The following is a sermon by Ray Stedman which is both an exhortation and a
warning about those who have departed from the Christian faith and have
embraced false doctrines. Some of what Ray Stedman touches upon deals with
the political correctness which is so rampant today but was less so in
1981
when this sermon was originally prepared and presented. However the
Biblical
truth Ray Stedman presents is timeless and I urge my Christian brethren to
read this and take heed to the Biblical lessons.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
---
FRAUDULENT FAITH
by Ray C. Stedman
Chapter four of First Timothy begins with dramatic and intriguing words.
The
apostle says:
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from
the
faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, {1 Tim
4:1RSV}
As a young Christian, in my early 20's, I remember reading that verse in
the
King James version, which uses the phrase, "the latter times," rather
than,
"the later times," was taught that this meant that before the Lord's
return,
in the last days, there was to be a departure from the faith, a great
apostasy within the church. That was the time of the
fundamentalist-modernist controversy. The fact that so many were then
turning toward a liberal Christianity was regarded as fulfillment of the
great apostasy that is predicted by the Spirit, and many church leaders at
that time were saying so.
As we draw near to the end, before the return of the Lord, there may come
an
increasing departure from the faith, but I do not think this passage is
talking about any one great departure. In fact, other Scriptures suggest
that the departure from the faith will occur at the time of the appearance
of the man whom Paul, in Second Thessalonians, calls "the man of sin" {2
Th
2:3 KJV}, the so-called "antichrist" {1 Jn 2:18}, who will lead this great
departure from the faith.
This verse in First Timothy, however, is more properly understood when it
is
translated, "in succeeding seasons there will be many departing from the
faith" -- i.e., this is something that is going to go on, the apostle is
suggesting, throughout the whole course of Christian history, in
succeeding
seasons of time. Just as there are several seasons in a calendar year, so
in
the calendar of history God has seasons for human events -- seasons of
war,
seasons of peace, seasons of unrest in society, when everything seems to
be
torn apart (we are going through such a season now); seasons of discovery,
when the human mind breaks through into new vistas of truth, geographical
discoveries, scientific discoveries; seasons of retrenchment, when
everything seems to quiet down; and, as the apostle clearly says here,
"seasons of deceit," when error breaks forth afresh; like a fountain, it
seems to gush out a whole new spectrum of untruth. I have lived long
enough
to have seen several such seasons.
These seasons of deceit were predicted by the Holy Spirit, we do not know
how. Perhaps Paul learned this in some of those direct visions and visits
from Jesus himself. Perhaps it came through the prophetic ministry of some
of the New Testament prophets. At any rate, the Spirit had precisely
stated
that there would be succeeding seasons of deceit.
Many of you may welcome the view of Archbishop Trench, one of the great
teachers of the church. He explains this word as it appears in the
original
Greek, in this way:
The seasons are the joints or articulations in the times, the critical,
epoch-making periods, foreordained of God, when all that has been slowly,
and often without observation, ripening through long ages, is mature and
comes to the birth in grand, decisive events which constitute at once the
close of one period and the commencement of another.
In the last part of the 19th century, there was a pronounced season of
deceit, when new cults that have occupied the scene ever since emerged
here
in America. Mormonism was born then; Jehovah's Witnesses came into being
during that latter part of the 19th century; Christian Science emerged.
All
of these claimed to be Christian, yet they distorted biblical
Christianity.
That period in the 19th century was followed by a period of quiet, when no
new cults emerged. Error was being taught but no new organizations were
formed.
Suddenly, in the mid-60's, it all broke loose again. A torrent of error
began to flood our churches and the media. The Moonies came into existence
under the Korean leader, Sun Myung Moon; the Hare Krishna, those young
people in saffron robes with shaved heads, started appearing in air****ts,
passing out literature and pinning flowers to lapels; Scientology, with
its
strange and cruel doctrines, was born; Transcendental Meditation came into
popularity then.
Here the apostle is explaining that strange phenomenon to us. He says
these
things will occur in successive seasons of time. During those times, Paul
says, many will depart from the truth, depart from the faith as it is
presented in the apostolic Scriptures.
These groups make their appeal in various ways: some appeal to the
emotions,
some to the intellect, some to the will, to the pride of mankind. But they
all have one common characteristic. This characteristic is indicated in
this
passage by the way the apostle moves from the central truth of
Christianity,
"the mystery of wholeness" (the person of our Lord and his work) expressed
in Chapter 3, Verse 16, to the sharp and stark contrast of this "departure
from the faith." Thus Paul seems strongly to suggest that the central
focus
of all error is to present a different Jesus; that is the key mark of
deceit.
