Titus • Week 2

Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons podcast.

We're so glad you chose to listen today.

Today's message from Titus 1.10-16 warns against false teachers and deceptive gospels

that distort the truth of Christ.

Paul cautions Titus about those who mislead others for personal gain, reminding us that

false teachings can be appealing but ultimately destructive.

Today, we face similar distortions of the gospel, whether it's prosperity preaching,

self-help theology, or watered-down grace.

Join us as we examine the dangers of these false messages and learn how to stand firm

in the true life-transforming gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for listening.

All right, good morning.

Thank you so much.

If you have your Bible, and I hope you do, I invite you to join us in Titus chapter 1.

Titus 1 · chapter mention

That's where we'll be this week.

If you're a first-time guest, I want to also echo what Pastor Dave said and thank you for

being here for worshiping with us today.

After the service is over with, if you wouldn't mind, my wife Erin and I will be back here at

this table back to my left.

If you wouldn't mind just stopping by, we would like to meet you personally and thank you for

being here in this place.

If you have any questions about our church, we would love to be able to answer those questions

or help connect you in any way that we possibly can.

Also, we are doing the Lord's Supper.

It'll be the very last thing we do together as a congregation.

We want you to know that if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, whether Willow Ridge Church

is your home or not, you will be invited to partake in that with us.

We do not pass out the elements during the service, but they're handed out as you came in.

And so if you missed that on your way in, it's okay.

You can head right back there.

You can grab you some.

And then the very last thing that we will do is partake in that together.

And I'll come back on stage to give instructions for that.

I'd like to thank Dave for preaching last week.

As we were away on the ski trip, I had somebody ask me, we're going away with the youth, how are

your legs feeling today?

I was like, man, my legs were good.

Because I went slow, right?

I went slow.

You hit that point where you begin to realize at your age that slow and steady is definitely

going to win the race.

Maybe not down the mountain, but in life.

All right?

So the legs are feeling good.

But what is hurting a little bit still is the arms and the chest and the back from like

picking up and doing those.

But wonderful time of skiing with these kids.

It's been a cool week.

Aaron and I were talking about, so we went up to the mountains to ski and then the South

Carolina Baptist Convention did a pastors and wives retreat at Hilton Head this past Thursday

through Saturday morning.

And so Aaron and I had an opportunity to get away and go to Hilton Head and again, kind

of showing you like where you realize where you are in life.

On Friday from noon to seven was free time.

Had some wonderful times of teaching of God's word, had a guy there by the name of Mark Dance

who works at Guidestone.

He talked to us as pastors and wives what it looks like to continue to leave and cleave,

what it looks like to Sabbath well, and just a wonderful time of him pouring in and investing

in us.

But we had from noon to seven just to kind of go and do what we wanted to do.

And so we got there like, well, let's go out on the beach for a little bit.

And so we went out there and sat on the beach for about an hour.

It was, it got cold.

So we decided to go do something else.

And so we're there and, and, and it's, it's Hilton Head.

There's shops, there's golf, there's tennis, there's restaurants, there was a bike rental

place.

There was people out there in that wind and in that cold parasailing.

I looked at Aaron and I said, what would you like to do?

And with sincerity and truth in her eyes, she looked at me and she said, take a nap.

And I said, you read my mind.

Let's go.

Let's go.

So it was a wonderful time, wonderful opportunity to get away and to do that, but excited to be

back with you guys.

Excited after missing one Sunday, it feels like you've been gone forever, but it is good.

It is good to be here.

We're going to continue on in Titus, but I want to read something out of Mark 13 before

we, before we pray and get into God's word.

It says this, for false Christ and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders to lead

astray.

If possible, the elect be on guard.

I have told you all things beforehand.

Let's pray.

God, I come to you today thanking you for this wonderful privilege and opportunity that it is

to gather together as your people.

God, we celebrate you for lives surrendered, lives saved.

God, what a joy it is to be able to open your word and to preach.

God, I pray that as, as we look at your word today, Lord, I pray that, that I would be faithful

to you, faithful to your word.

God, if there is any part of this that is of me and not of you, Lord, that you would remove

that and that all that will be done in this place will glorify your name.

