Until Then (Part 3)

I want you to think about this answer and don't answer out loud.

What is the greatest threat against the church today?

What's the greatest threat against Christians today?

Many people would say it's the liberal world around about us,

today's liberal culture, because it seems to be on the attack against what we believe,

really who we are as Christians who believe that God's word is true.

There's a lot of truth to that, but that's not the answer I'm looking for.

Let me ask you again.

Who or what causes the most problems for Christians today

and does the most damage within local churches and to all Christians in general?

Well, here's a hint.

It's been around since the first century.

False teaching is the answer I'm fishing for.

False teaching is what causes the most problems in the church today.

The source of most false teaching is false teachers within the church.

The greatest problems that we as evangelical Christians have today

is not really coming from the world.

It's coming from within by people who are supposed to be teaching and preaching the truth,

but aren't.

I want you to look at something that Christian writer Tim Chalice forcefully points out about this.

He says, Satan's greatest ambassadors are not pimps, politicians, or power brokers, but pastors.

His, that is Satan's priests, do not peddle a different religion,

but a deadly perversion of the true one.

Now that's not only true today.

It's been going on since the first century.

Almost every Christian writer, if you read through the New Testament,

almost every writer points out repeatedly,

for you as a Christian, for me as a Christian,

be on guard against false teaching.

Be on guard against false teachers.

A lot of you in this room, you're familiar with the New Testament.

You've read through it many times.

Well, think about how Paul, how John, Peter, Jude, and the writer of Hebrews

issued strong warnings over and over and over again

that we've got to be on guard as to what we're hearing, what we're reading.

We've got to be on guard against false teachers.

The gospel writers quote Jesus in saying this on several occasions.

One of the more well-known comes from the Sermon on the Mount.

I want you to look at how Jesus issued a warning.

He said,

Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing,

but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will recognize them by their fruits.

When he uses the word fruit, he's talking about the way they live and what they teach.

We are right now involved in a study of how God wants us to live in this world

until we see Jesus face to face.

The previous studies, we talked about what's going to happen after a Christian dies.

And in the course of those studies, we learned some things about the second coming of Christ.

We all in this room, we're going to see Jesus face to face one day.

If we're alive and he returns to this world, we'll see him then.

But if not, we're going to see Jesus face to face when we die.

And we don't know when that'll be.

But we know it's going to happen.

And so I want us to think, God cares about how we live as long as we're in this world.

The day's going to come when our life's going to be over.

We're going to have to give an accounting of how we've lived on the day of judgment.

Today I want us to return to 2 Peter chapter 3, where we've been for the last two weeks.

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

And I want us to focus mainly today on his warning that you and I, Christians, people in the church,

we've got to stand firm in what we believe

and make sure we don't get led astray by false teachers.

Let's read it again.

2 Peter chapter 3, beginning in verse 13.

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

What are we supposed to do until that day?

Well, that's the way he ends this letter.

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these,

be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace.

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation,

just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you,

according to the wisdom given him,

as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters.

There are some things in them that are hard to understand,

which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction

as they do the other scriptures.

You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand,

take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people

and lose your own stability,

but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.

Amen.

We have, to this point,

gone through the first,

what I'm going to call the first two points of this passage.

I want us to review what we've seen about

it does matter how we live.

God cares how we live day by day.

And he wants us to care right up to the day we die

or the Lord comes back to this world.

First thing we saw about how we ought to be living,

how God wants us to live,

is in verse 14.

We call this,

get serious about your character.

And we spent one whole week looking at that,

and I reviewed it a little bit last week,

so we're going to skip over it completely today.

But God cares about our character.

Number two,

make the most of God's patience.

We looked at this in detail last week,

but I want to hit some of the high spots quickly now.

The reason why Jesus has not yet returned to this world

is because God is being patient.

God is waiting for people to be saved,

to turn from their sin and put their trust in Jesus.

Peter emphasizes this in two verses.

I want you to note verse 15,

the first part from the New Living Translation.

It says,

And remember,

our Lord's patience gives people time to be saved.

