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[0:00] Tonight we're going to look at doctrine, sound doctrine I trust and the Bible tells about a coming famine, a famine not of food or thirst for water, but rather a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

[0:15] We're going to go to Amos 8 just to introduce things there and we're living in a time, a world where many churches these days are led by emotion, experience and entertainment and even in otherwise good churches they can also sometimes miss the mark on some things.

[0:34] And so it's important that we dispel confusion and we go to the word of God for our source on what constitutes biblical truth which is lacking as a desperate need because there's so much confusion on various things.

[0:48] So we're going to go to Amos 8 from verse 11. It tells us here, It's talking about a time when the word of the Lord is going to be missing, lacking.

[1:24] People are not going to be able to find it and there's a crying need for sound doctrine. We know that and thank God for churches that stand for sound doctrine. There's various false teachings abounding today, much false doctrine and practice and at the heart of it really is a biblical illiteracy.

[1:41] The people have gone astray from the word of God. They're not hearing the words of the Lord and they're not finding the word of God because largely in some pulpits there's scarcely any Bible.

[1:53] And at the root of it all is an attack on the authority of the scriptures too. Obviously some error is more obvious than other error where for example we know in the darkness of the dark ages the Bible was superseded by traditions of men or obvious unscriptural teachings as much as they were from a high level in that church institution.

[2:17] On the one hand there's liberalism in some camps in some quarters where you've got flags flying for the LGB and then on the other hand you've got legalism where it's almost another extreme.

[2:31] And you've got these two extremes as it were. But thank God the word of God endures. The truth of God's word endures and we see that for example in Psalm 100 verse 5 it says, For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations.

[2:51] Of one thing we can be sure that the Bible, the word of God is not ever obsolete or out of fashion. The word of God is always vital and timely.

[3:04] It's always true and it endures to all generations. And it is to the word that we must go if we want to discern right from wrong.

[3:14] And so as Amos the prophet cried, there's a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. And yet his truth endureth to all generations.

[3:25] And it's to that word we must go to discern truth from error. And another scripture alike to that is Isaiah 8 verse 20 where the prophet says, To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

[3:43] So we must go to the word of God for the light that we need. We must build on the word of God as our solid, sure foundation. The Lord warns us about a time coming where truth is abandoned.

[3:55] Again along this theme, we see 2 Timothy 4 tells us from verse 3, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, But after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

[4:16] There's some churches where the preacher scarcely opens the word of God, And they go on, they rabbit on about trips to heaven, And signs and visions and dreams and wonders, And God talking to them and such things, Where in a way when we hear that we should say, Well chapter and verse if God told you something.

[4:38] Because we've got to go to the word to hear God's voice. And if you want to hear God's voice audibly, Then read out the Bible aloud. That's a good way of putting that.

[4:49] Because some flippantly say, God told me this or God told me that, When really it's their own, It's maybe their own well-meaning thoughts about such things at times.

[5:00] But Paul warned Timothy about this need for sound doctrine, And how many will turn away from sound doctrine. They won't endure it, they don't want it, They'll refuse it.

[5:12] Preferring instead messages that will appeal to their own desires, Rather than to God's truth. And so you've got whole churches where it's all about experience, And sensual sensations, And feelings centred, Rather than being Bible centred, God's truth centred.

[5:32] And so that's why we see, And it's sad, It's a sad reflection when you go down to the local Christian bookshop in Adelaide, That there's an abundance, An array, An assortment.

[5:43] Some good material, But some not good at all. There's many teachings circulating that claim to be Christian, But these teachings are astray from the truth of God's word.

[5:55] And some false teachings are subtle, But they're increasing, And they can cause much confusion. So my intent tonight is just to touch on some of what you could say, Really some evident false doctrines that we ought to be alerted about, And aware about.

[6:17] And many people are falling for these false ideas. So in part I'm going to touch on some similar things I've touched on this morning, So bear with me where it might sound a bit overlapping of what I talked about earlier.

[6:30] But let's take a look at some of these false ideas, And rather seek to counteract them with Bible truth. And so we're constantly encountering this false doctrine, And we ought to be aware of it.

[6:43] Because for example, When we're going down the Christian bookshop, And I love Christian books, But there's such an assortment now, You've got to kind of pick and choose, And even like I touched on this morning, Study Bibles as well.

[6:56] You've got to be careful, Because there's teachings in them that we may not always accord with, And we've got to be discerning about. And really a mark for all cults and false religions, Is their espousal of a works-based salvation.

