BiblicalInsights.net

Most people act in their own best interests.  Paul mentons this aspect of human nature in Eph. 5:29 where he writes, “For no man yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church.”  However, there are occasions in which we make choices that are not in our own best interest.  Every time we sin, we create a self-inflicted wound.
In Acts 9:1-6, we find a man by the name of Saul.  Saul was persecuting the Lord’s church and consequently, the Lord Himself (Acts 9:2, 4).  Saul (later known as Paul) describes his own conduct prior to conversion to Christ in I Tim. 1:13 where he states that he was a blasphemer, injurious, and a persecutor.  In Acts 9:5, Jesus uses a figure of speech to reveal an important truth to Saul.  He said, “…it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (KJV).  Another word for “pricks” is “goads.”  This figure originates in agriculture.  A farmer could drive an ox forward by using a long, sharp stick to prod the ox.  When the ox resisted the goad, he inflicted a wound and caused pain.  The wound was self-inflicted because of the stubbornness of the ox.  Saul’s persecution of the Lord and His church had an unintended consequence.  It resulted in a self-inflicted wound.  Saul was resisting the work of God.  His unbelief resulted in sin that put his own soul in jeopardy.
All sin is “kicking against the goads.”  In I Cor. 15:56, God’s Word declares, “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.”  The word “sting” is from the same Greek word as “goad.”  The word refers to a sharp point.  All sin is self-inflicted (James 1:13-15).  James teaches that when we sin, we are drawn away of our own lusts.  When we yield to those lusts of the flesh, we sin and sin brings forth death (spiritual separation from God).  The more we sin against God, the more pain we inflict on ourselves.  The suffering that results from the consequences of sin cannot be blammed on anyone but ourselves.  The penalty for sin against God is severe.  It is everlasting punishment.
The remedy for this situation is to follow the same pathway as Saul of Tarsus.  In Acts 9 we are told that once Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, that Saul was told to go into the city and it would be told him what he must do.  A man by the name of Ananias came to Saul and told him to be baptized (Acts 22:16).  Saul was baptized into Christ (Acts 9:15).  Saul turned to the Lord.  He sought forgiveness from Jesus Christ for his sins.  He stopped resisting God.  He accepted God’s grace (I Tim. 1:14).  He fully obeyed the Gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16).  Saul stopped inflicting pain on himself and began seeking the wonderful blessings of grace.  Immediately, he began to teach in the city of Damascus that Jesus was the Son of God. He proclaimed the gospel which he had formerly denied and persecuted.  The remedy for sin is reconcilation to God through Jesus Christ (II Cor. 5:17-21).

We have mastered impatience!  Have you ever been behind a car at a stoplight when it turns green and the car in front of you fails to go forward and just sets still? Have you ever been in a check-out line when the cashier makes a mistake and it takes ten minutes to correct it?  Have you ever attempted to order food at a fast-food restaurant and the person waiting on you is new and doesn’t know what to do first?  In each of these scenarios, do you wait patiently?  Most of us have been in these situations and were upset because we had to wait.  We know the feelings of irritation, frustration, and anger when someone else fails to do his/her job and we pay the price in lost time and incovenience.  Yes, we have mastered impatience.
There are three reasons that impatience comes to characterize our hearts.  First, we are overscheduled.  We are like a glass of water that is full to the brim.  Anytime we are jostled, we spill over.  We are so overscheduled in life that we have no flexibility.  Second, we hold to unrealistic expectations of others.  We actually have developed a double-standard.  We expect other people to always get it right and not make mistakes that will cost us personally.  However, when we mess up, we have many excuses as to why we failed and we want others to cut us some slack.  Third, we have an oversized ego and are arrogant.  We have feelings of superiority to others whom we think are inferior to us.  We are impatient with others when we feel that we are better than they are and we can work faster, think smarter, and accomplish more than them.
If we are impatient with people, we are probably impatient with God too!  Remember Abram and Sarah?  In Gen. 16, they ran ahead of God in the matter of having an heir and Sarah permitted Abram to be with Hagar and together they produced a son, Ishmael.  Ishmael was not the promised son.  Abram and Sarah grew impatient.  Twenty-five years passed from the time God promised Abram a son until Isaac was born.  Twenty-five years is a long time to wait for a promise to be fulfilled.  We must learn to “wait upon the Lord.” Faith in God produces patience with God.  God works all things out according to His own timetable. Trust Him!
God is longsuffering toward us (II Pet. 3:9).  The word longsuffering means “long-tempered.”  It is the opposite of being “short-tempered.”  Why is God patient with us?  The answer is given in this verse, He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  God is merciful.  His mercy produces longsuffering.  Mercy is the antidote to impatience.
If you want to become more patient, you must become more merciful!  If you want to be more patient with God, you must trust Him implicitly.

