Earlier today, June 13^th 2011, I spoke at the Southern Baptist regarding Recommendation #5 from the Executive Board titled “Directing the Executive Committee to Study Greater SBC Involvement for Ethnic Churches and Leaders.” I offered to make an amendment to provision B, D, and H. Each of the amendments were going to say the same thing. However, due to the fact that my first amendment for section B was voted down, I decided it best to allow the Convention to move on without interrupting the flow of business with the same correction for Sections D and H.

                The full statement of Section B on page 44 of the Book of Reports 2011 that I was seeking to amend reads as follows: “The Executive Committee to include a section in the SBC President’s Notebook give to each newly-elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention encouraging the president to give special attention to appointing individuals who represent the diversity within the Convention, and particularly ethnic diversity, among his appointee to the various committees under his purview (Committee on Committees, Credentials Committee, Resolutions Committee, and Tellers Committee);”

The phrase that I had wished to amend was “newly-elected SBC presidents would be encouraged to give special attention to appointing individuals representing the diversity within the convention.”  The revised phrase would have been “newly-elected SBC presidents would be encouraged to give special attention to appointing individuals WHO ARE THE MOST GOSPEL MINDED REGARDLESS OF THEIR ETHNIC BACKGROUND WITHIN THE CONVENTION.” The change I had wished to make is in all CAPS.  The point and intention of this revision was to keep our criteria for any and all appointments to be gospel centered rather than ethnic focused.

If the Convention is going to be required to report the number of ethnic groups, their rate of involvement in the various agencies, etc as per Recommendation #5 then this will certainly put undue pressure on leadership to appoint a particular number of ‘ethnic leaders’. There are a couple of issues I have with the ramifications of this idea. First, I did not know that the ‘we’ (that is, the ‘ones’ who are to include other ‘ethnic people’) of the SBC was considered the “Anglo” SBC. Nowhere in any document have I read nor have I heard that the SBC belongs to the Anglos, and nor does it! The SBC belongs to any and every person(!), regardless of race or ethnicity, who has been born again and agrees to our Baptist statement of faith.  To make a distinction between ‘we’ and ‘them’ is already problematic from an (supposed ‘white’) identity and gospel standpoint.

Second, as far as I am aware no one has ever discouraged any individual and/or group that was non-Anglo from FULL and FREE participation in the life, boards, and/or other agencies of the SBC. To speak as per Recommendation #5 suggests that nothing has been said or offered to non-Anglo ethnic groups is patently false. Page 25 of the Book of Reports itself states that the SBC has given various resolutions that have been adopted to see “greater ethnic participation”.  No less than 11 times (1961, 1964, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1993, 1995, and 2008) prior to this year, the Convention has stated the same goal and desire. The prior resolutions have spoken clearly of the desire of the SBC for any and all to be fully involved and rightfully so!! The problem with Recommendation #5 is that begins to make the leadership and/or President as solely responsible for NOT including ‘non-Anglos’ in the life of the Convention. If there are KNOWN and PROVABLE actions by any (current or prior) SBC leader, entity, and/or agency that has prohibited any ‘non-Anglo’ from participation, this should be brought to the Convention for immediate attention and discipline! Again, no one is to be allowed to act on racist bias within the life of the SBC, and especially its leadership. Resolution #5 seems to suggest that it is for race based reasons that the current and past leadership has not included other (other as opposed to the ‘white SBC’?!!?) ethnicities. Unless evidence is given, an implied accusation like this should not be allowed. To agree to the resolution is to agree to the implied guilt. Again, if there is evidence of guilt, then the evidence needs to be presented and the Convention should take stern and swift action against anyone who has evidenced racial bias. If no evidence is given, then Conventional leadership should not accept the implied guilt for this would be unscriptural. 

Third, requiring the SBC president and/or other agencies to include the number of ethnic groups included in their appointments, agencies, etc entices the leadership to forget Romans 10:12 that “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him.” The apostle Paul sternly rebuked the apostle Peter for acting differently based on someone’s race (Galatians 2:11-13). Again, in Paul’s mind the gospel was at stake. The gospel is to be the unifying theme for any and all ministry, leadership, etc, not the color of one’s skin.  A great Christian leader is always gospel centered.  

Fourth, when Resolution #5 asks leadership to deliberately distinguish between ethnic groups due to including diverse groups, it seems that we as a Convention are forgetting that our Lord is the one and only Savior of all mankind even though He Himself is a Jew. It also seems to forget that all humanity has solidarity in the fact that all ethnic groups are made in the image of God, that all ethnic groups descend from our father Adam, that we all have inherited the same sinful nature as he had, and that there is only one Redeemer (although He is a Jew!!!) for all mankind. Jesus never made His ethnic identity an issue of leadership in his church nor for qualifications of who serves as elders in His church nor for what ethnic group is given favors for serving in the kingdom. There is ‘one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.” (Ephesians 4:5) Why? Because the gospel is the criteria for the unity of the kingdom and the church. When we see the Redeemed gather before the glorious throne of our Redeemer, we see that people from every ‘tribe, tongue, and nation’ (Revelation 5:9,10) are there! They are not there because of the merits of their ethnic identity. (See John 1:12,13) They are there because they have been bought with the precious blood of the Lamb, the unifying grace of the gospel! If this is the criteria that God’s kingdom is based on, why can it not be the determining factor of who is to be our leaders, etc in the SBC regardless of their race?!

Fifth, if the President and other agency leaders are to give specific ‘ethnic diversity’ reports on who is in leadership, etc, then I can easily see this creating tension within the diversity of ethnic groups in the future. Perhaps an example would best illustrate my point. Remember, that for any SBC Agency ‘X’ that there are only so many positions available for appointments.  We have such a multitude of diverse ethnic groups that some of the ethnic groups due to agency size, the leadership will be limited in how many can be represented. For example, suppose that no Polynesians are reported to have been on any of the boards, agencies, etc. How then do we as a Convention not justify having a place for Polynesian leaders on any of the boards if we are to include all ethnic groups? In reality, it’s not a race issue, but a simple logistics issue. But since the ethnic diversity has been pushed towards the front as the criteria for evaluating our involvement of all people groups within the SBC, the debate will shift to ‘supposed’ race based issues rather than a numbers game. This will confuse the issue and cause more struggle within the SBC. Or consider another scenario. Suppose that the best thinkers, strategist, etc are African American. But because we are creating a scenario with Resolution #5 that implies that all ethnic groups are to be involved, leadership will more pressure to dismiss one of the African American appointees to include a Polynesian appointee who may not be as good as a theologian, thinker, and/or strategist as was the African American. Or vice versa.

If we would keep the gospel as the central criteria for any and all appointments, then the Convention’s diversity and unity would be harmonized. I would rather have all Koreans (or pick your ethnic group!) as our leadership in the SBC rather than a part white, black, Hispanic, etc (to satisfy the diversity numbers in the reports) in leadership if the mixed ethnic leaders are not as theologically astute and gospel centered as the Koreans. To put pressure on SBC leaders to include the ‘number of ethnic groups/people’ they have included in their appointments, will tempt the leadership to push the gospel back from being the final court of appeals in selecting appointees.  This will harm the SBC in the long run. If two people live in different cities and yet go towards the same goal, they will eventually meet. If we keep the gospel central in what we are looking for in leadership, then no matter what ethnic group, cultural influence, etc we all come from, we will meet at our common goal: at the feet of our Jewish Messiah.

