NOISE POLLUTION

We live in a day and age when the rage is who can be the noisiest. Theology is an inescapable concept. Why do we have so much noise in our day? The simple answer is they do not have peace in their heart’s. The Bible always gives an accurate picture of everything that it defines. It defines two types of people in the world. Those who have peace and those who do not. Those who do not have peace have decided that everyone will hear their cacophony.

There are two ways to exist, one is in harmony and the other is in disharmony. Those who live in disharmony with God’s world are characterized by discord. They are always off key. There music has no rhyme to it. It grates on the nerves of those who are in peace. It is out of step with all that is true and correct. People can never get away from who they really are. In other words, they are who they are, no matter wherever they go. They are incapable of transforming themselves into what they want to be.

Peace and noise are diametrically opposed to each other. So are saints and sinners. Proverbs 13:15, "Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard." Noise makers have set themselves in opposition of peace and quiet. They stand out to all of us. They cannot hide themselves. This does not give them favor in their neighbor’s eyes. In fact, they accomplish nothing more than infuriating their neighbors. They are not held in high regard.

Saints of God are just the opposite of these noise makers. The Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Here is the opposite of noise and hardness. Here we find peace and easiness. The saint’s way is just the opposite of the sinner’s way every time. Rest for our souls is the antithesis of the hard way of the transgressor. It is a matter of calling and choice.

Why must sinners makes such incessant noise? Isaiah give us the answer in Isaiah 59:20-21, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." These verses are so plain in explaining why are sinner neighbors make so much constant noise. It is the condition of their heart.. Each of us reflect the condition of our heart and each and every turn. We cannot go beyond who we truly are. These situations are established by definition.

Paul wanted us to understand the law of God in Philippians 2:1-4, "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." Paul was telling us that the law of God has consideration for others. If we do not take account the needs and feelings of other people, then we have to be ultimately guided by narcissism. The verses stated here are simply a restatement of Leviticus 19:18, "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord." We are either in accord with these verses or in disaccord. There is no neutrality.

If we think that something will offend our neighbor, then we must not do it. So many think that it is acceptable to set off fireworks anytime that they want to. July 4th then becomes a time of hating your neighbor rather than loving them. This is in accord with the day with in which we live. Because of the rejection of God’s law, all that we are left with is man’s law and his law is always in discord with God’s. Only those who are in accord with God will reflect peace and love toward their neighbor.

In other words, they will not shoot off fireworks, nor will they play loud music that everyone within a mile radius can hear. They will be cognizant of others around them. They realize that they are not the only ones in the universe. They would take into account the feelings of others. They are other oriented rather than selfish. By definition, they would rather see their brother prosper than themselves. They would rather be at peace than war with anyone.

Paul wrote in Romans 12:16-21, "Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. 17Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." In other words, do not make noise but be quiet. Do not let your neighbor even know that you exist. Be as quiet as a church mouse.

Noise is for sinners. They are so lacking theologically that they have to make noise to make someone notice them. They have nothing of value. Inadequacy is their theme song. They sing it in many ways. In heavy metal, country, or rap, the verses are all the same. Noise is used to get attention. Noise means a lack of adequacy and peace within the heart. For the Christian, he is guided by Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" Peace is obtainable in only way. Everything is noise pollution. Which side are you on?

ELITIST KNOWLEDGE

Introduction

Some people want to appear smarter than they really are. They are based on perception rather than substance. They have rejected the law of God and have sought to establish their own law. This is, of course, a demonic quest. These people have accepted the myth of neutrality. At the presupposition level, they believe that there is elite knowledge that only the enlighten can have revealed to them because they are special. They are essentially full of pride.

They do not accept what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 8:1, "Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." The Amplified Bible gives the meaning of this verse, "Now about food offered to idols; of course we know that all of us possess knowledge (concerning these matters. Yet mere) knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow (to his full stature)." Paul is not saying that ignorance is more important than knowledge. What he is saying that mere knowledge, of the head, without the attitude of love makes one demonic, in regard, to knowledge.

Application

First, one has to understand what is meant by biblical love. Love revolves around two things. The Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 22:34-40, "But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Love, whether toward God or toward one’s neighbor is always defined by God’s law. Those with true knowledge, as opposed to snobbish knowledge, think analogically (thank you Cornelius Van Til for that tidbit) that is their knowledge is God’s knowledge interpreted in balance and context i.e. according to the rules of grammar.

The alternative to parallel thinking would be exclusive thinking. A parallel means that there is something that is being imitated. Private thinking means that it is not being reproduced from another source, but it is rather being made up by the individual to the exclusion of established rules. In other words, they make it up as they go. This Genesis 3:5 right out in the open, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." These are the words of the master of supposed of elite knowledge, the devil. He promises the world and delivers on nothing. He tells people that they can interpret the Bible and anything else they wish and not be subject to the laws of grammar and historical context. In other words, any interpretation of anything is not subject to any set rules or laws.

