Listen to Paul very carefully. Would to God you could bear with
me a little in my folly. And indeed bear with me. For I'm jealous over you with
a godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one
husband that I may present you a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he
that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or
if you receive another spirit, which you have not received,
or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might
well bear with him. Now, notice verse one and verse
four. Bear with me, for you might bear
well with him. Now, I'd like to begin with this
manner of introduction, working our way under the subject of
the morning. There remains absolutely nothing
that God has ordained, or that he has instituted in the world,
or that he has commanded for his people to do, that they have
not in some way and some degree converted and corrupted that
altogether. Every single truth of God has
been exchanged for or has been turned into a lie. And I'll give you some examples
of that that are very clear, both from the history and in
our experience. The Bible said, God said, that
he created all things. But we have evolution taught
in much of the world today. God said that he only is to be
worshipped, but there are gods by the multitude that are acknowledged
and worshipped in the world today. The Bible says that man is fallen,
is sinful and depraved and corrupt And yet there are those champions
of humanity that say that every person is good and not hopelessly
depraved as we say. God said that salvation is by
grace and yet men preach that it is by law or by works or by
free will of man. Now concerning the spiritual
state of the churches, of the preaching of that that is called
the gospel in our particular day, the view of the scripture
and the view of the world with regard to the gospel of Christ
our Lord. I don't know if you have, but
I have read many authors from earlier centuries of Christianity
in the history of the church and without exception Spurgeon,
Calvin, whoever it might be, and on back. Without exception,
they bemoan the declining spirituality in their country, in their churches,
and in their time. And the heresy and the apostasy
they complain about, the neglect of sound doctrine, the twisting
of the scripture out of their original intent, and false views
of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the great salvation. When
I read those men, they sound as if they might be talking about
our churches, our country, and the time in which we live. So, let's consider a minute.
The seven churches in Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3. In Revelation 2 and verse 4,
the church at Ephesus, in my opinion, one of the better of
the churches in the New Testament. Nevertheless, I have somewhat
against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Even that
church, God found something that was amiss and that was at fault. Again, in Revelation 2, and 14,
this time to the church at Pergamos. But I have a few things against
thee for having them that hold to the doctrine of Balaam. And verse 15, hold to the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate, the Lord said. Revelation
chapter two and verse 20, and the church at Thyatira. I have
against thee you allowing a female prophet to seduce my servant
and commit fornication. Revelation 3 and verse 2. The church at Sardis. He speaks
of the things that are ready to die. I have not found your
works perfect before God. Finally, the great lazy church
at Laodicea, chapter 3, verse 14 through verse 22, with its
multiple faults and its blind eyes, and it could not see. Then,
with regard to the entrance of heresy and error in the churches,
let's think of Paul's letters to the churches in the New Testament
during his ministry, and the correction and the warnings and
the concern and the rebukes that Paul gave unto them for he found
them necessary. Consider the chaos in the Corinthian
church and those at Rome and Galatia who buried the glory
of the gospel under legalism and works salvation. The Gnosticism
at Colossae, where Paul brings Christ to his highest exaltation
to them, of the warnings to Timothy and to Titus about the things
and the enemies that would enter into the churches in a little
while, turning the word of God into fables, having itching ears,
wanting to hear pleasing things, and departing from the faith
and even bringing in doctrines of devils among them. Now, this
point to ponder before we move along. Many would name Paul as
their favorite Christian. Paul is perhaps quoted more than
any other man in the scripture, unless it be our Lord. He's the
most admired for his devotion unto the Lord. He's the champion
of orthodoxy, defending the faith and the gospel. But then I wonder,
what would Paul have to say? What would he think if he could
appear in the midst of the churches, its doctrine, and its practices
in our day? So with that in mind, let's take
