Wolves In Sheeps Clothing - [Matthew 7:15]

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Well, good morning everyone Let's open up in prayer and then I'll explain what we're doing here
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Wait, I think we know what we're doing here. But let's open up in prayer. Anyway, Lord, we come here this morning to praise you
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To focus on your goodness to us Lord even as we reflect on this Christmas Eve morning how you sent your son to Come and to live a perfect life
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One that you command of us, but one that we can never do Lord how he
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Not only lived that life Suffered an unjust death, but you raised him from the grave on the third day and it's in that that we rejoice this day
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Lord, would you just bless our time together this morning in Christ's name? Amen Well, you know as I consider what we might do this morning,
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I thought hey, it's Christmas morning Let's do something light and easy. So why not go over Heresy Seemed like a good thing to do
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I've I've got quite a bit of material this morning and I've entitled this morning wolves in sheep's clothing
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And we're going to talk about some people some who are Closer to the truth than others
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Some who couldn't be further from the truth And you might say well, why is this important?
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It's important for a number of reasons One is when we think about the book of Acts the Bereans were commended for examining everything
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Comparing it to the Word of God We are commanded to hold fast to that which is good and to reject that which is not
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Anyway, so if you would take just a couple minutes and do that quiz They aren't real difficult.
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I tried to make it as easy as possible. The last couple of multiple -choice questions might be a little difficult
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If you need any help, just raise your hand on that. Well, let me read a quote from Martin Lloyd -jones and those of you who are still struggling to Finish the quiz go ahead and do that On your own
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Let me read something from Martin Lloyd -jones He says I feel it is an interesting and profitable subject to try and decide
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Which is the more dangerous position for a man to be in to state openly and avowedly that he is not at all
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Interested in Christ and religion or to follow Christ for the wrong and false reason
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I know that ultimately there is no difference between these two men. What's he saying? He says listen there is essentially no difference between somebody who says they're following Christ and is not or Is following him for the wrong reason in other words their heart isn't right, which means they aren't and somebody who says
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I'm not a Christian I'm not interested in religion Ultimately, there's no difference why I'm sorry.
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They wind up in the same place. That's right He goes on the one who follows Christ for the wrong reason is as much outside the kingdom as the man who makes no pretense
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To follow Christ at all. That is perfectly true But I do think there is an important distinction between the two when you regard things merely from the human standpoint
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The difficulty with the man who follows Christ for a wrong reason is that he not only deludes himself
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But he also deludes the church When you are confronted by one who says he does not believe in Christ Then you know exactly what to say and what to do with him when a man presents himself as a religious person
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The church tends to take him for granted. It would be an insult to question him
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The church assumes that because he acknowledges himself to be a religious man. Therefore.
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He is a Christian One of the most dangerous places for a man to be in or for such a man to be in is in the church of the
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Living God So he says someone who is a false professor Someone who says that they're a
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Christian and is not One of the most dangerous places for such a man to be is in the church of the
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Living God and why would that be? Okay, because they're spreading their own message and there's another reason
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Because they may never be confronted by the truth. Someone may never come up to them and say you know what?
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I don't even think you're a Christian if you believe what you say, but you believe I don't even know if you're a Christian Lloyd -jones goes on to say
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I am not at all sure But that one explanation for the present state of the church is to be found at just that point
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She has been far too ready to associate church membership with true discipleship and to assume that all who join the church
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Are really following Christ Significance of that is not everybody who says that they're a
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Christian is a Christian What did Jesus say not everyone who says to me?
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Lord Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven In fact later on that same passage
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Matthew 7 verses 15 through 23 Jesus says and this is where we're going right now beware of the false prophets
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Who come to you in sheep's clothing they look like the real thing they might appear to be
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Christians They might appear to be true prophets But inwardly are ravenous wolves.
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You will know them by their fruits Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles are they?
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so every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit a
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Good tree cannot produce bad fruit nor can a bad tree produce good fruit
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Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire
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So then you will know them by their fruits Not everyone who says to me
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Lord Lord Will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven will enter
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Many will say to me on that day Lord Lord. Did we not prophesy in your name?
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and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles and I will declare to them.
