Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter
13 as we continue our study through Paul’s letter to the
church in
In our previous studies we have seen how the church is
asleep and it is allowing all kinds of ungodliness, wickedness,
New Age and Eastern Mysticism come right into the church. And
I realize that this has not been easy for some of you and you
may have even wondered why it is so important that we know these
things. Let me share with you this story, you have heard of it
before, it is the story of the conquering of the city of
The Greeks had spent over ten years trying to conquer the
city of
You can just imagine how joyful, proud the people of
As you know, Greek soldiers were hiding inside this horse
and that night they crept out and opened the gates of the city
from within and that allowed the rest of the Greek forces to come
into
Folk’s, I am hear to tell you that the church has allowed this Trojan horse to come within its walls and the false prophets are pouring out of it with their deception. We have talked about what they are teaching already, but this morning I want to focus on this idea of discernment, what it is and has God called us to be discerning disciples! You see, this is really what I have been building up to over the past six studies and I hope this helps answer the question why I have spent so much time on this topic. First, to warn you so you are not deceived and secondly, to show you how we need to be discerning in the days that we are living in because the deception is great.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 24:11, “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” Hear is a warning by Jesus that prior to His return or second coming, many will be deceived by these false prophets and it will be so bad that He warns us in Luke 18:8, “ . . . Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” That is how bad the deception will be and thus, prior to the Tribulation Period starting we know that there will be a falling away, an apostasy or a moving away from the truths of God found in the Word of God and this will climax during the Tribulation Period to the point that those that are true believers when the Lord comes in His second coming, at the end of the Tribulation will be few. It will be like the days of Noah where only 8 people were spared God’s judgment and entered into the new world you might say.
My prayer for this church and for those true believers
today is that we would be men and women of discernment, or as
I Chronicles 12:32 tells us, “of the sons of Issachar
who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought
to do.” The Living Bible puts this verse like this,
“From the tribe of Issachar there were 200 leaders
of the tribe with their relatives-all men who understood the temper
of the times and knew the best course for
With that said, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 13, starting in verse 11 And see what the Lord has for us as we study through this letter that Paul wrote to the church in Rome.
Here
in Romans chapter 13 we have been focusing on the issue of the
church being asleep to what is happening around them and Paul
is calling for us to awaken out of our spiritual sleep because
the Lord’s return is getting closer. He is calling for us
to understand that the day of darkness is almost over and a new
day is about to begin, a day of righteousness as the Lord comes
back to set up His kingdom on this earth. But also understand
that prior to this new day dawning, there will be ungodliness
on the increase or as the saying goes, it is always darkest before
the dawn and that is true in this case. Therefore, Paul wants
us to walk properly and put on the Lord Jesus Christ because as
you do, you will not give the flesh room to manifest itself in
your life! In other words, IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP!
As I have said,
this morning we are going to focus on discernment because it is
that important. One of the problems today is that no one wants
to rock the boat, no one wants to say that is wrong or that is
right, people do not want to expose error and thus, we have lost
the ability to discern what is right and what is wrong. Dr. Harry
Ironside, who was a godly author and teacher for many years and
served as the pastor of Chicago’s Moody Memorial Church from
1930-1948 wrote an article called “Exposing Error: Is it
Worthwhile?” Keep in mind that this is over 50 years old
as Dr. Ironside went to be with the Lord back in 1951. But listen
to how this speaks to the days we are living in. He wrote:
Objection is often raised even by some sound in the faith – regarding the exposure of error as being entirely negative and of no real edification. Of late, the hue and cry has been against any and all negative teaching. But the brethren who assume this attitude forget that a large part of the New Testament, both of the teaching of our blessed Lord Himself and the writings of the apostles, is made up of this very character of ministry – namely showing the Satanic origin, and therefore, the unsettling results of the propagation of erroneous systems which Peter, in his second epistle, so definitely refers to as “damnable heresies.”
