Sound Doctrine

Jeff Johnson: Pastor Jeff says it's time to wake up and look up. The writing's on the wall. Are we getting better, or is it getting darker? Is the coming of the Lord soon, or is it a long ways away? I believe it's very soon. We just need to wake up. The Holy Spirit wants us to look up, and He's constantly showing us things that it's very, very soon. We're living in exciting days.

Guest (Male): We're delighted to be with you today, and welcome again to Sound Doctrine online at sounddoctrineredio.org. If you're new to the program, what we do each day is go on an incredible journey through the Scriptures, studying books of the Bible one at a time from start to finish.

Right now, we're just about finished with Romans. As Paul ends this magnificent epistle, he's sharing a few final warnings about those in our midst who seem determined to cause division and strife. Here's Pastor Jeff Johnson in Romans 16.

Jeff Johnson: 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 are many different denominations, and it goes on and on. There are many that don't believe in the virgin birth of Christ. 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 never happened. All those guys had these big sleeves and they were all hiding their lunches because they do that back there. They don't want anybody to know they have a lunch, because they go off by themselves and have their lunch. So what everybody did, they pulled their lunches out of their sleeves and everybody ate. And that's how it happened.

They don't believe. They're called modernists. Mainline churches. It's amazing. Now, he says in verse 8, "Now as Jannes 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' rod ate them both up. He 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. They continue to do that today. These are charlatans. The thing that drives them the most is the money thing. They live lavishly. They are very charming, very charismatic in the way they handle themselves. They're using the big words and they go in and convict these ladies. Here they are on TV. They go into their homes when they're sitting there all alone. Their husbands have died and they have Social Security. And they get their checks from them.

They tell them, "If you'll do this, then God will do this. But you need to do this first. Are you listening to me?" You've heard these guys. They're very persuasive. But again, they're charlatans. Listen, God is not broke. He is not bankrupt. These guys, you'd think He is. We're to be good stewards of our money. Your tithe is to be given to where you are fed. And your offerings that you give, where you see needs and God puts it on your heart to give to another ministry, is to be given but with investigation.

You're to be a good steward of your money. If you're going to give it to somebody that's begging for it and that's got a really good need, check into that. Check into their ministry, ask people, ask around, and do homework. So you're not giving your money to something that you're not going to get anything back with, that is going for the wrong thing. He's just trying to buy a 35-room mansion. I'm not kidding. These guys do this.

They're into it. "I have to get my Learjet. If I get my Learjet, I can travel faster and do more for God. Come on, you've got to give, dig deep." And they don't mess around. They just give it to you. And people are just buying into it and not investigating in what is being shared, what is going on, how much fruit they're taking in, how the gospel is going out. Is it going out with power and demonstration of His Spirit? Are people getting saved? Are their lives transformed? Is this a good ministry for me to invest in? Think about that.

Many false doctrines come out of these groups: the health and wealth gospels. That was around for a long time. Can you imagine? They've got this good news. "I've got good news. God wants you healthy and wealthy. Anybody want to join?" None of you? Don't you want to be healthy and wealthy? But it is so bogus because it's totally against the Scriptures.

And then what about this thing about faith in faith? "Oh, do you just have the faith? If you have the faith, this will happen. But you need the faith." So it's all about faith in faith, not faith in God. That's wrong. Where did that come from? And then what about positive confession? "Just name it and claim it, bro. Blab it and grab it. Oh, got it."

That was going around for a while, and the church bought into it. Many in the church bought into it. He's not Santa Claus. What are you thinking? "Well, I'm just being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine." That's true. So many getting ripped off. What about that Christians can be demon-possessed? That was way back, but I hope we got over that. That's ridiculous. It's not biblical.

Over in Philippians chapter 3, Paul talking to those in Philippi, says this: "Brethren, be ye followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as you have us for an example." Paul said, "Follow me, I'm following Jesus." Check my fruit out, check my life out, and go home and do your studies after you mark down and say, "I don't understand what he said. I'm going to do my studies." I had a guy just the last service say, "I'm going to write you a letter." I go, "Okay. Do you read your letters?" I go, "Yeah." He said, "I'm writing you a letter. It's about something you said about four weeks ago." I said, "Go for it. Let's talk." I love that. It just struck him wrong. I'll read it, I'll talk to you.

Listen, he goes on, "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now I tell you with weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly," again, he's telling the Philippians this, "and whose glory is in their shame, and they mind earthly things." They like the things in earth. They like the cars, the toys, and they buy them all. Where do you think they're getting the money? From you that are working hard for your money.

And sometimes we support this wrong system. "For our conversation," our citizenship, "is in heaven, from whence also," and then he goes on. Listen, I love this because this is unveiling Satan's plots and plans. Satan doesn't like messages like this going on. He doesn't like God's Word going out with truth. These guys are dividing and hurting the body of Christ.

Now, one more word of wisdom, one more word of counsel and warning. Verse 19, go back to your text there in Romans 16. He says, "For your obedience has come abroad to all men." You Romans. "I am glad therefore on your behalf, but yet I would have you wise unto that which is," what? "Good." Be excellent in what is good. And be excellent in what is good, "be innocent of evil." I think that's good counsel.

