How To Establish Religious Authority #7

A. Let me begin this lesson by asking the same questions we have asked in the last few weeks. As we strive to be New Testament Christians, How do we determine what we will believe, and what we will practice as we offer worship to God? Do we follow the instructions of God’s Holy Spirit inspired Word, The Bible, or do we make those decisions and determinations by taking a vote of the membership? Do we, as do the adherents of rationalism, reject the miraculous events recorded in the Bible. Or maybe I’ll just be content to limit God to my own very limited, finite human reasoning ability. We can discard, everything in God’s word we do not like, or don’t want to believe, and just keep the good moral truths and principles that are left?
Do I become Existentialist? Do I ignore God’s Word and look in my own mind and imagination for the reason for my existence. If I can do that then I don’t have to look to the Bible to discover how to worship God. It doesn’t matter that Jesus said, “You must worship God in spirit and in truth.” I can make up, in my own mind, what I want to be spiritually and what I want to accept as truth and God will have to be satisfied with that. Why not just become Pantheistic? Let nature be God. Nature is God, everything is God. The whole Pantheon, the entire vastness of the universe and everything in it is God. I can put flowers in my hair, play a flute and dance in the woods and worship everything I see. God is in everything and everything is in God. And, even we, are as much God as is everything else.
We talked about these religious philosophies and practices last week. And after services, some one commented, “Those beliefs and practices are far-out.” Yes, they are far-out. But they are commonly held beliefs in the world, Lubbock and you can find some here in Spur. But, what is alarming is that, in a subdued form, these same beliefs have infiltrated the beliefs of people in the Church today. People come together in a Bible class, but there is no one, who understands the Bible to teach the class and so you just have sharing sessions.
Each reads a portion of a text and then shares with every one else what that text means to them. Then sister what’s-her-name, shares with everyone what the passage means to her. Brother so-in-so shares what this scripture means to him and how it invades his soul. Someone else says, “To me it means this.” Everybody interprets the passage in terms of what it means to them.
Problem? It does not make any difference what it means to you, the point is, “What does it mean?” The point is, “What did it mean when the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write what he wrote?” What did the Holy Spirit intend for it to mean? What did Paul intend for it to mean?
In the First century there were some things that Paul wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that some people misunderstood. Because they misunderstood what Paul wrote, or spoke, they misinterpreted what Paul meant and they lost their souls. The apostle Peter writes about it an warns us not to make the same mistake, 2 Pet. 3:15?16.
This is how people get caught up in the “Mystical Method” of interpreting the Bible. Very popular today. But, it is so subtle and subjective that it can lead you to interpret the Bible to teach almost anything you want it to teach. And it sounds and feels so good that most people are totally fooled and misled by it. You don’t have to worry about figuring out what the Bible text means because the Holy Spirit will be work in your mind so you can understand what the text means. Do you know what this method does? The Holy Spirit helps you understand the text the way you want to understand it.
It gives you whatever interpretation you need to prove, uphold, support what you wanted to believe in the first place. Guess what they call it? “the illumination of the Holy Spirit.” and It is one of the primary methods used and taught by every denomination. People use it to make the Bible teach any doctrine they want.

Suggest, very subtly, that the Holy Spirit was sent to operate in us in some kind of mysterious way to help us control our thoughts, to guide us in the path of righteousness. Question? How, when was the Holy Spirit sent to be our guide? Through what medium is He our guide? Eph. 6:17, “This word is the sword of the Spirit.” If you think the Holy Spirit is working in you and giving you new ideas and information, Why do you need a Book that is 2000 years old? My own brother told me God had spoken to him and said his son, who got drunk, chased women, stole and burgled and vandalize property of people he didn’t like and one night in a drunken stupor killed himself, was in heaven. My response was no he’s not because God spoke to me and said, he didn’t tell you that. Who believe? Both lying.
Now whose telling the truth? 2 Pet. 1:19?21. “I have the Word of God made more certain...” How is it more certain? I have it down in black and white. I can read it and guess what? It reads the same way every time I read it. When you teach something different than what is written down here, I know you are not telling the truth. Who am I going to believe, you or God’s Word? And Peter says, I can tell the difference because what you say is as obvious as the difference between daylight and dark.
(2) It is quite evident that the world is full of false prophets and false teachers. 2 Cor. 11:13?15, warns us there will be, “false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” 1 Tim. 4:1?3, The Holy Spirit warned us by saying, People who ignore God’s Word and lead people astray are described by the Holy Spirit as either, “Satan appearing as an angel of light, or as false messengers, false teachers, deceitful workers who masquerade as teachers of truth...They have departed from the truth and are led by deceiving spirits and teaching the doctrines of demons who speak lies.”
(1) To ignore scripture invites Satan into your life. It always brings demonic involvement. Splitting congregations is always caused by deceiving spirits and demonic doctrines. 1 Cor. 1:10-11; Phip. 1:27?28; Eph. 4:3-6, these are direct commands from God.
(1) Charles Ball, Bill Roberts, Eric Swenson deliberately split, divided the body of Christ in Spur, Texas. By doing so they joined the ranks of those of whom it was spoken in Jude 18?19, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”
(2) The message is clear. Be careful how you interpret and teach God’s Word. 2 Pet. 3:16?17. Teaching God’s Word is the most important task in the world. Lead people astray and you will answer to God.
(2) Acts 20:32.

Spur - 03/23/03 am