Our Lord prophesied, “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” Within our own day, how many false prophets have risen; and oh, how many are the deceived! Paul predicted, “I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch.” My own observation is that these “grievous wolves,” alone and in packs, are not sparing even the most favored flocks. Under shepherds in these “perilous times” will do well to note the apostles warning: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.” It is as important to expose the many types of false teaching that, on every hand, abound more and more.
We are called upon to “contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints,” while we hold the truth in love. The faith means the whole body of revealed truth, and to contend for all of God’s truth necessitates some negative teaching. The choice is not left with us. Jude said he preferred a different, a pleasanter theme – “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 3,4). Paul likewise admonishes us to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather to reprove them” (Eph. 5:11).
This does not imply hard treatment of those entrapped by error-quite the opposite. If it can be objected that exposure to error necessitates unkind reflection upon others who do not see as we do, our answer is: it has always been the duty of every loyal servant of Christ to warn against any teaching that would make Him less precious or cast reflection upon His finished redemptive work and the all-sufficiency of His present service as our great High Priest and Advocate.
Every system of teaching can be judged by what it sets forth as to these fundamental truths of the faith. “What think ye of Christ?” is still the true test of every creed. The Christ of the Bible is certainly not the Christ of any false “-ism.” Each of the cults has its hideous caricature of our lovely Lord.
Let us who have been redeemed at the cost of His precious blood be “good soldiers of Jesus Christ.” As the battle against the forces of evil waxes ever more hot, we have need for God-given valor.
There is constant temptation to compromise. “Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.” It is always right to stand firmly for what God has revealed concerning His blessed Son’s person and work, The “father of lies” deals in half-truths and specializes in more subtle fallacies concerning the Lord Jesus, our sole and sufficient Savior.
Error is like leaven of which we read, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died.
Exposing error is most unpopular work. But from every true standpoint it is worthwhile work. To our Savior, it means that He receives from us, His blood-bought ones, the loyalty that is His due. To ourselves, if we consider “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt,” it ensures future reward, a thousand-fold. And to souls “caught in the snare of the fowler” – how many of them God only knows- it may mean light and life, abundant and everlasting.
-
Dr. Harry Ironside, Exposing
Error: Is it Worthwhile?
What Dr. Ironside wrote many years ago we see abounding
today, that to judge if something is right or wrong, to use discernment
is unloving and not at all like Christ! Folk’s, as Dr. Ironside
wrote, we are called to discern right from wrong, truth from error
because the Devil is good at mixing the truths of God with just
enough of his lies to get us trapped, to cause us to believe his
lies and disregard what God has said in His Word.
What I want to do regarding this issue of discernment is to look at four main topics. First of all we will look at WHAT IS DISCERNMENT? From there we will look at IS DISCERNMENT BIBLICAL? Then we will look at WHY DISCERNMENT IS LACKING IN THE CHURCH TODAY? And lastly, we will look at WHAT CAN WE DO TO BE MORE DISCERNING? Four important topics on this issue and I hope it not only encourages you but is causes you to hold all teaching, even mine, up to the light of God’s Word!
1. WHAT IS DISCERNMENT?
First of all let’s look at the topic of, WHAT IS DISCERNMENT?
Before I give you a definition, let me give you an illustration.
As you get up in the morning and open the kitchen cabinet to get
your cereal, there are two boxes on the shelf. Both of these boxes
are very similar in size and shape and color. There is only one
difference between these two boxes and that is this. One is a
breakfast cereal and the other is rat poison! How do you know
which one to pick? You have to use discernment or you will die!
Now granted,
you would never store your breakfast cereal and rat poison on
the same shelf, at least I hope you wouldn’t! But what about
the spiritual doctrines that are out there, do we keep the true
doctrines mixed with all kinds of false doctrines, all kinds of
false teaching? Many of you would never do that, at least intentionally
but I wonder how many are doing it because they don’t know
how to discern what is truth and what is error. We will look at
that issue later, but for now, WHAT IS DISCERNMENT,
Biblically speaking?