And it's in Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So, so Pastor Dave opened us up in, in Titus last week.

But, but a verse that I want us to get to, because this is going to be this piece that

kind of builds us through and it's not on the screen.

I apologize, but Titus one, one, Paul, the writer of this writing it to Titus who is serving

on the island of Crete, a sinful, sinful pagan culture.

And so Paul's writing this Titus, Paul, a servant of God and apostle of Jesus Christ for

the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with

godliness.

And so there's this, there's this formula in the very first sentence that, that Paul lays

out that is going to be prominent for us today.

And it's this, that it's, that it's, it's faith in Christ, the faith of God's elect, and from

there the knowledge of the truth of God, which accords with godliness.

It's, it's the formula of faith.

It's the formula of sanctification of what we see.

So it's not get right so you can get to God.

It's what God does in you, and then from that becomes your obedience to God.

It's not get right so that you can be saved.

It's that God saves you and imparts his righteousness to you, and then from that, you're saved.

And a saved life is different than a dead life, and it's what we see.

Paul goes into with Titus, and he, he, he lays out the expectations and the qualifications

of elders in order to lead the church, because in the critical times of which they find themselves,

which this will kind of bring you to the tail end or the midpoint of where we're going with

our conversation this morning, which isn't all that different from where we find ourselves

today.

And this is who you must be in a wonderful picture, though, of the qualifications to be

a pastor, an elder, an overseer, but the standard of God's truth for, for not just my life,

but for yours, of the expectations of godliness.

And then Paul's going to come in, and he's going to, he's going to address a matter of, of

great concern of false teachers that have invaded the church.

And I would argue with you, if you would like to disagree with me today, but I would argue

in front of you, with you, amongst you today, that the crisis that the church as a whole is

facing, not just in this world, but particularly the church in America, is false teachers.

And so let's see what Paul says, 20 verse 10.

He does not hold back.

For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of

the circumcision party.

They must be silenced, since they are upsetting the whole, since they are upsetting the whole

families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

One of a Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy

gluttons.

This testimony is true.

Therefore, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves

to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.

To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure.

But both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works.

They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

False teachers have infiltrated the church at Crete.

Paul instructs Titus to appoint qualified elders so they may fight against these teachings.

He says, silence them, rebuke them, speak the truth of God to them, because what they are

doing is they are destroying families and the church, all while they are saying they promote

Jesus.

What they are really doing is promoting the sin.

What they are really doing is promoting the culture that they come from.

They aren't simply bad teachers.

They don't know the truth of God.

And so what we want to do this morning, which is a little different than how I typically would

preach from God's word, is I want to look with allowing this passage to kind of set a

foundation for what we're going to talk about in the rest of the message.

And it's a warning of false teachers, but it's also going to be a warning of false gospels.

Paul deals here with the false gospel of the circumcision party of what's there, but there's

different false gospels that you and I have seen invade our cultures, invade our pulpits,

invade our Christian bookstores, invade the messages that we hear, and it's dangerous.

And Paul uses very aggressive language when he deals with this.

It says, church, this topic is not one that we can handle lightly.

It's interesting what we've seen when you study the New Testament, especially in Acts.

It's the formation of the church and then the explosion of the church.

When you look through Acts, yes, you see persecution.

It's difficult.

It's hard.

Men and women of faith die because of their faith in Christ.

But you see church planning that's never happened before happening all over, not just in a town,

not just in a county, but in a region of the world that will expand into Asia,

into Europe, into Africa, all in Acts.

And you see persecution happen.

And the writers of the New Testament, what they do for persecution

is they encourage through the persecution.

But they warn strongly against the false teachers.

Historically speaking with the church, and when I say the church, I'm not just saying our church,

but I'm saying the church as a whole.

Historically speaking, when the church is attacked from the outside, meaning persecution,

a miracle of God happens, and the church typically, historically, has exploded and has thrived.

That's why what we've seen recently is that in places like China,

where you can be arrested for being a believer,

and places like Iran, where you can be executed for becoming a believer,

the church is growing.

The church is exploding.

