The purpose of this website is to provide free sermon manuscripts and sermon videos to pastors and
missionaries throughout the world, especially the Third World, where there are few if any
theological
seminaries or Bible schools.
The purpose of this website is to provide free sermon manuscripts and sermon videos to pastors and missionaries throughout the world, especially the Third World, where there are few if any theological seminaries or Bible schools.
Whenever you write to Dr. Hymers always tell him what country you live in, or he cannot answer you. Dr. Hymers’ e-mail is rlhymersjr@sbcglobal.net.
WHY LIBERALS DISCRIMINATE
AGAINST CONSERVATIVE CHURCHES
by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.
A sermon preached at the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles
Lord’s Day Morning, October 29, 2000
"The vile person shall be no more called liberal"
(Isaiah 32:5).
Richard Cohen writes a daily editorial for the Washington Post.
Here is part of his October 25, 2000 column. It is an editorial on Hillary
Clinton preaching at two liberal churches:
On Sunday, Hillary visited two black churches -
one in Brooklyn and one in Westchester County - and in both, the
preachers said how their prayers had always been with her - and her
husband. At the Grace Baptist Church, the Rev. W. Franklin Richardson
mentioned how he and some parishioners took a bus down to Washington to
show their support for the embattled president during his impeachment
travails. He himself had been to the White House.
Hillary speaks in code. "I hope you know
one thing about me," she said at both churches. "And that is
when I tell you I will stick with you, I will stick with you."
The woman standing next to me at Grace Baptist
said she did not believe Hillary was referring to how she stuck by her
husband, but I think otherwise.
Now, what if George W. Bush or Pat Buchanan went preaching like that in a conservative
church? What if they did exactly what Mrs. Clinton and other left wing
politicians do all the time in certain liberal Black churches, Jewish synagogues,
and Buddhist Temples? You know what would happen! They'd be in court,
like the church that dared to speak out on immorality in politics four years
ago.
You know that would happen if I dared to have Buchanan or George W.
Bush speak in
our pulpit Sunday morning, the way Mrs. Clinton spoke in those two liberal
churches . And don't you dare pull the "race"
card, because my church is fully integrated - with Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians
in the majority! My associate is a Jewish believer in Jesus. It isn't racial
discrimination, it's discrimination against conservatives!
The Los Angeles Times gives this report:
Democrats are scratching to gain ground. The National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People...is offering $3 for every new voter
registered by churches... (Los Angeles Times,
October 29, 2000, p. A21)
What if conservative churches were paid $3 a piece
to register people in the Republican or Reform parties? They'd have us in court in a week. I
CALL IT DISCRIMINATION!
So, there's a double standard today. For the conservative churches, there's
a so-called "wall of separation" that keeps us from saying anything.
But for the liberal churches, it's wide open season to bring in Jesse Jackson,
Mrs. Clinton, Al Gore, Joseph Lieberman - or any other liberal - to preach a sermon and take up an offering. How long are we going to put up with such a
hypocritical double-standard? It’s wrong! It’s wrong! It’s wrong!
You and I need to work and pray for a day when we as conservatives have the same
right to free speech as the liberal churches do! We need to work and pray
for theday when all of God's children have access to the
front of the bus when it comes to freedom of speech in the pulpits of America!
Our text tells us that things will be different when Christ returns and sets
up His Kingdom on earth. Then, "The vile (i.e. fool) shall be no more
called liberal (i.e. noble), nor the churl (i.e. miser) said to be
bountiful" (Isaiah 32:5). But we are not in the Kingdom yet. This old world
is full of fools who think they are "liberal" in our day.
Why do liberals discriminate against Bible-believing Christians?
New-evangelical evangelist Billy Graham correctly said this in a recent prayer
letter:
The news of the past few months has been full of stories and accounts of
Christians being persecuted and coming under attack, from the islands of
Indonesia to the Sudan. Even in our own country, taking a stand for
Jesus Christ can bring ridicule and isolation.