Very simply and as you saw in the illustration with the two boxes, it is the ability to separate Biblical truth from error or even half-truth. And please understand that discernment is not just for the pastor or teachers but it is for every believer. In fact, it should be the pastors and the teachers that are teaching the truths of God found in the Word of God so that the sheep that God has entrusted to them can grow and be able to discern what is truth from what are lies. They should be able to discern what is right from what is wrong.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11-16, and this is from The Amplified Bible, “And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers. His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church), [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him. So then, we may no longer be children, tossed [like ships] to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, [the prey of] the cunning and cleverness of unscrupulous men, [gamblers engaged] in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead.
Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). For because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts), closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly [in all its functions], grows to full maturity, building itself up in love.”
You see, pastor/teachers, teachers, evangelists are to build up the body of Christ, why? So that they can grow, so that they can mature, so they will not get tossed around by the false doctrine that is out there and thus, they will be able to discern what is right and what is wrong, what is Biblical and what is a doctrine of demons! And we will look at this closer, but that truly is a problem in the church today because people are not being taught the Word of God or if they are it is so watered down, there is no meat in the teaching, that Christians are not maturing and they are not able to discern right from wrong!
In the Old Testament we see the Hebrew word BIYN used for discernment and the Hebrew word BIYN is used some 247 times in the Old Testament. This Hebrew word means to separate or to put a space between. In other words, let’s look back at those two boxes, one is cereal and the other is rat poison. You do not want to mix the two but you need to put a space between them. In fact, they are unmixable! Thus, Biblically speaking, you would put the truths of God over here and the doctrines of demons or the false doctrine over there, away from you, you don’t mix the two! Does that make sense? You need to be able to separate the truths of God by a process and that process is discernment!
Remember the story of King Solomon as he became king at a young age and he was concerned about ruling over the nation. Turn to I Kings chapter 3 and let’s begin reading in verse 5 of what transpired. We are told, “At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, ‘Ask! What shall I give you?’ And Solomon said: ‘You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may DISCERN between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?’
The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him: ‘Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to DISCERN justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.’” I Kings 3:5-14.
The word “discern” is the Hebrew word BIYN and again, it speaks of separation, of placing the truths of God apart from the false doctrine, the untruths that are out there! And please understand that this is not the Spiritual gift of discernment. The Spiritual gift of discernment is different than learned discernment in that the discerning of spirits is a supernatural ability to see right to the heart of the matter, to judge whether a teaching or a person is of God or not. It is a non-verbal revelation that the Holy Spirit gives to you, bearing witness with your spirit, that this person is not of God, the teaching is in error, their motives are wrong, there is pride or bitterness in their heart, not to place them in a ministry at this time or not at all. It is not the word of knowledge but just a feeling in your heart that something is not right.
And again, we will cover this more when we look at the
topic of being more discerning, but for now, learned discernment
means just what it says. It is something that develops or grows
over time. In Hebrews 5:12-14 we read “For though by
this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach
you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you
have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes
only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he
is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age,
that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised
to discern both good and evil.”
The writer of Hebrews is coming against those who have not matured in the Lord, those who have remained spiritual infants. They should have grown and learned how to discern between good and evil. You see, as a person grows in their relationship with God, taking the Word of God and applying it to their lives, they are exercising their faith, applying it to their lives.
In the New Testament the Greek word that is used is DIAKRINO and once again it carries with it the idea of separation! Often in the New Testament this word is translated “judge.” Now don’t let that throw you, what does a judge do? A judge has to make a decision based upon the information that he has heard, he has to come to a conclusion and be able to separate truth from lies! He has to make a judgment and that is exactly what we are called to do as Christians! It is no different!
