A lot of the information in today's sermon came from the book "Under the Influence" by Alvin J. Schmidt. This message will contain a lot of history and facts.
Acts 17:5-7 (ESV) "But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, 'These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.'" The Apostles had come into the city/world and upset the status quo. They were turning the known world upside down. This is what we should be doing...making the world into what God wants it to be.
John 14:12 (ESV) "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." What is Jesus talking about? Were the acts of the Apostles greater than Jesus's? R.C. Sproul said "If Jesus meant that people would do greater miracles than he performed in the sense of displaying more power and more astonishing things than he did, then obviously one of the works that Jesus failed to perform was sound prophecy because that didn't just happen." Jesus was saying that through His people God will do great things. Not in power but in scope. There is zero doubt that Jesus changed things. Just look at the differences from BC/AD... we gather and worship on the Lord's Day in the Lord's house worldwide. Today 1/3 of the world are Christians.
Is Christianity good for the world? Is the work of Christ good work? Romans 12:5 (ESV) "so we, though many are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." 1Corinthians 12:27 (ESV) "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." Ephesians 4:11-12 (ESV)"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ," Not that Christians have been perfect. There have been egregious errors, but as a whole Christianity has been good for the world.
I. Art Architecture
Cathedrals in Europe
Sistine Chapel
Museums filled with sculptures and paintings done to glorify God.
II. Language
You can see how New Testament scripture and Gospel truth has infiltrated our language in every day sayings.
1. Rob Peter to pay Paul
2. The Gospel truth
3. Thorn in the Flesh
4. Wolf in sheep's clothing
5. Good Samaritan
6. Avoid it like the plague
7. Turn the other cheek
8. When in Rome
III Music
Basically all classical music ever written was created to glorify God. You can look at the works of Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Mozart, Handel and Bach. The symphony, the sonata, the cantata and concerto. One can argue that R&B and soul music came out of Negro spirituals and a lot of country music came from gospel music.
IV Liberty and Justice for all
The ideas that are the foundation of America came out of Christianity and the quest for religious freedom. They did not come out of thin air. These ideas came out of Christian ideas and doctrine.
1. No one is above the law- No king but Christ
2. You need multiple lines of evidence (2 or more)
3. Innocent until proven guilty
The Declaration of Independence was written during the Great Awakening. It appeals to Nature's God and Supreme Judge.
King George III and the House of Commons the Presbyterian revolt resulted in the 1st Great Awakening
1. Fair pay for laborers- Luke 10:7 (ESV)"And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages."
2. The work we do Colossians 3: 23-24 (ESV) "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."
3. What about slavery? Slavery existed all around the world for centuries and continues today in parts of the world. Christ encouraged proper treatment of slaves and laborers.
V. Science
Good science reveals truth about God and how to understand and work with his creation.
Bad science seeks to explain God away and usurp his roll.
Romans 1: 19-20 (ESV) "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things have been made. so they are without excuse."
Psalms 19: 1-2 (ESV) "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge."
Proverbs 25:2 (ESV) "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out."
1.William Thompson Kelvin the founder of Thermal Dynamics established the scale of absolute zero. "If you think strongly enough you will be forced by science to the belief in God"
2. Christians made huge strides in the fields of Human Physiology, biology, astronomy and physics.
Isaac Newton-discovered gravity-Christian
Robert Boyle "Father of Chemistry" - Christian who gave to foreign missions and led missions
John Priestly discovered oxygen - Christian
James Simpson discovered chloroform the first anesthesia. He thought that about God putting Adam to a deep sleep and decided that there must be away to put people into a "deep sleep" for surgery.
Joseph Lister introduced and applied antiseptics into medicine and the world. He taught physicians to wash their hands and sterilize instruments.-Christian
VI. Education
Proverbs 22:6 (ESV) "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."
Education is for everyone is a Christian concept. Literacy is for everyone is a Christian concept. Religious reformers wanted everyone to be able to read the bible for themselves and not rely on priests. Missionaries have been involved in literacy, teaching people how to read using the bible. Have you ever been to school or in a school? You have John Calvin and Martin Luther to thank for that. Universities were the product of Christian education to train clergy. The Ivy league schools were started as "Christian" colleges.
Along these same lines Christians are the ones who fought for the care of orphans and the elderly. Hospitals are named after Christian denominations. Christians fought to educate the blind, deaf and the mentally handicapped.
VII. Women
Some say that Christianity is oppressive to women. However in Rome women were not educated, were seen as property. They were ranked just above slaves. But how did Jesus and Christians view/treat women.
1. The woman at the well- She was not a noble woman. Jesus shared with her who He was and then she shared with her community.
2. The first witness of the resurrection- the women
3. Mary and Martha are listed as followers of Jesus.
4. Paul taught that a wife was a partner rather than property.
Roman pagans vs early Christians- Romans abandoned baby girls...Christians took them in
Women were not allowed to speak in public or leave the house without a man. Men could divorce their wife for any reason, but women were not allowed to divorce their husbands. Women could not inherit property and Roman mistresses had more rights than a wife. A Roman husband had authority to have his wife executed. Women were used and abused in temples. Christianity changed all of that. Today you can look at the parts of the world who are untouched by the gospel and see how women are treated and not valued.
VIII Morality
In Rome they had the Gladiatorial games where they had huge crowds to watch horrible things. Christians would not attend. They would not participate in unholy events. In Rome human life did not matter. The only thing that mattered was the individual.
In Pre St. Patrick Ireland human sacrifice was a common occurrence as well as many other places in the world. Christians lived their lives differently than those around them. Non Christians began to see how different their lives were. The early Christians were severely persecuted especially in the first 100-300 years after Christ. This slowly changed as more and more people became followers of Jesus.
Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Hebrews 12:1-3 (ESV) "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."
Without the work of Christ and his people the world would be a very dark place to live.
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