Would that we were all this excited ...
HT: Justin Taylor
March 2, 2011
By what Authority?
Preached from Luke 20 tonight. Was helped to discover some practical wisdom in the way Jesus dealt with scoffers and skeptics ...
In verse 2, we find Jesus’ opponents coming to Him, in essence, with that age-old childish refrain: ‘Says who?’. ‘You’re saying a lot of incredible things there, Jesus. But what gives you the right to talk like that? What gives you the right to make these kinds of claims? "By what authority are you doing these things?"’
It’s the same thing that people say today when you present to them the challenging words of Scripture. Instead of just taking them at face value, and admitting that they just don’t like what they say … some of our friends start questioning the authority of the scriptures themselves: ‘Why should I believe the Bible? Who says that this book is any better than or different from the Qur’an, or than my own religious musings?’ And I just note that, in the face of that kind of questioning, Jesus did not feel the need to get into a long drawn out argument about the authority behind His teaching. He just demonstrated the authority of the teaching by continuing to teach … and letting God continue to work (see the rest of Luke 20)! And that is a good lesson for us.
God’s word is like a hammer that break rocks into pieces, says Jeremiah. And no one ever argues about hammers, do they? No, if your friend doesn’t believe that your hammer is strong enough to shatter a rock … you don’t argue with him about the physical properties of your hammer! You just keep hitting the rock until the hammer settles the argument itself! And so should be our first response when people question the authority of Scripture. So maybe they don’t believe it has power. But if you just keep applying it to the hardness of their hearts, eventually the Bible will prove itself!
Now that is not to say that there is no place for showing people why the Bible is reliable, and why the faith is reasonable. There is, indeed, a place for those things; a place for apologetics. But when someone is simply scoffing at the authority of Jesus and Scripture, arguing and apologetics usually serve little purpose. Sometimes it is far better to demonstrate the authority of Scripture by simply proclaiming its truth than by arguing about its truthfulness!
In verse 2, we find Jesus’ opponents coming to Him, in essence, with that age-old childish refrain: ‘Says who?’. ‘You’re saying a lot of incredible things there, Jesus. But what gives you the right to talk like that? What gives you the right to make these kinds of claims? "By what authority are you doing these things?"’
It’s the same thing that people say today when you present to them the challenging words of Scripture. Instead of just taking them at face value, and admitting that they just don’t like what they say … some of our friends start questioning the authority of the scriptures themselves: ‘Why should I believe the Bible? Who says that this book is any better than or different from the Qur’an, or than my own religious musings?’ And I just note that, in the face of that kind of questioning, Jesus did not feel the need to get into a long drawn out argument about the authority behind His teaching. He just demonstrated the authority of the teaching by continuing to teach … and letting God continue to work (see the rest of Luke 20)! And that is a good lesson for us.
God’s word is like a hammer that break rocks into pieces, says Jeremiah. And no one ever argues about hammers, do they? No, if your friend doesn’t believe that your hammer is strong enough to shatter a rock … you don’t argue with him about the physical properties of your hammer! You just keep hitting the rock until the hammer settles the argument itself! And so should be our first response when people question the authority of Scripture. So maybe they don’t believe it has power. But if you just keep applying it to the hardness of their hearts, eventually the Bible will prove itself!
Now that is not to say that there is no place for showing people why the Bible is reliable, and why the faith is reasonable. There is, indeed, a place for those things; a place for apologetics. But when someone is simply scoffing at the authority of Jesus and Scripture, arguing and apologetics usually serve little purpose. Sometimes it is far better to demonstrate the authority of Scripture by simply proclaiming its truth than by arguing about its truthfulness!
February 28, 2011
False Teacher Traits, Part 1
Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. Jude 8
If you work in a bank, you need to be able to recognize counterfeit bills. In fact, bank tellers usually get some level of training in doing so. They are shown some common marks of a counterfeits, and given some easy ways to discern a fake. And that is much the same kind of training Jude provides in the eighth verse of his epistle. In very short order, he rattles off some of the obvious marks of a false teacher; some of the easiest ways to spot a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Indeed, he list four marks of such a man (or woman). That is not to say that every false teacher will necessarily possess all four. Nor that these are the only four marks. But it is to say that these are some of the easiest things to spot. Even before you begin to pick up on question marks in the content of his teaching, a false teacher is often discernible because there are question marks in his behavior and character; and in the very methods with which he pursues his ‘ministry’.
