April 1, 2007
Morning Worship
Text: John 10:1-21
Subject: The Conflict Between Secular Society and the Church
Title: That Sure Sounds Good
Two weeks ago I began the conflict series that will culminate on Easter Sunday. I spoke to you about the inner conflict that takes place within a person from the time you first hear the gospel until you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Today I want to share with you about the conflict between the world and the church; specifically between secular humanism and born again believers – the true church.
I’m in the middle of a book right now by Bill O’Reilly from Fox News Channel. Mr. O’Reilly is a conservative commentator with not a lot in common with the majority of other news correspondents. To my knowledge O’Reilly is not a born again Christian. But many of the things he says in his book have a certain “Christian” slant. In his book “Culture Warrior” he touts himself as a voice of reason in a society gone mad. He speaks about the continual efforts of a liberal media to tear down the basic building blocks of society and this country by removing Christianity and God from any position of influence. For instance, he shared the story of a man in Vermont who, for four years, sexually abused a little girl from the time she was six until she was ten. When it was discovered he confessed his guilt but the judge sentenced him to sixty days, saying that jail would not help the man’s problem, and he needed help because he was a victim. Now there’s a problem – a liberal judge with no understanding of biblical principles. Here’s a second problem – the mainstream media, who is constantly bombarding us with the concept of protecting the children, never ran a negative report about the judge’s decision. In fact just the opposite happened. They ignored the child/victim and claimed the judge to be a man on the cutting edge of judicial thinking. The bad thing is that the media can be pretty persuasive in their words so they can make evil appear to be something good.
So you see where the conflict comes in. Secularism, whether people realize it or not, is a tool of the devil and is in direct conflict with the Word of God. It is imperative for the true church not to be taken by surprise in the battle for lives. It sure sounds good, but you be the judge.
I. THE MESSAGE SOUNDS GOOD. (1-6) 1 "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.” I want you to note that this section is closely connected with what Jesus had just said about the Pharisees and the “religious leaders”. They are spiritually blind. They said all the right things. They did all the right things. They looked righteous. But they were trying to enter into the sheep pen by circumventing the one true way – through Jesus Christ. There have always been false prophets. I believe that people really think they hear from God when they don’t stop to consider whether their prophecy lines up with God’s word. In 2 Chronicles 18, Jehoshaphat, the righteous king of Judah, aligns himself with the wicked Ahab in order to go into battle. Now Jehoshaphat thought he was doing the right thing, but he wanted Ahab to ask the prophet if the battle would be successful. The problem is, Ahab asked the wrong prophets. They assured him that the battle was theirs to win. Four hundred prophets told them this. It sure sounded good, but was in conflict with the Word of God that came from the prophet Micaiah. Here’s what he received from God in a vision. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing on his right and on his left. 19And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’
“One suggested this, and another that. 20Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’
“‘By what means?’ the LORD asked.
21“‘I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.
“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’
The church is standing today in front of the greatest troupe of “lying prophets” that the world has ever known. They aren’t prophets from God. They are prophets of secular humanism. The words they speak sound like honey but reek of death and destruction.
Let’s go back to our original passage. The word translated “climb” means to go up or to ascend. The Pharisees were trying to ascend by their own righteousness. Jesus said that there is only one way to go up – follow the shepherd. 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Jesus alone can take us to our desired end. his sheep follow him because they know his voice… Does that statement concern you at all? Does that mean that if you don’t recognize His voice you can’t follow Him? Here is the point of conflict. Many in the church have not sufficiently studied the Word of God so they can recognize truth or fiction. When I first was saved I held on to the fact promoted by humanism that homosexuals are who they are because they were created that way. But as I matured in the word I found out that wasn’t true. The fact is that somewhere in their psychological make – up there is a real need for a same sex relationship, but the false prophets have led them to believe that it must translate into sexual needs and not just emotional needs. The message sounds good, but it won’t take you where you want to be.
II. THE WAY LOOKS GOOD (7-10) 8All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.” What does Jesus mean when He says, “all who came before me…?” Does that mean Moses or the prophets or Abraham or who? It is referring to all who have come before and after who would try to tell you that you are justified by something other than faith (trusting God). I had a personal encounter with someone like that just this week. The ministerial alliance had considered bringing in a gospel group for church night at the fair and one of the pastors in town (I’m not going to mention any names) said that he wasn’t willing to go along with that because gospel music promoted something other than what his church believed. Excuse me, but what part of the gospel doesn’t work for you? That’s what I wanted to say but I gathered myself and realized that this is exactly what Jesus was talking about. The way looks good because you can get there on your own. You don’t need to rely totally on grace. You can add to the work of the cross and take credit for it yourself. But here is what Paul says about that, “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” and “8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9not by works, so that no one can boast.” Everybody say, “we’re saved by grace…” ) Proverbs 14:12, “12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” In the early 1900s George Riddell acquired the sensational London newspaper The News of the World. Meeting British journalist Frederick Greenwood one day, Riddell mentioned that he owned a newspaper, told Greenwood its name, and offered to send him a copy. The next time they met, Riddell asked Greenwood what he thought of The News.
