In the sermon titled 'Secularism,' Jason Dohm discusses the concept of secularism and its implications on both individuals and society. Dohm begins by emphasizing the spiritual deadness of unregenerate mankind, highlighting that natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. He explains that secularism is defined as indifference to or rejection of religion, manifesting in forms such as atheism and practical atheism. Dohm delves into how secularism infiltrates both the church and broader society, often leading to the adoption of worldly practices while ignoring the sovereignty of God. He identifies education and cultural influences from cities like Hollywood, Detroit, and Nashville as vehicles of secularism. To counteract secularism, Dohm advocates for three Christian responses: ongoing active resistance in personal and communal life, public rejection of secular premises, and a bold proclamation of the gospel. He stresses the importance of making homes fortresses of strength to influence the world positively while resisting secular influences.

My topic for tonight is secularism. Let's pray. God, you are great and greatly to be praised. You alone are worthy to be praised. You alone are worthy of our worship.

God, I pray that you would make us men, young men, boys who have you in every one of our thoughts. Oh God save us from a life where we think about things and never consider that you are king of them. I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. I want to begin with a verse that I think is very central to everything that's going to be said across the course of the weekend. If you don't understand this verse you'll never understand any of these categories and it is 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14.

I commend it to your memorization. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him. Nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. What Paul is teaching is that a natural man, a normal man, a man in the condition in which he is born cannot even receive the things of the Spirit of God that he's dead to him.

And so false religion, religion that we invent and no religion at all comes very naturally to us. In fact this is what all men in their normal state gravitate towards, either inventing their own religion or having no religion at all. That true religion, religion that has been revealed to us by God in His Word, is foreign to us and we must be raised from the dead or we can never know true religion. We can never really worship God. So unregenerate mankind, Unbelieving mankind, spiritually dead mankind insists on either making up God, a God that we're comfortable with, a God that doesn't demand too much and the things that he does demand are very doable externally.

So the unregenerate man, unbelieving man, spiritually dead man either makes up God or he banishes God altogether. He just gets rid of God. The fool says in his heart there is no God. Now why does the natural man do that? Well because in Genesis 3 when mankind fell, when mankind was plunged into rebellion, our great mantra was I am God.

When you invent a God to worship, you are God. When you banish God, you are God. This is what happened to our inclinations in Genesis chapter 3. So this brings us to secularism Here's the definition of secularism in the current Merriam-Webster dictionary, it's indifference to or rejection of religion or religious considerations. I'll read it again.

Indifference to, I don't care, or rejection of religion and religious considerations. It is the banishing of God and it occurs in two forms. One form that we typically think of is atheism. The fool says in his heart there is no God. There is only the material.

There is no supernatural. That is one form of banishing God. There is a more prevalent form of banishing God which I will call practical atheism. Many have called it practical atheism before me. What is practical atheism?

Well, it's a profession that there's a God, but it's patterns of thinking and patterns of life that actually ignore God. So Atheism is the rejection of God, but practical atheism is the indifference to God. So both of these fit within the Merriam-Webster definition. And in the United States there's been a rising tide and a rising tide and a rising tide. Yes of atheism but more so of practical atheism, of indifference to God both outside and inside the church.

You say how can there be a form of atheism in the church? Well, first we have what's been happening for 50 years or longer in the mainline denominations. Mainline denominations would be the Presbyterian Church USA, would be the Methodist Church, would be the Episcopal or the Anglican Church. There may be others, but those are the big ones. And in those veins of profession Christianity there has been increasingly bold rejection of the scriptures and a baptizing and adoption of everything in the world.

In other words, if the world has it we have to have our own version. We might have a slightly sanctified version of it, but we have it as well. And they will not separate from the world. So Women in leadership is in the world, and so no problem. We'll have women in leadership.

So Homosexual marriage is in the world. No problem. We'll have homosexual marriage Well, we'll have sort of a sanctified form of everything that you can find in the world, but but secondly Secondly even in very theological theologically conservative groups of professing a believer, we have the isolation of our faith, the isolating, the walling off of our faith. Forget separation of church and state, this is separation of church and life, where church, your faith, becomes a category alongside other categories And faith is never to bleed into the other categories as if Jesus is not King. And there is the acceptance of outside authorities as equal.

So You can have a discipline of study and God never be thought of, never talked of, and those resources that come out of that soup are set right on the same plane as the scripture as a source of authority. So this brings us to our memory verse. We have a memory verse this weekend that is printed on the insert and it is Colossians chapter 2 verses 8. Listen to Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 where Paul writes, Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ. Here Paul sets philosophy and the traditions of men and the basic principles of the world against Christ.

