What's It Going to Take?

September 11, 2016 (91111)   NOTES NOT EDITED

The Issachar Factor

1Chronicles 12:23-39, esp. v 32

SIS:   As America struggles to maintain her moral footing we need men and women who “understand the times and know what to do.”

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called it, “A Day That Will Live In Infamy.”  The cowardly, sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese nearly eliminated our force of battleships, and killed over 2400 of our service men and women.  It was a day that shocked our nation into engaging in WWII—particularly the Japanese and as a consequence the Germans.  It was a horrible event in our nation’s history that still causes an emotional reaction in many people.

Fast forward seventy-five years.  September 11, 2001 was yet another day of infamy.  This time the president was George W. Bush and the enemy were terrorists from the Middle East.  It was a Tuesday at 8:46 a.m. when a hijacked jetliner (American Airlines Flight 11) was flown into the North Tower of the Twin Towers in New York City.  This was one of four airliners hijacked that day, and one of two that would strike the Twin Towers bringing them down in an unimaginable heap of dust and destruction.  Nearly 3000 were killed that day and over 6000 wounded.  Many others have died over the ensuing years from various conditions brought on by injuries or breathing the poisonous dust created that day.

Like the attack on Pearl Harbor, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 engaged our nation in a great war—the War On Terror.  Unlike WW2, this war continues now 16 years later and no end is likely in our life time, if ever.  In fact, it will only be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ that defeats the forces of evil.

For a few weeks after the attack on the Twin Towers, churches and synagogues experienced a significant spike in attendance.  In a month or two, attendance was back down to regular numbers.  The novelty of the event had worn off.  The situation reminds me of times in history when we heard cries like, “Remember the Alamo,” which most have long forgotten.  In a couple of years, those who lived through Pearl Harbor will have passed on, taking their memories with them.  The fact, for good or ill, is that we DO forget.  We have as a nation, for all practical purposes, forgotten 9-11.  It no longer captures our attention or grips our emotion.  We have moved on.

Apathy seems to be the default setting for Americans.  Keep us fed and provide gas for our four-wheelers and recreational vehicles, and we are pretty much content.  It is a running segment on late night shows and faux news programs to do “people on the streets” interviews.  It is a source of amusement that so many Americans do not know simple facts of American history like, “who won the Civil War,” or “who is the Vice President of the United States.”  Participants giggle at their ignorance and the nation gets a few moments of amusement.

But, ignorance is not bliss.  It is dangerous.

Tucked away in one of the more “obscure” books of the Bible is a verse in 1Chronicles that talks about the importance of “understanding the times” in which one lives.  When David was amassing his forces and establishing the leadership of Israel verse 32 annotates David’s selection from one particular tribe.  Verse 32 tells us, “From the Issacharites, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”

We live in such times that we need leaders who understand the issues and “know what to do.”  I am not talking simply about national leaders, but more so fathers leading their families and elders leading their churches.  There is a saying that “all politics is local.”  I believe there is much truth to this.  It is hard for any common person to affect a great deal of change on Pennsylvania Avenue, but we can make a lot of difference on Main Street, USA.

But, to turn back the rising tide of cultural disaster in our nation, we need leaders with wisdom and understanding of the times.

The first of three Presidential Debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is only a couple weeks away.  They are both sure to tell us, “I have a plan.”  Politicians always have a “plan,” but mostly mostly they just seem as confused as the rest of us.   I don’t have much confidence in anyone of any party at this point in the game.  We are in a moral whirlpool and we are drowning in the rising waters of our own God-ignoring rebellion.  But, as I said, they will tell us, “I have a plan.”

In our passage from theOld Testament we are at a pivotal time

in Israel’s history.  It is a time of deep uncertainty.  Saul, the former King, and nemesis of God’s chosen vessel, David, has just died, and David was taking the reins of the kingdom.  Many enemies (as has always been Israel’s political lot in life) were poised to attack.  David was mustering the forces and arming for battle.  Chapter 12 of 1Chronicles, beginning in verse 23 gives the numbering of David’s troops from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (or sons of Jacob).  Let’s read that together just to get a feel for the setting of the most important verse in this section, verse 32.  Verse 32 says,

“Men of Issachar who understood the times

and knew what Israel should do.”

READ 1CHRONICLES 12:23-39

Before we outline “what our nation should do,”

let me discuss the “times we find ourselves in.”