The general definition of progressivism is “advancement of human society.”  “The general advance of human society and industry over time toward a state of greater civilization” (Bing Dictionary).  Advances in science, technology, business, and industry have helped define progress.  Horse drawn carriages have given way to the automobile.  Most of us would not want to go back to horse and buggy days.  Men have traveled to the moon and back.  The science involved has helped to develop techniques in open heart surgery and many other beneficial things.  Medicine has advanced.  Technology has advanced.  Most of us have a computer and cell phone that was unheard of just a few years ago.  Some advances are good and beneficial while others are detrimental.  In the spiritual realm, progressivism leads to digression (apostasy) and regression (unrighteousness).  Both digression (from God’s Word) and regression (going back to sinful practices) amount to transgression (breaking God’s laws).  When individuals do not want to be governed by God’s Word, then they push for change in a direction away from God.  To many, the Bible has become an archaic book that needs to be discarded.
Theistic Worldview Vs. Secular Humanism
The cultural wars we are experiencing result from a clash of worldviews.  Progressives believe that we need to advance from the theistic worldview to the secular humanist worldview.  This is a major shift from being God-centered to being man-centered. The clash between creation and evolution is at the heart of this conflict.  Creationists are viewed as being out-dated and unintellectual, even unscientific.  The progressives attempt to occupy the high ground.  For many, science has eliminated the need for God.  To these indivudals, religion is based in superstition.  Science eliminates superstition and so eliminates the need for God or religion.  Once God is eliminated, anything goes!  Man has the freedom to do whatever he desires and the lust of the flesh rule his heart.  For some, progress is moving away from God and God’s Word.  If this is good for civilization, then, we ought to see real advancement in all areas.  Consider some observations.
1.  One attack against the Bible is from the femininst movement which attempts to destroy male spiritual leadership in the home and in the church.  Roles of women and men have changed.  Men have been undergoing a redefinition of what it means to be male.  Women pushed for no-fault divorce laws and marriage and the home have both suffered.  Almost half of all marriages end in divorce.  The permanence of marriage has taken a significant blow and homes have been fractured.  More women and children are now living in poverty.  Is this progress?  Children are impacted by divorce for decades after a divorce.  The psychological and economic effects are tremendous.  This does not represent advancement, but regression.
2.  Consider abortion.  On Monday, January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in a 7 to 2 decision that abortion would be legalized and made available on demand throughout America up to and including the ninth month, with the doctor’s permission, if the physical or mental health of the mother was deemed “at risk.”  This was the result of the feminist movement in America demanding the right to determine what would happen to a woman’s own body.  Since then 45 million unborn babies have been aborted in American (10 million more than the entire population of California).  That number is 16 percent of the current population of America.  Every year about 46 million abortions occur worldwide.  Abortion is murder of the unborn and violates God’s law.  The consequences of killing an eagle in America is greater than the consequences of killing an unborn child!  Is this progress?
3.  Drug and Alcohol Abuse.  There are approximately 80,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use each year in the United States.  This makes excessive alcohol use the 3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death for the nation.  Excessive alcohol use is responsible for 2.3 million years of potential life lost annually, or an average of about 30 years of potential life lost for each death.  The economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in 2006 were estimated at $223.5 billion.  Lost life and lost value do not equal progression, but rather regression.
4.  Homosexuality.  Homosexuality was a problem in Abraham’s day (over 4,000 years ago) (Gen. 19–Sodom and Gomorrah).  Did you know that all thirteen of the original colonies of the United States treated Sodomy as criminal behavior?  Severe penalties for homosexuality were inflicted in all states.  Four states: New York, Vermont, Connecticut and South Carolina had the penalty of death for this crime.  Thomas Jefferson advocated dismemberment as the penalty for homosexuality in his home state of Virginia and authored a bill to that effect.  America’s legal system was founded upon the moral integrity of the Bible.  But,  now that has been discarded for progress???  This is not progression, but regression and digression which is transgression of God’s Word.
Rejecting the old paths is nothing new.  Jeremiah (600 years before Christ) struggled with those who wanted to reject the “old paths” for what they considered progress.  The “progress” was nothing but “transgression” of God’s laws.  Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.  But they said, We will not walk therein.”  Simply put, unrighteousness is not progress.  It is digression and regression that equal transgression of God’s Will.