples of all nations,
381. 26:03to greet where there's ethnos, of all people groups.
382. 26:08Ain't nobody safe.
383. 26:10Everybody can get it.
384. 26:13Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
385. 26:15the Holy Spirit, the touchstone of disciple-making is obedience.
386. 26:18Teaching the disciple to be obedient as the disciple-er is striving to be obedient.
387. 26:25In all manner, Christ's following is a comprehensive faith.
388. 26:31Every aspect of our lives should be subjected to the lordship of Christ.
389. 26:36Then you have those principles, those commands from Acts 1, from Matthew 28, from Matthew
390. 26:415.
391. 26:42And then we realize, oh snap, God has given us a context.
392. 26:46chapter 17, we talk about this a lot.
393. 26:50Acts chapter 17.
394. 26:55I wanna spend, I'm spending this time intentionally,
395. 26:57and I'm bringing this to a particular point.
396. 27:02Because we have the what, salt and light duty.
397. 27:05We have the why for the Lord's glory.
398. 27:07We have the where, world impact, world impact,
399. 27:12subset of the where and the wind, not wind, W-I-N-D,
400. 27:17but when, what I had to do to that word,
401. 27:19hehehehe.
402. 27:20Subset to the where is what I'm about to share with you?
403. 27:25And then we move over to the wind, both addressed in Acts,
404. 27:29chapter 17, during Paul's discourse with the Stoic and Epicurean
405. 27:32philosophers in the Ariapagos.
406. 27:35We've talked about this before.
407. 27:36Come right over to verse 26.
408. 27:39And he made from one blood, every nation of mankind to live on all the
409. 27:42face of the earth, having determined a lot of periods and the boundaries of
410. 27:49that dwelling place that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward
411. 27:53find him yet he's actually not far from each one of us. A subset of the where, world impact,
412. 28:05but each disciple has been given a context in which we are to execute the what with the
413. 28:11why and the where. He made from mankind one blood. I'm sorry, he made from one blood every
414. 28:21nation of mankind, same term ethnos. So where did the nations come from? One man. He has
415. 28:31determined before time the boundaries of their dwelling place. Brothers and
416. 28:38sisters, the where and the when are context questions. God has given each
417. 28:43disciple a context in which we are to execute his commission. Remember the
418. 28:49execution of his commission includes the salt and light duty, preserving the
419. 28:53integrity of the gospel, advancing the integrity of the gospel, not having the
420. 28:56light, keeping it to ourselves, but putting it on a lampstand so that as
421. 28:59many people as possible are able to benefit from the elevation of the light,
422. 29:04to benefit from its illumination and its warmth. The fact that you are a citizen in this nation,
423. 29:13you've been born in the United States of America, is a feature of God's divine design for you.
424. 29:18It is the context that God has given for you just as he's done for me, for us to be his ambassadors.
425. 29:24God could have made us Christians in any other country in the world, but he determined by divine
426. 29:32design to make us Americans and his desires for us as Americans to put the
427. 29:39lamp on the lampstand. Now some of you may know our friend personally and our
428. 29:49friend of this program Dr. George Barna has released his latest study showing
429. 29:56that there are hundred or over a hundred million people who profess to be of some
430. 30:01sort of faith who are not planning to vote in this election. Thirty-two million of
431. 30:06them are evangelical Christians who profess frequent church
432. 30:10attendance or describe themselves as evangelical Christians who
433. 30:15have frequent church attendance.
434. 30:20I just want to tell you simply and I would never try to
435. 30:23truth on anybody's consences or try to demean Christ following
436. 30:29to a workspace phenomenon to where justification is a product
437. 30:31of works. But I will tell you when God has placed you in a
438. 30:35particular context and he's redeemed you by the blood of the
439. 30:38lamb, major part of his family, and tasked you with salt and light duty, he knows the
440. 30:43context that he's placed you in.
441. 30:45He's placed us in 21st century American context, just as he placed the Apostle Paul in 1st century
442. 30:51Roman context.