And then back up in verse 9,

The Lord is not,

excuse me,

The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise,

as some count slowness,

but is patient towards you,

not wishing that any should perish,

but that all should reach repentance.

God's patience,

Peter's telling us,

it reveals that God does not want to destroy anybody.

God is a God of grace.

He does love people.

He does not,

Peter tells us,

he didn't want anyone to perish,

but

he wants,

he requires

people to turn from their sin,

from their self-centered way of living.

He requires people to repent

and come to Him

through faith in Jesus.

That's what God wants.

That's what He's talking about here.

God is patient,

but His patience,

but His patience

has an end.

His patience will come

to an end one day,

and the opportunity to be saved

will be no more.

Immediately after the Lord comes back,

or immediately after you die,

your eternity is sealed.

If you're a Christian,

you're going to live forever,

experiencing nothing but joy

in heaven.

But if you're not a Christian,

and we've seen this already

in another study,

you're going to spend eternity

in the torment of hell.

Now,

God's patience can be seen

in our lives right now

in several ways.

I want to point out three.

And I want to stress this

a little bit differently

than what I did last week,

because it is a matter

of eternal life and death.

So,

look with me.

God's patience can be seen,

number one,

if you are not a Christian,

God is patiently waiting

for you to turn

from your sin

and turn to Him

by putting your faith in Jesus

for your salvation.

If that appeals to you,

if you think to yourself,

I'm not a Christian,

but I want to be,

I am interested,

that's a sign of God

working in your life.

And if you will humble yourself

before God

and just be open

and honest with Him

about who you are,

what you are,

turn from your sin

and trust Jesus,

He will save you.

Look at this,

the Scripture says it

just as clearly and plainly,

for everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord

will be saved.

that's you

if you're not a Christian

and you'll come to faith

in Jesus now.

Number two,

if you are a Christian

living in willful disobedience

to God,

God is patiently waiting

for you right now

to confess your sin,

to quit living

the way you're living,

to turn from it.

God's waiting for you

to come back to Him

humbly,

repentantly.

I want you to look

at what the Scripture says.

God will forgive you

and cleanse you.

Look at this,

if we confess our sins,

He is faithful

and just to forgive us

our sins

and to cleanse us

from all unrighteousness.

unrighteousness.

Most everybody

in this room

is a Christian.

If you,

or at least

most everybody

in this room

claims to be a Christian,

let's put it that way.

If right now,

you are experiencing guilt

because there's some things

or a thing in your life

that you know

is not pleasing to God

but you're just

continuing on in it.

If you're a Christian,

you feel guilty.

The Spirit of God

within you

will not allow you

to be at peace

with God

or yourself

as long as you are

defying Him,

refusing to cooperate

with Him.

The Spirit of God

is making you feel guilty

and some of that

may be coming out

in depression

or just frustration

or anger

at people around about you.

The problem is not

other people.

The problem is not

your job.

The problem is

if you're a Christian

and there's something

that you know

God's calling you

to do or not do,

stop doing.

And you just ignore Him.

You just continue

in your disobedience.

If you are a child

of God,

He's not going

to let you alone.

If you are a good parent,

if you were a good parent

when you had children

living at home with you,

when they were willfully,

defiantly

disobeying you,

disrespecting you,

you didn't let it go,

did you?

You didn't make them

feel good

about their sin

against you.

They're defying you.

You made their life

as a good parent.

You can't allow that.

It's not good for them.

It's not good for the whole family.

You've got to do something.

And different people

do it different ways.

But you so worked

in their lives,

maybe,

to cause them

to experience pain

physically

to get their attention

or to miss out

on something

to get their attention.

God works in our lives

as our Heavenly Father

through His Spirit

sometimes to inflict pain

on us

to get our attention.

Sometimes to withhold

blessing

to cause us

to understand,

to wake up.

And so what I want you

to understand is

if you are a Christian

and you're not right

with God,

if you will

confess your sin,

turn from whatever it is,

change your mind,

renew your commitment

to Jesus

as the Lord,

the Master,

the boss of your life.

