Lessons (Re)Learned In Africa

Bethlehem Bible Church iconBethlehem Bible Church

1 view

0 comments

00:00
Tonight I wanted to talk a little bit about lessons I've relearned in South Africa.
00:06
You know it's amazing when you go away from home, far away from home. It took me six hours to fly from Boston to London and then 12 hours from London to Joburg.
00:15
And you're by yourself three weeks while your wife and kids and other responsibilities. You have a lot of time to think.
00:21
I think I was on 10 different airplanes, jets, flying. And I say to myself when I travel, Lord teach me things and I don't want to be the same as I was before the trip.
00:32
So if I'm in India or in Germany or someplace, I want to be different. I want to be more sanctified.
00:38
I'd like to be practically more holy than I was by saying yes to righteousness more and no to sin more.
00:46
I know positionally I'm perfect in Christ. But I wanted to make a difference. I don't want to just make a difference in the people that I'm ministering to.
00:52
But I want to be changed. That song tonight that we sang about cleanse my heart. Lord start a revival and start the work.
00:59
Send a revival and start the work where? In me. That's exactly right. We don't put up a tent to start a revival.
01:06
God revives through the providential sovereign working of his spirit. And so tonight I'm just going to share one, two, five, ten different things that I knew to be true.
01:16
But far away from home I said, you know, they're not just true in my past.
01:23
But they're true today. And just some foundational things in ministry that basically all is a cloak between us for me to just talk about whatever
01:31
I want to talk about tonight. Okay, that's really what it is if truth would be told. But certainly things that I considered there.
01:38
Lesson number one. The first lesson that I learned, and this is not in order of chronology nor in order of importance.
01:47
But just for tonight, the first thing I thought there are false teachers all across the globe.
01:53
Wherever you go, there are false teachers. They're just not in America. And so I would go to these bookstores. And in South Africa and Zambia, both the countries
02:01
I was in, you can go to a bookstore and the language of South Africa is English.
02:06
So you go to an English bookstore and you can read the books. Sometimes if I was in a different country and I can't read the language,
02:11
I couldn't tell who the false teachers were. But you just walk right in, the equivalent of Barnes & Noble or what would be another bookstore here,
02:19
Borders. And you walk in and you walk to the Christian section and it was exactly like being here.
02:26
A bunch of at best pablum, at worst heresy.
02:33
And I thought the way the gospel goes, it leads forward. It's a forerunner to not only good things but horrible things.
02:41
And so there were the Joyce Meyer books. There were the Benny Hinn books. There were the Joel Osteen books.
02:47
There was the shack. Even there, you've got the good and the bad. It's like when Russia opens up, the
02:53
Soviet Union opens up. And so what floods in? Christianity but also everything else on the heels of Christianity, whether it's
03:00
Mormonism or anything else. And so I did want to address to our congregation, I am your pastor.
03:05
When a book is very influential, I want to make sure you don't get caught up in it. And the book I want to talk about briefly tonight is
03:12
The Shack by William Young. I'm not going to ask you if you've read it. I don't want to embarrass you if you've said
03:18
I've read it and it's good or something like that. I just want to talk a little bit and we'll look at scripture about this book because I want to warn you.
03:24
Did you know it is my job to warn you? It's to teach sound doctrine and refute those who what?
03:31
Contradict Titus chapter 1 verse 10. I can't pick my job description. I wish my job description was
03:36
I just teach you all the good things, but I am bound by the spirit of God to teach things that are proper and then say, here's this wave of activity of false teaching over here and then warn you about it.
03:49
That's just what I must do. I am a man under authority and I have to do that. And so whether Michael W.
03:56
Smith says it's good and it'll leave you craving for the presence of God or the
04:02
New York Times says it's a bestseller, it doesn't really matter what other people say.
04:08
Eugene Peterson, this book has the potential to do good for our generation just as what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his.
04:16
I don't want you to get caught up in it. I don't want you to buy it. There is a reason why we don't have it out there.
04:21
You ever ask that question? Why don't we sell the shack outside in a book area? Well, number one, because Bernard likes his new job.
04:30
Number two, we want to feed you the good stuff. And just because everybody's reading something doesn't mean it's good.
04:37
And by the way, before you think that you can only read the Bible, I think good literature is good literature.
04:44
I'm at home reading all kinds of things including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I've been reading that the last week and it's just fascinating writing.
04:51
I mean, it's just unbelievably good. I was just laughing yesterday morning reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
04:56
So my goal here is not if something's not Christian, you can't read it. But I just want to say if it's influential and it's bad,
05:03
I don't want you to read it. Gary Gilley has a great book review and I pulled some of the quotes of the book from that review.
05:10
First of all, if the plot is the abduction and the murder of a six -year -old girl, I'm pretty much done right there.
05:17
You don't need to teach me about the Trinity using that as a plot line. Second of all, I don't really like the
05:23
Father, God the Father, to be called Papa and having him appear as an
05:29
African -American woman who loves to cook. That is not my idea of the Father. And by the way, if you say, well,
05:36
I mean, how could you make this up? I mean, people laugh. How about the Holy Spirit is called
05:41
Sarayu, which is Sanskrit for wind, and a small Asian woman is the
05:50
Holy Spirit. And Jesus is a middle -aged man who is a carpenter. And so I don't really need to look at this book to learn about the
05:59
Trinity. I believe in the Trinity. I want to teach the Trinity is true, and we do. But I just think you need to run from a book like that.
06:05
Let me give you a few quotes in the book, and you tell me if you think this would be good and edifying and proper and biblical.
06:14
This is God speaking. I don't need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside.
06:21
It's not my purpose to punish it. It's my job to cure it. I think that just speaks for itself.
06:31
Jesus does punish sin. Sin is a horrible, destroying thing. One of the characters asked
06:37
Jesus, what does it mean to be a Christian? Jesus said, quote from the shack, page 110.