443. 30:53And the Lord expects no less of us as 21st century Americans than he expected of the Apostle
444. 30:57Paul in terms of using everything at our disposal within our context to put the light on a lampstand.
445. 31:07If you've been listening to this program any length of time, you know better than anybody,
446. 31:11I would never tell you that the Lord would deliver his people through politics.
447. 31:16Never would you hear me say that.
448. 31:18What I will tell you however is that God in His sovereignty has afforded you and I this
449. 31:23particular American context in which to be His ambassadors.
450. 31:29We've talked before and I will talk about it now.
451. 31:32The Apostle Paul used everything at his disposal, including his Roman citizenship, to put the
452. 31:39light on the Lib stand. We've explained before how the apostle Paul knowing his adjudication
453. 31:46rights and the laws of appellate courts in the Roman Empire, being persecuted and prosecuted
454. 31:54on trumped up charges, initially goes to Jerusalem, appeals according to the law from Jerusalem
455. 32:04goes next to Caesarea Philippi. Exhausting his appellate rights, he ultimately appeals
456. 32:13to Caesar in Rome that caused even the lower level,
457. 32:19judiciary to wonder.
458. 32:21And if this guy had not attempted to exhaust his appeals,
459. 32:23we could have set him free.
460. 32:25More when we come back.
461. 32:30The following is from an article by Dr. Jessica Peck,
462. 32:33host of the Dr. Nurse Momma Show.
463. 32:36Some children feel fear in places they should feel safe
464. 32:39every day.
465. 32:40So let's be challenged to speak words of life and encouragement.
466. 32:44The next time a student shares a discouragement or difficulty
467. 32:47with you, try listening first and then engaging them in compassionate and encouraging conversation.
468. 32:54Read the full article, School Mom Hope, on thestand.net.
469. 32:59Hamilton Quarter Podcast and One-Minute Common Terrets are available at eafr.net.
470. 33:10Back to the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Radio.
471. 33:15Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner.
472. 33:16We're in the last segment already.
473. 33:17I'm just going to continue on with the thought I was sharing before we went to the break.
474. 33:22The Apostle Paul knowing his appellate rights exhausted his appellate rights, not because
475. 33:27he was seeking to have the fairest trial, criminal trial, but because he recognized that he was
476. 33:35an ambassador to the Lord Jesus Christ, he even described himself in some places as an ambassador
477. 33:39in chains.
478. 33:40Then he recognized his chains, his incarceration was a station from which he was to continue
479. 33:50executing the Great Commission.
480. 33:52And so by Paul exhausting his appellate rights
481. 33:56within the Roman first century context,
482. 34:00he's able to conclude his epistle to the Philippians.
483. 34:03Philippians chapter four verse 21,
484. 34:05greet every signing Christ Jesus,
485. 34:08the brethren who are with me greet you,
486. 34:11all the signs greet you,
487. 34:12especially those of Caesar's household.
488. 34:14Heh heh heh.
489. 34:16Without Paul exhausting his Roman citizenship rights,
490. 34:20He never would have access to Caesar's household and to proclaim the gospel even
491. 34:24into Caesar's household.
492. 34:26Utilizing that was a tool.
493. 34:30It wasn't the end all be all it was a tool that God created and the context that
494. 34:38got it placed the apostle Paul in from which the context within which he was to
495. 34:44obey the commands of the Lord.
496. 34:51We have particular accesses, rights, abilities in our nation and the context that
497. 34:57we have to advance the king's agenda.
498. 35:03Romans 13 lays out very succinctly, government's purpose.
499. 35:08Restrain wickedness by punishing the evil doer,
500. 35:11rewarding the righteous.
501. 35:15One of the distinctions from a first century Roman context
502. 35:18where there's a Caesar in America, we the people.
503. 35:23At least that's how it was set up.
