"THE BATTLE FOR TRUTH #4-AFFIRMING CHRIST'S LORDSHIP"
JUDE4
INTRO: The Church today seems determined to mold itself an image that is stylish, trendy, and in step with the thoughts, ideas, and beliefs of the world in which we live. The grand old truths of the Bible are being cast away for new concepts and ideas on how things ought to be. It has become in vogue today to question everything. Our spiritual heritage left to us by godly men of faith is slowly but surely fading away.
Cardinal teachings of the Bible are being questioned. The virgin birth, the deity of Christ, and the atoning death are among the targets of multitudes of "enlightened" believers. Many today view discernment and fidelity to the truth as secondary matters not worthy of their time and attention. In the name of tolerance the precious truths of God's word are being cast aside by broadminded-ness and diversity. "...Most evangelicals frankly don't care all that much about their spiritual heritage in the first place. They don't have a very strong commitment to understanding the Scripture precisely or defending its vital doctrines against encroachment of subtle errors. They just want something new and fresh. Above all, they are desperate to stay in step with the world (John F. MacArthur. The Truth War. p. 144).
As we continue our series, THE BATTLE FOR TRUTH, we want to consider, Affirming Christ's Lordship. As we engage the Enemy, the Church today must boldly proclaim the lordship or our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Please see three things with me tonight...
(1) THE PROBLEM THE CHURCH FACES
ROMANS 12:2—"And be not conformed to the world, but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
A. APPEARING TRENDY IS THE DESIGN. For the last twenty years or so, the Church has been bombarded with a relentless barrage of outlandish ideas, surmisings, philosophies, and programs. The Church today may have innovation but it has little inspiration. Maintaining a positive self image has taken the priority over guarding the truth. How is this seen in the Church today? :
1. PR-DRIVEN CHURCHES. The Church, somewhere along the way, has lost the clear message of the Gospel. Instead of simply—"Go ye therefore and teach all nations..." churches today are implementing market strategies by use of pollsters and public relations managers.
2. PRAGMATISM RUN AMOK AND TRIVIAL PURSUIT. Many pastors today instead of asking "what's true?" are asking "what works?" It seems many today care more about methodology instead of theology.
3. POPULAR TRENDS AND PRESENT THOUGHTS. Many today have
become like "children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine" (Ephesians 4:14). They say, "We must not subvert the self-
esteem of hurting people." "Fulfilling the Great Commission?" "Let's just not have service and have a big Super Bowl party!" "Real and serious discipleship?" "Sure we use a great series of group studies based on I Love Lucy episodes." "Worship God and recognize His majesty as high and lifted up?" "Are you kidding? We must reach people where they are!"
B. AFFIRMING THE TRUTH IS THE DEMANDED. For the Church to be
effective in THE BATTLE FOR TRUTH today, there are several Christ-like qualities that must be essential: Biblical discernment, wisdom, determination, endurance, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, strong convictions, the ability to speak the truth without wavering, and a willingness to enter into conflict. Today, the Church is very much obsessed with opinion polls, surveys, market strategies, merchandising schemes, and numerical growth.
The Church seems obsessed with its public image before the world and the academic community, how the Church is portrayed by media, and other shallow, selfish matters.
But friends, the question is, "who are we trying to please? God or man? The Saviour who died for us or the secular world?" We must live up to the Biblical mandate to be "...the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15a).
We have considered THE PROBLEM THE CHURCH FACES but let us also see...
(2) THE PERSON ON WHOM THE CHURCH SHOULD FOCUS JUDE 4
A. WHY CHRIST'S LORDSHIP IS DENIED. As we have been considering Jude's description of apostates in the early Church he summarizes their character this way—"denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." Of all the many errors in their doctrinal beliefs this one sums up all the others. Their rejection of Christ's authority was the real motive for their apostasy from the start. They resented His lordship and rejected Him as their Master because they were rebellious and wanted the authority over themselves. Jude gives us the major reason for their rebellion:
1.IMMORALITY (W. 7-8).
2.GREED (VI1).
3.LUST (V4).
This shows us that the root cause of false doctrine is nearly always immorality and sinful lust not ignorance or misunderstanding. If a person wants to indulge their sinful desires then they must reject the authority of Jesus Christ in their life.
B. WAYS CHRIST'S LORDSHIP IS DENIED. Ephesians 4:17-20 says—
'This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ." What are some of the waysthe lordship of Christ is denied today? :
1. SEEKER-SENSITIVE METHODS.As churches today strive more and more to tailor their services to suit the palates of "seekers" less and less is the edification of the saints stressed and more and more stress is being placed on entertainment. Dramas, music, comedies, and groups have replaced the preaching of the Gospel in the order of services. The result is that Christ's headship over the Church by removing His Word from its rightful place serves to silence His rule over the life of His people. This, in essence, surrenders Christ's headship over the Church to unchurched seekers.
2. NO-LORDSHIP THEOLOGY.Many preach and teach today that surrender to Christ's lordship is an optional matter, relevant only after a person has been a Christian for awhile. This reduces the Gospel to an invitation to believe in Jesus as Saviour, while carefully omitting any reference to His authority as Lord. Gone form the message are the Lord's call to discipleship, and all His commands that demand cross-bearing and self-denial (Matthew 16:24; Mark 10:21; Luke 14:26-27, 33). This no-lordship Gospel also avoids calling sinners to repentance.