Paul, in Colossians 1:9-14 tells us, “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
You see, God wants us to be filled with the knowledge of His will; He is not hiding things on us or making it difficult for us to understand. Thus, He wants us to not only have but to use this spiritual discernment so that we can separate God’s truth from everything else. He wants us to have and use this spiritual discernment so that we can separate God’s will from everything else. He wants us to have and use this spiritual discernment so that we can separate God’s work from everything else. He wants us to have and to use this spiritual discernment so that we can separate God’s person, who He is from everything else that is out there! And Paul’s point is clear, he wants us to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, to use this spiritual discernment that He has given to us so that we can walk worthy of the high calling by which we have been called! Thus, we must make judgments, we must make separations, we must make distinction, not based upon how we feel but according to God’s Word opened up to us by God’s Spirit!
Now there is one more point in this section on WHAT IS DISCERNMENT that I want to look at and we will continue looking at the other three topics next time. Turn in your Bibles to I Thessalonians 5:21-22 and listen to what Paul tells the Thessalonians. He wrote, “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” The Amplified Bible puts these verses like this, “But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast. Abstain from evil [shrink from it and keep aloof from it] in whatever form or whatever kind it may be.” And The Living Bible tells us to do this, “but test everything that is said to be sure it is true, and if it is, then accept it. Keep away from every kind of evil.”
In regards to what Paul is saying here and what we are seeing in the church today, listen to what the noted British expositor D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said regarding this issue because he correctly realized in the early 1970’s that the church was drifting from spiritual discernment and explained how postmodern culture had contributed to that reality:
There is a very obvious reaction at the present time against intellectualism. . . . This is found among the students in America, and increasingly in this country. Reason is being distrusted and set on one side. Following D. H. Lawrence many are saying that our troubles are due to the fact that we have over-developed our cerebrum. We must listen more to our “blood” and go back to nature. And so turning against intellectualism, and deliberately espousing the creed of irrationality, they yield themselves to the desire for “experience”, and place sensation above understanding. What matters is feeling and enjoyment; not thought. Pure thought leads nowhere.
- Cited in Iain H. Murray, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith, 1939-1981 [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1990], 666
Isn’t that the cry of the Seeker Friendly Churches, the Purpose Driven Churches and the Emergent Church? Of course it is, we are being told to empty our minds, to let experience drive us, to get back in touch with nature and the more bizarre the more it seems to be accepted! And if you understand what they are doing, they are telling us that we are not to use spiritual discernment, at least they don’t want us or won’t allow us to separate the truths of God found in the Word of God from the error that is out there. Experience supercedes sound doctrine or the Word of God!
Now lets get back to these verses we read in I Thessalonians and break them down. In I Thessalonians 5:21 Paul tells us to “Test all things.” The New American Standard puts it like this, “But examine everything carefully.” The word “carefully” was added, but I think that is important or why are you going to examine something in the first place if you are not going to examine it carefully.
Some 28 or 29 years ago I was working on a Cardiac Telemetry unit as an LPN and my job was to pass out medications. But for me, it was truly a learning experience. I had a charge nurse that I worked with, her name was Marcia and she loved to teach and I loved to learn. There was this patient that was in the hospital and the doctors couldn’t figure out why here heart was going haywire. That was not even the reason she was there in the first place. And now she was having all these irregular rhythms or PVC’s and she was frustrated, she wanted to go home and the doctors were frustrated because they just couldn’t understand what was going on.
Thus, I sat down with my charge nurse and tried to figure out what had changed since she was admitted because, as I have said, she was not admitted with this problem. And I love a good mystery and thus, I examined carefully her chart, went over her records and the only thing that was different is that she had what is called a central line for intravenous fluids and this line went into her subclavian vein and into the right atrium of her heart.
The light went on and I realized that the problem may be as simple as this catheter migrating down into her right ventricle, which would cause these PVC’s. So I then went to see when her last chest x-ray was and it had been several days since she had one. I then went to Marcia and told her and she called the doctor and they did a chest x-ray and found the catheter had indeed migrated down into her right ventricle, it was pulled back and the PVC’s stopped and the medication she was on, which wasn’t helping anyway, was stopped and she was discharged from the hospital.
I know, church is not to be an anatomy and physiology lesson, but the reason I brought this up was to show you that I carefully examined the situation and I made a determination on what was right and what was wrong and guess what, the truth of the matter set her free, you might say!
