The Devil Comes Quoting The Bible

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist

D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.

So circumcision, this really isn't an issue today, but we have other issues in the church today.

Churches today are dividing over things like social justice, so -called alternative lifestyles, prosperity gospel.

Even the whole COVID situation has divided many, many churches.

So we want to be aware of the danger. So we want to have grace, and we always want to be biblical.

We always want to be biblical. What does the scripture say? So those are some of the current issues.

But what about back then? It was over this matter of circumcision. What's at stake here?

So, well, circumcision isn't a big deal. Well, if you're trying to add it to the gospel, it is a big deal.

Anything can be a big deal if we say, hey, you're not saved unless you do this.

You're not saved unless you stop eating pork. Well, that sounds ridiculous to you, but you know, there's some people who believe that.

If you eat pork, you're going to hell. There's some people who believe that. So the truth is at stake.

Churches are at stake. Who is going to have the preeminence? Is Jesus Christ going to have the preeminence, or is some social movement going to have the preeminence?

The Judaizers, what they were doing, they were trying to wrestle authority away from the apostles.

Who are you going to listen to, Paul or them? Who are you going to listen to today? The truth from the word of God or what's popular?

This is a consistent issue throughout the history of the church. Here's why it was especially dangerous back then.

Because the Judaizers had some victories, didn't they? Who was the man that the

Judaizers brought onto their side for a little while? Or that's the way it looked.

The Judaizers even got Peter to compromise. And they claimed that the apostle

James, James is on our side too. Now, I don't think that was the case. But you can see how in Paul's mind, hey, they got

Peter to compromise. James, we don't know what's going on there. You can see how Paul would be really worried or Paul would be really on top of this.

To him, potentially everything is at risk. I've heard this before, and maybe some people here have said it.

Because Paul is very direct. Have you heard someone say this? Well, I don't see why Paul has to be so abrasive.

Have you heard something like that? But why does Paul have to say this? Why does Paul have to put it that way?

It just seems a little harsh. Paul isn't the problem. Paul is not the problem.

Essentially, he is at war. This is a spiritual war over the souls of men.

And it's a spiritual battle over the most important institution on earth.

Institution, for lack of a better term. What am I talking about? The church of Jesus Christ.

That's what's at stake. Now, we know, well, the gates of hell shall not prevail.

That's true. But local churches can be at risk. People's souls can be at risk.

Governments are set up. Governments collapse. Colleges and universities will come and go.

Other institutions will rise up and crumble. But the church of Jesus Christ endures forever.

So Paul knows the church isn't going to cease to exist. But local churches might. The redeemed will be saved.

But individuals might be lost. So hopefully that helps you to realize what's at stake and why

Paul is so zealous. So here's the point to remember, okay?

The Judaizers were ministers of Satan. Now, does that seem harsh?

Now, there's some people, let's face it, that seems harsh. They were ministers of Satan. Paul uses that exact term in 2

Corinthians chapter 11. Here's the most sinister part about it, though.

They professed the name of Christ. The false teachers, ministers of Satan, they preached about Jesus.

They taught about Jesus. False teachers are not people teaching other religions.

False teachers are those who creep into churches. And they give lip service to the name of Christ.

Paul says they preach another Christ. They preach another gospel. It causes people to receive a different spirit.

But do you see how dangerous this can be? I mean, I would love to get up every

Sunday and just preach about how, hey, listen, everything is so wonderful. Everything is so great.

And, you know, things are good oftentimes. Jude wanted to do that. He wanted to write an epistle about their common salvation.

But he understood what was going on at the moment and what was at stake.

Paul, same thing. Just one more point on this idea of false teachers as ministers of Satan.

I said they talk about Jesus. Do you remember when the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness? What did he do?

The devil came quoting Bible verses. Now, he twisted them and took them out of context.

The Judaizers were doing the same. But Satan is so subtle. He knows what he is doing.

You get into an argument with the devil, you will lose. So Christians cannot afford to be gullible.

We cannot afford to be unaware. We need to be sober, the Bible says. Be vigilant.

Because our adversary, the devil, what? He walketh about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

So Christians then and now need to be discerning. We need to be walking with the

Lord in our personal lives. If you are not walking with the

Lord Monday through Saturday, the devil can pick you off. He can have those victories during the week.

We need to be walking with the Lord. But I said we need discernment. Now, this is a great quote. If you take notes, write this down.