The church is seeing men and women walk out of the lies of atheism,

Islam, and come to faith in Jesus Christ.

And that's not just a trend of today.

That's a trend that we've seen in church history.

But there's a counterside to that.

Is that historically speaking,

again, when the church, the church as a whole,

is attacked from the inside,

false teachers,

false doctrine,

false gospel,

it spreads like a cancer.

And when not dealt with,

the churches in that area

die.

That's what we see happen.

Where the church began,

where the church spread,

largely in Europe at the time,

and it's what we're seeing today.

The United States

is largely still

the hub

of the world

for Christian missionaries,

Christian theological training.

But folks,

that's beginning to decline.

We're living in a day and time

where we think

that the United States

is the growing explosion

of Christianity

and faith in Christ.

But I would say to you this morning

that that is no longer the case.

Now,

there's a large group of us

who were in here this morning

who were from that region

of our country

known as the Bible Belt.

And we would like to blame

all those other places

that are not from the Bible Belt

for the decline of Christianity.

But that's not true.

That's a lie.

I don't have the latest numbers

because I can't find them,

but I can tell you this.

Ten years ago,

not in Seattle, Washington,

not in New York City,

not in Boston, Massachusetts,

not in Denver, Colorado,

but ten years ago

in Lexington, South Carolina,

33% of the population

of Lexington, South Carolina

identified themselves

as Christians

and followers of Christ.

And what we need to be

is we need to be those people

who stand not just for Jesus,

but Jesus of the Bible,

who Jesus truly is.

You see, because the false narrative

of Jesus is not Jesus at all,

but Jesus of God's Word

is the Jesus that we share.

It's the Jesus that we trust.

It's the Jesus that saves us.

Now, before we get into

false teachings,

I do want to say this.

Sometimes godly individuals

say the wrong things.

I have.

That makes them both incorrect

and in sin.

It does not make them

false teachers.

And when we do,

as teachers of God's Word,

say the wrong thing,

incorrect things,

it is sin.

We need to acknowledge that.

We need to repent.

And we need to confess that.

And that's why we need

to be studied

when we teach the Bible

and not googling AI.

What does Ephesians 2 mean?

That's why we need

to spend time on our knees

in prayer before God

dependent on Him

to teach us,

before we teach God's Word.

And I'm not saying

this as pastors.

I'm saying this

as discipleship teachers.

I'm saying this

as small group leaders.

I'm saying this as those

that teach God's Word

in their home.

That's why we need

to be humble as well

and understand

that as much as we want

to be right,

we can be wrong

and understand

that while we may be

in sin,

God's faithful

to forgive us

and we live

in His grace.

But this concept,

this issue

of false teaching,

it is prevalent

throughout the New Testament.

I want to be honest

with you,

I've kind of forgotten

how prevalent it was

of the warnings

against false teachers

in the New Testament.

And I'm not going

to read to you

this morning

every verse

that deals

with false teachers

or false doctrine

or false gospels,

but I will say this,

we're going to read some

and here's who

we're going to hear from.

We're going to hear

from Jesus.

We're going to hear

from Paul.

We're going to hear

from Peter.

We're going to hear

from John.

We're going to hear

from Jude.

So if that group

of men

say yes,

we need to make sure

repeatedly

over and over

and over again

that we're warning

the church about this,

this needs to be something

that we as the church

are talking more about.

Jesus says this

in Matthew 7

starting in verse 15,

beware of false prophets

who come to you

in sheep's clothing

but inwardly

are ravenous wolves.

You will recognize them

by their fruits.

Paul says

in Acts 20,

his very words,

I know that

after my departure

fierce wolves

will come in among you

not sparing the flock

and from among

your own selves

will arise

men speaking

twisted things

to draw away

the disciples

after them.