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I never knew you Depart from me you who practice lawlessness
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Those are some pretty startling words We are to examine the fruit of Ministries we are to look at What they say what they do to compare them with the
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Bible and also to look at What they produce out of their ministry Paul in the book of Acts Acts 20 verses 28 to 32 talking to the
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Ephesian elders leaders of the Ephesian Church said Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock
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Among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers To shepherd the to shepherd the
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Church of God which he purchased with his own blood I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock and From among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them
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Therefore be on the alerts Remembering that night and day for a period of three years.
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I did not cease to admonish each one with tears And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace
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Which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified this idea of Watching being on the alert for false teachers is a critical one in the
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New Testament Just to give you an idea of what the word false teacher
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In the New Testament of the Greek it is. Let's see if I can get all these syllables out It's pretty long pseudo
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Disgust alloy close enough means a false or bogus teacher a quack teacher of Someone in the
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Christian community who pretends to be a qualified instructor, but whose teaching is contrary to the truth
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Also the word heresies which is pretty close to heresies in the Greek means destructive opinions means false teaching
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So this is what we're talking about here this morning now on a scale of one to ten I Don't know how you rated
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Charles Finney, and we won't really get into individual opinions on these guys
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But I will give you some of the background of these men, and we'll see if your opinion changes again one being orthodox a teacher of the true gospel of Jesus Christ and ten being heretical a false teacher of the highest or Lowest form
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Depending on how you want to look at it? Charles Finney Phil Johnson Wrote quite an article about him, and he says he writes of doctrinal debates.
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He had provoked with his pastor always problematic I think to Engage it's one thing to talk to your pastor about doctrinal things
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It's another one to write about the doctrinal debates that you're having with your pastor He said
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I could not receive his views talking about his pastor on the subject of atonement regeneration faith
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Repentance the slavery of the will or any of their kindred doctrines What's Finney saying in essence there?
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What's that? He's saying his pastors wrong and are these small issues
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Subject to the atonement regeneration faith repentance the slavery of the will or any other kinder doctrines those are pretty important That's how people get saved now this
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Further Finney says about his pastor now. I think that sometimes I Criticized his sermons unmercifully.
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I raised such objections against his positions as forced themselves upon my attention
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What did he mean by repentance? Was it a mere feeling of sorrow for sin?
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Was it altogether a passive state of mind or did it involve a voluntary element? If it was a change of mind in what respect was it a change of mind?
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What did he mean by the term? Regeneration, what did such language mean when spoken of as a spiritual change?
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He goes on he says at first being no theologian my attitude and respect to the pastors peculiar views was rather that of negation
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Or denial than of opposing any positive view to his I said your positions are not proved
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I often said they are Insusceptible of proof meaning they could not be proven let's see under the guise of condemning hyper -calvinism
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By the way, what is hyper -calvinism? Anybody know what can anybody define hyper -calvinism?
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Okay, and and that's the essential issue a hyper -calvinist thinks that God is so sovereign
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Which he is but they put the sovereignty of God so high That they think I don't need to evangelize anybody
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Why would I give somebody the gospel when it's God who saves anyway? In fact, it would be wrong for me to give the gospel to somebody because I should only give the gospel to the elect
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That's what a hyper -calvinist says Now under the guise of condemning that hyper -calvinism
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Finney Expressly attacked the idea that people are fallen and depraved because of a sinful nature inherited from Adam In other words, he denied original sin.
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Now. Is that part of hyper -calvinism? No, in fact,
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I would say that most right -thinking Armenians in other words most people who don't have quite so high a view of the sovereignty of God as a
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Calvinist would say that that is a an essential doctrine of Christianity that we come out of the womb as sinners
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We have a sinful heart not because of anything We've done but because by or by virtue of the fall of Adam and Eve we inherit their sin nature
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That is original sin and its effect on us And in fact that was condemned in the 5th century
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Pelagius put that forward that Adam's fall only affected him and not anybody else and there are many
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False teachers today who would believe that including for example the Mormons, but Finney believed that Many of the doctrines
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Finney rejected were central to the gospel itself Finney rejected, let's see
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The bondage of the will he rejected any kind of idea of repentance being more than a sense of sorrow and He I mean there were so many problems with his theology, it's not even funny.