a look quickly at the two revelations, or the worship of God under the
old covenant and under the new. The old are the first. as they are called in the scripture. God gave Israel the law and he
entered into covenant with them. Israel soon transgressed that
law and broke that covenant time and time again and went a whoring
after the gods of the heathen, which were actually no gods at
all. And at times, They mixed their
Judaism with heathenism and continued to go on in their worship. They substituted the teaching
and the traditions of men for the word of God. They built and
they worshiped a golden cave in the 32nd chapter of the book
of Exodus. Time and again, they persecuted
and they killed the prophet, and finally they murdered the
very Messiah when he came into the world. Now, as for the second,
or the new covenant, the gospel, the person, and the work of our
Lord Jesus Christ, again, there did soon arise perverse things
to draw away disciples after themselves from the Christian
worship. Paul spent every day of his life
and every sermon of fighting against the heresy that were
trying to enter into the churches and spoil the purity of the gospel
and against those heresy introduced by the ignorant and the enemies
of Christianity. Now, the leaven of false doctrine
was put in the churches early, some even during the lifetime
of the apostle. Satan sowed tares among the weak,
false teachers abounded, and a false Christianity was mixed
in with the true, and that from a pretty early point in Christianity. Paul expressed a fear in the
text that we read that some would be deceived by poison doctrine
that would be brought into the church. 2 Corinthians 11 and
3, I fear your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ. Over in Galatians, chapter 4
and verse 11. He tells them, I am afraid of
you lest I have bestowed labor upon you in vain. Again in 2
Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 20, I fear lest when I come I
should not find you as I would. Paul was ever mindful that a
pack of ravening wolves was roaming the country and invading the
gospel for those who named against those who named the name of Christ. The church for whom Christ died
and shed his blood and sent the spirit of God to indweller that
he might be present or that he might uphold them virtuous in
the truth of God, and present them as a chaste virgin unto
Christ, who had not polluted themselves with the false doctrine
and the heresy of the world. He wanted to keep them pure in
truth as he betrothed them to Christ, that he might present
a virgin bride unto the Lord, not corrupted and polluted, by
the heresy of the world. Now we'll come back to that Corinthian
text a little bit later. But coming now to the subject
that I proposed before you. the strange gods of Christendom. I find from looking at the internet
that a lot of faithful ministers are crying out now against some
of the things that have come upon the church. But what do
I mean by strange gods? That's a strange saying indeed. How are they strange gods? Now, I don't mean that they're
unusual or odd or that they're peculiar or queer as we sometimes
know and use that word. We go first to the Old Testament. with regard to the matter of
strange gods. It is a word that is used several
times against and unto Israel concerning their strange gods
that they had come in contact with. First, Genesis chapter
35. Jacob going down unto Bethel
to erect an altar unto the one and the true God. And he said,
Jacob did, to his household in the second verse of the 35th
chapter of Genesis, put away the strange gods that are among
you. Put them away. Clean house. Throw
them out. Get rid of them. Abandon them.
Put them away. Destroy them. Joshua chapter
24 and 23. Remember that great exhortation
from Joshua? Put away the strange gods which
are among you and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. I find it again in the book of
Judges chapter 10 and verse 16. And they, that is Israel, put
away the strange gods from among them and served the Lord. I find it again in 1 Samuel chapter
7 and verse 3. And Samuel spoke unto all of
the house of Israel saying, if you do return to the Lord with
all your heart, put away the strange gods from among you and
prepare your hearts under the Lord and serve him only. Now in these four passages of
the Old Testament, the word strange again does not mean odd and it
does not mean peculiar. or queer, or unusual, or quirky,
or eccentric, or any of those things that we might attach with
strange when we use the word. It is the same word in Psalm
137 and verse 4. How sing we the Lord's song in
a strange land. They that held us required of
us murder. They said, sing. How can we sing
the Lord's song in a strange land? Same word as strange God. Jeremiah 5, 19. You have served
strange gods in your land. Psalm 81 and verse nine. There shall be no strange God
in thee, neither shall thou worship any strange God. Malachi 2 and 11, Judah married
the daughters of a strange God. Now, there's that same word.