So, without further adieu … four characteristics of false teachers …
First, they are dreamers. Not dreamers in a good, visionary kind of sense. No, these men are dreamers in that they base a significant amount of their teaching, not on the plain reading of the Bible, but upon visions that they have had; or upon ‘special insights’ into the Bible (to which the common man is not privy). These are the kind of men who are often heard to say things like: ‘the Lord spoke to me’ … and then who make whatever the Lord ‘spoke’ law for their hearers. Watch out for men like that … whose ministry is based on what ‘God said to me’ in prayer or in a dream, rather than what God says to all His people on the pages of the Bible!
Second, false teachers are often unclean in their character. “Dreaming, they defile the flesh.” In other words, it is no coincidence, Jude says, how often the dreams of these self-appointed prophets end up being of such kind that they make the ‘prophet’ above the law. Or, to put it more simply, isn’t it strange how these special messages from God so often seem to mean that the recipient of the message has a special anointing, and therefore plays by a different set of rules? Sometimes the different set of rules has to do with authority in the church; sometimes with financial responsibility; and sometimes with sexual and marital ethics. But it’s always the same. ‘God speaks to me differently than He speaks to others. And therefore, my boundaries are different from those of others, too’!
Third, Jude says that false teachers reject authority. They usually run their churches or organizations as a one man show; as an autocracy. And why shouldn’t they? After all, God speaks to them differently than He does everyone else! They have special insights that no one else has. So they cannot be expected to be made accountable to a group of elders, or to regular congregational approval. “Touch not the Lord’s anointed” is their battle cry. And it’s no surprise. These men and women have already, in large measure, rejected the Scriptures (since God speaks to them directly!). So, if they are not going to listen to the Bible, why should we ever expect they listen to a bunch of ‘normal’ Christians?
Finally, says Jude, false teachers have a habit of pride. In the first century, they reviled angelic majesties. In other words, they thought so highly of themselves that even the angels should bow down to them; even the angels should walk at their heels. And, of course, that especially goes for the dark angels, or demons! And there are men and women like this today. They’ve got the devil by the tail! They know the magic words. And, of course, they have the special anointing. So there is no need for them to follow the biblical injunction and “resist the devil”. No, no. They are strong enough to make a full frontal attack on the price of darkness! And the same is true of other people who oppose them. ‘Don’t these people realize that I have an anointing? I am invincible. I am the unique servant of God!’
O, how we should beware! And how we should be watchful of a man’s character and method of ministry. If we do, we often won’t even need to wait around long enough to see that his words contradict scripture. It will be obvious in his character, and in the fact that he does not appeal to scripture for his authority … but to ‘the anointing’! So beware, I say! And stay close by the Bible!
If you work in a bank, you need to be able to recognize counterfeit bills. In fact, bank tellers usually get some level of training in doing so. They are shown some common marks of a counterfeits, and given some easy ways to discern a fake. And that is much the same kind of training Jude provides in the eighth verse of his epistle. In very short order, he rattles off some of the obvious marks of a false teacher; some of the easiest ways to spot a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Indeed, he list four marks of such a man (or woman). That is not to say that every false teacher will necessarily possess all four. Nor that these are the only four marks. But it is to say that these are some of the easiest things to spot. Even before you begin to pick up on question marks in the content of his teaching, a false teacher is often discernible because there are question marks in his behavior and character; and in the very methods with which he pursues his ‘ministry’.
So, without further adieu … four characteristics of false teachers …
First, they are dreamers. Not dreamers in a good, visionary kind of sense. No, these men are dreamers in that they base a significant amount of their teaching, not on the plain reading of the Bible, but upon visions that they have had; or upon ‘special insights’ into the Bible (to which the common man is not privy). These are the kind of men who are often heard to say things like: ‘the Lord spoke to me’ … and then who make whatever the Lord ‘spoke’ law for their hearers. Watch out for men like that … whose ministry is based on what ‘God said to me’ in prayer or in a dream, rather than what God says to all His people on the pages of the Bible!
