Warnings From The Master

Q: What does the Bible say about the importance of works in faith?

The Bible teaches that while we are justified by faith alone, our works serve as evidence of our faith. In Scripture, particularly James 2:26, we learn that faith without works is dead, indicating that genuine faith is always accompanied by good works. While our works do not contribute to our justification or standing before God, they provide evidence of our belief in Him. This understanding is reinforced by Ephesians 2:10, where Paul states that we are created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared for us. Thus, works are vital for demonstrating our faith to others and glorifying God.

Q: How do we know that Christ is always present with His church?

Christ is always present with His church as He walks among the candlesticks, representing His care and authority. The presence of Christ within His church is affirmed in Revelation 1:20, where the seven golden candlesticks symbolize His churches. As He walks among them, it illustrates His continual care, authority, and oversight. This promise assures believers of His never-failing presence, reminding us that no matter the circumstances we face, Christ is present to guide, sustain, and instruct His people. His involvement is active and personal, further exemplified in passages like Matthew 28:20, where He promises to be with us always, until the end of the age.

Q: Why is it dangerous to compromise with false religion?

Compromising with false religion can lead to apostasy and the denial of Christ. Compromise with falsehood is a grave danger for believers, as it undermines the truth of the gospel and compromises our faith. The doctrine of Balaam from Revelation 2:14 serves as a warning that mixing God’s truth with false teachings leads to spiritual decay and ruin. Tolerance of false prophets and ideologies can distract from the core of the gospel, leading believers away from true worship. In 2 Corinthians 6:14, the Apostle Paul warns against being unequally yoked with unbelievers, emphasizing the need to remain steadfast in gospel truth to safeguard our faith and the integrity of the church.

Q: How should believers respond to hypocrisy in their lives?

Believers should repent and turn back to Christ to overcome hypocrisy. The warning against hypocrisy is prevalent in the letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3. Believers are urged to recognize the dangers of outward religion without inward sincerity, as highlighted in Revelation 3:1. To combat hypocrisy, genuine believers must repent and seek a right relationship with Christ, acknowledging their need for His grace. This involves returning to their first love and allowing the Holy Spirit to renew their hearts and motives, as demonstrated in Titus 1:16. True faith cannot be characterized by mere external compliance, but must spring from a heartfelt commitment to Christ and His gospel.

I want to speak plainly to you this evening about warnings from my master. My text will be Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Revelation chapters 2 and 3. I have had this passage of scripture on my mind and been studying it for several weeks. And I feel strongly impressed of God to bring this message and probably some others to follow from these two chapters.

The one speaking here is our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who declares that he holds the stars, that is the angels of the churches, those who are God's messengers to his people, he holds them in his right hand. Happy is that pastor, that gospel preacher, who is firmly convinced that Jesus Christ holds him in his right hand.

Not only does he hold his servants in his right hand, But he walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, always. He's always present with his church. He's always in the midst of his church. He's always caring for his church, for every individual local church and every member of his visible as well as his invisible church who are truly members of him.

In these two chapters, We have seven letters which our Lord dictated to the angels, the pastors of seven churches in Asia Minor during the days of the apostolic era who existed during John's ministry. Now these seven churches were literal churches in these literal cities established during the apostolic era. But these churches represent all local churches in every age of the gospel. They do not represent various prophetic ages of the church, but rather they represent every true New Testament church throughout the world. They represent the various stages and conditions to which God's churches are always subject in this world.

In other words, these letters from Christ to these churches in Asia Minor are really words of Christ to you and me. They are as pertinent and as meaningful and as applicable to the life and ministry of Great Baptist Church in Danville, Kentucky in 1999 as they were in the first century to the seven churches to which they were originally addressed.

Our Lord says in these two chapters seven times, because he means for us to understand seven times, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the church. Now may God the Holy Spirit graciously give us ears to hear and cause us to hear what the Spirit here says to you and me in this passage of Scripture. First, here is a fact that we must face and never forget. The Lord Jesus says in verse 2 of chapter 2, and he repeats it seven times, it is a word that is given to all seven of the churches. He says, I know thy works. He says to every church and to every professed believer, to you and to me, I know thy works. He says this to those who are true believers, and he says it to those who are mere professed believers.