Now, if I'm mistaken, not all of these are from the same Hebrew
word in the New Testament when you see the word strange in every
place. But here, this word actually
means foreign. put away the foreign gods, put
away that which is foreign and is alien, and by implication
is heathendom. Heathendom is the one who had
the strange and the foreign gods as far as Israel was concerned. They were foreign to Israel as
the strange gods had done nothing for Israel, nothing at all. They'd not helped them, they'd
not blessed them, they'd not sustained them, and they had
not kept them. They are nothing, they're not
real. God had chosen his people and
delivered them out of Egyptian bondage and bound them to worship
him as the one and only true God. and they to be his people
and serve no other God. And he forbade them to have any
other gods before him or beside him, not even an image, not even
a graven image. And yet Israel time and time
again gave recognition to the gods of the heathen, the strange
god or the foreign gods And yes, at time, they worship the gods
of the Amorites, the gods of the Jebusites, the Perizzites,
and many others, whose gods they did espouse and worship. Now from that, we come to our
present text and present subject from Israel of old, under the
church, under what we call the age of the gospel. And I want
to talk to you today about the strange gods of Christendom,
that what was revealed from the Lord and in the apostles in purity
has been corrupted in many places and even embraced in many of
the churches. The churches have embraced strange
or foreign gods and heathen notion and have become far too welcoming
of the heathen gods in our day and time. Now in our lifetime
and our experience of being a Christian and attending our church. There has come a tremendous change
in things in our day. Just look around, if you will.
There has been a shifting of the wind. There has been a departing
from the old path or from the old way. such as there's a new
way of preaching that has come in among us in our day, a new
way of preaching. Instead of an expounding of the
scripture, it is more like psychology. Preachers are more like cheerleaders
and they give pep talks, not much exposition of the scripture,
not much at all. And not much sound doctrine is
to be heard and contended for in much of modern preaching.
Then with that, there's come a new form of worship. Instead of that reverent and
solemn worship of our God, there has come irreverent chanting. and from a position not scriptural
at all. Then there's come a new manner
of music and of singing that is supposed to worship God. Music
that is called contemporary and it consists of lively little
ditties that appeal unto the flesh. Then even while rock and
roll sounding bands are on the rostrum in our day, feeding the
flesh, having people stomping and caring about. There's a different
view of humanity that is being preached in the churches in our
day, that all are not sinful and depraved and fallen and corrupt,
they're neurotic. and they need to be diagnosed
and receive counseling and, quote, professional help, unquote. That's the message of the day. Got a problem? Talk to a professional. That's the advice of Dear Abby
in almost every column that you might read. There's a different
view of God and of Christ, not as sovereign, not Christ as impeccable,
But a social reformer is how many look upon our Lord and Savior
today. Then there's a new view of scripture
that has come on the scene. For the large part, and too sadly
for most part, it rejects the idea of infallible inspiration
and inerrancy of the Word of God gives little attention to
supernatural salvation only from the hand of God, and it places
far too many human traditions upon an equal level with the
Blessed and Holy Scripture. Now, with all of that said, this
is very fertile ground to bring in not only false teaching, but
also false gods into the churches, and they be accepted. Hear Paul's
fear again, 2 Corinthians 11, for there he had espoused them
unto Christ, that their minds would not be as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtlety, Their mind should not be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. I think simplicity means
singleness of mind toward Christ. not to another gospel like in
Galatians 1, 6, and 7, another gospel which is not another gospel. There be some that trouble you
and would pervert or twist the gospel of Christ, but whatever
they might preach is not a gospel of one and the same kind with
the gospel of Christ and the gospel of Paul. Now, the first
strange or foreign god that I shall mention is man himself. Paul writes about the serpent
beguiling or deceiving our mother Eve. And what did he tell her?
