Becoming Better Theologians (part 37)

Father in heaven, we just come before you this morning. Mindful of what a great God you are how blessed we are to be your people. To be called by your voice to be known by you to be redeemed by you. That you would send your son Jesus Christ to die for us father as we gather together.

Would you bless our time? Would you bless our minds? Would you bless our fellowship this morning and father, would you just Guard our hearts as we look to your word and we see what you've told us about yourself and about ourselves.

And about why we need such a great Savior. Would you bless us again in Christ's name? Amen. Well, can I see a Just a real a show of hands a true confession time. How many of you are on the TBN mailing list?

Come on nobody else I Cannot get off the that's the Trinity broadcasting network. I can't get off. Although I haven't really asked. But you know you do one stupid thing early in your life and you're just marked forever.

I don't think I've mentioned this before but actually it it was hard getting off the The Mormon Church rolls, but I think it's harder to get off the TBN mailing list. I mean, they just don't you don't send them a four-day address.

They track you down. It just doesn't matter. I Would invite you to open your Bibles to Isaiah 42 verse 9. Isaiah 42 verse 9. I Just want to start out with our you know, maybe I should have a little word for this segment.

We'll call it the hermeneutic moments of the day Isaiah 42 verse 9. I have the New King James here. I guess I can read that. It's fine. I mean, I said, you know, typically the great theologian Paul Crouch uses the Bible speaks today or some other bogus Format but anyway, New King James behold the former things have come to pass but new things I now declare before they spring forth.

I tell you of them. The ESV says behold the former things have come to pass and new things. I now declare before they spring forth. I tell you of them okay, so What's the what's the meaning of that? Well clearly?

Clearly it has to do with the new TBN mobile iPhone app. There is another new thing the Lord gave us in 2011 I TBN our new internet TV station. It's actually more than a station, etc, etc, etc. And he goes on he's just in the Isaiah 42, you know almost verse by verse.

Let the wilderness in the city sing this is verse 11 lift up their voice let the inhabitants of the rock sing. Let them shout for from the top of the mountains. What are the new things are happening in 2011, etc, etc.

Anyway, the point of all that is and I'm gonna be speaking for a moment about that tonight in the message about Isaiah 40, you know. You can use any verse. Janet and I were talking about this on the way over you can use any verse.

Taken out of context to support whatever you want it to be, you know, including your new ITVN app. But in context if we go back to Isaiah chapter 40 the context is Isaiah the prophet via the Holy Spirit.

Telling the people of Israel that they are going to be. That they're going to have hope. Which is an odd concept because they were still in their own land. But this is for a future time where they would not be in the land where they would be under persecution.

They would be in in Babylon. They would be under they would be in slavery basically and so this whole section of scripture is written written to encourage them and Isaiah 42 is Really kind of it's one of the servant Psalms and it talks about The Lord about the Lord himself coming.

I mean if we look at Isaiah 42 verse 1 behold my servant whom I uphold my chosen and whom my soul delights. I've put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nation's he will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the streets and Listen, you'll recognize this a bruised reed.

He will not break and a faintly burning wick. He will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice, etc. Etc. Etc. Talking about this servant who would be the Messiah and I'm like again You can you ought not but you can make the Bible say whatever you want, but you shouldn't.

You shouldn't do that. So anyway, I digress. Just start a little hermeneutic moment of the morning we've been talking about the unity of The Trinity or about the unity of the Godhood. And Talking about different aspects of it doing this quiz and we're gonna conclude this this morning and We'll be moving on and I think in another week or two.

We're gonna be doing a series and I'm excited about this one. We're gonna be doing what we've talked about doing in the evening and I'm gonna move it to the morning. We're gonna do a little series on Money what the Bible says about it how we should view it.

How we should handle things and we're gonna get us some practicalities. On Budgeting and things like that because I just am increasingly concerned as a pastor the number of people who honestly just don't I Mean, we've we've lost I think 50 years ago the things that we do now and don't even think about.

