I'd like for you to turn with
me tonight to 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4, reading the
first four verses. I charge thee, therefore, before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and
the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word. Be instant, in season, out of
season, reprove, rebuke, Exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Doctrine, of course, simply means
teaching. Exhort, Paul writes to Timothy,
with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. and they
shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned
unto fables. I believe it was two weeks ago,
I opened up the iPad and on Google, I saw this caption, top five
heresies of American evangelicals. top five heresies among American
evangelicals. And that got my attention. I
had to read the article. And the article is based on this
year's state of theology survey conducted by Ligonier Ministries
and Lifeway Research. Now this, that I'm going to mention
first, was not one of the top American heresies, but in my
opinion, this is where it all begins. This is where it all
begins. 26% of American evangelicals
said that the Bible is not literally true. 26%. This number increased 11% in
two years. In two years, it increased 11%. You and I both know that this
has been Satan's manner from the very beginning. We go all
the way back to Genesis chapter three when we first read about
him as he approached Adam and Eve And his first words, his
first recorded words were these, yea, hath God said, hath God
said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. That's always
been his mode of operation, to call into question the word of
God. And that's what he did first
with Eve. He called into question, yea, hath God said, ye shall
not eat of every tree of the garden? And then secondly, after
calling into question, he flatly denies the word of God. You shall not surely die. Those were his words. God said,
in the day that thou eatest thereof, Thou shalt surely die. Satan
questions the word of God and then flatly says, you shall not
surely die. I believe, as the Apostle Paul
wrote in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 16, as you look above these words
that we read, all scripture, all scripture is given by inspiration
of God. and is profitable for doctrine,
that is for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, that is
mature, throughly furnished unto all good works. God uses his
word, God the Holy Spirit uses his word in converting a sinner
and then He uses his word in building up or edifying a believer. We never get away from the word
of God. And I say with the Apostle Paul,
let God be true, but every man a liar. When there comes a difference
between man's word and God's word, let God be true and every
man a liar. Now I'm going to give you, the
Lord willing, the top five American heresies. But as I said, in my
opinion, this is where it all begins, when men and women begin
to question the word of God. The first top American heresy
is, Jesus is not the only way to God. Jesus is not the only
way to God. 56% of evangelicals believe that
lie. That's up 42% in two years' time. But what that means, of course,
when a person says that, that Jesus is not the only way to
God, it first of all, it calls the Lord Jesus Christ a liar.
It calls him a liar because his word, and they're not hard to
understand, his words are not difficult for anyone to understand,
when he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man
cometh unto the Father but by me. Now think about the fact
that when he was in the garden facing that cup that the Father
had given him, the cup, And he saw, not a literal cup, I'm not
saying that, but seeing the fact that he was going to take the
sins of his people upon himself and what that would entail, eventually
being separated from his father and crying those awful words
on the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? But in the garden there the night
before, when he was praying, he said, oh, my father, if it
be possible, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. In other words, if there could
be another way, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless,
not as I will, but as I will. If there are other ways to God,
as 56% of evangelicals say, if there were other ways to God,
then why would God, who is a loving Father, in effect, say it's not
possible? He prayed, Lord, if it be possible,
the Lord In effect, said, it's not possible. It's not possible
that sinners be reconciled unto me in any other way. There has
to be satisfaction. My justice, because I'm holy
and I'm righteous and I change not, my justice must be satisfied. before any sinner may approach
unto me, may come unto me. The blood of bulls and goats,
even though God gave those ordinances under the law, was not able to
take away sin, nor the blood of a thousand sinful men could
not remove one sin. It took the blood of the Son
of God. It took the death of the Son
of God, satisfying God's holiness, His justice in the place and
in the stead of those who come unto Him. That is a heresy, isn't it? That
is a heresy, but so are these others. But that was number one. Jesus was created by God. 73% of evangelicals believe that
Jesus was created by God. Up 66% in two years. That's amazing, isn't it? Up
66% in two years of professing evangelicals believe that Jesus
was created, created by God. You know, in church history,
there's a heresy called Arianism. It was called that after Arius.
