Part 2 of 2 Parts
False Teachings and False Religions
06-07-2020
Pastor Dan
Last week: We talked about knowing IF Our Ideas and
Actions are of GOD!
And NOW: How do we know IF Our Ideas and Actions Are Not
of God?
Our First Scripture:
1) 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you
do, do all to the glory of God.”
We should Live our whole lives in the face
of God.
Meaning, we
should not live it under a Veil of Secrecy or of Darkness.
But rather as
it should be done in the full Presence of God! Under the Authority of God! And to
the Honor and Glory of God!
2) Colossians 2:8 ESV
“See to it
that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to
human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not
according to Christ.”
Possibly, the best sense of the phrase to: “Take
you Captive” or to “cheat you”
Is to think of it as “leading you away as
prey.”
It also includes the ideas of robbing
and plundering. Your “goods’ - which Satan wishes to steal IS “Your
Salvation” which you have received from Christ.
Satan and his followers, they want to deprive
you of these, by perverting your mind, and by leading you off Track from
the Truths of Christianity.
3) 1 John 4:1-6 ESV
“Beloved, do
not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this
you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not
confess Jesus - is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which
you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little
children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is
greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world;
therefore, they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6
We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does
not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.”
Things Become Very Sneaky HERE! One of the deceptive
things about lies is when we think that a false prophet is going to
be False in everything he says.
SEE - OFTEN, a false prophet will tell the
Truth 90% of the Time! That is what makes them So Deceptive - Misleading. It is
because - They talk a lot and much of what they say is the truth. But that 10%
is enough to Steal Your Soul!
Listen to Satan’s words when he tempts Eve:
“Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of
any tree in the garden’?”
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees
in the garden,
but God said,
‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the
tree
that is in the midst of the garden,
neither shall you touch it, lest you
die.’”
“You will not surely die.
For God knows that when you eat of it
your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.”
And now, let’s take a look at when Satan tempts
Jesus:
“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself
down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
And “‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
“Again, it is written,
‘You shall not put the Lord your God
to the test.’”
SEE Here – Satan doesn’t only know the
Scriptures and he uses it but he also uses them out of context. He
twists them around so that they say what he wants them to say.
Beware of false prophets.
BUT - How can we tell who is a false
prophet? Basically, it comes down to: What is their witness or testimony of
Jesus Christ? And what is the Fruit of their ministry?
There's a lot of false doctrine out there, and
there are many of false prophets. And unfortunately, there are a lot of people who
ARE and Have Been Led Away by following these Lies and False prophets.
4) Matthew 7:15 ESV
“Beware of
false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are Ravenous
Wolves.”
There is an abundance of Scripture regarding: False
teachers, False prophets, Cults, & the Followings of the devil.
The Scriptures show clearly of just how
skillful these can be.
5) 2 Corinthians 11:13 ESV
For such men
are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising (or transforming) themselves
as apostles of Christ.
They Often Appear to be Pure and Holy
·
As well as Looking
Really Good on the Outside.
They Often look like True men of God;
However, Jesus tells us that "within
(they are) full of Dead men's bones, and of all Uncleanness."
Within, these cults and False Teachings, THEY
ARE DEAD And they Lead many of Us to our own spiritual death—I am
talking about - hell.
6) 2 Corinthians 11:15 ESV
So, it is no
surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of
righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
The cults, these False teachers, these False prophets,
and These False religions, OH-YES - They look like the real thing. They
appear to be ministers of righteousness. BUT – They are Not!
Yes – We started this week’s message by
looking at the wonderful Prayer of Jesus as it is record in John 17, and at the
close of last week, I was planning on going back to it this week but I was
redirected.
It was THE HOE Jesus started His Prayer – That is what haunted me. That is what
hung on to me. That is what Broke My Heart this week.
6 “I have revealed You
to the ones You
gave Me from this world.
They were
always Yours.
and they have kept Your Word.”
I know when Jesus says “and they have kept Your
Word”, He is NOT saying that “They Sinned No More”! No, Of Course Not - That
would be untrue. But what He Meant by that was that They Kept Trying. He
Means – If We are Of His that we keep applying ourselves to His Ways.
Meaning: That when we Fail, that We come back and ask for Him to
Cleanse Us and then, we continue to walk with Him. But That is NOT What I
Always See!