504. 35:25But much of what has transpired has been the product
505. 35:28of many of the American citizen forfeiting
506. 35:31what is available to us, including many professing Christ followers and
507. 35:36advocating the functions of a God ordained to be his minister to punish to punish
508. 35:42wickedness and say, Oh, that's messy business. Listen, man, Christ followers
509. 35:45messy business, making disciples his messy business. God is the one who
510. 35:49ordains our context. Can you imagine, Dan, you're saying, Oh, no, Lord,
511. 35:53I don't want to participate in obeying what you've commanded me through all
512. 35:57the prophets, Jeremiah, back, except for now all the prophets, you know,
513. 35:59because Babylon is messy business.
514. 36:01Yes, messy business.
515. 36:03The world is messy business because of the sin
516. 36:06for fallenness of man.
517. 36:09But God has ordained his body to be salt and light.
518. 36:19If all of the Christ followers absent ourselves
519. 36:23from civic participation, guess what we are going to have?
520. 36:31And I want us to see that Christ following
521. 36:35isn't mutually exclusive from civic engagement.
522. 36:40Man, you were in the tape.
523. 36:41It was Christ followers, civic engagement that gave rise
524. 36:46to this constitutional republic with democratic features.
525. 36:49Not everyone who participated was a Christ follower,
526. 36:52but a large percentage of them were.
527. 36:54And even those who were not Christ followers,
528. 36:57they were influenced by the worldview of the Christ followers,
529. 37:02not to compel each man by law with brute force to convert or die,
530. 37:08as the Islamists argue,
531. 37:11But to create an environment that would allow each man to be drawn to the king of kings by his spirit,
532. 37:20through the faithful obedience of the Christ follower who is on salt and light duty.
533. 37:29Do we see that? Do we see that?
534. 37:34Does something to say, oh, politics has gotten so messy?
535. 37:37It is messy. No doubt about it. That's what happens when we see this territory to the wicked.
536. 37:44In many ways, candidates that are available are
537. 37:48reflection of what's present in our nation.
538. 37:51In many ways, the story of America's secularization
539. 37:54is the absence and the negligence of the believer.
540. 37:58Over time, over generations.
541. 38:03The what-sultan-like duty.
542. 38:06The why for the Lord's glory.
543. 38:11Where? Where has he planted you?
544. 38:14We have accesses and opportunities and abilities to us
545. 38:17that our brethren and other nations don't have.
546. 38:23And it's very easy.
547. 38:24I've been talking about this for a little bit now,
548. 38:26for us to be manipulated by our context
549. 38:30into a passive environmental seduction
550. 38:38that provokes a lethargy and a laziness and a disengagement.
551. 38:49The other aspect of it is the wind.
552. 38:51The wind, I keep putting the deal on this word,
553. 38:53a wind, the wind, back to Act 17.
554. 38:57He has determined before time, allotted periods,
555. 39:00the times in which we would live.
556. 39:02Guys, the time that we are alive
557. 39:03is the time that God has assigned to us.
558. 39:06He could have made us believers, you know,
559. 39:09with this glorious melanin that I have,
560. 39:12and the Lord would have deposited me
561. 39:13in the United States of America.
562. 39:15And oh, I don't know, 1825,
563. 39:19I wouldn't have had the opportunities that I have now.
564. 39:27But with the opportunities I have now,
565. 39:28God requires of me to put the light on the lampstand.
566. 39:36We have the opportunity through civic participation and make no mistake about it.
567. 39:41Civic participation is not salvific, but we have the opportunity through civic
568. 39:45participation to keep the highways and byways open so that the gospel can be proclaimed.
569. 39:58Yes, I see the mounting forces, the desires of the AOCs of the world, you know, to, you
570. 40:03know, stamp out disinformation and, you know, lurch, John Kerry.
571. 40:09Oh, we have this first amendment.
572. 40:11It didn't allow us.
573. 40:12lamenting the fact that we have a First Amendment.
574. 40:14But we have the way of us though,
575. 40:17that if the First Amendment is going to be legitimately changed,
576. 40:19we have a say!
