THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of The Chronicles: God's Preservation Of His Davidic And Levitical Covenants

XVI. God's Victory Over The Marxists' Hegelian Dialectic

(1 Chronicles 22:1-10 et al.)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

On January 19, 2020 in our Fellowship Hall after the morning service, three members from three different families expressed to me their concerns over the "war" that is being waged between progressives and conservatives in our country. Whenever I have heard such a repetition of a concern in my conversations with members in Fellowship Hall on a Sunday, it has been God's signal that I must preach on the concern. This sermon, then, fulfills that duty:

(1) There indeed exists a "war," one formed by Marxists to seduce "people into believing in the tenants of socialism." (Brannon S. Howse, Marxianity, 2018, p. 9) Marxists started the "war" by using "the 'Hegelian Dialectic process'" to create a "conflict by" pitting "one view of an issue [thesis] against another [antithesis], and then proposing a socialistic approach . . . as the solution [synthesis]." By forming many such conflicts, Marxists aim "to destabilize the non-socialistic culture and to hoodwink the unsuspecting populace into accepting a socialistic option." (Ibid.)

(2) For example, "people who hold to biblical truth about sexuality are called homophobic" to pressure them to compromise with LGBTQ views. (Ibid., p. 10) Another example involves Islam: though "Islam . . . is an anti-Christ religion seeking to persecute Christians and Jews, and . . . has a goal to create a global caliphate," if "you speak against Islam, you are" called "Islamophobic" to pressure you to compromise with Islam. (Ibid.) Other issues of conflict begun or inflamed by Marxists are abortion, late term abortion, gay marriage, removal of tax exempt status for religious groups that oppose same-sex marriage, euthanasia, evolution, atheism, parental rights, gun-rights, taxing the rich to redistribute their wealth, banning fossil fuels, fracking and private health care, climate change, free college for all, student loan forgiveness, health insurance for illegal immigrants, open borders and identity politics that pit diverse ethnic and racial groups against each other. (Ken Ham, "How Many?" Answers Insider, January 2020, p. 2-3; a letter by J. Mark Harran of Litchfield in the January 21, 2020 Republican-American, p. 6A, that cited Peggy Noonan, "Crazy Won't Beat Trump," The Wall Street Journal, December 19, 2019; Ibid., Howse, p. 10-11; 24-25)

(3) Actually, Western Civilizations and Christianity have faced Marxist attacks by the Hegelian Dialectic for decades. In 1946, Julian Huxley, the first executive director of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization issued a report, stating: "'(T)wo opposing philosophies of life confront each other. You may categorize the two philosophies as . . . individualism versus collectivism, or as capitalism versus communism, or as Christianity versus Marxism. Can these opposites be reconciled, this antithesis be resolved in a higher synthesis? I believe not only that this can happen, but that through the inexorable dialectic of evolution, it must happen." (Ibid., Howse, p. 20)

Need: So we ask, "How does God want us to respond to the Marxists' Hegelian Dialectic-caused 'war' of today?!"

I. God so abhors war that though David had desired to build the Lord a temple, God kept him from doing so since David had waged great wars and shed much blood, 1 Chronicles 22:1-8:

A. After God revealed He wanted the temple built on the threshing floor David had purchased from Ornan the Jebusite and there sacrificed to the Lord, David prepared for the temple construction, 1 Chr. 21:18-30; 22:1-4.

B. However, David did not actually start the construction, but instead directed that his son Solomon who would succeed him as king was to perform the work, 1 Chronicles 22:5-6.

C. David explained that though he had wanted to build the temple, God had prohibited him from doing so since David had waged great wars and shed much blood. God wanted a man of peace like Solomon to build His temple to signal before all that the Lord wanted to relate to people at His temple in peace, 1 Chron. 22:7-10.

II. Though God directed that Israel fight in some just wars to destroy evil people (Deuteronomy 20:16-19), God as Creator abhors war as an evil that kills those He created, and David had not only waged great just wars and shed much blood, but he had shed blood and waged battles in violation of Scripture:

A. David had unbiblically shed much blood of two desert tribal people groups that lived southwest of Israel:

1. Deuteronomy 20:10-14 directed Israel to try to make peace with non-Canaanite peoples, that if such an effort failed, they were to kill only the men but save the rest of the people and animals alive.

2. It is true that the Amalekites to Israel's southwest were to be annihilated by Israel, for Exodus 17:14-16 directed that Israel was to have perpetual war with them for their wrongs against Israel during the Exodus.

3. However, David not only annihilated everyone in Amalekite settlements that he raided, but also everyone in the desert Geshurite and Girzite settlements that he raided, 1 Samuel 27:7-12 ESV.