IS THERE SUCH A CONCEPT?

THE PROBLEMS TODAY:

1) 90% OF CHRISTIAN KIDS ARE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. WE ARE LOSING 70-88% OF KIDS BY FRESHMEN YEAR OF COLLEGE. ‘IF WE CONTINUE TO SEND OUR KIDS TO CAESAR FOR EDUCATION WE DON’T NEED TO BE SURPISED WHEN THEY COME HOME LOOKING LIKE ROMANS.’ – VODDIE BAUCHAM

-K-12^TH GRADE, KIDS SPEND 14,000 SEAT HOURS IN SCHOOL. AVERAGE CHRISTIAN FAMILY SPENDS LESS THAN 30 MINUTES PER WEEK DISCUSSING SPIRITUAL ISSUES.

-CF PAGE 136 ‘NO RETREATS, REGRETS’ BOOK

2) ATHEISM IS GROWING AT A RAPID RATE ALONG WITH VIOLENT CRIME, SEXUAL ACTIVITY, ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN (WHICH IS REALLY GOVERNMENTAL SERVITUDE) STANCES, ETC.

Benjamin Rush “said if the bible is removed from education we will spend too much time and money punishing crimes that otherwise could have been prevented through when it takes so little pains to prevent them.”

3) THE CHURCH IS SEEN AS MORE AND MORE IRRELATIVE BECAUSE IT TAKES A PASSIVE, ADOPTIVE APPROACH TO THE WORLD’S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION.

‘THE SCANDAL OF THE EVANGELICAL MIND IS THAT THERE IS NOT MUCH OF AN EVANGELICAL MIND.” – MARK KNOLL

4) THERE IS A MONOPOLY ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. THE STATE HAS OVERSTEPPED ITS BOUND. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WAS CREATED IN 1978. PARENTS ARE PENALIZED FOR CHOOSING PRIVATE SCHOOLS, OR FOR CHOOSING AGAINST GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS BY HAVING TO PAY EDUCATIONAL TAXES AND PAYING FOR PRIVATE SCHOOL!

5) WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION?’ HAS LARGELY GONE UNANSWERED OR IS NOT BIBLICAL. COMPARE SOCIETY’S ANSWER: TO MAKE A PERSON A SUITABLE AND PREPARED CITIZEN FOR WORK.   BIBLE’ GOAL: TO MAKE THE INDIVIDUAL A CITIZEN A KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WHO LIVES OUT LIFE IN SOCIETY FOR THE GLORY OF GOD.

6) EVERY EDUCATION MODEL HAS AN AGENDA. IN COLONIAL AMERICA, PASTORS AND CHURCHES PRINTED THE TEXTBOOKS. CF. ALEXANDER HAMILTON’S ‘THE FEDERALIST PAPER’S’ WERE WRITTEN FOR COMMON NY FARMER. TODAY GOVERNMENT SETS THE AGENDA FOR EDUCATION WHICH ULTIMATELY IS THEIR GOALS. ‘EVERYONE AFTER HE HAS BEEN FULLY TRAINED BECOMES LIKE HIS TEACHER.’ – JESUS  (LUKE 6:40) DO YOU WANT YOUR KIDS LOOKING LIKE THE PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON? -‘the philosophy of education in the classroom in one generation will soon be the philosophy of government in the next’ – Abraham Lincoln

-NEW GOALS IN EDUCATION: ALDOUS HUXLEY, BRAVE NEW WORLD…QUOTE PAGE. 104

FROM WHERE HAVE WE FALLEN?

–in 1860, 262 of 288 college presidents were ministers of the gospel. 1/3 of faculty were ministers of the gospel, not counting those who were just Christians.

- Cf. early education of Founding Fathers, who are legendary for their insight in the human predicament, government, balance of powers, rights of man….Benjamin Rush: graduated Princeton at 14, John Q Adams, Charles Carroll (signer of the Dec. of Indep.) entered college at 10 , Fisher Ames entered Harvard at 12 years, Andrew Jackson soldier in American revolution at 12 years old, these are not unusual accounts in early America under former educational system.

–America rose above all the other nations of the world…be/c we had a secular education system?? No, be/c we had a biblical foundation to our education.

–Harvard’s Directive to Students – “ Let every student be plainly instructed and consider well that the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus, which is eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.”  Also, “Everyone shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein.”  BTW, many of the signers of the Dec. of Ind. And Constitution were graduates of Harvard.  Started by Congregationalists…same can be said of Yale.  “Above all, have an eye to the great end of all your studies, which is to obtain the clearest conceptions of Divine things and to lead you to a saving knowledge of God in His Son, Jesus Christ.”

- 1690-1930 – education used the New England Primer for 1^st grade. 170 questions for 1^st graders: What is the fifth commandment? What offices does Christ execute as our prophet, priest, and king? What are the benefits that accompany adoption, justification, and sanctification?

-Webster’s spelling book for elementary kids: introduced in 1783, used for next 150 years. “Webster’s blue back speller”   contumelious, etiology, bronchotomy????, eschatology, loquacious, rapacious, sequacious???  Elementary school level spelling words!!!

-OLD DELUDER SATAN LAW IN EARLY AMERICA..NAME OF ACTUAL LAW!!: EDUCATION WAS TO TEACH SO COULD READ BIBLE SO WOULDN’T BE DECEIVED BY DEVIL OR TRICKED BY A CORRUPT STATE!

MYTHS TOWARDS MODERN EDUCATION

1) EDUCATION CAN AND SHOULD BE NEUTRAL TOWARDS ALL FAITHS.

RESPONSE:  A) THIS REMOVES TRUTH FROM ITS ULTIMATE FOUNDATION. THIS IS GOD’S WORLD AND IF YOU LIVE AGAINST  HIS TRUTH, IT WILL PRODUCE DISASTROUS RESULTS.  B) THIS IS ITSELF A FAITH STATEMENT ABOUT GOD. HE EITHER DOES NOT EXIST OR IS EXISTENCE IS IRRELEVANT TO INFORM MY EDUCATION.   C) IF NOT GROUNDED IN GOD, IT WILL BE GROUNDED IN SOME MYTH OR SUPERSTITION. CF. EVOLUTION AS ALL ENCOMPASSING WORLDVIEW.

EVERY TEACHING, BELIEF, EDUCATION MUST ANSWER FUNDAMENTAL RELIGIOUS QUESTIONS SUCH AS: WHO IS MAN? WHY IS HE HERE? WHAT IS HIS PROBLEM? HOW CAN IT BE FIXED?

ALL TRUTHS ARE TO RELATE TO GOD SOME WAY. IF GOD IS OUT OF THE PICTURE, YOU END UP WITH A MULTIVERSE OF TRUTHS RATHER THAN A UNIVERSE.

EDUCATED SINNERS WITHOUT A REFERENCE TO GOD ONLY BECOME CLEVER SINNERS.

