 Have you ever gotten an unidentified stain on your shirt?
You’re getting along. You’re minding your only business. Suddenly, you look down and… What is that? Coffee? Chocolate? Some kind of pinecone residue? (I don’t remember cuddling pinecones.) It’s important to identify stains so that you know how to treat it correctly. Today we’re continuing our sermon series called MESSY. Last week we talked about sin…what it is and how it messes up our relationship with God. Today we want to discover the origins of sin. By identifying where it comes from, we will better be able to battle it in our own lives. But before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Influencers, not Origins The Scripture today is from Mark 7. It says, “The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed...So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” (v.1-5, Jesus and his disciples were eating food. This is interesting thing to think about. Usually, I think of Jesus as a divine, miracle-performing being. He is. But he was also a true human. As true God, he was all powerful, energizing the universe, but as true man, he needed his calories. Since some of the Pharisees were able to gather around Jesus, it meant that they were in a public place. Usually there was a common type area in the middle of town where you could set up a picnic and do some eating. Picture it like an ancient food court: Matthew stopped at Chick-Fi-A. James went to the Ragin’ Cajun. Peter’s just walking around and getting as many free samples of chicken on a little toothpick as he can. The Pharisee’s issue is that the disciples were eating with defiled hands. It was a ceremonial tradition amongst the elders in Jerusalem to give a ceremonial washing before they ate any food. They’d wash up. They’d wash down. They’d wash all around. The issue wasn’t that they were germaphobes. The was ceremonial. Throughout the Old Testament God had placed certain restrictions on the food that was eaten and the cleanliness of their ceremonies in order to impress on the Israelites the fact that God was holy. The Pharisees had simply taken it a step farther and added extra hand washings and ceremonial cleansings in order to really make themselves holy. That’s why they were so upset with Jesus. Wasn’t he supposed to be a godly Teacher? Why would he let his disciples eat without the ceremonial washing? By doing so, wasn’t he teaching them to defile their bodies with sin? Do you see the problem? The Pharisees thought that unclean hands… Would somehow contain sin… That would make its way into the body… And create a sinful heart. Truth: It is faulty to assume that sin originates from exterior sources. Now understand what that’s saying: Exterior sources can absolutely nfluence us to sin. They can tempt us to sin. But it is NOT the place of origin. I think that’s important to remember. Because as Christians we might want to cut down on sin. In doing so, we might look to cut out some exterior sources. But while that might be helpful, it wouldn’t be the origin. For example: (1) Food and Drink The wrong kind of food and drink can make you feel gross. And if you feel gross, it can make it easy to be gross towards others. It might be wise to stay away from that unhealthy food so you don’t feel so sluggish and aren’t so easily a slug. So, you back away from greasy hamburgers, stop drinking coffee and throw away (sigh) all the Doritos. To be fair, those might be wise decisions. Food and drink can absolutely influence the way we act. But be careful that you don’t think it’s the origin of sin. As if, all we need to do is be eat healthy, throw on some Essential Oils on it, and we’ll take care of the sin problem. Because even if you are Crossfit gym levels of physical fitness, guess what? You might still be a jerk to your coworkers. You might still fight with your wife. You might start lusting after that person at the gym. You might start trusting your oil collection to keep your healthy, more than your God. In short, sin would still be around. Food and drank are only influencers, not the origin of sin. (2) Media This is another big influencer towards sin. If you’re watching TV shows with all kinds of swear words, don’t be surprised if you’re Preschooler repeats those swear words in front of your in-laws at the fancy restaurant. There have been Precious Lambs kids who are quoting characters that are a part of Games of Thrones. That might not be the wisest… With social media, YouTube, the internet making it so easy to consume some downright awful content, we have to be diligent to keep our families safe from evil influences. It’s good to install filters on internet. It’s good to have a parental code on the TV. I think it’d be pretty fun to watch nothing but Veggietales, all the time, all the time, all the time. But even if we severely cut down on our sinful media intake, there would still be sin. Case in point? All of human history before media existed. There was no TV, but still sin. No YouTube, still sin. No smartphones and still sin. Media is an influencer. It can lead us to sin, but it isn’t the origin. (3) Stress Nobody wants stress. Stress at work. Stress at the home. Stress in relationships. Stress makes you high strung, on edge, and ready to jump down people’s throats. Stress is an influencer of sin. The more stress there is the tougher it is to not be sinfully unpleasant. It’s why people try to destress: If I go get a full body massage… If I surround myself with nature… If I just listen to some Enya… My stress will fade away. And so will sin. Again, stress is an influencer. So removing yourself from stressful situations will be helpful in our battle against being sinfully unpleasant. But… Stress isn’t the origin of sin. I remember a while back being on vacation. It was nice because I was away from some of the stress that comes from being a pastor. I felt like I was a bit more low-key. I was feeling good. I was feeling pleasant. I was feeling like I was doing a better job managing being sinfully short with Julianna. Then, she asked if I wanted to get up and workout. “Nah!” She asked if I wanted to help with food. “I’m good.” She asked if I wanted to do a devotion: “I’m too busy resting right now.” Less stress had caused me to be less sinfully unpleasant and more sinfully lazy. Stress is an influencer, but it isn’t the origin of sin. II. Sin is Messy This is Jesus’ point. Particularly because the Pharisees were focusing on washing hands which barely had any effect on sin at all. Listen to his response to the Pharisees: Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. (Mark 7:18-22) Do you get it? Sin doesn’t originate from exterior sources. Sin originates from interior sources. Before you punch someone in the face, you have to think: “I want to punch him in the face.” Before you commit adultery, you have to think: “I want to commit adultery with that person.” Before you steal, you have to think: “I want to steal that.” Before you lie, you have to think: “I need to hide the truth.” Before you gossip, you have to think: “I want to hurt that person.” Before you act selfishly, you have to think: “I think my way is best.” Sin comes from interior sources. And one of those sources we are all too familiar with. (1) From Your Heart In the medical field, there are many different devices to help you get a better glimpse at what’s going inside the body: the X-Ray, the MRI, the CAT scan, the thing they do where you drink the neon liquid stuff and it appears on the machine as a bring neon color. The