Now, the Roman epistle started and ends with this commendation. This commendation of their faith. It's around the world. Over in Romans chapter 1, verse 8, Paul says, "First, I want to thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world." You Romans, you're awesome. You're doing Bible study, you're having your home studies, you're getting into the Word, the Word is getting into you. I'm hearing great things.

I'm hearing what God's doing, and it's growing. The body of Christ is growing. No apostle ever went to Rome. Paul finally got there, but that's not how it started. It started with laymen and women. It started with people like you and me just going in there and saying, "Come on, man, you need to listen to what God's saying," and sharing the gospel. And people were receiving. He hears this and he writes to them.

So now he closes his whole letter saying, "I'm so glad therefore on your behalf. Your obedience is come abroad to all men," again, signing off with those words. May it be said of us, right? May people hear about Calvary Chapel of Downey, how God is working in our midst and how He's moving in a powerful way and how mature men and women are coming out from this fellowship.

There is a revival taking place with the young people and people are really praying like never before. We've been doing that for a number of months now, and God has been just blessing us because of it. Do you understand the power of prayer? If you want to get into a prayer meeting, the largest prayer meeting that I know of in LA County is right here on Wednesday nights at 7:00. You're going to enter into a prayer meeting. It's awesome. We need more of it.

What is sad about this is that later on, 700 years after Paul writes to the Romans, the papacy would be totally corrupt in Rome. We're talking about ridden with cancer. The most corrupt, the most dark thing that has ever happened took place 700 years after he wrote to them. When you look at the early church, though, it happened even quicker. After 30 years, Jesus wrote His letter there in Revelation and He said, "Ephesians, to you in Ephesus, I've got one thing against you. That you've left your first love."

Just took 30 years, just drifting off. We have to be careful not to drift. We have to be careful to stay on target, to stay in Bible study, to stay in prayer, to stay in communion and in fellowship, right? Acts 2:42 Christian: simple, direct though. And as we do that, we're going to stay on target and we're going to be all right.

As soon as we start to drift, as soon as we start to get away, and you guys know because you've all done it, I did it myself, you get out of fellowship, you get out of prayer, you start, "Man, where'd that come from?" It just came out of your mouth and you just, "Whoa, what's happening to me? I used to love to go to prayer meeting and now I don't even want to go to church." It is a slow backslide, isn't it? It is a slow process that just drains us from everything that is of God, everything that is of our Father. And we need it, so we need to even more so come together.

Paul's simple rule here, I love it, he just says, "Be wise in the things of God and innocent, ignorant of evil." Don't even go there. Don't study it, don't play with it, don't get into it. Just stay away, avoid it. Good advice for us today. Rome was similar to Los Angeles back then. It was the big place. It was the crossroads of the world. We have LA today. That's one of the crossroads of the world.

In other words, it was the big thing politically, culturally. It was the center. It was the place where there was the greatest music, the greatest fads, the greatest stuff was there. The latest magazine: who's hot and who's not. And everybody wanted to get that magazine, find out what's going on. Rome's end, of course, came quickly. And the end was because we read about it in Romans chapter 1, because of immorality.

You watch this nation and you watch Rome, and you're seeing two nations and we're just following exactly like Rome. Now it's homosexuality is the big thing on the agenda: the marches, the voting, the this, the that. And that's exactly what was going on in Rome right before they fell. So the writing's on the wall. Are we getting better, or is it getting darker?

Is the coming of the Lord soon, or is it a long ways away? I believe it's very soon. We just need to wake up. The Holy Spirit wants us to look up, and He's constantly showing us things that it's very, very soon. We're living in exciting days. Experience definitely is not the best teacher like some people would say. "I'm building my testimony, and that's what I'm doing. So I keep current on what's going on. I can minister more effectively when I dabble in the things of the world."

I don't think that's true. I think you're just fooling yourself. You're messing around, you're compromising, and that's not because you want to be a better witness. If you look at Moses, Moses is a good illustration of this. It's over there in Hebrews in chapter 11, where Moses, it says, by faith Moses, when he was come to years, he had been there for 40 years in Egypt, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.

All of a sudden this awakening Moses had. He looked at, after 40 years of being taught in all the schools of Egypt, the highest of education, the greatest knowledge of the mummification of bodies, he had it all. He had it down. He had the riches of Egypt. He was totally immersed in it. One day he woke up, he came to his senses actually. He said, "This is ridiculous. This is stupid. This is dumb. I am not going for this anymore. In fact, I'm pulling out. I'm leaving this thing and I'm getting down with God's people."

Do you remember he killed an Egyptian, thinking that this is the way he's going to get seen and known? Again, sometimes we go the world's way and we find out and we get burnt. That hurts. All of a sudden it was wrong what we did. He had a little wake-up call. He lost his place there in a very high place in Egypt with those that he called brothers. He ran for 40 years.

He was off into the wilderness for those 40 years. Then God found him after those 40 years, and He never lost him. But He came to him and said, "Moses, I'm calling you to go back to Egypt, and you're going to be My voice." Moses said, "No, I can't do that. They won't receive me. I don't look or dress as an Egyptian. I can't dance as an Egyptian. Walk as an Egyptian." He couldn't do it.

He says, "I can't walk like them. I can't relate to them. I've lost the language. I don't know the songs anymore. I don't even dress like them. They won't even recognize me. I've got this beard and long hair. I mean, come on, how am I going to be able to relate to them?" The Lord was trying to let Moses know, because it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Moses.

Sometimes it takes a while for the Lord to work in our lives to get the world out of us. It takes time. The light comes in, but the light dispels the darkness. Slowly, slowly, we're becoming more like Him. We're being conformed into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. Moses, it took 40 years to get Egypt out of him. He came to the end of himself, and God goes, "Yeah, Moses. Now I can use you. You're right where I need you. Doesn't matter about how you look. Doesn't matter how you talk. It doesn't matter about all this other stuff."

You don't need the world's wisdom to reach the world. You need simplicity. It's in Him. It's in Christ, isn't it? It is so simple a child understands. I love that scripture in Acts chapter 4, verse 13. When they saw Peter and John in this big arena, and they put them in front of them, this big court, and they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. And they took knowledge of them.

And why did they take knowledge? Because they had been with Jesus. They checked them out and they said, "You guys talk and look just like Jesus. You've been hanging with Him, haven't you?" Yep. And they were marveling at what was coming out of their mouths and how they were talking. It has everything to do with our hanging out with Him, doesn't it? How can we be culturally relevant?

How can we reach them? How can we reach the lost generation? Well, just by becoming real Christians. They're looking for reality in us. And parents, I might add, your kids are watching every step you make. If you are real, then they will be real. If you are fakes, they're going to be fakes and they're going to leave as soon as they get old enough, and they're out there and the world's got them.

It is up to you whether you want to be real for the few years you have them. If you want to be real, you're going to keep them because they're going to see Jesus in you. And that is going to affect their lives. If not, they're going to be ripped off. So going to the raves and getting on a porn site once in a while, smoking a little dope, watching MTV, I don't think it's going to help you to relate.

In fact, I think it could snag you. You need to meditate in His Word. You need to walk with Him, spend time with Him, love on Him, be with Him. Because after all, it's all about Him. So this warning is interesting. Over in Psalm, he talks about, and this is Psalm 101:3, basic stuff. He says, "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes."

What is the best way to be a witness for the Lord? To make a commitment. Just to say, "You know what? I used to live there, I used to go there, I used to watch that. I don't go there anymore, and I'm not going to watch that anymore. It is over." And you make a stand. Then there is Psalm 135 that we read this morning, a powerful Psalm about the gods of this world.

But then he says in Psalm 35, verse 18, "They that make them are like unto them." So if you're going to serve one of the gods of this world, whether it's your car or your Triumph or your Harley-Davidson or whatever your passion is, whatever you're looking at and going for, your hobby, you're going to become like that. Whatever is on your heart, whatever steals your time and your passion, that is what you will become like.

That is what the Bible says, that's what God says. But if our passion and our love is towards Him, then we're going to be like Him. And He's going to make us like Him. We're going to begin to trust in Him more and more and rely upon Him more and more and be more like Him. I think that is awesome. That is what we need.

Job 31, here's a good one, verse 1: "I made a covenant with my eyes." Can you make a covenant with your eyes? I think so. Why then should I think on a maid? Why should I look at that woman? Why should I meditate on that when I have my wife at home? That is wrong. It is ridiculous, but yet so many men are getting ripped off. Make a covenant with your eyes. Say, "I'm not going there."

Then Daniel, of course, he purposed in his heart, it says in Daniel 1:8, that he would not defile himself with the king's meat or the drink. He purposed in his own heart. He made a decision at a young age not to go there. Joseph did the same thing. "I will not lay with this woman." He was 17 at the time, and he ran for his life to get out of there. And he made the right decision.

Romans 12:1-2 says, "Come out, I beg of you, brethren, give your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto the Lord, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed into this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." How is our minds renewed? By God's Word. We need to be reprogrammed, guys.

How much are you programming yourself to give your body a living sacrifice? If you program yourself, give your body, He is going to use you mightily because He is going to make a new man out of you, a new woman. It's going to take a little bit of time, but it won't take 40 years, thank God, because I don't think we've got them. God's doing a quick work in these last days. A quick work. And you can be that quick work if you'll just commit yourself.

Guest (Male): Commit yourself to the Lord, and He will use you greatly. A good word there for us as we close out another Sound Doctrine. Pastor Jeff Johnson's message, "Final Warning with Promise," can be heard again at sounddoctrineredio.org or 1place.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 sounddoctrineredio.org. Thank you in advance for whatever God leads you to do. Hear the apostle Paul's final encouragement as we wrap up Romans together on our next two programs. Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff is brought to you by your friends at Calvary Chapel Downey.