THE TIMES ARE CHANGING

SIGN 1: Cultural Confusion

Our nation’s political environment is about as confusing as some

headlines I recently:

Something Went Wrong In Jet Crash, Experts Say

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Killer Sentenced to Die for Second Time in 10 Years

Enraged Cow Injures Farmer With Axe

Plane too Close to Ground, Crash Probe Says

Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant

Being from a West Virginia mining town, this is my favorite:

Miners Refuse to Work After Death

Such confusion is harmless and funny when it is confined to

newspaper headlines, but the moral confusion in America

is far from funny – it is deadly.

Times have changed and confusion reigns.

Before 1960:  we were a culture of “print”

. . . After: we are a culture of “light” (video)

Before 1960: we were on the tail of the Industrial Revolution (nuts and bolts)

. . . Now: we are fully engulfed by the Information Revolution (bits & bytes) measured in tera bytes (that’s 1 million million bytes of information)

Before 1960:  we knew what it meant to have a “screw loose”

. . . Now:  we speak of having a bad chip

Here is an example of how far gone our culture really is according to one research group headline:

FAITH TRENDS IN DECLINE, BARNA REPORTS -- General faith trends over the past two decades in America are largely negative, according to the Barna Group.  The Christian research organization has released the first six parts of its annual "State of the Church" tracking study, which looks at changes in 14 religious attributes since 1991 (that’s 25 years of examining the trends of our culture).  The research shows:

-- Adult church attendance has declined 9 points, from 49 percent in 1991 to 40 percent today
-- About 15 percent of adults attend Sunday School, a drop of 8 percentage points over the past two decades.
-- Bible reading outside of church during a typical week declined 5 percentage points to 40 percent.
-- Only 22 percent of adults volunteer at their church during a typical week, down 8 percentage points from 1991.
-- The percentage of adults categorized as unchurched (who have not attended a religious event at a church besides such ceremonies as weddings and funerals in the past six months) has risen from 24 percent in 1991 to 37 percent today, more than a third of the U.S. population.
-- The percentage of people who believe that God is "the all-knowing, all-powerful and perfect Creator of the universe who still rules the world today," fell five points, putting the total at 77 percent of Americans (which is higher than I’d expect).
-- Only 43 percent of Americans believe "the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches," a decline of 10 percentage points from 1991.

 Whatever the exact numbers might be in the above mentioned areas, the trend for cultural morality and Christian values is:  down, down, and down!  We are on the edge of disaster.  You would think that would put people on the edge of their seats in church listening for a message of hope, renewal, and salvation.  But, that is not the case.

Many people—including the church--are absolutely blind to the state of the times and I am becoming increasingly convinced America is in her final days.  I do not think we can survive a cultural mentality that considers abortion simply an “alternative form of birth control.”  I do not think we can survive a cultural mentality that considers homosexuality an “alternative lifestyle.”  I just don’t think God will continue to bless a nation that puts “One Nation Under God” in our pledge but has kicked Him out of our lives.  I do not think God will continue to bless a nation that puts “In God We Trust” on our coins, but really puts our trust in the coin itself.

Let me risk ridicule and go against the grain of cultural positivism

that has been preached in American pulpits by “positive thinkers” and “possibility prophets” for the last 35 years and say,”Folks, things is bad.  Real bad.”

I heard Jimmy Swaggart say a couple years ago, “What the people of God need today are preachers who will stop telling them how to feel good, and start telling them the truth!”

Our times have changed demonstratively, yet sadly, the church has not faired well in making strategic changes in presenting a changeless gospel.

How confusing it must have been for children growing up in church

during the 70's reading a first century gospel in 16^th century language. 

But, are we doing any better today?  Sure, we have updated versions of the Bible but the message is delivered in ways that really haven’t changed much since the Pilgrims bumped into Plymouth Rock more than 400 years ago.

We—especially Christians born in the 40’s, 50’s, and early 60’s—we let the message of hope and life through Jesus die along with outmoded delivery systems.  Rather than preserve the precious message, so many churches tried to preserve the dying models.  The culture is confused as to what to believe because the church is so often confused about what we believe.  We continued answering questions nobody was asking.

Most churches today are the equivalent of a company manufacturing type-writer ribbons.  But, let me add a note of caution:  FAR TOO MANY CHURCHES have “modernized” the message along with modernizing the methods of church trying to improve upon the gospel message itself.  That’s an even greater disaster.

