STAYING IN MY LANE
Various Scriptures
A few weeks ago, I read a post by Albert Mohler. Dr. Mohler is President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. On his updates, he posted an article entitled ‘Staying in his Lane—Joel Osteen’s Gospel of Affirmation without salvation. Soledad O’Brien on CNN. He commented on the interview and I will quote from the article. (next slide)
“You’ve got to send your words out in the direction you want your life to go.” “With our words we can either bless our futures or we can curse our futures.”
Osteen calls faith, “activating faith,” because “faith is what causes God to work.”
“I think part of my, if you want to call it success, I’ve stayed in my lane and my lane is listing people’s spirits and there are issues that good, Bible-believing people see on both sides of the fence.” (next slide)
Dr. Mohler went on to say, “Viewers of CNN saw a display of confusion, evasion, and equivocation coming from one presented as a Christian pastor. What they were really seeing is the total theological bankruptcy of the word of faith movement and the gospel of positive thinking. Osteen cannot, or at least will not, speak even the simplest word of biblical conviction. He states his intention to stay in his “lane” of glib affirmation.”
Joel Osteen is probably the best known preacher of the Word of Faith movement or Prosperity Gospel. His church, Lakewood Church of Houston, Texas, is attended by over 40,000 each weekend. He has written books, visited many cities, doing “An Evening with Joel Osteen.” If you listen to him, you can’t help but be encouraged by his smile, winsome personality and encouraging message.
But what exactly is this message Joel Osteen preaches? And why am I so concerned about it? If you listen to Osteen, or any of these other Word of Faith preachers, here are some of the things you here. (next slide)
• God wants you to be happy, healthy and wealthy
• You can create your own destiny by faith
• Just declare it by faith
• It will happen!
Sounds good, doesn’t it? But wait. Just the other night I was watching a video on a Cathay Pacific 747-400 taken in the cockpit. The captain took us into the simulator where pilots learn to fly these airplanes. I have been privileged to fly both a 747 and a 777 simulator. You might not want me for your pilot! Once they close the door, and get going, you will forget you are actually on the ground. Airplanes have to fly a certain speed to maintain lift. Otherwise they will stall. And if they go to fast, it can have catastrophic consequences as well. The pilots have to stay within the window of safe airspeeds to fly. Otherwise they are getting into the “Danger Zone.” (next slide)
• Faith becomes nothing more than a “force.”
• By your words you can manipulate God and create what you believe the Bible promises—health and wealth.
• It denies God’s sovereignty and makes God subject to your will.
• This is idolatry—turning yourself into God. (next slide)
• Demotes God and makes man equal to Him.
• Faith—by your spoken word you can speak whatever you want into existence.
• Just declare it by faith
• Joyce Meyer--I will be healthy, I will not have this cancer, I will be prosperous in Jesus’ name (next slide)
This teaching is based on Positive Confession. Here’s what Positive Confession teaches.
• When you say aloud what you want to happen with expectations that God will make it happen, your words will have spiritual power.
• If you speak them aloud with the right faith, you can gain health and wealth, and accomplish what you want.
• The law of attraction states that like attracts alike.
Positive Confession comes not from the Bible, but from a philosophy that started in the late 1700’s called New Thought. Here’s what New Thought teaches. (next slide)
• The key to getting health and wealth is in thinking, seeing and saying the right words
• Your words have power
• Add some Bible verses and it definitely sounds Christian.
• This sounds great but it has done irreparable damage in the Body of Christ.
Notice the last point. My good friend Dr. Matthew St. John said, “This teaching is like eating salad with dirty lettuce. It will toss your cookies like you can’t even imagine. It has done irreparable damage to the body of Christ. Let me give you a couple examples.
In the early 1980’s I read an article from the Jews for Jesus newsletter, about a man who was Jewish like me, and a believer in Jesus Christ. His name was Milton Kohut. Due to a cancelled flight, Kohut changed his travel plans and rescheduled his business trip. The flight was cancelled in New York because of weather. Had Kohut’s flight not been cancelled, he never would have made it home. He was originally booked on American Airlines flight 191; the DC-10 that lost an engine taking off from Chicago in 1979. All 271 passengers and crew onboard were killed along with 2 people on the ground, as the plane crashed into a field just near a trailer park. Many more could have been killed. While Kohut was thankful his life was spared, he also knew many lives were lost. He had no answer. And he wrote an article about it, and he shared one of the responses. It was from a Christian publisher in Chicago whose colleague was aboard AA 191. He responded with, ““I don’t question my colleague’s untimely death, and I cannot tell you how to live the rest of your life. It is my conviction that God has further work for you to do, while my colleague’s work has been accomplished.”