2) LACK OF MONEY IS THE REASON OUR SCHOOLS ARE FAILING OR IF WE HAD BETTER PAY WE COULD HAVE BETTER TEACHERS AND HENCE A BETTER EDUCATION

RESPONSE: NO, BECAUSE MANY OF SHOESTRING BUDGET PRIVATE SCHOOLS EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN BETTER FOR A CHEAPER PRICE.  ALSO, THE REASON SO MANY ARE DISSATISIFIED WITH MODERN EDUCATION IS BECAUSE SO MUCH MONEY IS SPENT AND IT IS STILL NO BETTER.

NO AGAIN, BECAUSE THE HIRELING WILL LEAVE THE SHEEP WHEN THE WOLF COMES. MONETARY GAIN IS NOT ENOUGH TO ENTICE THE BEST TO THE FIELD. AS A MATTER OF FACT, MANY ARE ‘GETTING THEIR YEARS IN’ AND THEN RETIRING. WORK CONDITIONS ARE A HUGE FACTOR. TEACHERS TODAY ARE NOT RESPECTED IN THE CLASSROOM AND THEY KNOW IT.

3) ‘CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE SALT AND LIGHT IN THE LOCAL SCHOOL.’

RESPONSE: HOW CAN YOU BE SALT AND LIGHT WHEN YOU ARE HANDCUFFED? WHAT BETTER WAY TO BE SALT AND LIGHT THAN TO PRODUCE GOD-HONORING STUDENTS AT HOME OR IN A PRIVATE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL WHO CAN THEN INFLUENCE SOCIETY ON A WHOLE.

HOW CAN STUDENTS BE SALT AND LIGHT WHEN PAUL VITZ, PROFESSOR AT NY UNIVERSITY FOUND THAT ‘NOT ONE OF THE 40 TEXTBOOKS TOTALLING 10,000 PAGES HAD ONE TEXT REFERENCE TO A PRIMARY RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY OCCURING IN REPRESENTATIVE CONTEMPORARY LIFE.’ FURTHER HE SAYS, ‘THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE BOOKS APPEAR TO HAVE A DEEP-SEATED FEAR OF ANY FORM OF CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANITY, ESPECIALLY SERIOUS, COMMITTED PROTESTANTISM.’ THIS WAS ON SOCIAL STUDIES TEXTBOOKS FOR GRADES ONE THROUGH FOUR.

4) IT WILL TAKE A LONG TIME FOR THE FULL INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY IS GONE.

RESPONSE:  “THERE AROSE A GENERATION WHO KNEW NOT THE LORD, NOR THE WORKS WHICH HE HAD DONE FOR ISRAEL.” – JUDGES 2:10

5) “IF MY KIDS ARE NOT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, THEY WILL NOT LEARN HOW TO BE SOCIAL IN TODAY’S SOCIETY.”

RESPONSE: HOW EVER DID PEOPLE MAKE IT EARLIER TIMES? WHAT ABOUT THE FAMILY UNIT? WHAT ABOUT THE CHURCH SOCIETY? THIS IS PURE INDOCTRINATION OF A SOCIALIST MINDSET BY THE STATE.

QUOTE: PAGE 118 – NOTE DEWEY’S INFLUENCE ON YOUR THINKING!

6) HOME BASED EDUCATION IS NOT SUFFICIENT OR IS TOO HARD.

RESPONSE: GOD SAYS IT ISN’T NOR CAN YOU PASS THE RESPONSIBILITY ON TO OTHERS. THINK HOW MUCH YOU HAVE LISTENED TO THE EDUCATIONAL PROFESSIONALS IN THAT STATEMENT!

HISTORICALLY, THE CHIEF PURPOSE OF OUR SCHOOLS WAS TO PASS ON CULTURE.

-AS OR SCHOOLS ABANDON OUR JUDEO-CHRISTIAN CULTURE, SOCIETY WILL DIE. COMPARE MAP OF WORLD, SCIENCE BLOOMS UNDER CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW.

-SUBSUMED THREE MAIN CATEGORIES: RELIGION, MORALITY, KNOWLEDGE. NOTE HOW FOUNDING FATHERS’ SPOKE OF HAPPINESS IN SOCIETY. WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? FROM BIBLICAL CATECHISMS AND  UNDERSTANDING GOD, MAN, AND THE WORLD FROM A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE.

-COMPARE TO TODAY: SPROUL’S ILLUSTRATION- WHAT KIND OF STUDENT ARE YOU TRYING TO PRODUCE?

SYMPTOMS OF TODAY’S EDUCATIONAL MODEL IS FAILING:

1) STUDENTS ARE BORED OR DISINTERESTED. WHY? BE/C FIELD OF KNOWLEDGE IS SHATTERED. NO UNITY IN DIVERSITY. INDIVIDUAL, UNRELATED WHOLES.

2) THE OLDER PEOPLE SHOULD BE ONE OF THE GREATEST RESOURCES IN THE CHURCH. INSTEAD, MOST OLDER PEOPLE CARE ABOUT PASSING CHURCH TRADITION DOWN RATHER THAN THEOLOGICAL RICHNESS. THIS PRODUCES STALENESS IN THE CHURCH AND AVERSION IN YOUNG PEOPLE TOWARDS CHRISTIANITY.

3) THERE ARE SO MANY PROPOSALS OF HOW TO RESCUE EDUCATION TODAY BUT ONE THING THEY ARE UNITED ON IS THAT CHRISTIANITY IS NOT THE ANSWER.

4) ‘EDUCATED NATIONS PRODUCE MORE EVIL THAN UNEDUCATED NATIONS’ WITHOUT AN ETHICAL FRAMEWORK.

5) ‘PUBLIC EDUCATION IS THE PAROCHIAL EDUCATION FOR SCIENTIFIC HUMANISM.’ – JOE BURNETT, THE SCIENTIFIC

6) HITLER TRIVILIAZED THOSE WHO OPPOSED HIM. HE SAID, IN FIFTY YEARS YOU WILL BE DEAD, BUT I WILL RAISE YOUR CHILDREN.  QUOTE ON PAGE 155 OF ‘ NO RETREATS, REGRETS’ BOOK.

WHAT IS THE STATE’S ROLE? TO PROTECT FROM EVIL, PUNISH WRONGS, AND PROMOTE GOOD. SHOULD IT HAVE A ROLE IN EDUCATION? NO, A FREE MARKET WOULD EASILY PROVIDE THE SOLUTIONS SOCIETY NEEDED. AND DO IT QUICKER, EASIER, AND MORE EFFICIENTLY.  CF. US POST OFFICE VS. UPS…NO RIGHT TURNS INVOLVED!

WHAT DO SOME CONSIDER AS BIBLICAL EDUCATION?

1) I TAKE MY KIDS TO CHURCH

2) I SEND THEM TO A CHRISTIAN SCHOOL THAT HAS COPIED WORLD’S MODEL BUT USES BIBLE IN THE CLASSROOM.

3) THE YOUTH MINISTER, ETC TEACHES MY KIDS.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

1) A REVIVAL OF RELIGION ALWAYS PRODUCES A REVIVAL OF LEARNING. LOOK AT REFORMATION, GREAT AWAKENING AND SCHOOLS THEY PRODUCED.