[7:11] A works-based salvation. This is the common thread in, for example, Mormonism, for example, In most of the, All of the cults essentially, Where it's a works-based salvation, In the major religions outside of, Really Bible-based Christianity, There's a reliance on the self, On the effort of man, And the salvation that they think is earned through good works, Rather than by faith in Christ alone.

[7:39] And this idea is really playing into the, It's the pride of man, really, The arrogance of man, To think that they can work their own way, By human effort, That they can play some role, In earning God's favour, And securing salvation.

[7:53] As I touched on this morning, One of the major world religions, They pray five times a day, Seeking forgiveness, Every time they pray, But yet, Not having it, Not realising it, Not knowing the Saviour, And it's almost like, They're trying to earn God's favour, By this mantra they pray.

[8:14] Why is works-based salvation a heresy? The Bible truth is clear, Again, as we touched on this morning, It teaches us that, Salvation is by grace, Through faith, That not of yourselves, It is the gift of God, Not of works, Lest any man should boast.

[8:31] Now it does read on, For we are his workmanship, Created in Christ Jesus, Unto good works, Which God hath before ordained, That we should walk in them. So there is a place for works, But it's once you're saved.

[8:45] Yes, there's works to do, But that's after salvation, That's what he's ordained us, To walk in. Works follow on, But the salvation is a gift. Again, I don't mean to overstate, What we've already covered today.

[8:58] But it's entirely that, It's a gift, And we can have that realisation, Once we get that clear, It makes really, The whole, The whole system of God's, Operating with man, It makes that clear, That we're entirely dependent, Upon his grace.

[9:15] Because a works based salvation view, It undermines the sufficiency, Of Christ's atonement, On the cross. The Bible teaches us, That the only way to be saved, Is through faith in Christ, As our saviour.

[9:27] And here's an important point, That works based believers, Never enter into God's rest. This is the problem. If we've got this idea, That we're working for our salvation, Then we never enter into God's rest.

[9:42] There's a reality, That we have a rest in Christ. As safe people, We can rest, From our own works. But yet, Many are confused, They're looking for assurance, In their own works.

[9:52] And that's the real, Cause for confusion. Another false idea, Which kind of follows on, And is allied to it, Is this one, It's called lordship salvation. The problem with this idea, Is that it conflates.

[10:05] In other words, It mixes together, Sanctification, The process of growing in Christ, With justification, Being declared righteous, Before God. It mixes together, Sanctification, Where we're growing in Christ, With justification, Which is where we're declared, Righteous before God.

[10:25] So lordship salvation, And there's many popular preachers, We could name them, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, Ray Comfort, There's many popular preachers, And people tune into them, And a lot of their stuff, Is quite appealing, They're well versed in the Bible, Many of them, And, There's some good elements, I know, It was thanks to a book, That John MacArthur wrote, That I came out, Of Pentecostalism, Charismatic, Chaos for one, And Christianity in Crisis, I think they're both, John MacArthur books, But the problem with, We've got to be careful, They might have, Very good material, But we've got to be discerning, About some, Of where they're going, What they're saying, And so, As much as they might be, A good writer, On many biblical subjects, If they're teaching, Lordship salvation, That's a problem, Because it's making, Discipleship, A requirement for salvation, And that's a problem, Discipleship, Is not a requirement, For salvation,

[11:26] It's an outcome of it, So, We ought to follow, Christ's commands, And his way of life, And we ought to obey, The call to take up our cross, And follow him, But that's not about salvation, That's about discipleship, And this doctrine, This lordship salvation doctrine, It says that to have faith, To trust in Christ, For your salvation, It's not enough, It's, It's, Saying you've got to add works, You've got to add human effort, So again, It's effectively, A works based salvation, This lordship salvation idea, Is that salvation, Is conditioned upon works, It's saying that, Someone needs more than trust, In Christ's finished work, We've got to add our own works, They say, Faith alone is not enough, That we have to add, Our own works, Human effort, Of course, That's clearly, Not right, Grace is not the focus, For these folk, Like the bible, It's a focus on subjective feelings, Of tests, Of works, Of man's doing, So they're constantly, Having to evaluate, Have I done enough works,

[12:26] To prove that I'm saved, As if, It's again, It's arresting in works, That's the problem of it, That we shouldn't be scrutinising, Our works, To tell if we're saved or not, It's whether our faith, Is in Christ or not, That is going to, Dictate, Whether we're saved or not, So the problem with, Again, This lordship salvation idea, Is effectively that believers, Must prove their salvation, By visible obedience, And good works, It makes the grace of God, Conditional, On man's, Proving, On man's, Efforts, On man's, Levels of works, Or behaviour change, And so, It goes against, The basic doctrine, Of salvation, By grace alone, That's the point, And so, And this is true, For really, Many religious, Messages, Many, Popular, Teachers, That, There's a lack of, Assurance of salvation here, Because they're always, Unsure,