This verse of Scripture

is saying that God

will cleanse you.

He'll give you

a fresh start.

He will forgive you.

And you can experience

that release,

that right relationship,

closeness with Him again

if you will come to Him.

But hear this.

If you claim

to be a Christian

but there's no guilt

about your disobedience

or indifference,

if you claim

to be a Christian

but there's no sense

of the Spirit of God

in you

doing anything

to change you,

that is a great sign

that you're not a Christian.

Even though you may be

a member of this church,

maybe you've been baptized,

gone through all those things,

but if there's no signs

of the Spirit of God

within us,

then we learn

from Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

we're not Christians.

And one of the things

the Holy Spirit does

in a person's life

who's not a Christian

is He so works

to make their life

uncomfortable,

miserable

for the purpose

of bringing them back

to the Lord.

That's God's discipline.

You can read about it

in Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

But there's a third thing

I want you to think

about this morning.

And I want all of us

in this room

to think of this

if we're Christians.

If you have unsaved

family members

and friends,

it may be that God

is patiently waiting

for you

to share the gospel

with them.

We need to be honest

as a church.

Maybe this does not apply,

it wouldn't apply

to every single person

in here,

but all of us

who are part

of this church family,

we need to admit

we are not doing

what we need to be doing

to share the gospel

with people in our lives.

Because if we were doing

what we needed to be doing,

we would be bringing

some new people

to this church

who had come to faith

in Jesus

and helping them

to grow alongside us

in this church

or they would be going

to some other church.

We are being unfaithful

in our responsibility

as Christians

to share the gospel,

to be faithful witnesses,

to make disciples,

all the kind of things

that the scripture

calls us to do

as Christians.

And so that's what

I want us to understand

right now.

Your family members

and friends

who are not Christians,

they will not be saved

without hearing

and understanding

the gospel.

I want you to look

at something Paul said

in Romans chapter 10

Romans 10:14

verse 14.

But how can they call

on him to save them

unless they believe

in him?

And how can they

believe in him

if they have never

heard about him?

And then one more.

And how can they

hear about him

unless someone

tells them?

There's no doubt

that our friends

and family members

around here,

they certainly know

something about God,

about Jesus,

about salvation,

about heaven and hell.

They most likely

have some type

of understanding

about all these things.

But if they're not

Christians,

it could be

that they have never

heard a clear

explanation

of the gospel.

Who Jesus is,

what he's done

in terms of dying

on the cross

for their sins.

It could be

they've never heard

that the way

that they respond

is to turn

from their sin

and trust Jesus.

But you know,

you believe this way.

You have responded

this way

if you're a Christian.

Most of our families,

family members

and friends

who are not Christians,

they wouldn't be

more open

to hearing the gospel

from us

because they know

we love them

and we care about them.

Now I know

there's exceptions.

Sometimes there's

some exceptions

in family situations.

But overall,

most of us,

our family members

and friends

who are not Christians,

they know

that we love them,

we care about them.

And because we have

that kind of relationship

with them,

they would listen to us

share our testimony

of how we became

a Christian.

They would listen

to us talk about

what Christ means

to us.

They would listen

and allow us

to share the gospel

with them

out of respect for us,

out of mutual love

for us.

So we need to do it.

If we care,

we need to do it.

I want you to ask

God to help you

share the gospel

with someone you know,

someone you love

before Easter Sunday,

April 21st,

and that's six weeks away.

We are not,

as a church,

being faithful

because we aren't

seeing people

come here with us

to profess their faith.

Most of us,

not everyone probably,

but most of us,

we have people

in our circles

of influence.

If it's not a family member,

if it's not a close friend,

it's somebody

that you maybe

do something with,

you fish with,

you shop with.

Somebody that maybe

cuts your hair.

Somebody maybe

you do some odd jobs for.

You know some people

in your life

who are not Christians.

I want to encourage you

to set Easter,

Sunday,

six weeks away

as a date

that between now

and then

you're going to pray

for the person.

You're going to ask God

to help you

get prepared

to share the gospel.

And if you want

some help

doing that,

ask me.