577. 40:22We have a say!
578. 40:27But so many are being duped
579. 40:30and being manipulated away from obedience
580. 40:33in the context of God has planted us in,
581. 40:35the context that God has planted us in,
582. 40:37and with neglecting an aspect that God has ordained for us
583. 40:40to utilize so that we can put the light on a lampstand.
584. 40:44To say it differently, we should take advantage of every opportunity
585. 40:47and use everything in our disposal to proclaim the gospel and make way for the gospel to be proclaimed.
586. 40:53We need to take advantage of every opportunity and utilize everything in our disposal to make
587. 40:57disciples and make sure the roadways are cleared, perverbially, to allow disciple making to continue.
588. 41:07For too long, we have not utilized the liberties that we've had for God-gluorifying purposes by and
589. 41:14I'm not talking about individuals, there's certainly exceptions.
590. 41:20We should not allow other people's sinfulness
591. 41:25to provoke sinfulness in us, neglect in us.
592. 41:33You wanna talk about loving your neighbor.
593. 41:34One of the most loving things you can do for your neighbor
594. 41:37is to keep an environment that is free
595. 41:38for the gospel to be proclaimed.
596. 41:41And I wanna be clear, even if the tides
597. 41:44of liberty turn against that free proclamation,
598. 41:47we will still have a duty.
599. 41:49We still have a responsibility like Peter and John,
600. 41:51you decide whether it's better for us to obey you,
601. 41:53obey men or obey God.
602. 41:56But why we have a say, why not say?
603. 42:00Why not say?
604. 42:03I understand in this particular election
605. 42:05that there are all kinds of concerns,
606. 42:07and again, I respect people's concerns.
607. 42:10But shouldn't we still try as much as possible
608. 42:13to do the maximum good that we can?
609. 42:16Shouldn't we?
610. 42:18Shouldn't we try as best as possible
611. 42:20as far as it pertains to you and me
612. 42:22that we invest ourselves in such a way
613. 42:24where we preserve the liberty to proclaim the truth?
614. 42:30I was talking earlier, you know, me standing here
615. 42:32saying what marriage is as God defines it in scripture,
616. 42:34don't you realize our neighbor to the North cannot do that?
617. 42:37That believers in Canada cannot get on a microphone
618. 42:40and speak openly about God's design for marriage.
619. 42:47If they do so, they face government prosecution.
620. 42:50That's just the fact.
621. 42:53Now should we, in an effort to maintain our integrity,
622. 42:56Allow our ability to proclaim the truth over the airwaves freely,
623. 43:00to be ripped away from us.
624. 43:03And don't misunderstand what I'm saying.
625. 43:04Even if those that freedom is ripped away from us,
626. 43:07we still have a duty to be faithful,
627. 43:09but why should we allow it to be ripped away?
628. 43:11Is what I'm saying?
629. 43:13Should we not do as much good as possible?
630. 43:16As much as possible?
631. 43:20Can you imagine, you know, those people,
632. 43:22both less melanated and more melanated
633. 43:24on the Underground Railroad,
634. 43:26because they weren't able in one moment
635. 43:27to abolish all of slavery, that they were refused to help at least one slave escape?
636. 43:31Can you imagine that?
637. 43:32That's foolish talk.
638. 43:34That's foolish talk.
639. 43:38Should we?
640. 43:39Because states, some states, they're voting to kill babies.
641. 43:42Should we not try to save every baby that we can?
642. 43:46It's foolish talk.
643. 43:47And listen, and I don't mean to be condemning, and I don't mean to be condescending to anybody.
644. 43:52But I feel like there is this, there is this seduction that has occurred, that has blunted
645. 43:57the believers the capacity to discern where we are and the times that we're in now.
646. 44:01My faith is squarely placed in Jesus Christ in Him alone.
647. 44:11My confidence is not in any man in any particular candidate, but I also recognize one candidate
648. 44:17at the top of the ticket will take us in one direction and the other candidate will take
649. 44:21us in another direction where we at least have a little bit more time to execute so my duty.