People would have been shocked and appalled that we would ever consider doing them and now we just think they're They're the right thing to do. So we're gonna be talking about what the Bible says about money.

How we ought to view it how we ought to handle it how we ought to go about Handling on a daily basis our finances. Okay, so we've been talking about we had this quiz format talking about I think we're on number 11 it is possible that a general religious sense in man developed into monotheism this idea of evolution.

Even being the way that we should understand religion that religion developed from these kind of Backward ideas, you know that the wind is powerful. We can't understand it. Therefore there must be a God behind it fire is powerful.

We can't understand it. We can't control it although we can't control it to some extent because we made steel and other things that are iron and other things but Therefore it must be a God water must be a God and that all these ideas kind of over time the Jews You know being religious geniuses as they're portrayed.

Developed this idea of monotheism and this is exactly backwards. What happens is what in the Bible we know that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. So there was one God there has always been one God and that it was Devolution it devolved into this idea of monotheism and even a theism.

That's not evolution. It's devolution. However, you say it it's D evolution. Just a note about evolution. I post this on Facebook this week. I thought those are pretty interesting. Dogs it turns out how many how many like dogs I'll be praying for the rest of you the.

It turns out that dogs every major, you know purebred. That we know about right now developed what over the last couple thousand years. How about the last 300 years? All the variety of dogs that we have now are just they're purebred, but they're bred.

They were selectively bred out of different Groups of dogs and so they got exactly what they wanted in 300 years. It's pretty stunning but here was an even more stunning thing that I read this was from the answers in Genesis people someone did this experiment where they took foxes and They took the ones that were least man averse and they bred those together and over nine generations.

Guess what they did they had just a What do you call it? Where they're at home and Domesticated, thank you. They had a domesticated Fox and I was like, that's pretty amazing. It didn't take millions and billions of years it just took what maybe 15 10 whatever it was nine generations probably less than that because dogs don't have gestation periods of Nine months.

What is the gesture? I don't know what it is, but but it didn't take very long. Didn't take very long and so I mean, it's just amazing when you actually study, you know this millions and billions of years.

I've talked before about how water got here through these asteroids and all these things that are Scientifically true and then you start analyzing me to go. They're just not as smart as they thought. So anyway, we're looking at that.

We talked about the idea that the Bible does refer to other gods. And we're gonna develop that a little bit but let's look at first Kings 18. And this is just a classic classic passage of the Bible. Kings Kings Chronicles Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah.

Sir, Joe that was one of the things I learned while I was in seminary and Not in master seminary, but in seminary and the Mormon Church when I was a kid. We had a little song we learned all the Bible books in order.

Okay, first Kings, that's all we learned about the Bible, but I digress first Kings Chapter 18 and we're gonna start reading in verse 17. I'm gonna read it because it's kind of long 17 to 29. When Ahab saw Elijah Ahab said to him Is it you a have been the king troubler of Israel?

And he answered I have not troubled Israel. But you have and your father's house because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals the false gods the idols now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah Who eat at Jezebel's table another false god Asherah or a generic name for false gods Asherah.

Verse 20 so Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel remember their strength in numbers and Elijah came near to all the people and said how long will you go limping between two opinions?

In other words, you have two minds. If the Lord is God follow him, but if Baal then follow him and the people did not answer him a word then Elijah said to the people I Even I only am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.

Let two bowls be given to us and let them choose one bowl for themselves and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood. But put no fire on fire to it and I will prepare the other bowl and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it and You call upon the name of your God and I will call upon the name of the Lord and the God who answers by fire.

He is God now. Let me ask you this. Is this descriptive or prescriptive? In other words, this is a description of a historical event or something we should do today. Obviously, it's descriptive. But I mean, you know and the reason I bring this up is again hermeneutics.