Now, works are important, very important. We recognize that our works have absolutely nothing to do with our standing before God. We are not justified, sanctified, or saved to any degree. at any point by what we do. Our works do not give us acceptance with God, nor will they maintain us in acceptance with God, nor will they give us any imaginary higher place of honor and reward in heaven's glory before God at last. Our works, however, are very, very important.

It is the nature of spiritual men and women to walk in the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit to maintain good work for necessary uses. All who are saved by the grace of God, all believing men and women, all who trust the Lord Jesus Christ, perform good work from a principle of grace. Never from a principle of law, never in order to avoid God's wrath and judgment or to gain anything from him, but from a principle of grace.

The Apostle James tells us most plainly, faith without works is dead. Good works are those things which give evidence to others that we indeed believe God. Abraham believed God and he proved that he believed God by his works. Rahab believed God and she demonstrated her faith in God when she hid the spies who had come to spy out the city.

Now God Almighty has ordained Bob Hoster that you and I who are his walk in good works. This is what the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2. He states that we are saved by grace through faith, that not of yourselves, and not of works, lest any man should boast. But we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Now if God has ordained that we walk in good works, not only has he purposed it, but he will bring it to pass. So that those who are born of his spirit are inclined by his grace to walk in good works. The indwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit, making us new creatures in Christ, gives us this bent and direction in our lives to walk in the Spirit.

And this is what the Scripture says, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. That's what the word says. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16. If you walk in the spirit, you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And if you and I are born of God, we walk in the spirit. Believers are people who walk in the spirit.

Now to walk in the spirit is not talking about some kind of a charismatic Pentecostal experience where you foam at the mouth and roll in the aisle and feel like you've gotten something whoopee from God. That's not what it is at all. To walk in the Spirit, like Christ, is to walk, believe in God. That's what it is. It is to trust the Son of God.

And those who trust the Son of God have been made new creatures in Christ and they shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now that does not mean, and we know it does not mean, both from the Word of God and from experience, that we shall not have the lust of the flesh. Paul spoke plainly about that in the passage you read in Romans 7. We certainly constantly struggle with the lust of the flesh. But the believer, the man, the woman who is born of God, does not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

He walks in the spirit. His bent, the inclination of his heart, is toward Christ and righteousness. Of this I'm certain. If I profess faith in Christ, but by my works deny him, Then my profession is an abomination to God and I am reprobate. Hold your hands here in Revelation 2 and turn back to Titus chapter 1. I want you to see this. The same thing is true of you.

Those who profess faith in Christ but in their works deny him are reprobate no matter how doctrinally orthodox they may be. This is not a debatable issue. Believers glorify God before men by their good works. works by love. Faith does not work by law, but faith always works, and it works by love.

Now look here in Titus chapter 1 verse 16. This is what I'm saying. No matter what we profess, if in the bent and tenor of our lives, by our works, we deny our God, then our faith is but the faith of a reprobate man. Look here in Titus chapter 1 verse 16.

They profess that they know God, these cretins, these evil beasts, these slow bellies who live in lasciviousness. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient unto every good work reprobate. Now in the light of these facts, let all who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ hear his words. He says, I know thy works. I can think of nothing more terrifying to a religious hypocrite than that. The whole religious world uses this statement and this fact as a basis for holding me in constantly in legal bondage and fear, causing me to be terrified. The Lord knows your works. He's going to get you. The Lord knows your works. He's going to get you.

For the hypocrite, that's terrifying. The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. His eyes are a flaming fire so that darkness is as light before him. A man may deceive his pastor, his family, even himself, but the Son of God sees everything. All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

He sees through the facade being put up. He sees through what men call their righteous deeds. He sees through their pretense. He sees through their outward works which they have established by which they hope to make themselves stand in good stead before God. And he will bring it to light. He said you are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knows your heart.

For that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God. Now that makes hypocrisy a losing game. So pastor, why are you talking to us about that? Because hypocrisy is Satan's most crafty. Be careful that your hope is not the hope of the hypocrite. The hope of the hypocrite shall perish.