Peter in 2 Peter 2

1 through 3

but false prophets

also arose

among the people

just as there will be

false teachers

among you

who will secretly

bring in destructive

heresies

even denying

the master

who bought them

bringing upon themselves

swift destruction

and many will follow

their sensuality

and because of them

the way of truth

will be blasphemed

and in their greed

they will exploit you

with false words

their condemnation

from long ago

is not idle

and their destruction

is not asleep

John

you know sweet

kind

John

that just wants

to talk about love

right

beloved

do not believe

every spirit

but test the spirits

to see whether

they are from God

for many false prophets

have gone into the world

by this you know

the spirit of God

every spirit that confesses

that Jesus Christ

has come in the flesh

is from God

and every spirit

that does not confess

Jesus

is not from God

this is the spirit

of the antichrist

which you heard

was coming

and now is in the world

already

Jude

Jude 3 and 4

beloved

although I was very eager

to write to you

about our common salvation

I found it necessary

to write

appealing to you

to contend

for the faith

that was once for all

delivered to the saints

for certain people

have crept in

unnoticed

who long ago

were designated

for this condemnation

ungodly people

who pervert the grace

of our God

into sensuality

and deny

our only master

and Lord Jesus Christ

those aren't

those aren't

light words

those aren't

passive warnings

they're the words

from our very own

Savior

to his disciples

to the writers

of the New Testament

beware

beware

beware

ravenous wolves

perverting

the message

denying

denying

the divinity

of Christ

it still rings

true today

so what makes

false prophets

so dangerous

what

what makes them

so dangerous

but it's just words

it's just

it's just a book

it's just

it's just a thought

it's just

it's just a teaching

why is it so dangerous

well I want to

describe you

what their message is

when

when we look at

the fullness

of those passages

and the passages

what we can draw

from that

and number one

their message

the message is deception

the message is deception

the message is move

from God's truth

and sometimes

the move is subtle

Satan in Genesis 3

says what

did God actually say

God wouldn't

the message is deception

the message is to move you

from the truth of God

and who God is

and what God has done

and what God has said

and not come out

and throw it all away

like a good false teacher

won't do that

what they do is

they'll just kind of

take it and they'll turn it

and they'll twist it

and next thing you know

they're babbling stuff

like you too can become God

their message is self-motivated

their message is self-motivated

it's clear time and time again

false teachers gain

from their message

there's a secular magazine

that always does

the 10 fastest

the 10 fastest

that's not it

the 10 wealthiest pastors

in America

go study their doctrine

false teaching

after false teaching

after false teaching

after false teaching

there are men and women

becoming wealthy

and seeing their name great

as they're lowering

the name of Christ

their message is appealing

I don't even want to say that

their message is appealing

not appealing to the soul

but appealing to the flesh

their message will always

drive you

to this is what I get

from this

and what you get from this

is never Jesus

but it's appealing

the message is always culturally relevant

it's always culturally relevant

they speak to matters of today

and how they're so enlightened

they speak to matters of today

and looking down on the truth

of God's word

and truly today is not the same day

as when God communicated to Abraham

truly today is not the same day

as when Jesus stood on the side

of the mountain

and spoke to his disciples

truly today isn't the day

that Paul wrote the truth

of God's word

to all the churches

that Paul had planted

that Paul oversaw

truly today is not the day of then

and they are correct

truly today is not the day of then

but God's truth of then

is still God's truth of today

regardless of what culture

leads in the direction

that culture wants to point

but always

always

always

the message destroys

the message destroys

ravenous wolves

destroying families

destroying churches

that's where we find ourselves

it's why

Paul

looks to Titus

and says

listen man

more so than where your church

is going to meet

more so than what type of music

you're going to have

for worship

more so

if you're

Titus

don't worry about

if you're going to be in a suit

if your shirt's going to be untucked

or if you're a guy

that every week

for some reason

wears cowboy boots