I never forgot that story. In February 1997, I was meeting with a group of pilots at AA to pray for our company. The pilots union and AA management were in the last week of negotiations to come to a tentative agreement on a new contract. It was Tuesday. If they did not reach a tentative agreement by Friday at midnight (Valentines Day I might add), the pilots would go on strike. A prolonged strike would have put AA out of business and serious affected the US economy. We met to pray together for our company. Just so you know the pilots did go on strike, but it only lasted 7 minutes because President Clinton signed an emergency order for the pilots to go back to work. After the prayer meeting I shared the above story about Milton Kohut with a pilot. I was completely taken aback by his response. “It was not God’s will for that woman to die.” He shared from Psalm 90 where we are promised 70 years. Granted, that is the normal life span, but who was he to say when this person’s time was up. It was like he was playing God. A few months later I attended the National Day of Prayer at AA. After the meeting, there were several pilots there, so we all stayed to pray together. One of the pilots had been grounded because of a medical condition. A pilot said, “We are going to take authority over that sickness. It is not God’s will for you to be grounded. God is not glorified in sickness, He is glorified in health.” Sounds like you’re playing God to me, my friend.
I remember reading about a woman who was terminally ill with cancer. The elders of her church went over to pray for her and declare healing. She died. I don’t know about you, but if someone loses a loved one, I will reach out and minister to that person. Instead, the church rebuked her family for their lack of faith. Sounds more like Job’s 3 friends to me. (next slide)
• Mr. Osteen, I have a declaration for you. This is my Bible
• It is God’s inspired Word
• I’m going to preach it like it is and not make into something it isn’t
• I’m not going to tickle peoples ears just to make them feel good
• I may not build a church the size of yours but I will stay in my lane and “Preach the Word.”
Where did this teaching come from? That is what I want us to look at today. This is something I have been reading about, listening to messages on for a year. A book that helped me is this one; Health, Wealth and Happiness by David W. Jones and Russell S. Woodbridge. Justin Peters does an excellent seminar, critiquing this movement. A sermon by a friend, Dr. Matthew St. John opened my eyes to what is behind what these preachers teach. They won’t tell you what I am about to tell you.
Let me also say that I know in a church as diversified as AITCF, there are different denominations and nationalities here. Some of you may like Joel Osteen. That is certainly your prerogative. I won’t tell you not to listen to him. But I will share with you where these teachings come from. You may decide you do not want me to come back and preach at AITCF again. I might get some more unfriends on Facebook. But please listen to what I am going to share, and then if you want to feed me to the lions it’s ok. (next slide)
The teachings of the Word of Faith/Prosperity gospel do not originate in the Bible. Time does not allow me to go into great detail. The book by Jones and Woodbridge does. But it comes from 1st century Gnosticism, Ancient Mysticism, and Christian Science. None of these are rooted in the Bible. It is based on New Thought which originated with Phineas T. Quimby in the late 1700’s Advocates of these religions were not regenerated believers in Jesus Christ. An evangelist and pastor, E.W. Kenyon incorporated Quimby’s teachings into his theology. The man who really took off with this is Kenneth Hagin. He is known as the father of the word of faith movement. (next slide)
What does this gospel teach? I am going to group this into 3 points. And while there may be variations within these, in essence this is what adherents of this teaching will tell you. (next slide)
First, you are a little god. Adam was created in God’s image, given dominion and power and in essence was a little god. God spoke the world into existence, so could Adam. He could declare and decree whatever he wanted. That was great except he blew it. That brings me to my next point, Jesus died to get it back for us. He actually went to hell, and negotiated with Satan and everything that Adam had and was lost in the fall, Jesus got it back. So as a little god, you can speak words of faith and declare whatever you want into existence. Do you want to be rich? Speak words of prosperity. Are you sick? You’re a little god; it’s not God’s will for you to be sick. Declare healing!
But friends, there is a little catch. It’s not automatic. You have to declare it. Just because you are a little god and it’s not God’s will for you to be sick, doesn’t mean you will automatically be healed. You need to declare it. And if it doesn’t happen, you know why? You didn’t have enough faith. I got into a discussion with a friend a few months ago who went to Benny Hinn when he was here. Argument would be better. She kept insisting it was God’s will to be healed, but because I doubted, I wasn’t healed.