ACTION:  ‘THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE.” – PROVERBS 1:7

“IN CHRIST ARE HIDDEN ALL THE TREASURES OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEGDE” – COLOSSIANS 2:3

TIME TO START PRIVATE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS AND/OR STRENGTHEN HOME SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONS TO PROVIDE FOR PARENTS.  GOVERNMENT IS MAKING IT HARDER AND HARDER FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS TO BE ESTABLISHED WITHOUT THEIR OK AND APPROVAL OF CURRICULM. START NOW BEFORE THE TIDE CAN’T BE TURNED BACK!

CF. TO MODERN VIEW THAT SEES EDUCATION AS ‘SALVIFIC’ AND LEADING TO A MAN CENTERED UTOPIA. YOU HEAR ABOUT PROBLEMS ON TV AND THE ANSWER IS MORE EDUCATION IS NEEDED.

2) TRUE CHRISTIAN EDUCATION BEGINS IN THE HOME, SPECIFICALLY WITH DAD. DUETERONOMY 6 AND EPHESIANS 6

ACTION: TEACH KIDS HOW TO EVALUATE WORLD AND LIFE BIBLICALLY. SHOW ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO LOVE GOD AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.

KIDS ARE TO LIVE IN A SCRIPTURE SATURATED ENVIRONMENT ACCORDING TO DUET. 6.

3) GOAL OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IS TO GIVE THE STUDENT THE BEST TOOLS POSSIBLE TO STUDY AND LEARN THE BIBLE.

ACTION: RESTORING CONCEPT OF ‘UNI-VERSITY’ AND THEOLOGY AS THE QUEEN OF SCIENCES.

4) PARENTS NEED TO CAREFULLY EVALUATE WHETHER THEIR KIDS NEED TO BE IN PUBLIC SCHOOL.

5) SCHOOL CHOICE, COMPETITION, PETITIONING FOR EDUCATION TAX CREDIT WILL HELP LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD OF THE STATE’S MONOPOLY ON EDUCATION BUT WON’T FIX MODERN EDUCATION.

CONCLUSION: PAGE 156 OF ‘NO RETREATS, REGRETS’ BOOK.

1)   TD JAKES

1. WORD FAITH TEACHER AND DOES MINISTRY WITH WORD FAITH TEACHERS

******”You’re entitled to have wellness in your body.  Stop begging for what you’re entitled to.”
(T. D. Jakes,  “God Never Meant For You To Lose,” TBN, July 29, 2004)

********”My brothers and sisters the power of life and death is in the tongue.  You can have whatever you say.”
(T. D. Jakes, T. D. Jakes During Intermission of “The Bone Collector Part II,” TBN, August 12, 2004)

*******”It’s what you say to yourself that gets you healed.  If you say that you won’t be healed you won’t be healed.  If you say that you are broke you will stay broke. ‘”
(T. D. Jakes, “Seize the Moment,” Woman Thou Art Loosed, 2000 Atlanta)

*****”The one and only prophetess Juanita Bynum will be with us tonight…Give God praise for prophetess Juanita Bynum…She has Revelation Knowledge from the Lord.”
(T. D. Jakes, “TBN,” July 6, 2004.  Describing false prophet Juanita Bynum to the world) 

b)    VIEW ON THE TRINITY

***-JAKES IS THE VICE-PRELATE, UNDER HEAD PRELATE SHERMAN WATKINS OF ‘HIGHER GROUNDS ALWAYS ABOUNDING ASSEMBLY; – A ONENESS PENTECOSTAL GROUP AFFILIATION (ONENESS PENTECOSTALS DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE TRINITY!!!! WHY BE 2^ND IN COMMAND OF A GROUP THAT DENIES THE TRINITY IF YOU DO BELIEVE IN THE TRINITY?! JAKES ALLIANCES BETRAY HIS SHADY TALK ON WHAT HE BELIEVES ABOUT THE TRINITY!!)

****JAKES USES MODALISTIC LANGUAGE – 1 GOD, 3 MANIFESTATIONS: POTTER’S HOUSE WEBSITE: “God–There is one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three Manifestations: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” See www.thepottershouse.org/v2/content/view/18/32/

—Listen to the official teachings of the United Pentecostal Church International states RE: Trinity: “In distinction to the doctrine of the Trinity, the UPCI holds to a oneness view of God. It views the Trinitarian concept of God, that of God eternally existing as three distinctive persons, as inadequate and a departure from the consistent and emphatic biblical revelation of God being one…Thus God is manifested as Father in creation and as the Father of the Son, in the Son for our redemption, and as the Holy Spirit in our regeneration.” (from ww.upci.org/about.asp#oneness  ALSO: www.upci.org/doctrine/60Questions.asp) This is THE LANGUAGUE that T. D. Jakes stated in an interview: “We have one God, but He is Father in creation, Son in redemption, and Holy Spirit in regeneration.” Said on “Living by the Word” hosted by John Coleman “Aug. 23, 1998….

–NOTE AGAIN: the Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements explains ON THE ONENESS PENTECOSTAL ENTRY: “The threefold divine reality is defined as ‘three manifestations’ of the one Spirit in the person of Jesus.   …Stanley M. Burgess and Gary B. McGee, eds., Patrick H. Alexander, assoc. ed., Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988) s.v. “Oneness Pentecostalism.”

***WE MUST BE CRITICAL IN LISTENING TO ANYONE’S VIEW OF THE TRINITY BECAUSE THEY CAN HOLD TO VARIOUS FALSE TEACHINGS, INCLUDING MODALISM. MODALISM HAS 2 TYPES/WAYS OF DENYING THE TRINITY: EITHER THEY WILL SAY:  A) AT DIFFERENT TIMES, GOD APPEARED AS FATHER, THEN NEXT AS SON, THEN NEXT AS SPIRIT   B) MODALISTS WILL ALSO SAY THAT THERE ARE SIMULATANEOUS MANIFESTATIONS OF THE FATHER, SON, HOLY SPIRIT…MODALISTS WON’T USE TERM ‘PERSON’S AS IN CLASSIC ORTHODOX THEOLOGY AS HAS BEEN USED FOR 2 MILLENIUMS BY THE CHURCH, AND NEITHER WILL JAKES USE THE TERM ‘PERSONS’ IN REFERRING TO THE TRINITY. THE SECOND FORM SEEMS TO BE WHAT JAKES HOLDS TO. THIS VIEW IS HARDER TO PIN BECAUSE TRINITY LIKE LANGUAGE CAN BE USED. WITHOUT LISTENING CAREFULLY AND ASKING MORE SERIOUS AND ARTICULATE QUESTIONS THEY CAN EASILY SLIDE BY SURFACE QUESTIONS ON THE TRINITY.WE MUST REMEMBER THERE IS A MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FUNCTIONAL (OR ECONOMIC) ROLES OF THE TRINITY AND THE ONTOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE TRINITY. WE CAN SOUND ORTHODOX IN ONE BUT DENY THE OTHER. IT IS HARD TO CATCH THE DIFFERENCE IN THE DISCUSSION BUT WE MUST LISTEN FOR THE ORTHODOX VIEWS OF FUNCATIONAL AND ONTOLOGICAL TEACHINGS OF THE TRINITY.