He sets them in opposition to one another and says you cannot have both. If you choose the philosophy of the world, the traditions of men, the basic principles of the world, you will be cheated and robbed. You must choose Christ and reject these other things. The secularist paints a picture without God. In other words, they paint a scene.

And you say, where's God? They say, he's nowhere. He's nowhere. Friends, this is a world that does not exist. A world without God is a false world.

There is no world without God. He is King. He is Lord. There is no such world. I'd like you to consider very quickly four scriptures.

Just scribble them down as I go, I'm going very fast. The first is Matthew 12 verse 30. In Matthew 12, 30 Jesus says, He who is not with me is against me, And he who does not gather with me scatters abroad." This destroys the thought of neutral ground. Against Christ or for Christ. Not being for Christ, there is no, well I'm not for Christ, but I'm not against Him either, I'm not opposing Him.

No, as Jesus defines the terms, that is impossible. That is impossible. Number two, how about this, Number two, Isaiah 30 verses 1 and 2. Listen to Isaiah 30 verses 1 and 2. Woe to the rebellious children, says the LORD, who take counsel, but not of me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin, who walk to go down to Egypt and have not asked My advice to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt.

Now of course this is written to the people of Israel, to the covenant people of God and it's contrasted with Egypt, Israel and Egypt and God essentially through the prophet is saying, I saved you from that. I delivered you from that with an outstretched arm but you will not seek my counsel. You walk down to Egypt to see what to think. You go back to what I saved you from to know how to act. Number three, Jeremiah 10 verse 2.

In Jeremiah 10 verse 2 says, thus says the Lord do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Now why does God say that through the prophet? Because God knows that we must have the exhortation. God knows how quickly we are to go and learn the way from the Gentiles, to borrow from what we've been saved out of. That's why God says it, through the prophet.

Number four, number four, Romans 12 verse two. Paul in Romans 12 verse two says, do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Paul knows that the world is always trying to force us into the mold. So don't be conformed. Don't let the pressures being brought to bear to conform you into the image of the world Succeed be transformed by the renewing of your mind fill your mind with the Word of God and be Transformed rather than to be pressed into the mold of the world.

Now I want to talk about vehicles of secularism. Vehicles. What brings us, if a vehicle is a bus, what's the bus that brings us into secularism? But before I give you these two vehicles that I have on my mind, I want you to consider what Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verses 10 and 11. Paul says, For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Now what is Paul doing here? He's giving us something specific but then he ties it to the general in this way. The specific thing is unforgiveness. Paul says he's forgiving, He's coming out of unforgiveness, he's stiff arming unforgiveness, but he says that generally speaking unforgiveness is just a trap. It's just a snare that the devil uses to harm the people of God.

And so he says, I'm forgiving lest Satan should take advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices. Paul was a man who studied the traps. He knew them. He was vigilant against them. He was on the lookout for them.

He was a student of the devil and his traps. Unforgiveness is one of them. There are many others. He exhorts us to the same study the traps Satan wants to harm us. We need to see these traps from afar so we can avoid them Here's the first vehicle of secularism that I have on my mind, education.

Proverbs 1-7 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. You cannot have an enterprise for knowing things, gaining knowledge without the fear of God. Does that mean you can't learn anything without the fear of God? No, it means that you don't understand it rightly. When you go about learning things separate from the fear of God, you really don't understand where it fits in to the world that is.

Again, a world without God is a false world. There is no such world. That is learning without the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. You don't really know until it is joined with the fear of the Lord, until it comes out of the fear of the Lord.

Now what does this have to do with us? Overwhelmingly in the room we're homeschoolers, we're joining, learning to the fear of the Lord. So what does this have to do with us? Overwhelmingly in the room we are homeschoolers, we are joining, learning to the fear of the Lord. So what does this have to do with us?

Well, first I would say to the fathers in the room, aren't almost all of us first generation homeschoolers? Meaning we are homeschooling but we were not homeschooled. We were not the subjects of that kind of training. And so we need to look for blind spots. Nothing harms you more than a blind spot that you're totally oblivious to.

That is the nature of blind spots. One of the things that takes at least some of the danger out of it is to be aware. I probably have blind spots. I'm homeschooling but I wasn't homeschooled. I came up through a system of education, a system of learning that was divorced from the fear of the Lord.

That probably had an impact on me that I cannot even see. Where is it? Secondly, our neighbors and our co-workers and the people that we meet in the community, most of them are being brought up in a system of learning that is divorced from the fear of the Lord. And so we have to be careful. Because they don't think like the Word of God would have us think.

Now this doesn't mean to avoid them, but this just means to understand and understand that there is a risk and a potential danger here. After all, all bridges are two-way. Do we want to build bridges to the lost? Yes, and Amen, but just know that the bridge works in both directions. Meaning we would like to just influence them but don't be blind to the fact that they also influence us and we need to be careful.

