There is a Holy Trinity: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is also an unholy trinity: Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet. You can read more about the unholy trinity in Revelation chapters 12 and 13. Today, I want to bring you a study on Truth versus Error. I believe this is an appropriate time to bring this study because with the way the world is going, we must be getting close to the Rapture, Great Tribulation and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, we study "Truth versus Error."
Part 1: Who Governs Who
In Satan's revolt against God back in eternity, he set out to prove that he could govern himself and others by his own natural created gifts of wisdom and beauty instead of the strictness of God's holiness, which is the moral principle of LOVE (not selfish or self-love but love to God and His creatures) and the STRICT ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. The controversy between Satan and his Creator can be considered one of POLITICAL ISSUES, as to the form of government that should be administered among the created beings of heaven and on the earth.
God's government is one of absolute Sovereign rule, while Satan on the other hand advocates democracy, or the rule of the people. Not only was the controversy political, but it was also ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, and CULTURAL because it involved the well-being and happiness of the creatures. Twice we see Satan coming to present himself with the "sons of God" before the Lord, and when the Lord inquired of him if he had considered the spiritual condition of Job, he impudently offered God some suggestions. "Put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face." Listen again: "Put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face." (Job 1: 11; 2:5)
Satan's theory was, "Give man a carefree, happy life and all the desires of his flesh and he'll be your slave," which is the bait he offers every one of Adam's fallen sons. Psychology teaches us that you can train people to do what you want him to do based on a system of rewards, but Satan underestimates the power of God in making a new creation in a fallen man, which is a nature of holiness, and the individual who once worshipped self and his own way now loves, serves, obeys, and worships the God who made him a new creature in Christ Jesus.
In the Garden of Eden:
1. God states in Genesis 2: 16-17: "And the LORD God commanded the man (Adam), saying, 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'" God Himself wrote that in His law books. "In the day that you embrace the principle that you can choose what is right for you, and what is wrong for you, in that day when you think you have sufficient knowledge to know what you ought to do and cut loose from my decree, you shall surely die." God's plan was that He would be Sovereign and make the rules. However, Satan had a different form of government he wanted man to embrace.
2. Satan in Genesis 3: 1-6 tempted man to do the following
a. Verse 1, question what God said ("Hath God said").
b. Verse 4, call God a liar ("Ye shall not surely die").
c. Verse 5, question God's motives ("For God doth know...ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil").
d. Verse 6, the result is Eve's dependence on her personal judgment, her focus on physical beauty, and her desire to be wise independent of God's warnings.
God's plan was about His establishing a kingdom on earth in which He could dwell with them and be their God, their Father, their Head. Satan wanted a government where people thought for themselves, pursuing what was in their best interest independent from the control of God. Think about many churches today with their programs of:
1. Self-help, e.g., "Celebrate Recovery" (it's all about you not The Lord Jesus Christ).
2, Financial prosperity: Get all the money you can and rule yourself, because you are a "little god." NO, YOU ARE NOT A "LITTLE GOD, YOU ARE A LOST UNSAVED RELIGIONIST.
3. Lying signs, wonders, and miracles: These come from Satan and are designed to make you think you are in charge, and not the Sovereign Lord.
4. Health and wellness: Satan wants you to focus on healings and miracles and not the Lord Jesus Christ. God does heal today but not through the "gifts of healings" that the apostles had to establish the church. Satan wants your eyes on personal power, your happiness and well-being, your finances and anything else that will cause you to be led away from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Test: Is the pastor, teacher, preacher or ministry you are listening to directing you to the Sovereign rule of Almighty God to govern your life, or are they directing you to a type of self-rule based on your desires, wants and happiness that focuses on your intellect and observations? The choice is important: the former is Godly, and the latter is the spirit of the Antichrist.
Part 2: Consequences of Man's Choice of Self-Rule: Error
There is so much at stake when we consider the consequences of placing man in charge. God is Sovereign but theology in the last 100+ years has been deifying man and humanizing God. The first Great Awakening took place between the 1730s-1740s in Britain and the American colonies. It was based on the foundations of Puritanism (emphasis on purifying the church), Pietism (emphasis on Biblical doctrine, individual piety and living a vigorous Christian life) and Presbyterianism. Preachers of the Great Awakening included George Whitefield, John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards. Edwards read his sermon entitled "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." People were clinging to whatever they could grasp to avoid potentially falling into an eternal hell fire. The ministers preached it straight and with conviction. They were not trying to pamper the crowd. They were warning them of what would happen to them if they died without the Lord Jesus Christ. Why did they preach so direct? It was because they knew that the only way a person could come to Christ was if the Holy Spirit put spiritual life into their hearts. With their new hearts, they would come to Christ. The message didn't have to be seeker sensitive. It just needed to be truth.