I see way to Many People Who Call themselves
Christians, Their Walk Is Not this way!
As I said earlier in this message, we focus on
Our Own Victory in God and We Fill Our Glass Up – of what We Want from God! And
then – we go on – living like the world.
Let me share an example of this:
I heard a “Christian” woman talking the other
day, barely stopping between words, long enough to get another breath but her
voice was just full of gossip. However, she did ‘Her Christian Thing”, before
starting on a new topic, she would pause, just Long enough to say, God Bless
her or him” and then, she would take of running of the mouth as she shared all
of the latest juicy tales.
Sometimes, I think we forget that the evil
one is out there. He is shaking Hands. And he is Taking Names. And he is Destroying
Lives. And many don’t even know of it!
You know, it is hard to grow up without having
any of his influence upon us. And one of the most disturbing as well as fast
growing cults among our youth and it is just melting across this Great Country of
Ours, it is this so-called religion / a Cult called Wicca.
Should this be a concern? YOU tell me.
Let me share some numbers with you so we can
get a better understanding of this problem.
Here are the figures
WICCA
From 1990 –
2008 = increased 231% in US
From 2008 –
2017 = increased 45% WW;
That is in 2017, ending
with a whapping - 3 million!
Wesleyans
2014-2015 =
increased 93% WW; ending with only 1 million
So, The HOW Sticks out to me.
HOW Does this stuff get it’s start?
Well, let’s take a look at maybe how it
started.
Starting in the 50’s, we have: The “Wizard
of Oz”, The Good Witch vs. the Bad Witches.
But even Here- Right here at the beginning, do
you know how much that movie has influenced our culture? When you see someone
running to get out of the rain, what do you often say?
Or what do you often hear being said?
“What’s wrong, - Are you afraid that
you are going to melt?”
There are many of these – For many of us - It
began with the “Wizard of Oz” then it grew into the “Bewitched” show:
Were even just a subtle influence of witchcraft was displayed. And it was a
Gigantic Hit – Even with the two Darwin’s.
And Then, – lets Fast Forward our journey to
our Today’s World: And this is When the evil one just Seems to Kick it into
high gear and he develops an even Richer and Darker side
We have the movies like ‘The Craft’, And
TV Shows like: “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”, “Merlin”
And Books that turn into Block Buster Movies
such as: The Harry Potter Series.
And have we talked about the Video Games yet? But
the evil one just keeps counting up his victories.
He is at work, but – I ask you - Should
we be surprised?
Magic – It is Intriguing! Fascinating! It
is Interesting! And it is Exciting! And with the word which is almost
taboo to say in church - It is Very Sexy!
You know – It is of NO ACCIDENT that the devil
is The Top of his game. This is the “WHY” that Our Towns and Cities; The Youth
from the Very Heart of America, the once called “Bible Belt”, Where
we once were known for the Heart of Our Country’s Christianity, but Now –
We Are Different! We have allowed this evil IN Not only our backyards But Even Through
our Front Doors of our Homes!
And now – it is becoming so bad that where we
live this Once recognized Holy Ground is being known for the evil-one’s Own
Playground. Yes – This rather newly formed following of the evil is Called the Worship
of Wicca.
You may not know much about the Wiccan
following. So, allow me to explain - just a
little.
The Supreme Ethical Rule of Wicca is the Wiccan
Rede: ‘If it harms none, do as ye Will.’
Now – Tell me – Where and How many
times Have you heard Advertisement Campaigns Which uses wordage such as
that?
IF IT FEELS GOOD – Then Just DO IT!
While the Wiccan Rede tries to set this
‘Craft’ apart From the Nasty Notorious Activities of Satanists. The so
Called “White” Wiccan And “Dark” Wiccan Worldview, Still Remains the same.
All 3, Satanists, ‘White’ and ‘Dark’ Wiccan
teachings Still Stand in Direct Opposition or Disagreement to the Biblical Truths
Of Absolute Moral Truth And Exclusive Salvation Through the Lord,
Jesus Christ.
With Jesus Christ alone being:
“The
Way and The Truth and The Life”
(John 14:6)
Finally, we come to what is the attraction. Wiccans
practice magick.