Many, innovative or emergent churches have become a follower of the blind culture and now both church and culture have fallen in to the ditch of confusion (See Mat. 15:14).

What we need today is to break loose from the cultural confusion by understanding the changeless gospel, and the changing culture.

Sign 2: Moral Malaise

Such drastic change has created a moral malaise in our culture.  “Malaise” means an “unfocused feeling of uneasiness.”  This translates in our culture to, “we don’t know what is right or wrong.”  Life is uneasy and out of focus for our culture.

Scientist often say, “Nature abhors a vacuum.”  Something always tries to fill empty space – and this is true with morality as well.

The result of the “cultural confusion” I spoke of earlier is that

the culture has tried to “reinvent America in its own cultural image.”

The result is a morality without absolute truth which is no morality at all.  Morally, there is terrible unrest and upheaval in society.

You hear people say all the time, “Truth is relative.  What is right for one person, may not be right for another.”  However, deep down anyone who says that knows that “morality cannot possibly rest on the shaky foundation of moral relativism.”  For example: nobody would suggest  – “Well, I would never feel right murdering somebody but if someone felt the need to murder me, that would be right for them.”

Suppose you were on trial.  Would you want 12 jurors who had one

standard of morality for themselves and another for you?  I think not.

What good is a “standard” if everyone gets to choose what the

standard, actually stands for.

For example, 12 is the standard number of eggs in a dozen.  Is that an absolute truth, or is it relative.  Suppose it is relative. As a grocery store owner, when I buy a dozen eggs, I get 12. But according to relativism, when I sell a dozen to you, I give you 10.

Would you accept such nonsense from Von’s or Ralph’s Market?

I think not.

The same is true of morality.  We are living in a society that is suffering from moral malaise – an unfocused feeling because we are losing our sense of right and wrong.  We are confused. We are morally bankrupt.

Sign 3: Apathy (Church and Society: People just don’t care)

Our nation is on the verge of cultural suicide and moral meltdown,

and most people – including church people – just don’t care.

Over 4 out of 10 people who call themselves born-again Christians did not even vote in the last presidential election, and it appears it will be worse this coming election.  Let me tell you what is at stake as a “son of Issachar who knows what the nation should do.”

#1: If a certain politicians get elected this next time around:

            * your taxes WILL GO UP!

            * the number of babies aborted WILL GO UP!

            * the strength of the homosexual lobby WILL GO UP!

            * the probability of a terrorist attack WILL GO UP!

            * the overall strength of our nation WILL GO DOWN!

#2: If another politician gets elected this next time around:

            * your taxes MIGHT GO DOWN!

            * the number of babies aborted MIGHT GO DOWN!

            * the strength of the homosexual lobby WILL GO DOWN!

            * the probability of a terrorist attack WILL GO DOWN!

            * the overall strength of our nation WILL GO UP!

Have you heard of the Sword of Damocles?  In this anecdote from Roman history, Damocles was offered the opportunity to enjoy the King’s fortune by sitting on the King’s throne.  However, a large, extremely sharp sword would hang over his head held only by a single hair of a horses tail.  Damocles begged the King to allow him to decline the opportunity for such a fortune.

I am amazed that so many people live such apathetic, unconcerned lives of blissful oblivion as all the while a sword of disaster hangs by a horse hair above their heads.  Whoever said “ignorance is bliss” was, well, “ignorant.”  Apathy is like Sword of Damocles.

The tribe of Issachar “understood the times and knew what the nation

should do.”  They understood the cultural confusion.  They understood the moral malaise.  They understood the disastrous apathy.  Are we of the Tribe of Issachar? That is a brief overview of the State of the Times. Now, I want to talk a little bit about a STRATEGY FOR THE TIMES

1.  First, we need an Unified Resolve (Verse 38b)

Friends, we need to get our act together in the church if we want God’s blessings.  In battle, there is no place for indecision or for uncertain instructions.

The great Pentecostal experience fell upon the earlier disciples

“Because they were of one mind in one place.”

Let me be bold in my next statement: “I intend to speak forthrightly

and forcibly on all matters to do with church discipline and

participation.  I’m am tired of wishy-washy half-wits delivering

half-baked sermons for people half asleep.  I want our church to be in a position to become the headquarters for the next Great Awakening in America. If this does not appeal to you – you are in the wrong place.

