Waging War Against the Modern gods.

Opening:

Good afternoon. For those who don’t know me, my name is Jonathan Hansen. I pastor Ramsey Reformed Church up in Titonka. My family and I moved out here in September. I have a beautiful wife, Katharine, who is the crown of my head and two boys, Caspian and Arthur, who are the joy of my eyes.

I come from Spearfish, SD, where I was born, raised, and trained. I originally was a church planter out there in South Dakota, but God moved out here and we have been loving it. We have a fantastic church family here.

This afternoon I will talking on the title of “waging war against the modern gods.

Introduction:

It’s a bit of a provocative title, but let me explain in opening a little bit. First, I am a minister of the gospel. This means that I am a slave to the Word of God. And Scripture teaches that there is one true God. Deuteronomy 6:4“4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Or Isaiah 45:22 “22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”

However, the Bible also teaches that people are inherently religious. And in sin, people often worship false gods. And this is not just an ancient phenomenon. It is prevalent today.

Thesis:

We live in age dominated by the worship of false gods and we must know how to wage war against these false gods.

Explanation:

But first, I should start with a definition.

What is a god?

A god is your highest authority. It is what dictates what you do, what you do not do, and in general how you live. Whatever occupies your worship is your god.

Explanation:

Everyone has an ultimate authority. It is either the one true God or it is a false god. But this does not negate the fact that everyone has something or someone to whom they give their ultimate seat of authority. This, functionally speaking is their god.

In Scripture we see multiple categories of this. Some worshipped kings as gods. Think of the Pharaohs or Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3 who demanded all people bow to his golden image and worship him. We even see this in the history surrounding the New Testament where Caesar declared himself a god and demanded worship. Many Christians were executed under the various Caesars for refusing to worship him as a god declaring “Christos Kurios” (Christ is Lord).

Scripture also reveals that many worshipped idols made by hands. They are empty statues of wood, metal, or gold. There is a great piece of satire in Isaiah 44 where Isaiah is ruthlessly mocking idol worship saying that a man will cut a tree down, use some for cooking a meal and then use some to carve out a god falling before it crying “save me! you are my god!” It is A plus satire and mockery.

But Scripture also teaches that various of these gods are not mere empty statues. No, they are in fact demonic beings. There is a horrifying text in Deuteronomy 32 where God is speaking to Israel recounting their wicked deeds in rejecting Him. He says this, Deuteronomy 32:15–18“15 “But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation. 16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. 17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. 18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.”

Paul even echos this sentiment in 1 Corinthians 10:20 saying, “20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.”

And I want to be clear. The Bible teaches there is only one God. Deuteronomy 4:39“39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” But often it speaks of false gods as real beings. When it does this, it is not contradicting itself. It is not saying that there are many gods. No, it is referring to the demonic entities parading themselves as gods.

This is why the Bible speaks of Moloch as a real being. Leviticus 18:21“21 You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.” Moloch was one of the many pagan gods worshipped near the Children of Israel. And it was a common practice to sacrifice children to this demon. They would cast a large statue of Moloch from some kind of metal. And the idol would have it’s hands placed out in front of it, palms up. They would then build a fire under the heated hands and place their infants on the scalding hot metal hands in order to burn them to death. And this would all take place during a massive orgy. And likely many of the children conceived in that orgy would be offered up to Moloch in the next.

Argumentation:

But many will say, “those were the ancient antiquated people. We are far more advanced than that now.” Are we? If we are not careful we may be tempted to think of our age as being irreligious. But that is not true. The old scholars used to refer to humans as “homo-religiosus.” This means men literally human religious. This means mankind is inherently religious. Men are by nature creatures of worship. And we see this through all time.

We must move away from the idea that ancient man was foolish and superstitious. Many ancient societies posses architecture and knowledge that baffles even modern scientists. Ancient man was not antiquated believing in spooks and gods without cause. They were often incredibly smart. No, ancient man worshipped gods because we as beings are by nature religious.

The ancients were simply more intellectually honest than we are. We mask our worship by masking it under the lie of naturalism. We still are inherently religious, only we pretend we are not. But if we take an honest look at our culture we will find no lack of religious zeal. I would label our modern religion as Secularism. But secularism is really a form of polytheism. In the religion of secularism there are many gods that are given worship.

You see, our pagan age is incredibly religious. Complete with blood sacrifice, sacraments, orthodoxy, a liturgy, and more. Any disagreement with this established religion of secularism is met with religious fervor. Fighting against the established religion of our culture results in an Acts 19 style riot, complete with people crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Although, admittedly they chant that in a different dialect where is sounds more like “My body my choice.” But the sentiment is the same. No, we do not live in an irreligious age. We live in an age where false gods are worshipped openly.

