CONSTANT RE-CALIBRATION: THE DEFENSE OF THE GOSPEL
Corruption Of The Mind:
Ephesians 4: 17-24
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity (futility) of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
1 Corinthians 3:18-21
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
Col 2: 18,19
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
1 Cor 4: 1- 4
“…And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.
Vrs 18-20
Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
1 Cor 5: 2
And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
Romans 1: 28
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
2 Peter 3:18
Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
1 John 4:6
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
Jude 1: 10
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
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CONSTANT RE-CALIBRATION: THE DEFENSE OF THE GOSPEL (2)
EXHORTATION: WHO DETERMINES WHAT IS GOOD and WHAT IS BAD?
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Psalm 105:15
Saying, Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophets no harm.
Matthew 24: 14
And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Deut 27: 24
Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.
1 Kings 20: 35-37
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him. So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
Genesis 3: 5-7
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Who determines what is good or what is bad?
What is good?
Genesis 3: 5-7
“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil….”
Who determines what is good or what is bad?
1 Thess 2: 3-7
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
Isa 5: 20 -22
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil;
that put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes,
and prudent in their own sight!
Is Good God?
Do we know what is GOOD?
Heb 5: 14
1 Kings 3: 9
Matthew 16:23 Good Ideas VRS God
Mark 10: 28 Man’s Good Vrs God’s Good
The Reference Point!
Matthew 24 The End Time Great Deceptions
Proverbs 14: 12 NLT
Recall Lot in Genesis 12!
2 Corinthians 11: 3 I fear for you!
The Garden – Gen 2: 16-17 TEV
25,000 Various species of fruit bearing trees!
The Four Phased Strategy Of Deceit
Phase 1 – Focus on Restraints and Lack
Phase 2 – Negate the Word
Phase 3 – Twist or Pervert God’s Character
Phase 4 – Give the forbidden offer
James 1: 16,17 every good gift
Psalm 82
God standeth in the congregation of the mighty;
he judgeth among the gods.
How long will ye judge unjustly,
and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
Defend the poor and fatherless:
do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Deliver the poor and needy:
rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
They know not, neither will they understand;
they walk on in darkness:
all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
I have said, Ye are gods;
and all of you are children of the most High.
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CONSTANT RE-CALIBRATION: THE DEFENSE OF THE GOSPEL (3)
[A] The danger of infusing Psychology into Christianity
Christian Psychology is based on the idea that all truths are God’s truth.
Psychology
- the science of the mind or of mental states and processes.
- the science of human and animal behavior.
- the sum or characteristics of the mental states and processes of a person or class of persons, or of the mental states and processes involved in a field of activity: the psychology of a soldier; the psychology of politics.
- mental ploys or strategy: He used psychology on his parents to get a larger allowance.
[B] The Error of Political Correctness & Unscriptural Acceptability
“We live in a time when Christians are starting to change their theology, because they’re ashamed of the words of Jesus Christ, because it’s not popular,” Chan said during an event called “America’s Tent of Meeting.”
“We can busy our lives with good things that aren’t the most important thing, and I feel like there’s a cop-out in Christianity today.”
Francis Chan is calling on Christians to be willing to give up their lives for Jesus and not compromise the Gospel by hiding behind otherwise good causes.
“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Chan asked, citing the Words of Jesus in Mark 8:36.
“I’m promising you, if you try to save your life, you’re going to lose it, but you’re not going to regret it.”
While he said many Christians are more than willing to participate in good causes such as racial reconciliation and fighting poverty, he said too few people are spreading the gospel.
Chan also offered up a theory as to why this is the case: people often face persecution when they share the truths of the gospel — truths that might seem politically incorrect, The Christian Post reported.
“I’ve never been persecuted for feeding the poor. I’m applauded for that,” Chan said. “No one’s persecuted me for my fighting [against] human trafficking. They applaud me for that. No one gets angry at me because I want unity in the church, racial reconciliation or even reconciliation between denominations.”
But persecution, he said, comes when Christians pinpoint sin and talk about Jesus as the only path to being saved. In the end, Chan encouraged the audience to be willing to give their whole lives over to God.
Persecution comes, Chan said, when he shares the core truths of the Gospel that are not politically correct.
“When I tell someone, that they are by nature an object of wrath, and that they have to stand before holy God and that there is no name under Heaven by which you can be saved except by the name of Jesus Christ. And when I call out sin for what it is in Scripture, I get persecuted.”
“And there are times when I am ashamed of the Gospel,” he admitted, “and I’ll cower and I’ll shrink back and I won’t say everything God calls me to say.”
Those other things are noble and godly, he reiterated, but it’s easy to hide behind them and refrain from sharing the Gospel.
He pleaded: “All I want to do tonight is just beg you” to lay it all down for Jesus.
Bible Truth About Judgement
He urged the crowd to read the Bible for themselves, saying it’s impossible to read it cover to cover and think that there will be no judgement.
“Guys, it’s time for us to hurt again,” like the Apostle Paul who wrote of his “anguish” for those who did not know Jesus, Chan said.
“I know it’s not fun. But if we’re going to lose our lives the Bible says when you do that, that’s when you’re going to find it.”
“I’m promising you, if you try to save your life, you’re going to lose it, but you’re not going to regret it,” he sad. “I don’t want to be ashamed of Jesus and his Words, because I don’t want him ashamed of me when he comes.”
“You will lose your life, you’ll lose your reputation,” he said, “And my stance on morality, in a city like San Francisco,” but I don’t want to be ashamed.
Chan, 50, who leads We Are Church, a network of house churches based in the San Francisco Bay Area, mentioned that he has reached a point in his life where he’s getting rid of more and more stuff. And there is no point in trying to have it all, he said, and protect ones life from all possible forms of suffering.
“We live in a time when Christians are starting to change their theology because they’re ashamed of the Words of Jesus Christ, because it’s not popular,” Chan continued. “We can busy our lives with good things that aren’t the most important thing, and I feel like there’s a cop-out in Christianity today.”
Many are willing to care for the poor, fight human trafficking, and work toward racial reconciliation, he added, and he counts himself among such people. And those are all good, important, biblical causes, he said.
“But I’m just noticing that there are very few people who are spreading the Gospel,” he said impassionedly. “And I think I know why.”