Know Your Bible Preparation Against False Teachers (Part 2 of a 2-Part Series)

Transcription

1 Know Your Bible Preparation Against False Teachers (Part 2 of a 2-Part Series) Slide 2 We have two primary reasons to know our Bibles: 1. First is to know what God says about Himself, His Son, His Plan for Our Salvation, righteous living, and His promises for the future. And how do we know our Bibles unless we read it, study it, and listen for the Holy Spirit to instruct us. God has created man in His own image, and in us He has given a unique ability above all other creation to be able to commune with Him dogs and apes cant, unbelievers can t. The the Bible and spiritual truths can make sense only to those who believe in the Son, Jesus Christ, as Savior and Lord, and makes no sense to non-believers, for it is foolishness to them. Remember your school days I certainly can! In order to pass the tests, advance in grades, and earn diplomas you absolutely had to study (at least I did) and for me, I had to study even more! In fact, a thorn in my side that the Lord has chosen not to remove despite my pleas to Him, is that I am often (not always, praise Him!) a sloooow learner, and recall of what I read is very difficult for me, so I must continue to read and study and then study some more! 2. The second primary reason to know our Bibles is to recognize false teaching by people with false ideologies, philosophies, and attitudes which manifest into unrighteous behaviors or lifestyles. These can be either intentional even to the direct denial of His truths or unintentional inaccurate representations of God s Word, because we heard or read it somewhere.

2 I have sooooo many things about God s revelation to us in the Bible that I want to share. Through the Holy Spirit, God used the reality of the creation He described in Genesis to begin His introduction of Himself to me almost 30 years ago. I subsequently taught on the subject of Creation vs. Evolution for about 7 years in two different communities and a half-dozen churches. That is my testimony that I would be happy to share with you another time. More recently, this last summer, He use the reality of the imminent return of His Son, Jesus Christ, to judge the world to give me a sense of urgency to learn more myself of these promised events and to try to teach others. I now have a 5-part series that I hope to teach on next. Because I had the desire to know what He says, He gave me the ability to slowly begin to understand BUT, I had to read and study His Word first then slowly begin to incorporate writings of extra-biblical authors who have studied these things before me. Slide 3 The point that I am trying to convey, is that IF we do not read and study His Word regularly, then we don t know what He is trying to tell us, and we are ill-prepared to recognize if what someone else is telling us either from a pulpit, a speaker s podium, on television or radio, in books, magazines or organizational literature, or on the internet is true! When we consider the many clear warnings in the Bible of false teachers, even by Jesus Himself, especially in these dark and evil times we are in, NONE of us can afford the time NOT to be in God s Word daily. Slide 4 Paul s reminders to Timothy, the young pastor in Ephesus applies to us all, since we are ALL called to share His Word with others (remember the part about make disciples and teach them to obey in the command of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15-16?): 2

3 Slide 5 Paul told Timothy, according to the NLT): Work hard [be diligent NIV; Do your best NKJ] so you can present yourself to God and receive His approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains [correctly handles NIV; rightly dividing NKJ] the word of truth. (2 Tim 2:15 NLT) Paul continues, again according to the NLT: All Scripture is inspired by God [God-breathed NIV; given by inspiration NKJ] and is useful to teach us what is true [doctrine NKJ] and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right [for reaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness NIV]. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17) The opportunity to begin to teach God s truths revealed in the Bible that He has placed on my heart began when you confirmed me as your Director of Christian Education here at Crossroads early this year, with the subsequent initiation of our Sunday School hour after our worship service. We kicked off our Sunday School with a several-week study on the Fundamentals of What We Actually Believe starting with an overview of the gospel message using the Romans Road to Salvation and followed by a subsequent summary of God s Order of Salvation. We are now in a severalweek study on the Fundamentals of the Faith by John MacArthur, used to teach new believers and prospective new church members by Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA. It is led in a very personal and meaningful way by Alejandra.. Slide 6 What I believe the Holy Spirit has placed on my heart for today began with my sermon message last month entitled, Challenging Questions. Do you remember them? 3