People want to take things out of the Old Testament and say well if Elijah can do this and certainly I can do it, too. Don't try this at home kids. Verse 23. Let me move on 24 and you call upon the name of your God and I will call upon the name of the Lord and the God who answers by Fire he is God and all the people answered it is well spoken.

Okay, bring it on. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal choose for yourselves one bowl and prepare prepare it first for you are many and Call upon the name of your God but put no fire to it. And they took the bowl that was given to them and they prepared it upon the name of Baal.

Or called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon saying Oh Baal answer us. But there was no voice and no one answered and they limped around the altar. They're gonna get his attention. You know, they're they're gonna hurt themselves and show them that they're serious.

They limped around the altar that they had made and at noon Elijah mocked them saying cry aloud for he is a God either he is musing thinking or as he is relieving himself or he's on a journey or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened and they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances until Blood gushed out upon them why to show again to show Baal that they're serious to show them how much they adore him.

They're willing to hurt themselves on his behalf and as midday passed They raved on until then the time of the offering of the ablation, but there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention.

I'll just keep reading here. Then Elijah said to all the people Come near to me and the people came near to him and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. Elijah took twelve stones according the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the Lord Word of the Lord came saying Israel shall be your name and with the stones He built an altar in the name of the Lord and he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two seas of seed and He put the wood in order and cut the bull and pieces and laid it on the wood.

And he said pour or fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood. And he said do it a second time. Obviously he did that why to show that this wood should not burn and They did it a second time and he said do it a third time and they did it a third time.

So this what this wood is water soaked and the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water in other words It's overflowing with water and at the time of the offering of the ablation Elijah the Prophet came near and said Oh Lord God of Abraham Isaac in Israel.

Let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all these Things at your word answer me. Oh Lord answer me that this people may know that you Oh Lord are God and that you have turned their hearts back.

Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and Licked up the water that was in the trench and when the people saw it they fell on their faces and said the Lord he is God the Lord he is God.

And Elijah said to them Seize the prophets of Baal let not one of them escape and they seized them. Of course they did why why do you suppose? They seized them. Not only because it was the right thing to do but they were scared they would do whatever he said.

So this is this is the issue the Bible does refer to other gods. But it always demonstrates that they are no God at all one way or the other and this this is a particularly Emphatic demonstration of that that there's one God.

But the prophets of the Old Testament Isaiah in particular had a striking way of asserting the sole existence of the God of Israel with their assertions. They provided proofs derived from his knowledge of the future and power to communicate it to his servants.

We've talked about Isaiah specifically Chapter 44 where this is read. Thus says the Lord the King of Israel and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts. I am the first and I am the last besides me. There is no God who is like me.

Let him proclaim it. In other words if there is another God let him come forward and speak. And that's never gonna happen. Culver goes on to note that the passage Continues through or this theme through Isaiah 45 verses 1 to 6 in it the coming of the king Of Persia Cyrus 150 years later is Is predicted in other words God before while Israel is in captivity.

He says there is going to be one Cyrus who is going to Basically send the people of Israel back to their land so that they can rebuild the temple. Let's in John 5 44 Jesus refers to Deity or to God as the only God and in his high priestly prayer as the only true God.

In other words the Bible never denies that there are other things called God. Small G. It just says that there's only one true God. Then we're gonna get to why that is in just a moment, but for citations from Paul Display much of the religious and moral meaning of the sole existence of one God since God is one.

Here are Culver's four points since God is one God. There is only one way of salvation for all classes of people. Can you think of some verses that would say that that there is only one way of salvation?

Okay, John 146 acts.

4 is it 412 under heaven by which men may be saved. Okay, there's one mediator between God and men the men Christ Jesus. 1st Timothy chapter 2 verse 5. What else it is 412 okay?

How about let's go to a couple of verses that he cites here? How about Romans chapter 3 verse 19?

Now listen to this you may not have thought about this in this way before Paul writes now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law. So that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world May be held accountable to God.

