The question our churches need to start asking ourselves is, "What are we feeding to the congregation?"
We stand at our pulpits each week declaring the truth of God’s Word, and we tell people they need to start getting ready - and then we veer off and give messages that have nothing to do with their preparing their souls for a Godly eternal life.
Were you aware that history seems to repeat itself? Now that would be okay if what was being repeated was a good and worthwhile thing, but too often, it isn’t. We make the same mistakes over and over again, just to suffer the same calamities over and over again. And this is not just seen in our personal lives and in our governments. It is seen just as rampant in our churches.
Why do we do this when we know from past experience that it is not a healthy thing for us to do? I believe we do this for one basic reason: We are a selfish people by nature and we love the spotlight on ourselves. Think about it; why would politicians always seem to do what has failed in the past? They do that because that is what “they” want, not what our country “needs”. It always comes back to what the individual wants.
In our personal lives we often repeat past mistakes because we tend to take the easy way out, and not the uphill road to improvement. Let’s face it; we humans are a lazy group, too, aren’t we? If we have a choice to go to church on Sunday morning, for instance, or a choice to sit home and watch TV after a hard week’s work, too often people will choose to sit in their recliners saying they are too tired to get ready for church. Yet, an hour later, they are in their back yard stoking up the old bar-b-que for an afternoon of fun with their family and friends.
But that tendency to repeat unhealthy actions is also found in the church; for a variety of reasons.
For instance, we are given this account in the Old Testament.
JEREMIAH 7:4-12 -
“ 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers forever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. 9 Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe - safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD. 12 Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.”
Jeremiah describes the conditions found in the houses of worship in Judah, just before God let Babylon invade them. There were several causes that led up to this invasion.
In verse 4, we find a casual and almost self-arrogant attitude that led to ungodly conduct, but since they were fellowshipping in “church”, they thought everything was fine.
Sometimes, we do the same thing. We cheat on our income taxes, or we lie to our bosses, or even our spouses, and think all is okay because we are just doing what everyone else is doing, or it isn’t really all that bad. Even so, God let them be attacked and taken captive. Membership in our local church does nothing to stave off punishment for ungodly actions. Those people were not living up to God’s expectations for them. In truth, they weren’t even trying because they were too busy living like they wanted.
Verses 5-6 illustrate that their judgment of how to apply God’s Word in their lives was way off mark. They proved that they did not love their neighbor as themselves; they were totally self-centered. Is there more evidence here that we might be the same? And I am not just talking about us individually. I am also talking about how our churches operate and what they do – all in God’s name, of course.
Verse 10 expresses the extent this delusion had permeated their lives. By ignoring God’s moral and ethical demands, they were in effect telling God that attending services released them from the guilt. It was as if God’s will did not apply to them. They were after all "in the church," right? It is almost as if they felt they were doing God a favor by showing up! What’s more, while they were in church, they heard messages that distorted God’s word from what we should be doing to how we could have a better day, or how to handle anxiety at the supermarkets, or some other nonsense that did not have anything to do with God’s word. And today, we also see many distorted messages coming from the pulpits, don’t we?
Many church leaders want big churches, so they give congregations easy-listening sermons. This makes the people feel good about being in church, but does nothing to teach them how God wants them to live. People put money in the plate, sing a few songs, shake a few hands, and then go home, empty and lost; just to hurry back next Sunday and do the same thing.
Or our church leaders rely so much on the rule of how they should do things that they have all but forgotten why we should do them. This is pure and outright legalism. Did you know God hates legalism? I have heard it said that if the Apostle Paul were to be applying for the position of pastor in most churches today, he wouldn’t even be considered! Why? Because we have let a bunch of rules become our gods. If something varies from the rules, we do not even take the time to consider why, we just flatly deny. Our motto, even in churches, is “why ask why, when you can just as easily deny?”
But all is okay, because after all, we are in church.
In verse 12, God reminds them that they should remember the history of former generations and take warning because they are on track to experience the same calamities. Have we in our time repeated their assumptions that everything is fine when it is not? Sure we have! It seems so. The Laodiceans assumed they were that since they were rich they needed nothing, and so they even rejected God’s teachings. The reality is, of course, was they were spiritually blind to the truth, and, therefore, not clothes in God’s righteousness.
But they were in church, so all was fine, right?
Now let me fast-forward to today.
If you knew something was about to hurt someone you cared for, would you try and warn them? Certainly, we would always try to help others, wouldn’t we? The Apostle Paul gave some dire warnings to the church in Colossi that we would be wise to heed today.