He was a presbyter in the church at Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt. and he began teaching and quite
a few followed him. He taught that Christ was a being
who had been created before time and then through Christ all of
the creation came into being. That God created Christ first
and then Christ created all things. His teaching made Christ greater
than man but still less than God. You've all heard this saying,
we've probably used it, one iota. It doesn't make one iota of difference. Well, I'm told that that is the
smallest letter in the Greek alphabet, iota. And at the Council of Nicaea
in 325 AD, there was a deacon from the church named Athanasius,
and he was a defender of this truth, that the Son of God is
not created by God, that he is one with the Father and with
the Holy Spirit. And they tried to work out a
compromise, I'm sure, but he stood his ground, and he said,
The word they were using, if you put out in there, that's
not the truth. That doesn't declare the truth
of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. By placing that one letter,
one letter in that word, men were saying that Christ was of
a similar nature of God. But without that letter, that
word proclaimed, he is the same nature. He is one with the Father. Out of that council came this
creed. I thought I'd read it to us tonight.
Very simple creed. We believe in one God, Almighty
Father, maker of all things seen and unseen, and in one Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, and only begotten. That is, from the essence of
the Father, God from God, light from light, the true God from
the true God, begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father,
through whom all things were made, both in heaven and the
things upon earth, who for us men and for our salvation descended
and descended and became flesh and became man, suffered and
arose the third day and ascended into the heavens and is coming
to judge the living and the dead. We believe also in the Holy Spirit. Very simple creed, they formulated
at that council, but it tells the truth, and that is the truth
from the word of God, and that's the truth that believers have
professed down through the ages, that he is one, because that's
what the scriptures teach. That's what the word of God says.
Forget about the creeds. I like to read that creed, but
forget about the creeds. What does the word of God say?
And the word of God is clear that he is the only begotten,
not made, but the only begotten of the father of the same essence.
Men cannot understand. None of us can the Trinity. But
that shouldn't surprise us. Look at this word here in Colossians
chapter one, just a moment, Colossians chapter one and verse 16. I'll begin reading in verse 14,
Colossians one, 14 in whom we have redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible
God. The image, the express image
as it reads in Hebrews chapter one, the express image. To see
him is to see God, because he is God. I read this illustration
years ago, but it stuck with me, and that is, When they used
to seal, kings would seal a document. They'd put wax down, and they
had a ring, and they would push their ring down into that wax,
and it would leave the exact imprint of the ring, the express
image of the ring. Christ is the express image of
the Father. He's not created, but he is the
creator Read on here in Colossians. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth. Now if all things were
created by him, all, A-L-L, all things, that means he was not
created. And we see that in other passages
of scripture as well. John chapter one. All things
were made or created by him, and without him was not anything
made that was made. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things. And this is very interesting
here, needs to be taken note of. All things were created by
Him and for Him. In other words, each and every
one of us here tonight, we were created by Him and for Him. By Him and for Him. That's the
reason until a person comes to rest and trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ, they'll never have peace. They'll never have peace in this
world. in their conscience, in their heart. We were created
by him and we were created for him. And until we come to submit
to him, until we come to submit to him, we'll never have that
peace in our heart. There's a vacuum. A lot of, I
think it was Augustine who, who spoke about there being a vacuum.
God had created man with a vacuum. And the only one who can fill
that vacuum is Christ. I thought about that hymn you
led just a few minutes ago. He lives. He walks with me and
talks with me along life's narrow way. What did Paul say? Christ
in you, the hope of glory. God the Holy Spirit inhabits
and dwells every child of God. by him and for him. The third top American heresy
is Jesus is not God. Now that seems to be saying the
same thing, but evidently it isn't. First, Jesus was created
by God, but then Jesus is not God. 43% of evangelicals agreed that Jesus
was a great teacher, but he's not God. And you wonder how can anyone
profess to be an evangelical and deny the deity of the Lord
Jesus Christ? How could you think he's a great
teacher and deny that he is God when he taught that he is God?
You wouldn't think a person who teaches lies is a great teacher,
would you? Not hardly. And yet to say he's
a great teacher but not God, well he taught that he is God.
He said, I and my father are one. He that has seen me has seen
the Father. And the fourth top American heresy
is the Holy Spirit is not a personal being. 60% of those who responded think
the Holy Spirit is just an impersonal force. Look with me in Acts chapter
13. And there's so many verses of
scripture we could look at which plainly, clearly show God the
Holy Spirit has the attributes of a person. Can you lie to a force? Can you lie to a force? You can lie to the Holy Spirit.