Genesis chapter 3. What did he tell her? What did
he promise her as he tempted her by his subtlety? As the serpent came, he said
unto her, eat of it, ye shall be as gods. Go ahead and eat. God knows that
it'll be good for you. He's just keeping it from you.
Go ahead and eat, you shall be as gods. Genesis chapter 3 verse
4 and verse 5. He said, you will not surely
die. God knows that in the day you
eat, you'll be like God's. These kind of people are still
around us today. You're not going to die. And
there are those who holler out, there's no hell. God wouldn't
send his children to hell that he loves. But the serpent said
unto Eve, you shall be as God. You have that again in Genesis
chapter three. and verse 22 used by the Godhead
concerning that. Consider Ezekiel chapter 28 and
verse 2. The arrogant pride of the king
of Tyre to say this, I am God, I sit in the seat of God. There's Isaiah 14 and verse 14,
the king of Babylon saying, perhaps to himself and unto others, I
will be like thee most high. Now some of our time, some in
our time rather, who claim to be Christian ministers, have
been very bold to deify man. Now, I'll give you some examples
of that if you haven't heard about it. Deifying human beings. Among some of the most popular,
better known, prominent TV preachers of our day and of the past, who
teach that Christians are gods. I'm not kidding you, and I'm
not making it up. If I mistake not, Mormons teach
that faithful Mormons can after death become gods in the same
manner and nature as Jesus Christ and his father. That's their
doctrine, that after death the good and the faithful will actually
become gods in the sin that Christ did. The TV evangelists teach
or have taught what is called the Little God Doctrine. The Little God Doctrine. And
that means that we are all little gods who have been made anew
in Christ. Some of them are Copeland and
Tilton and Hagen, heretics, every one of them on the matter of
the things of God. I read this week, a Seattle pastor
of a very large goat barn said this, And he led the congregation
to chant it. He worked them up until they
chanted this, I am an exact duplicate of God. Say it, he said. Say
it again. I am an exact duplicate of God. Copeland said, you don't have
a God in you. You are a God. You are one. Another said, We
shall comprehend we are little gods and begin to act like little
gods and have a great effect upon the world. Tilton said,
you are a god kind of creature. Talking about Christians. Now, we find other elements of
this heretical nonsense in the teaching of the cults and other
religions in our day. I read this week, a friend in
Louisiana sent me an article, which I was glad to get, but
he sent me an article, and I read in it where Paul Crouch of Trinity
Broadcasting openly taught the doctrine The Little God Doctrine. I got that out of an article
by Walter Martin, who personally witnessed it. Now, think of the
implication of this teaching. That men and women have become
gods. Is this another form of polytheism? That there are many gods? There
are gods everywhere? Are there many gods, or is there
one? Is it polytheism? If we be God's
many, may we then worship ourself, or pray to ourself, or worship
and pray unto each other. Can we create, since we are declared
to be God? I remind you, it was not God,
but Satan that urged Eve to seek Godhood, and that was a lie,
and it brought her down unto ruin. So we are not little gods,
never have been, are not now, and never shall be. Let's speak
of another strange god, however, brought into Christendom, and
this one is attached naturally to a movement that has been alive
and well in the world and opposes practically every Christian truth. That strange god is the deity
of either is either a female or is genderless. Have you heard
that? It's alive in the world. There
is the teaching that God is not a male. He's not man. He's not a father. He is a female
or he is genderless. And he is not male-oriented. This unscriptural muck and dung
arose from the most apostate parts of Christianity that we
might imagine or Christendom, such as the Episcopal wing of
Christendom. The Methodists, many of them,
some Presbyterian and also some Lutherans, have espoused this
doctrine and inculcated it into their creed and into their church. Let me give you some examples.