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I think Finney is one of the great heretics of American Theology so to speak and yet look at listen to this
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Wikipedia That's the online encyclopedia about Charles Grandison Finney He is often called
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America's foremost revivalist He was a major leader of the second great great awakening in America And he had a profound impact on the history of the
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United States he also was the inventor of the anxious bench where they would invite people to come up and sit in a bench and they would
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Preach and preach and preach and work on them and make them feel guilty until they made a profession of faith
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Finney also believed in the governmental theory of the atonement and that holds that Christ's suffering
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Was a real and meaningful substitute for the punishment humans deserve But it did not consist of Christ receiving the exact punishment due to sinful people instead
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God publicly demonstrated his displeasure with sin by punishing his own sinless and obedient son as a propitiation
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Now what's wrong with that? What's wrong with that theory in other words God said this is how much
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I hate sin Look at what I'm doing to Jesus Right, so we would still stand guilty.
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We would have to stand on our own merit. That's exactly right, Daniel Another feature of the governmental theory is
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The scope of the atonement it applies not to individuals directly, but to the church as an entity
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Individuals then partake of the atonement by being attached to the church through faith. What's wrong with that?
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What's that? It's I mean doesn't it sound like the Roman Catholic Church How do you get saved by joining the church by partaking in the in the?
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In the sacraments yeah all that all that kind of thing in other words it is salvation by church membership or at least that's part of it
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A Number of other things, but Finney was when you get right down to it.
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He was about as bad as it they come If you're going to grade on a 1 to 10 scale, I think
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Finney deserves a 10 you can modify it, but then it's subject to further modification everything else, so it's
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Not always the best but often it's very accurate Harry Emerson Fosdick Harry Emerson Fosdick who's ever heard of him.
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You know he lived to 1969 I Didn't know that of course. I wasn't a
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Christian back then so what would I know? One of the most popular preachers of his day
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He was a key opponent of fundamentalism. I said last week
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I don't really mind if you want to give me the tag of and I meant to look this up in Wikipedia If you want to give me the tag of being a fundamentalist,
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I'm fine with that As long as you apply the original meaning of it, and what was the original meaning inerrancy?
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Infallibility of Scripture deity of Christ, I mean the basic building blocks of Christianity and He stood against those things
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He presented evolution as a key to understanding the Bible I don't even understand that as humans evolved their primitive religion grew from the barbarian
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Hebrew view of God To a more refined view that eventually you spawned
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Christianity There's there is a theory out there that the unique feature of the
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Jewish religion was monotheism and that monotheism was a refined view of Polytheism in other words there are a lot of religions out there that had multiple gods and Moses or some really smart
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Jewish guy, maybe it was Abraham thought hey, you know what let's make a new religion It will be really unique because we'll only have one
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God Slight problem with that. That's not how the
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Bible presents it, but then if you don't believe in The fundamentals if you don't believe in the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture, then you don't have that problem
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But he was ordained a Baptist minister in 1903 The most prominent liberal
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Baptist minister of the earliest early 20th century pastor of the first Presbyterian Church on well
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West 12th Street, and then at Riverside Church in New York City a
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Central figure in Americans Protestantism of the 20s and 30s He delivered his famous sermon shall the
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Fundamentalists win in other words should those who stand for the inerrancy inspiration of Scripture the deity of Christ the virgin birth
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All those should they win in which he defended the modernist position in other words the
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Bible has some error And we just need to get over it Fosdick was an outspoken opponent of racism and injustice.
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That's good but he supported appeasement of Hitler and He argued moral equivalence
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For example the democracies of the world were largely to blame for the rise of fascism
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His radio sermons got him wide recognition He authored numerous books many of his sermon collections are still in print and he is in this church today
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Right here in this church Him number 292 God of grace and God of glory, and if you ever see that list on our program in the morning
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Whoever put that program together should be fired. That would be me.