We have to just know and guard against influence that isn't good secular influence a world without God seeping in our direction first vehicle education second vehicle second vehicle three cities, they've already been mentioned tonight, Hollywood, Detroit and Nashville. What do I mean by that? What we drink in. What we watch, what we listen to, friends, Do not underestimate the influence of the things that we are watching and the things that we are listening to. Hollywood is brought into our home.

They do want to make money but they want to do more than make money. They want to influence. They want to pull everyone who is imbibing, drinking in their content, they want to pull into a world without God where you are God. The things that we watch, the things that we listen to, influence us. We are memorizing that, aren't we?

Aren't we memorizing that? How many songs do you know at least a couple of lines to that come out of a world with no God? It's a false world. How many commercials do you have memorized? They're masters at influence.

These are very powerful influences. The things that we see move us, the things that we hear move us. Be careful about sipping sewage. Be careful about sipping sewage. We would never guzzle it!

We know better than to guzzle it, but we fancy that we can sip it and be okay. And we're desensitized. And The things that used to prick our consciences and bother us don't bother us at all anymore. That's how it works. That's how it's designed to work.

I hope that's graphic. I hope the mental image of sipping sewage does its work. It does for me. I know I sip sewage. And I know I've become desensitized to things that would have bothered me in times past.

And I want to reclaim that ground. Secularism is demonic. It parades itself as neutral, but it's just a trap. It's just one of our enemies' traps. We need to be able to say we are not ignorant of his devices.

We're not going to sip sewage. I wanna talk in the remaining time to what should be the Christian response to secularism. And I wanna give you three responses. There's so much more to say. Three Christian responses to secularism.

Number one, ongoing active resistance in our own hearts and homes and churches. Response number one, Christians should respond in this way, ongoing, meaning it never ends, we keep doing it, active. It is not passive, it is active resistance in our own hearts, in our homes, and in our churches. Meaning, I am vigilant over my own heart. I am looking for the influences of a world with no God trying to seep into the cracks of my life and I'm looking for that influence in my home and we're together looking for that influence in our churches and we're waging a war against it.

We cannot lay down our weapons for a moment because the forces of secularism never sleep for a second. And so every moment you're asleep, you lose ground. Do you get that? Do you understand that? Do you believe that?

Do you accept that as a premise that the forces of secularism of The influence of a world with no God never sleeps and so every second you sleep you're losing ground. That is true number two unyielding public rejection of the secular premise. I'll say it again, unyielding Public rejection of the secular premise. What do I mean by that? When I say public rejection, I'm not talking about taking a stool to a street corner, standing up and declaring anything.

I'm just saying public as opposed to private in just your home and in just your own heart as we encounter secularism outside of our home, maybe even inside, but especially outside of our home with our co-workers, with our neighbors, with the people in our community that we reject we voice a rejection of their premise what is the premise either there is no God or it doesn't matter we can't accept that repent that premise We have to vocally reject that premise. I suggest that you consider memorizing this sentence. You seem to be assuming that there is no God or it doesn't matter. I don't believe that. That's two sentences.

Consider, memorize it. This should be on the tip of our tongue. You seem to be assuming that there is no God or it doesn't matter, I don't believe that. That leads to a discussion that could be profitable and it at least confronts the fake world, the world with no God. Number three, a bold proclamation of the gospel.

This is the most important one. If I had to narrow it down to one, it would be this one. This should be the Christian response to a world with no God. The Gospel! And a bold proclamation of the Gospel.

Brothers, brothers, fathers, make your home a fortress not a monastery. Do you understand the difference? They are both big walled places. The fortress is actually a place of strength that you go out of to conquer ground. The monasteries were just designed to keep out the bad influences.

Well the problem is as long as you put people inside you don't need external bad influences. Our homes are designed not to be monasteries where we hole up to try to keep the world out and we never have an influence and impact on the world. No, they are fortresses, yes, where we try to keep out Hollywood and Detroit and Nashville and other influences that would come in to strip our thoughts of God. But it makes the home a safe place to make us ready to go do what the business that God has given us to do which is to take the gospel, To go to the world where there is no God, out there where they think there is no God and to proclaim that there is a God and that He is a merciful God who has sent His Son to die for sinners And you can be clean and free. Bring God into your world we should be proclaiming through Christ.

Father, I pray, I pray that you would help us to guard against this fake world and to latch onto your word and to soak in it every day, to drink it in every day. May your word be what we're drinking in So we see you highly exalted Oh Be king in our thoughts in every thought that we have thank you for Christ who reconciles us with you. In Jesus' name, amen.