06:45
Who said anything about being a Christian? I'm not a Christian. Those who love me come from every system that exists.
06:51
They're Buddhists, Mormons, Baptists, Muslims, Democrat, Republicans, and many who don't vote are not part of any
06:58
Sunday morning or religious institution. I have no desire to make them Christians, but I do want them to join.
07:04
I want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my beloved.
07:13
Do we have to go any further? If your question is what's wrong with that, then we need to back up, and I would introduce you to the
07:19
Bible Institute so you can learn about the Godhead and theology proper. Jesus said, page 110 about the
07:27
Holy Spirit, quote, She is creativity. She is action. She is breathing of life.
07:34
We don't know anything about that female version of God. We don't know anything about God as a verb instead of a noun, and the list could go on and on and on.
07:43
The Holy Spirit said to one person in the book, Of course you might see me in a piece of art or music or silence or through people or in creation or in your joy and sorrow.
07:55
And one more before I basically get sick to my stomach. Jesus says to a character in the book, quote,
08:02
God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through all things, ultimately emerging as real.
08:11
What is that? That is religion. That's New Age religion. And so if you'd like to know about the
08:18
Trinity, I don't think you need to know the shack. I don't think you need to read the shack, and I would just say we should run from the shack.
08:24
If you turn your Bibles to Titus chapter 1, let me just show you why occasionally pastors need to tell people,
08:30
Don't read something. It's not good for you. It's not that we are mean to the congregation or somehow acting in an ungodly way.
08:39
Sometimes parents need to tell children, That isn't good for you. And sometimes leadership needs to say,
08:45
This isn't good. It's not proper. And I don't mean we're debating on the fine points of eschatology, pre -mill, all -mill, this or that.
08:54
I'm talking about blasphemy and heresy like the book the shack is. By the way, there are some things in it that are true, but most of it
09:03
I would not want any of you to read. Titus chapter 1, interestingly, Paul is writing to Titus in this pastoral epistle, and it says what elders must be.
09:14
And this is what I've told you before, but I wanted you to see it with your own eyes. For a bishop or elder, overseer, must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self -willed, nor quick -tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable.
09:29
These are the positive traits. A lover of what is good, sober -minded, just, holy, self -controlled.
09:34
And then, interestingly, in verse 9, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he might be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.
09:48
Now, why would you have to do that? Because there's a false teacher here, or there's a false teacher there, they pop up once in a while?
09:56
No. Verse 10, for there are how many insubordinate? Compared to few, there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision.
10:07
And in Crete, it happened to be a lot of Jews. And what does verse 11 say? Interestingly, I'm just reading from the
10:13
New King James tonight, I'll get back to the NAS in a minute. Titus chapter 1, verse 11, whose mouths must be what?
10:20
Stopped. It is time to shut up the false teachers. It is time to zip their lips.
10:27
This is blasphemy, it's vulgarity, it's profane, it's not edifying, it's destroying.
10:34
And so these people's mouths must be stopped. And what does this lack of truth do?
10:41
What does this insidious error do? It subverts, do you see the text verse 11, whole households.
10:50
It is like a germ, it is like a virus, it is like AIDS, spiritual
10:55
AIDS. Teaching things which they ought not, and they have a reason for doing it, and it's the same reason there were 12 people in front of me yesterday when
11:06
I went to Cumberland Farms to just have $20 worth of gas. And all these people lined up in front of me.
11:12
I mean, I go to Cumberland because I want faster service. And I forgot that there's all these people there in front of me that are stupid and greedy.
11:21
Stupid because you can't win the lottery by the odds, and greedy because you want more than what you have.
11:27
And as the false teachers are greedy and play to other people's greed, so too do the people who have gambling casinos and lottery tickets for the sake of dishonest gain.
11:40
I've been told that I'm many things at the church, and one of my criticisms of the year has been this.
11:46
Mike, you should be known for what you're for, not what you're against. You should be positive and not so negative.
11:53
Would you turn please with me to the book of Revelation? As I'm talking about this, I want to show you a church who was known for what it was for and not what it was against.
12:03
And you'll see that Jesus did not commend this church. There were some things to be commended, but this is not one of the two churches that received only praise.
12:13
Here is a church that stood only for what they were for, and they did not attack error with the truth.
12:22
And so I think these days need to have men in the pulpit who are not afraid to get up and say, this is the truth.
12:30
And I'd refuse to stand there and have somebody take some kind of gross, filthy, manure -laden dirt and take it and wipe it all over my bride's wedding gown.
12:44
I would not allow that to happen, and neither will I allow that to happen to the church of Christ that I am going to be held accountable for.
12:52
Revelation chapter 2. You know there's these seven churches here, and then the postal route in Revelation.
12:58
Chapter 2, verse 12. We come to the church called Pergamum. And to the angel or the minister of the church in Pergamum write, the one who has a sharp two -edged sword says this.
13:09
Here we have this city literally called the Citadel. And the temple of Caesar was there.
13:16
The cult of Caesar worship was there. It was the capital. As Boston is the capital of Massachusetts, so too the capital of the cult worship of Caesar was in Pergamum.
13:29
And by the way, they worshipped everything there. They worshipped Dionysus, Zeus, Asclepius they worshipped.
13:40
By the way, sometimes they would put that in the temple there, these snakes, which means Asclepius means snake. And if you had a bodily sickness, you would lay down in the temple.
13:49
Hopefully one of these holy snakes would slither over you, saying that it was time for you to be healed.
13:54
That would be interesting. There's a library in Pergamum, 200 ,000 volumes.
14:00
And there is some praise. Look at verse 13. Revelation 2 .13.
14:05
I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast my name.
14:12
That's good. And did not deny my faith. That's excellent. Even when there's persecution, when it's harder.