–CF JAKES ‘DOCTRINAL CLARIFICATION’: I believe in one God who is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I believe these three have distinct and separate functions — so separate each has individual attributes, yet are one. I do not believe in three Gods.” THIS IS ONLY LANGUAGE DELINEATING AS TERMED IN THEOLOGY AN ECONOMIC OR FUNCTIONAL VIEW OF THE ROLES IN THE TRINITY, NOT THE ESSENCE OR ONTOLOGICAL REALITY OF WHO GOD IS: AS PER EVANGELICALS WILL SAY: ONE GOD, 3 PERSONS!! Nothing has been said by Jakes as regards the Ontological nature of the 3 distinct Persons w/in the Godhead …

—-IF HE BELIEVES IN THE ORTHODOX, CONSERVATIVE VIEW OF THE TRINITY, WHY DOES HE USE ONENESS PENTECOSTAL, AKA, MODALISTIC LANGUAGE? NOWHERE IN ANY OF JAKES’  ‘REBUTTALS/DOCTRINAL CLARIFICATIONS’ DOES HE EVER USE THE TERM ‘PERSONS/SUBSISTENCES’ IN REFERENCE TO EACH MEMBER OF THE TRINITY. HE HAS HAD AMPLE OPPORTUNITY TO CLARIFY AND ARTICULATE A CLEAR ORTHODOX, CONSERVATIVE VIEW ON THE TRINITY BUT HAS NOT DONE SO.

1. JOHN HAGEE
   1. WORD FAITH PROPOENT – ALWAYS DOING CONFERENCES WITH WORD FAITH TEACHERS AS HE TEACHES/SUPPORTS HIMSELF.
   2. BOOK “IN DEFENSE OF ISRAEL” – LIFEWAY STORES DON’T CARRY THIS BOOK OF HIS HOWEVER, THERE IS AN EVEN BIGGER ISSUE AT STAKE HERE; THE POINT IS WE ENDORESE SOMEONE AND, BY IMPLICATION, THEIR FALSE VIEWS BY HAVING HIS BOOKS ON OUR SHELVES: HAGEE DENIES JESUS CAME TO BE MESSIAH – SEE THE FOLLOWING VIDEO FOR HAGEE’S OWN WORDS! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0CyolAOeWQ
   3. CF.  1 John 2:22 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) 22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? He is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.” 2 John 11 warns about supporting false teachers. Whoever supports them, ‘shares in his evil works.”
   4. JOHN HAGEE has stated before that evangelizing Jews “is a waste of time.”  “The Jewish people have a relationship to God through the law of God as given through Moses,” Hagee said. “I believe that every Gentile person can only come to God through the cross of Christ. I believe that every Jewish person who lives in the light of the Torah, which is the word of God, has a relationship with God and will come to redemption. “The law of Moses is sufficient enough to bring a person into the knowledge of God until God gives him a greater revelation.” said Hagee . . .⁹

⁹Julia Duin, “San Antonio Fundamentalist Battles Anti-Semitism,” The Houston Chronicle, 30 April 1988, 1.

—-Why is it a waste of time if he doesn’t really believe in what’s called dual covenant theology, THAT IS THAT THE JEWS DON’T NEED THE GOSPEL BE/C GOD ALREADY HAS A COVENANT IN PLACE FOR THEM? Hagee himself has denied claims that he believes in dual covenant theology but his words/teaching says otherwise. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1988_54030

3)   THE SHACK – THERE ARE HUGE PROBLEMS WITH LIFEWAY SELLING THE SHACK, EVEN WITH ITS DISCLAMER GIVEN WITH THE BOOK! Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary ON ALBERTMOHLER.COM says, “THIS BOOK INCLUDED UNDILUTED HERESY. IT’S A DEEPLY TROUBLING BOOK.’  ‘THE BOOK EVEN GOES TO THE POINT OF ‘JESUS’ SAYING HE IS THE BEST WAY, AND NOT THE ‘ONLY WAY’ TO THE FATHER’…CF. JOHN 14:6  …”IT’S CONFUSING ON THE TRINITY ROLES, ‘THE PAPA SUBMITS TO ME…WE ARE SUBMITTED TO YOU (MACK) IN THE SAME WAY!”  DENIES GOD’S WRATH: “I DON’T NEED TO PUNISH PEOPLE FOR SIN. SIN IS ITS OWN PUNISHMENT.”     SEE ALSO: http://www.challies.com/media/The_Shack.pdf

–RECENTLY, DR MOHLER HAS AGAIN ADDRESSED THE ISSUE OF THE SHACK. SEE HERE: http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/01/27/the-shack-the-missing-art-of-evangelical-discernment/  

          A FEW QUOTES FROM DR MOHLER’S NEWEST ARTICLE ON ‘THE SHACK’:

“Papa” is absolutely non-judgmental, and seems most determined to affirm that all humanity is already redeemed. The theology of The Shack is not incidental to the story. Indeed, at most points the narrative seems mainly to serve as a structure for the dialogues. And the dialogues reveal a theology that is unconventional at best, and undoubtedly heretical in certain respects.”

“While the literary device of an unconventional “trinity” of divine persons is itself sub-biblical and dangerous, the theological explanations are worse… The relationship of the Father to the Son, revealed in a text like John 17, is rejected in favor of an absolute equality of authority among the persons of the Trinity…The theorized submission of the Trinity to a human being — or to all human beings — is a theological innovation of the most extreme and dangerous sort. The essence of idolatry is self-worship, and this notion of the Trinity submitted (in any sense) to humanity is inescapably idolatrous.”

“The most controversial aspects of The Shack‘s message have revolved around questions of universalism, universal redemption, and ultimate reconciliation. Jesus tells Mack: “Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and many who don’t vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions.” Jesus adds, “I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, my Beloved. Mack then asks the obvious question — do all roads lead to Christ? Jesus responds, “Most roads don’t lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.”

“James B. DeYoung of Western Theological Seminary, a New Testament scholar who has known William Young for years, documents Young’s embrace of a form of “Christian universalism.” The Shack, he concludes, “rests on the foundation of universal reconciliation.”

“In evaluating the book, it must be kept in mind that The Shack is a work of fiction. But it is also a sustained theological argument, and this simply cannot be denied. Any number of notable novels and works of literature have contained aberrant theology, and even heresy. The crucial question is whether the aberrant doctrines are features of the story or the message of the work. When it comes to The Shack, the really troubling fact is that so many readers are drawn to the theological message of the book, and fail to see how it conflicts with the Bible at so many crucial points.”