If you want to know whether a group you are listening to, or are in touch
with, is preaching and teaching true Christianity, ask yourself: "What do
they say about Jesus? Who is he? Is he God appearing as man? Did he come
in
the flesh? Is he the Savior who has in himself accomplished all that God
requires for the redemption of humanity?" Ask yourself, "What part does
the
blood of Jesus play in this teaching? What is said about his Person?"
The central deviation of all religious error is a negative testimony to
the
centrality of Christ in the universe. Even the unseen forces of life know
that Jesus is central. Jesus is truly Lord, so the thrust of error is to
attack him.
This is why in a university like Stanford it is possible to teach
Buddhism,
or some other teaching, and find it widely approved and sup****ted by the
faculty and the administration. Someone told me this morning that he took
a
course at Stanford University on Druids and Druidism and the religion of
King Arthur. It became evident through the course that the teacher
believed
these things and was actively propagating a belief in Druidism -- and
nobody
objected. But when Jesus, when true Christianity, is presented, there
immediately is sharp and subtle opposition against it. This is what the
apostle is pointing out.
Paul reveals the ultimate origin of these cults as coming from "deceitful
spirits." Men do not invent errors like this. They come through men (Paul
is
going to say something about that in a moment) but the actual origin of
these distortions of reality about our Lord are coming from deceitful
spirits, lying spirits, whose very nature is to lie.
When we compare this teaching with other parts of Scripture we learn that
these are fallen angels. At a time even before the world was created,
these
angels followed their leader, Lucifer (Son of the Morning), highest of the
angels of God, into a rebellion against the will and purposes of God. Thus
they became identified with Lucifer's nature, which Jesus himself informs
us
is that of a "liar and a murderer," {John 8:44}.
Yet that being, that strange, malevolent, being who is by nature a liar
and
by intent a murderer, is called everywhere in Scripture, "the god of this
world" {2 Cor 4:4}. That is a frightening thought. The god which the world
ignorantly, and innocently, in many ways, follows blindly, like an animal
being led to the slaughter, is a murderer and a liar. These hosts of
spiritual beings, which Paul recognizes in Ephesians 6 as the ones with
whom
we Christians wrestle -- "Not flesh and blood but principalities and
powers,
wicked spirits in high places, the rulers of the darkness of this world"
{cf, Eph 6:12 KJV} -- are the very ones who originate these false and
twisted ideas about Jesus.
We learn from Scripture that these spirits have access to the inner
thoughts
and feelings of men, including Christians. We are all affected by strange
urges, feelings, and desires that arise within us. But those desires do
not
always originate with us. We need to learn that all the thoughts that
cross
our minds are not necessarily coming from us. Those thoughts are what Paul
calls, "fiery darts of the wicked one" {Eph 6:16 KJV}, against which faith
must continually wrestle. These strange, sinister, unseen beings who have
access to the minds and hearts of men, mislead and misdirect by what seems
to us and to many to be logical and essential things that human nature
should accept and even require. All that becomes expanded and sup****ted by
intricate arguments and rationalizations until it takes the form of what
Paul calls, doctrines, i.e., formally reasoned presentations. But Paul
clearly calls these, "doctrines of demons."
These doctrines are not always overtly religious either. What Paul is
talking about in that 1st century day is clearly religious, and he is
warning Timothy about it, but these "doctrines of demons" oftentimes come
cleverly disguised as scientific theories, psychological approaches, or
even
economic theories. But the result of them is always the same: they
confuse,
they mislead, they distort reality; and they end, ultimately, in the
destruction of human life. One way or another, that is the devil's aim.
Take, for instance, humanism. This is probably the most widespread
philosophy of our day. All the great institutions of our country, such as
Stanford University, are almost visibly dedicated to the propagation of
secular humanism. Humanism says that man is his own god, there is no being
greater than man, we are able by our intellect and by our technological
abilities to control the universe to our purposes, that this is the whole
purpose of life and nothing is greater, etc. This exaltation of man, this
wor****pping at the shrine of human wisdom and human knowledge is a
"doctrine
of demons." It is not reality; it denies reality. It denies the greatest
fact of the universe, that there is a Creator from whom we came and to
whom
we are ultimately accountable. It is a doctrine that is widespread,
propagated by lying spirits.
I believe evolution also to be such a doctrine. Evolution finds
recognition
and honor in the scientific community, yet hardly a shred of evidence
links
evolution to empirical facts of the material universe. Yet evolution has
been accepted, propagated widely, and taught in all our schools as though
it
were truth. When compared to the actual findings of scientific endeavor it
can never find sup****t. It is a doctrine of demons.
