Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] You.
[00:00:04] Good morning, 1115.
[00:00:07] Good morning. Thank you. My name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here at the church. And this is week two of our series called traps. And here's kind of the big goal of this series. The scriptures teach that there are multiple ways that the demonic realm lays out trips and traps and schemes and designs so that we might fall into sin and be effectively useless for God's kingdom. And so if the scripture already tells us what all of these traps are, what these schemes, these designs, it's our job as Bible teachers to make sure that you all know what they are, that we give vocabulary to these things so that when you cross them, you recognize them, so that you have the tools to discern what is happening. Now, last week, what we did is we talked about the top five, what the scripture calls delusions that the world falls prey to. And so we dealt with that. What happens out there, and then what we're going to do this morning, actually, is we're going to look inward. We're going to look at really the top five really ridiculous thoughts and ideas that invade churches or quote unquote churches, so that if by chance they get their way into maybe a small group, into your family or into the church at large, you have the eyes to discern and to see what is good and right and true and the tools to actually protect our church from really terrible ideas. Most really, really terrible behavior and bad things in this world come from lies. And so when we see lies, we want to root those out at its core and we want to be people of truth. And if we are people of truth, we will therefore be people of reality. So open up your bibles. First Timothy, chapter four. As you're turning there, I want to set us up by talking about the four responsibilities of a pastor or elder in a local church. So wherever you find pastors, elders, for 2000 years, we all have the same job. Our job is four things. Number one, to lead, to discipline, to teach and to protect within the context of our local church, lead, discipline, teach and protect. So more and more, the teaching and the protecting of a local church, they really do go hand in hand. And so in this cultural moment, there are three enormous challenges that churches and pastors are facing. And here they are. Number one, never before have more undeserved humans had more opportunity to be heard. Let me just say that again. Never before have there been more people who should never be listened to. They now have a platform to be heard anywhere. And so that's a lot of really bad ideas and like junk email, they are bombarding the inbox of our brain, and we got to figure out what's junk, what's real, what's good, what's not. Number two, never before have thinking people had more ideas to try to sift through.
[00:02:57] Number three, never before have pastors had more compelling bad ideas to combat all at once. And so there will never be a sermon or a series that allows us to disciple every single person in this church with every single bad idea that is going to come your way. And so we want to make sure we really do teach the good things, but we also have to do is you have to give vocabulary, Larry, to some of these really, really bad ideas that are creeping into a church. So again, that you see them, we can be like, that is not right.
[00:03:28] Something's off about that. All right, so to launch us, we're going to study first Timothy, chapter four. We're going to start in verse one. And kind of the way we set this series up is each time we look at a passage of scripture, and then we're going to get really practical, we're going to give really clear vocabulary to what are the five really terrible ideas that are creeping into churches now. So first Timothy, chapter four, verse one. Now, the Spirit, this is the Holy Spirit, expressly says that in later times, meaning as we get closer to the second coming of Jesus, some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. So what Paul is doing, he sees the, what, he's pulling back the curtain, and he's showing the thing behind the thing in particular, who is pulling the strings and creating some of these really, really terrible ideas. And here, many of you, you've already seen this. Here's what's happening to the ephesian church where Timothy is pastoring.
[00:04:34] You have people who were believers in Jesus and they were faithful by all stretch. They believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:04:42] They are abandoning in Ephesus the gospel and devotion to Jesus, and they are substituting Jesus and their devotion to him and the gospel with spiritual lies that are demonic in origin.
[00:05:01] And so what he's saying is that as we get closer and closer to the second coming of Jesus, we have to understand that there will be people who don't just struggle. That's one thing. They will abandon the gospel. They will abandon Jesus and their devotion. I mean, that is a big word. Their devotion are going to be to spiritual lies. And they may not recognize this, but these lies, they weren't just created in someone's mind, they actually have a demonic origin. So these anti gospel lies, there's a theological word for it, and the word is heresy. And heresy is very simply, any idea that changes a gospel essential. So three plus three equals six. The answer is not Jesus. Three plus three equals six.
[00:05:53] What happens if I change any variable in this equation?
[00:05:59] It ceases to be true. So a heresy is any idea that substituted, taken away, or added to the gospel.