So the next question is, what are our gods?

What are our gods?

Explanation:

Well if we keep in mind our definition of a god, I believe we will begin to recognize many of the gods of our age and culture.

A god is your highest authority. It is what dictates what you do, what you do not do, and in general how you live. Whatever occupies your worship is your god.

As we work off our definition it becomes clear that our age is filled with false gods. Many preachers have picked on sports fanaticism as a false god. And it’s not hard to see why. Many people have a full fledged liturgy around their favorite team or player. They surround themselves with religious iconography. They wear sacred vestments on holy days, typically Sunday, Monday night and Thursday night. They even shun the opposing religions of support for the other team. Make no mistake, this kind of idolatry is real and wicked. But this is far from the most pressing issue of our day. No, I believe preachers harp on this out of cowardice. They harp on this because they are afraid of angering the larger of the false gods and idolatries of our day.

So what are these false gods. More specifically, what are the false gods and idolatries of our day that are most deadly. What gods and idols hold most sway in our day?

First I see statism.

The god of Statism.

Now this is one that I would not have guessed prior to 2020. But the following years made it painfully clear that people will do whatever the civil government says without thought or question, even when the evidence is completely against it. The unthinking allegiance to the orthodoxy was insane. It was so bad that many of the ones who refused to bow in worship to the state lost their jobs and livelihood. And beyond this, countless people said that was good.

Beyond this, many Christians openly disobeyed God in order to obey the state. They willfully neglected corporate worship, a command of God Heb 10:25 simply because the state said to.

And this leads to the second god ravaging our culture.

The god of Scientism.

Now I want to be clear. I did not say science. I said scientism. There is a large difference. Science is observation and study and is an inherently Christian virtue. Scientism is following the demands of a priesthood in lab coats even when they contradict all logic and reason. Need I say more?

Well, I will. Churches were closed while pot shops and strip clubs remained open due to the creed of “follow the science.” Pastors were arrested due to obeying God due to the creed of “follow the science.” Old and dying were left to die alone while their families were unable to even have a funeral due to the creed of “follow the science.” I was nearly denied the ability to say goodbye to my dying grandmother due to the creed of “follow the science.” I however blasphemed the god of scientism and saw her anyway. My two year old son was nearly denied a life saving transplant due to the creed of “follow the science.”

Illustration:

Now I want to explain that last one just a little bit. My oldest son, Caspian recently recieved a kidney transplant. But he was nearly denied this. The hospital was actively refusing him a life saving transplant because we would not give him the COVID vaccine. Now regardless what you think of the shot, we had just reasons not to give him the shot. The CDC states that the shot can cause inflammation of the heart and puts you at increased risk of heart problems. Now for those of you who don’t know, people who receive kidney transplants are at an already elevated risk for those two problems. Anywhere from a 50 to 70 percent elevated risk. Beyond this, the CDC admits that the effects of the shot do not leave the body. And people who receive an organ donation are not to have living vaccines (the flue shot) or MRNA vaccines (COVID shots). So we did our due research as well as consulted with numerous doctors and felt that giving our son a shot that would continue to act on his body post transplant, quite possibly causing rejection or heart problems was not a good decision. Considering the risk of the virus to him was less than .01 % while the risk of heart problems was elevated to upwards of 70%.

We brought numerous papers, many from the CDC themselves, and were met with (and I quote), “we are just following the science.” That was an awakening for me. We had the scientific research in hand. True science. And the doctor looked me in the eyes and simply said the creed of their religion. They then refused him the transplant. They weren’t following the science. They were reciting what the gods had passed down on high. And they were willing to sacrifice my son on the altar of their religion before they would break orthodoxy. This is a religion, not science.

Now, God is gracious. Caspian did get the transplant and all is going well. The hospital finally removed their requirement. The gods of scientism were gracious. But the point stands. They were willing to let my son die rather than accept reality all in the name of religious fervor.

And this leads into perhaps the biggest of all the false gods in our culture. The unholy trinity of sexuality.

The unholy trinity of sexuality.

This consists of gender ideology, feminism, and abortion. And you cannot really separate the three. They are interconnected. And just like with scientism one must deny true science, reason, logic, and morality to accept them.

They all play into one another perfectly because they are all related.

Feminism.

The core tenant of feminism is that men and women are the same. Women are capable of doing and being anything that a man can do or be. Ignore what God has revealed in His Word or in nature. Men are not stronger than women, men are not different than women, and to quote Orwell, “we have always been at war with East Asia.”

