“In The Age of Technology What Has Happened To Our …
“In The Age of Technology What Has Happened To Our Theology?”
Ecclesiastes 7:20, 29
INTRO. We are surely living in the Age of Technology. We have more gadgets, gizmos, and
conveniences than has ever been know to man. Technology, the invention of objects
and methods to provide and promote the betterment of man has in many instances
added to man’s burden. The majority of the modern day inventions we see have come
about since 1940, we are told. Some of these inventions are good, and good for us.
They are not wrong within themselves. The problem is that they tend to take us away
from the old fashioned Theology that has been handed down from generation to gene-
ration. When we fall into the trap of believing or, more accurately, hoping that
technology will solve all our problems, we are actually abdicating the high touch of
personal responsibility. Our technological fantasies illustrate the point. We are always
awaiting the new magical pill that will enable us to eat all the fattening food we want,
and not gain weight; burn all the gasoline we want, and not pollute the air; live as
immoderately as we choose, and not contract either cancer or heart disease.
In our minds, at least, technology is always on the verge of liberating us from personal
discipline and responsibility. Only it never does and it never will. The more high
technology around us, the more the need for human touch (1). The more we need God.
The more we need to follow the principles for living contained in God’s Holy Word! 2
Timothy 3:7 says, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth.” Intellectually today man has reached heights that few thought possible, but
spiritually we are bankrupt. Every generation has felt that it was a new age—that it
saw more light and truth and was more enlightened than the former generation. In the
area of science and techonolgy this is true...
• but it is not true in human life and behavior.
How can we say this? Because man has not been changed. Man is still corruptible,
aging, deteriorating, dying, and decaying. And he will continue to be a corruptible
creature until his heart and soul are changed and made anew. This is where God’s Son
comes in, even the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Only Christ can change the human heart and soul; only He can make a person
into a new creature.
The truth of human behavior (sin and death) and of its deliverance from evil and death
through Christ has been revealed. This truth never changes. Advancements in science
and technology, psychology and medicine cannot stop the process of sin and death.
Only Christ—the power of His cross and resurrection—can change man and give him
eternal life.
The question I want us to consider is this, “What has happened to the old time
Theology?” as we think about this subject, “In The Age of Technology What Has
Happened To Our Theology.”
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO:
(1) THE THEOLOGY OF SIN
Romans 3:10-18, 23—“As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open
sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asp, is
under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet
are swift to shed innocent blood: Destruction and misery are in their
ways: And they way of peace they have not known: There is no fear of
God before their eyes. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of
God.”
*The Apostle Paul, in these verses, shows us that humanity in general, in its present sinful con-
dition, is unacceptable before God. “No one is good” means “no one is innocent.” Every single
person is valuable in God’s eyes because God created us in His image and He loves us, but no
one is righteous (that is, no one can earn right standing with God) (2). Though valuable, we are
born in sin-sinners by nature and by choice. And only God through Jesus Christ, His Son, can
redeem us and forgive us our sin.
A. Sin is something we don’t hear much about anymore. Very few preachers
condemn it. We live in a society where the wicked and their wickedness is
glorified. We are foretold in God’s Word that at time such as this would come (Isaiah 5:20).
ILLUS. John MacArthur, in his book, “THE VANISHING CONSCIENCE,”
says, “We live in a culture that has elevated pride to the status of a
virtue. Self-esteem, positive feelings, and personal dignity are what
our society encourages people to seek. At the same time, moral re-
sponsibility is being replaced by victimism, which teaches people to
blame someone else for their personal failures and iniquities.
Frankly, the Biblical teachings about human depravity, sin, guilt, re-
pentance, and humility are not compatible with any of those ideas.
The Church has been far too willing to embrace fads of worldly
opinion-particularly in the area of psychology and self-esteem.
Christians often merely echo worldly thinking on the psychology of
guilt and the importance of feeling good about oneself. The adverse
affect on the life of the Church can hardly be underestimated. No-
where has the damage registered more than in the way professing
Christians deal with their own sin….The Church as a whole is grow-
ing less concerned with sin, and more concerned with self-exonerat-
ion and self-esteem. Christians are rapidly losing sight of sin as the
root of all human woes. And many Christians are explicitly denying
that their own sin can be the cause of their personal anguish. More
and more are attempting to explain the human dilemma in wholly
unbiblical terms: temperament, addiction, dysfunctional families,
the child within, codependency, and a host of other irresponsible es-
cape mechanisms promoted by a secular psychology.
