Foundational Biblical Principles Concerning – the Use of Modern Instruments of Communication

The point: Seriously frame your use or non-use of any or all modern communication tools according to a biblical framework.

Martin quotes Penthouse magazine's website celebrating a Supreme Court ruling, illustrating how secular society views and exploits communication tools for immoral purposes, contrasting it with the Christian's concern.

Now, there are many in society who are very committed to a very specific use of these tools, so that when, in 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the indecency provisioning, and the provisions of the Communications Decency Act were unconstitutional, Penthouse, that wretched, foul pornographic magazine, posted the following on their website, and this is a direct quote, "...the Supreme Court struck a blow for liberty and cleared the way for Penthouse to build the ultimate empire of sex on the Internet." End quote. And recent statistics demonstrate, that there are probably at least 70 to 100,...

4:24 - 5:40 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first foundational principle states that modern communication instruments themselves (telephone, TV, computer, etc.) are morally and spiritually neutral. Martin argues that…

Martin imagines bringing a telephone, VCR, and computer to the front and asking if anyone could point to the 'fallenness' in their plastic or circuit boards. This example highlights the moral neutrality of the instruments themselves.

means we're going to be concerned about the future of communication I have never tried to just go to the Bible and get a few proof texts and bring them directly to bear upon the issue the issue is set in larger contexts and if we are to think biblically and act biblically with regard to the particular concern we must address the larger context within which that particular concern is found and that's my purpose in our time together this morning four foundational biblical principles by which you and I ought to frame the manner the extent to which the circumstances within which we use these moder...

10:01 - 11:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit, understanding that this is a painful but essential activity for spiritual life.

Using the vivid imagery of gouging out an eye or whacking off a hand from Matthew 5, Martin illustrates that mortification of sin is a painful, active process, not a passive or enjoyable one.

romans 13 14 we would be making provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts and it is never right to do it and if you're called a legalist let you be called a legalist when you can pillow your head at night and say lord jesus by your grace i've made no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts fill the lust thereof all you'll be ignorant of this or that my ignorance won't damn me but providing for the flesh may romans 8 13 if you live after the flesh you will die but if you by the spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh you shall live who does the mortifying we do in the strength and powe...

24:13 - 25:35 Read in full sermon

The point: Establish and maintain a biblical framework to determine the minimum of your personal possession and use of any or all modern instruments of communication that for you is morally right and spiritually healthy.

Martin shares his personal anecdote of being 'computer illiterate' and frustrated by technical jargon, to connect with the audience and emphasize that while he may not understand the technology, he understands the spiritual principles governing its use.

You want to make me seem like a dunce? Just take two minutes and start using all your computer jargon. You're looking at someone who is basically a computer illiterate. I know the equivalent of the letter A, M, and maybe Z, and that's it.

31:13 - 31:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Put on holy blinders that block out everything but God, your Bible, and your path of duty as marked out in the word and providence of God.

He reinterprets Jesus' words to Peter ('What is that to thee? Follow me.') as 'Mind your business, Peter,' to illustrate that individuals should focus on their own duty before God regarding media use, rather than comparing themselves to others.

Wouldn't God, the words of John 21, would be burned in our hearts. The Lord makes his will known to Peter and says, follow me. And Peter turns around and says, Lord, what shall this man do? And the Lord says, what is that to thee?

33:21 - 33:35 Read in full sermon

The point: Put on holy blinders that block out everything but God, your Bible, and your path of duty as marked out in the word and providence of God.

Martin provides an example of a man who avoids internet at home due to personal vulnerability but uses it at work for duty, illustrating that personal standards for media use can differ based on context and individual weakness, without being inconsistent.

What he does is none of your business. And when it comes to establishing this, you've got to put on holy blinders that block out everything but God and your Bible and your path of duty as marked out in the word of God and in the providence of God. A man may determine that for his own soul's sake, he does not want to be on the internet at home. The privacy of his own study leaves him too vulnerable for a few clicks away from that person.

33:45 - 34:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Ask yourself: 'Am I obeying the biblical injunction of Ephesians 5:15-17 to redeem the time and understand the will of the Lord?'

He mentions mature Christians who are 'appalled' at how quickly they can waste hours surfing the net, illustrating the challenge of 'redeeming the time' with modern communication tools.