14:18
Even in the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you where Satan dwells.
14:26
It's easy to stand up for the truth when you're not going to die for it, but you even stood up for the truth when you had some of your people die.
14:34
But there's a problem. Look at the problem, verse 14. Now remember, they're teaching good things. They're standing up for truth.
14:40
They're known for what they're for. But I have a few things against you. Because, I mean, can you imagine
14:46
Jesus saying that to your church, by the way? Hey, Jesus, come in and tell us what you think about the church. Well, you did these things well, and by the way,
14:53
I have a few things against you. Because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam.
15:03
You notice that verse 13? You hold fast my teaching, my name. You didn't deny it. But now you also have some people in your church who hold the teaching of Balaam.
15:14
Remember Balaam, the man who tried to take his prophetic gift and curse Israel for filthy lucre?
15:21
Who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.
15:33
You're letting that go on in your church. Verse 15, thus you have also some who in the same way hold the teaching of the
15:43
Nicolaitans. Whatever that is, and there's lots of debate scholarly, it's not a good thing.
15:50
You've got people in the church that do this. So what does he say? What's the prodding here? Verse 16, repent therefore, deal with this in the church.
15:58
You can't be known what you're for, you've got to be known what you're against. And you ought to be against Balaam and you ought to be against the
16:04
Nicolaitans. Repent, change your mind, be against that or else
16:10
I'm coming to you quickly and I will make war with them, against them with the sword of my mouth.
16:17
He gives a promise, it's a wonderful promise, it's a loving promise. It's out of the generosity of God and His grace.
16:25
Verse 17, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, all
16:31
Christians, to him I will give some of the hidden manna. Boy, that's going to be interesting, some of the hidden manna.
16:42
And I will give him a white stone. When the Olympic people win the gold medal, they get a gold medal.
16:49
If you'd win a race back in those days, you'd get a white stone prize. And I will give him a white stone and a new name written on the stone.
16:58
Can you imagine for every Christian, for every overcomer, you get a new name? A personal name picked out by Jesus?
17:05
The one that He likes to call His loved ones? And what's that name?
17:11
Which no one knows but He who receives it. I mean, this is a pet name to all believers that nobody else knows except Jesus and the person.
17:20
I always remember MacArthur say, people come up to him all the time and say, what is that name? And he said, well, no one knows except He who receives it.
17:28
We don't know the name. This church stood for propositional truth, but it did not stand against those that taught against propositional truth.
17:40
You say, what's propositional truth? Propositional truth is any statement that affirms or denies something. We agree with this and we disagree with this.
17:48
And that's exactly what a New Testament church has to do. Turn with me, if you would, to 2
17:53
Timothy 3. If you're looking for verse -by -verse exposition, we're not really going to do much of that tonight, so you can get the tape this morning.
18:01
Nine chapters of Hebrews in 55 minutes. 2 Timothy 3, verse 1, here in a pastoral epistle.
18:08
Listen to how God, the Spirit, is telling the church leaders that it's going to be difficult and you're going to have to stand for truth.
18:18
You just can't say, you know, we're going to be known for what we're for. Because this is the kind of environment the
18:27
New Testament church is in, even today, chapter 3 of 2 Timothy, verse 1. But realize this,
18:33
Paul says to Timothy, that in the last days, what kind of times will come? Difficult times.
18:39
Do you know what that word difficult is? Savage is the best way to translate it. These are savage days.
18:48
Ruthless ages. Show me a ruthless, savage age, and I'll show you these kind of people, verse 2.
18:59
What's at the top of the list? For men will be what? Lovers of self.
19:05
Isn't that interesting? They're going to be selfish. They're going to have self -esteem. Lovers of money is the second one there.
19:14
Boastful. I mean, this is basically our neighborhood. This is us, but for the grace of God.
19:20
Arrogant. They're proud. Treating people with contempt.
19:28
Revilers. Disobedient to parents. Ungrateful.
19:36
Unholy. Unloving. And the list goes on and on.
19:44
Verse 5, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.
19:50
And what's the next part of verse 5 say? Partner up for the sake of the kingdom, because you can have a bigger platform if you go arm in arm with these people.
20:01
Be pragmatic. What does the text say? And avoid such men as what? These. Avoid these kind of men.
20:09
Why do you turn from these men? Number one, they pray on the week, verse 6. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses.
20:19
Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Why do we turn?
20:26
Number two, they resist the truth. Just as Janice and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth.
20:35
They also need to be turned away from because they have depraved minds and they reject the faith.
20:43
That's why we have to avoid these people. And if you think I'm a good pastor or a bad pastor, based on my naming names of lying, heretical dogs.
20:54
I'll never forget this. I'm in South Africa and there's this big group of people who love Benny Hinn. And I just thought, if you're here to learn how to preach and you don't know that Benny Hinn's a false teacher,
21:04
I can't help you. What am I going to do? Try to teach you about introductions and closes and propositional plural noun statements and these other kind of preaching devices?
21:14
And so, just to give you a little background, there's about 150 people in this room and I was in an
21:20
Anglican church of all places. And it was wonderful because we were late.
21:28
There was a busload of people that were late and so we're supposed to start at 9 o 'clock and it's about 9 .20.
21:36
And I usually like to start on time unless I'm in India and it's IST, Indian Standard Time. Whenever you get there, you know, it's kind of the
21:42
Eastern philosophy. Some of that in South Africa. So there's a bunch of people there. There was white and blacks, coloreds, all these different kinds of people.
21:51
You say, that's not right to say coloreds in Africa. We've got whites, blacks and coloreds. They all started singing and they kind of started dancing a little in the aisles and it was the black guys singing.
22:02
There's no piano, nothing and we're singing and all of a sudden I just thought, I don't know if I'd ever danced in church, but I feel like dancing now because it was not inappropriate.