Bible functions as a spiritual X-ray. It tells us that the problem with sin lies in our hearts. Within you. Within me. You might not like that truth, but just like the X-Ray isn’t lying, neither is God’s Word. The problem with sin is within our hearts. (2) From Your Parents’ Heart Because they are people too and the Bible describes the sinful hearts of ALL people. In fact, this answers the question: How did this sin get into my heart? Jesus said John 3:5, “Flesh gives birth to flesh.” Just like alligators gives birth to alligators. Hedgehogs gives birth to hedgehogs. Spiders give birth to…thousands of disgusting little spiders. So, humans give birth to humans. Even, sinful humans give birth to humans. It means that your dad gave you your eyes, your nose, your male pattern baldness… …and a sinful heart. (3) From Adam Before you get super mad at your parents, remember they got it from theirs. And before you get super mad at your grandparents, remember they got it from theirs. In fact, you’d have to trace all humans back to the very first humans. A guy named Adam. A woman named Eve. They are two of only three people in the history of the world that were blessed to be born without sin. Because God made them without sin. And God said: “Here’s a beautiful world that I made for you. Beautiful flowers. Beautiful trees. Delicious fruits. Amazing animals. It’s yours. I love you. One way to show you love me? Just don’t eat from that one tree in the middle of the garden. Consider it your form of worship. Don’t eat of it and you’ll never bring sin into the world.” And what did they choose to do? Sin. They eat the fruit. And immediately, sin infects their hearts: For the first time ever, they feel shame: They put on some leaf clothing because, “Adam, stop looking at my body like that.” For the first time ever, they blame: “Eve, this is all your fault!” For the first time ever, they feel terrified: “God’s coming. He’ll be mad. We better hide.” This is why the Bible says this: Sin entered the world through one man. (Romans 5:12) Are you a part of the world? Here’s the harsh truth: Sin is in you. III. The Non-Origin Of course, right about now, your sinful heart might want to go a bit farther back in the origin story. But…wasn’t there a devil? A talking snake? Wasn’t it his fault? And honestly, wasn’t it God’s? Because in the beginning was God. Only God. He’s the one who created this world. Why create the devil? Why create the tree? Why create Adam and Eve with the ability to sin? Isn’t it God’s fault? Check out Genesis 1:31. It’s a description of what happens at the end of creation. Look at what it says: God saw all that he had made and it was very good. (1:31) It had to be. God doesn’t make stuff that is “Meh.” God doesn’t do things that are “Ok.” God doesn’t create things that are “imperfect.” Meaning – Sin did not originate from GOD. It can’t. He’s only good. And his creation was only good. The devil? He was an angel! An angel who freely chose to oppose his good Creator. The tree? It was an altar. A way for people to freely chose to love their good Creator. Adam and Eve? They were his perfect creation. And part of perfection was the ability to freely choose to love their Creator. It’s like Google Maps. Google maps will listen to you. You can tell it to get you directions to the next city, to avoid tolls, to stop and find the local Taco Bell. Google Maps will listen to you. But it doesn’t love you. God in his perfection made people to love. He gave them freedom. They chose to freely oppose him. Sin isn’t on God; It’s on us. IV. The Exterminator But that’s good news. Because that means God is still good. Sin didn’t infect him. God isn’t the one who originated sin; but God is the one who exterminates it. Look at how Romans describes it: Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19) Adam’s one act of sin is juxtaposed with God’s perfect act of rescue. Adam did one sin; all people were brought into sinfulness. That includes you. God did one righteous act; all people are brought into justification. That includes you. And what is justification? It’s a court room term. It means: “a not guilty verdict.” This means that in spite of your sinful heart, God’s righteous actions declare you “Not guilty.” “Not filthy.” “Not defiled.” How? (1) Through Jesus’ Perfect Life Do you remember earlier I mentioned three people who entered the world without sin? One was Adam. One was Eve. They both chose to leave perfection and enter sin. But the third one? He chose to stay perfect. The third one? He was God himself. The third option? He was Jesus. In Jesus, God became man. In Jesus, God lived on this earth. In Jesus, God lived under the law. And then, just like Adam, He had a choice. He could choose to fail miserably just like Adam… Or… “Through the obedience of the one man…” (v.19) Jesus chose not to sin. That means: Jesus’ heart didn’t have any sin on it. Jesus’ heart didn’t have any hate in it. Jesus’ heart didn’t have any greed, any lust, any pride, any selfishness, any envy, any laziness, any sin of any kind at all. Jesus’ heart was pure. It obeyed God… Even to death. (2) Through Jesus’ Innocent Death. Think back to the stain on the shirt illustration. If you had a stain on a shirt, one way you can get it out is by taking a clean rag. You get it wet. You blot it until the stain is out. Of course, once you do that the stain might be out of the shirt, but it is now all over the sponge. That’s what happened with Jesus. Like a sponge, he soaked up all the dirt of your sin. All the guilt of your past. All the shame of this past week. Jesus’ soaked it all up into his heart. And died. And so did your sin. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. But your sins did not. It was exterminated. …So also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. (v.18) “All people” includes you. …So also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (v.19) “The many” includes you. Jesus has exterminated your sin. V. What Now? This affects the way we deal with sin in our life. Take a look at the passages from James 1:19-21. It says this, “Take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” (1) Pause. Because a good part of our actions are determined by our emotions. The example given in James is the emotion of anger. We get angry. Our anger tells us to do. We listen even if it is a sin. You might say: “Anger is an emotion. How can I help it?” The problem isn’t necessarily anger. God gets angry. He gets righteously angry against sin. The problem isn’t emotion, it’s emotion coming from a sin infected heart. It can be any emotion: Sin infected happiness. Sin infected fear. Sin infected sadness. Knowing that we can’t simply say: “I feel this way so I should do it.” Nope. Pause. Pause and consider this emotional reaction is influenced by sin, simply because of my sinful heart. Maybe, I shouldn’t do it. (2) Listen to the Planted Word Because… Sin isn’t the only thing in our hearts. By God’s grace, we have the Gospel in our hearts. God planted it there through the message of the Gospel. He planted knowledge of our Savior. He planted knowledge of our saving. He planted knowledge of what sin is and motivation for getting rid of it. He planted knowledge of what’s God pleasing and motivation for doing it. It’s like a pile of trash, stinky, dirty, disgusting… …And yet, by God’s grace, a flower grows. It’s the same in our hearts. They are sin filled. But by God’s grace, a flower grows. By God’s Word, sin is defeated. By God’s power, we bloom for him. Amen.