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I he won't be in our program So Fosdick quite bad number three in our survey
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Norman Vincent Peale, and we think you might think that these are just random people, but they're not and we'll see here in a moment
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Norman Vincent Peale Liberal minister and found a founder of the foundation for Christian living often quoted
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Gives a really optimistic view of humanity. You know here's an interesting thing. I was having a conversation
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I think it was with Elder Lewis Brown here this week And we were talking about there's a little controversy going on with Dennis Prager who's a radio host originally in Los Angeles he is
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Jewish he is a Devout Jew and Very conservative individual and he likes
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Christians because he says Christians basically protect the
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Jews and he says this about About Judaism he says the one thing
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I don't understand is why Jews cling so hard to the idea That man is good.
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If anyone should understand that man is evil it is The Jewish race and yet we don't get that as a group
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Well Norman Vincent Peale Has this idea that? Man is inherently good
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He was the pioneer or a pioneer of the liberal approach to Christian psychology in other words in integration the idea that Psychology and Christianity should not only coexist, but be merged together
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He taught that positive thinking could perform greater miracles than faith in the supernatural Now Norman Vincent Peale had a great influence on someone who's significant today and that person was
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Robert Shuler He also had some influence on people in the word of faith movement and the word of faith movement is
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Anybody can anyone define that? Blab it and grab it name it and claim it
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There's no reason for me for me to ever get sick There's no reason for me to be poor if any of those things are happening.
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I don't have sufficient faith. That is a quick summary of their teaching but Shuler when
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Norman Vincent Peale died in 1994 Robert Shuler was in tears on his next broadcast
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Shuler told how Peale had been his Inspiration and mentor and the man who had the greatest influence upon his theology and ministry he attributed to Peale as starting the positive thinking movement
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Peale has said this your unconscious mind has a power that turns wishes into realities
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When the wishes are strong enough Positive thinking is just another term for faith
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Now in his own book self -esteem the New Reformation Robert Shuler wrote this
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I contend that his talking about man his unfulfilled need for self -esteem underlies every act
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Over and over again that the core of man's sin is not his depravity
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But a lack of self -dignity Self -esteem is the single greatest need facing the human race today
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He calls this a scene esteem divine self -esteem He says if the gospel of Jesus Christ can be proclaimed as a theology of self -esteem
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Imagine the health this could generate in society those are all quotes from his book published in 1982 in Responding to a question from Paul Crouch who is the owner of the
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Trinity broadcasting network on which you can Be without believing in the Trinity, but that's a whole nother story
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He said well at answering a concern that Shuler doesn't preach repentance
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Shuler said this I Preach repentance so positively most people don't recognize it, okay?
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Well if you you know if you have that Incognito repentance are you preaching repentance?
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How can you tell people to repent if you don't say you're a sinner you need to turn from that sinner and turn toward a living
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God now Our fourth person here
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Charles M. Sheldon As we could see there. Oh by the way, I forgot to mention that dr.
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Robert Shuler as it says there in your quiz is the host of the hour of power and also the
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Said the owner he's he's the he's the pastor there of the Crystal Cathedral Yeah appalling, that's right
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Peel appealing and Paul appalling any other comments about I forgot to tell you that in our home
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If you ever come to our home Bob Shuler is known as Reverend Bob in our house Charles M.
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Sheldon wrote in his steps Very popular Christian book what a lot of people don't know it's interesting when you
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Just kind of do a little biographical sketch on some of these people and kind of understand their roots It gives you an entirely different view about some of the things that you may have seen or heard
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He wrote the book in his steps very popular It's probably one of the top ten best Christian sellers of all time of course behind the purpose -driven life a few other books like that Charles Sheldon Classical this is again.
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This is from Wikipedia, and if it wasn't there it couldn't be true no Wikipedia classical liberal pastor of Central Congregationalist Church in Topeka, Kansas a pacifist he believed the church's task was to combat social and economic polarization he decried the fundamentalists focus on individual salvation and Substitutionary atonement and urged the church to accept evolution
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Some of you might have his book on the shelf now if it were me And I saw and I just read that part right there.
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I would have some concerns Didn't like the fundamentalist focus on individual salvation.
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Well. How else do you get saved? Didn't like the idea of substitutionary atonement.
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Well if Jesus Christ didn't Die in my place and in his place.