So, what has happened? Truth has been exchanged for error. Satan has a plan to make man in charge. He wants man to decide his own fate independent of God. That was the plan since the Garden of Eden. If man is the final decision maker regarding his salvation, then he is sovereign not God. Moreover, since man becomes the decision maker, the role of the Christian in evangelizing him must play to his likes and dislikes. You don't dare want to mention anything that might offend him like, hell, judgment, repentance, or sin. We need to take it upon ourselves to convince him that God is worthy of his love. Here are some example's that I have heard or read:
1. We just to tell them how much God loves them.
2. People have to see how much God loves them and has their best interest at heart. When they see it, it will revolutionize their life.
3. You have to get people to fall in love with Jesus, let them know how much He loves them, and once that happens, they will want to follow Him.
4. Don't create a relationship based on fear. Tell them God loves them.
Notice the underlined portions. Who is Sovereign in these examples. Is it God? No, it is man and that is the problem in today's churches that have left the understanding of the Sovereignty of God. Think back to the Garden of Eden. God gave clear instructions. Satan wanted to shift the power to Adam and Eve. He wanted man's reasoning and intellect to be in control. Satan wanted man to be in charge not God. Satan's way is the way of error, and it leads to death. God's way leads to life and life eternal. In summary, error is anything that:
1. Takes away from God His Sovereignty,
2. Removes Holy Spirit conviction for sin,
3. Removes the depravity of man (since man is basically good, he can come to God once he is convinced),
4. Removes any mention of blood redemption provided by the Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Humanizes "Jesus" so much that He just a self-help guru desiring to meet your needs while the Father stands on the side lines hoping someone will believe in Him. He is the Lord Jeus Christ! See how many times in the Bible after the crucifixion He is referred to as just "Jesus" as opposed to the Lord Jesus Christ or Jesus the Christ.
Part 3: The Truth: God is Sovereign in Salvation
This topic is why the earlier discussion is so important. If you misunderstand God's truth from Satan's error, you will not understand that God is sovereign in salvation. John Wesley taught prevenient grace. The idea was that the Holy Spirit worked directly on the heart of the unbeliever to enable them to come to Christ for salvation. Without the prevenient grace, the lost soul would never come to Christ. Martin Luther and John Calvin taught irresistible grace. This idea was that the Holy Spirit regenerated the heart of the unbeliever to come to Christ. Without debating which position is correct, I prefer to emphasize the point without God's Holy Spirit working in a lost person they will never come to Christ on their own. That is truth. However, churches today have moved away from this truth and made man sovereign, so it is up to man alone if he will be saved. That is error. God is Sovereign but man is also responsible.
I have heard an evangelist state that if any lost person would be alone with him, he would win them to the Lord. While he might get a "decision" for Christ, the lost person will not get to Christ. The evangelist believed that evangelism was a matter of persuasion. See the danger? The error is believing that man can win the soul without any assistance from the Holy Spirit. The most famous evangelist of the nineteenth century was Charles Finney. He was a Pelagian that believed that people got to heaven by reforming their lives by the power of their own reason (think Garden of Eden) and will. In his mass evangelism, he perfected techniques of convincing people that their lives could be improved, and their virtues made manifest by making a "decision" for Christ. There is no evidence that Finney was even a Christian. He denied the doctrine of original sin, attacked the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and denied the substitutionary atonement offered by the Lord Jesus Christ. In essence, you save yourself.
The point is that if churches believe that man must be convinced to come to Christ, they will resort to games, gimmicks, puppet shows, social fellowship, never mention sin or hell, because they are "making a sale." The truth is, the following is how a person is saved:
1. The Holy Spirit begins to break up the fallow ground of the sinner's heart. He shows the lost their condition and their hell-bound destiny. The lost soul takes responsibility for their condition.
2. The sinner begins to repent of their sins (turn away from them). Faith and repentance are gifts from God (Acts 5:31; 11:18; Ephesians 2:8-9). This would not be possible the Holy Spirit had not first regenerated or made alive the sinner's heart to want God. Man chooses God after God chooses him.
3. The inner is brought to the foot of the cross and understands that the Lord Jesus Christ has shed His blood for His sins.
4. The sinner cries out to the Lord (something as simple as "Lord, save me:) and receives the blood redemption.
5. The person makes Jesus Christ Lord of his life. This changes everything about the person's life. He becomes a new creation in Christ.
Conclusion
We must preach and teach the truth. We must point out error. This is not about being politically correct. This is about the Gospel. We must bring the Gospel message to a lost and dying world. Will you be part of the end time army of God?
Next week: The Doom of the Antichrist.
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