0 Comments
 Today we are FINISHING up our summer sermon series, as we are FINISHING up summer and the Apostle Paul is FINISHING up his third missionary journey. The last time Paul had been on the continent of Asia, things had ended abruptly. He had been in Ephesus and there had been a riot. People thirsty for his blood had chanted against him for over two hours. For his own safety, Paul left early the next morning. He left the congregation that he had served for over two years very abruptly without any kind of final, farewell sermon.
Knowing what it’s like to be a pastor. And how easy it is to love a congregation. I’ll bet Paul wished he had that chance. Similarly, I imagine the Ephesians also wanted one more sermon. Because without Paul, ministry questions came to them. Should they keep preaching in Bob’s home downtown or should they move to Bill’s home in the suburbs? Should they serve the community of widows or focus on the community of the homeless? Would their new fellowship hall look better with Neutral Gray or Eggshell White trim? How should we do ministry? That’s a good question. Even for us at Gethsemane Church. Today we’re going to look at Paul’s encore sermon to the Ephesians and we’ll consider his encore sermon to us this summer. Our goal is to learn from Paul some key principles for Gospel ministry in Raleigh, NC in 2019. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Lessons about Ministry The lesson starts with a bit of geography. Check out verse 17: From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. Paul had been up in Troas. He wanted to get back to Jerusalem. An easy route would have taken him right past the Ephesians that he wanted to encourage. But Ephesus was still filled with people who weren’t very welcoming. So, rather than risk a riot, Paul took a trip down around Ephesus to Miletus. It was a city about 30 miles to the Southwest of Ephesus. From there, he sent words for the leadership of the Ephesian church to meetup with him. When they arrived, they hugged. They high fived. They swapped stories about things that have happened without him. Then, Paul got to teaching: You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility… (v.18-19) This is strange. Because by the time Paul had gotten to Ephesus, he had already started over ten different churches. He had preached to thousands of people. He had even begun writing a few books of the Bible. You would imagine that Paul would come to town full of pride. Talking about how impressive he was… …and how the people needed to listen to him for community revitalization, …as he handed out T-Shirts with his smiling face on them. Nope. Paul was humble. Paul reminded people how he was the chief of sinners, How it was Jesus who saved him. And Jesus who worked through him to do anything worthy of praise. Here’s the lesson: (1) Gospel Ministry is HUMBLE. Gospel ministry points people to Jesus. It lowers the importance of self. It gives all glory to God. Because if it doesn’t… I’ve got this long-distance social media friend who recently underwent a bit of a transformation. He had been an alcoholic, now he’s been clean for a couple of months. He was a smoker; now he doesn’t own a pack. He had been drinking three coffees a day and now he drinks one lightly caffeinated tea. He’s been sharing the story and, to be fair, when he first started doing this, he gave a lot of credit to Jesus. Jesus was the one who influenced him. The one who became the purpose behind his life. The one who empowered him to give up his addictions. But it recently changed. His most recent post sounded something like this: “Man, I’m feeling the change. I’m transforming myself. I reached down. I dug deep. I can give up all my vices. It feels good. It feels empowering. I love what I’ve become. If you need help, talk to me. I’ll get you the transformation that you need.” Did you hear it? No Jesus. All about him. If Gospel ministry is about YOU, it’s NOT Gospel ministry. If you tell your family that you’ve been on leadership for years and that’s why Gospel ministry is good at Gethsemane, that’s NOT Gospel ministry. If you tell your friends that YOU have been teaching your kids some awesome values and YOUR devotion is the reason their life will be good, that’s NOT Gospel ministry. If you post on social media that YOUR life has changed since YOU accepted Christ and YOU chose to change your life, that’s NOT Gospel ministry. In those scenarios, there isn’t Gospel ministry going on, because none of those scenarios involve teaching the Gospel. And, (this is a shocker), Gospel ministry involves teaching the Gospel. It points people to Jesus. It points people to their Savior. It points people to the one who lived for them, died for them, and rose for them. You didn’t do that for you, Jesus did. And you didn’t do that for your friends, Jesus did. You can’t save you, Jesus does. You can’t save your friends, Jesus will. Share the Gospel by humbly pointing to Jesus. (2) Gospel Ministry is BOLD. But don’t think of Gospel ministry as this meek, milquetoast thing. (Like the guy at Food Lion who is being forced for donations because his boss told him to. “Do you want to roundup and donate to the local hospital? It’s ok. I totally understand if you don’t. My boss makes me ask.”) Nope. Gospel ministry is humble, but it’s also BOLD. Check out what Paul says next: You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. (v.20-21) Think back to some of the ways that Paul was bold on his missionary journeys: In Athens, he preached that Greeks gods weren’t gods at all, to a group of people who had devoted themselves to worship of these gods. In Thessalonica, he taught that people are saved by Jesus and not Jewish customs, to a group of people who were firmly entrenched in the fact that their Jewish customs saved them. In Corinth, he told people that sexual immorality was sinful, in a culture that sexual immorality was what all the cool kids were doing. In Ephesus, he taught that money wasn’t everything, Jesus was; to a group of rioters who were upset that he was costing them money. Gospel ministry is BOLD. In fact, if you look closely at what Paul says, he mentions two different ways that Gospel ministry is bold. First, Gospel ministry BOLDLY preaches ALL of God’s Word. It isn’t like a timeshare salesman. (Ever listened to one of those?) The venue is marvelous. The site is incredible. You’ll have a wonderful vacation and it’ll be so great for your and your family. This week-long vacation at a five-star resort will be yours for only one yearly payment of $500! …Plus, monthly maintenance fees. …and monthly checking fees. …and you’ll probably never be able to book a room when you want. …and you’ll have this timeshare forever. …and we own your soul. Paul wasn’t a timeshare salesman. He didn’t hide anything. If you want to participate in Gospel ministry, you don’t either. And don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean that the starting point becomes… “Friends, let me tell you what hell is like.” Nope. But it does mean that we don’t shy away from truth in Scripture, even when it’s difficult to hear. We BOLDLY preach ALL of God’s Word. Second, Gospel ministry BOLDLY preaches to ALL. Again, think of Paul. Some of the people he