God requires His people to deal truly, and not give consent to falsehood and wickedness.----Stephen refused to assent to the underlying hypocrisy of his accusers, but blasted the foundation of their accusations, by showing that they had betrayed Moses, and broken the law, and polluted the temple, and murdered the prophets, and slain Messiah.----For that testimony to the truth, they stoned Stephen.----Out of the murder of the martyr Stephen, comes the most depraved example in Scripture of giving consent to falsehood and wickedness.----Acts records its beginning- -and Saul consented to his death.- Saul actively gave consent to this barbarous act by serving as a witness to their crimes.----This is a consent to falsehood and evil that goes far beyond consent given based upon fear, or shame, or embarrassment. This is the worst, an active consent, actual agreement with falsehood and sin.----Saul didn't actually participate in the dirty work of throwing stones at Stephen, but his consent facilitated the murder.----Saul was supposed to be a Pharisee, one who claimed to obey God's law perfectly, yet here he applauded murderers.----Saul's assent didn't stop there, however. Scripture reports that he commenced active persecution of Christ's church, with kidnappings and murders to follow.----In this is a solemn warning- consent toward falsehood and wickedness may well progress downward to the uncontrollable, active commission of horrific deeds.----But praise God, Saul was soon confronted by the true target of his persecutions, the Lord Jesus-----On the way to more wicked acts, Christ shone in His glory on the road to Damascus, confronting Saul with his crimes against Messiah Himself-

We have seen how God, in an astounding and glorious move, sent His dear Son, God incarnate in human flesh, to become our kinsman redeemer, vindicating God's appropriation of that personal, familial privilege from Old Testament times.----Only a near kinsman had the right to redeem his close relations from slavery, or snatch back their property sold for debt.----Christ was made like His people, like man His creature, whom He loves and whom He would rescue from judgment. Jesus stood for us in God's judgment of sin at Calvary, just like the kinsman redeemer.----But some will have noticed a possible technical issue with Christ as our kinsman redeemer.----For though the incarnation makes Him like His people, partaking of flesh and blood, and thereby qualified to lay down His life in our place, yet being flesh and blood does not make Jesus our -near kinsman.-----The law was clear- a near kinsman had to be an uncle, nephew, cousin, or such near relation. Otherwise, he would not have the right under the law to redeem his relations.----First, observe that scripture states that, on account of the incarnation, Christ is not ashamed to call us His brethren. It pleases the Savior to claim such a relationship with those He loves and saves-----But this harks back to Jesus' statement in Psalm 22, that He would declare the Father's name among His brethren. Psalm 22 describes the shame and the horror of the crucifixion of Messiah.----In that context, He promises to declare God's name to His brethren.----The reason is astounding- because God would not ignore Christ's sufferings on the cross, but would esteem them, and accept them for His brethren's salvation from God's wrath for their sin-

The shepherds went to see the baby Jesus after the angels announced His glorious birth. They were told that He is a savior, Christ the Lord- They were told that this brought glory to God, with peace and good will toward all people.----The signs they were given - Jesus would be wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger - were inauspicious. How could such a glorious person be found in such a low estate-----But there is another, remarkable aspect of Christ appearing to the shepherds as a lowly, new-born babe. His birth, and their seeing Him, fulfilled a curious claim that God had made to His people just before He brought them out of Egypt.----That claim by God to Israel was repeated many times in the Scriptures.----Of course, the Lord Jesus came to die in the place of His loved ones, poor sinners who cannot save themselves. Jesus came to be God's Lamb of sacrifice to die in substitution for poor sinners, to pay the ransom price for our crimes against the justice of God.----All that was foretold in Isaiah, and the Psalms, and Zechariah in particular.----In the New Testament, the writers use the term -redeem- to describe Christ's rescue of us. He is our Redeemer-----The Greek words for -redeem- mean the release of a man by the payment of a ransom.----Thus, Peter exclaims that we were not redeemed by silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a dying lamb without blemish.----Paul exults in the truth that Jesus redeemed us by being put under the curse of the law in our place, when we should have been.----But in the Old Testament, the word to redeem carries with it an additional characteristic- that of a near kinsman who can redeem his brethren-

