Sermon Title: Look for the “REAL” seal!
Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:1-5
Wesleyan Community Church
Terry, Mississippi
Sunday Morning – June 2, 2002
Scripture Introduction:
When we go into the grocery store to purchase various items of nutritional value for our families, we purchase based on some sort of standard of quality in regards to what we might feed them. We tend to stay away from the products that are labeled “imitation”, instead we seek the genuine item. If we work for someone we certainly would not accept counterfeit currency as a form of payment would we?
There is greater confidence in the things that are labeled “real” then in the products that are labeled “imitation”. As I began thinking about this morning’s message the emblem that the dairy industry used came to mind. “Look for the real seal” is the motto that they use. Paul is telling Timothy to teach of the need to look at the cross for what it means and what it stands for and the need to keep its message pure and to never accept anything less than the pure unedited and unmodified word of Christ.
Throughout Paul’s letter to Timothy, he stresses the behaviors that we exhibit as followers of Christ, but the things that we say and the things that we do are ultimately rooted in the things that we believe, and when we believe things that are not quite right it only follows that our actions as well be faulty as well.
Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 4:1-5
1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
Sermon Introduction:
The moment that we become aware of Christianity, either through the direct conviction of the Holy Spirit or through the evangelistic efforts of someone, we might say that we are given a forecast of our spiritual future. The fact of the matter is that we have two distinctly different directions that we could go. It has either been forecast that we will spend our eternity in heaven or we will spend our eternity in hell. Chances are, that when we are approached by someone who professes Christ, and we are not in a proper relationship with Him, then we are probably going to be told that we are destined for hell. Now the manner in which we are told may vary, and if hell is not the message that we are given, then there is something seriously wrong with the person that is trying to win us over. In fact I might even dare to say that they are being used as a tool of Satan in order to seal our fate rather than lead us to the redemptive powers of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The problem that faces the church is that the message is not popular with those that enjoy living in carnal bliss. The message that the Gospel brings us is far more then a simple promise of heaven where there will be no tears or pain or suffering, the message of the Gospel also tells us that we can live victorious, meaningful and fulfilling lives while we walk upon the face of this earth. The difference is there are laws, there are rules, God has set down loving regulations, not arbitrarily dictated to prove that He is supreme, but He has done this because He loves us and wishes only that we live according to His standards and in that manner show how much we love Him. He must give us the choice or we could not show Him love.
Now we take into consideration those that profess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but that outward proclamation is all that there is. They are fakes, they are phonies, and they are far worse then those that have never had a relationship with the Lord or those that have and have fallen out and are honest about it. I think if we look at this matter in all seriousness, we would probably realize that there are many within the church that are counterfeit Christians rather than the genuine article. It has to be this way otherwise there would be no fighting over the color of carpet, there would be no fighting over minor issues and there would be no bickering over whether or not we install padded pews or not. If we look at the facts the early church was all in one accord in one room, and now we have separated ourselves into many different rooms that we call denominations and we all seem to have personal agendas and have left the Gospel to fend for itself. Are these harsh words to the church of today, perhaps harsh is to soft for what we have allowed the Gospel of Christ to become.
We have allowed the Word of God to become diluted with the whims and desires of man. We have seen what convicts being diluted and deleted and that which requires us to seek God’s direction being amended to suit the fancy of those that see themselves as holier than the remainder of the body of Christ. Jesus taught against the added regulations and ceremony of the Pharisees and as a result they sided with the Roman government in the conspiracy that ultimately led up to the crucifixion of Jesus. There are those among our rank and file that call themselves Christian today, there are those that are taking the teachings of our Lord and modifying them to fit their blasphemous and abominational lifestyles and in so doing are in league with Satan himself in a conspiracy to quell and to kill the Gospel and its power to resurrect even the most lost soul, and bring back even the most distant from God. The new generation of Pharisees is alive and well and thriving in the Christian church of today.
Let us pause for a moment of prayer!
Point 1: The Forecast
Paul gets right down to business in this section to Timothy. He tells him, “Preacher beware and beware today” We read in the first section of this mornings first verse:
1aNow the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
The later times that Paul is talking about has nothing to do with the “End Times” or anything about the second coming of our Lord and Savior, he tells Timothy as he tells us that before our Savior’s body was even cold in death that the plot to mislead and misguide was already etched in stone on the hardest of hearts of those puppets of Satan himself. There was a departure from the faith from the moment of the Savior’s crucifixion and we cannot kid ourselves that movement is alive and thriving and growing in momentum today.