[13:27] Have they done enough works, Have they, Worked hard enough, Have they, Given up enough sin, Have they, Taken up enough, Righteous acts, It's about man's efforts, And that's getting the focus wrong, The assurance of our salvation, Is our resting, In Christ, It's our trusting, In the finished work, Not in this works based, Way of thinking, In this performance based, Way of thinking, Of maintaining, Our own salvation, And, It hinges on our works, That's a false idea, On the contrary, I can give you some, Bible assurance here tonight, That the Bible tells us, We can have, An assurance of salvation, So if you're searching, For God tonight, You've yet to trust him, You're not sure, That you're saved, It tells us, There's a promise here, In 1 John 5 13, That John writes, These words, In the back of the book, In 1 John 5, He says, These things have I written, Unto you that believe, On the name of the son of God,

[14:28] That you may know, That you have, Eternal life, And that you may believe, On the name of the son of God, There's a wonderful assurance, That we can have, If we believe, On the name of Jesus, That we have, Eternal life, So there's many false gospels, Again, Christian bookstops, Are full of their teachings, Here's another popular, False idea, And, It's called, The prosperity gospel, The prosperity gospel, And, Many of the, Popular TV preachers, Put this kind of message out, This health and wealth, Gospel, That God rewards faith, With financial prosperity, And physical health, So people who hold this view, They will sometimes claim, If someone is sick, Or poor, It's due to a lack of faith, Or a lack of positive confession, And the prosperity gospel, It teaches that, God's primary concern, Is our physical health, Or wealth, And happiness, And, It's a real distortion, Of biblical teaching, Because,

[15:28] Of course, The bible says, That we ought to be content, With what we have, We ought to, As Paul says, He says, I've learnt, In whatsoever state I am, They weep to be content, There's a contentment in Christ, That we don't, Trust in our material, Trappings, But the prosperity gospel, It distorts, Biblical teaching, Makes it all about, Materialism, A worldly focus, And, It neglects, And contradicts, Really the bible's teaching, Which tells us, We ought to be, Ready for suffering, And even poverty, And that our eternal hope, In Christ is what matters, Not worldly wealth, Our lord says this, He says, Don't lay up, For yourselves, Traces upon the earth, Where moth and rust, Doth corrupt, And where thieves, Break through and steal, But rather, He says, Lay up for yourselves, Traces, In heaven, Where neither moth nor rust, Doth corrupt, And where thieves, Do not break through nor steal, So the real gospel, It's not about earthly wealth,

[16:30] It's about spiritual riches, It's being rich towards God, The prosperity gospel, Promotes the idea, That faith is going to ultimately, Inevitably lead to material blessings, And a life free from hardship, It's clearly a false teaching, Of course we see, In the book of Job, The most righteous man, On all the earth, He suffered great loss, And deprivation, And suffering, Yet he was the righteous one, The biblical truth, Is that, Those that, Are concentrating, Are focused on being rich, They're going to fall into temptation, And a snare, And into many foolish, And hurtful lusts, Which drown men, In destruction and perdition, For the love of money, Is the root, Of all evil, It's not something, We ought to have, And our Lord says, In the world, You shall have tribulation, This is what our Lord tells us, We can expect, Not a life free from, Suffering, On the contrary, As believers, We can expect,

[17:31] To face suffering, And to have, Times where we call to self-denial, Not self-indulgence, So true riches, Are found in the spiritual blessings, From our relationship, With our Lord, But not immaterial wealth, And so the prosperity gospel, Gets that wrong, Instead our faith, Ought to be, Strengthened and, And tested, In trials, Not prosperity, My brethren, Count it all joy, When you fall into, Diverse temptations, Knowing this, That the trying of your faith, Work of patience, So, The prosperity gospel, Be aware of that, Be, Alerted and warned, About the danger of that, There's many names, We could name, They're basically, The very top, Pentecostal, Kind of preachers, Putting this kind of view forward, That it's all about, Material wealth, When the Bible says, Nothing of the kind, And these kind of false ideas, Are also, Really called, The word of faith movement, The experiential, Extra biblical revelation, That,