22:11
It was not some kind of, you know, getting up and being in some kind of one of these ridiculous dance teams people are in now.
22:17
It was just, the music was just making you kind of move. I thought, you know,
22:22
I'm feeling right at home now. And I said to a guy afterwards, did you know I'm really a black preacher in a white man's body?
22:30
But when it comes to dancing, I'm still a white man in a white man's body. And so they're egging me on.
22:36
And when I would preach, people egg you on. It was just, you know, wonderful.
22:44
Now Mark's trying to egg me on. The visitors are saying, why am I here? So long story short,
22:52
I didn't just stand up and say this. There was a context to this and I was feeding off the vibes of the congregation and vice versa.
22:59
And so I knew there was a couple of young men there who really were into Benny Hinn. And we were talking about being courageous from the pulpit as a part of the preaching message that you have to be courageous if you're going to be a preacher.
23:10
You've got to have a, you have to have thick skin and a soft heart because this is not a place for wimps because you just, you're going to take it and people aren't going to like you and et cetera, et cetera.
23:20
So I just said, men, if you don't understand that Benny Hinn is a lying heretic dog, and then you should have saw the place interrupt.
23:32
95 % of the people were jumping up and down doing even more dancing than I would say it because they know
23:37
Benny Hinn is that. And I said, and I had to back up because I could see the two guys who basically looked at me like, we want to kill you outside in the parking lot for saying that because they probably had a bunch of Benny Hinn tapes or something there.
23:47
And so I said, well, let's just see if that's biblical. Number one, lying. They don't tell the truth.
23:53
Benny Hinn tells a different gospel about a different God, about the different spirit, about different sanctification.
23:59
He's a liar. He lies against the truth. Number two, he's heretical because he splits people away from the truth.
24:05
And number three, as Paul called the Jewish circumcision people, he called them dogs. And that's exactly what happened.
24:15
They were called dogs. And if you're going to be in any part of a church that never stands up and says, for the love of God, please don't buy a
24:24
Joyce Meyer tape because she also is a lying heretic dog. I don't think that's the right kind of church for you.
24:30
It may not feel good. It might not go down well. I don't get any thrill of saying it. But when
24:35
I read her quote that says there's no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth
24:40
I'm presenting, you cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell.
24:46
Friends, Jesus was not born again in hell. When she goes on to say just ridiculous things like this, you're on the brink of a miracle.
24:53
You go to the phone and give $1 ,000, $5 ,000, $10 ,000, $1 million. Go to the phone.
24:58
God has a miracle waiting on your response. The anointing is tangible. Some of you should leave your televisions on TBN all night.
25:06
It's funny. It strikes me Trinity Broadcasting Network where you don't have to believe the Trinity to be on it. But she goes on to say you're asleep to get the anointing.
25:13
This is inspiration. I heard you, Holy Ghost. God is teaching you right now to hear his voice.
25:18
Go to your phone. I believe that there are 10 people here that need to match that $10 ,000. You're believing for the greatest miracle of your life, then sow the greatest seed of your life.
25:26
You're not going to the phone. You can hear me while you're on the phone. Your miracle is waiting. Your deliverance is waiting.
25:32
Why are all these heretic hunters trying to get people to know God by criticizing people by name? I won't get to the text until you get to the phone.
25:43
It is the grace and patience of God that he doesn't kill her on the spot.
25:48
He hasn't killed me on the spot where I've said something that's not true. We are to turn away.
25:55
Look at verse 9 of 2 Timothy chapter 3. But they will not make further progress, for their folly will be obvious to all as also that of those two came to be.
26:08
They'll show up on the nightly news or on some kind of TV special where they have been debunked even by secular people.
26:16
The first lesson I learned in South Africa is you better be men of God and stand up for the truth there because there's tons of error.
26:25
Second truth, I better move forward here in some of my notes. Let me just give you another one.
26:31
That was a long point there, 25 minutes. Second one is that I learned and I try to struggle with and deal with, the struggle with hedonism is universal.
26:41
The struggle with hedonism is universal. They're into pleasure and entertainment just like the church is here.
26:50
I thought, do I live for that? Do I live for the next TV show, the next movie?
26:56
In one way, I'm glad the new Indiana Jones movie was a complete bomb because then I can just get my mind off of that whole thing and just get rid of that from me thinking, this is going to sure be good.
27:08
I told you this morning, Tozer used to go in people's houses and he said, they used to be homes and now they're theaters. I'm not going to go to your house and go,
27:16
I can't believe there's a huge TV in your house. There might be a show on, I might need to come over and watch. I'm not against electronic gizmos.
27:25
But listen to what Tozer said. Is it not hard to see why the great God entertainment is so ardently worshipped by so many?
27:33
There are millions who cannot live without amusement. By the way, what's amusement? What's the word mean, amuse?
27:40
Yes, Brian? Not to think, that's right.
27:45
Amuse means to think, you put an alpha privet in front of it and it means the opposite. Life without some form of entertainment for them is simply intolerable.
27:56
They look forward to the blessed relief afforded by professional entertainers and other forms of psychological narcotics as a dope addict looks for a daily shot of heroin.
28:08
So today we have the astonishing spectacle. You hear what Tozer calls it? It's a spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so -called sons of heaven.
28:20
Now there's a place to rest, there's a place to watch a show, you know me. I'm not against alcohol and tobacco and entertainment and all these other things.
28:27
It's the heart that's the issue. But listen to what Tozer said, and he especially gets aggravated when it's in the church, in the worship service.
28:36
Many churches these days have become little more than poor theaters where fifth -rate producers peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency.
28:53
And Tozer said, and hardly a man dares raise his voice against it.
29:00
That's like Tozer. He basically said, do you feed the sheep at the local church or do you entertain the goats?