had to preach to might have been kind of nerve-wracking to talk to. There were the Athenians, whose entire city was so foreign to him. Instead of the familiarity of churches, there were statues of other gods, another religion, everywhere. Paul was bold. Paul preached to them. There were the Jews. People who looked like him and talked like him, but when Paul told them they needed Jesus, they repeatedly persecuted him. Paul was still bold. Paul preached to them. The same is still true today. God is calling us at Gethsemane to share the Gospel with people who look like us, sure. But also… Those who look differently than us. Those who dress differently than us. Those who speak differently than us. Those who cover their heads. Those with tattoos all over their arms. Those with three children from three different fathers. Those who like the sports team that we can’t stand. Those who came from a different state. Those who moved from a different country. Those who have a legal visa and those who don’t. God simply calls us to BOLDLY share Jesus with ALL. (3) Gospel Ministry is DANGEROUS Look at what Paul says next, “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” (v.22-24) Because when Paul preached, sometimes people didn’t like it. In Philippi, he was thrown into jail. In Thessalonica, his friends were fined. In Ephesus, a riot filled the streets. The truth is that Gospel ministry is DANGEROUS to the sharer. In fact, when we are doing it right by boldly preaching ALL God’s Word to ALL people, there’s going to be an element of danger. Whether that danger is… …Danger of losing a job. “You don’t bring up Jesus at work.” …Danger of losing a friend. “We’re done. Keep your stupid mumbo jumbo to yourself.” …Danger of losing a relationship. “I like you, but if you’re all about Jesus? We’re through.” Gospel ministry is dangerous to the sharer. But before you call it quits and say: “It’s too dangerous! I can’t handle that.” Consider this: It’s even more dangerous if you don’t share the Gospel. That loved one? Is in danger of never knowing God’s love. That friend? Is in danger of a lifetime of guilt and shame. That family member? Is in danger…of hell. Share the Gospel. It might be momentarily dangerous to you. But…it will be eternally dangerous to the devil. When the Gospel is preached, the devil’s stronghold on a person’s heart weakens. When the Gospel is preached, Satan’s hold on a person’s conscience is lifted. When the Gospel is preached, death is defeated. That’s why Paul preached. In fact, look at what he says next: “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Paul didn’t know what might happen next. But Paul didn’t hesitate either. Because God had his back. God also has yours. Don’t hesitate either. II. What Now? These lessons from Paul lead up to a shift in his sermon. First, the sharing lessons from his own ministry and now give straight up imperatives on what to do next. It’s kind of like his own WHAT NOW? section. Secondly, he shifts from talking about outreach to talking about inreach. Look at Paul’s own WHAT NOW’s: (1) Be a Shepherd Paul says, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God. which he bought with his own blood.” (v.28) Understand: Paul isn’t that interested in the Agrarian lifestyle. He doesn’t love wool so much that he wants whatever shepherds are in the congregation to “keep on sheering those sheep!” Nope. This is an illustration of life in a church. Because shepherds care for sheep. They feed the sheep. They give the sheep water. They protect the sheep. They go looking for the sheep when one of them is lost. They comfort the sheep when they are scared. It’s the same way in a church. A pastor (which is the Greek word for “shepherd”) cares for his people. He feeds them God’s word. He gives them the water of life. He protects them from doubts. He goes after them when they are straying from Jesus. He comforts them with God’s promises when they are scared. Here Paul is sharing this with the Ephesian leadership. But it’s also written down. Which means it applies to you. First, shepherd those assigned to you. If you’re an elder in the church, check in with those sheep. If you’re a spiritual mother to someone at this church, care for them. If you have been assigned children in your family, make sure they’re being fed God’s Word. If you are a Garden Kids’ teacher, guide your little ones to the Savior. If you’re a Precious Lambs teacher, keep your Precious Lambs safe. Second, shepherd each other. We’ve got a great opportunity to do that. Back to Church Sunday is coming up next week. You might know someone who had been attending this church who hasn’t in a while. Go after them. Ask them how life is. Tell them you miss them at worship. Remind them the importance of being fed the Gospel. If next week is Back to Church Sunday, consider this: Be a Shepherd Sunday… …and Monday… …and Tuesday… …and…you get the point. (2) Guard against Wolves Paul says: I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! (v.29-31) Spiritual wolves are those who distort the truth. They are those who change the Gospel. Those who feed their pride by leading others away from Jesus and to following them. We need to be on our guard. First, that we aren’t those wolves. Second, that those wolves don’t get us. Third, that those wolves don’t get others. That can be hard. Because sometimes the wolf is in disguise. Sometimes he looks like a lamb. Sometimes the wolf looks nice. But you’ll be able to tell who they are. Based on if they are someone leading you closer to Jesus or away from him. Guard against wolves. A wolf could be a coworker, a friend, a neighbor, even a boyfriend. If they are leading you away from Jesus, be on your guard. (3) Commit to the Word Paul says it this way: “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (v.32) Because if we are going to be shepherds of each other, we need a tool. Just like the shepherd has his staff, you have God’s Word. And…just like a shepherd commits himself to learning how to use that staff to protect his flock, we commit ourselves to learning how to use God’s Word to protect each other. That means more than just being able to conk a spiritual wolf on the head. We learn to graze its pages for spiritual food. We learn to drink deeply from its well of life. We learn to wield its truth like a sword driving away sin and doubt. We learn to dwell within its pages, protect from death itself. (4) GIVE! Look at how Paul ends: I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (v.33-35) Because the main reason that Paul was so involved in ministry wasn’t to get rich. It’s the same for you and me. We don’t participate in ministry so that God blesses us financially. We don’t participate in church so other might bless us financially. We don’t become part of this ministry in order to get something. Because we’ve already got all we need in Jesus. Instead, we GIVE. We give gifts to help others. We give time to help others. We give talents to help others. Ministry is all about giving because the one our ministry is about is all about giving! It’s about God who gave his life. God who gives forgiveness… God who will gives eternal life… After Paul says all of this. He left. But he left with confidence. Because that church was in God’s hands. Friends, we leave with confidence. We are in God’s hands. Amen.  ACTS, All Powerful, Atheism, Attitude, Authority, Believe, Christian Living, Church, Comfort, Education, Faith, False Teachings, Impossible, North Raleigh, Raleigh, Repentance, Seriousness, Sin, True Heart, Urgency