[00:06:11] Once added, it ceases to actually be true. It ceases to be the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:06:18] And the trick of discerning these really, really bad ideas that change the gospel is that the people who teach them often are going to get nine things out of ten, right. It's that 10th one that you need to pay attention to. Usually they're pretty proud of it, so you get to know it very quickly. Sometimes they can be a little bit more subtle. But let's just take a moment and talk about the gospel, the good news, the message of Jesus. There are essentials that cannot be changed. For example, you cannot be a true Christian and not believe that you're a sinner. In order to be a Christian, you have to believe that you're a sinner, that sin is against God. In order to be a Christian, you have to believe that Jesus Christ is God.
[00:07:03] You have to believe that God became flesh and Jesus died on the cross for our sins in our place.
[00:07:10] You also have to believe that Jesus, literally, historically, was raised from the dead. It's not some kind of metaphor like it's a real thing. Jesus was raised from the dead as validation from God the Father, that Jesus truly was the sacrifice for sins.
[00:07:23] You also cannot believe that good people go to heaven. You can't do it. That salvation is somehow by being better than the person next to me or accruing a bunch of good works. That is not the gospel. In fact, the gospel is that it's not by works, it's by faith alone. And so you change any kind of one of these essentials or you add something to it, it ceases to be a pure gospel.
[00:07:45] We need to be able to be very crystal clear that when there's an idea that deviates from these essentials, that is called a heresy. Now, just because you disagree with someone on something, is that heresy? No, this is a big word. We reserve it. And I would just encourage you don't just go up to someone's face and call them a heretic. Gentle, kind, loving, generally the way to go when you're dealing with people who may not believe the gospel so many questions about heresies and particularly about what happens in one timothy four. Do they know that these ideas are anti gospel? Do they know that these ideas originated in the pits of hell? Do they know that the people who believe these ideas very likely are not truly saved? Do they know these things? Okay, so here's another question. If demons can't talk to us the way like we're talking right now, or the way that people talk, how do these demon ideas, how do they get into local churches and how do they spread? Verse two does not mince words. Here's what it says through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared right off the bat. Where are the liars found?
[00:09:01] They're in the church.
[00:09:03] They're not out there. They're in the church.
[00:09:07] Now, I know a lot of pastors all over the country, some all over the world. Here's what I know. 99% of them are incredible men doing the best they can with what they got. The 1%, those rascals, they make our life really hard. And what do you guys hear about the most? You hear about the 1%? And I have great news for you. Almost every guy I know, they're not a rascal and they're not like that. I mean, we're all fallen and sinful and have different struggles. But there is this notion that we get this paranoia. But you do need to have a little level of paranoia, because when the rascal comes to church, you better have your eyes open and be aware so you can deal with it kindly, swiftly, lovingly and biblically.
[00:09:48] But here's what happens. It says that they are insincere liars. In other words, they're liars who know they're lying, but they don't care.
[00:10:00] Why don't they care like we care? I don't want to be somebody who just lies to people about spiritual things or really anything. Here's what it says. It says they lie because they have seared consciences, or literally a cauterized conscience. They've lied so much that they can't even feel it anymore. And so if you silence your conscience, guess who gets quieter? Your conscience.
[00:10:24] The conscience is one of the greatest gifts to all of humanity. Whether you're a Christian or a non Christian, everybody's got a conscience. It is a gift that God puts inside of every human being to restrain sins so that the world is not as terrible as it could be. But the more that we say to the conscience, the quieter it gets and it obeys us. And then we can freely do the things that before would make us feel like this tinge of guilt, and we no longer feel guilty about it the more we do it. But the vast majority of heretical teachers know they are lying and they don't care anymore. And they give the illusion that most pastors are like them because they get the airwaves, because they get the audience, and because people keep giving them more and more money. Why do they keep lying? Because desperate people are happy to give them whatever they ask for if they keep telling them things that itch their ears. Let me give you an example.
[00:11:23] If you ever get a chance to talk to a psychic, they will never tell you that they're full of it. But they're full of it and they know it.
[00:11:33] Why do they keep doing it?
[00:11:37] Money.
[00:11:38] And if you were to sit down and just have a totally honest interview with anybody about to walk into a psychic's room, whatever they're called, and you were to say, you kind of know they're full of it? Yeah, pretty much.