HERE ARE SOME OTHER SERIOUS CONCERNS I’VE SEEN IN ‘THE SHACK’:

pg. 29 – the young Indian’s death is like Jesus’?! “It had all the elements of a true redemption story, not unlike the story of Jesus that she knew so well.” The story is told of a tribe who is dying from sickness and young lady sacrifices herself so the tribe can physically recover. But, Jesus did not die to save us from sickness but from sin and the wrath of God. This is misleading to say the least about the person and work of Christ.

pg 31 – Missy asks questions about the previous Indian story. She asks about the pagan story’s concept of God known as the ‘Great Spirit.’ Missy asks, “Is the Great Spirit another name for God – you know, Jesus’ papa?” Mack replies, “I would suppose so.”- No where in scripture does God reveal Himself as the ‘Great Spirit’ nor give room for people to call Him whatever they want. Equating the Father with the Great Spirit rings loudly of inclusivism, that is, that all religions serve the same God they just may have different names for him.

pg 38 – contains psychologized theology – Nan is said she can easily call God Papa be/c she had a good father… This is modern psychology’s ‘projection theory’. Scripture doesn’t base our response on God to circumstances but to our heart’s desires. See Mark 7:21 and Luke 6:45

pg 65 – demeaning view of Scripture as the only Word of God – Mack had been taught in seminary that ‘God’s voice had been reduced to paper.’

pg 88 – ‘God puts Himself on our level’—   This opening quote is at best ambiguous. In light of this quote, it’s disturbing what is NOT followed up with in the book – the statement is never clarified, nor does the book ever talk about God’s holiness, exaltedness…cf. Is. 6/Rev. 19

pg. 90 – equates listening to George Beverley Shea and the Mormon tabernacle as being two equally valid options…very inclusivistic!

pg. 91 – downplays serious theological training in studying the scriptures “None of it was helping in the least.”  Modern church struggles enough in its lack of concern for theological depth; this only seems to undercut the need for deeper understanding and/or that classical orthodox theology is no longer desired/valid for today’s issues (which in reality are the same throughout history).

pg. 95 – Papa has scars on wrists like Jesus; this is confusing at the least and doctrinally aberrant if nothing else…cf. only the Son was crucified, not the Father or Holy Spirit

pg. 99- ‘we’ became flesh and blood…No, John 1:14 and the entire NT witness is that only the Son of God took on flesh.

pg 99,100 – “Jesus never drew upon His divine nature to do anything”…This statement is again contrary to orthodox teaching on the person and work of Christ. Cf. Jesus calming the sea in Luke 8:24 and John 10:18 where Jesus has power to lay down His life and take it again.

PG 106 – ‘YOU WILL EVEN LOSE A COMPETITION TO ACCOMPLISH LOVE. IT IS NOT ABOUT WINING AND LOSING BUT ABOUT LOVE AND RESPECT.’  COMPARE TO THE BIBLICAL MESSAGE:“CHRIST OVERCAME AND SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD; HE MUST RULE UNTIL HE PUTS ALL THINGS AT HIS FEET’ 1 COR. 15:25

PG 112 – FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH SOUNDS VERY MUCH LIKE THE EASTERN PANTHEISTIC CONCEPT OF NIRVANA

PG 120 – ‘I DON’T NEED TO PUNISH PEOPLE FOR THEIR SIN. SIN IS ITS OWN PUNISHMENT.’ – PAPA   COMPARE ROMANS 1:18FF/REV. 21 AND 22 ON THE FINAL JUDGMENT AGAINST SIN

PG 122 – THE WHOLE PAGE UNDERMINES THE FUNCTIONAL AND ETERNAL ROLES WITHIN THE TRINITY…CF. 1 COR. 15:24/JOHN  17 “THE FATHER IS GREATER THAN I”

PG 124 – SARAYU (AKA THE HOLY SPIRIT) SAYS “SO YOU THINK THAT GOD MUST RELATE INSIDE A HEIRARCHY LIKE YOU DO. BUT WE DO NOT.’   AGAIN, THIS IS DIRECTLY CONTRARY TO THE BIBLICAL REVELATION OF WHO GOD IS IN REGARDS TO THE FUNCTIONAL ROLES IN THE TRINITY.

PG 145 – JESUS SAYS TO MACK ‘HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED THAT EVEN THOUGH YOU CALL ME LORD AND KING, I HAVE NEVER REALLY ACTED IN THAT CAPACITY WITH YOU?”

PG 145 – AGAIN THE LAST FULL PARAGRAPH ON PG 145 UNDERMINES THE FUNCTIONAL ROLE OF THE TRINITY. THIS CAN NOT SQUARE WITH WHAT JESUS PRAYS IN JOHN 17 IN HOW HE FULFILLED/OBEYED ALL THAT THE FATHER GAVE HIM TO DO.

PG. 172 – MACK IS ENCOUNTERING GOD, IN HIS PRESENCE AND MACK QUESTIONS WHETHER IT IS ‘ALL A DREAM?’…JESUS RESPONDS WITH “WOULD ALL THIS BE ANY LESS ‘REAL’ IF IT WERE INSIDE A DREAM?”    THE BIBLICAL ANSWER IS A RESOUNDING ‘YES’ IT WOULD BE DIFFERENT. THE BOOK CONFUSES REALITY W/ SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE AND EQUATES THEM AS EQUALLY VALID.

PG 178 – MACK IS TOLD THE CHURCH IS NOT BUILDINGS/INSTITUTIONS. THIS IS CORRECT BUT THEN MACK ASKS JESUS HOW HE CAN ‘BECOME PART OF THAT CHURCH?” THE BOOKS VERSION OF JESUS, INSTEAD OF TALKING ABOUT REPENTANCE OVER SIN AND FAITH IN THE PERSON/WORK OF CHRIST ALONE, SAYS ‘I’TS SIMPLE MACK. IT’S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS AND SIMPLY SHARING LIFE. WHAT WE ARE DOING RIGHT NOW – JUST DOING THIS – AND BEING OPEN AND AVAILABLE TO OTHERS AROUND US.’    THIS IS A WORKS BASED SALVATION. NOTHING ABOUT THE GOSPEL AND CHRIST’S DEATH, BURIEL, AND RESURRECTION. PAUL WARNS STRONGLY ABOUT ‘ANOTHER GOSPEL IN GAL. 1 ‘LET HIM BE ACCURSED IF ANYONE PREACHES TO YOU ANOTHER GOSPEL.”

PG 179 – JESUS STATES HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT ‘RELIGION, POLITICS, AND ECONOMICS’…. READ THE PROPHETS WHO WARN ISRAEL FOR NOT POLITICALLY HONORING GOD IN SOCIETY, AMOS 8 SAYS ISRAEL WENT INTO EXILE BE/C OF BAD ECONOMICS…THESE STATEMENTS PORTRAY JESUS AS NOT CARING ABOUT ALL OF LIFE AND ALL HUMAN AFFAIRS. THE BIBLICAL WITNESS IS THE JESUS CARES ABOUT ALL HIS CREATIN AND WILL JUDGE EVERY FACET OF CREATION AND MAN’S REALTION TO IT.