Today we are continuing our walk through the second missionary journey of the Apostle Paul. Before we study God’s Words, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. About Athens Last we left Paul, he had been in Thessalonica sharing the Gospel and he was run out of the city by a mob of people that had a volatile reaction to the message of Jesus. From there he went to Berea, where the people were of noble character and examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:1-11) But after Paul was in Berea for a while, Acts 17:13 says: When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the Word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. They found out where Paul would be preaching. They marched around shouting “Down with Paul.” They held signs that had a picture of Paul’s face with a mustache drawn on it. In response, the mission team split up. Since the believers and church in Berea were still young in faith, Silas, Timothy, and Luke stayed behind to teach them, meanwhile, Paul, the main guy the crowds were protesting, went to the next city by himself. The next city was called Athens. A bit about Athens: Athens had been a key city state in that Greek empire. It was a place for thinkers and movers. It was the birthplace of democracy. It was the home of Plato, Aristotle and many other philosophers. It had been important to Alexander the Great and it was still important under the Roman empire. It was artsy. It was academic. It was scholarly. And… It was filled with idols. While Paul was waiting…in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. (v.16) Idols in the temples. Idols on the street corners. Idols at work. Idols at home. Idols at lunch. Idols at breakfast. Idols at dinner. Idols at the local restaurant. Idols at the museum. Idols at the sports arena, the fishing harbor and the laundromat. It almost sounds like Dr. Seuss: Idols, idols in a box. Idols, idols with a fox. Idols, idols here and there. Idols, idols everywhere! For Paul, this was strange. Athens was supposed to be a place of wisdom. Yet, here were all these wise people bowing down to worship tiny, stone statues. So, Paul spoke: He reasoned in the synagogue and in the marketplace. (v.17) He told them about Jesus. He told them about the Savior. While Paul was there two different groups of people heard him speak: One group was Epicurean. The Epicureans followed the philosophy of Epicurus who lived from 341-270 B.C. His philosophy was that there was no afterlife. The gods existed but didn’t really care what humans did. They were too busy with the own affairs to care. Their slogan: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!” The other group was Stoic. The Stoics followed the philosophy of Zero who lived from 340-265 B.C. He had the perspective that you had to do more than waste your life away. The gods put people here for a reason and that reason was to work. It was the highest form of pleasure to work (and to do so every day). Their slogan was a bit different: “Eat, Drink, and do work, for tomorrow…we do more work.” These two philosophies were common opponents. It was blue-collar worker versus free thinking hippie. It was the constant busyness of Wall Street versus the laid-back jazz of Bourbon Street. It was “Whatever man” versus “Get to work, man.” They were common opponents. But when Paul came to town, these common opponents had a common enemy: What do you mean there’s more to life than pleasure? What do you mean there’s more to life than work? They asked: “What is this babbler trying to say?”…And they took Paul to the Areopagus. (v.19) The Areopagus was the place for new ideas. It was named after the god of war: “Ares.” His name literally meant: “Hill of the war god.” It was an appropriate name for the place where people would go to battle for their new ideas against some of the brightest minds of the ancient world. That is the reason that they brought Paul to the Areopagus. They wanted him to battle for his new idea. They wanted him to go to war for Jesus. And Paul did. II. About the Unknown God Paul began his sermon: Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. (v.22) You have gods for everything. A god of the sun. A god for the moon. A god for the sea; a god for the land. A god for love; a god for war. You even have a god for beer! In fact, as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I…found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. (v.23) You covered your bases. Just in case you missed some god, you made him an altar. But… Here’s the thing: What you worship as unknown… …I am going to proclaim to you… (v.23) For starters, the Unknown God is not in HUMAN BUILT DWELLINGS. He doesn’t reside in some epic stone arena. He doesn’t kick up his feet in some tiny, jewel studded mausoleum. You won’t find him down on 71st and Elm at a corner apartment with a jacuzzi and a view of the city. He isn’t like Athena. The goddess for whom you built your city and for whom you built that gigantic Parthenon. With its impressive columns. And marble grandeur. The Unknown God? He doesn’t need that. The Unknown God… He made the world and everything in it does not live in temples built by hands. (v.24) And he isn’t IN NEED OF SERVICE. I’ve seen how ya’ll run about. If things don’t go well for you. Maybe you lost your job. Here’s what you do: You go to the marketplace, buy a couple of apples, you run to the temple of Athena and place them on a silver bowl. Maybe you lost your job because Athena was hungry. The Unknown God isn’t like that. He is not some pet that you need to feed. He doesn’t need to be taken for a walk. He doesn’t need you to scratch him behind the ears so that he’ll be pleased with you. The Unknown God is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all people life and breath and everything else. (v.25) He’s all powerful. He’s divine. He’s Almighty. But he isn’t ALOOF. He’s not like Zeus, King of the gods. He isn’t up on Mount Olympus having a banquet with fine wines and beautiful goddesses, throwing grapes down his throat and afterwards gathering with Ares and Poseidon for a couple of rounds of Wii Bowling. He doesn’t say: “Eat, drink…I don’t care if you’re passed out in a ditch tomorrow morning.” Nor does he say: “Work; work…I don’t care if you’re stressed out all week long.” The Unknown God is not aloof. Because listen to this: He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. (v.26) Did you hear that? He made you. He cared about you. He placed you here. He placed you now. He determined your steps to take you to this exact moment. Why? Because he is not WANTING TO REMAIN UNKNOWN. That’s why he did this. That’s why you’re all gathered here in the Areopagus. God brought you here. God brought you now. That you might seek him and perhaps reach out to him and find him, though he is not far from each of us. (v.27) Finding God is what you want, isn’t it? You’re here to find God. It’s why you discuss the latest