But the believer understands that the Lord knows his works. And while he fully acknowledges the guilt of his sins, the corruption of his heart, the depravity of his nature, and the evil of his best works, the believer looks on Christ and says, Lord, you know all this.

And I'm glad you do. You know that I love you. Because you see, the Lord looks beyond the deed. He looks to our hearts and sees why we do what we do. And looking to the motive of faith, the motive of glorifying Him, the motive of looking to Him and honoring His name, He accepts that which we do, not on the merit of our motive, but on the merit of His Son, because His Son makes our works acceptable in His sight. This is what Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2, 5. He tells us that our sacrifices are acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. but only by Jesus Christ. And yet, as we walk before God and serve him, trusting his dear Son, the Lord God accepts our works as being his works and honors us for them.

Let me sit down and illustrate it. Our Lord Jesus said to his disciples when they saw that woman I take the alabaster box of ointment and break it and sacrifice that just to anoint him for his burial and Judas holding the bag said why this could have been sold and fed the poor and all the disciples began to murmur and our Lord said you leave her alone.

You leave her alone. She has wrought a good work on me. How could that be? She wrought a good work. What good did it do? She did it because she believed me. She anointed me for my burial. She did it at a matter of great cost and sacrifice to herself. She did it purely for me. She did what she could.

That's what the master said in Mark chapter 14. She done it for me. This is what this is what God looks at as he as he sees us endeavoring to honor him as he sees us as believers seeking to obey him. He sees us walking The other day, we were over at Faith and Doug's, trying to spend as much time over there with that baby as we can, you know.

And she took her first step. I like to tease a little bit that she took them to me. She didn't. I got the second one. First step that girl took, she walked to her daddy. You ought to have seen the beam on his face. Oh, he was so happy. She walked him to me. Now, she wasn't walking much. She just took two or three, maybe four steps. And then she had to hold on to something. Just as soon as she started to fall, he reaches out and grabs her. But she's walking toward Him. Do you understand that?

We who believe with our faltering steps, with our works that in themselves are utterly and horrid before God, but accepted with Him because of the merit of His Son. Father, because we're walking We're walking to him and he accepts us as his sons for Christ's sake. The scripture tells us God won't forget your works of faith and labors of love. The works of those who die in the Lord shall follow them into glory and they shall be named by Christ himself in the day of judgment.

Imagine that. I can't fathom it but you read Matthew chapter 25 and our Lord speaks plainly and says in the day of judgment as he names the works of the wicked he will name the works of the righteous to their honor and his honor because our works are but the work of his grace in us. Believers are obedient to the master.

That's all there is to it. Well, I know a lot of folks who are believers who aren't obedient. No, you don't. No, you don't. You know a lot of folks who profess to be believers. A lot of folks who say they're believers. A lot of folks who like to convince themselves they're believers. But those who are believers are obedient to the Son of God. And this book states that as plain as the nose on your face.

I read an article by Brother Mahan today. A missionary years ago was trying to translate various words to communicate to a tribe and he was looking, had looked for a long time for a word for obedience. And there was no word in their language that would correspond with our word obedience. And one day as he started to leave the village, he was walking out and his dog lingered behind and he called his dog to come after him. And one of the natives watched that dog and said to him, he went out and said, your dog's all ears. He said, that's it, that's it. Believers are all ears to the master. Speak, Lord, thy servant here to see. All right, now here's the second thing.

Our Lord warns us in these two chapters of certain dangers that we must overcome. He identifies here six conditions which, if they are not resisted, if they are not overcome, will most certainly result in the apostasy and eternal ruin of our souls. If these conditions are not checked, if they're allowed to go unchecked in any local church, that church will soon wither and die. It may continue to exist in name, but it will have a name that it lives while it's dead, nothing more. How often I've seen it happen. I've seen it happen to individuals. I've seen it happen to churches.

I warn you, if as we go through these six warnings our master gives, you find yourself described in a condition of decline, turn immediately to him again. As often as you find yourself in a condition of decline, turn again to Christ. Now, let me just give you these quickly, but God give me your attention. The first danger is described in verse 4 of chapter 2. The Lord Jesus says, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. I worked on this today and kept working on my heart, or trying to, and I become more and more convinced all the time I see work on my heart. I find a coldness and indifference so easily, so quickly, so constantly, steaming over my soul.