29:10
Which ones do you do? Why don't we turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2, and I just want to show you that when
29:17
I'm sitting in South Africa and I'm thinking, Lord, I want my life to count. I want to do more for you. I don't want to be some kind of Amish Mennonite.
29:24
I can't ever turn on the TV or anything like that. There's a small TV in our house. I'm not against TVs. I'm not against computers.
29:32
Taste not, touch not is not the right way to sanctification. But I don't want to imbibe into the world's view of amusement.
29:39
There's a war going on. Even this week, the last couple of days, as I alluded to the prayer this morning, there's a man and a woman, both professing
29:47
Christians, in Austin, Texas. The woman has three children, five, seven, and nine.
29:54
She's taking a bath. She's 35 to 38 years old. She has a hemorrhage and she dies in the tub. The husband comes home and sees her.
30:02
It's kind of a Romeo and Juliet relationship. There's some other problems and issues. He takes the three children to the grandparent's house, goes back to the house, and shoots himself in the head.
30:11
This was three days ago. I just think to myself, you know, what's the latest on CSI?
30:21
I don't really care. There are people now, three little kids, who are going to go to a pastor's home, by the way.
30:28
There are issues that need to be taken care of. And I watched a Piper interview this week, and he says, I have a war mentality.
30:35
And if you look at 2 Timothy 2, here, Paul is telling Timothy to have a war mentality, to have an athlete mentality, to have a farmer mentality, because there are huge life and death issues going on.
30:50
Rest and amusement is fine, but when it's in the proper perspective. You all know me.
30:57
Those who are visiting don't know me. And I don't want to come across as some fundamentalist and, you know, taking the fun out of everything.
31:02
But there's just a place for everything. And you see what Paul says in 2 Timothy 2.
31:09
He says in verse 1, you therefore, my son, be strengthened, literally. It has to be strengthened by God.
31:15
It's not be strong in your own bootstraps, but be strengthened by what? What a lovely word picture.
31:21
Be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And before there's any kind of soldiering, athleticism, and farming going on, make sure you train other men.
31:32
The things that you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
31:38
And then here comes this language. Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
31:46
No soldier, no one in a war, no one in a warring mentality, in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
31:58
Are the Bowmans here tonight? I don't see any Bowmans. Andrew went in, I think, on Monday to be a
32:04
Marine. How old is Andrew? 17, 18, something like that. I said, did he arrive?
32:09
And she said, he arrived, and I got the phone call. I've arrived here safely. Click. You know, is that how it works?
32:16
You get a call. I've arrived here safely. Click. That's all you get. There's a war going on, and you can't be thinking about these other issues.
32:25
And then he uses another metaphor, verse 5. And if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.
32:32
And then one other wonderful picture, the hardworking farmer ought to be the first to receive the share of the crops.
32:39
Consider what I say for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. And then if that's not enough, be a discipler, be a soldier, be an athlete, be a farmer, keep your eyes on something.
32:49
And that is the fall lineup on ABC. And it just sounds stupid.
32:58
Remember Jesus Christ. By the way, Jesus Christ is not a mail address name.
33:06
Christ is not a surname. Jesus, the Messiah, He's risen from the dead.
33:12
He is God. He's a descendant of David. He's a man. And it's according to my gospel.
33:18
So much so that Paul said, I suffer hardship, and I have for it. I sat there and I thought,
33:26
Lord, I want to make sure that I'm not caught up by my passions and my desire to be amused.
33:33
Spurgeon said, the devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for people with a view to winning them.
33:43
Spurgeon said, then again, he gave some apostles and some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor teachers for the work of ministry.
33:49
Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them.
33:55
Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr role.
34:05
Spurgeon goes on to say, we are not sugar candy. Ye are the salt, something the world will spit out, not swallow.
34:13
Short and sharp was the utterance by Jesus, let the dead bury the dead. Jesus was in awful earnestness.
34:24
Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His mission, He would have been more popular, but because of the searching nature of His teaching, many turned away.
34:33
This is so good. Half with sarcasm, half with humor, Spurgeon says. I do not hear Jesus say, run after these people,
34:40
Peter, and tell them that we have a different style of service tomorrow. Something short, attractive, with a little preaching.
34:48
We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they'll be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow.
34:57
Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them.
35:05
Why are you here? Why do you worship? Certainly, I believe, by the grace of God, because you want to honor
35:12
Him. Number three. Number three, what I learned. There are about 40 million people in South Africa.
35:24
30 million of them say that they are Christians. 10 million say they're something else. But most of those who say they're
35:31
Christians aren't really born again. It's no different than it is here. And so I learned this, number three. Unless there's the sovereign grace of God, there'd be no hope.
35:43
Since we have some of the Arnold's here tonight, let me give you a quote from Thomas Arnold. Do you know Thomas Arnold? The distinction between Christianity and all other systems of religion consists largely in this.
35:56
That in these others, men are found seeking after God, while Christianity is
36:02
God seeking after men. And I want to have you turn your
36:08
Bibles to Acts chapter 13 for a moment, and I want to remind you that if your loved ones, your family members, your friends, your children, your grandchildren, their salvation depended on you and your evangelism, that you'd never have hope.
36:24
But if you hope in Christ Jesus, sovereign triune God that we serve, there is hope for everyone.
36:32
And here we move to Acts chapter 13. Against all odds, against all difficulties, against all hardships, against strife and opposition,
36:42
God saves his people. Sovereignly, with sovereign triune grace, he saves.
36:49
And I just love this because I know God always gets his man or woman. He will not let one go.
36:56
And by the way, what I'll teach right here tonight, every great preacher has taught it.
37:01
Every great missionary has taught it. This is the doctrine of election.
37:08
Unconditional election. Acts chapter 13, 44. And so, of course, it's before the cross.
37:19
Sorry, it's the Jews not thinking the cross. Let me just back up. I'm looking at Acts.