Now reality itself tells you that this is fundamentally laughable. Men and women are different. In fact, that is the most wonderful thing about women, they aren’t men! Women give birth, men don’t. Men are stronger and more violent than women. God made men and women different on purpose. It is the most obvious fact in the world. But the religious creed of feminism is that men and women are exactly the same. And any disagreement with this is met with violent outbursts.

But unsurprisingly, feminism gave birth to our second god in the unholy trinity. Sexual Liberation.

Sexual Liberation.

The sexual revolution began in the 1960’s and was a direct fruit of the feminist movement. It’s core religious tenant is “I should be free to have sex with whoever I want, however I want, free of any consequence.” Again this religious movement denies all true science, morality, reason, and logic.

One of the most obvious facts of reality is that sex has consequences. This is one of the most basic tenants of reality. We all here are the byproduct of a man and a woman. So to disconnect this act from it’s byproduct is fundamentally evil.

And this move is at it’s core, religious. The creed of this false god is “love is love.” Now that is a horrific statement. It is horrific because it has no bounds. It is a limitless statement. A man loving a woman who is not his wife? “love is love.” A man loving a man? “love is love.” A woman loving a woman? “love is love.” A man loving three women? “Love is love?” A man loving a child? “It would never go there! Why not? Love is love right? And this birthed the LGBT movement. So why not add a p? Already Pedophiles are being re-branded as “minor attracted persons.”

And as I hinted. The LGBT movement was born. Thus giving birth to our third god in the unholy trinity.

Gender Theory.

Once you religiously affirm that women are the exact same as men, the next logical step is to say that men are the exact same as women. Well, men can menstruate, men can get pregnant, men can breast feed. Excuse me, I believe the politically correct term is “chest feed.” I want to be inclusive. And once you say that you ought to be able to have sex with anyone you want, however you want, all reality ceases to exist and you are now in a purely religious space.

It is a direct line. If women can be men then men can be women and all of sudden you are left with two words that used to mean something that no longer do. Men no longer means men. Women no longer means women. Now it can be whatever you want. You can be a 300 pound 6 foot 4 woman with a beard and male anatomy in our culture. And to disagree is considered a hate crime.

To say men are men and women are women will get you banned on almost all social platforms and may cost you your job or even land you in jail. Make no mistake, this is religious. It has orthodoxy, religious terminology in the sacred use of pronouns, sacred worship and evangelism in drag queen story hour for children, and it has sacraments. It even has blood sacrifice in genital mutilation, a practice only performed by the most evil of pagan worship. This is fundamentally religious.

In this religion men can women, women can be men, boys can be cats, and girls can love trees. No I am not making that up.

Argumentation:

And this is ultimate freedom, right? No. This is slavery to the god of the age. You see, I have a name for this false god.

The chief god of our age is Personal Autonomy.

You see, the religion of our age is this: I should be able to do whatever I want with no judgement or consequences. They seek the ultimate freedom to do the most debased and evil things imaginable. And this is shown in their sacrament. You see, Christ’s church uses Water for baptism, the entry into the covenant community, and bread and wine for the Lord’s supper, the renewal of the covenant. But this worship of the demon god personal autonomy also has sacraments.

The first is found in sexual license. Baptize yourself by denying your God-given identity as man or woman. Immerse yourself in the waters of love is love. Bonus points if you cause your body irreparable harm through “gender affirming care.” But then what? Well, the chief sacrament is abortion.

The chief sacrament of the demon god of Personal Autonomy is abortion.

And we see this. Anyone who has stood outside an abortion clinic has seen this. Anyone who has done street evangelism has seen this. Anyone who has seen the numerous “shout your abortion” videos has seen this. Abortion is religious. Beyond this, it is a religious rite performed in honor of Personal autonomy without consequences.

The natural consequence of the union of man and woman is a child. But the child would be inconvenient to them continuing to practice their religion. So what do they do? They sacrifice their child on the altar to their god all while chanting “my body, my choice.” Make no mistake, this is religious and demonic.

Let me make the least controversial statement I can. It should be illegal to murder children. Child sacrifice should be treated as murder. The murder of children should be ended.

That is not a controversial statement. But it is. In our age, something all people everywhere should easily be able to unite around that. Murder is wrong. You shouldn’t kill babies! That is the most logical statement in history. One would think quite logically that this is a statement that everyone should agree with. So why don’t they? Why is this so divisive? This is divisive because our fight is not merely logical, but spiritual.

Our fight is not merely logical, but spiritual.

The fight for life is not merely a logical battle. The fight is not an intellectual one. It is a religious fight. The Bible is right. Sometimes false gods are merely stone images. But often, sacrifices are made to demons. Do you want to know how to tell them apart? When you are literally sacrificing children, you are worshipping a demon. It really is that simple. Our fight is religious.