There will be deviations from the faith, in other words, there will be just enough truth to give the false teaching some form of credibility, and once the hook has taken hold, the bait has done its job and the captured soul begins the process of being reeled in for an eternity of torment while Satan laughs at the clever way that he has used those that claim Christ as his greatest and most effective tool to capture and eternally ensnare the lost.
Point 2: The Falsehoods
This almost seems to easy, who can imagine falling for such an obvious trick? We need not look around long to find evidence of the success of the subversion of God’s message. Let us read the remainder of the first verse:
1bgiving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
What do we consider the seducing spirits or the doctrines of devils? I guess I should more accurately and more importantly say, “What does God consider the seducing spirits and doctrines of devils?” If we wish a possible answer to that we can begin by looking at the infiltration of the body of Christ. What has happened to the church? Many denominations have removed the references to Christ’s shed blood in the hymns that are sung because such references are considered barbaric and perhaps are considered offensive. Without Christ’s shed blood we are lost! There is no hope outside of the brutal and barbaric death that He suffered upon that cross. Yet some choose to minimize that, why? If we minimize the sacrifice then we also ease the power of conviction in our hearts. That falsely eased conscience is what has led some of certain denominational leaders to deny the resurrection or the fact that Jesus was fully man as well as fully God, and that falsely eases the guilt caused by living contrary to the tenets that God has laid out
This is why there are churches that welcome homosexual pastors, this is why some churches feel that Jesus is only one of the many roads to God, this is why many churches believe that if you say a few words over a child and baptize them that they are guaranteed entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Churches actually believe in these falsehoods and what is even sadder is the people that worship there are convinced that they are eternally safe and instead they are headed for hell. These are doctrines of the devils!
Point 3: The Fakes
What makes this even sadder is that the misinformation that is fed to many of the people who are earnestly and honestly seeking to find Jesus are coming from those that profess to be Christians. Let us read the second verse of this chapter:
2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
There is an interesting origin of the word “hypocrite”. The word was the name originally given to those that were actors in the various presentations that were popular among the Greek culture. The word describes people who act out a type of life that is contrary to what they are living. Apply that to the people of the church. They outwardly portray a Christian life style, yet their actual lives are contrary.
What do you suppose the effect is on an honest seeker of the truth when they discover the truth of someone whom they are perhaps seeking guidance from. If someone professes Christianity to a non-believer who is on the verge of becoming a believer and they find that the faith that they portray is lie – they will send them further from God. Even though they may not have spoken a single word of falsehood, their lives have taught in a manner which could be called heresy. Jesus told of the consequences of misleading the seeking, and although some may say He was speaking of children, this message speaks equally of those that are just trying to begin a relationship with Jesus:
Matthew 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
If we look at the twenty third chapter of Matthew in verses 13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, and 29 we will find the woes that Jesus ascribes to the hypocrites of the church
Mt 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in
Mt 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Mt 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Mt 23:16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor
Mt 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone {anise: Gr. dill}
Mt 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mt 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mt 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Let us quickly look at the latter half of verse 2, “having their conscience seared with a hot iron”. I tell you now brothers and sisters that there is a real danger from continuing in a manner that you know is wrong. The seared conscience can be compared to what happens when the flesh is seared. The deep burn kills the nerves and the real and actual feeling can no longer be felt. If there are those that continue to live a lie despite the searing power of conviction there will come a times when they honestly will know no better and will be for all intents and purposes lost to the message of the Gospel and doomed to an eternity of torment. Do not allow the process to progress to that point.
Point 4: The Fallacies
While the hypocrites are busy misleading with their lying lives, the Pharisees of that time are misleading those that would be faithful followers by the additional doctrines that they have imposed on the people. They have this power because they also had a perceived superiority over what they considered the common people. This was one of the greatest reasons for the reformation of the early church. The Catholic church kept the Bible out of the hands of the people or at least in a language that they could not understand, and in so doing they could dictate what the people believed in regards to the things of God. Those that were ignorant of the content of the Scriptures were ignorant of the deception that was taking place. If I might rephrase an old saying that came from the reformation, if we expect people to plow the fields we had best put a plow in their hands.
Let us read Paul’s words in verses 3 through 5:
3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
These were things that were added by man after God had ordained them to be acceptable. I tell you right now the Pharisees of Jesus’ time have been replaced with a new breed today and what they practice is called legalism and it has an equally powerful stranglehold on the church of today as the early Pharisees had on infant church.