37:25
I'm not looking at Matthew. They show up for worship on the regular day of worship, the
37:31
Sabbath. The whole city assembles to hear the word of God. And what happens? Verse 45.
37:36
But when the Jews saw the crowd, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul and were blaspheming.
37:45
So you can just imagine, there's this large crowd, lots of issues, this antagonism. They're contradicting the things spoken by Paul.
37:53
That's fascinating. They're blaspheming. They're opposing this
37:58
Jesus message, the gospel. Literally, one translation says, they were talking abusively.
38:05
Verse 46. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, since you repudiated and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life.
38:16
Can you imagine saying that to someone? Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
38:22
We're wiping our hands of you Jews. You're unworthy of eternal life. We're turning to the
38:27
Gentiles. For so the
38:33
Lord has commanded. By the way, here's a Bible verse. I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends.
38:42
You have your abuse. You have your opposition. You have your blasphemy. We know what the Bible says, and we have our mandate.
38:50
When the Gentiles heard this, when the Jews heard it, I'm sure they were seething all the more.
38:55
But when the Gentiles heard this, what do you think they did? They began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the
39:02
Lord. Isn't that interesting? And as many as had been appointed to eternal life, what? Believed.
39:10
Now that's the new American standard. Who has the English standard version? Anyone? Louis, you didn't bring yours to me?
39:18
What do you have? What's King James say? Acts 13 .48. As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed.
39:35
Who has a different translation? New King James. As many as were ordained,
39:41
Jared. As many as had been appointed to eternal life, believed.
39:50
Any other different ones? Does anybody here have the Living Bible and willing to admit it? No, this is a
39:56
Sunday night crowd. The text clearly in the
40:01
Greek says, as many that have been appointed to eternal life. It's a military term, kind of lining up in order.
40:09
As many as God has lined up in order to have salvation, they then believed.
40:15
But if you can't accept sovereign election, you have to do this, Living Bible. And as many as wanted eternal life, believed.
40:27
Did you know the arch heretic, Sosinius, had to invent his own
40:33
Greek grammar so that this passage would say, as many as believed were ordained to eternal life.
40:40
Because it is so blatant that the order is, ordination to eternal life, then in time, believe.
40:50
And I could ask you the question, and all eternity is at stake in one sense. I think you could be confused and then corrected, but it's very important, that's my point.
41:00
Does faith cause salvation, or is faith the result of salvation? It's two different religions.
41:07
Does your faith cause God to save you, or does your faith show that God has saved you and he's granted you that faith?
41:14
Answer? Faith doesn't cause you to believe. God caused you. Matter of fact, we have to go there, this is so good.
41:22
Let's just do it. Ephesians chapter 2. It's not in my notes, but sometimes that's the best part of the sermon, what's not in your notes.
41:29
When we were in seminary, we tried to get the professor off the notes, because that was always the best. So here we go. Ephesians chapter 2, very, very important.
41:39
And I was glad that in the midst of all the poverty, all the crime, all the problems with government, all the problems with the
41:46
British, and the Boers, and the Afrikaans, and the blacks, and all these things, every person in South Africa that God wants saved, is going to be saved.
41:54
And so if you look at Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8, For by grace you have been saved, because of faith.
42:01
Is that what the text says? Friends, if it says it, it's works. If you are saved because of faith, you are saved by works.
42:09
Are you saved by grace because of faith, and that not of yourself? No, you're saved through faith.
42:16
The language is trying to show you that it's an instrument, that it doesn't contribute anything to salvation, but it's the result of salvation.
42:22
What is the motivating cause of salvation? You are saved because of what? You're saved through faith, but you're saved because of what?
42:30
It's found in Ephesians 2, by the way. Okay, that's the answer. That's the theological answer.
42:37
What's the Ephesians answer? Where's the because?
42:42
In chapter 2, there's a because, and there's a through, and don't get the two mixed up. There's a through, and there's a because.
42:48
You're saved through faith, to make sure you realize faith is not efficacious in saving. But there's a because.
42:54
Why did God save you? Because, Ephesians what? Oh, that's right, chapter 2, verse what?
43:02
Four. But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which
43:08
He loved us, when we were dead, He made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up, and seated us with Him, so that He might show off this great grace.
43:22
You are saved because of God's love, and you are saved because of God's love through the instrument, the non -saving instrument of faith.
43:30
Is that true? That is exactly true. And so back to Acts chapter 13.
43:36
We have been appointed to eternal life, and all those who have been appointed to eternal life, will believe. I just saw the millions of people, and the people in all the airports, and I thought, unless it's
43:46
God's sovereign choice, nobody stands a chance, to use that word lightly, of being saved.
43:51
There would be no chance, no opportunity. And what happens in the midst of all this opposition?
43:57
Everybody who God wants to get saved, does. Acts 13, 49, and the word of the Lord was being spread through the entire region.
44:07
And so I'm just so glad, that I knew that I wasn't the one, that had to cause anybody's faith, or salvation.
44:16
And I knew that with election, everyone that God wanted to be saved, would be saved.
44:23
Now let's talk about this for a minute. Listen to R .C. Sproul. It seems that if God gives grace to one person, in the interest of fairness,
44:32
He ought to give grace equally to another. It is precisely this oughtness, that is foreign to the
44:42
Biblical concept of grace. Among the mass of fallen humanity, all guilty of sin before God, and exposed to His justice, no one has any claim or entitlement, to God's mercy.
44:57
If God chooses to grant mercy, to some of that group, this does not require that He give it to all.
45:04
Isn't that interesting? Grace rules out oughtness. And by the way, sovereign grace also overrides your inadequacies, as an evangelist.
45:14
Who here has arrived in their evangelism? They're the best evangelist they possibly could be, and it could never get any better.
45:24
Nobody can raise their hand. Did you raise your hand back there? No, good. It's kind of dark up there. I couldn't tell.