The Evangelical Church in Sweden, for some time, they have promoted
gender-neutral Bibles prayer books and hymn books in Sweden. No reference to God is made as
God or as male or as father. Such views and action have given
rise to the idea that the deity is possibly and probably is female,
which is at the same time an attack upon scripture. Now I'm not getting you here
when I say that they are content to pray our Heavenly Mother,
our Heavenly Mother. Others pray our heavenly parent
taking gender out of it altogether, without reference to gender,
and it's alive in the world. That friend in Baton Rouge sent
me an article about this with some examples of the madness
in supposing the deity to be female. Here is one thing that
happened. The Washington, D.C. diocese of the Episcopal Church
voted to delete, quote, the use of gendered pronouns for God,
unquote. Vote them out. No more. No more
he, no more his, no more him. Again, H-I-M. The Evangelical
Church in Sweden, one of the most socialistic countries upon
the face of the earth, voted to urge its clergy to, quote,
Use more general, gender-neutral language when referring to God,
and avoid referring to the deity as Lord or He." But the kicker
is the female preacher in Maryland, an Episcopal by denomination,
who claims that God's wonderful, magnificent name, El Shaddai,
actually means God with breast. and so female. Now this is the
result of a movement, feminism in the church. They don't want
nor will they serve a male God. They would have God to be like
that article quoted, a woman reverend who claimed that many
women avoid church in our day because of the systemic maleness
that is attached unto the deity. and unto Christ, quote, the systemic
male image of God presented there, unquote. And so they're not comfortable
sitting in a church where God is referred to as a male gender. So they have arbitrarily declared
God the creator to be female. I remind you. I am old enough
to remember the hippie movement. Are you? I'm old enough to remember
the hippies when they were everywhere. And some of them even got religious
and into church. They taught, they thought, they
made out that Jesus was one like them. The reason they liked Jesus
is because they thought him to be a hippie. They said he went
around wearing sandals. He had long hair and wore beads
and was against the religious establishment, so they thought
that Jesus was one like them. So the females have done the
same thing. I'll give you another example.
You remember when radical blacks, some of them said that Jesus
was not a white man, Jesus was a black man. and that's been
contended in our country. The homosexuals would be content
with Jesus as a gay man, and I doubt not that some of them
have thought that. But this is the last female,
just as feminists prefer a female deity to fulfill their need,
quote, to hear God in our pronouns. as the lady reverend said. We
want to go to church and hear God in our pronouns. She, her,
hers, and such like. Nor has Christ Jesus been exempted
from this feminization of the Godhead or liberalizing him. I read of a crucifix of a female
Jesus named Christa. I think it was in Washington,
D.C., if I'm mistaken, but developed by an Episcopal cleric. Surely you have heard it said
by empty-headed apostates that Jesus would gladly march in the
gay parade parades today and endorse gay marriage if he were
in the world. They teach that. They've said
it. I've seen it many times. Would march in their parades
in support in their parades in support of their position. We
do read of female deities in the scripture, do we not? Such
as the goddess Diana of Ephesians. that great goddess Diana in Acts
chapter 18, literally I think Artemis, however you say it. And it is said that this goddess
was portrayed as many-breasted to signify the nourishing quality
of nature. This at the same time was a goddess
that was venerated far and wide as we read in the scripture. In Acts 19, 27, the great goddess,
Dianus, and verse 35, and in verse 27, seven whom Asia and
the world worshiped at that particular time. And Paul did not accept
that. He preached against it. He rebuked them for having such
things. Now, here the gospel clashed
with heathen idolatry, and Paul declared to them, there are no
handmade gods, none whatsoever. Now, this point, if we might,
where there were female deities or any idols, It was the acts
of heathen people that made them and that worshipped them and
that venerated them. And another point to consider
and to ponder, there are two places, at least two, maybe more,
in the book of Acts, where the truth, the power, and the work
of the gospel of our Lord had a negative effect on the economy
of the city in which it occurred. First in Acts 19, 24 through
27. The temple of the great goddess
Diana was there. And the smiths made little miniature