[00:11:55] Well, then why do you do it? Maybe they're going to tell me something.
[00:12:00] And what do most psychics know? Tell people the things they want to hear and tell it to them in a way that keeps them coming back. There's more, but I'll tell you next time, or for 20 more dollars.
[00:12:14] So in Ephesus, where first Timothy is pastoring, what were some of these lies that this church specifically was tempted to fall for? Now you're going to hear this and you're going to think to yourself, I would never fall from that. Different culture, different time. Here's what it says. People are coming into the church who are lying and they're saying, don't get married, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. So these people are coming into churches, they're kind of weaseling their way in. They're probably having private discussions saying, can I share with you a different idea?
[00:12:55] And here's kind of the thought. The thought is that matter is bad. Anything that feels good is bad, marriage is bad, and all the things that come with marriage is bad. So therefore, if you're going to be a real Christian, you can't get married and you can't do anything that feels good, and you cannot eat anything that tastes good. Who in God's green earth would fall for this dumb heresy?
[00:13:13] I don't know, but that cultural moment, that was a thing and people began to believe this. Well, you can't be saved if you're going to be married. And there are different kinds of foods that you can't eat, and conveniently, they're all the really delicious ones, and demons are genius. They're like, let's make their lives miserable and make them think they're going to heaven in the process. Yeah.
[00:13:33] And so here they are, and these people are concerned. And so Paul, an apostle, says to Timothy, people in your church are being duped with this lie. You need to go teach and train them the truth. You actually need to call out the lie by name. You need to call it out specifically, and you need to replace that lie with the truth of God's word. Marriage is good and all that comes with it is good and food is good. It is to be received with Thanksgiving and done to the glory of God. And all God's people said, amen.
[00:14:03] And yet somehow these rascals get in and they're like, well, you can't be saved if you eat. Oh, we can't be. And then Timothy, Pastor Timothy says, that is wrong. That is heresy. It subverts a gospel essential. You are not saved by what you do or don't do. You are saved by faith in Christ.
[00:14:25] So in Ephesus, they had these unique susceptibilities. And what we find when you open up the New Testament is that every one of these books is written to a different local church in a different city. So the book of corinthians is written to a local church in the city of Corinth. But what you find is that they are addressing different heresies in every single one of these local churches, in every single one of these books. So, for example, in Corinth there was a heresy as philosophical idea called cynicism, and it was creeping into the church and people were saying the pathway to salvation is through logic.
[00:15:00] Is that how one is saved? Well, no. And so Paul writes to the corinthian church and he's dismantling this lie of cynicism, or in Colossae, which is where the book of Colossians was written, to gnosticism, which is ancient heresy was beginning to creep in. And the idea of gnosticism is there's a secret way to heaven and there's a secret way to salvation. And if you come to me with my secret meeting, I'll tell you all the secrets, and only we have the secrets. Is the gospel of Jesus Christ a secret? No, it's pretty public. And you don't need to go to my special meeting to hear the secret. And there's some secret revelation from a secret spirit that's only telling me things that I secretly know. But the people are like, oh, my gosh, this is spiritual. We got to go and hear what they're saying. And Paul's like, no, these people are not for your good. They're tricking you. They're trying to get your money, and they're trying to control you. Watch them. And Galatia, the book of Galatians is written to a bunch of churches in a region called Galatia. And Judaizers are coming in, and they're saying, if you're going to be saved, you have to follow old covenant law. Now, do we follow old Covenant Lawville church? No, we don't. That law has been retired. There is now a new law, and we are not under that law anymore. But they were adding burdens to these people. For every generation, for every culture, and for every local church, there is a unique susceptibility that those people have to really bad ideas. And some of you are thinking, not me. I'm above that. And if you are, let me tell you why. You've probably been walking with the Lord for a long time. You've probably had really good Bible teaching. You have probably studied the Bible personally for years, and even probably you have begun to teach or share biblical truth with your children or different people in different ministries. Like, you are seasoned, praise God, and you probably are, like, more invincible than the rest. But I want you to go back with me in time to when you were a brand new baby Christian. You didn't know much. Or go back to the time when you first started kind of taking the Bible seriously and you didn't know everything, you know, right.