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I don't get his righteousness Then how do I get to heaven and he urged the church to accept evolution which is directly against what the
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Bible teaches you know what he's had an impact in very recent times because his book in his steps underwent a little bit of a
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Comeback here a few years ago, and it kicked off the whole what would Jesus do fad. That's where it comes from Sheldon wrote in his steps, and he wanted to show his congregations a fictional account of What what could happen to a church in their community if its members would live based on the principles of what
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Jesus would do in? every situation in life Although a fictionalized account the book demonstrates powerfully what could happen if Bible -believing
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Christians would take up their cross and follow Jesus You know millions and millions sold and I I was fascinated to read this that it was so popular
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That they couldn't keep enough of the book in print and they actually pirated the book in Britain They made illicit copies and distributed them there now what?
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Now what say yeah, what would Jesus do that? Now here here, what is the problem with?
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You know pushing this idea of what would Jesus do in every situation should we should we try to emulate the principles of Jesus taught us
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Yes Should we do what Jesus did all the time? I don't think so and there's a reason for that the reason is because we're not
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God. I think there's a little problem there But his over Arcing message was this doing social good
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Being concerned with the culture trying to change the culture He promoted what's called the social gospel the social gospel refers to the emphasis of a primarily
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Protestant movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to apply
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Christian principles to social Problems to try and change society not by preaching the gospel, but by doing good works
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What is the ultimate outcome of being consumed? By changing society what happens and that's exactly right.
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It is passing away. Anyway, the world is going to be consumed so I Would put it this way.
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It's like trying to scrape the sand off the beach Go ahead, you know go take your bucket go out there and dig as much as you want.
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But guess what? They're still gonna be sand there and you know, you're in trouble when you don't like a focus on individual salvation
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You don't like substitutionary atonement and you think that evolution must be accepted Because what does that ultimately say?
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What is the idea? What's the biggest problem with evolution being something that? Christians must accept that God is not creator.
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It says here What what that would mean is here's what the Bible says. I reject that in favor of science
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I'm going to say that science now knows more than God does God didn't want to tell us about that.
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I guess Moving right along here so we can get to the end here.
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Let's talk about Brian McLaren Brian McLaren was recently here in New England, right
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Charlie Yeah, he was here for Congress. He was one of their guest speakers He is a leader of what's called the emergent
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Church We were briefly mentioned that last week One of the emergent theologians
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I Just bring this up as to give you an idea the kind of things that they're doing
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Scott McKnight Said this about Mary in Christianity today several quotes here
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This Mary followed Jesus all the way to the cross not just as a mother but as a disciple
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Even after his closest followers deserted him She leads us to a Christmas marked by a yearning for justice and the courage to fight for it
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That's very interesting. But how would we get that out of the Bible? He says of Mary's magnificat
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He says like those songs of change it can be seen as a rally cry a revival song it
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Subverted this song this magnificat subverted the unjust reign of Herod the
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Great Another quote if you were
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Herod or one of his ten wives or one of his many sons or daughters with unexpressed of course hopes for the throne you would conclude that Mary was a rebel a revolutionary a social protester and you would be right the real
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Mary was a subversive and Finally, you can paint the
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Blessed Virgin Mary as tender and a splendid example of spirituality Or you can celebrate the
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Blessed Valorous Mary who heralded a socio -religious protest against injustice in the person of her own
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Messiah's Son Now to just kind of put this in context, I think we should we need it.
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We have to read Luke 1 46 to 55 and Mary said my soul exalts the
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Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior For he has regard for the humble state of his bond slave for behold from this time on all generations will count me blessed for the
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Mighty One has done great things for me and Holy is his name and his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him
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He has done mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts
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He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble
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He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty -handed he has given help to Israel his servant in remembrance of his mercy as He spoke to our fathers to Abraham and his descendants forever
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And I'm just like, okay, I read all that And and I I don't get the idea of Mary as a social warrior.
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I Just don't see that. Does anybody see that?
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I Certainly see her proclaiming the goodness and the graciousness of God. I don't think we see all that now.
