Don’t move those rocks!
Proverbs 22:28 July 24, 2016
River Bend Baptist Church
INTRO:
Turn in your Bible to Proverbs 22:28. While you are turning there; let’s start off a little differently today. I want to remind you of some wise saying of Solomon.
Proverbs 9:8
Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and ey will love you.
Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 22:1
A good name is more desirable than riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way that he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpen iron, so one man sharpens another.
Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
All or these are wise sayings from Solomon…but let me read one more which is the focus for the message this morning.
READ Proverbs 22:28
In ancient times boundary markers were made by either piling up a bunch of stones or standing up one large stone.
The intended purpose was the same – “This pile of rocks or this rock marks something important, so before you do anything here you better find out what this rock means.”
Anyone who moved boundary markers (the pile of rocks or a standing stone) was stealing land. That was serious in Israel way back then and still in Texas today.
Truth is… boundaries and boundary lines are important.
ILL: How would you like to come home and find your neighbor building a shed
in your back yard. You would care about boundary lines then.
We know this but why does Solomon sound so adamant in this proverb?
Well in Israel boundary lines were considered sacred. Remember it is God who gave the land to the Israelites; He is the One who divided it up. He is the One who established the boundary lines.
Joshua chapters 13 - 22 deal with the Promised Land being divided up and given to the Israelite tribes.
The last thing Joshua oversees before he leaves this world is to portion out the land which God had given.
-Judah – goes here
-Ephraim – over there
-Manasseh – was split into two huge portions of land because of the size of
the tribe.
-Simeon, Zebulon, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Benjamin
-all receive a place in the land.
-Ruben and Gad received their land before the nation crossed over the
Jordan River
-Special cites given to the Levites – they become the priest
-6 cites of refuge (for people seeking God’s mercy and justice)
Not only was moving the ancient boundary stones stealing, but it was essentially thumbing your nose at God and saying I don’t care what you have established.
TRANS: This proverb specifically talks about land rights but there is a
principle behind it which is much larger.
Truth for the day
There are foundational landmarks, truths and principles which God has established that should not be tampered with and they should not be removed.
(by individuals, governments or nations)
What kind of Foundational Landmarks, truths and principles am I talking about? Let me share a few with you this morning.
(I’m going to touch on the first few I mentioned rather quickly, but I’m going to spend a longer time on the third I mention.)
1. Freedom
This foundational principle which we find in the Bible is for both spiritual and personal freedom.
God created man to be free,
-free from the tyranny of other men
-free from the tyranny of corrupt governments
-free to pursue God
One of God’s first Foundational Landmarks is freedom.
In America we all benefit from the freedoms we have but there is a great temptation to not do the work it takes to keep these freedoms.
Freedoms won on the battle field must be maintained daily by the values of righteousness and justice.
Freedom is kept fresh and vibrant by people, judges, congressmen and legislators who do the right thing, the just thing. And do it with hearts and eyes focused on God.
When the heart of the nation is not right, then Freedoms which God intends for all people will not prevail and freedom will quickly fade away.
We all have the responsibility to keep Freedom alive.
How do we keep Freedom alive?
1. Live out your God given freedoms to the fullest.
2. Preserve the freedoms of others.
-When you see freedoms under attack then speak up.
3. Don’t let those who use their God given freedom to not live for Him intimidate
you to not speak about Him or live for Him.
4. Be bold in your faith, live for God in all areas of our society and teach your
children to do likewise.
Peter Marshal, -a pastor in Washington DC in 1940’s
-was twice selected to the be the Chaplin of the U.S. Senate
Said this in a prayer before the U.S. Senate many years ago.
“Lord Jesus, You are the way, the truth and the life; hear us as we pray for the truth that shall make all free. Teach us that liberty is not only to be loved but also to be lived. Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books. It cost too much to be hoarded. Help us see that our liberty is not the right to do as we please but the opportunity to do what is right”
I know we are thankful to be citizens of the United States, but we have a responsibility to keep and protect the freedom God intends for all people.
TRANS: Here’s another Foundational Landmark that we must never
remove or lose.
2. Capitalism with conscience.
You may be surprised to hear that is Biblical concept but it is.
God ordained work, God said work is good and God gave man the ability to be creative, even entrepreneurial.
God also said care for others and to help others.
Are these concepts opposite of each other? No they go hand in hand.
Let me give you a Biblical example of how this is done.
ILL: Have you ever heard of the Biblical concept of “gleaning”.
God in His great wisdom instructed the farmers throughout Israel, when they harvested their fields to leave some of the crops in the field.
-Around the edges, or in the corners or when some of the harvest falls in the
field don’t pick it up.
Why? So those who were less fortunate can come and pick it up and they would have food to eat and could use what they picked up to sell in the market or trade with their neighbors.
Farmers are some of the best capitalists you will ever find.
-They take a risk, they plant a crop, (they pray a lot) they produce a yield.
-Then they use it, they sell it, they trade it and it benefits them and the
community.