The potential impact of such a drift is frightening. Remove the real-
ity of sin, and you take away the possibility of repentance. Abolish
the doctrine of human depravity and you void the divine plan of
salvation. Erase the notion of personal guilt and you eliminate the
need for a Savior. Obliterate the human conscience, and you will
raise an amoral and unredeemable generation. The Church cannot
join hands with the word in such a grossly satanic enterprise. To do
so is to overthrow the very gospel we are called to proclaim (3).
*We need preachers in the pulpits that will take a strong stand against sin (2
Timothy 4:2-4)!
ILLUS. The story is told that D.L. Moody was conducting a revival in a cer-
tain place. A little boy attended the services. One of this little boy’s
friends, who did not attend the service, asked him what Moody
preached. The boy said, “He preached on sin.” “What did he say
about it?” the other boy asked. The first boy answered, “Well, I
know this much, he is against it.”
B. Sin is a destroyer of:
1. Body
2. Character
3. Family
4. Lives
5. Soul (James 1:14-15). Samuel Shaw said, “Sin itself is hell, and death, and misery to the soul…” (4).
ILLUS. Could the United States be headed down a path similar to that of
ancient Rome? Let's look at the five reasons for Rome's downfall, as
set forth by Edward Gibbon in his classic work "The Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire." They are:
1. The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home.
2. Increasing taxes and spending of public money for bread and
circuses.
3. The mad craze for pleasure, with sports becoming more exciting
and more brutal.
4. The building of gigantic armaments, when the real enemy is the
decadence of the people.
5. The decay of religion, with faith fading into mere form.
(2) THE THEOLOGY OF SATAN
1 Peter 5:8—“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roar-
ing lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
A. The New York Times, in reporting on a survey by the Barna Group, noted the
diminishing belief in the devil among Americans. Two-thirds of Americans
do not believe in the devil as a living entity. In a nationwide telephone survey
of 1,007 randomly selected people, pollsters asked whether they agreed that
Satan is “not a living being, but is a symbol of evil.” Sixty-two percent
agreed with the statement, while 30 percent disagreed; the remaining 8 percent
had no opinion. “If less than one in three Americans seems willing to give the
devil his due,” reported the Times, “then that is a result of fundamental, long-
term shifts in the nation’s religious culture” (5).
B. But Satan is real. He is out to destroy God, God’s people and God’s Work,
and take sinners to hell by the millions. Satan worship, a thing unheard of in
our nation two generations ago, is one of the fastest growing cults in the nation-and is especially conspicuous in the youth culture. A recent news report from Orange County, California reported more than 500 cases of ritual
animal sacrifice involving stolen pets have been recorded over the past decade
(6).
C. We need to warn people of Satan. We need to tell people how to detect him
and what his plan is and how to stand against him.
ILLUS. I was in an emergency room late one night last week. Victims of
Satan filled the halls. A child - puffy, swollen eyes. Beaten by her
father. A woman - bruised cheeks, bloody nose. "My boyfriend got
drunk and hit me," she said, weeping. An old man - unconscious and
drunk on a stretcher. He drooled blood in his sleep. Jesus saw the
victims of Satan, too.
He saw a leper one day . . . fingers gnarled . . . skin ulcerated . . face
disfigured. And he got indignant . . . angry. Not a selfish, violent
anger. A holy anger . . .a controlled frustration . . .a compassionate
disgust. And it moved him. It moved him to action. I'm convinced
that the same Satan stalks today, causing the hunger in Somalia . . .
the confusion in the Mideast …the egotism on the movie screen . . .
the apathy in Christ's church. And Satan giggles among the dying.-
Max Lucado
(3) THE THEOLOGY OF THE SAVIOR
John 1:1-5, 11-14—“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made
that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And
the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. He
came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as re-
ceived him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to
then that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, ( and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
A. Never have we seen our Blessed LORD Jesus so degraded, hated, and rejected
as we see it today.
1. His deity is denied.
2. His sinless life is mocked.
ILLUS. Television talk-show host Larry King made a very perceptive
comment when he was asked who he would most like to have inter-
viewed from across history. One of those he named was Jesus
Christ. “What would you have asked Him?” Came the rejoinder to
Mr. King, “I would like to ask if He was indeed Virgin born, because
the answer to that question would define history” (7).