PG 182 – MACK ASKS, “IS THAT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN?” THE BOOK’S JESUS SAYS, ‘WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT BEING A CHRISTIAN? I’M NOT A CHRISTIAN.’  THEN THE BOOK’S JESUS ELABORATES THAT HE HAS PEOPLE FROM ALL TYPES OF GROUPS INCLUDING MORMONS, JEWS, BUDDHISTS, MUSLIMS, ETC.  MACK ASKS, ‘DOES THAT MEAN ALL ROADS WILL LEAD TO YOU?” THE BOOK’S JESUS SAYS ‘NOT AT ALL. MOST ROADS DON’T LEAD ANYWHERE. WHAT IT DOES MEAN IS THAT I WILL TRAVEL ANY ROAD TO FIND YOU.”  THIS IS OUT RIGHT INCLUSIVISM, THE IDEA THAT OTHERS WILL BE SAVED BY JESUS EVEN IF THEY DON’T CALL UPON HIS NAME FOR SALVATION. JESUS WILL FIND A WAY TO SAVE THEM WITHOUTHT THEM EXPRESSING EXPLICIT FAITH IN THE RISEN SAVIOR.  NOTE AGAIN THE BOOK’S JESUS ISN’T INTERESTED ‘BEING A CHRISTIAN’. THE BIBLE IS VERY, VERY CLEAR THAT ONLY THOSE WHO PLACE THEIR EXPLICIT FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST WILL BE SAVED, THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.

PG 187 – MACK SAYS, ‘BUT WHAT YOU (PAPA) SAID. I MEAN, ABOUT HIDING INSIDE LIES. I GUESS I’VE DONE THAT ONE WAR OR ANOTHER MOST OF LIFE.’ PAPA, THE BOOK’S VERSION OF GOD THE FATHER REPLIES, “HONEY, YOU ARE A SURVIVOR. NO SHAME IN THAT.’    HOW OUT RIGHT BLASPHEMOUS CAN ONE MISPRESENT GOD AND STILL BE CONSIDERED ‘’OK’ TO SELL AT LIFEWAY?! PAPA OK’S MACK’S LYING! NOTHING IS SAID ABOUT THE NEED TO CONFESS, REPENT, BE TRUTHFUL, ETC. INSTEAD PAPA JUSTIFIES MACK’S FORMER LYING AND BRUSHES IT OFF.

PG 195 BOTTOM,196 TOP – MACK IS WONDERING HOW HE WILL HEAR GOD SPEAK TO HIM. GOD RESPONDS BY ‘YOUR THOUGHTS’. GOD DOESN’T TELL MACK TO READ THE WORD OF GOD TO HEAR GOD SPEAK, ONLY TO LISTEN TO HIS OWN INNER THOUGHTS. THIS IS ONE OF SEVERAL PLACES WHERE SCRIPTURAL AUTHORITY IS UNDERMINED IN THE BOOK.

PG. 206- GOD HAS NEVER BEEN DISAPPOINTED W/ MAC

PG 226 – FORGIVENESS DOESN’T ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIP; IN JESUS, FORGIVEN ALL WHO SINNED AGAINST ME.

4)   ’90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN’ BY DON PIPER – INSIPIDLY TEACHES OR GIVES IT AN ‘OK SIGN’ TO LOOK TO EXTRA BIBLICAL REVELATION/EXPERIENCES FOR FINDING TRUTH WHEN 2 PETER 1:3 “GOD HAS GIVEN US EVERYTHING PERTAINING TO LIFE AND GODLINESS’  

1. THE SCRIPTURES ARE TO ‘TEACH US SOUND DOCTRINE’ – 2 TIMOTHY 3:16, NOT SOMEONE’S VISIONS, DREAMS, OR REVELATION…HE DOES NOT PRESENT HIS EXPERIENCE AS FICTION, BUT AS BASED ON HIS TRUE LIFE ACCOUNT OF HIS ACCIDENT….PAUL WARNS US IN COLOSSIANS 2:18 ABOUT TAKING STANCES ON VISIONS.

THE TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS ARE LOVE GOD AND YOUR NEIGHBOR

I)                    LOVE IS THE BEGINNING AND ENDING/GOAL OF THE LAW —‘DEPEND/HANG ALL THE LAW/PROPHETS’

1. LAW IS GIVEN IN CONTEXT OF REDEMPTION: RECALL 10 COMMANDMENTS…WE LIVE FROM REDEMPTION, NOT TO GAIN REDEMPTION
2. AS PER LAST WEEK, THAT GOD SPEAKS IS LOVE, THAT GOD REVEALS IS LOVE, THAT GOD SHOWS US WHAT PLEASES HIM IS LOVE, THAT GOD LEADS INTO LOVE IS EVEN MORE AMAZING!
3. 10 COMM. EXAMPLES – NO OTHER GODS. WHY? NONE ARE BETTER   NO IMAGES..WHY? NONE CAN CAPTURE THE BEAUTY OF GOD   NO ADULTERY…WHY? GOD LOVES COVENANT FAITHFULNESS IN ALL OF LIFE   NO LYING   WHY? GOD LOVES TRUTH BEC HE IS TRUTH!   NO MURDER  WHY? BEC GOD IS LIFE AND LOVES LIFE! HE IS THE ESSENCE OF PURE BEING, HE IS!!

II)                  LOVE FOR GOD IS PRIORITY

1. BY DEFAULT, THE CREATOR IS FIRST…HE IS THE ALPHA
2. LOVE FOR HIM AS SAVIOR…RE: 10 COM. CONTEXT..’BROUGHT YOU OUT OF EGYPT’
3. CAN’T LOVE MAN PROPERLY UNLESS FIRST LOVE GOD…WE’LL SEE IN A MOMENT WHY THIS ONE HAS TO BE FIRST
4. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LOVE GOD? ‘WITH ALL YOUR HEART, MIND, SOUL, STRENGTH, ETC.’

                                                               i.      LOVING HIM WITH ALL OUR FACULTIES; WITH ALL THAT MAKES US HUMAN!

1. INCLUDING THE MIND…ONE CANNOT HAVE TRUE ASSURANCE WITHOUT OBEDIENCE, AND YET ONE CANNOT HAVE OBEDIENCE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING/KNOWLEDGE OF THE COMMANDS
2. THERE CAN BE KNOWLEDGE W/OUT PRACTICE, BUT CAN’T BE PRACTICE W/OUT KNOWLEDGE.  WE NEED TO BE A READING, STUDYING CHURCH, AND INFORMED PEOPLE.  WHY STARTED LIBRARY.

                                                             ii.      LOVING HIM TO THE FULLNESS OF OUR FACULTIES

1. NOTE: GIFTS VARY, SOME LOVE WILL BE DISPLAYED SOMEWHAT DIFFERENTLY SOMETIMES
2. WHAT DOES IT NOT MEAN?

                                                               i.      DOESN’T MEAN MAN IS FOUR/FIVE PART BEING…MAN IS BODY/SOUL OR BODY/SPIRIT..THOSE ARE USED INTERCHANGEABLE

                                                             ii.      THAT IT’S RELEGATED TO OUTWARD ACTS ONLY; LIP SERVICE

                                                            iii.      THAT WE CAN LOVE GOD AND NOT OUR NEIGHBOR OR THAT WE CAN INVERSE THE ORDER!

III)                LOVE FOR OUR NEIGHBOR

1. WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? PARABLE: GOOD SAMARITAN…ONE WHOM YOU HAVE OPP TO DO GOOD FOR
2. HOW IS THE SECOND ONE LIKE THE FIRST ONE?