ILL. John Calvin, is credited with what we call the Protestant work ethic; He
taught his people to work hard, make a profit, care for your family, give to God and give others.
Intentionally improve your life so you could improve the lives of others.
When we only value what we gain, or only judge our success by the bottom line then we have short changed or removed Gods landmarks of work and compassion.
God has given us these Foundational Principles of working hard and loving others and they go hand in hand.
TRANS: These are some of the Foundational Principles God has established
but, here’s another.
3. Religious Freedom
The fight for Religious freedom started long before America was birthed.
In 1612 a Baptist pastor in England by the name of Thomas Helwys wrote a book entitled “The Mystery of Inequity” in which he outlined the case for Religious Freedom and then spelled out the injustices done to Christian’s and others in the English Empire because they wanted Religious Freedom.
Helwys sent a signed copy to King James and on the inside cover he wrote this:
“The King is a mortal man and not God, therefore hath no power over the immortal souls of his subject to make laws and ordinances for them and to set spiritual Lords over them”
He was talking about State run religion.
Because of his book and his views on Religious Freedom he was imprisoned and eventually died there.
But it just wasn’t on foreign lands people were persecuted for their views of Religious Freedom. Here in America, in 1663 Baptist leader Roger Williams had to flee Massachusetts because he did not agree with their State run religion and because he spoke out; he was imprisoned, beaten, persecuted and almost killed.
Years later he was able to secure a charter for a new American Colony which would be called Rhode Island. And in this Colony, people for the first time in America would enjoy the Freedom of Religion.
But there were others, Isaac Backus a Baptist layman was killed in New England for his view regarding Religious Freedom.
John Leland is accredited with meeting with James Madison and persuading him to include Freedom of Religion in the First Amendment.
What does Freedom of Religion mean?
As believers in Jesus Christ here is what Religious Freedom means to us.
1. Freedom to follow Christ
-to call Jesus Lord
-to voluntarily follow Him - never coerced by law or coerce others
-never to be prevented from living out our faith
-to believe salvation is found in Jesus only
-to be able to share that with others.
2. Freedom to read and interpret the Bible.
-We believe the Bible is the authority for faith and that all people should
have the freedom to read it and seek God for its understanding.
-Government should not obstruct the study of the Bible.
3. Freedom to choose and support a church.
-We believe everyone has the right to make this choice
-the state should not make this choice for anyone
-even if they decide not to join a church that is their decisions
-no one should be forced to financially support a religion
they do not agree with.
-your taxes should never support a state religion or any other religion
4. Freedom to live out our faith
-in worship
-at home
-in public
-to witness and tell others
-to teach your children about God and the Bible
Religious Freedom is one of Landmarks God has given us; it is a Foundational Principle of our faith.
How do we maintain religious freedom?
-It seems we are losing this battle in our world today.
1. Be vigilant, stay alert and watch for nations, governments and people who abuse
the Religious Freedoms of others and cry out for those who have no voice.
2. If Religious Freedom is not advancing then it is dying.
Do what you can do to help others have Religious Freedom.
Worldwide Religious freedom abusers
According to an article in the Religious News Service, 5.6 Billion people live in Parts of the world where there is no or very limited Religious Freedom.
Places like China, India, Syria, Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and Burma.
The lack of Religious Freedom may be a direct action of a government or it can occur when a government will not stop the actions of terrorists/militants or other religious groups within the nation which are abusing the Religious Freedoms of others.
3. Exercise your Religious Freedom.
-Grow in your faith, worship at church and home. Teach your children about
God, the Bible and how to live out their faith.
4. Understand what separation of Church and State really means and then
champion the cause.
-the state should not be involved in the church, but he church who be involved in the state.
-A one way valve
5. Extend Religious Freedom to all peoples.
-If Religious Freedom is real then it is for all people…all religions and
even those people who decide not to believe in any god at all.
People came to America for freedom and to start new lives and one of the greatest freedoms America offered was the Freedom of Religion.
Our Founding Fathers made it clear in our Constitution and Bill of Rights that we would be free to worship God and have the freedom to live out our religious convictions and teachings without government intervention or fear of reprisals.
These great statesmen knew people should be free to worship the God of their choice and worship Him as they chose.
Let me remind you of some of their voices…
John Adams
Nothing is more dreaded than the national government meddling with religion.
John Leland
It would be sinful for a man to surrender that to man which is to be kept sacred for God.
Thomas Jefferson
I consider the government of the U.S. as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises.
James Maddison
The religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate.
Abraham Lincoln
The U.S. government must not undertake to run the churches.
Religious Freedom is a marvelous gift God has given us but it takes commitment from you and me to make sure it is preserved for future generations.
CON:
Let me conclude by reading something pastor Bill Huth from Colorado said which was read into the congressional record on July 20, 2007.
These “landmarks are there for you and me, form the past and for the future…and with your help and the strength of Lord our God they shall not removed.”