[00:17:01] If somebody came up to you and they said, did you know that God is a beetle? You're like the insect. Yeah, God's a beetle. You'd be like, that's ridiculous. God's not a beetle. Like, where did you even get this idea from? You wouldn't fall for it. But if somebody came up to you and said, love is love, you go, well, feels right.
[00:17:22] Would a God of love really ever send someone to hell forever? I mean, that makes logical sense.
[00:17:32] Isn't it reasonable that logical that God would give people a second chance in hell? Right? Yeah. And here's the point. Every culture, every generation, every local church, and every person has unique susceptibilities to terrible ideas. And so we recognize these. And part of the pastor's job is to protect the church by teaching and identifying some of the patterns and trends and theological movements so that we might protect our church from ideas that steal, kill and destroy. Amen. All right, so this next section, this is where I say what I said to you last week. I'm going to be super blunt, and the goal of this is to give vocabulary to things that are real. And now we're going to talk about are really the top five demon doctrines, demon heresies that kind of have their way of just making their way into church, into people, into small groups, et cetera. And we're going to call them by name. Okay? Number one is what we call narcissistic theology. And here's just kind of a good quote that summarizes the oomph of it. God just wants me to be happy.
[00:18:45] So more and more, for brand new, unchurched or undiscipled christians, this is the gospel that they believed, but many didn't even know it. And so at its core, what they believe is that when I came to Christ, your job, God, is to save me from discomfort. But here's how you know you've bought into this false gospel.
[00:19:14] When life gets really hard, when God doesn't meet your expectations, when, honestly, you're done, and you look at God and say something to the effect of, I'm out. I've given you everything. I followed your little rules. I went to church. I tithed, I served. And you let this happen to me.
[00:19:42] You let me bear the consequences of my own decisions and choices.
[00:19:47] You let me bear the consequences of other people's decisions and choices.
[00:19:52] God, your job is to make me happy and make my life easy. Now, who says that out loud?
[00:20:00] No one. But then it gets masqueraded. Would a God of love, would he ever let these things happen? If God loved us, he would have stopped it.
[00:20:12] All that tells me is that when you came to Christ, you did not come to him because you needed to be saved from sin. Time revealed that you came to him because you believed you needed to be saved from discomfort.
[00:20:25] And that is not a real gospel. That is not the pure gospel.
[00:20:29] So what fleshly craving does this doctrine, false doctrine, satisfy an easy life now? And can you find a preacher somewhere on tv who will teach this doctrine for sure, and they will take your money happily.
[00:20:44] Acts 1421 to 22. God's word, actually, I mean, this is the tip of the iceberg on what God's word has to say about this. But says this.
[00:20:55] When they had preached the gospel to that city, they made many disciples. They returned to Lystra, to iconium, to Antioch, three cities, all three of these cities, there were believers there and they had really specific needs, says strengthening the souls of the disciples. Why did the souls of the disciples need to be strengthened? Because they were feeling weak and discouraged. Because it was really hard to be a Christ follower in these cities at this time. And then it says, encouraging them to continue in the faith. Why does somebody need to be encouraged to continue in the faith? Because they are being tempted to give up. It's too much. It's too hard. It's too difficult.
[00:21:34] And saying, and here's what they're teaching them. Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.
[00:21:42] Following Jesus is hard, and we live in the most unique time, where we are like 1% of christians right now in all of human history, where it is this easy to be a loud and proud, devoted follower of Jesus Christ. This is not normal.
[00:22:00] This is abnormal. And I thank God for it. I don't want to go to the abnormal, but we have to understand that this is not the way. The vast majority of christians throughout history, what it has cost them to follow Jesus, it cost most people a lot.
[00:22:18] All right, demonic heresy number two.
[00:22:21] This is what we call progressive theology. And we did a two week sermon series on this. It was about a year and a half or two years ago. And if you want to go deeper into it, you can. I'm going to give you kind of a highlight here, and here's kind of the summary statement that I really think encapsulates the common vocabulary that people will say who believe this.
[00:22:38] You can't take the Bible literally. Okay, so what is progressive theology? It is a theological movement that seeks to reassess, reinterpret, and redefine the core essentials, the gospel essentials, especially of the christian faith. I mean, I'm going to give you just kind of like a top line. Here's a summary of some of their ideas. The gospel is no longer in progressive theology. Good news for everybody that you can be forgiven of sin through faith in Jesus. It is actually, hey, there's good news. You can be part of a social justice gospel and try to make the world a little bit better place. Or they're seeking to reinterpret the nature of the Bible from God's inerrant and authoritative and truthful word. To hear some of the phrases they use. It's a divine book. It's an ancient writing.