ILLUS. In the March 29, 1999, issue of the NEWSWEEK magazine, the
following questions were asked, and answers were given:
"Do you think Jesus Christ ever actually lived?"
Christians 93% YES
Non-Christians 68% YES
I was shocked to read that 7% of those who claim to be Christians,
DO NOT believe that He ever actually lived. Does that make
sense? How can one profess to be a "Christian", and yet deny the
Christ who bought them? And isn't it interesting that more than half
of the non-Christians polled, believe that He lived. There may
indeed be more souls out there willing to hear and obey the gospel
than many brethren are willing to admit!
"Do you believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead after dying on the
cross?"
Christians 88% YES
Non-Christians 32% YES
Again one can be amazed to learn that 12% of professed
"Christians" deny that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Paul
wrote, "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and
your faith is also vain" (1 Co 15:14). But note again that a
considerable number of non-Christians believe in His resurrection.
"Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already
to harvest" (Jn. 4:35).--Swartz Creek, MI, church bulletin
B. Jesus Christ was and is God. It may be hard for our finite minds to
grasp but that is where our faith comes in (1 Timothy 3:16). He was
all together man and all together man. He was and is the God-man.
W.A. Criswell in the Great Doctrines of the Bible writes:
Our Blessed LORD combined in one, two natures, both complete;
A perfect manhood all sublime, in Godhead all replete.
As man He entered Cana’s feast, a humble guest to dine;
As God He moved the water there, and changed it into wine.
As man He climbed the mountain’s height, a suppliant to be;
As God He left the place of prayer and walked upon the sea.
As man He wept in heartfelt grief, beside a loved one’s grave;
As God He burst the bands of death, Almighty still to save.
As man He lay within a boat o’erpowered by needful sleep;
As God He rose, rebuked the wind and still the angry deep.
Such was our LORD in life one earth, in dual nature one;
The woman’s seed in very truth and God’s eternal Son.
O Child, O Son, O Word made flesh, may thy high praise increase:
Called Wonderful, the Mighty God, Eternal Prince of Peace (8).
C. In this age of Technology, the Gospel is “taboo”. But the Gospel is
Jesus Christ-His death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-
4). Without Christ, Man is without hope. There is no way to God!
ILLUS. Jesus the Way: there is a difference between pointing the
way to a particular place and taking someone by the hand and
leading him there. The person who guides a person to their
destination literally becomes the way himself. Jesus Christ
not only points out and tells a person how to walk through
life and how to reach God, He personally shows the person
the way. Therefore, He Himself is the Way. Note the
repetition of the word “way” (John 14:4-6).
(4) THE THEOLOGY OF SALVATION
2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 17—“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we
thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that He died
for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Therefore if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new.”
A. There is very little depth to so many salvation experiences today. When a
person is truly born again by the Grace of God, he is never again the same—
“old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
ILLUS. What does it mean for a man to become a “new creature”? Very
simply, it means just what the Scripture says: the man actually
becomes a new creature—his whole being, nature, life, and behavior
changes:
⇒ Whereas a man was dead to God, as a new creature he becomes
alive to God.
⇒ Whereas a man had no relationship with God, as a new creature he
is given a relationship with God.
⇒ Whereas a man was not sure about God, as a new creature he is
absolutely certain about God.
⇒ Whereas a man never fellowshipped and communed with God, as a
new creature he fellowships and communes with God all the time.
⇒ Whereas a man was living in sin and immorality, as a new creature
he lives in righteousness and holiness.
⇒ Whereas a man had to face death, as a new creature he never has to
die.
⇒ Whereas a man was doomed to judgment and eternal separation
from God, as a new creature he is destined to live eternally in the
presence of God.
B. Ask people these days when they were born again, when they repented, when
they came to know Jesus and He completely transformed them, and they don’t
know what you are talking about. To be in Christ means that a believer walks
and lives in Christ day by day. It means that he does not “walk after the flesh,
but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1, 4). It means that “denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present
world” (Titus 2:12). It means that he bears the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians
5:22-23). It means that he abides in Christ, that he becomes as connected and
attached to Christ...