Second, false teachers are often unclean in their character. “Dreaming, they defile the flesh.” In other words, it is no coincidence, Jude says, how often the dreams of these self-appointed prophets end up being of such kind that they make the ‘prophet’ above the law. Or, to put it more simply, isn’t it strange how these special messages from God so often seem to mean that the recipient of the message has a special anointing, and therefore plays by a different set of rules? Sometimes the different set of rules has to do with authority in the church; sometimes with financial responsibility; and sometimes with sexual and marital ethics. But it’s always the same. ‘God speaks to me differently than He speaks to others. And therefore, my boundaries are different from those of others, too’!
Third, Jude says that false teachers reject authority. They usually run their churches or organizations as a one man show; as an autocracy. And why shouldn’t they? After all, God speaks to them differently than He does everyone else! They have special insights that no one else has. So they cannot be expected to be made accountable to a group of elders, or to regular congregational approval. “Touch not the Lord’s anointed” is their battle cry. And it’s no surprise. These men and women have already, in large measure, rejected the Scriptures (since God speaks to them directly!). So, if they are not going to listen to the Bible, why should we ever expect they listen to a bunch of ‘normal’ Christians?
Finally, says Jude, false teachers have a habit of pride. In the first century, they reviled angelic majesties. In other words, they thought so highly of themselves that even the angels should bow down to them; even the angels should walk at their heels. And, of course, that especially goes for the dark angels, or demons! And there are men and women like this today. They’ve got the devil by the tail! They know the magic words. And, of course, they have the special anointing. So there is no need for them to follow the biblical injunction and “resist the devil”. No, no. They are strong enough to make a full frontal attack on the price of darkness! And the same is true of other people who oppose them. ‘Don’t these people realize that I have an anointing? I am invincible. I am the unique servant of God!’
O, how we should beware! And how we should be watchful of a man’s character and method of ministry. If we do, we often won’t even need to wait around long enough to see that his words contradict scripture. It will be obvious in his character, and in the fact that he does not appeal to scripture for his authority … but to ‘the anointing’! So beware, I say! And stay close by the Bible!
February 21, 2011
Damnable Heresy
Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Jude 5-7
Jude is now getting down to the nitty-gritty. Remember, this little letter was written, primarily, to warn the church about false teachers and their teachings. Verses 1-4 have simply been introductory. But now the persuasion, the warning, and the arguments really begin. Jude is going to pull out all the stops (or at least all the stops one can pull in a 25-verse letter) to try and convince his brothers and sisters in Christ not to fall into the trap of heresy. And the first thing he does; the first stop he pulls out is to remind the people that heresy is damnable. That’s what verses 5-7 are about. They are a reminder that those who turn away from “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (v.3) are destroyed. And Jude uses three examples to demonstrate this awful reality.
First, he reminds us of the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness for forty years in the book of Exodus. Yes, God had been merciful to them. Yes, He had delivered them from slavery. But some of them still “did not believe”. Some of them still worshipped idols, and murmured against the true God. And verse 5 reminds us that every last one of those privileged, but unbelieving, Israelites perished in the wilderness – at God’s hand, and under His judgment. He left them out there until all the unbelieving adults died off.
And, in bringing that up, Jude’s point is simply to say to New Testament Christians: ‘If God did that to the Israelites; if, even after showing them such mercy in rescuing them from Egypt, He was willing to destroy them for their unbelief … what do you think will happen to us? Yes, we are greatly privileged. Yes, we get to hear the gospel week after week, and benefit from so much that the church is and does. But if any of us turns away from the truth; if any of us believes a false gospel … all the privileges we have been given will not be enough to save us. We must not simply be blessed by God. We must believe Him … and shun false teaching and practice!’