[18:31] Is a hallmark, Of pentecostalism, The new apostolic reformation, And I can talk from experience, Because I was in some of that, Although I was in, More so, The conservative side of things, And they used to, Speak against people like, Kenneth Copeland, And, Benny Hint, They used to actually, Have some discernment, To a degree, At one time, But now it's all mainstream, This word of faith idea, This positive confession, It's all about the prosperity, The health, Wealth, The success, The speaking things, Into existence, And it's really distorting, What biblical faith is, And turning it into, A manipulating of God, A focusing on material wealth, And success, It's like it's reducing God, To a spiritual vending machine, That, We can just, Basically, Command God, To bring blessing on our life, That kind of thing, It's how some of them talk, That they command God, And they decree things, As if they're acting like God,

[19:32] In some presumptuous way, Rather than actually, Being prayerful, And trusting God, To help, And meet need, And so, It's a hallmark of deception, Is this mixture of error, And truth, And friends, I've got to say, And I say from experience this, That the Pentecostal movement, Is the mixture of error, And truth, There's much, Really theological poison, It's a toxic twisting of scripture, Misapplying the truth, Of the word of God, And taking things, Out of the context, Of the early church, And misapplying them, To the present, There's many false ideas, That are connected, For example, There's preachers like, Derek Prince, He's someone who believes, That Christians can have demons, That need to be cast out, And that's quite contrary, To the word of God, If you're a saved man, Or woman tonight, I don't believe, That you can be inhabited, By a demon, I think we can be afflicted, We can be, We can suffer, Affliction,

[20:34] From demonic forces, But, They cannot indwell us, Because we, Are indwelt, By the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit indwells us, We're the temple, Of the Holy Spirit, We don't need any demons, Cast out of us, And so, We must exercise, Discernment about, Many of these people, They're really left field, And one of the big problems, With the Pentecostal scene, Again, I speak from experience, Is that, It's experience centred, They're placing, Personal spiritual experience, As the highest authority, Often above scripture, And they'll say things like, Oh you can't deny my experience, Well if it's not biblical, We can deny it, The Pentecostal movement, Emphasizes, Emotional, And mystical experiences, Over the objective truth, Of the Bible, And while experiences, Of God are real, And they're valuable, We've got to test them, It's very important, The Bible clearly tells us, To test everything, Try everything, John writes, 1 John 4,

[21:35] One, Beloved, Believe not every spirit, But try the spirits, Whether they are of God, Because many false prophets, Have gone out into the world, The problem, With the Pentecostal, Doctrine, The Pentecostal, Kind of gospel, Is that they're elevating, Personal experience, Over God's word, And it leads to this, Subjective interpretation, Of faith, It really is disregarding, Biblical authority, Because they're putting, Experience above, What the Bible actually says, It's important, That we don't base, Our theology, Off our experience, But we test, Our experience, We interpret, Our experience, By the Bible, And another, Allied, Misteaching, Of the Pentecostal scene, Now, Is what they're calling, The new apostolic, Reformation, They believe, That God is restoring, The offices, Of an apostle, And prophet, In the church today, And these individuals, They go about, With the, Name, In front of their name,

[22:35] Of prophet, So and so, Of apostle, So and so, Elevating themselves, As human leaders, And then adding, To the scripture, As if they can get, Some extra biblical, In other words, Outside of the Bible, Revelation, And that can be, A big problem, That's why we have, Such cults as, Mormonism, As Seventh day, Adventists, As in, The watchtower, Where they have, Extra biblical revelation, As if they can, Add to, What the Bible, Actually says, But the Bible, Talks about, The apostles, And prophets, As having a unique role, It was a foundational role, As it tells us, Ephesians 2.20, Of the church, It's built upon, The foundation, Of the apostles, And the prophets, Jesus Christ himself, Being the chief, Cornerstone, So again, Brothers and sisters, I'm really, I pray, Sounding a warning to you, To be alert, To these things, When you're, Fishing in the, Christian bookshop, When you're looking, For a study Bible, When you're looking,

[23:36] For doctrine, To be, Alerted, There's dangers here, To be, Aware of, And underlying, All of these, False gospels, Is really, That they're going, Astray from the word of God, Relativism, Is another, False gospel, It's going astray, From the word of God, It's another modern, False teaching, So relativism, You could define that, As it's claiming, That truth, Is subjective, So, Your truth, Might be different, From my truth, And, It's all of that, Kind of way of thinking, That every individual, Can determine, What is right, For themselves, Really, It's like the Bible says, Every man's doing, What's right, In their own eyes, It's a rejecting, Of the idea, Of absolute truth, That we've actually, Got a Bible, That we can say, This is the absolute truth, Thus saith the Lord, It's the absolute truth, In all matters, Of morality, And spirituality, And of course we know, There's a very clear, Message in the Bible,