Ananias and Sapphira did. And the wonderful thing about
that passage there, I believe that's Acts chapter 6, is Peter
said, first of all, you lied to the Holy Spirit. And then
he said, you lied to God. In other words, the Holy Spirit,
he is God. But here in Acts chapter 13,
verses 1 and 2, Now there were in the church
that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and
Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Mannan
in, which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord
and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, forces don't talk, they don't
speak. He did. He did. The Holy Spirit said, separate
me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called
them. God, the Holy Spirit, called
these men to the missionary work that they went forth accomplishing. You know, I mentioned Arius just
a few minutes ago, the Arian controversy, denying that the
Son of God is God, that he's created by God, but it doesn't
surprise us to know that he also taught that God created the Son,
Christ, and then Christ the Son created the Holy Spirit. So actually,
they deny the deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now, you
say, are those people around today? Well, sure they are. The
Jehovah's Witnesses, that's just a resurgence, a resurrection
of Arianism. That's exactly what they teach.
He's not one. He is a God, they will admit
that. He is a God, but He's just a
little bit, just a tad lower than Almighty God. No, He is
God. He is Almighty God. He's one
with the Father. The testimony of the Word of
God is very clear that God the Holy Spirit is a person and that
He's one with the Father and the Son in the baptismal, formula,
they call it baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And you notice in the name, the
name singular, and then that definite article between the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I read it and preparing these
notes, I ran across this statement that I thought was very good. It is necessary to decide whether
the Holy Spirit is a power or force that we are to get hold
of and use. And that's the way many people
present him today as a power, as a force that we're to get
a hold of and to use. It is necessary to decide whether
the Holy Spirit is a power or force that we are to get hold
of and use, or whether He is a person of the Godhead who is
to control and use us. Makes a big difference, doesn't
it? The one conception, Arthur went on to say that one conception
leads to self-exaltation and self-assertion, and the other
to self-abasement and self-renunciation. And here's the fifth, the last
top American heresy. Humans are not sinful by nature. 57% agreed with this statement.
Here's the statement. 57% of evangelicals agreed with
this statement. Everyone sins a little, but most
people are good by nature. Everyone sins a little, but most
people are good by nature. This is, of course, contrary
to the Bible teaching that all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God. denies original sin, the word
of the Lord Jesus Christ to that rich young ruler when he came
running to Christ and kneeled down and said, good master, what
must I do to inherit eternal life? And the Lord Jesus Christ
spoke to him and said, why callest thou me good? There's none good
but God. You say, well, Isn't Christ good? He's God, yes. But that man approached
him as just another man. A good teacher, no doubt. A good
teacher, but just a man. And the first thing he needed
to learn, and you know he went away sad after the Lord spoke
with him. He went away sad, but the first
thing he needed to learn was that all men have sinned. Christ came into this world to
save sinners. Let me give you three, my three
reactions to this article. Five top American heresies among
evangelicals. My reaction, number one, thankfulness. Thankfulness. I'm thankful that I do not believe
one of those lies. I'm thankful that I'm not guilty
of teaching any of those heresies. And I'm thankful that Satan has
not blinded my mind to these glorious truths. And I'm thankful that I am part
of this fellowship of believers. And I believe with all my heart
tonight, if a man came into this pulpit and began to teach any
of these five top heresies, you folks would recognize immediately,
that's not the truth. And I'm thankful. I'm thankful
for you. I'm thankful that God has taught
us. Number two, that was my first
reaction, thankfulness. Oh, I'm so thankful I'm not believing
those things and I'm not teaching those things. Can you imagine
standing before God Almighty one day, having deceived people,
teaching those lies? Number two, my reaction was acknowledgment. First of all, thankfulness, and
second, acknowledgment. I acknowledge that it is only
God who hath made me, us, to differ by the grace of God. That's the only reason we're
not believing those things. And I'm not teaching those things
by the grace of God. And the third thing, resolution. I resolved in my heart once again,
to the best of my ability to hold these truths and to pass
them on to the next generation. To hold them, to proclaim them,
to defend them, the truth from the word of God. Timothy preached
the word, preached the word. If we just stay with this book,
we'll be okay, won't we? We'll be okay. But if we turn
away from this book or begin to deny that this book has errors,
that it was written by man apart from God the Holy Spirit's inspiration,
then we're subject to believe any one of those heresies. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame.