OPEN: Last week I told you I loved superheroes. And I have done extensive research for this sermon series for years. I’ve read superhero comic books/ watched superhero TV shows/ went to superhero Movies. I’m what you might call an “expert” in superheroes.
And one of the things about superheroes you can always count on is that they always have a super villain - an enemy who almost matches them in their abilities and skills.
• Superman has Luthor
• Batman has the Joker
• Spiderman has the Green Goblin
And those villains are fairly easy to spot.
I mean they’re bad guys… they look like bad guys.
But the Bible tells us our enemy isn’t so easy to spot.
When we think of our enemy – many tend to think of some guy standing around in a red suit with a tail and a pitchfork. But 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us
“… Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”
He looks almost righteous.
He looks almost religious.
In other words, you’ll not always know he’s evil by how he looks
Even false teachers don’t always show up with snake oil and a handlebar mustache.
Jesus warned us in Matthew 7:15
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”
They look like the flock.
They have wool just like the other sheep.
And here in our text this morning Paul warned the Elders at Ephesus that some of those wolves would show up from amongst their leadership. “Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.”
In the first Iron Man movie the villain was Stark’s (the hero’s) supposed friend and mentor.
Through the first part of the movie he looked like a friend, he acted like a friend, he talked like a friend. He even looked like he was protecting the hero.
But inside, he was seething with anger and rage.
Underneath, he desired to destroy the man who stood in the way of his power.
(Play clip – From when Iron man confronts Obadiah on street and is thrown into the bus, to the point where Obadiah ices up and Stark says “did you ever solve that ice problem… think about it” and then thumps him)
Notice that Stark’s adversary (Obadiah) felt that Iron Man was his enemy.
The hero had stood in his way to rightful leadership of the company.
“For 30 years I’ve built up this company.
Now no one’s going to get in my way! Especially you!”
The hero was someone to be destroyed so that Obadiah could attain his true right. Power.
In order to deal with the Stark, And Obadiah had developed a suit that looked very much like Iron Man’s so that he even looked like the hero… but he wasn’t.
He was just a wolf in iron clothing.
In that one sequence we see the true nature of wolves
* They tend to look like us
* they feel they are in the right.
* AND they are willing to destroy anything in their way to get their way
So, let’s backtrack a bit.
The wolves Jesus and Paul talk about look like us.
* You can tell who the Jehovah Witnesses are. They’re the ones with the green Bibles and the funny looking tracts.
* You can recognize the Mormon missionaries. They’re the ones riding their bikes and wearing white shirts and ties.
* And you know the Hari Krisna types by the flowers in their hair.
But these wolves look like us.
That’s because they often ARE us.
They’re often “part of the family”
It could be an Elder, a Preacher, a Sunday School Teacher.
It could be me… it could be you.
AND that’s scary.
Often wolves don’t even realize they’re wolves.
They’re so convinced that they are right… nothing else matters.
And so, we might actually end up being wolves without realizing it.
How many of you here would like to be a wolf?
Of course you wouldn’t
Jesus didn’t call us to be wolves… He called us to be His sheep.
ILLUS: There’s an old camp song that goes this way
“I want to be a sheep, baa baa” (sing)
I don’t want to be a wolf, I want to be a sheep.
Jesus called me to be a sheep not a wolf.
Sheep and wolves are natural enemies.
But if wolves can arise from among our number, and IF those wolves could end up being you or me, how do I recognize when I’ve stopped being a sheep and become a wolf???
1st – I I’d know I’d stepped over that line when I find that I am consumed with power and influence.
Paul tells us that these wolves “distort the truth in order to DRAW AWAY DISCIPLES after them” (vs. 30)
These folks want the church run “their way”
The rest of the church should be THEIR disciples, and if they’re not they’re either fools or heretics.
The one phrase they use a lot is “This is MY church”. It belongs to them. It should be run their way.
But there’s a problem with that phrase. And what’s the problem?
The problem is - this isn’t their church, and it’s not your church, and it isn’t my church.
Whose church is it? (Christ’s)
Paul tells the Elders from Ephesus:
“Be shepherds of the church of God, which HE bought with HIS own blood.” Acts 20:28
But if wolves don’t think that way.
If they can’t get their own way in church matters, they tend to forget whose church it is.
ILLUS: My mom told the story of the church she’d attended up north. Some of the more wealthy members of the congregation wanted to fire the preacher. He wasn’t doing things the way they wanted it done… and one of the members wanted his son (who was Youth minister at the time) to take over. The preacher stood against them and they eventually left in a huff.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
They began to send e-mails to other members of the congregation trying to get them to leave too. According to mom, the e-mails were fairly nasty. And though this group never got anyone else to leave, they left scars on that congregation that they’re still trying to heal.
Paul also tells us these wolves “distort the truth”
Truth if often one of the first victims of wolves.
Sometimes that distortion is the form of false doctrine.
ILLUS: Geoff Faull told of the man he encountered when he first took the church he’s serving now. He was teaching Wednesday night Bible Study and apparently taught that Jesus was NOT the Son of God. Geoff was appalled and approached the Elders… who knew all about it.
But why hadn’t they dealt with the matter up that point?
Because the teacher threatened (if he couldn’t teach what he wanted) he’d leave… and take a bunch of other member with him.
So, Geoff started by teaching the Elders their responsibilities from the Scriptures, and eventually they agreed this teacher needed dealt with. When they confronted the man, he made good on his threat – he left and he took one other family with him.