B. David had unbiblically shed much blood among the Moabites:

1. Deuteronomy 2:9 in light of Genesis 12:5 and Genesis 19:30-38 prohibited Israel from distressing or contending with Moab, for the Moabites were descendants of Lot, the nephew of their ancestor Abraham.

2. Yet, David fought against Moab and slew two-thirds of its soldiers that he captured, 2 Samuel 8:1-2 ESV.

C. David had unbiblically shed the blood of one of his own warriors, Uriah the Hittite, using a plan in Israel's battle against Ammon to do so, that he might take Uriah's wife Bathsheba to be his own wife, 2 Sam. 11:1-27.

III. God thus wanted Israel to approach Him as a God of peace, not dread Him as a despot like pagan man did in approaching his warlike, oppressive gods. (Bruce K. Waltke, Creation and Chaos, 1974, p. 64-65)

Lesson: God prohibited David from building His temple because David had waged great wars and shed much blood, at times doing so excessively and unbiblically, for God wanted people to approach Him at His temple as a God known for peace that they not fear He would oppress them as in pagan man's experience with his false gods.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ for salvation from sin, John 3:16. (2) May we realize that since God does not delight in even just wars, and that He abhors unjust wars, the Marxists' Hegelian Dialectic process that seeks to create "war" in order to subvert people with its godless ideology is utterly abominable to God. (3) May we then heed Scripture to overcome the Marxist Hegelian Dialectic process as shown in the "Conclusion" section below.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

Scripture gives guidance in discerning and overcoming the Marxist Hegelian Dialectic process (as follows):

(1) God has so positioned each believer in Christ that he is equipped to overcome Marxist efforts (as follows): (a) The Holy Spirit comes to indwell the believer the instant he trusts in Christ, Romans 8:9. (b) That Holy Spirit acts as the Seal of that believer's salvation status until the rapture, Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30. (c) The Holy Spirit guides the believer into all truth (John 16:13) so that even a new, spiritually immature believer can discern truth from the error of even an anti-christ, 1 John 2:18-27. (d) The Holy Spirit in believers is greater than Satan who is in the world (1 John 4:4), for Satan is but a created being (Ezekiel 28:11-15) but the Holy Spirit is Almighty God (Acts 5:3-4). (e) Relying on the Holy Spirit equips the believer to retain correct theology without compromise, 2 Timothy 1:13-14. Thus, any believer at any time in Church History who relies on God the Holy Spirit WILL discern and resist Marxist error!

(2) Since the Hegelian Dialectic process is meant to create unsettling conflict, the believer can rely on the Holy Spirit to produce in him a demeanor that makes him immune to becoming unsettled, for the Holy Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, Galatians 5:16, 22-23 ESV.

(3) Since Marxism as an ideology is innately evil and Marxists use the Hegelian Dialectic process to create unrest by conflict in order to impose Marxist ideology upon them, Marxists with their dialectic process are wickedly abusive, and 2 Timothy 3:1-5a ESV predicted such entities would rise in the latter days of Church History. This passage predicted that some people would be heartless, brutal, treacherous, reckless, full of conceit and loving pleasure above God. The believer is to avoid such abusers for his own welfare, so we believers must separate from Marxists and their views, refusing to be influenced by the conflicts they create.

(4) Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV with 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 claims that God gave the true Church supernaturally gifted evangelists, pastors and teachers (in our era) that believers in Christ might cease being "children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Ephesians 4:14 ESV) by parties like Marxists with their Hegelian Dialectic! Rather, by exposing themselves to the ministry of credible local church leaders, believers in Christ will attain "to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," Ephesians 4:13 ESV.

Thus, we believers must not let our minds and hearts be exposed to a lot of ideology that is being promoted in today's world and that is increasingly invading evangelical circles, but adhere to the clear exposition of the Word of God by Bible teachers and preachers we know are credible.

(5) Isaiah 8:20 with Psalm 119:105 teach the importance of exposing our minds to what Scripture teaches for illumination in a spiritually dark world. If we believers will read from Scripture each day as God directed Israel's kings to do in Deuteronomy 17:18-20, we will avoid being harmfully deceived and manipulated by Marxists!

(6) In Matthew 16:18, Christ promised to build His true Church so that the gates of Hades, the forces of evil, would not be able to overcome it. We can trust Christ to keep building His Church regardless of Marxists' activities!

May we trust in Christ for salvation. May we then rely on the Holy Spirit, withdraw from the abuses of Marxists, focus on Biblical teaching from Biblical churches and daily read Scripture for God's protection from the Marxist Hegelian Dialectic process and its damaging effects as we grow up into Christ into secure maturity.