I'll be glad

to help give you

some resources

to help you

get prepared

to share

the simple gospel message.

But between now

and then,

pray for that person,

pray for yourself,

get prepared,

prepared,

and ask God

to open the door

to give you

an opportunity

to actually talk

to that particular person

that you're thinking

of now,

no doubt,

about their relationship

with Him.

And be able

to share

the good news

of Jesus

with them,

with the prayer,

that you'll get

to see them saved.

You'll get to see

God change them

before your very eyes.

Make that commitment

between now

and Easter Sunday

six weeks from now.

Now,

I want us to move on

very quickly

at how we need

to be on guard

against being led

astray by false teachers.

Number three,

stay on guard.

Peter tells us

how to do this

by pointing out

two things.

Number one,

don't be led astray

by false teachers

in the last part

of verse 16,

first part of verse 17.

In verse 16,

Peter describes

false teachers

who distorted

Paul's teaching

on the second coming

of Christ.

Look at it.

There are some things

in them that are

hard to understand

which the ignorant

and unstable twist

to their own destruction

as they do

the other scriptures.

He's saying

that what Paul

taught about

the second coming

was hard to understand.

But instead

of remaining silent,

these false teachers,

these people,

they started talking

about what they

didn't know.

Peter describes it

as they twisted

Paul's words

and taught

what Paul didn't mean,

what the scripture

didn't mean.

And he also says

that false teachers

distort other scriptures.

Now look in verse 17.

He goes on to emphasize

that we must stay alert

and not be led astray

by any false teaching.

Not just on the second coming,

but on anything.

Look at it.

You therefore,

beloved,

knowing this beforehand,

take care that you

are not carried away

with the error

of lawless people.

Now,

how do you do this?

If you're a Christian,

you're familiar

with the scripture,

you have heard

many times,

you have read

many times,

we are to be on guard

against false teaching.

Well,

how do you do that?

How do you evaluate

the Christian teachers

that you read,

that you listen to

on a regular basis

or at any time?

How do you evaluate me?

You're supposed

to be evaluating me.

How do you evaluate

your Sunday school teacher?

That's going to make

some Sunday school teachers

feel sort of bad here.

evaluate them.

Measure them.

Just like you do me

and any Christian

who claims to be teaching

or preaching God's word.

Tim Chalice points out

some helpful ways

to evaluate

all Christian teachers.

I want to point out three.

His top three

that will help us

to make good evaluations

of those who are teaching us

the things of God.

Number one,

sound doctrine,

and the word doctrine

just means teaching.

Sound teaching

originates with God.

False doctrine

originates with someone

or something created by God,

something other than God.

Paul emphasized

that the gospel he taught

originated with God.

He wanted the Galatian Christians

to understand

because they had believed

his gospel.

Many had been saved.

The church had been formed.

All was well,

and after Paul left,

false teachers came in

and they changed

the truth

of God's word.

Here's what Paul says.

I would have you know,

brothers,

that the gospel

that was preached by me

is not man's gospel.

For I did not receive it

from any man,

nor was I taught it,

but I received it

through a revelation

of Jesus Christ.

Sound Bible teachers

make it clear

that the message

they preach

is not their own.

It is the word of God.

And they will show you

in the Bible

where they find

what they teach

as we see next.

Number two,

sound doctrine

grounds its authority

within the Bible.

False doctrine

grounds its authority

outside the Bible.

The Bible

is God's inerrant word.

It is completely authoritative.

It is the way

God's revealed himself,

who he is,

how he is,

what we are to believe,

how we are to live.

Doctrine that originates,

teaching that originates

in the mind of God

is recorded

in the word of God.

Now I want you

to look at an example

we see in Acts

of Christians evaluating

the teaching

that they were hearing

and it was coming

from Paul

and his associate Silas.

Luke is writing

the book of Acts.

He tells us

that the Christians

in Berea,

not over here

in West Greenville now,

but another place.

But the Christians

in Berea

received the word

with all eagerness,

examining the scriptures

daily to see

if these things

were so.