Everyone is accountable to the one true living God not a multiplicity of gods. He goes on he says Romans 3 verse 30 also since God is one and. That's a reference to Deuteronomy 6 4 Who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

In other words? That's an application of the Shema of Israel that there is one God. So that's one that there's only one way of salvation, and you know what what does that really cut against these days?

Multiculturalism you know how many times do we have to hear politicians say that there are great several great religions in the world. What does that even mean? There are several great religions, and you know what if I were a president.

This is why I can't be president. I would say there are many great religions in the world. There's one true, and then many that lead to hell. Right. I mean if there are one point Two one point three one point four billion Muslims that makes it a great religion in terms of its massive.

It's big. But it can't save a single person if there are 1 billion Hindus. Well that makes it a great religion Doesn't make it true in fact it is not true. Let's look at 1st Corinthians 8.

Versus 4 and 5. And what somebody read that please while I get a drink of water.

1st Corinthians 8 4 and 5.

Yes, Bruce, okay.

So What is what is Paul saying here? I think I'm getting email even as we speak off your cell phone. Boys and girls, okay? That I have no explanation for. Do the microphone just play pong or what that's what it sounded like?

If there are Many so-called gods. What are they they're bogus their counterfeits? I don't care what you call them. They are absolute falsehoods and really what are they. I mean if we were to study through 1st Timothy 2nd Corinthians other places, what will we ultimately see that all these?

Gods small G are their demons. We're talking about doctrines of demons. We're talking about Satanic powers that would desire To lead people astray, and you know it really gets down to what Jesus says in Matthew 7 right he says what that narrow is the way and Broad is the road that leads to hell and many are those on it.

But you know I I heard one pastor say this. You probably heard this too. Then what the people who are on the Broadway did they think they're going to hell. Some people do I? Mean I I talked to some people are pretty happy with the idea that they're going to hell because they think hell is a joke.

But most people think what? They're going to heaven. They're good person. 1 billion Roman Catholics do they think they're going to hell? No why because it's that broad road and Here's what it. Here's what it looks like.

I'm on the broad road that leads to heaven and above that road. You know the sign doesn't say five miles to hell it says you're on the way to heaven pal. You're all set. You're good to go. You're gonna get there and Peter's gonna give you a great big hug at the gate.

And he's gonna say we are so lucky to have you in heaven welcome, and that's wrong. But that is what why is that? Why would Satan? Why would demons be behind all these false gods? Why would Satan create so many counterfeits?

Charlie and that's exactly right.

It's easier to deceive people to soothe their conscience to make them feel that they're all right by giving them. I'll use some Arminian terminology here for the sake of illustration by filling that hole in their hearts.

Well think about it this way it is true right that we are created to worship. We are created to worship God and we're going to worship something Pastor Mike often says. The question is what will we worship if there's some kind of?

Deity or something that will salve our conscience and get us to think that we're all right. We'd rather have that than nothing at all. And so people will be blissfully marching off to hell and part of a religion that tells them that they're okay.

They're doing the right thing.

That's why Satan does that. Go ahead. Pam. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, what passage is that okay? That's first Thessalonians 1 9 says you've turned from a You know from idols to worship the true living God and that that is that is correct. And they're the first thing.

Oh, yeah, Satan knows that our default position Pam said is to Think more highly of ourselves than we ought right to think that we're good to compare ourselves to other people and our other default position is to deceive ourselves by thinking that.

Getting to heaven is what? Right is by doing things. I mean I watched I posted this on Facebook this week to a really active Facebook week. I must say I Watched something that somebody posted this week, and it was it was interesting to me because it was people who'd come out of the Mormon Church.

And what was what was most interesting to me was these were not just regular people. They were returned missionaries who actually while they were on their missions like my brother Started reading the Bible and going.

This isn't right. Here's one example that I pulled out of the movie. The guy says the Mormon Church says that to get to the highest degree of heaven you have to be married in the temple. But he goes I'm reading through the epistles and Paul says it's better not to be married.