And my prayer constantly is, turn us, and we will run after thee. Turn me, O Lord God, and I shall be turned by us, and we will run after thee. Speak, and we will hear. But unless he turns us, unless he draws us, unless he speaks, There's no recovery for our souls.

We can't muster this from within ourselves. These Ephesians were zealous in good works and patient in trials. They were patient in the afflictions of life. They were fairly orthodox in doctrine, but there was a dreadful decay in the matter of love for Christ. Let me see if I can make this pointedly personal to you.

A woman may be married to a man she was once just wrapped up with. She just, she was enthralled by him. And in her early days, she spent her life just to honor that man, make him happy, served him, took care of things at the house. And she did so with great delight because her heart burned with love for him. But then somebody came along and stole her heart. You've got too much invested, you can't leave the man. But somebody else has a heart.

In order to hide that apostasy from him, she goes about her duties and she takes care of the house and cooks the food and does what she knows he likes for her to do, but there's no bounce in herself, no joy in herself, no delight in what she's doing. because she left her first love. And when we begin to have our hearts turned aside from Christ, so that the word of the gospel becomes just a word to us, the message of redemption just kind of passes through our ears. Because we are so enwrapped in other things, We go through the motions of religious duties and stuff. But there's an apostasy.

Are you like these Ephesians? Am I? God forgive me all too much. Then repent and turn to Christ. Take your place with Mary at his feet and hear his word and pray that he may cause you to hear his word and call you home. And then we're warned about the doctrine of Balaam. Now, we won't tonight go back to Numbers, but let me encourage you to read carefully Numbers chapters 22 through 25.

When we came to this in our scripture reading a couple of weeks ago, Shelby asked me, she said, what about this man Balaam? What is it that he did that was so wrong? What was it that He seemed to say so much that was right. He seemed to do so much that was good. Balaam, however, finally did one thing, which shows him to be a false prophet.

He never denied the truth of God. He never denied the blessings of God upon God's chosen people, Israel. He never denied the worship of God. No sir, not one time. But this is what he did. He persuaded the people, Baba, to mix the worship of God with the worship of the idols around him. And God says he persuaded the people to commit fornication. He persuaded the people to go hoarding after other gods.

Be warned, compromise with false religion is damning. It's damning to the souls of men. is the way of least resistance. It's the way approved of by the world, the way that's easiest for the flesh. But any compromise of divine truth is an outright denial of Jesus Christ. Do you hear me? Any compromise of divine truth is an outright denial of the Son of God. You see, the only way we can remove the offense of the cross is to deny the gospel. We must never give any credibility to the religion of this world.

Those who preach free will deny free grace. Those who preach the freedom of man deny the sovereignty of God. Those who declare salvation by the free will of man deny that sinners are saved by free grace alone. Those who declare universal atonement deny the efficacy of the atonement. In fact, they deny that atonement was actually accomplished.

It is not a doctrine of our brethren. It is the doctrine of blasphemers. And for us to compromise with it is to go a whoring from God and to worship at the altar of Baal. Read 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Our Lord says plainly for us not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. He says plainly for us not to be. He tells us not to have any association in any way with the religion of idolatry.

Not to do it. I don't know how many times it needs to be said. I don't know how many times it's going to have to be said before folks start paying attention. People ask me all the time, well, it's better to go to church over here than not go to church anywhere. No, it's not. No, it's not. Better not to go to church anywhere than go to a house of Hillary Putin. Call her going to church.

Better not to go to any altar than to go to an altar of a false god. Nothing is more damning to the souls of men than Arminian free will works religion. And I'm telling you, nobody knows God and nobody worships God who worships at the altar of Baal. We worship at the altar of God's free grace in Jesus Christ. And that's the only place where men worship God.

Our Lord warns us to avoid the doctrine of Baalim. And then in chapter 2, verse 15, he warns us against the temptation to embrace the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. So thou has also, so hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Now, let me give you a summary of their doctrine.

