Sound Doctrine

Jeff Johnson: Exposing Satan's attempts to divide and conquer. Next on Sound Doctrine.

Guest (Male): You see it so often in the church, in families, neighborhoods, and even in this nation. Division. I think you'd agree that this nation hasn't been this divided since maybe the Civil War. And it's not hard to see the damage that's left behind. People no longer talking to each other, church splits, divorce, and on and on I could go. How does God feel about it? How can we avoid it?

Let's look into it on Sound Doctrine as Pastor Jeff Johnson nears the completion of his study in Romans. We're in chapter 16 today with a message titled, "Final Warning with Promise."

Jeff Johnson: We are still in Romans chapter 16. Seems like we'll never get out, but we're still there. Romans chapter 16, we left off with verse 17. This is Paul's final warning with promise. This is his last will and testament. These last things are the most important things. He's signing off this epistle to those that are in Rome and to those of us that are in L.A. this morning. This is his signing off to us also because we've been on this journey. We've gone through the epistle.

I like verse 16 of Romans chapter 16. He says, "Salute one another with a holy kiss, the churches of Christ salute you." Again, he's signing off here and just saying, "Hey, it's an outward show of an inward unity and I love you guys and I want you to love one another and be unified in these things." It's so important. Unity is something that Jude warned that the enemy would try to break up. Jude actually said they were going to be spots in your love feast.

It's like when you go to the doctor and you say, "Doctor, what's wrong?" And he comes out and he says, "There's a spot on your lung." You say, "What? There's a spot on my lung? Oh no." Well, you know what that means. We've got to get that out. It's not good to have a spot on your lung, in your body. This is what we're going to be talking about this morning. These spots in our love feast that somehow, some way, find their way into us.

Unity is very important, but I'll tell you this, unity is not to be shrugged off because it's at any expense. In other words, there are some people that say peace and unity at any expense. In other words, throw out truth, throw out doctrine. No, that's wrong because we're to contend for the faith. We're to be in sound doctrine, we're to keep sound doctrine, and we're to contend for it. We're to fight for it because the enemy will always try to come against the truth and twist it and pervert it. He's very deceitful and he knows how to make division.

This is Paul's warning. This is his wise counsel to us this morning. In verse 17 of Romans 16, he says, "Now I beseech you, I beg you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them." He's saying, "I beg you, mark them." Name them is what he's saying. Over in 2 Timothy—and I'm going to be sharing with you quite a few scriptures this morning—and for those of you students, I would really want to encourage you to jot these scriptures down because these are scriptures you're going to want to look up again.

In 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul talks to young Timothy in verse 15. Listen to what he says. "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as a canker." Does a canker eat like a cancer, like gangrene? "Of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrew the faith of some."

These guys are named by Paul to Timothy because everybody needs to know about these guys. They're perverting the truth. They're sharing lies. They're confusing people, and they need to be made known. Expository teaching is very important. What is that, expository teaching? It is simply going through the Bible chapter by chapter, verse by verse. It helps us to keep everything in context. We're not to pull scriptures out of context and throw them out. We're to always keep them in what is being said and talked about.

When you're doing it going through verse by verse in Romans, yes, I am taking some scriptures out, but they're in context. If you don't believe me, you've got to just read what's before and what's after it, and you'll see that it's in context. The reason for going verse by verse is to share with us what does the Bible say about this certain situation. What does God say? And when you keep it in context, you don't have the perversion then. You don't have the twisting. There's so much of that going on today, so we have to be careful.

To describe today's church, I think the books that have been written recently describe it in what's going on with it. Books like *The Seduction of Christianity*. That's pretty serious. *Christianity in Crisis*. And *Agony in Deceit*. These are books that have been written, and these guys that wrote these books name names. These are people that are twisting the truth, that are perverting the gospel, who are liars. And they name names and they have to put their quotes in their book and what these guys have said. There's a lot of deception going on.

In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul writes—and we've been studying this on Wednesday nights. We just finished Ephesians 4:11, where he gave some apostles, some prophets, teachers, evangelists, pastors. And he says why. He says, "For the perfecting of the saints, for the teaching," so they would be perfected, "for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ till we all come into the unity of the faith and to a perfect, mature man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

We're lining ourselves up with him. We're following Jesus. We're learning about him. The next verse, verse 14, he says, "That we henceforth be no more children." This is little children, tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. I mean, there's some cunning craftiness going on today, these guys that are bringing out these false doctrines and teaching them and writing books about them and pushing them into the church. Paul says simply, this is what you need to do: you mark them, and then avoid them.