He goes I'm reading that going Paul. You don't know what you're talking about. I can't get to the celestial kingdom if I'm not married in the temple. And things like that keep coming up and you start going.

Wait a minute. Here's what the church says. Here's what the Bible says. Here's what the church says. Here's what the Bible says. But we have this idea. Even this week in counseling with somebody we have this idea that It's on us that we are responsible to get ourselves up to a level where we Merit heaven where we earn heaven where we feel good enough about ourselves where we go.

Well, okay now I belong I'm in the heavenly club. And that is so wrong. I talked about it a few weeks ago, you know to on the flip side this idea that we're going to Flagellate ourselves, so to speak.

We're gonna beat ourselves down because we've sinned we I Think maybe the classic illustration David and Bathsheba. David sins with Bathsheba. He kills Uriah commits adultery and Ultimately, he's told by Nathan what that his baby as a result is going to die.

Now David I drink is told you are the man. I think from that time until the baby dies. I think there is Genuine remorse there is sorrow and there is prayer that God will spare the life of this baby. And then what does he do?

After the baby dies. He says, you know, basically dust himself off and he goes Okay, bring me something to eat. I'm done I've done fasting. I've done with all this stuff. Why. Because he recognized that it wasn't up to him to make himself right he knew he'd go see his son again.

I mean, that's the that's the key point. He knew he would see his son again. But the other aspect of it was he knew that there was no effort. He could make to make himself right with God. He either was right with God because he believed in God or he wasn't.

You know because he didn't believe in God there is no but even now as Christians, what do we do we sin? We feel terrible. We feel the separation from God and we assume that there's something we can do to make it right.

And I'm just I told this person I said you might as well go to the confessional booth and ask how many our fathers and Hail Mary's you need to say? Okay, and it's not that you shouldn't feel remorse. It's not that you shouldn't repent those things are all right.

But you need to understand that you cannot read Romans 8 again, because it says you cannot separate yourself from the love of God in Christ. Bruce. That's exactly right. And and and yet it's it's it's so ingrained in us.

We would literally demolish the work of the cross if there were some way that we could make up for our sin. If there were some way that we could you know, okay. Well, I I owe God X number of dollars or whatever for what I've done.

We just can't do that Charlie and that's a great illustration.

Charlie says, you know, it's like if we owed a hundred thousand dollars on our mortgage. We were really upside down. We couldn't do anything and somebody else came in and paid that hundred thousand dollars.

And then we were still frantically running around trying to find extra work trying to pay off the hundred thousand dollars what would the person who paid the bill think and. And we ourselves would never do that if we had that kind of debt and somebody paid it for us.

We would never think well now I've got to figure out how to pay that debt and yet. That's how we kind of live our Christian life. I Don't mean always. I don't mean all of us, but I mean we just have to think about how great The work of the cross was and so, you know, some people will immediately say well, then that means you can do whatever you want and.

And the answer the answer to that is when you think when when you realize I've been forgiven much. What did Jesus say if you've been forgiven much then you love much? So when you recognize how much you've been forgiven.

It doesn't drive you away from the cross in the sense that you want to sin more brings you closer to the cross in the sense That you want to love more you want to obey more. We've got it. We've got to understand that rightly.

We've got to think rightly and and I think it's certainly right to grieve over your sin. And that's what it means to confess your sin. It doesn't mean to go to. You know father Steve or father Mike or father Pradeep father Scott.

We have no confession booth. Although we are putting one in the new building. It means to agree with God and so it's to have that same view of sin that God does and if we have that same view A will hate it.

B will understand what that it's dealt with. That doesn't mean we just go it's dealt with again. The more we understand how for how much we've been forgiven The more we'll think that cross was a great thing.

That cross is central to my life. I need to be closer to the cross. I need to think more highly of Jesus Christ and his work. And I need to love him by obeying him okay, so Culver's other points here.