(Billy Graham, prayer letter, October 2000, p.
2).
Calvary Contenderrecently
gave this report:
MUSLIM MOBS BURN CHURCHES IN INDONESIA Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous state, with the
largest Muslim population of any country. Over 100 churches have been burned
and thousands killed in Muslim-Christian violence since June (10/7 World).
Horror stories abound. Christian villages are burned and uprooted. Muslims
fear that with the number of Christians growing, Christians are trying
to Christianize Indonesia.
This is the same charge liberals in America are bringing constantly
against Bible-believing Christians!They say we’re trying to
"Christianize" America! Calvary Contender continues by
saying:
GORE 'AN INCLUSIVIST MODERNIST'- a 10/23 Christianity
Today article says V-P Al Gore's mosaic of rational spirituality
"gives him the profile of an inclusive modernist…" His 1992 book
(see 10/1 CC) was criticized for being a compendium of New Age
religion, buttressed by universalism and pantheism. Gore blasts Western
civilization as "deeply dysfunctional." In his prescription for
change, he draws on Islamic, Hindu, Sikh, and Baha'i texts, along with
Native American prayers to the Great Spirit. He waxes nostalgic about
"a single earth goddess" who benevolently reigned in the hearts of
prehistoric humans. He gave a sermon in 1992 at the notoriously liberal
Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. His pronouncement
that "God is not separate from the earth" brought a storm of
protest (10/23 CT).
LIBERALS FAVOR HOMOSEXUALS OVER SCOUTS The Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote affirmed the right of the Boy
Scouts as a private association to exclude avowed homosexuals from
membership (10/23 CT). So homosexual activists have mounted an
aggressive campaign to apply economic pressure on United Way and other BSA
donors to withhold money from the Scouts. News stories in the New York
Times referred to the Scouts as "almost anti-American" and
"something akin to a hate group" for refusing to allow homosexuals
to become scoutmasters (10/23 USN & WR). (Calvary Contender, November 1, 2000, p. 1).
The Muslims were wrong! Al Gore was wrong! The New York Times was
wrong to call the Boy Scouts a "hate group." They were wrong! They
were wrong! They were wrong! Leave that on the tape and put that on the
Internet! It's the absolute truth!
Again, I ask, Why do liberals discriminate against Bible-believing
Christians? Young person, if you become a real Christian, they will be
against you too! Even your parents and friends will come against you. They will!
They will! They will! They'll say you've gone overboard. They'll say you've
become a fanatic. They'll turn against you if you put Jesus Christ first in your
life. Well, I say, Let them do it. Let them unleash their anger at you. But you
come to Christ anyway! You come to church every Sunday anyway! Don't knuckle
under and give in to them! Don’t let the liberals control your mind or your
life!
Don't get me wrong. I am not endorsing any candidate or political party in
this election in any of my sermons - because I don't believe that any politician
can help America. We have gone too far as a nation for any mere politician to
help us. The Republican party has been a total washout on the moral issues, and
I don't trust them. As much as I dislike Ted Kennedy, he is no worse than these
wishy-washy Republicans. Hypocrisy is evil in anyone, Democrat or Republican.
Rick Lazio probably wouldn't be any better than Mrs. Clinton, and George W.
Bush wouldn't help us any more than Al Gore. I'm not endorsing any of them.
Personally, as a protest, I'm voting for Democrat Dianne Feinstein, because her
Republican opponent, Tom Campbell, is in favor of partial birth abortions. At
least Mrs. Feinstein has experience.
And I don't agree completely with any of the third party candidates either.
Ralph Nader is wrong on abortion, and Patrick J. Buchanan is wrong on Israel.
So, I don't see any politician who can help us very much in these evil days, and
I'm not endorsing anybody in this election. Only God can help us now.