Nicolaitans were a group of heretics in John's day. who thought that it was all right for men and women as believers to indulge themselves in sexual immorality, in the sexual immoralities of pagan religion. Those things, after all, were acceptable among the gentiles. If you read about gentile heathenism in the religion You'll find that throughout the Gentile world, throughout the history of the world of the Gentiles, there was constantly a terrible, terrible inclination toward immorality being involved in the religion of the Gentiles.

It was something extraordinary. Kind of like it is in our day. Kind of like it is in our day. Everybody says, it's all right, it's all right, it's no big deal, that's all that. These Nicolaitans were genuine antinomians. They said, let us sin that grace may abound. We're saved by grace. What we do doesn't matter.

Without question, any man who preaches salvation by God's free grace will be charged with being an antinomian, a promoter of licentiousness. But you hear me well. Any man who is indeed an antinomian, a promoter of licentiousness in the name of grace is a lost man. He doesn't know God. No, sir. Believers avoid and must surely avoid the deeds of the Nicolaitans. And then fourthly, in verse 20 of chapter two, the churches of Christ and you and I as individual believers are constantly pressured by the world to be tolerant of false prophets and false religions.

This church at Thyatira is here described Lord says, notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed and titled. The church at Thyatira was charitable and diligent in service and patient in trial, well established in orthodox doctrine, but it was also tolerant of that woman Jezebel. There was a woman in the church who claimed to be called of God and gifted of God as a preacher. Our Lord calls her Jezebel, that's Rahab's wife, because she was a deceiver.

Now the word of God clearly forbids such, you know that and I do. Anybody who reads this book knows the word of God forbids women to teach and usurp authority in the house of God. It doesn't matter whether we live in the 20th century or the 2nd century, it's the same. The Word of God doesn't change. Well, what are we to do with such folks? They claim, how can you say she's not called of God? Because God says so. That's not too plain, is it? How can you say this man's not called of God? Because what he preaches, contrary to the grace of God. God says he's not called of God.

Those who do not preach the gospel of God's free grace in Christ are not to be embraced even in the name of charity, love, and unity as God's servants, but they are to be identified as false prophets and identified plainly so that you make no mistake about it. You make no mistake about it. They're not helpful to men's souls. They're deceivers of men's souls.

And then fifthly, in chapter three, verse one, Our Lord warns us that we must guard against the tendency of our flesh toward hypocrisy, ritualism, and lifeless orthodoxy. He says in the last part of this verse, I know thy works. Thou hast a name that thou livest. Oh, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. I'll tell you what it is. I'll tell you what it is. And what it is, are you listening?

The leaven of the Pharisees is the love of outward religion with no inward contradiction. And we're all prone to it. We're all prone to it. Let us strive for this. For that which is right. But let us seek more than just outward uprightness and an outward uprightness of conduct in the house of God. Oh God, give us the power of godliness in our hearts. And then there's one more thing here.

In verse 16, our Lord warns us against these fleshly tendencies of ours toward lukewarmness, apathy. He said, because you're lukewarm, I'll spew you out of my mouth. Would to God you either cold or hot. And there's nothing more frightening to my soul, Lindsay Campbell, than for me to find lukewarmness and indifference in thee. So let's heed his words.

He says, repent, by me, without money, without pride, by the gold of my grace, by the white raiment of my righteousness. Come now by faith, just as you first came to the Son of God, with your empty, cold, hard, indifferent, lukewarm heart, and come to Him as a sinner, and buy of Him by faith the sweet eyesalve of His grace in the gospel, that you may again see Him fresh.

O God, anoint our eyes. May we see Jesus Christ the Lord everywhere and in all things. Draw us and cause us to run after Him. Lord, hear our prayer, but don't leave us to ourselves. Oh God, don't leave us to ourselves. But turn us, ever turn us to our Redeemer, and cause us to run after you. For Christ's sake, I pray.

Warnings From The Master

What does the Bible say about the importance of works in faith?

How do we know that Christ is always present with His church?

Why is it dangerous to compromise with false religion?

How should believers respond to hypocrisy in their lives?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Warnings From The Master

What does the Bible say about the importance of works in faith?

How do we know that Christ is always present with His church?

Why is it dangerous to compromise with false religion?

How should believers respond to hypocrisy in their lives?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

More from Don Fortner

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Don Fortner

Books by Don Fortner

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book