He says that God in first Timothy 117. Let's look at that first Timothy 117. Let's see if Culver knows what he's talking about. I don't really know if he does or not. If he ever listens to these I hope he won't be offended.

All I could tell you is there's somebody here. Well, he's not here yet. There's somebody Who regularly attends this building and preaches most Sundays? Who put together some fundamentals of the faith stuff and I would use and sometimes I'd look at the reference he listed.

You know during my class and I'd go I have no idea why he listed that. Moving on, you know, so okay first. Usually they were typos first Timothy 117 to the King of Ages immortal Invisible the only God be glory.

Be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen now this is obviously Talks about his attributes and whatnot. I don't know how he gets the only source I guess me I have to look at it. Oh, he says it is the the benediction here.

So maybe that's it. Oh, well, there we go. I mean when if we even. Let's back up a little bit to verse 15. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. That means that he's about to To give us a truism that is an axiom of the faith and some people even think they're hymns.

Ancient hymns that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason that in me as the foremost Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to follow or as an example to those Who were to believe in him for eternal life to the King of Ages?

Immortal invisible the only God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen now when Paul writes that he's not thinking, you know Christianity is dull and dreary and boring. He's thinking Christianity is such a blessing.

It is such a joy to me. I can't believe that Jesus Christ would sacrifice himself for me. Culver goes on to say he says that Paul Employs the same doctrine to appeal for steadfastness and Christian duties and first Timothy 616.

We're not gonna look at that. But again, you know, what is it as we love Christ? We want to serve him more. We want to obey him more. Okay. Move on a little bit. Let us guard against several common misunderstandings of the biblical statements.

This is important. God is one. Not in the sense of a generic name. And then he cites a couple of Greek words that I'll bless you with equus for horses or homo for all members of the human race. Sameness of gods in other words that God is one that they're all just the same.

That's not what it means. God is one. Nor Does do any of those statements mean that there is merely a moral or intellectual agreement of entities into one? In other words that all the gods in the universe are of one mind on something.

That's not what God is one means. Nor does the affirmation mean a sense of union? Just that they're of one purpose or of one mind. He goes on to say he says there is Numerically one indivisible Undistributed living God.

It is God's inherent nature to be one. He is one. There's no getting around that three persons one God. Excuse me Biblical doctrine of model theism Does not exclude the possibility the certain other objects of human discourse real or supposed maybe gods we talked about that.

Idols, etc, etc, etc. I want us to just quickly look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 10. Because this really does drive to the heart of false ideas about God or idols. Starting in verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh We are not waging war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh.

But have divine power to destroy strongholds. Where are the weapons of our warfare? Well, I think we're gonna read on and get it verse 5. We destroy arguments in every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

What are those things? What are every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. Knowledge of God comes through Scripture? Lofty opinions are false teachings doctrines of demons and what Paul's suggesting here is that.

What we do is we compare everything to Scripture. We look at what different religions say what different men say we compare them to Scripture. We take these thoughts captive to the truth. We put down strongholds the the the dominion of Satan and demons these False Gods these idols we destroy them.

What by the Word of God? What weapon do we have? We have this. What else do we need. I mean, it's like it's like I said you watch that Mormon documentary. It's really interesting because I mean there was one man.

This won't mean much to you. I'll try to explain it. Let's say that this is a ward of the Mormon Church a local congregation. There's a man who was essentially the pastor of a congregation, but he wasn't just the pastor of a congregation he became the kind of the Archbishop over ten congregations known as a stake president, and he's one of these men in this movie.

Who gets saved and it all comes about why? Because they realize that their religion is dopey because Joseph Smith was a false prophet etc. Etc. Etc. No because they start studying the Bible and the Bible dissuades them from all these false doctrines.

They go well if this is true now the Mormon Church says I think it's in the eighth article of faith that the Bible is True as much as it is translated correctly insofar as it is translated correctly. And so you know they like to say well that must be wrong.