The devil realizes the importance of beginnings. Either laws have been established or they are made up as we think best. In other words, it comes down to whom is the source of the law. This is the law of origin. This establishes everything that we come into contact with. What we believe about the origin of anything will determine our interpretation of the phenomenon that we encounter on a daily basis. All things are interpreted on a theological basis.

Since there is no neutrality and there is antithesis, things can only be looked at from two perspectives and we will fall out on one side or the other. While most will try to mix the two together, they will essentially end up being sterile as any mule. We will either believe that the world was created by God, who established physical, soul, and spiritual laws or matter is eternal and the cosmos is here by chance i.e. an accident without meaning or purpose. There are no other alternatives. Their names are legion who seek to mix and match at this point. Those who believe that all is black or white are few and far between.

Someone who is characterized by superior knowledge, in their eyes, will seek to impress others with their supposed vast amount of knowledge. They may go so far as to claim to be experts. We all know that academia is not subject to the market system. They are protected, by law, from competition. This means that their ideas are not going to be put to the test. The are exempt from the consequences of their beliefs and yet they believe that what they have to say will actually work in the real world. Back where I come from we call them fools i.e. stupid.

This stupidity stems from the fact that they believe that they can superimpose what they think and make it work upon laws that were established way before they appeared upon the scene. These are educated idiots. All education is, therefore, not the same. One can be educated in the truth or in elitist (demonic) knowledge. One characteristic of elitist knowledge is that it seeks to be exhaustive. In other words, those who seek absolute knowledge are doomed to failure because they cannot know everything. Only the Creator of all things has this knowledge. In other words, there is only One God, not many.

What is extremely dangerous is when elitist thinking is prevalent of those who claim to be Christians. This type of thinking is dominant in the Pentecostal, Apostolic and Charismatic Movements. They throw their intellect out at the door. They make the church and God’s word open to elitist interpretation. The same holds true for Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah Witness, and the Mormons. Also, classified in this group would be Evangelicals who hold to the Pre-Millennial doctrine. Each of these interpret the Bible according to elite interpretation rather than established rules of grammar.

The rules of grammar do not change. They do not and have not for years. Man, not wanting to accept these rules, goes about seeking a change to them, by claiming that something has been lost and he is seeking to restore what has been lost. How convenient this is for him who seeks to be a revisionist and how many people will swallow his slop hook, line, and sinker? Their names are legion. They are Peter said in his epistle 2 Peter 2:22, "But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." They enjoy the vomit of elitism and had the truth washed them, they prefer to wallow around in the mire of being snobbish.

A prime example is the Pre-Millennial belief of the seven church ages. These are the same people that tell you that they believe in a literal hermeneutic and yet in the book of Revelation and for that matter the entire Bible, there is no mention of seven church ages. They had to put this in there from their own rules of interpretation. In other words, they have jettisoned the rules of grammar that they accept for everything else but the Bible. In other words, they make the Bible say what they want it to say rather than what it actually says. This is an attitude of a snob who thinks he knows better and refuses to submit himself to rules higher than himself. This is the epitome of pride. No humbleness here.

They have forgotten what God has said to them in 1 Peter 5:5-6, "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." Elitist knowledge is proud knowledge and leads to God resisting them. For all the rapture fever and sensationalism that we have seen, these false prophets of end times have egg all about their faces and yet tell us they know the truth. They are the proverbial emperor with no clothes. Do not tell them though because they will assure you they are properly addressed. No use in correcting a fool in his folly. Remember, he has inside information that others do not possess because he is better than everyone else.

Revelation 1:4 reads, "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne." The author of the book of Revelation, John, tells us who he was writing this book to the seven churches whose geographical location was in Asia. The rules of grammar would force us to believe that John was writing the book of Revelation to these contemporary churches who were located in Asia. This is the literal interpretation of this verse. In fact, this is very straightforward. There is no secret knowledge that only the enlightened would understand and the masses could not figure out on their own.

Pre-Millennial thinking is false doctrine. In fact, it is demonic thinking, all in the name of Jesus. This is because it has to be read into the word of God because one does not come away from reading the word of God and find it contained therein. In other words, it is totally make believe. It is a fairy tale. It is the way that man wants things to be rather than the way that it actually is. The vast majority of people in the church world are Pre-Millennial.

Your eschatology drives your theology. What you believe about the future determines what you will do in the present. What are those who believe in the imminent rapture doing in the present? They are living a Post-Millennial life. Paul challenged Peter at this point in Galatians 2:11-14,"But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 12For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 13And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. 14But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" In other words, "How can you a Pre-Millennial live like a Post-Millennial?" The way that they do it is called hypocrisy.