45:29
Scott's pointing at John like John might have raised his hand. Sovereign election overrides your inadequacies.
45:39
The assignment of making disciples of all nations is overwhelming. It's impossible.
45:46
It's unthinkable. Eleven men against the world, yet God sovereignly chooses.
45:52
By the way, I think it also keeps our job simple. I love election because it keeps my job simple.
45:57
My job is to sow the Word, and to sow the Word, and to sow the Word. My job isn't to save, or to coerce, or to somehow shackle.
46:05
I don't have to convert anyone. I don't have to lead anyone to the
46:10
Lord. I'm to proclaim to them the truth. I also love election because then
46:18
I don't have to water down the message. Because sometimes I'm tempted to water down the message and hate mother and brother and father and sister and pick up your cross and deny yourself and all these different claims that Christ would have.
46:33
And I want to water it down, but I think, you know what, I don't need to because God will save. I love it that I don't have to try to get numbers.
46:41
Election keeps my job easy. I don't have to go for the numbers because God will get everyone in. Listen to John Aerosmith.
46:49
Election, having once pitched upon a man, it will find him out and call him home, wherever he be.
46:55
It called Zacchaeus out of a cursed Jericho. Abraham out of idolatrous Ur. Nicodemus and Paul from the college of the
47:03
Pharisees. Christ's sworn enemies, Dionysius and Damaris out of the superstitious
47:08
Athens. Listen to this. In whatsoever dunghills God's elect are hid, election will find them out and bring them home.
47:23
All right, last one. Let's turn to James chapter two. We're going to just have to make it very, very fast. Very fast.
47:29
My last thing that I learned is that no matter what,
47:36
I don't want to be partial towards people based on what they look like on the outside, specifically color.
47:46
It doesn't really matter. If you've got a German -looking Jesus picture in your house with Jesus with blue eyes and all those other things,
47:54
I don't know what to tell you, but I do know this. After you read James chapter two, there's no way you can look at anybody else in the eyes and say,
48:01
I think you're less of a person than I am because you're a different color. And I'm sure prejudice and racial hatred goes from blacks to whites, whites to blacks, and over and over and over.
48:12
But I just looked at the people there, and you know what I love? This is a side point. I love to be with other
48:17
Christians and just have that sweet fellowship. And the only thing that keeps us together is I've been saved by the blood of Christ Jesus and so has this other person.
48:26
Ever met somebody from across the world? I mean, I'm in Zambia. I'm the only white guy around, and I'm just as loved as anybody else.
48:33
I just fit right in. I'm thinking, this is perfect. I don't want to have any kind of, oh, look at this person.
48:42
And here, it's not necessarily racial, although we could see it in the text as well.
48:47
And I go so far to say this. You might not like your daughter or your son marrying somebody that's a different color, but that's where it should end, is liking and disliking.
48:57
Because if you say, I'm not going to let you marry somebody else based on their skin color, I think you might have a problem with this text.
49:05
Let's take a look at it. Chapter 2 of James. My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
49:13
Look at how he says that. You know it's going to be setting us up here with an attitude of personal favoritism.
49:20
I'm not going to preach through this. I'm just going to read it. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes a poor man in dirty clothes, this is what we are all tempted to do.
49:31
If I know somebody who's super rich, I'm going to go talk to them. Maybe they're going to be big givers. It's that kind of insidious attitude that comes into our mind.
49:39
Maybe they'll help us. They'll give something to us. You pay special attention to the one who's wearing fine clothes, and you say, you sit here in a good place, and you say to the poor man, you sit over there, or sit down under my footstool.
49:52
Let me put my feet on you. Have you not made distinctions among yourselves?
49:58
That's not a good thing. And become judges with evil motives. Now listen how
50:03
James preaches. Listen, my beloved brethren. Did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which
50:11
He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. By the way, it's not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into the court.
50:18
Yes, it is. Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? Verse 8.
50:24
Now this is where we could talk about race issues as well, by implication. If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law.
50:31
Who gave the royal law, by the way? Oh, the king did. According to the Scriptures, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
50:38
You're doing well. But if you show partiality, if you look at someone's face and judge them based on what they look like on the outside, you are what?
50:49
Committing sin and are convicted by the law, the royal law, as a transgressor.
50:55
Not as missing the mark, but here's the line. I'm going over it anyway. I don't care what God says. And just to show you that it's not a minor deal, it's a big deal, because all of God's law is a big deal.
51:06
Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. It's a big deal.
51:13
Verse 11. For he who has said, do not commit adultery has also said, do not commit murder. Now if you don't commit murder, adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
51:24
Now he wraps it up. So speak, so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.
51:31
For judgment will be merciless to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
51:38
Now, I don't think preaching should be always the pastor up there telling all his stories about how weak and how inadequate he is so you can identify with the pastor.
51:48
I don't think that's a good way to preach. Most of the time. But once in a while, I think it's probably fair.
51:54
Before God saved me, I was a racist. I hated people who didn't look like me.
52:02
And, I probably was, my sinful heart was fueled by my grandparents.
52:09
And we would see people walking around the neighborhood in Nebraska. And we would watch them walk together.
52:14
And if it was a man and a woman who happened to be different colors, I could just hear the words come out of my grandparents' mouths.
52:22
And certainly, it's not their fault. It's not my environment's fault. My heart was fueled by that as well.
52:30
It's not a good thing. And I remember the day where someone in our neighborhood,
52:37
I lived in a white neighborhood, lower class, it was all white. And, you should have seen the neighborhood.
52:49
It was like having somebody move into the neighborhood that had the bubonic plague. The neighbors talking, and this man was a military man, and I was near SAC, Strategic Air Command.
53:00
And he moved in, and it was just horrible. And I remember thinking, you know, peeking out the window. Just, you know, what do they do?