C. In this age of Technology, Repentance is seldom if ever mentioned in many
Churches. But Repentance is a must. Jesus said, “..except ye repent, ye shall
all likewise perish.” Jesus said, “No! But except you repent, you shall all likewise perish!” Such an argument has its basis in self-righteousness. The point is unmistakable: all men must repent of sin, for all men are sinners,
ILLUS. The word “repentance” or “repent” is used in the writings of Paul
to the Romans, the Corinthians, and to Timothy, and by the writer
to the Hebrews as well as by Peter. It occurs ten times in the Book
of the Revelation of John. In all of the New Testament it appears
more than fifty times. Hebrews lists it as an elementary doctrine of
Christ, a foundation. How serious then is the condition of a profes-
sing church where repentance is missing from its elementary
evangelism or church growth?-J. Edwin Orr (9)
(5) THE THEOLOGY OF SEPARATION
2 Corinthians 5:14-18—“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord
hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an
infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will
dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and
be ye separate, saith the LORD, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be my sons and daughters, saith the LORD Almighty.”
A. Even though the Word of God teaches Separation, we see less separation
between the Church and the world than ever before. But to the Bible-believing Christian Separation is a valid doctrine and must be practiced in two areas:
1. Separation from Evil. It has become almost impossible to tell the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. Very simply stated, believers are in the world, but they are not to be of the world. They live in the world, but they are not to take part in the sins of the world. Separation from this world involves more than keeping our
distance from sinners; it means staying close to God. It involves more
than avoiding entertainment that leads to sin; it extends as well into how we spend our time and money. In this fallen world, there is no way to separate ourselves totally from all effects of sin…..We are to resist the sin around us, not give up and give in (10).
2. Separation from Ecumenicalism. There is a trend today toward Christian unity. Ecumenicalism, the movement for world-wide unity and cooperation among all Christian Churches only leads to two things:
a) Confusion.
b) Compromise.
God’s Word in Amos 3:3 asks, “Can two walk together, except they be
agreed.” The obvious answer is NO! We cannot, must not, will not
compromise simply for the sake of unity!
(6) THE THEOLOGY OF THE SECOND COMING
Revelation 22:12, 20—“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is
with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. He
which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly, Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
A. We don’t know the day nor the hour, but Jesus is coming soon and at a
time when no one will expect Him. This is good news to those who
trust Him, but a terrible message for those who have rejected him and
stand under judgment. Soon means at any moment, and we must be
ready for Him, always prepared for his return. Would Jesus’ sudden
appearance catch you off guard (11)?
ILLUS. Perhaps at cool of morning when
The day is breaking light;
Perhaps at noontide’s hour, or
‘Midst gathering shades of night:
I’ll see a burst of glory, and
The angel’s voice I’ll hear;
The trumpet’s golden throat will sound
The summons loud and clear!
Then suddenly-I’ll see the Lord!
I’ll meet Him face to face…
The Lord of all the universe,
The Lord of truth and grace!
My cup of bliss will overflow;
I’ll see Him as He is!
What joy to place my hand within
That nail-scarred hand of His!
Perhaps today will be the day
I’ll hear His welcomed voice!
Perhaps today I’ll see the Lord
And evermore rejoice!
-Georgia B. Adams (12)
B. We must preach it! We must believe it! We must be expecting it!
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). comfort one another with these words.
God does not reveal the events of the end time to satisfy curiosity. He
tells us about the glorious events so that we can prepare and comfort
one another. There is no need for discouragement on this earth; no
need for extreme sorrow and grief; no need for hopelessness; and no
need for ignorance. The Lord Himself has given us the most wonderful
hope—the hope of living forever face to face with Him—of
worshipping and serving Him forever in a new heavens and earth.
CLOSING: In this age of technology what has happened to the theology of sin, Satan, the
Savior, Salvation, Separation, and the Second Coming? Let us till He comes
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort
with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
NOTES: 1. Charles R. Swindoll. Dropping Your Grip.
2. Living Letters From The Life Application Bible. Pg. 18.
3. John F. MacArthur. The Vanishing Conscience. Pg. 11.
4. Albert J. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary & Classical. Pg. 188.
5. Robert J. Morgan. Nelson’s Complete Book Of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes.
Pg. 682.
6. MacArthur. Pg. 65.
7. 7. Morgan. Pg. 485.
8. Morgan. Pg. 482.
9. Morgan. Pg. 664.
10. Living Letters. Pg. 90.
11. Living Letters. Pg. 318.
12. Wells. Pg. 176.
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