"I looked at it and then I put it in the wastepaper basket," said Greenwood, "and then I thought, ’If I leave it there the cook may read it,’ so I burned it."
Today in the Word, November 3, 1993.
10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. This verse is the true picture of the conflict that takes place in the world.
We live in a world where it would be impossible to suppress false doctrine because of “freedom of speech”, but that sure doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t oppose it. The fact is we have something on our side that no one else has – the Truth. This is where the problem often arises in internal conflict. We are so influenced by what the world thinks is right and often not sure about what the Bible says so we tend to waiver between what sounds right and what is right. But never forget the truth!
III. THE TRUTH REVEALS GOOD (11-18) Look at verses 11 and 12. Here is a clear description of the enmity between the world and the church. Jesus said, “11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus is the good shepherd, He’s the chief Shepherd, He’s the great Shepherd. He lays His life down for the sheep. This is a picture of the life of servant hood that Christians should exhibit. We should be willing to lay our lives down for one another. Jesus for us; Me for you; you for one another. Do you see how this separates us from the world? The ACLU promotes itself as a purveyor of human rights. What they really do is to stand against everything moral in the name of morality (theirs definition). But they really don’t have any stake in the battle. They are just paid to promote immorality. The only reason they continue in the fray is because the money is there. Yes, they believe in the cause of the secular progressive movement which is bent on turning a biblical based society into a socialist regime, but when it comes right down to it, do you think they would be willing to stand and give their life for someone else. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. Verse 13 “13The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” If we care for one another we will desire what is best for one another. The Secular progressive movement promotes alternative lifestyles; the church, biblical relationships between one man and one woman. The secularists support legalization of drugs; the church offers a way to fill voids in life without drugs. Humanism says that the state knows what is best about how to raise your children; the church says that parents know best. The world says if it feels good, tastes good, looks good or sounds good it must be truth. Jesus says, “I am the way the truth and the life…” Jesus said, 14“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” The only real truth is revealed to us through the Word of God, Jesus and the Bible.
IV. THE WORLD CONCEALS GOOD (19-21) 19At these words the Jews were again divided. 20Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” In case you haven’t figured it out yet, all who stand in opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the word of truth, are of satan. One of satan’s best tricks is to try to get people to believe that the truth revealed through Jesus is fiction or folly. Some of our young people have told me that there are some teachers at the middle school who have told them they could not bring their bibles to school. I don’t have any doubt that these are well intentioned people. They are doing what they have just been trained to do. The problem with that is that for most of them, their training came from institutions of higher learning that are the training centers for secular humanism. Truth is not considered to be an issue there. I see in the secularists an attitude much like the Pharisees. (By the way, secularism is a religion with “self” as its god). The Pharisees placed a lot of requirements on people but didn’t offer anything to help them carry the burden. The world seems to have all the answers. It just doesn’t tell us how to get there. The truth is that everything the world has to offer is destructive by nature leading straight to hell, but Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Those who battle for evil don’t want you to know that. They conceal what is truly good and support only what is good for them. 2 Corinthians 4:4, “4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” That verse says that satan has blinded unbelievers. That’s true, but God only allows it because that is what they want. The minute that unbelievers begin to seek the truth and turn away from what the world has to offer, God will begin to reveal himself to them. The world tries to conceal what God wants to reveal but light will always prevail in the darkness.
There is a great conflict in the world today and it appears to be escalating at an alarming rate. The conflict that I spoke of today is an extension of that inner conflict I preached about two weeks ago. For those who are Christians, the inner conflict came to rest when you gave your hearts to Jesus. But there are those who continue to refuse the peace offered them and resist the truth. They are not only experiencing that inner conflict and turmoil, but they are the ones who spark the conflict between the church and the world.
In the survey taken in early 1991, interviewees were asked, "Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly with the following statement: There is no such thing as absolute truth; different people can define truth in conflicting ways and still be correct." Only 28% of the respondents expressed strong belief in "absolute truth," and more surprisingly, only 23 percent of born-again or evangelical Christians accepted this idea!
What a telling revelation! If more than 75 percent of the followers of Christ say nothing can be known for certain, does this indicate, as it seems, that they are not convinced that Jesus existed, that He is who He claimed to be, that His Word in authentic, that God created the heavens and earth, or that eternal life awaits the believer? That’s what the findings appear to mean. If there is no absolute truth, then by definition nothing can be said to be absolutely true. To the majority, apparently, it’s all relative. Nothing is certain. Might be. Might not be. Who knows for sure? Take your guess and hope for the best!
James Dobson, December 1991 letter, quoting George Barna, What Americans Believe
That brings the church to a point of conflict. Where do you stand on truth? What are you willing to do to stand against those who profane the truth of God?
If you are a Christian at some point in your life you are going to have to make a decision as to what kind of Christian you are willing to be.
1) A Christian in name
2) A Christian by works
3) A Christian who is radical like Jesus –willing to lay down his life for others and stand for the truth.
At some point you are going to have to make the decision.
Am I going to cross the line and enter into the conflict or will I just continue to fly under the radar so nobody will know that I’m a Christian.
What the world offers sure sounds good, but Jesus is the way the truth and the life.
Which will it be?
