Root of Truth & Salvation
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Eating dog food (Hughes story 251)
Are you discerning enough?
Lots of stuff mixed in.
Strive for a pure Gospel!
Religion / the Christian faith can be like a ball of duct tape.
Cheyenne FBC around election time…
Leviticus 19 - the Law of diverse kinds.
Creates a pattern for discerning purity.
Two gates & roads last week.
Now two trees & fruit.
Beware of Fakers
Beware of Fakers
v. 15
False teachers then… and now!
False “prophets” - using all the right words, experiences, and appearances.
Cults:
Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division
But then false teachers considered to be within the Christian faith.
TD Jakes, Jim Bakker, Keneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyers, Joel Osteen, Paula White.
All false teachers. We should not give them any authority in our lives because their teachings do not align with Scripture.
Something I’ve covered before with copious examples for each of them.
What Jesus is calling for is Outer and Inner unity.
Take Root * Bear Fruit
This is something that is not always obvious… but regardless of the costume…
Dog costume 1
Dog costume 2
Dog costume 3
Regardless of the costume…
Observation will reveal reality.
Identify the Fakers
Identify the Fakers
vv. 16-20
Fakers exist. How do we identify them?
Observe their fruit (read passage).
Fruit takes time to develop.
Seven sons of Sceva (Acts 19:14-16)
background of Paul’s miracles.
Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Two kinds of fruit:
False Teaching Fruit
False Moral Fruit
“Not able” (v. 18) = not consistently able.
Fruit shows patterns.
Aberrations occur. Sometimes misspeak. Sometimes lack of understanding or study.
A guy on an SBC pastors FB group posted he was going to say, “Jesus didn’t die for you salvation but your sanctification.”
So many things wrong with that. Do I think he is a false prophet? Or a heretic? Nah, just doesn’t understand those words.
A lot of “discernment ministry” websites and podcasts.
I think this is why Jesus summarizes with v. 20.
You can only wear a mask for so long.
Stop Being a Faker
Stop Being a Faker
vv. 21-23
Why would these fakers say, “Lord, Lord!”
“Jesus saves but He also sells.” -Kent Hughes
John Stott made four observations:
Polite, Orthodox, Fervent, and Public.
Yet, fake.
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
The warning of v. 23.
An issue we find living in the Bible belt.
Christianity Vaccine.
Many have received a dead version of the Christian faith.
This is why we need to live out an authentic faith, a pure gospel.
This is why we are called to
Examine yourself.
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Be a Berean.
The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Listen with discernment.
To me. To others. To yourself.
Make sure that your own faith isn’t a dead faith.
