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Bible Study- Lutz, Florida
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
The Communication
of the Remnant (Part
7)
I
thought it would be a good idea to offer some basic information on how to study
your Bible so we covered that in the last lesson. I think
you’ll find it useful.
Now
we’re going to pick up where we left off in this teaching series.
I’ve
taken you through the book to show you what Scripture has to say concerning
those who demonstrate a complete lack of faith in what God has said.
Jesus
commented on this aspect of human nature Himself,
Matthew 7
13: “Enter through the narrow gate: for the gate is wide and the
way is broad that leads to (what) destruction, and there are (what’s the next word folks) many who
enter through it.
14: “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to
life, and there are (how many) few who find it.”
The
“narrow gate” is THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD; plain
and simple.
We
learned that we are living in the day when Believers are no longer willing to “endure” sound Bible doctrine. They are accumulating “teachers” for themselves who will tell them what their “itching ears” want to hear instead.
Recently,
we’ve looked at the “false prophets
(preachers)” and “deceitful workers”
in the church community. The Bible
commands us, “to be on the alert” for
these people.
Why? Jesus knew the damage and the destruction
that would come about from those who would misrepresent Bible Truths. So he warned us beforehand to be on
guard.
Truth
seekers and Believers alike are being taken in by these false teachers and
deceitful workers in the church.
All
those with “eyes to see and ears to hear”
need to pay attention (Matthew 11:15).
The
word “hear” in the Greek is Akouo
(pronounced: Ak-oo-o) and means “to hear with understanding.” Not just to hear sound or words but to
understand what is being said and then learn from it.
If
you approached a railroad crossing without a gate, and you heard the train
whistle loud and clear, you probably would bring your car to a halt. Why?
You
recognized the sound. You recognized the
danger.
You
heard “with understanding” and responded.
This
is Jesus’ message in Matthew 11:15.
Jesus
warns us to be “on the alert” for false preachers and deceitful workers in the
church. It stands to reason we need to
be “on the alert” for their “lies” as well.
One
popular deceptive message in vogue today is, “I’m o.k.; and you’re o.k.”
I
won’t judge you. Please don’t judge
me. Let’s just try to get along…
This
is Relativism.
Relativism
is the idealistic position that all
points of view are equally valid, and that all truth is relative to the
individual.
This
means that all moral positions, all religious systems, all art forms, all
political movements, etc., are truths that are relative to the individual. Think on that.
The
philosophy of relativism is pervasive in our culture today.
With the rejection
of God, and Christianity in particular, absolute truth is being
abandoned.
Our pluralistic society wants to avoid the idea that there
really is a right and wrong.
This is
evidenced in our deteriorating judicial system that has more and more trouble
punishing criminals, in our entertainment media which continues to push the
envelope of immorality and indecency, in our schools which teach evolution and
"social tolerance," etc.
In addition, the
plague of moral relativism is encouraging everyone to accept homosexuality, pornography,
fornication, and a host of other "sins" that were once considered
wrong but are now being accepted and even promoted in society.
Relativism is
becoming so pervasive that if you speak out against moral relativism and its
"anything goes" philosophy, you're labeled as an intolerant
bigot.
Of course, this is
incredibly hypocritical of those who profess that all points of view are true,
yet reject those who profess absolutes in morality. It seems that
what is really meant by the moral relativists is that all points of view are
true except for the views that teach moral absolutes, an absolute God, or
absolute right and wrong.
Some typical
expressions that reveal an underlying presupposition of relativism are comments
such as: "That is your truth, not mine;" "It is true for you,
but not for me;" and "There are no absolute truths." Of course, these statements are illogical.
Relativism is
invading our society, our economy, our schools, and our homes.
Society cannot
flourish nor survive in an environment where everyone does what is right in his
own eyes, where the situation determines moral truth, and that lying and
cheating are okay as long as you don't get caught.
Without a
common foundation of truth and absolutes, our culture will become weak and
fragmented. By Matt
Slick – Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
The
Christian community is moving rapidly away from the Truth of God’s Word.
This
ongoing trend is influenced by many factors.
Church
attendees are not really interested in acquiring Bible knowledge.
If
you can get these folks to set aside 10 minutes of their day for devotions
and prayer, that’s a positive thing. But
to be honest, the majority does not have the time or the inclination for this
activity.
More
and more churches today dole out “warm milk” instead of “solid food” only
(1 Corinthians 3:2), when it
comes to Bible teaching and/or preaching.
The
average church-goer can’t handle the “meat” of God’s Word. It’s over their head.
The
average church-goer doesn’t spend any time in the book on their own.
The
average church-goer gives their hour or so on Sunday morning and then they are
done for the week. After that they jump
back into the world as an active participant.
Younger
Christians (and some older ones) have varying viewpoints when it comes to
acknowledging what is an acceptable Bible truth. They “cherry-pick” items from Scripture that
they accept as truth or somewhat truthful and discard the rest.
The Emergent Church
Movement – which is a draw for the Gen X group; is a vague sort of loose-knit
association of churches that have decided that there is value, there is even
virtue in uncertainty about
Scripture.
The
bottom line in this movement is they believe that we aren't even supposed to
understand precisely what the Bible means.
It is a denial that we can know what the Bible really says. And so, it becomes celebration of mystery, a
celebration of ignorance, a celebration that we can't really know.
They
want to run from the light. Scripture is
light; it is not darkness, but they like the darkness because their deeds are
evil. So I think the motive behind this
whole Emerging Church thing, whether it's a conscious or unconscious motive, is
discomfort over what the Bible really says, whether it's about the gospel or
whether it's about sin, virtue...they don't like it and so they toss it
out.
The
Emergent Church, the Universalists, the Unitarians, the Millennial Dawnists,
Christian Scientists, these are all examples of churches that have set the
Bible and God aside. When given the
choice, they have opted not to believe God. They
have chosen to ignore the Truth.
The
Bible says, “…people who will not endure sound doctrine any longer.”
Those
in this category who want their ears “tickled,”
will frequent these type churches because the message they “hear “satisfies
their “desires” (lusts).
They
have stopped believing God.
Then
there are the Truth Seekers. These are the
people who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation and
are now on their “Christian Walk” or their journey of Truth, as I call it. Most early Believers have a “hunger” for the Word
of God.
But
unfortunately, for a lot of them, they find themselves in one of these
deceitful church groups, and they get caught up in their web of lies. But
how can they know they are being deceived?
I
know several people who fit this category.
It’s
difficult to reach people who have been brought up in this type environment.
People
build relationships and there exists after a time an element of trust.
These
false preachers and deceitful workers are good at what they do.
They
preach a God of peace and love only.
They never speak of God’s wrath.
It’s
a “warming message” and one that the people “want to hear.”
But
it’s deceitful! And it’s not the Truth.
I’ve
said this before and it bears repeating.
The
Bible is our only true source of light in this darkened world.
You
can trust it.
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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