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Let me get to Brian McLaren His book the last word and the word after that that's a nice title
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The last word and the word after that is about a fictional pastor and anytime you see that about a fiction
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It's a fictional character a fictional pastor who has been suspended by his church Describes his struggles with the theology of hell
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My daughter this is the pastor talking my pastor Jess a second -semester freshman at College Park, Maryland Had come home from college for the weekend
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She said she wanted to do her laundry and enjoy some of Carol's home cooking college food
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She said was boring and make it was making her fat I've never heard that complaint by the way
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But on Saturday afternoon, she made it clear that she had another reason for the early semester visit
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She sat down at the dining room table where I was working on a puzzle A favorite hobby of mine since childhood and a hobby to which
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I had turned on Saturdays, you know, you know, you know Can we talk for a minute dad it's something serious as serious my head snapped up I felt a rush of internal alarm and my thoughts raced from pregnancy to drugs to depression to bad grades.
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I nodded feigning calm You would think I might feel relieved when she said it's about God dad and my ability to keep believing him in Him or her or whatever?
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It's my faith. I think i'm losing it. Let me give you a clue if you're wondering if God is him her or whatever you've lost it
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The internal panic that flushed through my soul at that moment was no less strong Than it would have been if she said
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I'm pregnant or it's cocaine or I can't stop thinking about driving off a bridge I swallowed nodded again.
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Okay, tell me more Here's the problem. She said if christianity is true Then all the people
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I love except for a few will burn in hell forever But if christianity is not true, then life doesn't have much meaning or hope.
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I wish I could find a better option How do you deal with this? My daughter's questions stabbed me more painfully than I can adequately explain
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She had found like achilles heel so to speak of my own theology and with that One and with that one simple question,
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I felt something snap in me No, it didn't snap it softened Like a floor joist weakened by termites or dry rot
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It sagged and crumbled and broke into stages over the days and weeks to come. Well, what's the problem?
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The problem is this fictional pastor has fictional faith He doesn't really believe what the bible says
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This is what brian mcclaren said on homosexuality In his prominent role as author theologian speaker and leader of the emergent conversation
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Some forget that brian mcclaren is also a pastor Uh, here's one of his pastoral insights the couple approached me immediately after the service
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This was their first time visiting and they really enjoyed the service. They said but they had one question You can guess what the question was about not transubstantiation.
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Yada. Yada. Yada Then he the still small voice told me not to answer His question or the question it was about homosexuality
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Instead I asked can you tell me why that question is important to you? It's a long story. The husband said with a laugh
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Usually when i'm asked about this subject, it's by conservative christians wanting to know we conform to what he calls radio orthodoxy
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Sometimes it's asked by ex -gays the young woman explained This is the first time my fiancee and I have ever attended a christian service since we were both raised agnostic
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So I suppose they were like most unchurched young adults, I mean who don't want to be part of an anti -homosexual organization
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I hesitated in answering the homosexual question not because I was cowardly
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Or that I wanted to tickle any ears, but because i'm a pastor And pastors have learned from jesus that there is more to answering a question than being right or even being honest
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We must be pastoral We pastors want to yada yada yada blah blah blah season of salt words for the moment
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Most of the emerging church leaders. I know share my agony over this question of homosexuality
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We fear the whole issue has been manipulated far more than we realize by political parties
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Frankly, many of us don't know what we should think about homosexuality We've heard all sides
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But no position has yet won our confidence so that we can say it seems good to the holy spirit and us
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I think the holy spirit's pretty clear on that He says perhaps we need a five -year moratorium on making pronouncements about homosexuality
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In the meantime, we'll practice prayerful christian dialogue listening respectfully Disagreeing agreeably when decisions need to be made.
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They they'll admittedly be provisional Let's see
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And it turns out the husband and wife had asked that question because their fathers Have become partners
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And they want to make sure that both the partners can be at their wedding. So it will be welcome there So that's why they asked the question how pastoral to dodge the question
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Especially when it says in first corinthians 6 9 and 10 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of god do not be deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers
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Nor effeminate nor homosexuals nor thieves nor the covetous Nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of god
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It's not that homosexuality is worse than any other sin. It's that it is a sin And we have to tell the truth
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I mean the bottom line on the emergent church is they want to talk about everything. They want to question everything
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They don't want to accept anything on Blind faith or just because the bible says so Things are changing
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We have to be open to conversation uh nt right the new perspective on paul
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Basically, he says that we've misunderstood justification Let me see if I can just summarize that James white says this however anyone who has read right
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Cannot help but pause and take notice that when a man stands before the kind the gathered congregants at the auburn avenue presbyterian church conference
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And asserts that justification is nothing more than the truth that jews and gentiles are part of one covenant
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And that by faith that there's some kind of problem And that's exactly the issue there uh
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Could go on but he denies imputed righteousness in other words Just as we talked about That god imputes our sin to jesus christ.