Have you ever noticed that no matter what the devil does, it comes down to his doing one thing; lying. He did that to Adam and Eve and he will do that again after the 1,000 year reign of Jesus. Everything he offers looks good, but turns out to be bad – very bad. Every thought he puts into our minds seems inviting and enjoyable, but ends up being a threat of spiritual death.
And, there is something else, too. The devil never yells at you. He whispers to you. He whispers those lies that only have one purpose; robbing you of your relationship with Christ. And boy, does he ever sugar coat his lies! And what do we do? We believe them! We believe them because they get us to take our focus off of Jesus and put it on ourselves. Do you remember when Peter got out of the boat? As long as he was looking at Jesus, he was able to walk on the water, but the very moment he took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink.
Listening to Satan’s lies has the same effect on us human growth hormone pills has on young athletes. Almost daily, we read in the papers about how some athlete has been caught taking pills to enhance their performance . They are told that a little pill will make them stronger and more intimidating on the field.
But there is a problem with that little pill. Doctors have long ago discovered they have a rebound effect on the body. Although the pill will initially make a person stronger and even give them a sense of euphoria, it will actually start eating away at the body you want to build up. It will replace the sense of euphoria with a sense of anger and paranoia. And, this will not just be a temporary thing. Even after you quit the pills, the eating away of the body will still last a lifetime. Even after they stop taking those pills, the feelings of hostility and paranoia only continue to grow until they die. Those pills actually rob them of years and health.
In COLOSSIANS 2, the Apostle Paul warns the people of Colosse that those who sell lies may sound really good, but they are, in fact, peddling spiritual death, just as real as the death those steroids bring to those athletes.
1. WE MUST REMEMBER THE DANGER OF BELIEVING A LIE
In COLOSSIANS 2, Paul encourages the Colossian church in their spiritual maturity. But he also gives them a warning.
In COLOSSIANS 2:4, Paul says –
“I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.”
He gives us this same warning again in verse 8:
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
I don’t recall anywhere else in his writings that Paul took on a more urgent tone in warning Christians what to stay away from. Could it be that Paul knew how destructive these lies could be to the spiritual safety of others? Could it be that he knew first-hand, because the lies of the Pharisees consumed many, and he used to be a Pharisee?
Even though the devil cannot make us do things, he can put suggestions into our minds. He can offer us temptations, and those temptations are always wrapped in the prettiest of paper and tied with the most beautiful of bows. They look so tantalizing that we just don’t want to reject them, do we?
Satan can put thoughts in our minds that look so good and so wonderful we just don’t understand how they could be so wrong. But we have to be so careful.
PROVERBS 14:12, says –
“There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death.”
Just as Paul was warning the Colossians that they need to be keenly aware of false teachings and doctrines, I want to warn each of you this morning about the same thing. I can never remember in my life, a time that is so filled with so many different types of religious teachings.
In the Old Testament, you had the Judaizers. They believed that all you needed to get to Heaven was to be a good person. Today, we have that same philosophy being touted in many churches. These churches do not teach the true and accurate word of the Lord, and they are causing many people who listen to them to put their spiritual lives in harms way. These people teach a gospel that is only intended to make you feel good, not to actually help you.
Today, we have a very dangerous mixture of Eastern religions, Middle-Eastern religions and many kinds of false Christian doctrines. In fact, it has been said that there are over 1,000 different religions and beliefs in the world today. It doesn’t really matter how many there are, because no matter how you cut it, there is only one true belief. That belief is the one that proclaims Jesus as Savior.
Nobody wants to be offended, so many churches today go to extremes to take anything offense out of their service, so their people will be happy. A very well known pastor has gone on record as saying he will not teach or preach about sin or its consequences because he doesn’t want his people to be happy and not worry.
Oprah Winfrey has gone on record as saying that she cannot serve a jealous God who is full of wrath. She said her god is a god who wants her to be happy. Let me tell you something … there is no place in God’s Word that says He wants you to be happy. He wants you to be joyful, and joy only comes from the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and none other. And it never comes from us or from the world.
And no matter what we do, the Word of God will always be offensive. We can sugarcoat it all day long, but the very moment we tell people that without Jesus Christ, they will go to hell – it then becomes offense.
HEBREWS 4:12 tells us this about God’s word.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Paul warns us to beware of hollow and deceptive philosophies. Now, remember that does not say to avoid any philosophies. That is because the word “philosophy” means “lover of wisdom” and that is a good thing. We should all know more, as long as what we know is the truth.
What Paul is warning them about was that they must beware of hollow and deceptive philosophies. He is saying that every idea is not necessarily a good idea. And, taking that into our world today, we see that we are to be aware of the many deceptive philosophies that are abounding all around us.