To much emphasis is placed on outward appearance and viewed acts and perceived acts of holiness and to little is placed on what needs to take place deep on the inside. There is a reason for this and that is we can control what we look like and what we do and when we do it, however only the Holy Spirit and the shed blood of Jesus through the grace of God can clean the inwardly defiled man. And for that to happen, total control over life, loves, livelihood and loyalties needs to be turned over to God, and despite the way someone may appear as holy and act as holy, their souls are as filthy and rotten as the devil who controls them.
Conclusion:
We hear of the problems that threaten to consume the church and we certainly are made aware by the press as they almost gladly gloat at the many defeats that are occurring within the various bodies of Christ, but what are we to do?
We must first realize that this should come as no surprise to us. This was predicted by the prophets and even Jesus predicted the very same thing of those that were closest to Him.. Peter would deny his Lord and Savior three times and this was the rock upon which Christ would build the church. We must be aware that this happened then, it continues to happen now and it will continue until Christ returns to claim His bride and take the church home. However, if we bury our heads like an ostrich, we may hide the problems from our eyes but they will not go away. Be aware and be alert and be prepared to go into battle wearing the full armor of God.
How do we combat the falsehoods that are being so easily used against us? We combat the falsehoods by reading and studying the written Word of God. Many people say that they cannot understand what the Word of God is telling them and that can be remedied by allowing the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and direct all of the things that we study or read. However we cannot expect the intervention of the Holy Spirit if have not begun to callous our knees in the process of prayer. A praying church is a victorious church and the same thing applies to the praying individual. Know what God’s Word says, understand how it applies to your life, petition the Holy Spirit for His divine intervention and by all means listen to the guidance or conviction that He so lovingly by firmly offers.
What do we do about the fakes and the charlatans that have become so prevalent in our society? We must pray for their illumination, we must pray for their identification because if they are not stopped and if they do not cease their false teachings they will suffer the elimination from the possibilities of an eternity with Jesus, their consciences will indeed be seared as will their souls in an eternity in hell. We can discern the fakes and the frauds through devoted times of study and a devoted time of prayer!
What do we do with the false teachings that are filling the churches of today? God’s Word is clear on many things, His Word is written without any intent of confusion or question, however His Word was meant to be understood through the inspiration and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Just as an untrained runner will find himself unsuccessful in the running of a race, so to will the novice believer have difficulties in understanding and completing the change that the Lord wishes to take place in their lives until His Spirit is in control and reigns supreme in all aspects of their lives. We must read God’s Word in the spirit that it was intended and of the things that we remain unsure to commit to Him in our times of prayer and then be prepared to react upon the things that we are told. Prayer is far more then petition it is more a practice of submission.
We have heard the forecast of rough weather ahead – so how will we prepare? If we are told that a tornado has touched down in our vicinity and we need to take cover, do we wait by the big picture window and hope to see it first-hand – No we take the measures that we need to take and prepare to withstand and emerge untouched. We must pray and prepare!
The church of today has a choice, it must either strengthen itself with prayer or fail to become a significant tool to win souls for God’s kingdom. As individuals, the same choice faces us well, pray or loose our effectiveness. If we are to understand God’s Word, if we are to discern and uncover the false teachers, if we are to know right doctrine from wrong, we must pray for a revival and that revival needs to break out in our very own hearts. I would like to close with this poem that sums this all up by Dr. Wesley Duewel:
Lord, send revival in mighty flood-tide;
Send streams of blessing to sweep far and wide.
Send them engulfing like waves of the sea;
Sweep through our lowlands and work mightily.
Send the outpourings of God’s Holy rain
Send mighty cloud-bursts again and again
Strike holy lightning at home and abroad;
Speak in your thunder, O Spirit of God!
Fill all our churches with rivers of pow’r
Flood man’s embankments in this holy hour!
Sweep away rubbish and all the debris;
Sweep all the hindrances out to the sea.
Things long unmoved by our normal smooth way
You can remove by Your flood-tide’s full sway.
Unsightly jumble that littered each side
Sweep to obliv’on by Your holy tide
Lord, send revival to flood all around;
Flood by Your blessing all low parched ground.
Sweep on in power; oh, sweep, mighty flood!
Sweep in all fullness, O river of God!
If you have not been filled with the fullness of God then perhaps this is the morning to begin the process of making it so in your life. When we seek the revival to begin in our lives, and when that need is meant earnestly, then even the deepest and darkest recesses of our lives need to be turned over for inspection by through the Holy Spirit. A painful process at times but worthwhile from the kingdom standpoint. Are there impurities or wrong motives that need to be surrendered before God – why not allow the process to begin this morning. The altar is open as it always is, if there is healing that needs to be done then why not begin today.