[24:36] That there's only one way, Only one saviour, As the Lord says, John 14, 6, He says, I am the way, The truth, And the life, No man cometh, Unto the Father, But by me, That's exclusive, That's absolute, That's not, Something that's relative, But it's absolute, Jesus Christ, Is the only way, To the Father, And his word, Is truth, Post modern, Relativism, Is this philosophy, That truth is subjective, It's relative, What's true for one person, May not be true for another, And so no wonder, There's confusion, And there's this rejection, Of absolute biblical truths, Where people would, Even go contrary, To what the Bible, Exactly says, Go contrary to it, Because they feel, A different viewpoint, From the Bible, Yet the Bible says, God's word is truth, John 17, 17, Relativism, It's a real danger, That it denies, The authority of the Bible, And it leads to confusion, A sound doctrine,

[25:38] Must have, This essential, Foundation, This essential basis, The word of God, That we absolutely, Uphold the absolute truth, Of the Bible, It tells us, Thy word is true, From the beginning, And every one, Of thy righteous judgments, Endureth forever, The Bible gives us, God's eternal, Unchanging standard, There's no, New improved version, There's no, Alteration of it, This is the word of God, And it stands forever, Settled in heaven, It's the word of God, We cannot reshape truth, To fit the culture, Or our personal preference, So at the heart, Of all of these false doctrines, That we're really just, Touching on tonight, Is this erosion, Of biblical authority, Some modern thinkers, Have the false teaching, That the Bible is outdated, Unreliable, Open to interpretation, Based on our personal, Or cultural preferences, So this leads to, What you could call, Selective obedience, Oh, I like this bit, But, Oh no, I don't like that bit, Yeah, It's selective obedience,

[26:40] Isn't it? I'll take, I'll pick and choose, What I want, To believe, And I'll reject, The inconvenient truths, That's the modern way, Of thinking, Isn't it? But as God's people, God helping us, As the church of God, As we guard ourselves, Against error, We hold to the, Inerrancy of the Bible, That this book is, Inerrant, There's no error in it, There's no fault, Or, Falsehood in it, It's entirely true, From cover to cover, And the biblical truth, Is this, That all scripture, Is given, By inspiration, Of God, And is profitable, For doctrine, For reproof, For correction, For instruction, In righteousness, It's inspired, It's inerrant, It's authoritative, The word of God, It's timeless, It's relevant today, As in every generation, In the generations to come, In guiding us in truth, In godly living, Our Lord Jesus says this, He says, Heaven and earth, Shall pass away, But my words, Shall not pass away, Every word, Scripture is not subject, To cultural trends, Or personal preferences,

[27:42] It stands, As God's unchanging revelation, It's rock solid, It's, This is the solid rock, The word of God, On which we can build, The foundation, For our life, And, So we defend, It's authority, And we want to live, According to its teachings, Another false idea, Is universalism, This is the idea, That all people, Regardless of their faith, Or relationship, With God, With Christ, Or their lifestyle, Will eventually be saved, So it denies the reality, Of eternal judgment, Of faith in Christ, Of, The salvation, That is in Christ, And, As the man, They call Pope Francis, On record lately, Just a few days ago, He said this, Quote, Every religion, Is a way, To arrive at God, We are all sons, And daughters, Of God, End quote, That's Pope Francis, And that's contrary, To the Bible, Because, The Bible says,

[28:43] That there's only one way, To God, Jesus Christ, And, We're not all sons, And daughters of God, Of course, We're all physically born, As sons of Adam, But we've got to be born again, To become a son of God, And in contrast to this, The Bible says, That not everyone will be saved, That's the reality, That's the imperative, That's the constraining, For us, That we want to tell those, Who know not the Saviour, That we want to see, Others saved, Because without Christ, They're lost, And salvation comes only, Through grace, By faith in Christ alone, The Bible's very clear, It says, He that believeth on the Son, Hath everlasting life, He that believeth not, The Son, Shall not see life, But the wrath of God, Abideth on him, Now this is the truth, Of God's word, We can't, Scoot around it, And try to, Redefine it, Or, Reinterpret it, It says that, The wrath of God, Is going to abide on those, Who have yet to trust Christ, And so we want to see, Others saved, We want to tell them, We must,

