HALL Wesleyan Church in Rural Delphos
05 31 2020
Part 1 of 2
FALSE TEACHINGS
Pastor Dan
I need to ask for your
forgiveness.
·
I
had been guilty of focusing upon all of the work
o
All
of the work that needed to be done
§ And I had lost sight
§ Of noticing all of what Satan
§ Had been Busy Doing All Around Us
§ And – Yes - Even In Us!
NOW - DID that raise an ‘Eyebrow of Curiosity’?
I Hope It Did!
Please - Allow me to give you a personal testimony of:
·
One
of my sins.
·
Of
how I recognized that as a sin.
·
Of
my asking for forgiveness
o
And
for protection from it FOR in the future.
·
And
what was the result of that forgiveness.
ZOOM Meeting:
A.
My Sharing.
B.
Received only a
nonchalant confirmation from the instructor that I even shared anything.
C.
Being jealous of:
a.
How the
instructor noticed key elements within what others shared
b.
And how others
responded to those key points as they were pointed out.
D.
MY Recognition of
my jealousy. (angry-mad-left out)
E.
MY Asking for forgiveness
and for future protection.
F.
And then – the Way GOD
Confirmed my Forgiveness
a.
By the WAY the
Instructor Wrap Up this Exercise.
b.
Using my Exactly –
Even “Word for Word”
i.
But my name was
removed.
ii.
The instructor
couldn’t remember who said those words.
SEE - Sin Effects All of Us
·
Sometimes
we recognize it
·
Sometimes
we don’t
·
But
we Always Need to Have Our Guard Up.
o And humble ourselves
o Ask for Forgiveness
o And Pray for Protection
|
Last week in Church – I asked the question:
“What has GOD been doing
in Your Life during this Different Time?”
And although that is A
GREAT Question
BUT I should have Also
Asked the question:
· What has the devil
been doing in Your Life during this COVID-19 Time?
SEE - ALL too often,
We focus Just upon God
and
·
What we want from Him
o
And
then, it seems,
§ Once we have filled up our ‘God Cup’
·
With
all that we want of God
And then it seems that we
just,
·
Grow Relaxed!!!
o
And
we move onto the other cups that we have
§ And we fill them up of ‘whatever’
§ one by one.
·
And
often, these other cups
o
May be of Everything
§ BUT of God.
And by Doing Just This,
·
We
Always Leave Ourselves wide-open
o
For
the evil-one to come in
§ And to make himself at home!
WHY IS THIS?
·
It
is because We Started Off Wrong.
o We Look for What WE WANT FROM GOD!
NOW - I know of Pastors, or
Preachers –
·
Who
Preach their Religion as the #1 Religion
o
And
all other Trinity Believing Religions
o
Are
either FALSE or Beneath Theirs.
I do not know how you
feel about this
·
But
– I will Never Do That!
To Me, it doesn’t matter
if you claim the denomination of:
·
Lutheran,
·
Catholic,
·
Baptist,
·
Methodist,
·
Presbyterian,
o
And
that list can go on.
If you believe in the Trinity,
·
And
it is through Jesus Christ
o
Where
you gain not only
§ Forgiveness of your sins
§ But also,
·
He
is the Gateway of Eternity
o
To
God,
§ All I ask is that You Live
Your Faith!
I will Not
Teach Against those other Denominations.
BUT – When
it comes to False Teachings
·
The Teaching or Following of the evil-one
o YES – I will stand up and
speak the Truth!
SO – Logically
·
I believe this leads us to 2 Important Questions:
1.
How do we know if things
(Our
Ideas and Actions)
are of God
or of the evil one?
2.
What is the difference
between
BEING OF God
and BEING NOT OF God?
SO, How do we know IF
Our Ideas and Actions
Are of God?
1)
John
14:6 ESV
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
If we are Living Our Lives
·
For Ourselves
o
Or
through any other means of worship,
§
Buddhism
§
Muslin
§
Wiccan
§
Hinduism
·
We
need to be reminded,
o
That
Christ is the ONLY Way!
§ And We Should Not be Fooled
here.
·
If
you are Not living by Christ –
o
Yes,
there is an eternity that is waiting
§ And it is Created for You as well,
§ However - it is in the pit of the fire.
 |
2)
John
10:1-42 ESV
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter
the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and
a robber.”
Jesus explained that not everyone who is among the sheep
·
Is
a true shepherd;
o
There
are some who are thieves and robbers.
One way of knowing
who is who:
§ Is by how they
gained entry among the sheep.
The idea here is that there is a door,
§ And that is the proper way to
gain entry.
But – Not all
who stands among the sheep
§ Came in that way.
§ Some have climbed in by
another way.
There are many who have
gained access:
·
Through
their personal and political connections,
·
Through
formal education,
·
Through
ambition,
·
Through
manipulation,
·
And
through corruption.
He who enters by
the door is the shepherd of the sheep:
·
A
true shepherd comes in
o
By
the Legitimate
§ And through the Designed Way!
·
And
that is Through:
§ Their Love,
§ Their Calling,
§ Through Pastoral Care,
§
And Sacrificial Service.
I have often said:
·
To find the TRUE HEART of a True Pastor
o
Is
to ask them to be your Pastor
§ But to do it – Without a Salary!