jeans and a sports coat

right

like whatever

those things don't matter

here's what this is

Titus

here's what this is

what you need to make sure

that you're holding to

that you need to protect

the message of God

it's why

in 2 Timothy 2

that we need to take

what we've heard

from faithful teachers

and that our job

is that we're to

entrust them to others

so that we continue on

with what we've been taught

in the gospel of Jesus Christ

that's what Paul writes

to Timothy

it's the protection

of the message

and what we've been

entrusted with

so what I want to do

this morning

I think I've got

five of them

maybe six

is I want to

I want to talk to you

about what I believe

are today's most prominent

false gospels

and what the Bible says

concerning them

I hope

that if at the end

of this

if you have question

if you have concern

if you have issue

let's grab some coffee

and have a conversation

I want you to hear

my heart

through these

but I don't want

a wolf in your home

and I sure don't want

a wolf in this church

number one

is the prosperity gospel

prosperity gospel

I'm going to give

an elementary definition

for all of these

for time's sake

prosperity gospel

teaches us

that Jesus

is simply a means

to wealth

health

and financial

and earthly prosperity

to follow him

faithfully

means that these

three blessings

will come to you

this movement

is also known

they try to pretty it up

as the word of faith

movement

here's the difficulty

with this

teaching

Jesus

is

infrequently

talked about

I'm sorry

Jesus

the difficulty

with this message

I apologize

is that Jesus

is frequently

talked about

scripture

is

quoted

and that if you

follow these

teachings

you too

can have your

best life now

topics such as

sin

wrath

and judgment

are avoided

and quickly

what you will find

is that Jesus

is not to be

the desire

of your heart

but simply

a means

to get

what your

heart

desires

and here's

what begins

to happen

here's the

manipulation

here's the

lie

here's the

destruction

is that

when people

face

financial

difficulty

when people

face

poor health

when people

face

difficult

circumstances

in their

life

it is

then

taught

that

their

faith

is

weak

or

else

God

would

have

blessed

them

and

unfortunately

these books

and teachings

fill many

of our

Christian

bookstores

and I'm

doing this

on purpose

many of our

TV preachers

promote the

prosperity gospel

where Jesus

is a means

to what your

flesh really

desires

to what your

heart really

desires

some problems

with that

number one

that

we're

we're warned

about money

the love

of money

the love

of money

specifically

for the love

of money

is the root

of all kinds

of evils

is what 1st

Timothy 6

10 tells us

it is through

this craving

that some

have wandered

away from

the faith

and pierced

themselves

with many

pangs

like I'm

just gonna be

honest with

you

like when

when you're

sitting

in a

in a

building

filled with

thousands

of people

and your

message is

how do you

get wealthy

when you're

when you're

not rich in

Christ

but rich in

money

and I want

to tell you

this God

uses

wealthy

people all

the time

here's what

wealthy godly

people know

and do

consistently

they know

how to

use

what god

has

given

them

to

promote

the

kingdom

not how

god

has

blessed

them

so they

can

simply

expand

their

greed

another

issue

with this

is jesus

promises

his

followers

that they

will face

difficulties

this is one

of the issues

that i have

with it's

like well

you know

i'm going

through some

difficult times

i'm walking

through some

difficult seasons

how many of

you have ever

been in a

difficult time

in a difficult

season and

what you saw

from walking

through that

was god

was blessing

you through

it like you

would never

choose to

walk through

it again

but praise

god as

you did

what god

was doing

was growing

was persevering

you was

was empowering

you as you

walk through

this

jesus says

john 16

33

i've said

these things

to you

that in

me you

may have

peace

in the

world you

will have

tribulation

but take

heart i've

overcome the

world

the prosperity

gospel

defines

blessing

in such

a fleshly

ignorant

way

it's

disgusting

to say

that it

comes

from god's

word

because god's

word says

this

that you

are blessed

i don't

care what's

in your

bank account

i don't

care

what the

doctor's

prognosis

said

when we

are in

christ

we are

blessed

he is

enough

he is

sufficient

he's

more than

enough

god's

word says

that he

is rich

in

mercy

paul

writes in

ephesians

1-3

here's

what he

says

blessed

be the

god and

father of

our lord

jesus