[29:43] Because it says, That we should enter into, That straight gate, The wide, Wide is the gate, And broad is the way, That leadeth to destruction, Many there be, That go in there out, Because straight is the gate, And narrow is the way, Which leadeth unto life, And few there be, That find it, So there's a, A narrow gate, It's Christ, Christ is that narrow gate, So we want to preach Christ, The urgency of trusting him, Of turning to him, Of repentance, Of trust, Of faith, In Christ, As saviour, Another false gospel, Is the social gospel, And it's another false teaching, That's very prevalent now, And you see it, I put to you, Which is a sad reflection, I put to you, For example, In the Salvation Army, There was a time, When the Salvation Army, Were on the streets, Of London, On the streets, Of major cities, And they had open air preachers, And they were singing, Gospel hymns, And they were exhorting people, To trust Christ, To turn to Christ,

[30:45] To be saved, It was all about, The salvation message, In Christ, And now, The Salvation Army, Is on the street corners, Just kind of, Rattling their tins, Put some money, In a donation tin, Because we're going to help, Give some charity, To the homeless, Or whatever cause, It might be, And look, Nothing against, Showing charity, Nothing against, Collecting or giving money, To charity, But, They've completely diverted, From the original, Mission, That they had, General William Booth, I've got a book on my shelf, In darkest England, That was the mission, Of the Salvation Army, He saw the darkness, Of England, And he wanted to see, The light of the gospel, That's why the Salvation Army, Was born, But now, It's just a charity institution, They've missed their calling, I know, Julie and I, Lived in a, A remote, Country town, Mount Isa, In Queensland,

[31:46] And we were in the Gideons, At the time, And we were, Helping pass out, New Testaments, In the schools, And dropping them, At hotels and such, And there was, A Salvation Army, Men's shelter there, A home, For men, Doing it tough, A homeless shelter, For men, That were on, The tough end, Of society, And so we approached, The Salvation Army, And we said, We'd love to, To give you some, New Testaments, To put in the bedside cabinets, Of these men, In your home, And they said, Oh we're not allowed to do that, Because we're funded, By the government, They couldn't have a, New Testament, In the bedside cabinet, Of these men, That they're trying, To share the love of God with, Maybe they did reach, Some of them, But they were, They couldn't say much, About Jesus, They couldn't have, The gospel there, They were muzzled, Because it was all about, The social gospel, That's the problem, I put to you, It's a problem, It's really, I'm not denying, We ought to love people,

[32:46] And be charitable, And give to the poor, And be making, Good humanitarian efforts, But not neglect, The true mission, Which is, To share the gospel, That is our mission, Not to necessarily, Other, Worldly institutions, Can deliver charity, But the social gospel, Is missing it, Because the mission, Is this, To go into all the world, And preach the gospel, To every creature, And of course, Christians are called, To care for the poor, I'm not denying that, Don't get me wrong, We should help the oppressed, The needy, But our primary mission, Is to proclaim the gospel, Because Jesus says, The poor, You're always going to have with you, He says, This actually, Social action is important, But rather, The gospel, That's why we're sent, Into the world, It's the gospel, And our Lord says, That the son of man, Has come to seek, And to save, That which was lost, And our mission, Is to follow in his footsteps, To seek, And to save the lost, To point them to the saviour, So sadly,

[33:47] There's this toning down, And a lack of evangelism, And then there's this modern trend, They call it, Lifestyle evangelism, So you don't actually say anything, It's a bit of a trap, And of course, We should have a lifestyle, That is right, Live our faith, We should be salt and light, We should be such that, Hey, He's a Christian, You can see, There's something different, About how he lives, But we're not going to depend, On the lifestyle evangelism, As a poor substitute, For the real thing, We actually got to, Open our mouth, And tell them about Jesus, Alright, Because he's going to use your mouth, That's why we love as a church, To go witnessing, In every way we can, That we actually open our mouth, And tell another soul, About the saviour, Because lifestyle evangelism, Is, It's nothing compared, To actually sharing the gospel, To share your faith, Tell them about Jesus, The saviour, And so, It's another, Kind of, Poor substitute, For the real thing, Another false gospel,

[34:48] Is, You could call it, Green theology, This is, A new kind of weird idea, In this new world, That we live, Of elevating, Environmentalism, Such that, Environmentalism, Is almost like a new gospel, We've got to save the planet, You know, We've got to, Save the whales, Or whatever it be, And, It's kind of like, This pantheistic idea, That, That God is inseparable, From his creation, Now of course, As Christians, We're meant to be good stewards, To be a good custodian, Of the planet, To be wise, About, Caring for our creation, But, This green theology, Is kind of shifting, To, Worshipping the created world, You could see that, Really, In some of the, Really sentiments, Behind, The welcome to country, And, Where it's all about, The land, And, The earth is our mother, And that kind of, The guy, Kind of new age, Kind of way of thinking, The green theology, Is where environmentalism, Is just, Become,