Redeeming the time. Redeeming the time. I've had mature Christians tell me that they're appalled at how quickly they can waste one or two hours surfing the net.

36:34 - 36:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Cultivate a good conscience, always exercising yourself to have a conscience void of offense toward God and man.

Martin describes young people being sneaky about what they view online, wondering if parents will see, illustrating how unmonitored use can lead to a 'bloodied conscience' and devious behavior.

Acts 26, 14. Herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense to God and toward man. You young people, are you cultivating a good conscience? Or are you looking over your shoulder wondering, well, if mom and dad come in my room and see what I've got on the screen, and so you're learning how to be sneaky and devious, and to have a bloodied conscience?

37:02 - 37:25 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not tempt the Lord your God by putting yourself in a place of unnecessary need for God's intervention to keep you from harm.

He expresses amazement at computer-literate ten-year-olds downloading 'garbage' in local libraries, illustrating the pervasive access to harmful content and parental naivety.

I'm amazed at how computer literate ten-year-old kids can be. And they're downloading garbage in local libraries by the tens of thousands. And don't you parents think your kids are exempt because you homeschool them and you send them to Trinity Christian School? You're naive.

37:33 - 37:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not tempt the Lord your God by putting yourself in a place of unnecessary need for God's intervention to keep you from harm.

The devil's temptation of Jesus to jump from the temple pinnacle is used to illustrate what 'tempting God' means: putting oneself in unnecessary need of divine intervention to avoid harm.

Is my use consistent with watchfulness, with keeping a good conscience? Is it consistent with the command, Matthew 4, 7, you shall not tempt the Lord your God? What is tempting God? It's when you put yourself in a place of unnecessary need for the intervention of God to keep you from harm.

37:59 - 38:21 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin's first exhortation is for each individual to establish and maintain a biblical framework for their personal possession and use of communication tools that is morally right…

Martin quotes John Brown on the duty of Christians to keep out of the way of temptation and avoid anything that gives opportunity to the enemy, reinforcing the need for proactive self-protection.

Let me give you a quote from John Brown. Generally speaking, it is the duty of the Christian carefully to keep out of the way of temptation, to avoid everything which can be avoided consistent with duty, which may afford an opportunity to the great enemy or his agents to assail him with solicitations to sin. It is madness to hold parley with the devil or uncalled on to provoke him to combat such unnecessary tamperings, such self-confident conflicts. Generally, the end in sin and in shame because the writer to the Proverbs says, who so trust in his own heart is a fool. Your conscience speaking ...

39:49 - 40:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that your children are 'bait for the devil' and do all within your power to prevent the devil from getting them through communication means.

The devil is described as a 'roaring lion, not seeking whom he may scare... but whom he may swallow down,' illustrating the intense spiritual danger children face from unmonitored media.

And if he can find through your lack of watchfulness and your naivety and your laziness that he can pick your kids off with the internet, with phone sex, and with phone relationships, and email relationships, and the watching of videos that will damn them. He'll use it and undo everything else you've sought to put in them. And if you think he has any other end in view, you don't know your Bible. He goes about as a roaring lion, not seeking whom he may scare, whom he may bite, whose arm he may crunch.

42:06 - 42:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that your children are 'bait for the devil' and do all within your power to prevent the devil from getting them through communication means.

Martin tells parents to look at their kids and say, 'they're bait for the devil,' emphasizing the urgency of protecting them from spiritual harm through media.

He's going about seeking whom he may swallow down. And every day you look on your kids and say, they're bait for the devil. He wants to swallow them. And if he's going to swallow them, by God's grace, it won't be because I have carelessly.

42:48 - 43:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that your children are 'bait for the devil' and do all within your power to prevent the devil from getting them through communication means.

He recounts a story of a mother shocked by what she saw on her daughter's PC screen due to a typo in a website address, illustrating the ease with which children can stumble upon pornography online.

His sons, parents, I beg you, I plead with you, I stand at this point in my ministry and I see perhaps the greatest threat to a lifetime of investment in this assembly are the very issues that we're addressing this morning. The passion is not painted passion. It's the built up pressure of trying to be aware, though I'm computer illiterate, I'm not illiterate about how the computer is being used. I wouldn't know how to access a website, but I do my reading of those who plow through the garbage and responsibly report how a mother comes in shocked at what she sees on the screen of her daughter's ...