There are many religious leaders today that purposely distort the truth of God so they can develop large followings and big churches. And most people are so hungry for the true word of God they will listen to anyone who seems to know what they are talking about.
In ACTS 20: 29 – 30, Paul gives us another dire warning about false teachings.
“ 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 And men from among yourselves will rise up with deviant doctrines to lure the disciples into following them.”
False teachings abound whenever people do not know the truth. Many of our churches today do not teach the truth because many pastors do not know the Bible. In our seminaries, almost 50% of professors now teach that there was no virgin birth of Jesus, and that story was a myth given to us to “just make a point”.
With the help of our mass media today, slick talkers are packaging their lies in some very convincing packages and selling it to tens of millions at one time. It is the largest wholesale misleading of people in the history of the world. And, it is imperative that we, as Christians, start paying attention to the truth of God in our world today.
A nationwide survey of church leaders by George Barna recently reported:
• • Only 53% of church leaders believe that moral truths are absolute
• • An amazing 43% of church leaders doubt the existence of the Holy Spirit
• • 33% of church leaders believe that Jesus never had a physical resurrection.
• • 27% of pastors have either never read the Bible all the way thru, or do not read it on a daily basis.
• • And, 19% of church leaders believe that Jesus sinned while alive.
These figures are among the church leadership. Now, if the church leaders of America believe such lies and forsake the reading of God’s word, what do you think the congregations sitting in their churches believe? This is false teaching at its very worst, and it is creeping into every church that focuses more on the people having a good and relaxed time than having them learn the truth of the Lord as stated in the Holy Bible.
We need to replace our comfortable Christianity with real faith. The faith that is so deep that we can live our lives in it, and to act upon it. And be assured by it.
ROMANS 10:17, Paul tells us …
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Okay, we have discussed how the truth is being distorted in our churches, and how that affects our spiritual safety, but how are we supposed to recognize it when we see it?
2. THE LIVES OF SATAN WILL ALWAYS BE SUBTLE
We must realize that the devil will never just rush in and start proclaiming his lies. It will be very slow in coming. So slow it will be nearly imperceptible. False teaching is not a blatant rejection of God’s Word, but rather a tiny imperceptible exaggeration of it. Or, rather than take the entire Word and meaning of God, it will use one verse and build an entire belief system out of it.
The deceit will only be 1 degree off course and that is not enough to alarm anyone, but if you take two lines, beginning at the same point, and having them vary only 1 degree, they will keep getting further and further apart as time goes by.
Secondly, the devil’s deceit will be ATTRACTIVE.
Nobody will follow something they find unlikable or uncomfortable. So, false teachers package their lies in very pretty wrapping paper. They will always put the focus squarely on man. It will -
• • Focus on man’s desires.
• • It will tell us that only a particular church really knows the truth of God.
• • And the biggest and oldest lie of all … it will tell us that we can be like God!
• • Focus on our being prosperous and on God will give to us, not on what we give to God.
We must always realize that we don’t need anything else, for God has already given us everything we need.
Thirdly, the lie will always QUOTE THE BIBLE.
The deceptive teachings that are the most dangerous, are the ones that take parts of the Bible to reinforce their own personal agendas. This makes them sound very biblical. They will flatly ignore the parts of the Bible that do not support their wrong agendas while hammering away at the need to follow other parts of the Bible.
It would be insane to only believe one part of a dictionary while thinking the other half of the definitions is wrong. The same holds true with the Holy Bible. You cannot just pick and choose which passages you want to believe in. What makes you comfortable believing in today may change several years down the road, and when that happens, what are you going to do?
There is the story of a young boy who lived in the hills of Kentucky. He went to his grandfather and told him that it was useless to read the Bible. The boy said he couldn’t understand it and as soon as he was finished reading, he forgot what he read anyway.
The old man told the boy to get the basket they used to carry coal into the house with. When the boy had fetched the basket, the grandfather told the boy to go down to the creek, fill the basket up with water and bring it back to him. The boy obeyed, but by the time he got back to his grandfather, the basket was empty.
The grandfather told the boy to do it again. Again it was empty. The old man told the boy a couple more times to do it and each time the basket was empty. Finally, the boy said it was no use to continue, that no matter how much he tried, the water would always leak out of the basket.
He told the boy to look at the basket. He said that even though the water never stayed in the basket, it had cleaned all the dirty coal dust out of it. He said that reading the Bible has the same affect on our hearts and souls. Even though we don’t think we are retaining anything, the truth of God cleanses our hearts.
The moral to that story is we must be willing to read the Bible and study it ourselves in order to receive the truth of the word. We will never understand God’s word if we just let someone else read it to us. That would be like letting our letting someone else eat our dinner and then expecting to feel full ourselves. There are certain things in this world that only we can do for ourselves. Look the verses up yourself. Check them out with cross-references to make sure you know what they mean for your life.