[00:23:27] It reveals snapshots of how God's people expressed the divine in their context.
[00:23:34] They're seeking to redefine sexual ethics from seeing sex as sacred and intended for marriage between a man and a woman, to seeing sexuality, to seeing people as sexually diverse, and to free people from sexual restraints like marriage or heterosexuality. The Bible's sexual ethic, it was for then. But times have changed. We've changed. People have changed. The Bible needs to change with all of us. We know better. Now they're seeking to redefine identity ethics from seeing sexual biology as God ordained and good to fluid. Biology is suggestive, but by in no means determinative. The Bible's gender and sex ethic, that was for then. It's a new day. It's a new time. The Bible needs to change with the times, get with it.
[00:24:19] And what progressive theology teaches at its core, where it gets just really messed up, is that it teaches that people are essentially good and their desires are good and their feelings are good. So that if I'm a good person with good desires and good feelings, I should be able to do the good things that I want and I desire. Anybody else have bad feelings and bad desires?
[00:24:53] What fleshly craving does this false doctrine satisfy?
[00:24:57] The desire for a life where you get to have guilt free sin.
[00:25:03] It's interesting because what this allows people to do is to do what they want and what they feel without feeling bad about any of it. Because if you want it and you feel it, it is good.
[00:25:19] So God's word has something to say about this. Two Timothy, chapter three, verse 16, says all scripture is breathed out by God and it's profitable for teaching. But I think this next section is really valuable.
[00:25:34] It's profitable for reproof and for correction because the scriptures understand themselves as not something that evolves, but a standard of truth that is secure and grounded and unchangeable. And so what happens is we don't use the Bible to justify whatever we want. The Bible is actually the standard. So if culture changes, the Bible stays the same. We don't change the Bible because culture changes. So we use this for reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. You're going to go into churches and you can find some of these things being taught.
[00:26:12] And it's tempting because wouldn't you all love to do and have God say whatever you feel, whatever you want is good, go do it. That would be awesome. But that is not reality because of sin in us.
[00:26:23] Demonic heresy, number three, victim theology. And here's what it says.
[00:26:30] I am my pain and my trauma. Last week we gave a very, very shallow dive into what's called critical theory. If you're bored at all, pull up your phones. Look into that. Read that. That'll help give you some categories. But a term has been coined and delivered to the masses about what they would call marginalized and oppressed people. And the term that has been coined, many of you have heard this. Many of you have been trained on this in your work environments. But here's the term. It's called intersectionality.
[00:27:02] And here's what it is. It refers to the experience that a human being has of overlapping oppressions based on race, gender, class, sexuality, and abilities. So here's what this means.
[00:27:19] The more points of oppression one has, the greater your intersectionality.
[00:27:26] And the greater one's intersectionality, the more social power you deserve in the name of justice.
[00:27:34] So, essentially, this term has been created to develop a caste system for those at the top. They have the most amount of victim points, and they all intersect in a person. So if you have a whole bunch more victim points, then you get the most social equity and the most social power.
[00:27:55] The more traumas and minority experiences one can accrue, the greater your social equity can accumulate. Let me illustrate how you might see this in everyday life. If you are on social media, what you will notice is that more and more people, the primary thing they talk about are their traumas, their worst moments, their pain, all the points of victimization and oppression in their life. And that is almost dominantly what they talk about. Because in their world, the more points of intersectionality and oppression that they can accrue, the more social equity they get and the more social power they get.
[00:28:36] Now, why is this heresy? A million reasons, but let me just focus.
[00:28:42] It is just another modern expression, if you're familiar with theology, what was called liberation theology, where God came not to save us from our sin, but from our oppressors.
[00:28:56] Naval church. Do we want oppression and oppressors anywhere? No. Do we want to be part of creating a more just society, starting with our own lives and family and church and businesses and everywhere else? 100%.
[00:29:10] But we're not talking the same thing. This is a different fundamental gospel that says your biggest problem is not that your sin has separated you from God. Your biggest problem is that there are oppressors and you need to destroy them.