Conclusion

If this true and it is, then it follows that all elitist thinking is hypocrisy right out in the open. All men have their limitations. To seek exhaustive knowledge is a quest that is the equivalent of seeking the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant. Christians are enjoined to redeem the time, not waste it. Elitist knowledge, therefore, is a huge waste of time. Once again, we do not need to know something exhaustively, just truly.

Elitist knowledge is constantly in a state of flux. This is because one elite will eventually replace another elite. Intellectuals come and they go and none has been any closer to the truth than the other one. One generation comes and another goes. Elitists believe that they have special knowledge above the masses but in reality they are wearing a different dress, but underneath, it is the same old mess.

Solomon has already told us that there is nothing new under the sun. Why should it be any different in our day and time? Presuppositions do not change, no matter how they are disguised to be a formulation of something not previously discovered. Elitist knowledge is code for an utopian world. It is fantasy thinking right out in the open. It is not useful knowledge. It is used merely to build one’s ego. It is an attempt to be what someone is not, nor ever can be. The best advice is to avoid it like the plague.

THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION

Education means different things to different people. The education of the government schools is nothing more or less than indoctrination in the religion of Darwinism. The entire curriculum is centered around atheism. In other words, the way things are is because they are. No explanation is required. The assumption is that there is no God. They believe philosophically that chaos is the norm.

The government schools have enjoyed a monopoly for oodles of years. Their curriculum is not subject to the market. Government school education is enforced at the point of a gun. It is totally coercive. It is socialist to the core. Those attending have to be there. It is nothing more than a prison system. Those who go there are institutionalized. This prepares them for future careers in tax payer supported programs. This is the ultimate consequence of monopoly, bureaucracy, long lines and one size fits all.

The most ridiculous thing I think I have ever seen is grown adults accepting the government telling them when they can take their breaks at work. They learned in school that they were entitled to recess. These adults take their government ordained breaks no matter how many people are standing in line. Monopolies, of course, attract long lines because it fits in with the economic law that more will be demanded at less price or in this instance zero price. If you do not have to pay for it, you and everyone of your relatives will be in line looking for a freebie. It is, however, not free. There is no such thing as a free lunch. The taxpayer must pay and pay and pay, on and on. The taxpayer does not protest to loudly because he does not pay his tax directly out of his paycheck because it has already been deducted. If he had to pay it directly, by having to write a check, he would have a fit.

This is because our theology has changed in this country. There is a difference between modern education i.e. indoctrination, and biblical education. In the book of inheritance, Deuteronomy, we find many references to education as being the realm of parents (private) and not the State. There needs to be a separation of Education and the State. Deuteronomy 4:8-9 reads, "And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons." According to these scriptures, God’s law is superior to all laws and it is to be taught to sons and grandsons by the parents and grandparents. Notice that there is no mention of government education mentioned here. Therefore, modern education is anti-biblical. It is humanist to the core.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 further states that education is to be decentralized and the dominion of parents, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." To teach our children anything other than God’s law is tantamount to rebellion against the truth. To teach anything else is to teach falsehood, by definition.

What are children taught in the sciences by the government schools? Evolution right out in the open. It is not hidden in the closet. Evolution is the established religion of the State that is accepted by faith. By faith, these dupes accept that life came from non-life. Their dominating principle is that likes beget unlikes. This is counter to the word as found in Genesis 1:11-12, "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good." The law of God states that likes beget likes. This is what happens in the real world. Humans beget humans, not apes.

According to evolution, matter is eternal and therefore, god. They believe in uniformity. They say that the world has always been this way for billions of years, give or take a billion. They multiply the years like McDonald’s does hamburgers. Christians believe that world was created by God in a literal 6 day period i.e. 144 hours and that the world is not older than 6000 years. In other words, we believe that the history of Genesis is literal. This, of course, drives the evolutionist right up the wall. He cannot handle it because it refutes his religion.

Christians do not disagree with science. We disagree with evolution, in regard to origins. Evolution has nothing to do with science. It has to do with the genesis of things. An evolutionist has to hold his position by faith because he was not there in the beginning of time. Therefore, he has to make assumptions as to how the world began. Unfortunately for him, his assumption has made the proverbial you know what out of him. His position is untenable. Don’t tell him that he does not have any clothing. He claims that he does and that is all that matters to him. He does not accept the truth because he cannot. He believes lies because he can believe nothing else not being a Christian.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21 further drives home the point of parental education, i.e. private education, "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." Coerced education is not freedom in learning. It presupposes one point of view and that of the humanist state. It is godless education.

The Bible teaches that education is to be conducted at the private level and not by the Government. Education is an economic good, not a political one. The sooner that parents begin to take their responsibility before God seriously, in this regard, the sooner we will see the demise of the monopoly possessed by the State. God wants education to be decentralized. Satan wants it centralized. This is the only way that he can control it with his main presupposition of chaos.