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Grace Emmanuel Church
Pastor Sam Chess
(Cracking The Code Part
4)
The Da Vinci Code
I’m not going to talk directly about
the book today… I’m going to take us down to the very foundations of
our faith and talk to you from my heart.
When I was in College I studied a lot of
Church History…After Jesus death and resurrection there was a head-on
confrontation of Christianity with the idol worshipping, violent, and
sex-crazed society of largely warring barbarians that we look back on
now and lump, theologically, into one word:
Pagans/Paganism. People with no
understanding of, or relationship to, the Creator God of the
universe who, came to die and rise again to forgive their sins…. We
call these masses… pagans.
This is not a modern term…. the Bible
speaks of pagans, “the heathen”…. Those God loves and wants the Gospel
to reach.. “for it is not God’s will that any should perish but that
all should come to repentance”.
But while God strongly exhorts his
followers to become a Godly influence to the pagans… he also strongly
warns his followers not to allow the pagans to become an ungodly
influence back on them. There’s a lot of this in Scripture…let me give
you a taste: O.T:
Isaiah 2:6 You have abandoned your
people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the
East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands
with pagans.
That’s strait-forward…don’t hold hands
with pagans… don’t live like them… If you ignore my commands, God says,
there will be eternal consequences:
Zephaniah 1:4 "I will crush Judah
and Jerusalem with my fist and destroy every last trace of their
Baal worship. I will put an end to all the idolatrous (pagan)
priests, so that even the memory of them will disappear.
This goes on and on in the Old Testament
and right on into the New. God is very clear in the New Testament that
the lives of Christian are to
look nothing like the lives of pagans.
1 Peter 4:3-6 … you have spent
enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in
debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable
idolatry. 4 They think it strange that you do not plunge with them
into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. 5
But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the
living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was
preached….
As I studied through the history of the
early Church, I discovered the massive influence Christians had on
their society. Remember, for the first 300 years Christians were raped
and murdered, and fed to wild animals for the entertainment of the
pagan Romans, Greeks, Franks, Goths. But there was something about them
that slowly, but surely, convinced the pagans that their God was real,
and the Savior they proclaimed was real, and the salvation from sin He
offered to all who believe was real as well.
(You can order C/D’s from the series “What
if Jesus had never been born”. Christianity impacted every tiny piece
of society as we know it toda,y from our law,s to our medicine,
science, literature etc. Had
Jesus never com,e the world you live in would be a very different
place.)
I went on to study Missions and the
spread of Christianity in the last 400 years… particularly over the
last 150 years and the sweeping acceptance of the Gospel reaching into
some of the darkest corners of a pagan world. Some of that evangelism
fervor is still sweeping parts of the world today. In some parts of the
world Christian revivals are flourishing… In some places, whole
countries are still moving from paganism to Christianity.
I say all that to say this; When I was a
young Pastor, I had on rose-colored glasses about the spiritual revival
I was going to get to be part of in my own country, the United States.
I came into ministry in the days of the Church-growth movement, and the
Discipleship movement, and the Busing craze. In my young, naïve, mind I
could see myself by the time I was a middle-age pastor (which I still
am… if I live to be 98) being a part of a country with a thriving
passion for God and the fires of revival burning in our souls!
What I didn’t foresee, was that at 49
years of age, I would be Pastoring in a country where the very roots of
Christianity would be endangered by a re-taking over of paganism.
If you look at the paganism that God
warned so strongly against, in Scripture, and you line up against
it, the society we find ourselves, increasingly living in,
there is little difference between
what the Bible called paganism and what we call “odern society.”
Pastor Vejay Babu this week told us
of the 330 million gods and goddesses that are worshipped in his
country of India. Only 1% of the population is Christian. There are
½ million villages, in India, without even one Christian……. We’re
not there… our country is basically monotheistic. Most people, at
least, believe in a higher power of some sort. We’re not
worshipping the goddesses Diana or Artemis like the Greeks and
Roman pagan were in New Testament times…. are we?