Some thirty or forty years ago the idea that we could spend our way out of
poverty into prosperity -- deficit spending -- took root in our nation.
That
too is a doctrine of demons. It ought to be recognized immediately as
false.
We ought to laugh it out of court, but it is widely accepted; political
movements and parties have it in their platforms. Yet the end result of
this
philosophy is that we are burdened with a terrible load of debt that
crushes
and destroys us. It sets one family against another. resulting in violence
and disturbance, and ultimately death, in society. That is a doctrine of
demons.
We are not engaged in a Sunday School party. We are in a deep and abiding
war that is being fought with spiritual weapons. We are up against these
spiritual "principalities and powers," these "rulers of the darkness of
this
world."
Paul narrows this discussion to religious error particularly. He says the
doctrines of demons in Ephesus were making their appearance through human
beings whom he says, in Verse 2, are:
....pretentious liars whose consciences are seared, {1 Tim 4:2 RSV}
Ultimately these errors come into human knowledge through human beings. It
looks like people thought them up, but the apostle tells us they did not.
People themselves are deceived victims of a propaganda that has been
placed
in their minds by these invisible beings.
The apostle suggests two things about these human propagators of error
that
are always identifying marks:
First, they deal in pretentions. These people come to us with
lofty-sounding
claims. They appear to offer something extremely attractive and alluring,
something that everybody would want. They make claims for themselves as
having special prerogatives as teachers of truth. They have access to
information that is denied the rest of us, they say; they have a special
pipeline, a privileged relation****p to deity, that the rest of us do not
have. These are pretentions, the apostle says. They are merely claims
people
make.
Along with this these people are always characterized by some degree of a
"seared conscience." That means they no longer have moral scruples; they
no
longer can be restrained by appeals to their conscience. They will stop at
nothing to accomplish their end; they are without compassion or mercy.
They
become cruel, voracious, impossible to stop. Though they may veil it with
a
velvet glove, behind their teaching is an iron fist.
Yet the word "seared" clearly suggests that there was a time, perhaps,
when
these people's consciences were active. When they began they probably were
simply egotists, men and women who were convinced they had abilities and
powers beyond what they really possessed. They were out to get ahead. This
is a widespread phenomenon in human society; we all suffer from it to some
degree.
If you read the life of Adolph Hitler you discover that, as a young man,
there were many admirable things about him. He was intelligent,
knowledgeable about life; he had good morals, respect for the church, all
these things, but he was an egotist. He always had to be dominant; he had
to
be in charge of everything he had anything to do with. Gradually, feeding
that insatiable maw of egoism, he dropped his moral scruples, until at
last
his egoism climaxed in the killing of six million Jews, just because they
were in his way.
A seared conscience is what the apostle says becomes characteristic of men
who give themselves to religious error. What a tremendous revelation along
this line was given to us here in this area just a few years ago in the
story of Jim Jones and the People's Temple! This was the story of a man
who
began with certain restraints and moral scruples. Nevertheless, by feeding
his own ego he soon lost all those scruples, and ended up in that terrible
scene in the jungles of Guyana.
Paul says the specific methods of these 1st century cultists are that
(Verse
3):
....[they] forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which God
created
to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
{1
Tim 4:3 RSV}
One of the strange marks of religious error is that it is so often
accompanied by ascetic practices, i.e., denial of certain normal, natural
human enjoyments. One of them is marriage. A number of groups have been
characterized through the years as forbidding marriage to their adherents,
with the idea that *** is unclean, and those who indulge in it are
certainly
less dedicated than those who refrain.
Foods come under this heading too. I do not mean to imply at all that
there
is anything wrong with diets. It is obvious that some people need dieting.
There is nothing wrong with studies on nutrition, proper eating, etc.
Nevertheless, through the course of human history there has been a strange
affinity between food restrictions, food fads, and religious error.
The reason is that at the heart of asceticism is a conviction that
self-denial somehow pleases God. It can be very earnest, very sincere.
Often
Christians fall into this error in their early Christian days, thinking
that
if they deny themselves in some way God is going to be pleased, and their
status in his sight will be advanced. That is why some Christians love to
get up early in the morning, or memorize hundreds of verses of Scripture,
or
pray on their knees for long periods of time, etc. These practices, which
in
themselves are not wrong, nevertheless become wrong because their motive
(that of gaining God's favor by self-denial) is wrong.