4 The first question was: What is YOUR testimony? The second was: Do YOU believe the Bible? And the third question was: On what basis do YOU make YOUR claim to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ? I pray that you have taken some quiet time to prayerfully reflect on your answers to these questions. That message was the first of a 2-part message. Today is Part 2. It is a concern for the multiple warnings in Scripture about false teachers in these last days, with their deceptive and potentially dangerous influence on the Church, including us here at Crossroads Christian Fellowship. Yes, even here in La Paz, unsuspecting, ill-prepared professing Christians can be drawn away from the truth of God s Word by the worldly influence of ungodly activities and distractions around us daily, and by the words and actions of other believers, radio and television broadcasters, conference speakers, and even church leaders and pastors.. But, we have the assurance that our God is greater than anything Satan can devise to lead us astray, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the Spirit who lives in the world (1 John 4:4b NLT). We are protected provided we remain in Him that means being in His Word and letting the Holy Spirit direct us. Therefore, let s go to Scripture, the ONLY standard by which we are called to live. Slide 7 And per this very message, I challenge you to not just take what I have to share with you this morning, but be as the Bereans, in that they they listened eagerly to Paul s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth [examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things are so NIV]. (Acts 17:11 NLT) 4

5 Slide 8 The author of Hebrews warns that, we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. (Heb 2:1 NIV) We hear through the Holy Spirit within us by continually reading and studying God s Word. Slide 9 With that ONLY as a long introduction, let s go to our Scripture for today: 1 John 4:1-6 Test the Spirits Slide 10 Reading from the New Living Translation (NLT): 1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet [Every spirit NIV & NKJ] acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body [in the flesh NIV & NKJ], that person has the Spirit of God. 3 But if someone claims to be a prophet [every spirit NIV & NKJ] and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. 4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 5 Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception [falsehood NIV; error NKJ]. 5

6 The use of the word prophet in the NLT simply means any inspired messenger who declares the will of God. So, it refers to anyone proclaiming to teach the Word of God thus, any pastor/teacher/expositor. The phrase that Jesus Christ came in a real body means the acknowledgment of who Jesus is fully God and fully man, the Son of God, Creator, Savior, Lord, and final Judge The Antichrist will be a real person who will epitomize all that is evil. He will be revealed in the last days, and will be readily received by an evil world (2 Thes 2: 3-12; Rev 13). The spirit of the Antichrist in this passage has been manifested by countless many who have infiltrated the Church from its beginning, and either knowingly or unknowingly try to undermine the truth of Christ. The phrase listens to them listen to us is a distinction between listening to a man-centered philosophy or ideology ( them) or a God-centered Scripture-based ideology ( us). An overview of this passage in the study notes of The Open Bible (New King James Version) on these verses reads: Test the moral and spiritual implications of any person or idea. Does it agree with Scripture? Will it make me more like Christ? Any idea is false if it denies the deity, humanity, or saving work of Jesus Christ, or if it reflects anything less than full acceptance of, and obedience to, the divine-human Christ. It is, then, following the Antichrist. The corresponding study notes in the Life Application Study Bible (New International Version) reads: We shouldn t believe everything we hear just because someone says it is a message inspired by God. We must check to see if their words match what God says in the Bible. Other tests include their commitment to the body of believers (1 John 2:19), their lifestyles (1 John 3:23-24), and the fruit of their ministries (1 John 4:6). 6

7 Slide 11 I will base most of my following comments this morning on the godly wisdom and words of pastor/teacher John MacArthur regarding these verses, from The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 1-3 John (pp ). Christians must be discerning lest we be like children spoken of in Ephesians 4:14 that are tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching [or] influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. (NLT) As Paul told the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, it is CRUCIAL that we test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil (NLT). Otherwise, we increase our vulnerability to satanic deception, and decrease our usefulness to God as a light for Him to others. Believers MUST be able to distinguish what is biblically sound teaching and what is not when confronted with various doctrines and religious teachings, either from the pulpit, television, radio, conferences or CDs/Mp3/4s, all of which claim to be true. Just because something SOUNDS good doesn t mean that IS good. On the flip side of that coin, something might not sound good, but IF it is biblically sound, it IS the truth, and subsequently IS good! What is heard or manifested in what is seen must NOT be accepted without first testing it against what God says in His Word. If we already know His Word about what is being espoused, then this test can be quick and easy. But, if we do not know His Word than we need to spend time to learn what God says relative to what we have heard or seen. With either existing knowledge or a study of the Bible, we must discern the truth or falseness of what we hear or see. If false, we MUST discard it and warn others to do so also. 7

