ALL IN - The Perverse Generation…
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ALL IN - The Perverse Generation…
ALL IN - The Perverse Generation…
Recap purpose for the series, where we are, and what we are covering today.
Be sure to give the context leading into the scripture we are about to read with the recap of where we are in the series.
Last week, we read the question they asked Peter after he preached his sermon and we started in on his answer:
37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
We are continuing on in his response to them this week beginning in verse 40:
40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
It is this verse that reminds me we are in a very similar situation to the first century church.
Firstly, we as The Shed are at the beginning of a new journey in which we focus on this: That we grow disciples in here that embody Jesus out there.
We stand as the first century church in this moment of flux where we are looking forward to what is just starting, while at the same time trying to figure out what parts of what we have always known can go with us and what parts are to be left behind…
The first century church is starting out with a bunch of people who are not lost gentiles, but they were the chosen people of God, raised to believe they were in the right religion, doing the right things… Then a group of young men come along and start making bold declarations about what we are supposed to be doing and proclaiming a different way…
The first members in the church were not what we would picture when we say “lost people,” rather the first century church is set in a jewish context and filled with jewish people..
Gentiles were not a part of the early church until several chapters later…
So the people Peter is preaching to in this sermon, think they are already the church…
But Peter shows them something different is happening, the way you knew it is changing, and now there is a way of salvation that is not based around a temple and sacrifice, but a savior and submission…
40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
Be saved from this perverse generation… This statement makes the assumption those listening are already a part of this generation and need to be saved from it…
You would not need to be saved from something you weren’t already in…
No one runs to a burning building to save the people a city block away…
So this perverse generation is obviously a group those being preached to are already a part of, but I think Peter is actually being more specific than just calling out the entire human race born in a certain time period…
The word perverse here is the word skolios which is exactly what you’re thinking… it means bent or crooked… It is where we get our word scoliosis…
This phrase, “perverse generation” is a callback to the words of Jesus in Matt. 17:17
17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”
Who is Jesus talking to at this moment? He is actually speaking to the disciples who have failed to cast out a demon and this is Jesus’ response…
This phrase is used even earlier in a song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, and Moses says,
19 “The Lord saw this, and spurned them
Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.
20 “Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end shall be;
For they are a perverse generation,
Sons in whom is no faithfulness.
His sons and daughters… Sons in whom is no faithfulness…
Both Jesus and Peter would have been intimately familiar with this portion of scripture… When they spoke these words, there is no doubt they would have heard the song of Moses in their heads as they said it…
Perverse generation… Those who consider themselves sons and daughters, but in whom there is no faithfulness…
Those who are supposed to be the religious example to the world, but who are not true to their own beliefs…
Can I submit to you today, we live in a time when much like the early church, just because we belong to a certain country, many believe they are safe…
Just because of who their family is, many believe they are safe…
In fact, I believe we live in a time when there are so many variations of what we call church that we appear to those who do not know better as just another religion in the vast spectrum of beliefs in this world…
We have so many variations of church that we now have cults calling themselves Christian denominations, but they believe in a different Jesus than the bible teaches and even use different scriptures than the ones we have…
In this day and age, a quick google search will find you any variation of Christianity that suits your fancy, with any set of rules you like, supporting any cause you want…
But what we are finding out is that no matter the denomination, in the midst of those who may be true believers are wolves in sheeps clothing with the motivation only to take advantage of and exploit the sheep…
It’s time we stand in the face of all the scandal blistering our nation and declare, BE SAVED FROM THIS CROOKED GENERATION!
I believe there is a stirring amongst the people in the church…
A stirring against mediocre…
A stirring against apathy…
A stirring against corruption…
A stirring against worldly agendas dictating the policies of the church…
A stirring against this idea that everyone can have their own truth, that there is no ultimate truth…
BE SAVED FROM THIS TWISTED GENERATION!
This idea of a perverse, curved, twisted up generation is a picture of a people charged with the most important information in the history of creation, but rather than use it the way God gave it to them, they twist it to fit their own agendas, twist it to fit their own preferences, bend it to make it more palatable, alter it to make it less offensive…
The perverse generation is not rooted in the lost, it is a product of religious people and spiritual leaders twisting the Word of God, mangling it to fit their social stigmas, bending the truth to account for their own shortcomings and failures!
We must make our stand in this world, and not just against the obvious sins perpetuated by the popular culture… .
We must make our stand against the temptation to twist the Scriptures into the form of a weapon against one another…
We must take our stand against the tendency to twist the Word to justify our own fears, our own sense of inadequacy, or our own agendas…
We must take our stand against religious leaders who would exploit the sheep in their care for their own gain or own twisted pleasures…
We must take our stand against those who call themselves Christian, but are satisfied with a luke warm existence where they are neither hot with passion nor cold enough to walk away, rather they simply exist with no purpose and no drive…
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, the days are too short… Our time is too limited… The stakes are too high… Hell is too hot and heaven is too good to let anyone be led astray by our own apathy…
In the world we live in today, we have no choice but to speak up on matters of morality and ethics…
Who else is qualified to speak on morality if not the Christian?
To what will one appeal to for guidance if not the scripture?
Surely we cannot allow for one’s own emotions to be the guide as Jeremiah said,
9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
If we don’t speak, who will? If we don’t stand up, who will?
If the church remains silent, the blood of those they could have reached is on our hands…
One of these days, we will stand before God and give an account of our lives, and when I get there I don’t want to have to justify my shortcomings, I want to hear, WELL DONE MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.
It is our responsibility to be an influence on our culture, not apathetic bystanders who just watch the world pass us by…
Since I’m here, I’m going to say it like I want… IF the church of the fourth century had stayed like it was in the first century, we wouldn’t be living in the world we see around us…
If the church of the 19th century or the 20th century had turned around for a minute and given up their agendas and their political motivations and their need for comfort and looked to the first century, we wouldn’t be seeing the demise of the United States as quickly as we are today…
But I believe there’s still a chance for the Church of Almighty God to stand on their feet once more and declare, BE SAVED FROM THIS CROOKED GENERATION!
Not everyone is like the scandals that make the headlines…
Not all who claim to be christians hate everyone else…
In fact, there are a bunch of us that love you and want to see the best for you… We want to see good come to you and not harm…
We want to see this world look more like the kingdom of our new birth…
40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
Possible stopping point...
May need to give a public reaction to the mounting scandals that have been revealed of late…
May need to respond to the assassination attempt on Trump.
This would be a good opportunity to spend some time in prayer as a congregation, praying for our nation, praying for the church, praying for the leadership and God’s will to be done…