650. 44:26I understand that.
651. 44:27And here's another thing.
652. 44:29The top of the ticket is not the only thing on the ballot.
653. 44:34God's grace, the Lord moved our founders to give us a separation of powers to where whatever
654. 44:38goes on at the executive branch, we have the wherewithal to be a check and a balance on
655. 44:43it through the legislative branch.
656. 44:44Do you realize the Senate hangs in the balance?
657. 44:48Do you realize the House of Representatives hangs in the balance?
658. 44:50That's at the federal level?
659. 44:51Then beyond that, what is going on in your states?
660. 44:56What is going on in your local communities?
661. 44:58What is going on in your local school boards?
662. 45:02I'm a homeschooled dad.
663. 45:03But I don't want my neighbor be indoctrinated with sexually rebellious and transgenderism
664. 45:10and lesbianism and homosexuality.
665. 45:11I don't want my neighbor's children indoctrinated with that.
666. 45:14That's not loving my neighbor.
667. 45:15Just go, well, well, my kids, I'm at home and so I don't care what happens with my neighbor's
668. 45:20children.
669. 45:21That's not loving my neighbor.
670. 45:25What I'm saying very simply is that God has given us a context to execute his commission.
671. 45:33And God has sovereign over the context of each place that sin.
672. 45:36We shouldn't say, well, because the Chinese Christians don't have the wherewithal to participate
673. 45:41and whether or not they will have the freedom to proclaim the gospel.
674. 45:44So that means we shouldn't know brothers and sisters.
675. 45:49That's not the Lord's desire.
676. 45:51That's not the Lord's desire.
677. 45:56We need to recognize that the Great Commission and the responsibility that executed the context
678. 46:02that we have has been given to us, has been assigned to us.
679. 46:05By God, what are we going to do with that assignment?
680. 46:10It truly hurt my heart to see that there were so many millions of professing Christians
681. 46:17who were willing to even to speak to a poster and to declare proudly almost that I'm not
682. 46:24going to participate civically.
683. 46:25Again, I would never try to intrude on anybody's conscience, but I would encourage you to revisit
684. 46:35the scripture.
685. 46:38God has sovereign over your context, not you.
686. 46:44You didn't decide you wanted to be born when you were born.
687. 46:47You didn't decide you wanted to be alive in the 21st century.
688. 46:50And even if you happen to be a legal immigrant to this country, that you didn't just get it
689. 46:57on your own strength, God's divine providence allowed for you to be here.
690. 47:02I ain't talking to illegal, so y'all ain't supposed to be voting anyway.
691. 47:06If you're an illegal alien, just something as simple as that.
692. 47:13You have Congress members, straight party line vote.
693. 47:16A certain party refuses to pass legislation that says, you know what?
694. 47:20and is can't participate in federal elections.
695. 47:23What's the harm in that?
696. 47:25Unless, unless.
697. 47:28And let me be clear.
698. 47:31There's no politician in no election that's gonna save
699. 47:33us individually, but the Lord does move
700. 47:37through governmental processes to give His people time
701. 47:41to do what He requires of us.
702. 47:45And who knows what will happen with your obedience?
703. 47:52The Ninevites had the way with all the recognize
704. 47:54they needed to repent.
705. 47:57where we have the capacity, where we recognize the necessity
706. 48:02of repentance in our nation.
707. 48:03I just want us to understand, we need to think
708. 48:05Biblically about it, welcome the Lord to lead us in this.
709. 48:08And I pray by God's grace that His people will show up.
710. 48:14We show up like Nehemiah with a sword
711. 48:19and our building tools.
712. 48:21Because our faith is in not an elected official,
713. 48:25but in the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
714. 48:27But He's also the one who's planted us
715. 48:29and assigned us to the context he's given us to be on salt and light duty.
716. 48:39The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American
717. 48:44Family Association or American Family Radio.