And then Jude teaches a similar lesson in verse 6. Not only was God willing to destroy humans who turned from the truth … but angels as well! And think of the privileges angels have. They worship around God’s throne. They deliver His messages in the world. They minister to the saints. They fight wars in heavenly places. And yet if they – even they! – turn from the truth … their end is hell; they are “kept in eternal bonds under darkness.” And if angels can go to hell, surely church folks can, too … if we’re not careful to believe and practice truth!
And then, in verse 7, Jude says, in effect: ‘And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah.’ In other words, if it seems far-fetched that God would really destroy people; if it seems like God is too nice to wipe people off the face of the earth … just read Genesis 19! God hates sin! Indeed, He hates it enough to burn its unrepentant practitioners away like kindling wood. Never doubt that! And, therefore, be very careful that you do not turn away from the truth. Be very careful that what you believe – and how you live – is biblical. Do not be led astray by unbiblical teachings. Because belief in unbiblical propositions leads to destruction of biblical proportions!
So, I urge you – know and cling to the truth; especially the truth as it is in Jesus. Know what the Bible teaches about Him! Know the biblical Jesus with clarity and precision, and believe in Him with all your heart. And cling to Him, and Him alone, with all your hope.
Jude is now getting down to the nitty-gritty. Remember, this little letter was written, primarily, to warn the church about false teachers and their teachings. Verses 1-4 have simply been introductory. But now the persuasion, the warning, and the arguments really begin. Jude is going to pull out all the stops (or at least all the stops one can pull in a 25-verse letter) to try and convince his brothers and sisters in Christ not to fall into the trap of heresy. And the first thing he does; the first stop he pulls out is to remind the people that heresy is damnable. That’s what verses 5-7 are about. They are a reminder that those who turn away from “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (v.3) are destroyed. And Jude uses three examples to demonstrate this awful reality.
First, he reminds us of the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness for forty years in the book of Exodus. Yes, God had been merciful to them. Yes, He had delivered them from slavery. But some of them still “did not believe”. Some of them still worshipped idols, and murmured against the true God. And verse 5 reminds us that every last one of those privileged, but unbelieving, Israelites perished in the wilderness – at God’s hand, and under His judgment. He left them out there until all the unbelieving adults died off.
And, in bringing that up, Jude’s point is simply to say to New Testament Christians: ‘If God did that to the Israelites; if, even after showing them such mercy in rescuing them from Egypt, He was willing to destroy them for their unbelief … what do you think will happen to us? Yes, we are greatly privileged. Yes, we get to hear the gospel week after week, and benefit from so much that the church is and does. But if any of us turns away from the truth; if any of us believes a false gospel … all the privileges we have been given will not be enough to save us. We must not simply be blessed by God. We must believe Him … and shun false teaching and practice!’
And then Jude teaches a similar lesson in verse 6. Not only was God willing to destroy humans who turned from the truth … but angels as well! And think of the privileges angels have. They worship around God’s throne. They deliver His messages in the world. They minister to the saints. They fight wars in heavenly places. And yet if they – even they! – turn from the truth … their end is hell; they are “kept in eternal bonds under darkness.” And if angels can go to hell, surely church folks can, too … if we’re not careful to believe and practice truth!
And then, in verse 7, Jude says, in effect: ‘And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah.’ In other words, if it seems far-fetched that God would really destroy people; if it seems like God is too nice to wipe people off the face of the earth … just read Genesis 19! God hates sin! Indeed, He hates it enough to burn its unrepentant practitioners away like kindling wood. Never doubt that! And, therefore, be very careful that you do not turn away from the truth. Be very careful that what you believe – and how you live – is biblical. Do not be led astray by unbiblical teachings. Because belief in unbiblical propositions leads to destruction of biblical proportions!
So, I urge you – know and cling to the truth; especially the truth as it is in Jesus. Know what the Bible teaches about Him! Know the biblical Jesus with clarity and precision, and believe in Him with all your heart. And cling to Him, and Him alone, with all your hope.
Believer's Baptism
What does the Bible say about baptism? Is it for believers only? Or is it legitimate to include the infants of believers as well? Here's John MacArthur laying out the details.
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