The book, we talked about for three
weeks, paints a picture of a world where Christians are without sense
or morality and the real intellectuals of this world…those with a true
moral compass are the pagans. It even uses that word, “pagan”, to
describe the rest of the non-Christian world, as if it were a
compliment. It describes a circle of life where every religion and
every philosophy folds inside the circle…nobody claims to be exclusive.
The Christian and the Hindu, and the Muslim put aside their differences
and become one. The males in our patriarical society submit their
strong-handedness to Mother Earth and her Godessess. Sexuality outside
marriage, becomes, not something bad or dirty but can in fact be the
best way to commune with God. True evil, in the world is found in those
who try to push their moral views on others…. Those who make rules to
try to restrict other people’s freedom of expression. In the pagan
world view Christianity is the most immoral of all beliefs because it
tries to force everyone to live by the rules of it’s God.
Aren’t you glad the book is just
fiction?… There are not really people who believe this “circle of life”
stuff….right?..... Wrong!
Let me quote, in this final sermon from
a book by James Garlow that says strongly, what my studies on this
subject have led me to believe is true:
This book is not a neutral fictional
tale that adds a few historical facts for a ring of truth. It is a
propaganda piece for a religious worldview. Brown’s commitment
to…pagan, religious assumptions color’s his choice of facts… The
real significance of the book is it’s clear intention to undermine
the very foundation of the Biblical faith and establish in it’s
place an opposing worldview. Because Brown has adopted a pagan
worldview, he is not content to shoot a few BBs at the facts of
Church history. He wants to blow a hole in the foundations of the
worldview of the Bible!
The one world view that can not, and
will not, fit in this “circle of life” where we all just put aside our
religious prejudices, and just get along; is Christianity. The Bible
doesn’t give the option of adapting ourselves to others beliefs and
learning to live together in the “circle of oneness”.
The story of the Bible is God telling
his followers that they must set themselves apart from paganism!
1 Kings 18:16 So Obadiah went to
meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he
saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
18 "I have not made trouble for
Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have.
You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals.
( God vs, paganism) 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel
to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty
prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat
at Jezebel's table."
20 So Ahab sent word throughout all
Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went
before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two
opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God,
follow him." But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, "…. 23
Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let
them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to
it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not
set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I
will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he
is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
25 Elijah said to the prophets of
Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there
are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light
the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O
Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one
answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt
them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is
deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and
must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves
with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood
flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic
prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was
no response, no one answered,
no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the
people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the
altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve
stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom
the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel."
32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and
he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on
the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water
and pour it on the offering and on the wood." 34 "Do it again," he
said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time.
35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the time of sacrifice, the
prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham,
Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel
and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your
command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know
that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts
back again."
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell
and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and
also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this,
they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he
is God!"
40 Then Elijah commanded them,
"Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They
seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley
and slaughtered there.
What do you know…somebody forgot to tell
Elijah, and God, that true spirituality was found in everybody just
getting inside the circle of oneness, laying aside their differences
and becoming one with the Earth and her goddesses.
God doesn’t get inside the circle of
anything that we make. He is above all of Creation. He is the source of
every bit of matter, every breath of life that resides in every living
thing, every drop of positive emotion that fills this world.
The familiar phrase: In the beginning
God created…can only be interpreted one way…In the Beginning: God! He
answers to no one. He is holy…. He is Other. He doesn’t live inside
anybody’s “Circle of Life”
Isaiah 40:10 See, the Sovereign LORD
comes with power,
and his arm rules for him…
12 Who has measured the waters in
the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off
the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a
basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has understood the mind of
the LORD,
or instructed him as his counselor?
14 Whom did the LORD consult to
enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge
or showed him the path of understanding?
15 Surely the nations are like a
drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were
fine dust.
18 To whom, then, will you compare
God?
What image will you compare him to?
19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts
it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
21 Do you not know? Have you not
heard?
Has it not been told you from the
beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was
founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the
circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live
in.