OK, if this isn’t from God’s word, what does God’s word teach? (next slide)
1. We are not little gods. Let’s read Genesis 1:26, 27.
• Genesis 1:26-27 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Friends, and this is a sermon in itself, to be created in the image of God does not mean we are equal to Him. Adam was created to be like God in nature (intellect, emotions and reason) and moral (sinless). He lost his moral likeness when he sinned, but he still retains his natural likeness. A friend once told me that to be created in God’s image means that we bear His image. It does not mean we are equal to him. If you have time, read Isaiah 40:25, 26. Better yet, read the whole chapter. God is intimately involved with us, but He is not equal to us. I often hear people refer to Jesus as “my best friend.” In John 15:14, Jesus refers to His disciples as ‘His friends,’ and not the other way around. Abraham in James 2:23, says “Abraham was called the friend of God.” God is intimately involved in your life, as much as you want Him to be. But He is not equal to you. If you make yourself equal to God you are committing the worst possible idolatry.
Let me share with you some verses the word of faith preachers use to declare we are gods.
• Psalm 82:6 I said, "You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High.
• John 10:34 Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I SAID, YOU ARE GODS '?
Friends, it is important that we study a verse in its context. Because it just might happen to have a totally different meaning.
If we read Psalm 82, it is about unjust judges. If we go past verse 6, they face judgment, namely death. They claim to be gods. They may be sons of the Most High. But they are wicked, they will fall and die like men. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want one of these gods.
In John 10, the Jews again want to kill Jesus because He made Himself out to be God. Jesus quoted from Psalm 82 and said that in the Old Testament, the word Elohim is used of men who were representatives of God. If that is the case, the Jews should not oppose Jesus calling Himself God. And in verse 35, Jesus reminds the Jews that this came from God’s word, which cannot be broken. If Jesus, whom the Father set apart and sent into the world cannot be God, then the Scripture is broken. (next slide)
And third, why did Christ come to die? Was it to make us healthy and wealthy? I don’t remember hearing this when someone shared the gospel with me.
• 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
• 1 John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
Christ’s death on the cross was to redeem the world from the penalty of sin. Not all will accept it. But if you are here today and have never trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, He offers you eternal life. Even Joel Osteen teaches this. But Joel Osteen doesn’t teach that you are a sinner who has fallen short of God’s standards. It doesn’t mean you have done anything evil. It means you have fallen short of God’s perfect, holy and moral character (Romans 3:23, 6:23). The penalty is death and eternal separation from God. Jesus spoke about hell more than anyone else. The good news is that God, because of His great love for us, sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sins (Romans 5:8). Eternal life is a free gift to all who believe (John 3:16). Yes, I know Mr. Osteen gives an opportunity for his listeners to accept Christ after his sermon. But with the garbage he preaches, only a fool would reject Christ. Now there is a reference to Jesus descending into the lower parts of the earth in Ephesians 4:9. This is a very difficult verse to interpret. But I think a possible interpretation might be that it refers to Christ’s descending from heaven to earth. We don’t know for sure. But Christ did not come to make you healthy and wealthy that’s for sure. (next slide)
Last, but most important. God is sovereign. We are not. He calls the shots. He usually doesn’t ask what we think or ask our permission. He is God. We are not. Dr. John Walvoord, former President, Chancellor and Chancellor Emeritus of Dallas Theological Seminary said that we must bow to Him in all things; the things we understand and the things we don’t understand. Otherwise we are denying God’s sovereignty and providence. This doesn’t mean we won’t understand everything. But when we declare this and decree that, we are in essence making ourselves to be sovereign. A friend once asked to show him one verse that says God is sovereign. It’s all over the Bible. But I’ll share this one with you.
Psalm 115:3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. (next slide)
Friends, do you know what discipleship is? What did Jesus say?
• Mark 8:34 And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
What does the cross symbolize? Death. Now I know most of us will probably not face death for being a follower of Jesus. But in many parts of the world they do. In 1995 I travelled to China with The Bible League to take Bibles in for the Chinese Christians. They do face persecution for their faith. When we were in Guangzhou, we met with Pastor Samuel Lamb. Pastor Lamb spent 20 years in prison because he would not deny Christ. He died a few weeks ago. He said he would go on preaching as long as he could and he did.