[35:49] Such an overarching thing, Another false gospel, Is the self love, Or self esteem gospel, And, This is where people, Emphasize, People's happiness, And self worth, Rather than actually, Thinking, Sometimes God calls us, To self sacrifice, And surrender, As our Lord says, If anyone will come after me, Let him take, Up his cross, Deny himself, And take up his cross, And follow me, So it's a bit of a trend now, Where it's all human centred, The church is human centred, Rather than Christ centred, And it's all about, Pampering people, And, Meeting, The felt needs of people, Rather than, Actually what, Will glorify our Lord, What will glorify him, And that's why, You've got this, Consumer driven, Mentality, And it, Makes people want to go, Church shopping, Where they're going to find, What's the church, That's got the best programs, For my children, What's the church, That's got the best music, What's the church, That's got the best, Feel good kind of, Entertainment,

[36:50] Rather than, What's the church, That's worshipping God, And it's biblical, Is it a church, Where Christ is preeminent, That's what it ought to be, Isn't it, In all things, He might have the preeminent, It's not about, Catering to human, Preferences, Of course we want, A good youth group, We want a good Sunday school, We want a good men's program, A good women's program, We want to have programs, That are good, But in all of that, That we do, That it's Christ centred, It's not about, Having, Programs, For the sake of programs, But that Christ, Would be preeminent, So that when we have, A men's activity, We want to have a devotion, That says, A message about, Our saviour, When we have a youth group, There's messages, About our Lord, When we have a Sunday school, It's all about, Teaching biblical truth, It's that Christ, Would have the preeminence, In all of our worship, Our ministries, In our lives, Because the primary mission, Of the church, Is to glorify him, That in him, That he, In all things, Might have,

[37:51] Preeminence, To preach Christ crucified, Not to entertain, Or make people comfortable, Mind you, I don't want you to feel, Uncomfortable, Necessarily, But, That's not the focus, Is it?

[38:02] The focus is Christ, That's the point, And, As Paul says, I determine, Not to know anything, Among you, Save Jesus Christ, And him crucified, Another modern teaching, If you bear with me, I know there's a few of these, Is the denial, Of eternal punishment, Or eternal judgment, And some would, Try to play down, The fact that there is a heaven, And there is a hell, And they try to deny, The existence of hell, There's a bit of that, Around lately, As there has been, For a long time, And there's some that, Would deny, The truth, Of eternal punishment, But the Bible is very clear, That there is such a thing, It tells about, Everlasting punishment, It tells about, Life eternal, In the Greek here, For Matthew 25, 46, It's the very same word, So as everlasting, As eternal as the life is, For the saved, So is the punishment, And if we reject, God's offer of salvation, There's consequences, And the Lord Jesus, Spoke more about hell,

[39:03] Than any other person, In the New Testament, Friends, We're living in a time, Where many are led astray, By false teachings, I've only just touched on some, Here tonight, But really just to give you, That bit of a warning, That bit of a prompt, To be discerning, To test everything, By the word of God, That the word of God, Is your source, And even, In some quarters, One dare not challenge, The pastor, In some places, The pastor is exalted, On a pedestal, Dare not be questioned, Look pastors can make mistakes, I can vouch for that, And the Bible talks about, False teachers, That are going to arise, In the last days, Leading meaning astray, God forbid, That I should be such a one, But we don't elevate a man, We want to test everything, That what is said and done, Is it accord, Is it in accord, As they tested, Even Paul, To see whether, These things were so, And so, That's very important, Some fall for, A belief system,

[40:03] That's basically like a legalism, And we've all got need of humility, That we're being led by the spirit, That we won't be confused, Not falling for, The liberalism on the one side, Or the legalism on the other side, That we'll all have a humility, To come under the word of God, And to believe not every spirit, But try the spirits, Whether they are of God, When we're living in such a world, Where the truth is under attack, It's very important, It's incumbent on every one of us, To discern truth from error, And hold fast to, Sound doctrine, They search the scriptures daily, We're told in Acts 17, To ensure what they heard, Was in line with God's word, So friends, Today as we, I pray, I trust as God's people, We learn more and more, To be biblical, We try God helping us, To be biblically literate, That we'll try to, Train ourselves, In sound doctrine, Come to where we can, The bible studies, The training, The bible training, So we can be grounded,