[00:29:25] It's objectively evil. I'm going to give you five reasons. I'm just going to limit it to five. And you're welcome on the front end. Here we go. First, it gives preference within the church, which we are forbidden to do in scripture.
[00:29:37] Second, it divides us in the church by race, trauma, sexuality or other factors. We don't divide based on those factors. Third, it demands that our identity is first in our unique victimhood, not in Christ.
[00:29:56] Fourth, it advocates for violence, verbal violence, digital violence, and ultimately protest violence.
[00:30:03] Fifth, it changes the primary point of the gospel. I'm going to say this again, not from salvation from sin that has separated me from God, but salvation from my oppressors. And that is not the gospel. The gospel is that God came, Jesus Christ. God became flesh so that you could be reconciled back to God because our sin has separated us from him. What fleshly craving does this false doctrine satisfy?
[00:30:29] Power and vengeance.
[00:30:32] And if I were to ask most of you, would you guys all like power and vengeance? You go, yeah, feels pretty great.
[00:30:37] But that's not what God has called us to.
[00:30:41] So what does God's word tell us? Galatians 328 in the church there is neither jew nor greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ.
[00:30:54] We will not divide you or give preference to you because you have a certain ethnic background or nationality, background or because you speak a certain language, or because you are a male, or because you are a female, or because you have a certain occupation or you are a slave or you are free. I don't care what the distinguishing marker is. We don't discriminate in the body of Christ. The way the word the Bible uses is we don't show preference because the most important thing about all of us in this room, it is not our greatest failures, it is not our greatest traumas, it is not our saddest moments. It is not the wonderful and amazing things we have done. It is Christ.
[00:31:37] We are his. He is my identity. He is our identity. And we process each other first and foremost, not through victory or triumph or failure or trauma. We are first Christ.
[00:31:53] This is our boast number four, prosperity theology.
[00:32:00] Generous and obedient christians will become healthy and wealthy.
[00:32:05] How many times have you heard me talk about this, Phil church? A thousand? I don't know, something I'll never stop because people keep falling for it.
[00:32:12] This takes so many forms. But here's really what you're going to find. Here's the easiest way to spot prosperity preaching. There's going to be a man or a woman, really, really greedy, and they're going to keep asking for your money, and you might even go to their church. And there's not just going to be one offering. Offerings are great. Giving is grace. Tithing is wonderful. Mature, solid christians are generous with their time, talents and treasure, period. Right. But they're going to have two offerings, and it's often not going to stop at two. There's going to be a third offering and there's going to be a fourth offering. You haven't been to those churches. Let me tell you, they want your money, and they will tell you whatever you want to hear. And here's what they're going to say. If you give me your money, I mean the church, I mean me your money, then if you leave here, you are going to be prosperous, healthy and wealthy. And by the way, if you don't end up being healthy and wealthy, that's not my fault. That's your fault, because you have unrepentant sin in your life.
[00:33:03] What fleshly craving does this false doctrine satisfy? Greed for wealth. Now, now you might be like, I'm not buying into that. I'm smarter than that. I cannot tell you how many millions of people profess the name of Christ and believe this doctrine in America, let alone even more globally.
[00:33:23] Finally, number five, workspace theology. Again, I will deal with this every week, because every single week there are people walking through our doors who, with great intentions, who are not trying to believe things that are false, are doing the best they can. And this is the default belief they have in their brain about the Bible. And so we have the joy of just bringing clarity to this because it is the dominant misunderstanding within people who walk through the doors of church. And the misunderstanding is this, good people go to heaven. Now, there's two sides to this heresy. The first side is what historically has been called a cult.
[00:34:01] And what cults do is they create religions and religious systems where they add to the gospel or take away from the gospel. So here are some quick tips on how to know if you are in a cult. Are you ready? All right.
[00:34:17] If they have the name Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, or Jesus Christ of latter day Saints, you are officially in a cult. And I don't say it to be mean. I say that because they add works to the gospel, it is dangerous and it devastates souls.
[00:34:34] If they have other books in their Bible that are equal in authority to the Bible, you're probably in what has historically been called a cult. If they redefine Jesus from fully God and fully man, the second person of the Trinity and eternal God, to anything else, you're in a cult. You don't mess with the nature of Jesus Christ, God the Father or God the Holy Spirit. And if they require good works for salvation, you are historically in what would have been called a cult.