8 Slide 12 Satan s actions are shown in Matt 13:19 in Jesus explanation of His well-known parable of the scattered seed and the different soils. The seed that fell on the footpath, represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don t understand it NLT But before the hearers try to understand, the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. NLT Jesus Himself warned of false prophets (Matt 7:15; 24:4-5, 11 & 24), as did Paul (Acts 20:29; Rom 16:17-18), Peter (2 Pet 1:1-3), John (1 John 2:18-27; this passage of 1 John 4:1-6), and Jude (Jude 4-19). Slide 13 Paul warned the Corinthians that, Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don t believe (2 Cor 4:4); and he feared that somehow [their own] pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent (2 Cor 11:3) because of the false apostles deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (2 Cor 11:13-14) Slide 14 Satan s basic strategy for attacking the truth is to either: one, cast doubt on what God says; two, deny outright what God says; and/or three, distort what God says. Deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons any ideology, philosophy, opinion, behavior, or religion OTHER THAN God s complete truth fits into Satan s agenda 8

9 to draw people away from God, which is why it is so crucial for believers to know God s Word in order to recognize the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception. Slide 15 Paul warned Timothy of selfish desires and false teachings: Slide 16 in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving, they will slander others and have no self-control. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! (2 Tim 3:1-5 NLT) For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. (2 Tim 4:3-4 NLT) If we fail to be discerning, we will not only be confused and unable to discern for ourselves, but we will also be unable to accurately convey the truth to others. Thus, we must guard the truth (1 Tim 6:20-21; 2 Tim 1:13-14; Jude 3) by KNOWING IT, firmly holding to it as a conviction, and distinguishing it from that which is false. We MUST believe that the Bible is absolutely true in everything is has to say without falsehood or being misleading. 9

10 Slide 17 In our passage of 1 John 4:1-6, the elder statesman and perhaps last living apostle, some 50+ years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, laid out a strategy for all Christians to use for distinguishing between spiritually true and false doctrines. The strategy includes a Command to Test, a Reason to Test, and Guidelines for How to Test. Slide 18 The Command to Test is clear: Do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit (v. 1a) Because Satan and his influence is expert in deception, Christians must be careful to closely examine EVERY spiritual message they encounter and any corresponding manifested behaviors of the messenger. As I mentioned at the start, we must be as the Bereans and test what we hear and see with what we know or discover through study to be true, as revealed in the Scriptures (1 Thes 5:21-22). We do that by reading, studying and knowing the Bible. The ONLY reliable way to test ANY teaching is to measure it against what God has revealed in His infallible written Word, and that provides believers with their primary defense against deception. If we don t test, we are like the unbelievers, who wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him. (Eph 4:18 NLT) Without knowing God s Word, we have no basis on which to evaluate various teachings that claim to be from His Word, and we can easily be led astray if we don t know any better! 10

11 Slide 19 The Reason to Test is because there are many false prophets in the world. (v. 1b) Satan and his minions have infiltrated denominations, churches, and Christian schools, institutions, and organizations, resulting in compromises and error. Even in the early church, Jude described in Jude 4 the unbelievable extent to which false teachers had already gone: that some ungodly people have wormed their way into [our] churches, saying that God s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives (NLT) Satan not only develops lies that directly deny biblical truth, but he also subtly sabotages the truth by mixing it with error, which is exactly how he deceived Eve in the Garden! Truth mixed with error is usually far more deceptively effective and far more destructive than straightforward contradiction of the truth. Satan masquerades his lies as truth, and those who trust everything they read from Christian bookstores, magazines, and Christian organizations, or everything they hear on Christian television or radio, or even the pulpit, are prime targets for doctrinal deception. Peter warned that, there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them (1 Pet 2:1 NLT) Luke warned that, false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you not sparing the flock and distort the truth in order to draw a following. Watch out!... (Acts 20:29-31 NLT) In the words of Jesus Himself, Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act (Matt 7:15-16 NLT) 11

12 There are many powerful voices clamoring for attention within the greater church today, and some more discretely looking for a following in the local churches, especially at the pastoral/leadership/teacher levels. As Luke says Watch Out! Slide 20 Finally, in our passage today, John outlines the Guidelines for How to Test, which are theological (Does the person confess Jesus Christ?), behavioral (Does the person manifest evidence of the fruit of righteousness?), and presupposition (Is the person committed to the Word of God?) Slide 21 Guideline 1: A Confession of the Divine Lord Does the person confess Jesus Christ? John says in verse 2 of our passage: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. (v. 2) Then in verse 3, he says: But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. (v. 3) True teachers of the Word, therefore, are characterized by a confession that Jesus Christ is one with the Father (John 10:30 & 38; Luke 14:7-10) as the living Word of God (1 John 1:1-2), who became flesh (Luke 1:31; John 1:14), and was manifested to humanity as the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God (Isa 9:6; John 3:16). Jesus Christ came in the flesh so that He might die a substitutionary death as a man for the sins of other men, and only by faith in Him and through Him can we be redeemed into an eternal relationship with God the Father (John 4:16; Gal 4:4-5; Heb 2:17). 12