3)
1
John 1:7 ESV
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son
cleanses us from all sin.”
The Blood of Jesus Christ
·
The
Father’s Son
o
Cleansed
us from all of Our Sin!
The Eternal Life,
·
The
Eternal Son, The Son of God
§ And He became
AS Jesus Christ.
·
The
Son of Man
THEN - Jesus Christ - Shed His
Blood for Us!
·
He
Gave His Flesh and Blood Away for Us!
o
That
is For You and For me.
§ He has died
·
Just
so that He could wash us
o
From
our sins
o
In His Own Blood.
His Blood - when applied
to us through Baptism
·
Discharges us from our guilt of all sin,
o
Both
ORIGINAL SIN
o
And
ACTUAL SIN,
·
Our Inherited
Sin
through Adam & Eve
·
And
Our Committed Sin through our Own faults
o
JUST
SO THAT,
§
We Can Stand Righteous in
His Sight.
But His Blood Does
even more than that.
·
It Secures for us
those Sacred Influences
o
Which
sin is to be subdued by,
§ Or Lessened
by,
§ A Piece
by Piece
§ Until it is Abolished by the Spirit’s Work.
4)
1
Peter 5:8 ESV
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the
devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
We Note Satan’s Goal:
Which is to Seek OUT – To Seperate
And ATTACK Whom he may
And then to Totally DEVOUR
Them!!!
SEE – Satan Plays for Keeps!
·
He
isn’t just looking to Lick or Nibble on his prey;
o
He
wants to DEVOUR!
§ CONSUME!!
·
DEMOLISH!!!
o
DESTROY!!!!
Satan – Lucifer - he can
never be content
·
Until
he sees the Believer – Utterly - Devoured.
He will Slash his prey into pieces!
·
And
he will Break their bones!
o
And
Utterly Destroy them if he can.
DO NOT INDULGE THE THOUGHT:
·
That
Satan’s Desire is to
o
Just
Make you Feel Miserable!
§ Oh – YES, That will tickle his fancy,
·
But
that is not his ultimate desire!
And YES – EVEN Sometimes –
·
Satan
will even make you Happy!
·
He will make you feel Loved!
·
He will make you feel Special!
·
He
will allow you to Fulfill Your Every Lustful
Desires!
For he is a Skilled Hunter.
He knows that sometimes,
·
By
using Refined – And Attractive – Poisons
·
Choosing
the ‘Sweet to the Taste’ Lures
·
Lures
filled with Hidden Half-Truths,
·
And
By Being Patient
·
He
knows he can catch
o
Even
some of the most
§ Godly-Devoted-People this
way.
He has snagged many
upon many of the most
·
Godly – Devoted –
o
Leaders of the Christian World in this way.
Yes - If he feels that Our Capture and Destruction
·
Can
be more readily achieved
o
By using sweets than the more obvious,
§ Satin will certainly use
the lure
§ Which is productive for
his purpose.
 |
5)
Hebrews
10:24-25 ESV
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to LOVE
and Good Works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of
some, but Encouraging One Another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing
near.”
Now for us here and at this particular time,
·
This
should be something which we
o Not Only Understand
o
But
we also can Directly Relate To!
Separation is the Fertilizer for
·
Discouragement,
·
Loneliness,
·
Loss of Hope,
·
And Depression.
Isolation is the playing field of the devil.
And the Thing Is:
·
The
longer which we are apart,
o
It
is strange how this works BUT
§ TIME gives LIFE
·
To
the thought that
§
We Should Remain Separated.
Those feelings which grow within us,
·
Telling us to avoid the community of believers
o
Comes
to us the strongest
§ At that very time when
§ We need the community the
most.
It is in one another
where we find Jesus
·
And
in that connection,
o
It
gives LIFE to the
§ Love of God
§ And of our Good Works
towards Him.
By us Discarding or Neglecting
the
·
Assembling of Ourselves Together,
·
That
Loss of Fellowship,
o
Is
a sure way of giving
o
Space for Discouragement to GROW.
Many of
us only go to church
ONLY IF
We feel the “Need for it”!!!
·
But our Motivation
·
Or Our Reason for Our Fellowship
o
Should
be – It MUST BE
§ In Obedience to God’s Heart
§ So that We can Give to Others.
See, It is like this:
·
We go to church,
o
To
Worship God
o And to Look for those who
§ We can encourage,
Those Who need Our Support
·
The
Support of the CHURCH
o
The
Encouragement To hang in there
§ Against their Own Discouragement.
And in by doing so,
·
We ourselves have received FUEL which we Need
o For Our Own
Encouragement
§ To Fight
Our Own Discouragement!
The “Calling of a Christian”
·
The
“Responsibility of a Christian”
o
Is
to Offer Your Own Heart to others
o
As
a means of urging them to continue
o
On
Their Christian path.
 |
This may include AS I Did Earlier:
·
The
Sharing Your own testimony,
o
And
even more important than that;
§ What you have Learned
·
From our experiences.
As each day passes
·
And
THE DAY of ‘Jesus’ return’ draws nearer,
o
The
commitment of being in
§ Fellowship with God’s People,
§ It Becomes
of even More Importance
§
Than what it was on the previous day.
This is
not ONLY For the ‘Others’,
·
BUT Also for ourselves.
God Bless