It is spelled with a ‘k’ (magick). They do
this to separate themselves from the Illusion or Trickery ‘magic’ from the entertainment
field.
It’s Magick is in an attempt to manipulate the
natural world and to alter Mental and Material Conditions.
As such, Wicca is a mysterious occult practice
which is designed to manipulate reality in concert with the Wiccan’s will.
The tools of the Craft include Swords, Spell Books,
Chalices, Censers, Cords, and Crystals.
Now – Tell Me: How many of those features are
in the video games that our youth play?
Regardless of whether the motivation, whether
it is directed towards being compassionate or malicious, the Lord’s Scripture Clearly
and Plainly – Condemns all occult practices! They are detestable to the Lord.
(Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Acts 13:6-11; Acts
16:16-18; Galatians 5:19-21).
Deuteronomy 18:10-11 says, " For example,
never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your
people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage
in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call
forth the spirits of the dead.”
BUT – HERE IS THE THING! Do You See the – “WHY”?
WHY are there so many young people being attracted
to this Witchcraft and/or Wicca?
Here are some thoughts from a Christian author
Steve Russo.
He has written extensively on this topic and he
is suggesting that by us understanding the “WHY” our youth are drawn to
witchcraft, that - becomes the “KEY” to addressing this problem.
Our Young people are looking for Power
and Fantasy and Wicca is a belief that promises them Supernatural Power Over their environment.
YES - Wicca is the “Problem” BUT It
Is NOT the Reason for the Problem!
SEE - ALL TOO Often – Our Youth see you and
me, us adults, us Christians – Living a way of Life in which we have: One-Foot-In
and One-Foot-Out of or with Our Own Walk with the Lord.
So – Tell Me – Can we blame this upon them? Absolutely
– NO!
Tell me if this is not true: For this analogy,
you are back in school and you are out for track. Your coach has you down to
run the 880 (yards) or as it is now called, the 800 (meters). There are 5
others from your same school who are also signed up to run the same race. You
practice with your fellow teammates. Now let’s just say that you are the
fastest runner of your classmates and you can run the 880 in 3 minutes flat
which is a Good and Above Average time. You feel good about yourself. But then,
when you go to your first track meet, you run against
another runner who runs it in 2 minutes and 35
seconds.
Now WHY might be a Good Reason that you lost
that Race?
Is It Not because you are used to
running Just faster than those whom you practiced with?
But if you practiced with the 2 minute – 35
second runner? Do you not think that your time may have been better?
See – Our Children watch us more than you
know! They watch their parents – Yes, that is True, but they also watch all
of us who are around them.
If we cuss – they will cuss.
If we Cheat others – They will Also Cheat others.
Often during my marriage counseling, when I
have those who choose to “Live Together” before marriage, I explain to them that
what they are doing, I call: ‘Playing House’
And now today, I would like to use that same
type of reference to our faith.
But – I want to Address those of us Who ‘Just
Come to Church’, Just to mark it off our To Do List and by going to church, it
has Zero affect Upon us and HOW we live our lives. To Me, this is
the same as ‘Just Playing Church.’
But our children are hungry. And JUST – Maybe,
They are hungrier than ever before. And if they can’t find Someone to follow or
Something to believe in, if they can’t find those around them:
Who Actually –
Really - Believe in God
And Who – Actually
- Pursue God’s Will,
Then they will
look elsewhere.
We are presently – Losing the War with our
kids.
But That Can Change! But it will take every – one
of us to act.
NOW - Here is a thought that I want to leave
you with today!
How many times did Jesus say things like:
“If anyone follows Me, then ….”
“If you Love Me, then ….”
“Just Believe, If not in the Father,
Then in the Son. And if not in the Son, then in what the Son has done.”
WHY IS THAT! Why did Jesus Have to say those
Words?
Are we not Following Him? Do we not Love Him? Do
we not Believe in Him?
Why did Jesus Feel He had to say: “IF ANYONE”,
‘IF YOU”
Do we have
One Foot In / And One Foot Out?
Are
we a Good Role Model for our youth?
Are we ONLY
After what We Want from Christ?
How Deep does Your Faith Run? Are You ONLY
Running as fast as the other Fastest Runner?
Yes – Indeed – We are the Reason of the
“WHY”.
But it isn’t too late. Not Yet Anyway! Or Is
It?