[00:35:03] The other side of the coin on good works theology is what we'll call hyper fundamentalism. Now, you would be shocked. Some of you are going to hear this, you're going to. People teach this. Yes, people teach this. And you're going to be shocked at how many people probably at village church came out of these roots. And so what happens is, on the surface there is a pure gospel, but what they will tell you is there are a whole bunch of things that if you do them or don't do them, you are not saved. Now, what I am not identifying are churches that are very conservative or even fundamentalist. I'm actually just identifying in a very extreme group of churches that literally require certain behaviors for confidence of salvation.
[00:35:50] And what you're going to find is that these behaviors are often not found in the Bible. They're pretty arbitrary, and more times than not, Jesus did them.
[00:36:01] So, for example, real christians don't hang out where non Christians hang out.
[00:36:09] Now, there are some places, I think if you're going to be a mature Christian, I'd encourage you never to go to, but you will find there are actual, real rules and places and things that these churches will teach. You can't go there. Real Christians, they don't dress like the world. And it's not just a matter of modesty and whatnot. It's a matter of, there are actually pretty strict protocols about what you're allowed to wear, where you're allowed to wear it. Real Christians don't drink alcohol. I don't know what they do with Jesus on that one, but okay. Real Christians don't listen to certain kinds of music. And it's interesting because it's really specific music that is pre chosen for you. In a lot of these really hyper fundamentalist churches, real Christians only worship to hymns. I don't know. How did people ever worship before? I don't know, the 17th century, who knows?
[00:36:51] Real Christians only use the King James version. And if you use any other version, then we cannot give you confidence of your salvation. This is the level of control and weirdness it gets. And so on the surface you'll hear it's by grace through faith. But when you really get down into some of these communities and guys, you'll know it right away.
[00:37:07] And I'm more identifying this because I want the people who came out of this extreme hyper fundamentalism to at least to be communicated. What you came out of, these rules that were requirement for your salvation, they were not from God and they were not good. And they are not biblical, because no matter how you slice this, we are not saved by what we do or do not do. We are saved by grace through faith in the shed blood and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
[00:37:32] Matthew 23 four. This is classic Pharisees.
[00:37:36] They tie up heavy burdens hard to bear, and they lay them on people's shoulders.
[00:37:43] May we never, ever do that.
[00:37:47] Or going back to the one scripture that I wish every person stuck inside of a cult could hear, Ephesians two eight nine. For by grace you have been saved through faith. It's not of your own doing. It's the gift of God, not as a result of what works.
[00:38:06] So that no. 1 may boast.
[00:38:09] What's interesting about all these different heresies is that what they do is they offer you, the majority of the time, something that God actually does promise in eternity after the second coming and resurrection. But they offer it to you here and now in the wrong place with the wrong person. So, like, for example, an easy life. I think heaven's going to be a lot easier than this world. Amen. I'm pretty excited about that. But when somebody says, oh, yeah, that's here and now, I'm like, no, you're off. You're missing something.
[00:38:41] When somebody says that you can live a life guilt free, do whatever do you want and be free of guilt. I think heaven's going to be like that. I'm just not going to want to sin because I'm going to have a resurrected body with renewed desires. I'm looking forward to that. Or somebody says, God wants you to be happy, healthy, and wealthy. Well, guess what? For all of eternity, I am going to be happy, healthy, and wealthy, and I cannot wait. But right now, that is not the state for 99.9% of christians.
[00:39:05] So it's not uncommon that what will happen is that these really bad ideas, they take good things and they offer them in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the wrong way, and then make them somehow muddy them with the gospel so that it no longer becomes the gospel. All right. Two, so what's number one? Protecting our flock from heresy is an all church endeavor. And do you know what? Rarely our elders have to deal with heresy. Do you know why?
[00:39:37] Because you all are amazing.
[00:39:40] Because it gets dealt with 99% of the time in community groups, small groups, bible studies, one on one.
[00:39:50] And here's the deal. Very rarely does somebody walk in and say, I'm a heretic. I'm believing something that's going to send me to hell. That is not the way it works.