christ

who has

blessed us

in christ

with every

spiritual

blessing in

the heavenly

places

here's what

the prosperity

gospel does

god can

choose to

bless you

however god

chooses to

bless you

he is

god

what the

prosperity

gospel does

at its

core

is it

creates

a system

of

idolatry

as it

elevates

the gifts

above the

giver

as it

elevates

the gifts

of god

over the

giver

of the

gifts

right

destroying

lives

the

second

i've coined

this the

jesus plus

gospel

we'll move

faster now

the jesus plus

gospel

this is the

belief that

simple faith

in christ and

his work alone

is not sufficient

for salvation

but instead it is

faith in christ

plus some form of

religious rules that

must be adhered to

in order for salvation

to be earned

this is largely what we

see 2,000 years ago

in in the writing of

scripture and what we

still see today

this is largely the

false gospel that

paul is dealing with

and crete and

warning titus of

and it still rings

true in many

legalistic churches

today

but paul says this

in ephesians 2

8 through 9

for it is by grace

you have been saved

through faith

it's it's by grace

it's by grace

this is it

you've been saved

through faith

and just so

paul reiterates

over and over

and over again

it is not

of your own doing

it is the gift

of god

not a result

of your works

so that no one

may boast

it is not

jesus plus

anything

in fact

jesus plus

something equals

nothing

and it's jesus

and it's jesus

please hear me

the gospel

of jesus christ

calls us

for good works

in fact that next

verse

verse 210

in ephesians

talks about the

good works that

god has

for you

that he prepared

for you beforehand

before you were

even saved

god was ordaining

works for you

to do

in his name

not so that you

could be saved

but because you

are saved

the truth of the

gospel

it's just an

inside out

process

of what we

saw

in verse 1

for the sake

of the faith

of god select

and their knowledge

of the truth

which accords

with godliness

so god saves

us

god indwells

us

god changes

us

the beauty

of what we

see

and there's

so many

denominations

that are

teaching

well no

no

no

no

no

it's jesus

plus this

it's jesus

plus this

it's jesus

plus this

in church

it's just jesus

it's just jesus

next is the jesus

minus gospel

there's a lot of

ways that this

teaching is

is classified

my brain if i can

remember the jesus

plus gospel i can

remember the jesus

minus gospel

and this teaches

that god is ever

changing and so

is his word

as a result

then you choose

what part of god's

word best apply

to your situation

your culture

and your needs

then you determine

what parts of the

bible align with

your truth

and then you follow

those

this was

specifically the

temptation that we

saw in genesis

3 1

it's take

what you like

take

what affirms

you

take

what speaks

to you

and then that's

the gospel of

christ

and then take

out what you

don't like

it doesn't matter

because this is

just an old

book

written by people

who want to

hold you down

and hold you

back

and they're

keeping

from you

the true

god

here's the

problem

with the

true story

the moment

you find

a lie

in the

true story

the moment

that story

ceases to

be true

so to say

that i can

take any

of this

out

because it's

not true

would then

for me

that all

of it

is false

but we

believe

that it

is

true

so

paul

says

second

timothy

3

14

through

17

but as

for you

continuing

what you

have learned

and heard

firmly

believe

knowing

from whom

you learned

it

and how

from childhood

you have been

acquainted

with the

sacred

writings

which are

able to make

you wise

for salvation

through faith

in christ

jesus

all scripture

every single

bit of it

all scripture

the parts

that you like

the parts

that you

don't like

the parts

you agree

with

the parts

you don't

agree

with

the part

that that

causes you

to go

the part

that goes

yay

like

all of

it

all scripture

is breathed

out by

God

and profitable

for teaching

for proof

for correction

and training

in righteousness

that the man

of God

may be

complete

equipped

for every

good work

every bit

of it

here's what

I'll tell you

about God's

word

God's word

isn't easy

God's word

isn't easy

and sometimes

in our flesh

we wish

parts of it

weren't there

but you can't

claim a perfect

God and not

claim that

his word

is perfect

and it's

our job

to consume

it

it's our

job to

devour

it

it's our

job

to study

it

and see

how the

Holy Spirit

will enlighten

our minds

and our souls

to it

and then the

change that

he'll bring

apart from it

you see

it's not

Jesus minus

it

it's all

it's all