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He imputes the righteousness of jesus christ to us Right denies that there are a number of issues there
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But anyway, that's just a quick summary of some of those things now That's one through six now to go through seven through ten really quickly true or false
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It is important for you to know the difference between true and false teaching I think that's true
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I think that's true Number eight true or false it is possible for a teacher to teach false things yet.
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Not be a false teacher Okay I I will go with that especially, uh
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Charlie said rc sprawled teaches things that are that we would not agree with infant baptism And other things and yet we would not call him a false teacher.
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Why because he gets the gospel, right? You know, I know uh, I certainly taught many false things
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When I was not a christian Yet, I don't know that If we looked at what the bible says about false teachers and their motivations,
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I don't know that was my motivation I think I was just as deceived as anybody else. So I think that's I think that's also possible
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Number nine if I found myself sitting under false teaching I would a leave as soon as possible b.
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Hope it gets better It could happen c sitting under the false teaching and try to change it from the inside or d confront the false teacher
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How many voted c? Good Good People do that.
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I mean I I've I've had many friends say that they're going to try to change a a given church from the inside and I I'm still waiting for it to happen whether the church be small or large
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Number 10 upon discovering someone I am talking to as a false teacher or under the sway of a false teacher
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I should How many of you put call 9 -1 -1 All right
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Oh nine down. Well, I I think uh, I think the the right thing to do would be d You want to go and say well, you know,
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I don't think that's what the bible I mean when I say confront that doesn't mean you yell at them It doesn't mean you know, you send out a mass email to everybody saying, you know, it just occurs to me that Pastor so -and -so is a false teacher
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Uh You talk to them And you see what they have to say you say, you know,
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I think you got this wrong and in all Probability what's going to happen is no you don't understand something like that But so that I think that's what
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I do with number nine. Anybody else have any other? Out of the four lousy choices you have there. Anybody else have anything?
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a Leave as soon as possible. I think a is fine b
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Number 10 any thoughts on number 10? Of course the answer is d no doubt about that All right uh
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I totally believe that that would be uh I I mean you could say that it's c but I think it's just b
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I don't I don't really want to debate anybody. In fact, I just had uh I've been carrying on what for some time with some guy who's a buddhist and uh
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Says he He doesn't hate god He just doesn't believe the bible where he doesn't want to believe it
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He doesn't think that the god of the old testament is the same as the god of the new testament and all these other things and you know, you just reach a point where you
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Refute the points one by one you give them the truth one by one you give them the gospel And then you just have to say well, you know what?
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I got other things to do in life and I'll answer any of your questions, but i'm really kind of done in this kind of back and forth debate.
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So We need to give them the truth and pray that the spirit would do his work any other questions or comments before I dismiss you for Donut time which by the way brought to you
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This morning By the demers family who are just delighted with the progress that their sons made and they just wanted to let everybody know how thankful they are for your prayers, so They paid for all the donuts this morning
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Let's pray lord. We thank you that you have given us objective truth that we might know you
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Lord, we thank you that We don't have to wonder whether or not the bible is accurate because we believe
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In a god who is Powerful enough to uphold his word to preserve it That you would want us to know you exactly as you are
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Lord that there is no Error or ability to err in your word
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Father would you just drive us to your scripture whenever we're Confronted by new or A novel teaching lord knowing that As jesus paul peter said there are going to be jude.
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There are going to be false teachers Who will creep in among us? Who will want to present their doctrines as?
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new improved true, right But their doctrines of demons lord, would you protect this church?
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Would you protect each one here from those things? Make us as the bereans that we would listen and then compare every single thing