[00:39:59] Most people don't know that the thing that they believe is false. They want to. Most people want to get rid of lies and falsehood in their life, which is why Paul also tells Timothy, our job is to be gentle in our correction. Our job is to be kind and loving and patient. And I cannot tell you how many beautiful, wonderful, one on one conversations happen in this church because you are some of the most equipped, clear headed, biblically grounded people I've ever met. And you might be sitting here and you're like, I am not equipped, clear headed, or biblically grounded. Right. And that's okay. We are so glad you're here. But you're sitting next to a whole bunch of people who, if you've got questions, oh, man, they are incredible. And they would love to help you be clear on what is good and true. And here's the deal. When we do this, it's not just my idea versus your idea. It is the word of God which grounds us and centers us because it is designed to bring us to God and to show us life.
[00:40:59] The elders do have a job, though. The four jobs of a pastor, lead, discipline, teach, protect the rest of one Timothy four. I'll put it all up on the screen for you. I want you to look at what Paul says to Timothy.
[00:41:09] He says, if you, Timothy, an elder, put these things before the brothers, these things are he identified with clear vocabulary, the wrong heretical ideas, as well as what a pure, clear gospel is. If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Jesus Christ, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine. Don't you guys want good doctrine? Well, it's found in the word. Verse eleven. Command and teach these things. Verse 13. Devote yourselves to the public reading of scripture. Why? So that we are hearing it and we're grounding ourselves in it to exhortation and to teaching. Verse 16, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. In other words, make sure that your life and your teaching are aligned with the word of God. Persist in this, so by doing, you will save both yourself and your hearers. One of the most effective means of protecting our church is regular, faithful Bible preaching and teaching.
[00:42:11] Period. Find a church that does that. If you're here, you're visiting, you're like, I'm in town or whatever. Find a church that opens up the scriptures, teaches through it, and grounds people. That is what our souls need, because there are so many bad ideas. Number two, whatever you have believed in the past, or even today, the gospel is for you. Like, some of you might be here again, and you're like, I have great intentions. I don't want to have bad thoughts. I don't want to have bad ideas in my brain. If you can show me what the scriptures say, I want to align my mind and my heart to those things. Praise God. Awesome. That is the way we need to be. You might come in here and you might have seen one or two of those, and you're like, oh, crud, that's me. I don't want that to be me. I am so, so grateful for God's patience. And every one of us in the room have been in the place where we have had really bad ideas. Some of us have really dumb ideas, myself included. And God's word had to clarify and center us. Welcome to the team.
[00:43:12] A bunch of people trying to take all of these ideas in this world and align them with the word of God. A lot of work, but it is worth it. And maybe you're here and you're like, not only have I believed some of them, but I have never trusted in Christ in my entire life. I thought I was going to heaven because I was good, or I thought I was going to heaven because my parents went to church, because I'm here. And maybe this is the first time you've ever heard this. God loves you so much, and he gave his son Jesus for you. Jesus died for your sins and was raised from the dead. And you don't have to be good enough to go to heaven because it's impossible.
[00:43:45] You can come to God and say, I'm sorry, and I believe. And God's promise and offer to you today is salvation. It is reconciliation. It is a pure gospel, and he offers that. And so maybe you're here today and you're like, I didn't even know. But I want to believe a pure gospel, and you have never done that. Tell somebody you came with. Talk to God. Pray to him. Tell him, I love you. Save me, forgive me. And we would love to help you figure out what is a next step. What does it look like for me to follow Jesus? And it would be our joy to walk alongside you in that journey. I want to pray for us, and then we're going to celebrate communion together. Father, we love you, and thank you for your word. Thank you for Bible teachers, for elders, for small group leaders, for just really the myriad of people on the front lines who lovingly, kindly, gently correct falsehood?
[00:44:37] Lord, would you continue to create in us a spirit of deep discernment so that we might not fall unnecessarily into traps laid before us. At the same time, God, we don't want to be hyperparanoid. We want to be obsessed with you. We want to love you with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. So, God, as we get rid of the lies and ground our lives in truth, may you just bear fruit in life. May you not give the devil and opportunity in this community, in our families and our life. Lord, would you continue to grow our discernment over the next few weeks as we continue to expose his lies and agendas and look to your word and to you for truth? We love you. We pray all of this, and we do it in Jesus name. Amenville Church. Amen.