This is one of the best quotes I've ever heard. That's come out of the last century or two. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said,

Discernment is not knowing right from wrong. Discernment is knowing right from almost right.

Let me repeat that. Discernment is not knowing right from wrong.

Discernment is knowing right from almost right. If you don't get that, you can come up to me afterward and ask.

It's easy to tell the difference between right and wrong. What about right and almost right?

I heard this preaching. I heard this sermon. It sounded right. He's talking about Jesus.

The Judaizers believe that Jesus died and rose again. But they are false teachers. It sounded right. But oftentimes, it's what the preacher isn't saying.

Everything he says is right. It's what he left out. That's another problem. Look at Galatians chapter 3, verse 6.

Just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

So the battle is over. The true gospel is that salvation in Christ alone, faith alone, or is it faith plus works?

That's the battle. Verse 8 in the scripture, For seeing that God would justify the

Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed.

So then, those who are of faith are blessed with believing

Abraham. So let's compare scripture with scripture and go back to the book of Genesis, if you would.

So turn to Genesis chapter 15. We read this for the scripture reading. We'll go through it a little more in depth.

Genesis 15. And then we'll go back and look at Genesis chapter 12.

But remember, this is long before the Ten Commandments were ever given. This is hundreds of years before the old covenant law was delivered at Mount Sinai.

Abraham was saved here in Genesis 15. Maybe earlier, you could argue, but he was definitely saved by this point in time.

Therefore, salvation cannot come through the law. Law hasn't even been given yet.

Salvation comes through the promise. A person is saved. A person is justified before God.

A person goes to heaven and receives everlasting life by simply believing in God's promise.

The law is the law. The promise, however, is gospel.

Genesis 15 verse 1. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision and saying,

Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.

So while Abraham didn't have a Bible, did he have the word of God? Well, yeah, because God was talking to him.

And the words that God spoke became part of the scripture. And we're reading that now.

Verse 2. But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing

I go childless? In the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus.

Then Abraham said, Look, you have given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my heir.

And back then, it's not unlike today. Having children is very important to people, right?

You kind of carry on that family line. Having children is so important, especially back then for a wealthy, powerful man.

Abraham had everything he needed and then some. Very wealthy. He was like a prince of the land, so to speak.

But, you know, the one thing he wanted the most, he didn't have. He wanted an heir.

He wanted a child. He wanted a son. Look at verse 4. Behold, the word of the

Lord came to him, saying, This one, that is his servant, Eliezer, he shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.

Then the Lord brought him outside and said, Look now toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to number them.

And he said to him, So shall your descendants be. Of course,

Abraham was an old man. His wife is far beyond the age of childbearing.

She's barren anyways. So what God is promising, remember, it's a promise.

What God is promising, it really is impossible, right?

What God is promising is impossible. Sort of like the angel, Gabriel, who came to Mary, a virgin, and said,

You are going to conceive as a virgin. Guess what? That's not possible. Yet they believed.

It's sort of like the Lord telling us those who believe, though they die, yet shall they live.

People die. The promise of God is that they shall rise again.

That's impossible. Not with faith, not with God, because with God, all things are possible.

Creating the universe out of nothing, just by speaking the word, speaking the creation, that's impossible, but not for God.

So it's about believing the word of God. It's about believing God's promise. And what's

Abraham's reaction? Verse 6 says, Abraham believed in the Lord, and he accounted it to him for righteousness.

What is this? Sola fide, faith alone. The gospel is salvation by faith alone.

Abraham didn't have to be circumcised to be saved. He didn't have to do all these good works to be saved. He was saved by believing the promise of God.

All right, now let's go back to Genesis chapter 12. And this is one of the points that Paul is making in Galatians.

And again, remember that Gentile salvation was kind of a controversial thing.

Now, obviously, back then, the men in Galatia were not

Jewish. They wouldn't have been circumcised. Telling someone they had to be circumcised to be saved was a stumbling block.

They were not inclined to do that for obvious reasons. So that was one controversy.

But the whole idea of a Gentile coming to salvation to begin with, for the

Jews, that was scandalous. Hey, only the Jews are saved. That's the way they thought. Only the

Jews are saved. Well, you know, the Bible says that salvation is of the

Jews. It doesn't say it's only for the Jews. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website,

MorrisCornickChurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.