Losing Your IdentityThrough Permissiveness

The Dangers of Permissiveness• We live in a permissive

society (Letter; ABC)• Each generation appears

to have become more and more permissive

• Permissiveness is dangerous. Sin results without restraint.

• Permissiveness in society has carried over into the family and church.

Permissiveness in Society

Our Society Permits Divorce For Any Cause

• Moses permitted divorce

• God hates divorce

• From the beginning it was not so

Moses Permitted Divorce

Matt 19:8

He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

NKJV

Malachi 2:11-16

God hates divorce

Matthew 19:3-9

From the beginning it was not so

Our Society Permits Abortion

• The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973

• God hates hands that shed innocent blood

• God acknowledges life in the womb

God Hates Hands Shedding Innocent Blood

Prov 6:16-17

These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

(NKJ)

Alive In The Womb

Luke 1:41

And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

(NKJ)

Child In Womb Grabs Dr’s Finger

Children Struggled Within Her

Gen 25:21-22

Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If all is well, why am I like this?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.

(NKJ)

Life (In the Womb) for Life

Exod 21:22-23

"If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. "But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,

(NKJ)

Our Society Condones Homosexuals

• Some states permit homosexual marriages

• Our Military accepts homosexuals

• Homosexuals are even accepted by some churches

Letter to the Editor

• “Gay couples deserve the same rights as heterosexuals”

• “The only reason I have heard most people cite for being against gay marriage is the Bible”

• The Bible “has been used as an excuse to treat homosexuals as less than human”

Gen 2:22-24Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.(NKJ)

Man and Woman

Rom 1:26-27For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.(NKJ)

Same Sex Is Unnatural

1 Cor 6:9-10Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.(NKJ)

Homosexuals Not In Heaven

Permissiveness in the Family

Permissiveness in the Family

• Parents are too permissive

• Our nation’s legal system restricts parents and school administrators

• Abuse is wrong but proper discipline is necessary

Eli’s Sons Were Wicked

1 Sam 2:22-23

Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people.

(NKJ)

Eli Did Not Restrain His Sons

1 Sam 3:13

"For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them.

(NKJ)

The “Rod” and Discipline

Prov 13:24

He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

(NKJ)

Do Not Withhold Correction

Prov 23:13-14

Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod, and deliver his soul from hell.

(NKJ)

Children Need Supervision

Prov 29:15

The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

(NKJ)

Children In Submission

1 Tim 3:4-5

one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence

(for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);

(NKJ)

Dissipation or Insubordination

Titus 1:6

if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.

(NKJ)

Immediate Discipline

Eccl 8:11

Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

(NKJ)

Note: Discipline often requires immediate action.

Permissiveness during church services

• Bill Hall article• Restroom visits• Use of pencil and

paper• Staying awake• Singing • Listening• Participating

Chastening = Training

Heb 12:11

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

(NKJ)

Permissiveness in the Church

Permissiveness in Worship

• Use of women in positions of authority in the church

• Approval and use of homosexuals in the church (AJC ad)

• Casualness in worship

Identity Lost by Permissiveness

• Many churches of Christ have lost their identity due to use of musical instruments (Martin article)

• Many churches of Christ permit institutions to do the work of the church

• No church discipline

Withdraw

II Th 3:6

But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.

(NKJ)

Avoid Them

Rom 16:17

Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.

(NKJ)

Discipline in Primitive Churches

• Fornication (1841)

• Departing from the truth

• Negligent attendance

• Fiddling and dancing

• Drunkenness, swearing and frolicking

Rebuke In The Presence Of All

1 Tim 5:20

Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.

(NKJ)

Conclusions

• We must battle permissiveness in our society. Our voices must be heard!

• We must respect God’s teaching on discipline in the home.

• We must respect God’s teaching on discipline in the church.

Conclusions

• We can lose our identity as the Lord’s church if we allow permissiveness to rule.

• We can lose our identity as Christians if we allow permissiveness to rule our lives.

Will You Recognize the Dangers of Permissiveness

and Obey God?