I am not saying that to be a disciple of Christ means we have to live a miserable life. Most often in my country we think of that as having to serve as a missionary in a 3rd world country. But you know what? You talk to a missionary serving in a 3rd world country and he or she doesn’t want to be anywhere else. I heard a pastor say that when they come home on furlough, they are miserable because they can’t wait to get back to the field. But being a follower of Jesus means we lay everything at the foot of the cross and follow Him wherever He may lead. He calls the shots, we don’t. (next slide)
I’ve been asked questions such as is it God’s will to be sick, do the sufferings of Christ apply to us etc. Show me one verse that says it’s God’s will to be sick. I can show you lots of verses. But that’s not the problem. The problem is you want to be a little god. As a little god of course it’s not God’s will to suffer or be sick. And if God is sovereign, then you can’t be sovereign. There can only be one sovereign. Which means, you are not a little god. Second, you don’t build your theology on one verse. Let me give you a couple of verses that might help in suffering.
• 1 Corinthians 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
• 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 God comforts us in our suffering so we can comfort others who are suffering.
We are part of the body of Christ and we all suffer together. Remember the woman who died and the church rebuked the family for their lack of faith? They should have used that time to minister to that family. And second, when we suffer, God will often use us to comfort others. (next slide)
See there are some things that we all want; pleasure, prosperity, peace and no pain. There is nothing wrong with this. But remember, God may have a purpose in your pain. (next slide) Like this boy getting a shot. Most kids hate shots. Many adults do too. Why? They hurt. But it might be the pain of that shot that prevents you from getting a disease which could cripple you for life. I remember when I was a boy; polio was one of the most dreaded diseases. It affected young children and it could cause paralysis and even death. Dr. Jonas Salk developed a vaccine against polio. It had to be given by injection. I hated getting those shots. But looking back I’m glad my parents made me get them. Polio can cripple you for life.
Friends, let me close with some warnings. And I posted these on my page on Facebook several weeks ago. (next slide)
Thousands, and possibly more, practice an occult version of Christianity when they believe and practice that our words carry supernatural power to release favor, ability, opportunity, confidence and God's goodness. Joel Osteen and Paula White are big supporters of this false doctrine.
This doctrine is not Biblical. It is a monstrous, abominable heresy and idolatry. God is not pleased with it. Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, Paula White, Joyce Meyer and all who teach this doctrine will answer to God. And if they have led people astray by these heretical teachings, they will answer to Him for it. That’s not what concerns me. You know what concerns me? I will have to answer to God for what I am sharing with you today.
And if you are in the habit of going around declaring and decreeing that God do this, here’s a warning for you. (next slide)
• “Do not place yourself in a position of declaring and decreeing that the heavens open and God does what you declare and decree. You may find out that you are setting yourself up against Him....."
Friends, let me close with some words of comfort from God’s word. We won’t turn to the Scripture references. You can look them up. But here are some things we need to remember, especially in times of suffering. (next slide)
1. Our sufferings will not last forever. Yes I know there is no light at the end of the tunnel. But this is not our forever home. Heaven is
2. Future glory awaits us (Romans 8:18-31). Romans 8 is a magnificent exposition by Paul reminding us of our future glory.
3. We will one day be in the new heavens and earth. Revelation 21 and 22 tells us about this. I don’t know what heaven will be like. It would probably blow my mind if I did. Paul got a glimpse of it, but just so he wouldn’t boast, he got a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble.
4. God is loving, merciful and compassionate. I preached on Lamentations 3 a year or so ago. Memorize verses 22 and 23.
5. God will never leave us or forsake us. Hebrews 13:5. Yes, I know we often feel like He has. But He won’t.
6. God will either deliver us or give us grace to persevere. 2 Cor 12:9. One way or the other. Paul pleaded with God to remove his thorn. We don’t know what it is. I think that was intentional. God wouldn’t remove Paul’s thorn, but He gave him grace for it. As a result, Paul boasted in his weaknesses, because he knew Christ’s strength was perfected in weakness.
Friends, I don’t know what you may be going through today. You may be experiencing God’s blessing. You may be going through a difficult time of suffering. But all these things these guys preach like health, wealth and happiness, one day these will happen. We will be in the presence of Christ. I remember a song that came out in 2001, I can only imagine. I can only imagine. But I know it will be a lot better than the garbage these preachers are preaching. Let’s be followers of Jesus Christ and experience the true blessing He wants us to have. Let’s pray.
