Sermon, 12-18-11, What Kind of Nation Have We Become When We Value Possessions More Than Human Life, Pastor Bryan Longworth, Covenant Tabernacle

You may recall the video on the Internet of the little girl in China who wandered away from her mom and wandered into the road where she was ran over by a van. Since China is a police state with cameras everywhere, the event was caught on video. You can see the passenger of the van look out and see the girl before the van drives away. Multiple people passed by, saw the girl dying in the middle of the street, and just walked on by.

You see, there was a case in China not too long ago where a person was injured. Someone saw the injured person, had compassion on them, and took them to the hospital. The injured party recovered and then sued the good Samaritan claiming that he must have been the perpetrator. The judge agreed saying that the only reason someone would take an injured party to the hospital was if he felt guilty because he had done the crime.

How is it that an entire society has so little value for life that a judge would rule that the only reason someone would take an injured party to the hospital would be if he had committed the crime? No thought was given that it may just be that the person cared for the injured party much less the truth that we are created in God’s image, that we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights.

Of course, those rights don’t exist in China. You see, China has a one child policy, and when a woman is pregnant and already has a child, China enforces this one child policy by forced abortions.

Because of this policy, China has a big problem. Every parent wants a boy to carry on the family name, so parents in China have ultrasounds prior when pregnant with their first child. If the child is a girl, they abort (kill) her. The result is that there are considerably more male children than female children. Who are these men going to marry?

This policy has had created a much bigger problem however. By systematically forcing parents to have their own children killed by abortion, China has devalued life to the point where neither its citizens nor its judges understand why anyone would attempt to save the life of an injured party unless they inflicted the wound. The evening of Thanksgiving started black Friday. Our family happened to be driving by Walmart around the time when black Friday was supposed to begin, so we decided to stop and see what deals they had.

We didn’t park in Walmart’s parking lot. It was completely full as was the parking lot to the south of Walmart. We parked in the parking lot to the north, the Golden Coral parking lot, which was almost full.

As we approached the store, we were surprised to find 14 squad cars in front of the store. I didn’t even know our city had 14 officers on duty at any given time, and here 14 were devoted to just one store on this one night. You see: customers got into fist fights earlier over the prize merchandise.

As we walked through the store, we saw several areas where hot merchandise sat, waiting to be released until the set time. Customers crowded around these piles of merchandise waiting for their chance at a bargain.

Looking at this reminded me of the scenes in the hiding place where the women rush on a pile of coats to grab one to keep them warm. The women ran and fought over something that they needed to save their life. In America, we have people with that same type of vigor, going for goods, going for possessions, going for toys, going for the latest electronic gadget, and yes, in America, there were shoppers who stepped over a dying man to get a great deal. The man was having a heart attack, but that didn’t stop shoppers. They simply stepped over him to preserve their place in line.

What kind of country have we become when life is so invaluable and when our focus is so much on material possessions and not on glorifying God, and when in this time economic uncertainty, in this time of need, in this time when we have a record number of foreclosures and people can’t pay their bills, we see more money spent on black Friday than any other Christmas ever? What kind of people have we become?

Watch the full sermon to hear how we need to seek to glorify God more than our possessions, restore the sanctity of human life, and restore fiscal responsibility. Mentioned in this sermon Abortion, the ProLife Personhood Movement, the Tea Party Movement, and Occupy Wall Street.

Sermon Notes:

OPENING PASSAGE — Psalm 139.

Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever.

1 Corinthians 10:31 – “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (NKJV)

Revelation 4:11 – “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” (NKJV)

Psalms 73:25-26 – “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (NKJV)

Restore the Sanctity of Human Life

Genesis 1:26-27 – “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (NKJV)

Psalms 139:13-16 – “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” (NKJV)

Genesis 9:5-6 – “Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.” (NKJV)

Restore Fiscal Responsibility

Proverbs 22:7 – “The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.” (NKJV)

Psalms 37:21 – “The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives.” (NKJV)

Deuteronomy 15:1-6 – “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD’S release. “Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, except when there may be no poor among you; for the LORD will greatly bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance – only if you carefully obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. For the LORD your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.” (NKJV)

Deuteronomy 28 – “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. “The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. “Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. “And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. “The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. “And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. “So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them. “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. “The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. “The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. “The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. “And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. “The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. “Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. “The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. “The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. “And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you. “You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. “Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. “Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand. “A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. “So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. “The LORD will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. “The LORD will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods-wood and stone. “And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the LORD will drive you. “You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. “You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. “You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. “You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. “Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land. “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. “He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. “And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever. “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, “therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. “The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, “a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. “And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you. “They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you. “You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. “The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, “so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. “The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, “her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, “then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues-great and prolonged plagues-and serious and prolonged sicknesses. “Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. “Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the LORD bring upon you until you are destroyed. “You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. “And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. “Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known-wood and stone. “And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. “Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. “In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see. “And the LORD will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.” (NKJV)

Pastor Bryan Longworth

Pastor Bryan Longworth is the number one ranked prolifer and Tea Party Advocate on Twitter (@BryanLongworth), serves as the director of Personhood FL, a prolife organization working to pass the Florida ProLife Personhood Amendment that will end abortion in FL, as the associate pastor at Covenant Tabernacle in Port St. Lucie, FL, and as the director of SOHL, Sanctity of Human Life of the Treasure Coast. Longworth is a Wall Builders Black Robe Regiment Pastor and a Family Research Council (FRC) Watchmen on the Wall Pastor. Longworth has participated in the Alliance Defense Fund’s (ADF) Pulpit Freedom Sunday since 2010. Longworth continues to be involved in the pro-life movement and in calling the church and our nation to repentance. The church and America needs revival and reformation like never before. The blood of over 55 million children cries from the ground for vengeance, and God will avenge! God send us a true move of God lest we perish in our iniquity!

Covenant Tabernacle

Covenant Tabernacle World Outreach Center in Port Saint Lucie Florida is a nondenominational, charismatic reformed church that believes the Pentecostal gifts of the Holy Spirit are available to believers today. We believe God has called us to worship, proclaim His word, and Disciple the nations in obedience to His commandments.

Vibrant Worship

At Covenant Tabernacle, we believe in worshiping God “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30 – NKJV) As a part of our worship, we blow the Shofar as blown in ancient Jewish worship.

Powerful, Bible based Preaching

We believe that the word of God is true (2 Samuel 7:28) and that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV) We encourage all believers to develop a Biblical Worldview that shapes our view on not only our personal life but also our family, friends, loved ones, church, and civil government.

Discipleship

We believe in following Christ’s Great Commission to “‘go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV) As such, we believe in discipling individuals, families, communities, cities, states, and nations in obedience to God’s word.

Personhood FL Launches New Florida ProLife Personhood Amendment Petition!

Sermon, 12-18-11, What Kind of Nation Have We Become When We Value Possessions More Than Human Life, Pastor Bryan Longworth, Covenant Tabernacle