ideas. It’s why you reason out the latest thoughts. It’s why you talk about the latest meditations and popular trends for fasting. It’s why you have been doing this day after day after day… All in hopes that you will find God. That desire to find God? It comes from God. That mind for finding God? It comes from God. Do you know what else comes from God? My message. And pay attention. Because this message is important. The Unknown God is NOT PATIENT FOREVER. For a long time, God has been. Think about it: You’ve been worshiping rocks. You’ve been bowing down to stone. You’ve been shouting the praises of pieces of paper covered in glitter. All the while the Lord is the one who created you, made you, sustains you, and nourishes you. But yet… You’re giving thanks to a pet rock? God has been patient. Very patient. He’s hasn’t struck you down yet. Yet. In the past, God has overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. (v.30-31a) Again… You won’t be judged by some stone. You won’t be judged by some rock. You won’t be judged by some imperfect Mount Olympian with questionable morals who’s in a romantic relationship with some half-man, half-horse. You will be judged by the Universe Creating, Almighty, Eternal, invested in your life, knowing everything about your life, God himself. He will judge you. All your sins. God will judge you. And he’s got Holy Fire in his eyes. How do you think you’ll be judged if you’ve been worshiping rocks? And you want proof? This is not UNPROVEN. Because that man that will judge the world for God? He’s his Son. He’s a guy named Jesus. And God has given proof that Jesus will judge. What kind of proof? He did the one thing that Zeus couldn’t do. He did the one thing that Aphrodite couldn’t do. He did the one thing that your dear Athena couldn’t do. He did the one thing that you and all your wisdom could never figure out how to do. He raised Jesus from the dead. (v.31b) III. WHAT NOW? And it was right about that time, that the people stopped Paul from speaking. They said, “We’ll have to see more about this some other time.” They let him go. They didn’t throw him in prison. They “tolerated” his message. But…they didn’t believe it. Don’t just tolerate the message of Jesus. Believe it. (1) Stop Searching The other day I was down near the capitol building and I hear some music. On the north side near the street was a group of people. They were dressed in full religious garb. They had on jewels and bangles. They were playing tambourines and acoustic guitars. And as they were dancing, they were chanting a phrase: “Hare Krishna.” Have you heard of it? It’s a stranger type of religion made popular by John Lennon. The tenet is that the best way to connect with God is through music. Specifically – through playing the music to and chanting the words “Hare Krishna.” Through singing and chanting, you become centered in God. You become one with God. You find God…. (And the Beatles make some money as you buy their album). Whether it’s musical chant. Nature retreats. Meditation. Constant study. Doing good work after good work after good work. People are in search of God. And maybe you are, too. But you know what? You can stop searching. God’s right here. God is Jesus. That’s one of the reasons the resurrection happened! It’s like one of those nighttime cyclists who is wearing neon green with flashing lights on his vest. He’s bright. He’s colored. He’s put his outfit together in such a way so that you don’t miss him! The resurrection is like that. It’s the Unknown God’s way of saying to you: Here I am! Don’t miss me. I have made myself known. I am Jesus. I am your Savior. I am your Redeemer. And my message is this: (2) Repent Repent means “to turn.” To turn from sin. To turn to God. Whether you are a first-time hearer of this message or a long-time listener. We are sinners who need to hear this message from God. REPENT! Turn from that sin. You know the one I’m talking about. Turn from that sin. God knows the one I’m talking about. Turn from that sin. God isn’t stone who couldn’t possibly know… Turn from that sin. God is the Unknown God who knows you so deeply. Turn from sin. And turn to God to be saved. Because when you turn to the Unknown God… When you turn to Jesus… Something else becomes unknown… Your sins. God, who KNOWS all of your sins, says your sins are now UNKNOWN, because he KNEW the cross and you KNOW his resurrection from the grave that the God who was formerly UNKNOWN is now KNOWN by you and who says: I KNOW you. You are… FORGIVEN. Amen.  When I was growing up I worked for a restaurant manager whom we affectionately called Larry the Scary Rex. The nickname came from the fact that he managed about how you’d expect a Tyrannosaurus Rex to manage.
He was loud like a T-Rex. He ate like a T-Rex. He drank like a T-Rex. He fired people left and right – leaving destruction in his path -- like a T-Rex. One time – he threw a sack of potatoes at my head – not so much like a T-Rex (I don’t know that they could lift it with their arm), but…it was mean like a T-Rex. The point: Larry was not the greatest leader. Maybe you know a leader like that. Maybe you know one that flies off the handle. Or one that only cares about himself. Or one that you only work for because you are afraid of what would happen when you are no longer on the job market. Is Jesus like one of those leaders? Better? Somewhere in between? Today we look at what kind of a leader Jesus is; and why he’s worth following. Before that, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Background The lesson for today comes from John 10. But a bit of background: in John 9, there is a man who has been blind from birth. He’s never been able to see anything. Not the green trees, not the blue sky, not his mother’s smile. Until he meets Jesus. Jesus heals him, and he sees. Pretty amazing. But not everyone thought it was amazing. A group of religious leaders – called the Pharisees – saw this miracle and were furious. Rather than focusing on the fact that Jesus healed the man simply by touching his eyes, they focused on the fact that the healing took place on the Sabbath. After all, ‘any good religious leader knew that you never do any work on the Sabbath.’ The Pharisees are upset with this event because it caused even more people to follow Jesus and stop following them. So…they hold an investigation. They investigate the blind man. They investigate his parents. They investigate the blind man again. Their goal is to prove that the man wasn’t blind, and Jesus was a phony. But they couldn’t. Because it was real. But after a day of investigation, the jaded courtroom fails to convict Jesus of anything – Jesus has an opportunity to speak to them. The Pharisees are insistent that He is a disastrous leader to follow. Jesus argues otherwise: Very truly I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice. (Jn. 10:1-5) This is what we call a parable. It is a common literary device that Jesus uses in his teachings. In it, Jesus uses a simple everyday story to teach a deep spiritual truth. In this parable, the everyday story revolves around a shepherd. Shepherding which was very, very familiar to the people of his time. It was an agrarian society. Sheep were used heavily. For clothing, for blankets, but also for sacrifices and food. To speak of shepherds in the 1st century was like speaking about Smartphones today. That’s important. Because Jesus uses this parable to get his people thinking. Not about “sheep shepherds”… …but spiritual shepherds. II. The Shepherd and the Front Gate Check out verse 1 again. “Anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way is a thief and a robber.” This is pretty simple illustration. If you see someone jumping a chain link fence, they might not be legit. Best case scenario? They need to retrieve a soccer ball that went over the wall. Worst case scenario – they are up to no good. Regardless, they don’t have authority to go through the main gate. The only option they have is to hop the fence, hope it’s not electrified and avoid the barbed wire. But the shepherd? The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. He doesn’t have to put his body in danger. He belongs there. Whether the gate is a simple keylock, a retina scanner or requires a security code, he enters through the main gate. In fact, the gatekeeper opens the gate for him. He says, “What’s up Bob? Hope your day is going well. Did you catch the game last night? Can’t believe Lebron lost again! Anyways – have a good day tending to the sheep.” He doesn’t question the shepherd, because the shepherd belongs in the sheep pen. Now this is where the parable gets a bit tricky. We are talking about spiritual shepherds, not actual shepherds. Therefore, we are talking about a spiritual gate, not an actual gate. It is important that we identify the gate correctly, because identifying the right gate helps us identify the shepherd because he will be leading people through that gate. So…what’s the right spiritual gate? An invisible forcefield? The place where the rainbow meets the sunset in the morning? Some kind of Sci Fi channel thing? “I am the gate for the sheep. …whoever enters through me will be saved.” (v.7) Jesus is the gateway to eternal life. He is the gateway to forgiveness. He is the gateway to peace with God. He alone offers forgiveness. He alone promises peace. He alone died and rose form the dead to prove his authority to do this. He is the gate and he is the only way for you and me to enter eternal life. That’s 1/ 2 the solution. Because if Jesus is the gate, then the shepherd is the one who comes to his people with the message of Jesus. The message that he is the Savior. The message of forgiveness. The message of God’s grace. Do you get it? Jesus is not just the gate. He’s also the Shepherd. III. The Gate Jumpers But that reverses the Pharisees thought process. Because they were convinced that they were the right shepherds and Jesus was wrong. They told people to wear fancy religious jewelry, to keep all the Sabbath laws, to try harder, do better and achieve moral greatness like them and that would be their gateway to eternal life. But that wasn’t the gate. It was throwing a grappling hook over the top of the fence, scaling it, jumping off the other side and tossing the sheep over the top to their ski masked buddy on the other side. Do you get it? The Pharisees were leading people away from Jesus. (the Gate) They weren’t shepherding people in the right direction. They weren’t shepherding people at all. They were robbers. Now maybe that doesn’t seem relevant to you. Because Pharisaism as a legitimate religious organization is not a big part of our culture. There isn’t a Pharisaical Christian Church of America. There isn’t a #PhariseesRule hashtag. They aren’t even registered as a non-profit organization. But that doesn’t mean that spiritual robbers aren’t something to be concerned about. A spiritual robber is anyone trying to lead you spiritually apart from Jesus and his message. Thing is that a spiritual robber usually doesn’t identify themselves that way: “Hi, I’m a spiritual robber. I am here to lead you away from eternal life. Nice to meet you.” They are much sneakier than that. I hear Jesus’ voice to wait until marriage, but…my girlfriend is so hot. It’ll feel good; I’ll follow the voice of lust. Yes, I hear Jesus’ voice that I should give to Caesar what is Caesar’s but…I owe a lot of money on taxes and they won’t check to see if my mileage is correct so…I’ll follow the tax cheating voice. I know…Jesus says he is the only way to heaven, but that seems intolerant. At least, that’s what social media tells me. And I want those voice to like me, so…I’ll listen to the world’s voice instead. REPENT! If you are following any voice other than Jesus… You aren’t following the shepherd. You are following the robber. And…if you are telling people to stop following Jesus, If you are guiding people apart from God’s Word, If you are leading your children away from Jesus, you aren’t just a lost sheep… You are a thief. You are stealing from God. And… …nobody steals from God and gets away with it. V. The Voice of the Shepherd Jesus mentions it in this section. There’s another difference between shepherd and robber. A robber doesn’t know the sheep’s names. He simply grab’s a bit of sheep food, crouches on his knee and shouts, “Here Sheepy, Sheepy!” The shepherd? He knows each sheep by name. He knows Fluffy is the one that’s extra fluffy. He knows Patch is the one with the patch over his eye. He knows Marvin is the one that bears a striking resemblance to Uncle Marvin. The shepherd knows his sheep. He calls them by name. Even when they have gone astray – he calls them by name. And today – He is calling you. By your first name. By your middle name. By your last name. By your nickname. By your maiden name. By your online gamer name. He knows the names you call yourself. Failure. Disaster. Guilty. Shameful. Loser. But he doesn’t call you by those names. He calls you the names He has given you: Winner. Victor. Innocent. Pure. Forgiven. V. WHAT NOW? Follow Your Shepherd One of the most interesting things that I’ve ever seen is the way that a sheep responds to the shepherd’s voice. It works kind of like how it does with pets. When you call your dog, he comes running. When he hears your voice, he comes running. When he hears your voice, outside the house, on the driveway, barely even through the door, he jumps up onto your laps and starts running in circles because he is so excited that you are home! Jesus said this: “The shepherd goes on ahead of the sheep and they follow him because they know his voice.” (v.4) Are you one of Jesus’ sheep? Follow him. Not the voice of the world. Not the voice of false teachers. Not the voice of your emotions. Follow your Savior’s voice. He is leading your somewhere wonderful! No matter what he has to give up to get you there. Because that’s the sign of a Good Shepherd. They are willing to give up things for the sake of their sheep. A good shepherd gives up a bit of money to buy some extra sheep food for a hungry lamb. A good shepherd gives up his time to stay until the next shift shepherd arrives. A good shepherd gives up his sleep to hyper vigilantly keep watch for wolves. How good a shepherd is Jesus? I lay down my Life for the Sheep. (v.11) Jesus gave up his life for you. He gave up everything for you. That’s how much your shepherd loves you. Follow him. There is no better shepherd. Amen.  “Watch out for False prophets!”