At Christmas time, the whole world thinks about gifts, given and received.----But believers ought to think and talk about the great Gift that God gave to us in His Dear Son, our Lord Jesus-----He is our Savior, Who is Christ the Lord- He is called Jesus, because He will save His people from their sin- He is Emmanuel, meaning God with us-----No wonder the Angels cried out, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men-----God's great gift was a present to all mankind, unto the saving of whoever trusts in Jesus.----The Scriptures exult over and over again, that Jesus coming and dying to save His people from their sins, begins all spiritual blessings in heavenly places for us. It is the gift whereby God's people are brought unto holiness and blamelessness before God. Jesus is the One by Whom we are accepted before a perfect and righteous God.----Christ's birth and death are the manner in which we are adopted as sons of God in Jesus. It is in Christ that we are given an inheritance.----All of this is done according to the purpose of God Who does all things according to His good pleasure for us-----There is, then, an exceeding greatness in God's gift to His people, far above any other gift, and abiding forever with great joy and happiness for us.----But amazing to say, none of God's people would ever accept the gift, or count it of any value, were it not for the accompanying gift, the powerful work of the Holy Ghost in our hearts, to raise us from the dead, and cause us to lay hold of God's gift of Christ and His sacrifice for us, with joy and gladness forever.----All that raises an important question- what sort of gifts ought we to bring to Jesus-

If Peter's denial of Christ is a bad example of giving assent to falsehood and wickedness, then the martyr Stephen's noble defense before his killers is an example of obeying God's command that we deal truly.----Stephen was falsely accused by those who hated the Gospel of blasphemy against Moses, the law, the temple, and God.----Stephen could have mounted a traditional defense, and denied the lies that were being told about him, and demanded proof from the perjured witnesses.----But that would have meant giving assent to the falsehood that under-girded the entire kangaroo court proceedings against Stephen.----Those implicit falsehoods were that the leaders of Israel honored God, obeyed the law, revered the temple, and obeyed Moses and the prophets.----Stephen refused to proceed on such false and wicked presumptions.----Therefore, instead of defending himself again manufactured false accusations, Stephen cut down the entire facade upon which his prosecution was based.----Stephen refused to accede to the utter hypocrisy and immorality of his accusers. He refused to accept the false premises underlying their claims against him.----Stephen's defense was a recitation, from Holy Scripture, of the truth of what Israel had done, how it had betrayed Moses, murdered the prophets, defiled the temple, violated the law, and murdered the Lord Jesus, God's Messiah.----For telling that truth, and proving it from Scripture, Stephen was foully murdered by the rulers who sat in judgment against him.----Stephen confirmed Jesus' judgment against those same men, that they would murder the preachers of Christ's gospel, and thereby embrace the murder of all the true prophets that went before.

God would have us deal truthfully, and not in a way that leaves the impression that we assent to lies or wickedness.----The problem is that doing so exposes us to ridicule, isolation, and even violence and oppression.----The Apostle Peter gave us a bad example in this matter. When Jesus was taken and tried by the wicked rulers of Israel, Peter tagged along behind, but he tried to leave the impression that he wasn't actually a disciple of the Savior. After all, Peter had never agreed with Christ's promise to suffer and die on the cross.----Peter had a self-centered view of his place in Christ's kingdom. Jesus needed real men who would put it all on the line for the kingdom.----But Jesus said Peter couldn't go with Him to Calvary or to glory, whereupon Peter asserted he would die for the Lord Jesus.----Peter saw himself as loyal and brave, and so he missed Jesus' teaching, that Jesus must die for His people, and not the other way around-----Nobody could help Jesus out in His work of redemption - it was His alone to accomplish-----There was no help possible from Christ's people. In fact, everything they attempted to do only interfered with Christ dying to save us.----There was not a thing any of them could do to assist in His death at Calvary.----Ironically, the acts of wicked men in betraying and murdering Jesus were used by God to accomplish Christ's sacrifice on the cross for us.----What a lesson about our Redemption- There is nothing we can bring to Christ except our crimes-----In a sense, Peter is the beginning of the false view that somehow we can participate in salvation. No wonder the Roman Catholic system made Peter the first Pope- But Peter learned better later.

God requires His people to deal truly, and tell no lies.----That means that we may not give public assent to falsehood or wickedness. We may not give the impression of standing for lies or evil acts.----How does this general moral principle impact our public advocacy for causes and candidates-----When we support a candidate, we give public assent to his claims and acts, and if those claims and acts are false or evil, we have breached God's standard, that we deal truly, and avoid giving a public impression that we support lies and wickedness.----The famous political race for Louisiana governor in 1991 is instructive. Both candidates were deeply morally flawed. Edwin Edwards was a notorious crook and corrupt politician, taking bribes, extorting people using his office for personal gain, racketeering, etc.----David Duke, on the other hand, was the notorious former Klan leader who advocated nasty, racist views.----It got so bad that one famous bumper sticker read- -Vote for the crook. It's important------But how could a believer morally support either one of these men- Either way, such support would give the impression of approving either public corruption, or virulent racism.----This year, how could a Christian publicly support a candidate that violated the Constitution, ran up -8 trillion in new debt, tortured prisoners, murdered innocent people around the world with bombs and missiles, told monstrous lies about his opponents, supported -gay marriage,- financed terrorists, and jailed journalists for publishing the truth-----Republican or Democrat, both 2020 presidential candidates have done all those things-----On both sides, people exclaim, how can you support such evil-