If that is done for our physical well-being, why don’t we do this for our spiritual well-being for Jesus tells us that the truth, His truth will set us free from the bondage of false doctrine, lies that are out there. Here in I Thessalonians 5:21 when Paul says that we are to “examine” he uses the Greek word, DOKIMAZO. This word is often used in regards to testing something to see if it is genuine, if it is real. It can be used of testing metals and-so-on. Paul uses it in the sense that we are to test everything to see if it is genuine, if it is real because if we do we will be able to distinguish the truth from the lies!
Next Paul says that we are to examine all things so that we can, “hold fast what is good.” The Greek word that Paul uses for “good” is KALOS and it speaks of that which is genuine. Paul is not saying that if it looks good, that there is a beautiful appearance to it this must be good. Have you ever seen a talk show and there is this beautiful woman or handsome man on the show and everyone is just drooling over them. They look beautiful and thus, they must be good and then they start to speak and you wonder what planet they are from! Paul wants us to examine everything and to hold fast to what is good, what is true, what is genuine! Don’t be taken captive by false beauty, but embrace the truths of God found in the Word of God! In other words, embrace it with all of your might, take possession of it and don’t let go of it!
So look at what we have seen so far here in I Thessalonians chapter 5. Paul tells us that we are to test most things, many things, almost everything? No, Paul tells us that we must test EVERYTHING and examine to see if it is true, if it is real, if it is genuine and if it is good, then hold on tight to it, don’t let go of it!
As Paul moves on in verse 22 of I Thessalonians chapter 5, he tells us, “Abstain from every form of evil.” Notice what Paul is saying here. We are to shun, avoid, and stay away from every form of evil. In other words, there needs to be a separation! And the idea here is that this evil is harmful, it is poisonous, it is deadly and it should be avoided like the plague. Lenski hits the nail on the head as he wrote, “The worst forms of wickedness consist of perversions of the truth, spiritual lies, although today many look upon these forms with indifference and regard them rather harmless.”
I am going to share with you how one Christian music event is not shunning evil, but embracing it. I am not picking on them or the president of Lifest but I want you to see how wrong this is. As many of you know Jim Wallis is going to speak at Lifest and he is the keynote speaker. As we have seen in our previous studies, he is not a Christian but a Marxists and his idea of repentance, well, you tell me if this is Christian or not. He wrote, “We are all familiar with the famous pop culture of a street evangelist holding up a sign reading, ‘Repent, for the end is near!’ But repentance is . . . often misunderstood. This week, one could imagine a group of pastors, priests, rabbis, and imams holding up a sign on Wall Street for the titans of the financial industry to see, reading, ‘Repent, or the end could be near again . . . let’s have some sermons on the repentance of Wall Street.’” (Wall St. Repent, by Jim Wallis, 4.29.10). Now I am not going to continue on regarding this speaker because we talked about him and what he believes a few weeks ago.
What I do want to focus on is the response of Bob Lentz, the president of Lifest to many people trying to pressure him not to allow Jim Wallis to speak at this event and this is what he said on-line:
Lifest Dear Family,
I write this on Fathers day, so happy Father’s Day to all you fathers. And I want to make our Father in heaven happy today as well.
Proverbs 11:1 says, “A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.” Life Promotions’ late Board Member, Stan Plzak, once told me that a pendulum is at its fastest and has the most power, not when it’s on one side or the other, but right in the center. Many people see the center as compromise. But according to His word, I believe it’s a position of strength. I believe a position of center validates people with important and intelligent things to say on both sides, because I believe we glean from both.