That was the theme of today’s Gospel lesson from Matthew 7:15. Question: How high does that passage rank on your list of all time favorite Bible passages? Did you have it memorized? Does it hang on your wall? Do you have it written on your favorite mug? Has it ever been on one of those pictures of a scenic landscape with a Bible passages written in a fancy font that you post on your wall on Facebook? Anybody have that as a confirmation verse? Probably not, huh? Yet…Jesus spoke it. The Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to write it down. It’s a command and it’s important. We’ve talked about setting our hearts on things above, using our voices to speak God’s plan, and taking our minds captive to God’s Word. Today we’re going to talk about what Christ would have us do with our eyes. Watch out for false prophets! I. Why is This a Big Deal? Now you may be thinking, “Why is this a big deal? Why are we going to spend time talking about this?” Maybe, you picture a false prophet as some obviously off the wall, loopy guy whom you would never listen to – like David Karesh, Nostradamus, or Lord Voldemort. But it’s not that simple. Listen to what Jesus says, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing….” Notice Jesus doesn’t say, “Watch out for false prophets. They’ll be easy to spot, because they’ll look just like wolves.” Not so much. They’ll look like sheep. Innocent. Cute. Harmless. They’ll smile nicely when you meet them. They’ll wear nice looking suits. They’ll take residence in nice looking churches. They’ll have books in the “Christian” book store. They have a weekly sermon spot on the “Christian radio station.” They wear nice priestly, very religious looking robes. They may even be have a nice, Christian sounded title. You know. Like “the pope.” Spotting false prophets is tricky. They look cute, but they are so dangerous. Jesus says, “They are ferocious wolves.” This, by the way, is long before Looney Tunes came along and gave us this picture of a goofy, cartoonish wolf bungling around as he fails to capture any sheep and gets an anvil dropped on his head. False prophets are way more dangerous than that. Jesus calls them ‘ferocious’. Vicious. Sometimes knowingly, othertimes, unknowingly, their false teachings rip at the flesh of your faith. They tear your respect for God’s Word apart. They feed on your respect for the truth of God’s Word until there isn’t any left. This is a BIG deal. To illustrate how bad a false prophet is, I’d ask you to think about Satanism. It is probably one of the most open and obvious forms of false teaching out there. It’s so bad that even Atheists recognize it as ‘no good.’ Yet, there aren’t that many Satanists. It’s way less than .1% of the population. This means that there are way more unbelievers on the road to hell who listen to leaders that look and act like ‘good’ religious leaders…that look and act like “Christians.” o Churches that teach “Jesus died, but you need to do good to earn your way to heaven.” Causing people to despair until they no longer have any faith that Jesus can save them. o Churches that teach “it doesn’t matter what you believe." Then one dangerously assumes it doesn’t matter if you believe in Jesus or not…so he stops. Which is quite different from what Jesus taught. o Churches that teach, “Don’t worry. That’s not a sin. God didn’t mean it when he had his people write it down.” Leading all kinds of people to ignore and refuses the very words of “Christ” that the leader claimed to support. Churches that teach: “There is no hell and that sin you’re doing isn’t really that bad and you won’t suffer for it,” People believe it. Live in relief. Stop worrying about faith and Jesus so much. Then, they die…and find out that teaching was false as they are, in fact, in this not so ‘non-existant’ hell. Do see why WATCHING OUT for false teachers is big deal? It keeps you safe from destructive teachings that will work to try and destroy your faith – which, if faith isn’t there…leads to eternal destruction! II. How Do I Identify Them? Now that we see the reason for watching out, Jesus goes on to explain how to watch out for false teachers. In verse 16 he says, “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” If you plant carrots, but the plants grow up and don’t produce carrots. They aren’t carrot plants. If instead, they give you painful, itchy sores, they are poison ivy! This is more than good gardening advice. You recognize false teachers by their works and by their words. If the Christian teacher you are listening too isn’t teaching ‘Christian things’, then his teaching may be false. If the Christian teacher you are listening to is repeatedly doing non-Christian things in his worship service, then his teaching may be poison. *If the Christian organization you have joined is doing non Christian things with it’s money… * If the Christian book you are reading urges you to do non Christian things with your life… * If the Christian camp you want to send your kid to teaches things that aren’t true to your kids… Remember: A “good” tree cannot bear “bad” fruit. III. How Common a Problem is It? Perhaps you get that false teaching is a problem. But you aren’t convinced that it happens all the often. It seems awful, but…it could never happen to you. You won’t be hurt by false doctrine. But listen to how common Jesus says it is: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 3 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers." Look at verse 22 again. Suddenly, false teaching doesn’t sound so uncommon. According to verse 22, “Many…many" will pretend to be Jesus’ followers. Many will teach falsely. Many will believe falsely. Many will say they are Christians, that aren’t. Many will look like believers that aren’t. May will think they are doing the will of the Lord, but that very Lord won’t even know them. So, Jesus is telling you watch out! False teaching is common. Especially in our hyper information world. It’s so easy to see something or hear something and think it’s good, simply because it has the name “Christian” on it.
Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! False teaching it’s everywhere! IV. How Do I Combat It? I don’t know about you, but when I’ve been awake long enough my eyes start to get tired. They sometimes, literally, start burning. Tired of watching. Defending against false teaching sounds tiring. It’s such a big deal and so common that it seems impossible to defend against it! Which can lead to what is probably the number 1 reason for not avoiding false teaching. Not “I don’t know enough about the Bible,” not, “They’re pretty tricky about it,” rather Laziness.
Too much time? Can making sure that your soul isn’t being poisoned by false teaching which works to destroy faith that, if it is destroyed, could land you in everlasting hell really, ever take up TOO MUCH time? I don’t think so. Repent. Turn from the lethargic, "I don’t think false teaching is a big deal”-like attitude to the one in whom there is nothing false. Turn to the one who spoke the truth and is the Truth. And the truth about the Truth is this: He loves you. He died for you. He rose from the dead. He says that those who trust in him will be forgiven. Forgiven for falling to false teaching. Forgiven for not taking false teaching seriously. Forgiven for not spending the time to defend against false teaching. Brothers and sisters, this your truth too. Believe it. Turn to Jesus. He isn’t a wolf at all. Rather he is the precious lamb of God—without blemish or defect. He died to save you. He doesn’t want to tear you apart. He wants to build you. He wants to make you new. He wants you to spend eternity with him in heaven. Listen to what he says, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Brothers and sisters, stand on the rock. Stand on the words of Jesus. Stand on the true promises of his grace. In other words: read the Bible The more and more you read the Bible, the easier it will be to defend against false teachings. It will be easier to recognize them. It will be easier to guard against them. It will be easier to speak against them. It will be easier to teach your kids the truth! This means investing time. More than once a month at church. Probably more than once a week too. It means immerse yourself in Jesus. Weekly church attendance. Weekly Bible study attendance. Daily Bible reading. Read the Bible and you will stand on the Rock. And when you’re on the rock, it’s a lot easier to watch out. This is why lighthouses, and there are a lot of them in North Carolina, are built on rocky cliffs. They are higher up and allow people to look in the distance and watch. On the rock that is God’s Word, you will see false prophets come. You will be able to defend against them. You will be able to avoid them. And as you are watching for false prophets, one day you will see the true prophet, Jesus Christ coming into the world. He will return to take us away from the scary world of false teaching. He will, in truth, take you home to heaven to be with him –where there are no ferocious wolves—only the loving embrace of your heavenly Father. So…keep looking. Keep watching. He’s watching over you. Amen. |
Archives
October 2022
Pastor Phil Kiecker
and his wife, Julianna love serving the community of North Raleigh.
Categories
All
 |
RSS Feed