I once heard a very well known Christian speaker say that the key to victory was to “speak the truth”. He said to be able to get a blessing, you had to first speak the blessing, and then God would give you what you spoke.
To prove his point, he read NUMBERS 14:28 –
“Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you.’
This man had the audience repeat that back to him several times so they would know that God would hear them and give them their blessings. The trouble is, this verse is part of a passage, and if we read the passage, we find that the Israelites were grumbling against God and Moses, and Moses asked God what to do about it.
We see God’s response in verse 29 –
“your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me.”
See, by reading the entire passage, we find out that God was not giving a blessing because the people had asked for it – He was giving a punishment because He had heard the people griping and moaning and being disruptive. That is how we can spot false teachers: They will misquote a verse instead of using the entire passage as it was meant to be used.
3. WE KNOW THE DEVIL LIES, BUT HOW DO WE DEFEND AGAINST THEM?
We must be able to think clearly for ourselves and not be willing to let just anyone lead us. Here are some things that will help us defend against accepting the lies.
We must understand that –
• • Our first reaction is to believe anything that reinforces something we want to hear.
• • We will accept anything somebody tells us if we think that person has credibility.
• • We are influenced more by a person’s personality than we are his accuracy.
• • And we will do everything possible to keep from studying something to understand it ourselves.
And by doing these things, we end up falling prey to the lie and then we help perpetuate it because others see us living it and they think it is okay, so they follow our lead.
For example, we have all heard the expression that you can never change until you hit rock bottom. But exactly what is “rock bottom”? It is never explained, is it? I will even go so far as to tell you that you have even repeated things like this before, even though you do not really understand it. How do I know? I KNOW YOU HAVE DONE IT BECAUSE WE HAVE ALL DONE IT!
Many times today we hear our Christian leaders say that we will be healed if we have “enough” faith. How much is enough? That is never explained, is it? The gauge they seem to go by is that if you are healed, well, you had enough faith. If you were not healed, you’d better learn how to have more faith. The Apostle Paul had a thorn in his side that he went before the Lord three times and asked God to heal. God never healed it. Does that mean Paul did not have enough faith? Of course not! It means that, for some reason unknownst to us, God did not heal it.
When it comes to your faith, stay away from everything that seems like a bargain, for the only bargain in God’s kingdom is salvation offered through the blood of Jesus Christ.
One of the ways they teach bank tellers how to spot counterfeit money is to have them handle the real thing so often they get to know it like the back of their hands. Once they get to really know the real thing, they can easily spot a counterfeit. The same is true with God’s word. Spend time reading it. Spend time praying over it. The more you know of God’s word, the harder it will be for someone to pass a counterfeit word to you.
It is man’s nature to accept any belief that promises him heaven without being accountable for any action.
The Bible is an amazingly powerful book. It has the power to give you information that will literally change your life and the lives of those around you. A young Brazilian girl was given a New Testament and she began to read it in private, because she was afraid of being caught with it. Her father finally caught her and he took it away from her, demanding to know what kind of garbage she was reading.
He was a coal miner, and shortly afterwards, he was caught in a cave-in. When they finally found him, he was clutching his daughter’s bible along with a short note. The note read, “If I am found, please give this bible back to my daughter and tell her to keep reading it. She must get to know Jesus Christ.” On the inside cover of the bible, he had scribbled a short prayer asking Jesus to be his Savior.
This man had been touched by the power of the Holy Spirit, and it had transformed his life for Christ. Even in death, he had the power to lead his daughter to Christ.
I believe the Holy Spirit is trying to ask the churches this question today: "Are you feeding His people the truth in such a way as to help prepare their souls?"
And I think the message the Holy Spirit has for all of us today is:
“Will you fulfill your God-given responsibility to lead your loved ones to the Lord?”
In the Bible, the entire household would follow the lead of the parents. Is your household following your lead? In JOSHUA 24:15, it says –
“As for me and my household, we shall serve the Lord.”
We may want to serve the Lord, but we have a responsibility to make sure we are serving the true Lord. We must get to know God’s word so intimately that we will not allow a distorted version of Christianity into our lives or into the lives of our loved ones.
I would like to take a quick minute to offer you the chance to either get right with God by opening your heart up to Jesus right now this morning, or if you have already done so, to give you the opportunity to do so again, to rededicate your feelings and commitment towards Him.
If the Holy Spirit is giving you the feeling of coming forward this morning to get closer to Jesus, please act on it and do not deny it. You are among a very loving family here and all of us wish a closer walk with Jesus for everyone else.
INVITATION