God's Word warns us about folks who promise big things but never deliver. They are like wind and clouds, but no rain-----We have heard a great deal of big talk the last 3 weeks about voter fraud, stolen votes, flipped votes, and hacked voting machines.----People claim they saw stacks of ballots being re-scanned, and sued because they were denied -meaningful- observations of the vote counting.----But as an election contest expert, this preacher knows such claims are highly suspect. Re-scanning ballots is a normal process that happens all the time, but lay persons who see it are likely to make false claims of fraud.-----Meaningful- observations have never been provided for during ballot counting. If multiple people get to look over the shoulder as 600,000 paper ballots are counted, it will take weeks and months to finish-----There is plenty of -big talk,- but little to no actual proof, nor any real chance there will ever be any.----We have been promised -the real truth- for decades now about Whitewater, Vince Foster's death, Scooter Libby's lies, torture and murder, fraud on the FISA court, Hunter Biden's laptop, etc.----All along, our politicians have promised full investigations, exposure, and punishment.----But it never happens.----Meanwhile, people repeatedly fall for the Big Talkers' promises, because we will believe what we want to believe.----The Bible calls this the -itching ears- syndrome- we will believe lies because we want to.----But when Jesus made all those precious promises, nobody believed Him- It seems like -Itching ears- only works in favor of falsehood and lies.----Believers need to believe God's promises, and stop believing the Big Talkers of this world.

God's word tells us that He hates lying. Indeed, He classes it with the sins of murder and perjury.----Not only are we barred from lying, but God delights in those who deal truly. Taken together, these to requirements of God mean we may never give any public consent to lies, falsehood, or wickedness. Rather, we must be openly honest in the truth.----The problem is that being truthful, and withdrawing our assent to falsehood and evil, is not very prudent. There is a price to pay when we reject falsehood and affirm truth, especially about sin.----The prophet Amos recorded God's declaration regarding this matter in Amos 5. There, God describes the fact that the world hates those who publicly rebuke falsehood and sin, as well as those who positively assert truth and advocate righteousness.----The wickedness denounced in Amos is the affliction of the just, the taking of bribes to pervert truth and justice, and denying the poor their legal rights.----Because of the persecution of truth-tellers, God notes that the prudent men keep silence in such evil days. Their silence is not commendable, but rather pragmatic for their own protection from retaliation.----But God exhorts men not to remain silent, but to speak up for truth and justice. Our silence only guarantees that the nation will be destroyed by God's wrath.----One example of Godly men denying public assent to falsehood and wickedness is seen in the three Hebrew children who were thrown into the fiery furnace because they would not obey the order to bow down before Nebuchadnezzar's golden image.----They didn't take the easy way out of bowing down outwardly, but worshiping only God inwardly. But God delivered them-

There is a general moral principle that must govern our response to public affairs, including this week's elections.----It is wrong to signal our consent to lies, falsehoods, or the propriety of evil. One might ask, how does this principle direct our conduct in politics, voting, and elections-----There are ready examples of people who have followed this moral principle, and suffered because of it. For example, Jack Phillips and Barronelle Stutzman will not consent to the falsehood of so-called -gay marriage- by making cakes or arranging flowers to celebrate such an evil thing.----For a believer to concede, or indicate his agreement, that such a thing as -gay marriage- can exist, or is moral or right, it to signal consent to such wickedness.----Yet there is a dreadful cost in not doing so. In Mr. Phillips and Mrs. Stutzman's cases, they have been almost completely destroyed by their obedience to God's Word in this matter. Their businesses have been ruined, they have suffered as outcasts of society, they have been picketed, and they have been hounded in the courts.----Yet how few sermons we have heard urging believers to separate from the consent to falsehood and agreement with evil in such cases-----Christians must examine everything we do and say, to see whether we are signaling approval of lies or wickedness.----Preachers and churches have mostly failed to to preach these truths about our practical and public conduct.----Is that because we fear having to pay the price for refusing to give consent and refusing to signal agreement on these matters-----We fear we will lose our jobs, won't be able to work in our chosen fields, will be ridiculed, drummed out of society.