[41:05] In family home bible studies too, That we can be grounded, That we can, All of us, Be watchful, We can be watchmen, Proclaiming the gospel, Not settling for some, You know, Some substitute, But rather, We want to be, Like the old fashioned salvation army, That we want to be, Not afraid, To lift up our voices, And tell others, To warn others, Of the danger of deception, To pray for discernment, To boldly declare God's truth, In a culture that desperately, Needs it, And so we, See the word of God, Exhorts us this, It says, Watch ye, In other words, Be watchful, As watchmen, He says, Stand fast in the faith, Quit ye like men, In other words, Act like men, Be brave, Be strong, We're living in this time, As Amos' prediction, Of a time of famine, A famine of hearing the word of God, This church is where they scarcely open a bible, And it's all about, Teachings of experience,

[42:07] Of emotion, Of entertainment, The truth of God's word is missing, And people are feasting on a diet, Sometimes it's scarcely biblical at all, There's false teachers in so many quarters, And we've got to be very mindful of such a time, The best way to guard against false doctrine, Is to come under the authority, Of the word of God, Isn't it?

[42:34] Try to be conversant with sound doctrine, And test everything, Test what I say, Make sure it's biblical, We have a sure word, A sufficient word, The sufficiency of the scriptures, God's word is sufficient, We do not need prophets today, Who've got visions and dreams, To tell us some fresh word from God, Because God's word is fresh, God's word is enough, May we be a people who love God's word, Obey it and trust it, May we be a church that stands strong, Teaching, Preaching the truth, The whole counsel of God, So to recap, All of these false gospels, We talked about tonight, It's just a sampling, There's many more, But the common thread, Is that they're all an attack, Against the authority, Of scripture, Works based salvation, That's plainly wrong, It's not about your works, It's about the finished work, Lordship salvation, Sure we want him to be Lord, We want to live right, We want discipleship,

[43:35] But that's not the salvation part, That's the discipleship part, Don't confuse the two, The prosperity gospel, We know it may be your lot in life, To have next to nothing, But you can be poor in this world, Rich in faith, It's not about experiential, Extra biblical revelations, It's about, Thus saith the Lord, It's getting more of this, Inside of us, And testing everything, Relativism, Where the world says, Truth is subjective, That's a lie from the devil, Hath God said, Yes he has, Yes he has, And it's right here, In the book, Universalism, The idea that, Everyone's going to get to heaven one day, That's what the Pope thinks, It doesn't matter what path you take, All roads lead to heaven, That's false, There's only one way to heaven, And it's Jesus, There's faith in him, And then you've got the social gospel, It's a detour, We can all get detoured, Where we can expend our life on something, That it might be a good cause,

[44:35] But it's not the best cause, The best cause is the gospel, The true gospel, Grace, Salvation by grace, Through faith, And then you've got the self-esteem gospel, We can inflate ourselves, And have a big idea about ourselves, But actually we should be humbling ourselves, It's not about our self-esteem, It's about our bowing, Our humbling ourselves, Under the mighty hand of God, In humility, And then you've got those, Who would deny eternal judgment, Friends, There's a reality of eternal judgment, And that should motivate us, To tell others of the saviour, So rather than, All of these false gospels, I know we've laboured the point much here, But rather than all of that, Let us stand rather for sound doctrine, In other words, Biblical doctrine, God helping us, And I know I could always use correction, And I'm open to correction, If people can correct me, By what the bible says, Then I'm all for that correction, But we must have sound doctrine, That's the point, Let us pray, Lord we thank you,

[45:36] For your church, In all quarters, In all places, Where your people meet, In different places, In different gatherings, Different congregations, Different assemblies, Lord, For men of God, Who do their best, To exhort, To challenge, To be biblical, Lord, Lord, Help us to be such a people, That will all of us, Be more, More and more so, Led by your word, Led by your spirit, We pray if there's any here yet, Tonight, Yet to trust you, To know the gospel, Which is that Christ died, For our sins, According to the scriptures, He died, Was buried, He rose again, The third day, And he is the ever living saviour, For all who will call upon his name, In faith, And trust, Lord, We pray, That your grace might prevail, In the lives of those, Yet to trust you, That they will say, Lord, Save me, Save me, Jesus, Save me now, I trust in you now, For my sin to be paid, And forgiven, Because of your shed blood, For me,

[46:37] Lord, We pray, Each one might have that heart's trust, And Lord, Walking in that truth, We might be more mindful, Lord, About sound doctrine, Help us, Lord, To be warned, To be alert, To that which is false, Faulty, That which is not true doctrine, That we can all be, A spiritual people, All for your glory, And honour we pray, Amen.

[46:58]  Amen.