I labor this point because you cannot fight this fight properly unless you the fight you are in. We are in a war. This is a real fight. But it is not a fight that can be won simply by saying, “The science says that the baby is alive.” That is true. All modern scientific research shows that children are human and alive from conception. But they know that. Planned Parenthood, the sacred church of Moloch knows that babies are alive. They murder them anyway, because their god is hungry. And we must know how to fight.

I am not here to bring a message of doom and gloom. No, I am here to bring a call to arms. We are in a real war. Ephesians 6:11–12“11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

We must wage war against the modern gods.

Waging war against the modern gods.

Explanation:

We are in a fight. And we must know how to fight. There is only One True God. And He declares that murder is evil. And murder must end, in the name of Christ.

Argumentation:

But how? If I am right, and our fight is spiritual, how can we wage war? First, you must know that Christ is the victor.

Christ is the Victor.

Christ is King. He is Lord. He has conquered the grave. He is alive forevermore. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling over all. But perhaps you are here and you are not a Christian. You hear me say this and your eyes roll. “I’m here because I want baby killing to stop. Not to hear your religious nonsense” you may say.

I am so glad you are here. But you must see that there is no escape from this. Murder is wrong because God says it is. Let me ask you this, and truly this is spoken from love for you, if there is no God, why is murder wrong? If we are all just bits of protoplasm floating around in bits of nothingness, coming from nothing, returning to nothing, then why is it wrong when one bit of protoplasm happens to end another bit of protoplasm? It isn’t.

But God made man in His image, with intrinsic value, with an eternal soul. That means you have value. That means I am invested in your salvation. I care about you because you are valuable. You are not evolved goop that slithered off a rock with no meaning. You are made in God’s image.

Beyond this, God the Son, Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a perfect life, never sinning, and died the death you deserve. You see, all of us are sinners. All of us have sinned against God. And that sin deserves death. But the good news is that you don’t have to face that punishment. Christ died for you. And if you will just turn from your sins and trust in Him, you can be saved. Your sins can be forgiven. You can stand before God guiltless through the death of Christ.

But here is the reality. Christ is the victor. When He died on the cross, He won. He defeated Satan and the demons. In Colossians 2, Paul goes into beautiful detail about the gospel. You should really read it. But he ends his section with this. Colossians 2:15 “15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

You see, these false gods are defeated. They are crushed under the heal of Christ. But they are still dangerous. You see, Scripture also says in 1 Corinthians 15:25 “25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” You see, Christ is reigning. And His enemies are being defeated, but there are still dragons to slay. And these false gods will fall. But until then we must fight the dragons. And this begins by recognizing Christ is Lord. He is the Victor. But what else? Well the second tool in our weaponry is to start at home.

Kill the false gods you worship first.

I listed many false gods today. But now I challenge each of you. Is there anything in your life that is taking the place of the One True God. You cannot fight against the gods of the age while worshipping them. This is all connected. The principle fight against the modern gods is worshipping the One True God.

Examine yourself. What do you worship? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:20–22“20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?”

And this flows directly into the principle instrument of warfare.

Word, Water, Bread, and Wine.

I cannot stress this enough. Are you part of a solid church? Are you part of a church that is centered on the Word of God? It is our sword after all. But in reality, you must know that you cannot fight this fight alone. You need the church. And the church needs you.

Do not underestimate the power of the preaching of God’s Word, the administration of baptism, and the gathering at the Lord’s table. These are real and they are powerful beyond words. Are you connected to a church? If not, I beg you to do so. If you are worried or confused on how to be a part of one, please talk to me after. I would love to get you plugged into a church.

But do not underestimate the power of being part of the local church. And especially do not underestimate the power of raising your kids in the church. I believe that the atrocity of abortion will end. I believe that each false god I listed today will be crushed under the foot of Christ. But in reality, I may not live to see it. This may be our children’s fight to carry on. Are your kids in church. Are they receiving word, water, bread, and wine? Are they being trained how to fight these battles? Are you training your kids to fight battles you may not live to see won?

You see, only after getting worship right can we get warfare right.

Closing:

Our culture is filled with false gods. And we must know where the fight is. In order to effectively fight, we must know the enemy. And these enemies will fall to Christ. Our job is simply to be faithful. God will choose how to use us. But our job is to be faithful. And it starts with us. Will you be faithful?

I want to close by giving you a resource. If you are curious how to engage at the heart of the issue, there is a group I have regularly partnered with as well as another group that provides great resources on the issue of abortion from a gospel perspective.

endabortionnow.com abolitionistrising.com

Prayer:

Q/A

If time allows.