it's all

the fourth

the fourth

is the

self-help

gospel

the self-help

gospel

self-help

gospel

is a gospel

that causes

people to

focus on

themselves

their successes

their goals

rather than

God

the focus

becomes how

can I make

myself

largely external

actions better

and not how

can I grow

in my relationship

with God

and focus

on him

when growth

is seen

in the self-help

model

the praise

goes to the

individual

not to God

alright let me

say this

so if you're

like Bo

are you saying

counseling's wrong

no I'm not

saying counseling

is wrong

I'm not saying

counseling's wrong

I have been

in counseling

numerous times

in my life

as godly

faithful

individuals

have helped

me walk

through

issues

that I'm

facing in my

life

and I praise

God for it

but I am

saying that

not all

counseling

is equal

not all

counseling

is good

and not all

counseling

is biblical

do I think

we need to

take evaluation

of ourselves

absolutely

God's word

calls and

demands that

of us

but we do

it in the

power of the

Holy Spirit

and the

leading of

the Holy

Spirit

do I think

we set

goals

seek to

change

behaviors

desire to

better

ourselves

absolutely

we do

but all

of this

must happen

in a proper

pursuit of

God

and submission

to him

here's the

warning of

Jesus

in Matthew

23

woe to you

scribes

and Pharisees

hypocrites

for you

clean the

outside of

the cup

and the

plate

but inside

they are

full of

greed

and self

indulgence

you blind

Pharisee

first clean

the inside

of the

cup

and the

plate

that the

outside

also

may be

clean

right

the truth

of self

help

the self

help

gospel

is this

it will

clean up

the outside

it will

tip to

clean up

the outside

but it will

ignore the

heart

every single

time

and what

God

desires

is God

desires

your heart

so as you're

going into

counseling

and some

of you

are in

counseling

some of you

need to be

part of

counseling

let me ask

this

when you're

diving into

this

and when

you're

dealing

with the

issues

that are

there

the heart

has to be

addressed

and all

that's

given

because when

it's just

the outside

and the

outside is

what's

there

here's

what we

find from

the flesh

now

the works

of flesh

are evident

sexuality

immorality

impurity

sensuality

idolatry

sorcery

enmity

strife

jealousy

fits of

anger

rivalries

dissensions

divisions

envy

drunkenness

orgies

and things

like these

I warn

you

as I

warned

you

before

that

those

who

do

such

things

will

not

inherit

the

kingdom

of

God

this

is

what

we're

capable

of

this

is

what

we

do

apart

from

God

these

are

the

works

of

the

flesh

but

verse

22

but the

fruit

of the

spirit

is

love

joy

peace

patience

kindness

goodness

faithfulness

gentleness

self

control

against such

things

there is

no law

and those

who

belong

to Christ

Jesus

have

crucified

the

flesh

with

its

passions

and

its

desires

you see

it's the

works

of the

flesh

and it's

not the

fruit

of the

better

you

or the

better

me

it's

the

fruit

of the

spirit

so here's

what this

looks like

in our

life

that

when we

grow

in joy

and love

and peace

and patience

and kindness

and goodness

faithfulness

gentleness

self

control

when we

grow

in these

and we're

not living

the self

help

gospel

but we're

living in

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ

and so we

have faithful

men and

women who

pour into

us

who point

out these

areas of

our life

where we

need

correction

and they

come

alongside

for us

and they

pray for

us

and they

give

great

godly

counsel

of what

God's

word

says

and we

come

and we

submit

these

things

to hear

when we

see

these

fruit

in

our

life

you know

what

that

causes

us

to do

praise

god

praise

god

praise

god

that

I'm

not

like

I'm

not

19

20

21

anymore

because

not

that

I'm

better

but

that

because

god

is

god

and god

is

good

and

this

is

what

god

has

done

we

create

the

works

of

the

flesh

god

creates

the

fruit

of

the

spirit

number

five

number

five

social

justice

gospel

right

in the

early 20th

century

there

began to

be a

shift

that

happened

in the

church

where

pastors

began

to

stop

preaching

the

cross

and

instead

began

to

preach

messages

just

simply

about

how

we

should

be

good

and

be

good

with

our

fellow

man

to

address

the

social

matters

of

the

day

first

first

I

want

to

say

this

that

Christians

that

we

should

lead

the

charge

for

the

gospel

in

matters

of

social

issues

we

should

God's

word

is

very

clear

we

see

this

in

the

life

of

Jesus

that

you

and