replicas of the temple and such thing and they sold them and
made a lot of profit by doing it. Here Paul comes preaching
Christianity and would have them turn from those kinds of gods
and they saw that their craft was in danger and they exerted
their violence against Paul. There's another one in Acts 16,
and verse 16 through 19, the conversion of that demon-possessed
young girl in the city of Philippi, I believe it was, where she told
fortunes and her masters made a lot of money because she had
a spirit of divination, or python, and was able to tell and to predict. And when Paul cast the demon
out of her, and she lost her ability to do that, it made them
mad, and they caused a riot in the city. Now, let's mention
another thing. It is no secret that some heretics
have deified to a large degree Mary. Mary has been deified by
many in our day, in effect making her the fourth member of the
Godhead, even calling her the mother of God. Now that's a very
type to give to any sister, which is a very blasphemous thing for
a human being to be called a mother of God. John Owen put it this
way, they gave her the honor due to God alone, whereby the
horrible dishonor both to God and unto her was done, unquote. God, you see, has no mother. He needs no mother. And as for
Christ, she was only the mother of his humanity, not the mother
of his divinity or his divine nature. Only his humanity was
made of a woman, Galatians chapter 4. And note something, read something,
listen, pay attention. The gospel epistles and the church
epistles never glorify Mary. Why is Mary not glorified by
the church epistles and under the church? In fact, hardly mentioned
at all in those epistles. So we ought not call any man
on earth our father, We also ought not call any woman on earth
the mother of God. Now consider, the time has come
when in Christendom they are willing to have Allah be recognized
also along with Jehovah. I mean, you're doing that in
our day, that there has come what some of us have called Chrislam. of blending together, of Chrislam
and of Christianity, making friends of Islam and Christianity, finding
some common ground, using or referring to the Abrahamic connection. How can this be? when the Bible
says that God is Jehovah, while Islam holds that Allah is the
one and only true God. These two are irreconcilable
to bring them together in friendship. Let's consider now the God and
the Christ and the Gospel of modern Christendom. Let's finish
with a consideration of the Christ and the Gospel being preached
abroad in the land and in the world today, using the text from
Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 and comparing it to Galatians 1 6-12. Hear, Paul, I am jealous. I have espoused you to one husband,
but I fear lest your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity
of the singleness that is in Christ. Notice verse four begins
with far, F-O-R. And it's not without its difficulties
as we try to expound verse four as to what connects to what here
in this particular verse. And it all flows, I think, from
verse one, if we might look back at it, Bear with me in my folly,
and indeed bear with me. Verse 2, for. Verse 3, but I
fear. Verse 4, for if. And verse 5, for I suppose. Now the thought train being,
bear with me as you would bear with one bearing a false gospel
among you. Bear with me. for I am not inferior
to any of the other apostles. Now, for another gospel, we bring
in Galatians 1, 6, and 7, where Paul speaks there of another
gospel, which is not another. Now, how can he say, another
gospel, which is not another? I know the two words, another,
are different Greek words here, I believe. Another gospel, which
is not another. A lot of gospels and a lot of
Christ or being preached such as the Armenian Gospel of Universalism,
a conditional contingent salvation and gospel. If you do something,
God will do something. If you will make a move, God
will meet you halfway. a conditional atonement, not
definite, but contingent upon those who appropriate it unto
themselves. And that's a different gospel
and a different Jesus Christ. So, in fact, both Armenians and
cultists preach another Jesus, and another gospel, a different
one from the scripture, and which Paul preached, different from
that that Paul received by revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ, accepting
theistic evolution instead of direct creation and such like. Now, how shall we avoid this? Believe not every spirit. but try the Spirit whether they
are of God. How shall we try them? By their
view of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 4. Flee from idolatry. Flee! Run! Leave it! Don't have anything to do with
it. Be single-minded toward Christ and the gospel that proclaims
him. Well, some strange gods of Christendom
have been brought out, and there are probably others that you
could mention or name or remember.