Whitewashed faith
Notes
Transcript
Focus : How we distinguish real prophetic voices from those of the imagination
Function : To help us learn to listen to what God is saying to us.
Who do we listen to for advice?
When things are looking bleak who do you go to advice? Where do you get your guidance? Family? Friends? Bible? Facebook? News?
I have people I go to for guidance. Always make me feel good. Always make sense to me. Say things I like to hear. Always agree with my opinion. Then I have the other people.... Often tell me things I don’t want to hear. Often point out what I’m doing wrong. I prefer the first type but I need the second more.
You see it seems to me there are two types of guidance. The one you want to hear and the one you need to hear.
This is a real issue. These days we receive news & guidance through filters. We see the news on social media that is targeted towards our interests, our already formed opinions. The press seems less balanced than before, we select our news source based on whether it aligns with our values. We can live in these isolated bubbles formed around our own interests.
God gives us guidance, instruction. We have his written word in the Bible and we get prophecy - guidance from God. Its not always what we want to hear but it is what we need to hear. You’ve got to be sure it doesn’t get drowned out by all the other competing guidance society will give you. We need to be sure that we pay attention even if it is hard to hear.
This is not a new modern problem. In approx 600 BC Babylon invaded Israel and took half away into captivity. They were living life in all sorts of bad ways before - had been doing their best to ignore God and pick their own path. The people left in Jerusalem were in a pickle - their country on its knees, most of the leaders gone, the city in ruins. They need advice right? Who do they listen to?
We have the False prophets. I’m not sure they called themselves that - I’ve added that for clarity. I suspect they called themselves the real prophets. It gives it away if not. They were probably notable voices in their society - people that were listened to. We still have people like this, we just don’t always call them prophets. Political leaders, celebrities, business leaders, social media voices... Now these prophets issued guidance people liked - It was what they wanted to hear.
Or we have Ezekiel. He was not your normal sort of bloke. He had some wacky dreams and did some odd things. He played armies with a brick, He spent 390 days laying on his left side and then 40 on his right. He ate odd food cooked over poop. He cut off parts of his hair. Pretended to pack and leave repeatedly and dug through the city wall. His advice was hard to hear. Repent, turn back to God, give up things you wanted, do some hard work for little reward. Be afraid.
People had to choose and they were choosing the more pleasing option.
How do we know the advice is good?
We’re looking at this passage today as the result of a product of a prophetic word - a word God has given to this Church. It took courage for someone to share with the leaders something they thought God was saying. Now if God wants to say something he’ll say it in many ways and to many people - he knows we’re a bit deaf.
20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good,
So this is what the leaders did. The word given matches scripture. The word was also confirmed through several other people who had similar and related messages at the same time. Its something we’ve prayed about and it’s something we should continue to pray about.
Simply put it is this ‘there is unseen trouble, prepare - watch out for false prophets’. So when we look at this passage today hold on to it. God only tells us to prepare if there is a way to avoid or resist the trouble. I don’t know what the trouble is but we don’t need to worry. There is always trouble ahead for God’s church in this world, we just need to respond. Israel didn’t, we will.
Today we’re talking about a response to this warning, just like the Israelite were meant to, building a proper wall of faith. Something with solid foundations, something established on God and sustained by faithfulness to him. Something built to withstand. Doing it right is hard work. We’re about building a church with depth, not just something that has the look and feel of a church. Don’t whitewash yourself and lets not be a whitewashed church - it’s a word that elsewhere is translates as tasteless (food) or worthless (prophecy)- it is not fit for purpose.
It may look like a wall. Look like a church. Look like a christian. But its not. Its looks are only skin deep. Looks good but has no depth. It doesn’t have it because its not listening to God. It doesn’t have the function that it was designed to do, Withstand the storm that’s coming. To do so we need to listen to Gods voice and not be lead astray. Do not have a whitewashed faith.
What are some of the signs to watch for of advice that is not good?
So this morning lets look at what the Israelite’s didn’t. We will build on God and ignore whats not of God. How do we know which is which though? What are some of the signs of false prophecy or bad guidance? It is all intentional?
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!
I think the first thing to note is that there’s no indication here that there is cynical manipulation going on here. These people thought they were prophesying. As we start to think about bad sources of Gods guidance we often think perhaps of the TV prosperity preacher with a rolex for each day of a week and a private plane - a person of no faith cynically milking people for their money. This may in some cases be true but not always. There are a lot of ‘mystics’ in this world who honestly believe what they see and say is true. People calling themselves prophet who think they are seeing visions from God but in fact eat too much cheese… I never got that one in Dickens - you know when the first Ghosts appear and Scrooge says its a but of cheese… but then I got older and now I get the ‘pizza dreams’ - you know what I mean? Real vivid - totally strange. Totally my imagination - the Holy Spirit does not require help in bringing visions. There’s no process for summoning Gods visions.
So what do we watch for? I have 5 points.
4 Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins.
Jackals - type of Dog - would make their dens amongst the ruins. Without the ruins they would have no home. There is therefore no desire in them to fix the ruins. So it is with false guidance. It finds a place in the ruins of peoples misery, of their despair. The thing is though the ruins don’t improve. The advice doesn’t help. Nothing gets better in peoples despair. Our situation never improves.
5 You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord.
False guidance also avoids doing the hard work. It doesn’t build people up which is hard - anyone going through counselling knows there are no quick fixes to real problems. Its the get rich quick thing. ‘Buy my book for £39.99 and in 3 easy steps become a millionaire’ - only one person gets rich that way! Its the book you pick up that promises ‘pray in this way to unlock Gods blessing’ - like it was ever locked up. Like we hold the keys to unlock it. Its the church that seeks growth without getting stuck in with the nitty gritty of being and doing church in the world. It is seeking to have a stronger faith without ever opening up the scriptures, reading them, soaking in them, valuing them, applying them. It is the church with a great worship band whose prayer meetings are empty and lifeless.
10 “ ‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash,
It is also given in the face of the very evidence in front of you. How can there be peace when half the nation are captive and the threat still looms! Yet so how easily we receive these messages as we want to be assured that if we just carry all on all will be fine. I don’t need to change, it’ll be fine. What’s the first step in the AA programme? That I’m powerless over alcohol and things are not ok’ - acceptance isn’t simple. It’s easier to accept that someone else, something else is the problem. Poor guidance ignores the real obvious problems.
18 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own?
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22 Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives,
Finally, see it’s fruit. It encourages the wrong people. It discourages the right.
What is the consequence of bad guidance?
False prophets fall
9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.
They weren’t remembered - not in scripture. Will be stopped
23 therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
He even can stop the false visions!
But listening to it leaves us unprepared
12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”
If we fall in our faith, people will ask ‘where is your faith now’ - you know they will.
14 I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord.
Finally know this, God will not tolerate things built poorly when they are meant for his Glory. I think we’ve all got cracks in our wall, parts poorly built, some perhaps more than others. Know this - it will need to come down to be rebuilt properly. You seen the tower of Piza, once it started leaning they built at a different angle to compensate. Its not fixable. You want a good tower it’ll have to come down and to start again on a better foundation. Its like that with God - he brought down nation of Israel in order to build it up better.
I want to let someone much wiser than me finish today’`s sermon. It’s someone I think who’d just read this very passage. These are their words.
Matthew 7:13–28 (NIV)
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” 28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,