This is a good example of the subtlety by which error begins. When a
deviation enters a stream of truth, at the first point of deviation, error
looks like truth; it is very hard to see it as error. This is what has
misled so many people. They never recognize error until they became
engrossed in it. Down the line they begin to suspect that it is error, but
by that time they are already hooked. This is what many cultists use today
to gain followers, and hold them in bondage.
There is a difference between self-denial and denying self. Jesus said,
"If
anyone will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
daily
and follow me," {Luke 9:23}. That is denying self. But that is easily
confused with self-denial, which says, "I will give up this thing or that
thing." "I will not do this or stay out of that, because I want to reveal
my
dedication." "I want to be admired for my zeal." "I want to gain a special
mark of favor before God." "I want to influence God to do something for me
in return." That motivation renders it no longer denying self, but
self-denial.
How subtle the differences are! Self-denial is an attempt to earn favor
apart from faith in the gift of righteousness which makes us wholly
acceptable before God right at the very beginning of our Christian life;
while denying self is a refusal to heed those silken arguments of the
inner
ego that makes its appeal to us to show how good we are by giving up
something, or to insist on having some right that we are defending.
"You are not your own," First Corinthians 6 says {1 Cor 6:19b RSV}. To
acknowledge that is to deny self in a proper and true Christian way: I do
not belong to myself any more. I am not in charge of my life. Another is
my
Lord, not me. Another has the right to the final word as to whom I marry,
where I go, what I do and how I behave. I am not my own. Acknowledging
that
is to deny that insistent claim of the flesh within: "You are your own.
Don't let anybody tell you what to do. Don't let anybody take that
position." That is what the Lord Jesus calls us to deny; that is a true
denying of self. This other is self-denial, which becomes an expression of
the pride and egoism of the flesh.
Paul answers these teachings in very simple, very beautiful words. He goes
back to the doctrine of creation, saying that these teachers.
....enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with
thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything
created
by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with
thanksgiving; for then it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. {1
Tim 4:3b-5 RSV}
Paul says it is simple to handle these strange pressures and urges of the
flesh within us, by cultivating the habit of thanksgiving. See everything
coming to you as a gift that you have no right to, but it is yours by the
grace and mercy of God.
Thanksgiving is a recognition that you do not possess anything in
yourself,
that everything comes as a gift from a loving God. When you do that you
recognize two wonderful things: First, that God gave these things to our
race for our enjoyment and enrichment. He did not give them that we might
practice denial of them; he wanted us to have them.
But God wanted us to have them in ways that do not feed our ego and
minister
to our self-im****tance; and the only way that we can do so is to receive
them with thanksgiving. That is what "for then it is consecrated by the
word
of God and prayer," means. Consecration means to put something to its
proper
use, and thus to render it safe for you to use.
The habit of giving thanks accomplishes that. When you take everything as
a
gift of God -- your life, your breath, your family, your friends, your
clothing, your food, your cir***stances, your trials, your pressures, your
problems -- and thank God for them, then they are rendered safe. You no
longer are the king on the throne, dictating to the rest of the world how
to
behave; you are a humble recipient of the gift from the Father's hand.
I love to see families giving thanks around the table before they eat.
Food
is the basic element of life. We are to give thanks for our daily bread
because,
"Back of the bread is the snowy flour,
and back of the flour the mill.
Back of the mill is the field of wheat,
the rain and the Father's will."
That is why we thank God. Everything comes from his hand.
Let me share with you these words from a young man of thirty-two years of
age whose wife fell ill. As she slept by his side one morning he mused in
these words:
She may die before morning, but I have been with her for four years. Four
years! There is no way I can feel cheated if I didn't have her another
day.
I didn't deserve her for one minute. And I may die before morning! What I
must do is die now. I must accept the justice of death and the injustice
of
life. I have lived a good life, longer than many, better than most. Tony
died when he was twenty. I have had thirty-two years. I couldn't ask for
another day. What did I do to deserve birth? It was a gift. I am me. That
is
a miracle. I have no right to a single minute. But some are given a single
hour, and yet I have had thirty-two years.
Few can choose when they will die, but I choose to accept death now. As of
this moment I give up my right to live and I give up my right to her life.
And so it is morning. I have been given another day. another day to hear
and
breathe and smell and walk and love and glory. I am alive for another day.
On the wall of one of my rooms at home is a little plaque that says:
There is no thought worth thinking
Unless it is the thought of God.
There is no sight worth seeing
Unless it is seen through his eyes.
There is no breath worth breathing
Without giving thanks to him
Whose very breath it is.
What paupers we are in ourselves! What rich people we are by the gift and
the grace of God; and what we do to preserve sanity when we utter
thanksgiving in God's name!
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