3. ACCOMDATIONS TO POLITICAL CORRECTNESS. When a person is willing to compromise the truth to make Christianity appear more politically correct this person is in effect denying Christ as the Head of the Church. Scripture is expressly straightforward in forbidding women from teaching men or having authority over the Church (1 Timothy 2:12). But today we see a open floodgate of women into pastoral and teaching roles. Many seminaries today are aggressively pursuing women for pastoral training programs. Many once conservative Churches are now placing women in positions of authority: deaconesses, encouraging them to teach men, and preach the Word of God. All this feminism has it roots in Gnosticism. Changing the Word of God, the role of pastoral leadership, and the Biblical model of headship given us by God just to be politically correct.
Christ's headship over the Church is being disputed, debated, disregarded and displaced. Friends, to have a right understanding of the Church we must start by recognizing Christ as the One and Only true head of the Church, and whatever interferes with His role has its roots in apostasy. Every form of apostasy is an absolute denial of "...the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jude 4) and is rebellion against Him!
We have considered THE PROBLEM THE CHURCH FACES, THE PERSON ON WHOM THE CHURCH SHOULD FOCUS and lastly, let us see...
(3) THE PLAN THE CHURCH SHOULD FOLLOW EPHESIANS 5:21-33
A. THE MEANING OF HEADSHIP. What does the Bible teach concerning headship? Ephesians 5:23 makes it clear—"For as the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church, and he is the Saviour of the body." And yet for the past 20 years or so this concept of headship has been the subject of on-going debate. Many strive to find creative ways to strip from headship the concepts of leadership and authority.
Many feminists today have long set forth the notion that the word "head" in Ephesians 5:23 means nothing more than "source". They believe the husband should be the loving protector and provider to the wife, but it surely doesn't give him the right to have any authority over her. But friends, if the husband's role is diverted of authority, Christ's headship and authority over the Church is also diminished. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:3—"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." Christ shows us by His example of obedience to the Father's will. In like manner that Christ voluntarily submitted to His Father's will (John 6:38), wives are to submit, this is commanded by God, to their husbands, and the Church is to submit to Christ (Ephesians 5:24).
B. THE MANNER OF HEADSHIP. In 1985 Wayne Grudem began an
exhaustive study of that word and its usage in ancient Greek literature. He examined 2,336 occurrences of the word, beginning with Homer in the eight century BC and ranging to the Church Fathers in the fourth century. He found the word is used of a person (as opposed to the cranial appendage) and it always speaks of someone in a position of authority. Nowhere in any extant Greek literature does the word ever mean "source" without any notion of authority (John F. MacArthur. The Truth War. p. 161). Friends, this is how the word is used in the Bible also. Jesus' role as the Church's head is inseparable from His exalted position as Lord over all (Philippians 2:9-11).
God's eternal purpose of Christ as Head of the Church is seen in Ephesians 1. The Father planned, purposed, and directed the entire plan of redemption as a way of exalting His Son as Lord over all. Everything God has done and is doing ultimately is meant to make Christ Lord over all. In Ephesians 1, Paul describes God's electing purpose, all the work of salvation, the resurrection of Christ, the glorification of Christ, and His final exaltation to the right hand of God, all climaxing in one objective: That all things are put under His feet, and as Lord over all, Christ would be the Head of the Church, and the Church would be His body and bride. Paul declared that the Father has given His Son:
1.A PLACE OF AUTHORITY (EPHESIANS 1:2O-21).
2.A PERPETUAL AUTHORITY (EPHESIANS 1:21).
3.A PERMANENT AUTHORITY (EPHESIANS 1:22-23).
But any question as to the relationship of Christ's authority as Lord to His headship over the Church is settled in Colossians 1:18—"And he isthe head of the body, the Church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence." First place is His! And nowhere ought that truth to be more evident than in the Church where His people openly and freely submit to Him as Lord. He, and He alone, is the only true and proper head of the Church. No pope, politician, or potentate has any right to usurp His title or occupy His office.
CLOSING: False teachers truly believe they can be their own masters. They may not readily admit it but that is their true motive. They prove it by watering down the Gospel or distorting its message to make it more acceptable to lost man (1 Corinthians 1:22-25). They show their true colors by seeking men's approval rather than God's approval (Galatians 1:10). They declare it by attempting to reinvent the Church so it will be more pleasing to the world (John 15:18-19). All these things serve to effectively overrule Scriptural authority in the Church and thus they are "denying the only Lord and our Lord Jesus Christ."
Friends, we should be deeply concerned about the state of the Church today! It is imperative that we get engaged in THE BATTLE FOR TRUTH!
The first way is to give Christ His due position in the Church once more. My question tonight is, "Does Christ have the rightful place in your life?" And as His Church, "Are we letting Him be our Head—leading and guiding us in the way we should go?"
PREPARED BY BROTHER BRYAN L. BROWNING, PASTOR OF BEECHMONTBAPTISTCHURCH, BEECHMONT, KYFOR SUNDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 2, 2007.