So, sometimes the distortion of truth has to do with doctrine… but too often that distortion comes in the form of character assassination.
ILLUS: At one church I served there were a group of people who wanted rid of me. So what did they do? They began to spread in the rumors in the community about my being immoral.
But they failed because I worked very hard at protecting my reputation in the community and everyone knew these rumors were nothing but lies. When the Elders investigated the rumors they found them to be just that… rumors.
So, wolves
1. seek to have their own way
2. they often play fast and loose with the truth… AND
3. They don’t care who they hurt.
Notice what Paul says in Acts 20:29
“…savage wolves will come in among you and WILL NOT SPARE THE FLOCK”
They don’t care who they hurt.
Jesus said “…the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it” John 10:12
They send out nasty e-mails
They try to peel off church members to follow them as their disciples.
They’ll find ways to attack the character of the preacher, elders, or anyone else who opposes them.
Why?
Because the flock isn’t as important to the wolves.
Getting their way is what’s important to them.
They don’t really care who they hurt as long as they accomplish their objective.
They’ll tell you they love Jesus… but they don’t
They don’t really love Jesus, because don’t really care for His bride.
In order to get their way, they’ll drag the bride of Christ thru the streets, and shred her wedding gown and tearing at it and tromping it down into the mud.
Because - they’re right… and that’s all that matters.
But… now, wait a minute!
What if the leadership of a congregation is heretical?
What if they’re teaching false doctrine?
Or if they’re allowing immorality to run rampant in the church?
Well, if I was faced with that type of situation (and I have been) I’d want to find the most biblical way to deal with it. Heresy and immorality must be dealt with, but even when I deal with it, I’d want to be careful how I did it, because I’d still dealing with the bride of Christ.
So, I’d want to find out how someone in Scripture who had handled something similar. A man who understood the mind of God. A man who could be described as a “man after God’s own heart”.
Say… that phrase sounds familiar.
Was there someone in Scripture that was called a “man after God’s own heart?” (David)
Did David ever have to deal with a leader who was immoral?
Did David ever have to deal with a man who directly disobeyed God?
Did David ever have to deal with a man who was tormented by demons?
Well, yes he did… it was a man named King Saul who repeatedly sought to kill David.
Do you recall how David dealt with this wicked King?
Turn with me to 1 Samuel 24:1-13
“After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.
He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself.
David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said, ‘This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’" Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, ‘The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD.’ With these words David rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, ‘My lord the king!’
When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
He said to Saul, ‘Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the LORD’s anointed.’
See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. Now understand and recognize that I am not guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life.
May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.”
Notice, David confronted Saul about his wickedness.
Heresy or immorality must be confronted. It must be called what it is.
If you are in the position of Eldership or preacher, you should use your position of responsibility to deal with that sin – perhaps even removing such people from church membership. But even then we must be careful.
Notice, David refused to destroy Saul… even when it was in his power to do so.
Even when what Saul was doing was clearly wrong.
He identified this kind of behavior with “evil”
As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.(24:13)
He withheld his hand because Saul was the “Lord’s anointed.”
In the same way, every Christian is anointed by God. When we became Christians, the Spirit of God came and dwelt inside our hearts. His presence confirmed our relationship with God the Father. So if I hurt or damaged another Christian I might be guilty of wrongdoing.
But how could David do that? How could he just stand back and let Saul get away?
Well, he could do that because he trusted God
“May the LORD judge between you and me. And MAY THE LORD AVENGE the wrongs you have done to me.” (24:12)
When David said this he was quoting Deuteronomy 32:35 “It is mine to avenge; I will repay.”
Romans 12:19 repeats that in slightly different words: “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘Vengeance is mine,’ saith the Lord, ‘I will repay’”.
When we have the authority to discipline a wayward member, or Elder or preacher, we should do so, but we must still be careful how we deal with it, because we may very well find ourselves opposing God or getting His way. We might find ourselves becoming wolves rather than sheep.
CLOSE: Year ago an evangelist told of holding a Revival at a church that was in turmoil. The Preacher of the congregation wasn’t quite as good as he should have been. People were leaving and the church was struggling.
This evangelist was well known and respected, so a group from the church asked him to come and talk with them. But the moment he stepped into the room he found himself faced with a crowd of very angry people. They hadn’t asked him there to help them “solve the problem” – they were looking for someone who would listen to their grievances and assure them that they were RIGHT.
As he sized up the situation… this was a not a good thing.
He looked out over the assembled group and asked "Who is the leader of this group."
A man toward the back raised his hand and said: "I am,"
The evangelist smiled and then said “Well, I expect that you have gathered because you are a group of spiritual people who are concerned about your preacher’s many faults?"
In response the group began to list off a series of rather small complaints, that taken together mounted up to an almost insurmountable challenge.
"Well then," said the Evangelist, "since you are spiritual people, then the scripture from Galatians 6 should be your guide "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself lest thou also be tempted."
The leader practically sprang out of his chair "I’m not about to restore that preacher!"
"Well then," Gothard responded, "by this you are indicating that you are either unspiritual or rebellious... which is it?"
At this, the man stormed out of the room.
A woman was in tears and said "But so many are leaving..."
The Evangelist responded "The Bible calls us a BODY. My body loses cells all the time. It’s only when cells get together in an unauthorized group that it is becomes a cancer and that can lead to weakness and death."
He continued by noting that if they continued in their action that their rebellion against the preacher would lead to their teenagers rebelling against Christianity.
(Bill Gothard, Basic Youth Conflicts Seminar)