53:08
Do they play with a ball? I mean, I have no idea what these people do, and they're different and everything else. Finally, I began not to hate blacks because I was in sports, and so I had to play football and basketball with them.
53:20
I had to, see, even my language. And then I just have to tell you one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.
53:25
God saved me and took away every little bit of it. I'd never tell this story if I still hated blacks.
53:34
But God just took that away from me because, you know, I deserve to be eternally damned, and God saved me, and God said, you know what?
53:43
They might look different, they might talk different, but they're all image bearers, and you're to love them. And now
53:49
I get to say, I don't care what you look like, and I don't want to have given oath.
53:57
So I almost was going to say, I swear on the stack of Bibles. If Maddie, Luke, Haley, or Gracie come to me and say,
54:08
I met the man or woman of my dreams. Now we have to, you know, it has to be appropriate. That would be woman of my dreams for Luke, and man of my dreams for my three girls.
54:17
I would tell people, you know, you want to get married? First, they have to be the opposite sex. Second, you know, they have to be Christian, etc.
54:22
If they say, she's a Christian woman, and Luke says, she's a Christian woman, and she's on fire for the Lord, she wants to serve the
54:29
Lord with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength, I honestly, with my heart bared wide open to you,
54:34
I don't care what color they are. I've got to, I always used to think Indians were just these funny, funky people, and now
54:42
I love Indians. People look at different people, and they just don't respond well, and here we have, in South Africa, big problems with whites, and blacks, and coloreds, and all the issues, and all the freedom issues, and all the white oppression, and all this and that.
54:58
It's the heart that causes the problem, and God gives you a new heart. He says, love my people, and you know what? If Jesus will die for whites, and blacks, and Asians, and Indians, then
55:06
I will love those people too, like Christ did. And so, if your preference is, I don't want to marry a black man, I don't want to marry a white girl, fine, those can be your preferences, but they must only be preferences.
55:16
They can't be because they aren't equal, and they aren't equal in the eyes of God. Right? That's exactly right.
55:23
And so, I just praise God, and I hope I've been able to show it to people that don't look like me, that I love other
55:30
Christians. And now, God has even done something more amazing in my mind.
55:36
I actually have a love for people who are homosexual. How about you? If you used to think that I hate blacks,
55:42
I hated homosexuals. We don't tolerate that in Nebraska. We beat them up, kind of thing.
55:49
And then now, they are sinners in need of grace. I will not celebrate their sin, but I will eat with them, and I will drink with them, and I will go to a festival with them, and I will have fellowship with them.
56:02
Not around the gospel fellowship, but just friendship, because Jesus would have done it as well.
56:09
So, I feel like I'm preaching and talking about other things that weren't necessarily learned in South Africa.
56:15
But we are around other image bearers, and when you think of the two great commandments, love the
56:21
Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor, what? And I love myself.
56:27
And I know you love yourself. And with the same love that you love yourself, you are to love other people.
56:34
You don't have to love their sin, but you have to love the people. Right? And that is the royal law.
56:40
And so, sometimes in my dark hours, I say to myself, how do I know I'm a
56:45
Christian? Is this all worth it? What am I doing? I'll say to myself, you know,
56:52
I'm a change man, because I love sinners, I love people that don't look like me, and that could never happen unless it was the grace of God.
57:02
P .S. congregation, when people start coming into our church that don't look like us, would you do me a huge favor and go out of your way to obey
57:11
James chapter 2 and don't discard people? I say it all the time. Somebody told me the other day, you know, somebody came to our church a couple
57:18
Sundays ago. I was in Africa. I'm glad they came!
57:27
You know, my background in punk rock music and all that stuff, I want the Statue of Liberty spikes and the goth and I don't care, some
57:35
Gene Simmons shoes. It doesn't matter to me. Give me some of these sinners here and make sure you treat them like you would the
57:42
President of the United States if he was here. You go out of your way to serve them in any particular way.
57:47
And by the way, I think eventually they probably won't look goth, they probably won't have Liberty spikes. But for now, we want them to hear the gospel.
57:55
I don't want to be some kind of white -bred Massachusetts church where we all look alike and talk alike.
58:02
I know we're typically white in this community, so our church will be typically white. But any visitor, I want us to go out of our way, tattoos, anything else.
58:10
What do we care? I don't care. Nose rings, earrings, fright wigs,
58:17
I don't care. Whatever they have. Alright, we've got to quit. I do not want to be those...
58:25
I mean, I think our problems would be solved if we lived in the city. But since we don't live in the city, maybe you coach your kids that when somebody who's looking like a freak in their mind walks in, that your kids don't drop their mouths.
58:37
And that you go quick, run up to them and love those people. That's what we want to do. Because they might look that on the outside, that way on the outside, but we look like that on the inside.
58:46
And Jesus is a great friend of sinners. And I wonder if Jesus wouldn't go right up to them if he was on earth.
58:52
I think he would. Alright, well, the ramblings of a pastor. Let's pray. Lord, we look forward to what you might do in our church.
59:00
I think about just an overview of tonight and just to be in the word. We are thankful at our church that you've protected us from the trash that's out there in evangelicalism.
59:10
We're thankful that you've given us the word. That we would all have our own Bibles and the Spirit of God to show us what is truth and what is error.
59:18
We thank you for that. And I even am thankful for the transformation in the lives of the people here at the church and the transformation of my own life.
59:26
And Lord, how we can just be guilt -free and say you've cleansed us from all unrighteousness based on the death of your
59:32
Son. We thank you for his resurrection. And I think of those who are here tonight who somehow don't know who
59:39
Christ is and they've not been born again. I pray, Lord, that they would be saved because of your great love and that you would grant them saving faith in Christ Jesus.
59:46
That you would grant them repentance from dead work so they might turn and serve you, a living God. And Lord, we just are thankful that we could gather tonight.
59:54
There's no police. There's no crime syndicate. No one trying to stop us.