These Christians,

these people in Berea,

they knew,

they were Christians,

they understood

that sound teaching

would be consistent

with all the other scriptures

as we see

in the next point.

Number three,

sound doctrine

is consistent

with the whole

of scripture.

False doctrine

is inconsistent

with some parts

of scripture.

What a biblically

sound teacher

will say

about one passage,

it will be consistent

with what the Bible

teaches

everywhere else.

Paul told Timothy,

do not allow

people to bring in

strange,

different doctrines

than what you already

understand.

Look at it.

As I urged you

when I was going

to Macedonia,

remain at Ephesus

so that you may

charge certain persons

not to teach

any different doctrine.

He made the point

even in stronger language

toward the end

of the letter.

He said,

if anyone teaches

a different doctrine

and does not agree

with the sound words

of our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ,

and the teaching

that accords

with godliness,

he is puffed up

with conceit

and understands nothing

if they teach

something different

from Scripture.

He has an unhealthy

craving for controversy

and for quarrels

about words

which produce envy,

dissension,

slander,

evil suspicions,

and constant friction

among people

who are depraved

in mind

and deprived

of the truth,

imagining that godliness

is a means of gain.

Scripture

is all inspired

by the Spirit

by the Spirit of God.

So ultimately,

Scripture has one offer,

the Spirit of God.

It will be consistent.

And if what someone

teaches you

in this passage,

for example,

if it doesn't line up

with the other

general teachings

of Scripture

on this subject matter,

that's a false teacher.

Or that is a miss,

he is,

he's just wrong

and may not

intentionally be wrong.

We can summarize

these three points

with one simple statement.

Look at it.

Sound Christian teaching

originates with God,

that's its origin.

Is grounded in the Bible,

that's its authority.

And agrees with the whole

of Scripture.

Scripture is consistent.

Now quickly,

the people that you're

listening to,

people that you read

for biblical knowledge

and help

and guidance,

is this true about them?

If you see that it's not,

throw away their books

because it's heresy.

Don't listen to them.

Don't be misled

by someone

who is so far off base

that they can't fit

this criteria.

Now,

sound teaching

will not only guide us

to develop right beliefs,

but it'll help us

to develop the right

kind of behavior

because that's the ultimate

goal of teaching.

I want you to understand,

every Christian book

that you read,

every sermon you hear,

hear,

every lesson in Sunday school,

it's all designed

not to,

certainly not to entertain,

not to just inform,

but it's designed

to help you

live like a Christian

in every area

of your life.

It's designed

to help you

to live

like you're supposed

to live,

like God wants you

to live in your home

as a husband,

as a wife,

parent,

as a child,

as a brother or sister.

Let me ask you,

what do you believe

about God?

What do you believe

about Jesus?

What do you believe

about salvation?

What do you believe

about life after death?

Is it biblically sound?

Are you sure?

You should be

and you can be.

I want to encourage you

to make knowing,

understanding,

and applying

the truth of Scripture

your lifelong pursuit.

And as you do,

evaluate your Christian teachers

in light of the clear teaching

that you have

of God's Word

and only listen to

and follow

those who make it clear

that what they're teaching

is biblically sound.

Let's pray together.

Dear God,

help us right now

to hear you

and to clearly understand

how we need to respond

to your Word this morning.

For some people, Lord,

it may be just to simply

wake up and evaluate

what they're reading,

what they're listening to.

Help them to do that.

For some, Father,

it may need to throw away

some books.

Stop listening to

a false teacher.

Lord, we also,

this morning,

we need to be more

faithful witnesses.

Help us

to make the commitment

that we will

develop relationships

with people

that's already

in our circles

of influence.

And we will seek

to share the gospel

with them

before Easter Sunday morning.

And Lord,

we pray that you'd give us

the privilege

of bringing them

to church with us

where they can

confess their faith

through baptism,

where they can

get involved

in our church

and grow along

beside us

as your children.

Show us how we need

to respond right now.

And you just do that.

Whatever God's calling

you to do,

you do it.

If I could pray with you,

I'd be happy to do it

right here,

right now.

Just listen

and obey the Lord.

Thank you.