In 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 6—and I told you I was going to give you a lot of scriptures, so hopefully you've got a pen. 2 Thessalonians 3:6. He says, "That you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walks disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us." If there's anybody leading you astray, anybody teaching you something different than what you've been taught, what you've been receiving, avoid that person. Withdraw from him. You don't need to contend with him. Just let it go. If he's on that trip, you just stay away from it. It's dangerous.

Over in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1, Paul says to Timothy, "Now the spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times, in the last days—we're there now—some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils." Man, that's some serious stuff. Seducing spirits, doctrines of devils? That's demonic. That means all this deception and all this sowing of bad seed and everything, it's all from the enemy. It's all from Satan and his workers, his ministers, which the Bible talks about.

Listen, it is easier to stomp out a spark than a fire, right? That's what he's telling us. Get the spark out, man. Put it out. Get away from it. You don't need it. It could cause a fire in your life. You don't need that, so get the spark out. Ephesians 5:11, mark that down. Ephesians 5, verse 11. "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." You're not going to hang with these people. You're not going to fellowship with them, but reprove them. Tell them what you feel and then move on. Avoid them.

If they're listening, though, you could save a brother from the snare of the enemy, right? That's what Paul says to Timothy. You can save a brother from going off into the lie and getting their lives all messed up. Reprove them. You can't reprove anybody unless you have something to say, right? That's why we're here this morning. We're here in Bible study so we can become disciples, so we can know the word, so we can share the word with those around us, so we can reprove those that are going off and going astray.

On the job site, this person comes up to you and throws up all over you about something weird and you're just going, "Whoa, that's off the wall. Where'd you get that?" "Oh man, it's true, man. I heard it and it's..." And you're going, "Hey, wait a minute, that's not what the Bible says." Then you take your time with them. Remember, Priscilla and Aquila had Apollos, and Apollos was confused about what was being taught. And they took him aside and patiently shared with him the fullness of the whole thing, and he got it.

You just need to take time with some people. Loving, not trying to be a big shot and saying, "I know the Bible, let me tell you." No, in meekness you go to that brother and you seek to see him pulled out of the snare of the enemy. There's seven things that the Bible says that God hates in Proverbs chapter 6. One of the things that God hates of those seven things is he that sows discord among the brethren. He that is pushing this stuff. He that is sowing this stuff and stuff that they received from somebody that's off, and so they're off now and they push it along.

God hates it. He doesn't want it in the fellowship. The only recourse that I can see is to disfellowship someone who is being stubborn, who is not listening, not changing, but wanting to go and do more damage. We've had to do it a couple of times. We've had to ask literally ask somebody to leave because they kept on making trouble and they wouldn't stop. They're like the enemy's pawns. They were just put here just to cause trouble and cause many to be confused and bewildered.

There's little skirmishes going on here and there. We come to find out it's the same person. And then we talk with them, we counsel with them, they don't want to hear, they don't want to listen. And so, "Well, you're a spot in our love feast, man. I mean, you're really—you really—you could be a problem. So maybe you need to find somewhere else to go." It's hard, it's not easy, but that's what he's talking about. Don't fellowship with them. In fact, over in Acts chapter 20, listen to this. Paul, very concerned with all these elders that he's teaching.

He gives them this message and he says in verse 29 of Acts 20, "For I know this"—this is right when he's going to leave them—"that after my departing shall grievous wolves—that's what he calls them, grievous wolves—they'll enter in among you, not sparing the flock." I mean, these guys are just going to come and grab them and take them away. "Also," he says, "of your own selves shall men arise." That's scary. Right in our own midst, there's going to be a plant of the enemy, and he's going to try to do his damage.

Is there someone here like that this morning? Yeah. Right now, they're here and they're plants. Why do you say that, Jeff? Well, because we're in a warfare. And when you're in a warfare, you've got war going on even within the body of Christ. Men will arise of your own selves, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. Now, guys, I give you the word. I give you to God's word, which I have been teaching you.

I know that it will build you up, it will keep you safe. I love that, Paul just leaving them with the word saying, "I'm going to leave, but if you just stay close to the word, you're going to be all right. You're going to be fine." Now Jesus warned, Paul warns, he warns Timothy many times, Titus, Jude warns in his little epistle. Over in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, jot that one down, 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3. Paul saying, "I fear, I'm afraid, lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety."

As the serpent, the enemy, Satan, beguiled Eve, deceived Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. It's so simple a child can understand it. And yet the enemy wants to make it confusing. He wants to make it so it's too big a book, I can't get into this book, it's too much, it's overwhelming. No, it's very simple. You just take your Bible and you start marking it. You start knowing where it's at. You go back to that spot, you keep reading it, you keep desiring it more and more like a baby for sincere milk that you might grow thereby.