28 Do you not know? Have you not
heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
The Story of the Bible is the story of
God, in righteousness, taking on the forces of satan and his world view
called paganism. The story of the History of the Church continues the
unfolding of Christianity vs. paganism, in all its forms….whether its
as ancient as Baalism, Buddhism or Hinduism or as modern as the New Age
movement or Wicca. All of them are part of what the apostle Paul call’s
“The Lie”.
Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is
being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, … 21
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor
gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their
foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise,
they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God
for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and
reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in
the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the
degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the
truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things
rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
I explained to you about the
philosophy of Gnosticism that rose up about 100 years after Jesus
death and resurrection. They had wild views like: the God of
creation was a faulted God who badly messed up creation, his
superior the goddess Sophia was wise and her only fault seemed to
be in mis-creating our Creater God. They embraced the godhood of
each individual person and embraced mass sexuality as a pathway to
worshipping God. Everything you saw in the book or movie was simply
a re-writing of 2nd and 3rd century
Gnosticism.
The reality is that in the third century,
Gnosticism cuddled up to Christianity and almost snuffed it out
because they convinced many Christians that the two worldviews
could co-exist. They even convinced some Christians that they could
be Christians and embrace pagan Gnosticism at the same time. (Iranaeus)
They are actually opposites:
Gnost/Paganism
proposes freedom from the creator to do one’s own thing.
Christianity proposes freedom from sin by being reconciled to
our Creator.
Do you think it’s possible that a new brand
of Gnosticism is not only alive and growing in the world today but
that it could, once again cuddle up to Christianity, and try to
convince Believers that it is harmless? Things like New Age and
Wicca are just classic re-writes of Gnosticism but so are a lot
more subtle things.
Many kids in our Universities today have
simply accepted the teaching the there are no absolutes. They don’t
make the connection that when a professor says there are no
absolutes he is also saying there is no God. We teach Einstein’s
theory of Relativism as if it applied not just to physics but to
all of life. Nothing is absolute…everything is relative. (something
Einstein himself did not believe)
Rather than talk about morality now we talk
about values. My values are what I have chosen to place a value on.
Morals are something God has placed a value on. If I change from
morals to values I can eliminate God from the picture.
Paganism is creeping in! Let me read you a
quote and you tell me who you think wrote it:
Deep within the womb of the Earth lies a
memory of a sacredness buried under the weight of
patriarchy….more and more women-especially those with Christian
backgrounds- are being drawn to this empowering, goddess
centered worship..
Wendy Roberts- Celebrating Her-
Printed by United Church of Christ
Here’s one that will jar your teeth. This
comes from a former Roman Catholic theologian with two doctorates:
The antichrist and the second coming are
synonymous. The second coming is not the return of Christ but
the arrival of a new female presence. The second coming…in the
symbol of the Great Goddess is the key to salvation from
servitude. Mary Daly- Beyond God the Father- “calls
herself an “eco-feminist lesbian witch”
In San Diego plans are being made to build a
temple to the Goddess called the Center of the Divine Feminine. It will
seat 500; have a large flat area for circle ceremonies, a maypole, a
peace pole, prayer flags, hot baths, herb gardens,etc.
Caitlin Matthews- Sohia- Goddess of
Wisdom, The Divine Feminine from Black Goddess to World Soul:
Sohia/Isis (Egyptian goddess of magic and the underworld) is about
to be a beacon to Christian, Jews, Gnostics and Pagans alike. Isis
will bring religious unity on her pagan terms, this time on a
planetary scale.
Diana Eck- United Methodist lesbian professor
at Harvard: “If such a synthesis can be pulled off in America, it
would be the greatest form of lasting leadership would could offer
the world.”
You can’t make this stuff up! I told you two
weeks ago that nine of the New York Times bestseller titles, right now
are on this junk.
1 Kings 18:21 Elijah went before the people
and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions?
If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal/
Isis/Sohia is God, follow him/her."
This is not a multiple choice test with the
option “choose all the above”; God did not give us that option…He never
intended to!
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