Our church has a “vision,” and it is not up for re-election.

Look at verse 38.  The people had only one leader, David.

That has always been God’s model from the ages.

When he needed a boat – God called Noah.

When He needed General – God called Moses.

When He needed a Pioneer – God called Abraham.

Time and time again, when God wanted to move His people to

greater heights and deeper commitments – He called a man.

He didn’t call a “Committee.”

The last two years have been an unequaled challenge for me as a pastor.  Nothing was what I thought it was going to be (except for one thing I’ll mention in a moment).

What God has done in the last two years of this church is nothing short of “parting the Red Sea kind of miraculous.”  I don’t believe that ever in the 60 year plus history of the church did the church ever see 50 first-time decisions to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Our church has overcome financial challenges that they had not seen in at least over 30 years.  The schools came back from the brink of total collapse to being a healthy, growing, world-changing environment.

I’m nothing special – I really am not.  That is, I am no ministerial genious or “hero of the faith.”  However, I am unique.  God uniquely matched my gifts, skills, and experience to the needs of this church.  So, eventhough many times I had no clue what I was doing, God knew exactly what He was doing

I can assure you of this: I”m convinced I’m right where God wants me to be, or I’d be on the next train out of town.

Now let me return to what I said a moment ago:  “Nothing was what I thought it would be, but one thing.”  What is that one thing that has proved to be what I expected it would be?  You are a group of people who genuinely want to be part of reaching lost souls for Christ!  You have a UNIFIED RESOLVE (DETERMINATION) to hear and respond to God’s Word.  You prayed about who God would call as the pastor, you faithfully support the work, and have enthusiastically embraced the vision and the rest – as they say – is history.

P.S.  – Let me also remind you that the men God called were far from perfect

Noah got drunk and took his clothes off in front of his children. Moses killed a man in a fit of rage.  Abraham used his wife to protect himself from foreigners.  And of course, David was a lying, murdering adulterer.

Seems like there IS A PLACE FOR ME!

2.  Second, our strategy requires a Military Mindset (38a)

* Look at verse 23:  “armed troops”

* Look at verse 38:  “warriors”

These were men “willing to fight.”  This type of preaching really assaults the sensibilities of misguided notions of political correctness that believe you can “negotiate with a fire to put it out!”  The Bible is full of military anecdotes and analogies.  But . . . AND MAKE SURE YOU GET THIS,

***OUR WEAPONS  OF WARFARE (2Cor 10:4)

Unless Christians find the backbone to stand up for what is right,

there is nothing left for the church to do but wait for the cultural vultures to pick her bones clean with political force and judicial tyranny.

Let me repeat that in case you did not get it:  Unless Christians find the backbone to stand up for what is right, there is nothing left for the church to do but wait for the cultural vultures to pick her bones clean with political force and judicial tyranny.

Friend, those David chose were “fighting men!”

So few Christians want to engage in the battle for souls these days.  The same problem is being faced by the military.  Fewer men and women are willing to fight the battles.  I remember reading about a young soldier who had come to hate fighting.  A general noticed one of this soldier behaving oddly. The soldier would pick up any piece of paper he found, frown and say: "That's not it" and put it down again. This went on for some time, until the general arranged to have the soldier psychologically tested. The psychologist concluded that the soldier was deranged, and wrote out his discharge from the army.

The soldier picked it up, smiled and said: "That's it."  Too many Christians are looking to escape the battle rather than engage the enemy.  The result will be certain defeat.

3.  We need a Well-developed Plan (vs 38-39)

I’m going to give you our strategic plan for changing our world:1

Matthew 28:19-20:

Exalt the Savior—“They worshipped” (v17)
Evangelize the Sinners—“They went”(v19a)
Edify the Saints—“They connected” (v19b, baptizing)

Equip the Servants—“They trained” (v19c, teaching)

Enlarge the Scope—“They went further” (v 20, to the end)

That’s my plan and I’m sticking with it!

In 1993 the cumulative attendance at all churches in American was 5.6 billion.  That same year the attendance at all professional sporting events was something like 103 million – less than 2%.  Yet, with less than 2% of the number of people, sports franchises create excitement, build multimillion nation through advertising of the events. 

Much is done by the church, as well, but I think we can do more.

We need “men of Issachar who know the times and understand

what the nation should do.”

Will you become part of the “Issachar Factor?