You're going to get strong and you're going to start to share it with others. You're actually becoming a disciple, a mature man, woman of God, not a child tossed to and fro with all these weird things that are going on. No, I always go back to the word, find out what God says, if this is true or not. To be as a Berean. The Bereans would listen to a guy like me and they'd just be sitting back checking me out, and then they'd say, "I don't know if I believe what he just said. Well, when I go home, I'm going to do me a little study and I'm going to check out the word to see if this guy's on or not."

I love that. The Bereans, they dug deep. They said no one's going to deceive me. No one's going to lay a trip on me. I'm not going to be deceived. I love what he says in Galatians chapter 1, verse 7 and 9. Listen to this. Galatians chapter 1, verse 7 and 9. He says, "Which is not another, but there are some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ." But then he says, "For though we or an angel from heaven, Angel Moroni or anybody, preach any other gospel unto you than which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." Or in the Greek, it's damned. Let him be damned.

As we have said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which you have received, let him be damned. That's straightforward stuff. It's clear. Now let's go back to our text, Romans 16, verse 18. He continues, "For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly." That's what they serve. By good words and fair speeches, they deceive the hearts of the simple, of the innocent. These are not of my Jesus is what Paul is saying. These have another gospel.

Their gospel is money. Money talks to them. They like the sound of it. That's what they're into, and you can tell by what they talk about. They're out for themselves, they're deceivers, they rip off the innocent. I love what Jesus says. Every time we go over to Israel and we're there at Capernaum. Capernaum is right by the Sea of Galilee. And there in Capernaum, they show a millstone and how an ox would go around and move that millstone and they'd put the grain underneath it, it would crush it.

Jesus said this in Matthew 18, verse 6, "But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." That's my prayer, Jesus said. He's a hitman now. You mess with one of my little ones, it'd be better for you to just put that millstone—it's about 400 pounds—and I always bring them over to show them a millstone because that's what Jesus meant. This millstone around his neck, you put it over his head, throw him into the Galilee and he's swimming with the fishes. He's gone.

There's an old Gallup poll that was taken. They said 80 percent of the nation in this poll claim that they believe. 72 percent believe in the Lord's return, and yet less than 60 percent said that they were ready and prepared for his coming. When I thought of the 80 percent, that's bogus. 80 percent? Come on. There's a difference between those that are truly born again and those that are one day going to cry, "Lord, Lord, didn't we do this? Didn't we do that?" And he's going to say to them, "Hey, you unfaithful and slothful servants, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. You never had a relationship with me."

There's a lot of people in our world today that don't have a relationship with the Lord. Now, you might look at all the religious groups and maybe say that, but there's a big difference between those that have a relationship and those that just have religion. And I'll tell you this, religion will never save you. Jesus saves. That's it. So I thought that was an interesting poll. And then Paul says, "These serve not our Lord Jesus Christ." Notice the personal relationship. He's my Jesus. These aren't serving my Jesus.

There are many in the church, they're called liberals. They're all over the place. There's many different denominations, and it goes on and on and on. And there's many that don't believe in the virgin birth of Christ. I mean, that shocks some people, but other people say, "I don't know if I believe in it." A virgin birth, that's pretty whack. They don't believe in miracles. Nothing, none. They say the feeding of the 5,000, no, that never happened. All those guys had these big sleeves and they were all hiding their lunches because they do that back then because they don't want anybody to know they have a lunch because they go off by themselves and have their lunch.

And so what everybody did, they pulled their lunches out of their sleeves and everybody ate. That's how it happened. They don't believe. They're called modernists, mainline churches. It's amazing. Now he says in verse 18—now as James and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds, reprobate, turned over to their own bellies concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further, for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs was also.

We know what happened to Jambres and Jannes. They threw down their rods, and Moses ate them both up, made an open show of them that they're fakes and their god is nothing compared to our God. Peter talks about how they will come and make merchandise of you, ripping you off with fancy words. And they continue to do that today. These are charlatans. The thing that drives them the most is the money thing.

Guest (Male): We're examining Paul's final warning with promise today on Sound Doctrine. Pastor Jeff Johnson will finish up the epistle next week. You've been listening to a study in the book of Romans here on Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson. We pray you've been blessed by what you heard today. Romans is one of the greatest books in the Bible. And if you'd like to hear this study again, go to sounddoctrineradio.org or listen through the Sound Doctrine podcast app.

You can also hear Sound Doctrine on oneplace.com or wherever you enjoy your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. By the way, you can donate to this radio outreach right there at sounddoctrineradio.org. Thank you in advance for whatever God leads you to do. With tomorrow being Good Friday, we're going to break away for a short time from Romans to bring you a special Easter message from Pastor Jeff. That's coming up on the next Sound Doctrine. Don't miss it. This program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Downey. Online at sounddoctrineradio.org.