But again, I ask, Why do liberals discriminate against
Bible-believing Christians? I think the book of Ezekiel, in the Bible, gives us
the answer:
1. Because they will not listen to correct preaching, Ezekiel 3:4-9.
2. Because they think the Lord does not see sin, Ezekiel 9:9.
3. Because they are rebellious against God, Ezekiel 12:2; 7:18-19.
I. Because they will not listen to correct preaching.
The first reason that these liberals discriminate against and attack real
Christians is because they refuse to listen to old-fashioned Bible preaching
like you're hearing this morning. Turn with me to Ezekiel, chapter three, verse
four:
"And he (God) said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house
of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a
people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of
Israel; Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language,
whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them,
they would have hearkened (i.e. would have listened) unto thee. But the
house of Israel will not hearken (i.e. listen) unto thee; for they will
not hearken (i.e. listen) unto me: for all the house of Israel are
impudent (i.e. stubborn) and hardhearted (i.e. obstinate). Behold, I
have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong
against their foreheads. As an adamant (i.e. rock) harder than flint
have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their
looks, though they be a rebellious house" (Ezekiel 3:4-9).
God told the prophet to speak to the unbelieving people in his nation. He
told the prophet to give them God's word. They were not a foreign people. They
understood the speech and language of the prophet. But God told the preacher
ahead of time that they would not receive his sermons, that they would
reject his preaching. God said that the people were too "hardhearted"
and rebelliously obstinate for the sermons to do them any good. Then God told
the preacher that He (God) had made the preacher's head harder than a rock. And
God made his "face strong against their faces." God did this so the
preacher wouldn't be frightened or "dismayed" of their rebellious
faces.
That's what a preacher needs in these evil, liberal days, when people reject
the Word of God and sit in church (when they come) with angry, rebellious faces.
I often take off my glasses when I preach. People have asked me why I do that.
Well, here's the reason: We usually have more than twenty-five lost visitors
every Sunday, as a result of vigorous evangelistic work during the week. We get
you to church, but you get so angry when you hear the Bible preached that you
make ugly faces. It distracts my mind when I look out and see your rebellious,
God-rejecting. liberal face! Then I just take off my glasses so that all I see
is a blur!
I'm a hard-headed, old-fashioned, Bible-thumping preacher, and I'm not
going to change! This kind of preaching is exactly what you need to hear!
Now, look at Ezekiel 3:11. We read these words:
"…speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God;
whether they will hear, or whether they ("will not") will
forbear" (Ezekiel 3:11).
God wants me to preach what you need to hear, not what you want
to hear! God wants me to preach the truth to you whether you will listen or not!
I've heard liberal preachers say, "More people would listen to you if
you weren't so hard." Well, I have an answer to that one - what good would
it do? At the best, that kind of preaching would only make you into yet another
soft evangelical, lost and going to Hell! I have to preach the way God
wants me to preach:
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew
my people their transgression, and…their sins"
(Isaiah 58:1).
"Cry aloud." Only loud preaching will get the attention of sinners
like you! "Spare not." I'm not going to spare you one bit, because God
doesn't want me to.
- I say that you are lost, that you have never been
converted (Matthew 18:3).
- I say that you have sin on your record - recorded in God's books
(Revelation 20:12).
- I say that you're going to Hell when you die, you
Christ-rejecting, church-every-Sunday-rejecting pagan! (Revelation
21:8).
- I say that if you don't get saved you will never even see
Heaven, much less enter it! (John 3:3).
You say, "I don't like that! I don't like your
preaching!" Well, I could care less whether you like my
preaching or not!
"Speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they
will hear (or not), or whether they will forbear"
(Ezekiel 3:11).
God tells me this:
"For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please
men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ"
(Galatians 1:10).
"Even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God…"
(I Thessalonians 2:4).
My purpose is not to make you feel good - but to get you saved!
Get yourself into this church every Sunday! Never miss! Stop
fooling around with God! Get serious! Come to Jesus Christ and then live for
Him! You get serious about being converted, and you get serious now! Sinner,
stop your fool way of living and stop it NOW! Come to Christ before it's
too late for you!
II. Liberals discriminate against Bible-believing
Christians because they think God doesn't see their sin.
Turn with me to Ezekiel 9:9. Look at the end of the verse:
"They say, the Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth
not" (Ezekiel 9:9b).
You think that God doesn't see you when you sin. But you are dead wrong! The
Bible says:
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the
evil…" (Proverbs 15:3).
Hagar said, "Thou God seest me" (Genesis 16:13). God sees you and
God sees you every time you sin. And God records every sin in His
"books" according to Revelation 20:12, "And the dead were judged
out of those things which were written in the books, according to their
works." That's why the Bible tells us, "God shall bring every work
into judgment, with every secret thing" (Ecclesiastes 12:14). There are no
secrets with God. He knows every secret sin you've ever committed. It's all
recorded in God's record and God will read out your secret sins at the Last
Judgment - and those sins will send you to eternal torment in Hell…unless you
come to Christ and have your sins washed out of God's books by His Blood.
That's why Christ died on the Cross - to pay for your sins. That's why
Christ shed His Blood - to wash away your sins. That's why Christ arose from the
dead - to give you eternal life. That's why Christ is now seated at the right
hand of God in Heaven - to pray for you so you can get saved and then live the
Christian life!
III. The third reason liberals discriminate against Bible-believing
Christians is because they are rebellious against God.
Turn with me to Ezekiel 12:2. Here we read:
"Son of man, thou dwellest (i.e. you live) in the midst of a
rebellious house…for they are a rebellious house" (Ezekiel 12:2).
The reason you won't come to Christ and get your sins washed away is simple
- you are in rebellion against Christ! But God is calling you to stop
rebelling. Stop revolting against Jesus Christ - and stop it now! The Bible
says:
"Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply
revolted" (Isaiah 31:6).
Turn to Ezekiel, chapter thirty-three, verse eleven, where God says,
"I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked
turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for
why will ye die…?" (Ezekiel 33:11).
And God is calling you to turn from your evil ways. Turn away from your
drinking and sex and partying. Turn away from your pride and unbelief. Turn away
from your sinful habit of missing church - and be here every Sunday. "Turn
ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" (Ezekiel 33:11). Why will you
go on until you die and go to Hell, and experience "the second death"?
(Revelation 21:8).
When I was in New York, some time ago, I saw a news story on the front page
of a paper that caught my attention. You see, they have subways in New York
City, trains that travel underground and take people around the city. I read
about a woman who was late. She ran to get on the subway train. But the door of
the train closed on her purse before she could get on. She ran along beside the
train, trying to pull her purse loose. The train went faster and faster. She ran
faster and faster, clutching to that purse stuck in the door.
Then suddenly the train sped up even faster - and the woman was whipped
under the wheels of the train. They say that she was ripped to shreds by the
wheels.
When I read that in the newspaper, I thought, "Why didn't she just let
go of the purse? Why did she die because she wouldn't turn loose of it?"
And that's what God is saying to you! Turn loose of your sins! Turn loose!
Turn loose! Turn loose! Before it's too late!
"Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?"
(Ezekiel 33:11).
Turn loose of your sinful way of living and come to Jesus Christ and be
saved!
Scripture Read Before Sermon: Matthew 10:32-39.
Solo by Benjamin Kincaid Griffith: "Take the World, But Give Me
Jesus"
by Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915).
You can read Dr. Hymers' sermons each week on the Internet
at www.rlhymersjr.com
Click on "Sermon Manuscripts."
THE OUTLINE OF
WHY LIBERALS DISCRIMINATE
AGAINST CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS
by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.
"The vile person shall be no more called liberal"
(Isaiah 32:5).
I. Because they will not listen to correct preaching, Ezekiel 3:4-9.
II. Because they think the Lord does not see sin, Ezekiel 9:9.
III. Because they are rebellious against God, Ezekiel 12:2; 7:18-19.