43:40 - 44:48 Read in full sermon

The point: If Internet access is not a moral necessity for you, consider discontinuing your service, especially if it is a stumbling block.

Martin quotes Roger Charman from Focus on the Family, revealing that over two-thirds of calls from pastors are about being 'hooked on porno by the Internet and by videos,' illustrating the widespread spiritual danger even among church leaders.

Internet pornography is now impacting literally millions of Americans. Among those who claim to be born again and are married, the numbers are about identical to the national average. One in five Americans admit they visited an adult site in the Internet. So many pastors feel they can't talk to anyone, said Roger Charman.

45:28 - 45:48 Read in full sermon

The point: If Internet access is not a moral necessity for you, consider discontinuing your service, especially if it is a stumbling block.

He asks the men in the audience to remember their thoughts between ages 11-16, when 'all you thought about was sex,' to illustrate the intense vulnerability of adolescent boys to sexual temptation through media.

That's not biblical. But for some of you, for whom Internet access is not a moral necessity, you may wish to discontinue your service. And when there is need for that, to take the time to go to someone else who with good conscience can have it, when it's too much of a stumbling block, if not to you. Do you men remember what you were like between ages 11 and 12 and 16 when all you thought about was, Do you men remember what you were like between ages 11 and 12 and 16 when all you thought about was, sex?

46:25 - 46:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not allow little children to see things on videos that their eyes ought never to watch, as images stick.

Martin asks what parents would think of allowing a 'swearing, brawling, unprincipled, uncouth man' into their home, then equates this to allowing television to bring such content, illustrating the hypocrisy of some parents.

Who would allow a swearing, brawling, unprincipled, uncouth man in the house to go blunderbussing about and cussing? You say, never, never. All you do is let the television come on. They see him.

50:16 - 50:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not allow your kids to watch violent, crude, uncouth, godless, foul-mouthed, amoral men and women on television.

He cites 'Smackdown on UP9' as a popular show featuring violence and foul language, illustrating the kind of harmful content readily available on standard television.

Smackdown on UP9. One of the most popular television shows now.

50:30 - 50:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Understand that nobody will be ignorant or irrelevant if they don't watch modern Hollywood movies of any kind, including G-rated ones that promote humanism.

Martin challenges the idea that G-rated movies are harmless, arguing that their underlying philosophy is often 'New Age-ism' and humanism, illustrating that even seemingly innocuous media can convey ungodly worldviews.

Oh, but it's G-rated. I had G-rated. What's the whole philosophy? It is new.

51:17 - 51:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not let your children get into chat rooms, as they can be ruined by developing unwholesome relationships.

He likens Hollywood's smiling, face-to-face approach to the devil coming to Eve, portraying it as a deceptive benefactor that ultimately seeks to harm.

It would kill Hollywood in a week. And when Hollywood comes with its smiling, face-to-face, it's the devil coming to Eve. I'm your friend and your benefactor. I want to help you.

51:49 - 52:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not let your children get into chat rooms, as they can be ruined by developing unwholesome relationships.

Martin asks if parents would allow a pedophile or rapist to talk to their child on the phone, then equates this to allowing them into chat rooms, illustrating the severe danger of online interactions.

I've been asleep. I've been asleep. Don't allow unmonitored use. You wouldn't allow a pedophile or a rapist to talk to your daughter, your son on the phone, would you?

52:17 - 52:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not allow communication tools to make you and your children visual image addicts, as this hinders imaginative and creative thinking.

He observes the tragic reality of a generation addicted to visual images, unable to think imaginatively or creatively, illustrating the long-term negative impact of excessive media consumption.

This applies to the VCR, the television, the computer. It's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. It's a tragic thing to live long enough to see a generation that's become addicted to visual images, cannot think imaginatively, cannot think creatively.

53:02 - 53:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not allow communication tools to make you and your children visual image addicts, as this hinders imaginative and creative thinking.

Martin cites a church that prioritizes multimedia technology and stage productions over preaching due to a 'visual community,' illustrating the dangerous compromise of biblical methods when catering to visual addiction.

And that's why, as I said from this platform a few weeks ago, we have a church in the area that says because we have a visual community and society, we can no longer have preaching central. We've got to have multimedia technology and a stage. With all of its professional lighting. And all of the rest.

53:20 - 53:42 Read in full sermon