As far as it depends on me I want to “be at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18). But people have told me, “Side, side, pick a side!” No, I cannot do it. I will not allow one side or the other to win and think that their side is the only one that is the Lord’s side. Instead, my heart’s desire is to be a small part of answering Jesus prayer,
“ . . . That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
I will not separate myself, because . . . “He who separates himself indulges his desires and shows contempt for sound advice of any kind. A fool takes no pleasure in trying to understand; he only wants to express his own opinion.” (Proverbs 18:1-2). We must work together, despite the difference, to build His kingdom. If I bought into some of the propaganda that is circulating, Lifest would not only have to take a stand against Jim Wallis, but also have to separate from the Willow Creek Association and anyone and any church associated with it. I’d have to speak against Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, author of The Purpose Driven Life, as well as the NAE – the National Association of Evangelicals representing 46,000 evangelical churches across America, as well as the Catholic church. . . .
I’ve wanted this discussion about Jim Wallis to go away. It has not. People that I love and respect are on both sides of this conversation. That’s what has made this decision so difficult. It’s also one of the bad things about being in the middle. I’m even a middle child. Being in the middle often results in people being mad at you on both sides. But I know it’s part of my calling. It’s a job that God has given to me. I am not here to please everyone; I just want to do what I believe God has called me to do.
There will be consequences no matter what decision I make regarding having Jim Wallis speak at Lifest. But I have made my decision, what I believe I know to be right. I have not made this decision in a vacuum, but I’ve read every e-mail, letter and comment. I’ve researched and checked facts and sources. I’ve sought wisdom through a multitude of counselors, and prayed. Oh, how I’ve prayed. I stand before Lifest, my family, and most importantly, God, with this decision, no matter the outcome to me.
I know Jim Wallis. Jim Wallis loves Jesus. He tries to live that faith out as a husband of one wife, a father of two boys, a little league coach, and an advocate for the poor. He believes and upholds the Apostles Creed. I do not agree with all of his politics, or even some of his non-essential theology. But I cannot cancel him based on the accusations that have been made. I have not found enough facts or truth in them to cancel him.
I assure you that what Jim Wallis is going to share at Lifest on Friday, July 9th, will be the true gospel, his conversion, and a call for us, the church, to take on our responsibility for the poor. I would have no hesitation having my kids, young Christians, and seekers alike hear his message. It’s a message that I feel the church desperately needs to hear. I believe this just as strongly as I believe the messages by our other speakers need to be heard as well . . .
It’s in that spirit that I am asking you to come and be part of what God is doing at lifest.
For His Kingdom,
Bob Lenz
President – Life Promotions
I want you to notice that he said that there will be no separation and yes, you can find Bible passages that support that, but not when there is false doctrine involved, not when the speaker is teaching things that are not of God! Paul tells us that we need to separate the good from the bad, the truth from the error and hold onto that which is good and to shun, put away, avoid, do not allow in what is evil and I think that is exactly what is taking place here at Lifest. And please understand, this did not just happen overnight. For years they have been having a Catholic Mass at this Christian event – NO SEPARATION! They have had Tony Compolo speak, who does not believe in the blood atonement – NO SEPARATION! They had the writer of the book, The Shack speak and again - NO SEPARATION!
So, as I look at the practice of the leaders of Lifest, there is no discernment, there is no separating the good from the bad, the truth from the error. I thank God that there are Christians today taking a stand against what is going on at Lifest and now the leaders of Lifest are asking for prayer as many of their sponsors are pulling out of this event. All I can say is PRAISE THE LORD! They don’t need prayer for more money, they need prayer that their eyes would be open and they would be able to discern what is of God and what is not!
So, as I close this morning, WHAT IS DISCERNMENT? It is the ability to separate Biblical truth from error or even half-truth. Let me close with this. We are told:
Discernment in Scripture is the skill that enables us to differentiate. It is the ability to see issues clearly. We desperately need to cultivate this spiritual skill that will enable us to know right from wrong. We must be prepared to distinguish light from darkness, truth from error, best from better, righteousness from unrighteousness, purity from defilement, and principles from pragmatics.
- J. Stowell, Fan The Flame, Moody, 1986, p. 44
May we awaken out of our spiritual sleep and be able to discern that which is from God and cling to it and separate ourselves from the lies of the Devil, the doctrines of Demons, the false doctrine that is out there, not allowing it into our lives because the Lord is coming back soon!