13 A person s understanding and acceptance of Jesus identity is the ultimate litmus test of the legitimacy of his professed faith and subsequent teaching. Any religious or philosophical teaching that does not confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Lord and Savior is erroneous, heretical, and a rejection of Christ (2 Pet 2:1). The spirit of the Antichrist, then, evidences itself in aberrant doctrine and false religion. In the world today, the teachings and influence of evolutionary and humanistic ideologies are false teaching, because they deny the work of Christ as Creator, Savior and Lord. Slide 22 Guideline 2: The Profession of the Divine Life Does the person manifest evidences of the fruit of righteousness? John continues in verses 4 and 5 of our passage: you belong to God have won a victory over those people [false teachers], because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to the world, so they speak from the world s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. Behaviors can often speak louder than words. Even if a person says the right things, false teachers and their followers cling to worldly ideas because they belong to this world, and speaking from the world s viewpoint the world listens to them. Through what they say and how they live, false teachers demonstrate that they are anything but genuine servants of Christ. True believers who know the person and completed work of Jesus Christ through knowledge of God s Word, are never unsure about the foundational truths of the gospel and cannot be fooled when false teachers attempt to devalue the work of Christ, for example by living unrighteous lifestyles or by championing some form of salvation by works. 13

14 True believers, then, resist worldly ideas about foundational truths because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. This is an affirmation of the true believer s security against false teachers. All true Christians possess an incorruptible seed of eternal life (1 Pet 1:23-25), meaning that no satanic deception can take them out of God s saving hand (John 10:28-29). Those truly born again have been given not only a supernatural insight into foundational truth (Luke 10:21), but a love for it as well (Psalm 1:2; 119:97, 113, 159 & 167), and a discernment that protects them from apostasy or abandonment of the true faith (Heb 10:39). However, even true believers can become confused and unsure about peripheral matters if they don t spend time in God s Word to understand what He might say about these matters. Without understanding of these peripheral matters, they are unable to discern teachings that are contrary to His Word, and they are less able to help others in their struggles to believe even in the foundational truths. For example, if we can t defend the natural impossibility of Creation or the Flood, how can we arguably defend the natural impossibility of a virgin birth? Slide 23 Guideline 3: The Profession of the Divine Law Is the person committed to the Word of God? Finally, John concludes in verse 6 of our passage, that: we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. True teachers who belong to God proclaim His revealed Word as the source of truth, rather than espouse opinions. Therefore, those who know God listen to us and understand the truthful teaching that the completed, written revelation 14

15 of the Old and New Testaments is the sole authority by which Christians must test all spiritual ideologies, including their own beliefs and behaviors (2 Tim 3:16-17). The Word of God is the standard of truth (John 17:17), and it is by that standard, with the help of the Holy Spirit (John 14:17; 16:13), that believers know the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. False teachers, on the other hand, do not belong to God and do not listen to us about the Word of God being the standard of truth. They will fail the test either in word or in action when they encounter the revealed standard of Scripture. Only by testing if a teacher s spirit comes from God, can believers faithfully guard the truth in the present, and preserve it in purity both for themselves and the generations to come. In closing, with regard to preserving the purity of God s message for future generations, let me bring to your attention a book written by Josh McDowell in 2006, entitled The Last Christian Generation, with the subtitle The Crisis is Real. The Responsibility is Ours. McDowell s targeted readers are the Baby Boomer generation of the late 40 s to early 60 s. On the back cover, McDowell summarizes his research on the current churched generation, the Baby Boomer s kids: The majority of our young people no longer embrace true Christianity do not believe Christ is the Son of God, do not believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity, and think doing good earns them a place in heaven. Quoted pastors/authors said of the book: In these days we are witnessing a strong push to paganize America. Tragically, many Christian young people are getting sucked into this culture is providing influences distorting their view of faith and truth 15

16 The Last Christian Generation is a wakeup call and a must read for anyone concerned about the legacy the church will leave with this generation of young people. McDowell begins his book with: I sincerely believe unless something is done now to change the spiritual state of our young people you [the Baby Boomers] will be the last Christian generation! Let us pray 16