                                                               i.      THERE’S A CORRELATION BETWEEN LOVING GOD AND HOW THAT’S MANIFESTED IN LOVING MY NEIGHBOR (MINISTERING, SERVING, EVANGELISM, ETC)

                                                             ii.      BOTH ARE LOVE CENTERED…LOVE FOR PERSONS AS PERSONS…GOD IS PERSONAL AND MAN IS A PERSON

                                                            iii.      LOVE FOR THE IMAGE OF GOD IN MAN, IF I LOVE GOD, I’LL LOVE HIS IMAGE RELFECTED! THIS IS THE PRIMARY REASON WE SHOULD HATE ABORTION, NOT BEC A HUMAN LIFE IS TAKEN, THAT IS EVIL ENOUGH, BUT THE FACT THAT THE IMAGE OF GOD IS STRUCK OUT AGAINST!

                                                           iv.      FIND IT INTERESTING THAT PEOPLE HAVE ASSURANCE OF THEIR LOVE FOR GOD BUT NOT MANIFEST LOVE FOR THEIR NEIGHBOR?!

1. LIKE MYSELF?

                                                               i.      SELF-LOVE? IS IT THE SAME AS PYSCHOLOGY’S VIEW OF SELF-LOVE? LOW SELF ESTEEM? IS IT BECAUSE I DON’T LOVE MYSELF THAT I DO BAD THINGS OR MAKE WRONG CHOICES?  POP SAYING ‘YOU CAN’T LOVE OTHERS TILL YOU LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF”…GARBAGE! THIS DOESN’T SQUARE WITH SCRIPTURE! JESUS SAYS PROBLEM IS THAT WE LOVE OURSELVES TOO MUCH AND MUST DIE TO SELF TO COME TO HIM!

                                                             ii.      LOVE FOR SELF IS INNATE- WE ARE MEANT TO PRESERVE OURSELVES, BUT NO TO EXLUSION OF FOLLOWING CHRIST…THAT’S WHY LOVING GOD IS FIRST…EVEN SOMEONE WHO COMMITS SUICED IS LOVING THEMSELVES? HOW? BECAUSE OF GETTING RELIEF FOR THEMSELVES THEY DON’T THINK IS POSSIBLE ANY OTHER WAY!

1. CF. EPHESIAN 5:29 “NO MAN EVER HATED HIMSELF, BUT LOVES AND CHERISHES HIS FLESH.”

                                                            iii.      In other words make your self-seeking the measure of your self-giving. When Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” the word “as” is very radical: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s a BIG word: “As!” It means: If you are energetic in pursing your own happiness, be energetic in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor. If you are creative in pursuing your own happiness, be creative in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor. If you are persevering in pursuing your own happiness, be persevering in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor. In other words, Jesus is not just saying: seek for your neighbor the same things you seek for yourself, but also seek them in the same way—the same zeal and energy and creativity and perseverance.  Now this is very threatening and almost overwhelming. Because we feel immediately that if we take Jesus seriously, we will not just have to love others “as we love ourselves,” but we will have to love them “instead of loving ourselves.” We fear that if we follow Jesus in this, and really devote ourselves to pursuing the happiness of others, then our own desire for happiness will always be preempted. The neighbor’s claim on my time and energy and creativity will always take priority. So the command to love my neighbor as I love myself really feels like a threat to my own self-love. How is this even possible? If there is born in us a natural desire for our own happiness, and if this is not in itself evil, but good, how can we give it up and begin only to seek the happiness of others at the expense of our own? The Necessity of the First Commandment to Fulfill the Second I think that is exactly the threat that Jesus wants us to feel, until we realize that this—exactly this—is why the first commandment is the first commandment. It’s the first commandment that makes the second commandment doable and takes away the threat that the second commandment is really the suicide of our own happiness. People are designed to receive and enlarge your joy in God. Love them the way you love yourself. Show them, give them—through every practical means available—what you have found for yourself in God.

IV)               SO HOW DO I GROW IN MY LOVE FOR GOD AND MY NEIGHBOR?

1. YOU CAN’T…IN YOUR OWN NATURE

                                                               i.      IT IS A SUPERNATURAL WORK – DESCRIBE THE NATURAL HEART AS ENMITY AGAINST GOD. AND AS RESULT OF ENMITY AGAINST GOD, HEART WILL NOT TRULY LOVE NEIGHBOR EITHER. IT WILL USE PEOPLE, I’LL SCRATCH YOUR BACK, YOU SCRATCH MINE.

                                                             ii.       SO TO NOT LOVE GOD IS THE GREATEST EVIL…NOT MURDER, NOT SEXUAL SIN, NOT CUSSING, BUT NOT LOVING GOD IS THE GREATEST EVIL…FROM THIS SIN SPRINGS ALL THE OTHER SINS! 1 Corinthians 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha.

1. TO SAY THAT JESUS DIED FOR MAN’S SIN IS TO SAY THAT CHRIST DIED TO ATONE FOR AND REPLACE MAN’S HATRED FOR GOD!
2. BY THE UNDERSTANDING THE GOSPEL

                                                               i.      WITHOUT CHRIST, YOU MUST SEEK HIM, YOU MUST PLEAD WITH HIM TO SHOW MERCY TO YOU…YOU MUST MAKE DILIGENT USE OF ALL SERVICES, TIMES, MINISTERS, SERVANTS TO TEACH YOU THE THINGS OF GOD OR ELSE YOU PERISH!

                                                             ii.      WE MUST CONSTANTLY PREACH THE GOSPEL TO OURSELVES.

1. CF READING THRU ONE YR BIBLE – GOSPEL IN ABRAHAM – WE KNOW THAT FROM ABRAHAM THE PROMISED LINE IS COMING; JOSEPH – WE SEE HOW GOD PRESERVED THAT LINE SO WE COULD HAVE THE SAVIOR, ETC.

                                                            iii.      ‘HE WHO LOVES LITTLE HAS BEEN FORGIVEN LITTLE, HE WHO LOVES MUCH LOVES MUCH’

                                                           iv.      ‘WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US.’ – 1 JOHN 4:19

                                                             v.      1 JOHN 4:7-8 “ANYONE BORN OF GOD LOVES BECAUSE GOD IS LOVE.”

                                                           vi.      LOVE IS THE GREAT SECRET FOR OBEDIENCE TO GOD…NO OTHER MOTIVATION WILL SUSTAIN OBEDIENCE OR BE PLEASING TO HIM!

1. W/OUT LOVE, IT’S BECOMES LEGALISTIC/PHARISAICAL AND BURDENSOME
2. W/OUT LOVE, IT BECOMES ANTINOMIAN/LAWLESS AND CHAOTIC
3. WITH LOVE, HIS COMMANDMENTS ARE NOT BURDENSOME AND DISORDERLY
   1. HOW DO THEY APPEAR TO YOU AT THE MOMENT????
   2. ARE YOU KNOW AS ONE WHO LOVES YOUR NEIGHBORS?!
   3. GAL 5:22 “THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE.”

                                                          vii.      it is overwhelming because it seems to demand that I tear the skin off my body and wrap it around another person so that I feel that I am that other person; and all the longings that I have for my own safety and health and success and happiness I now feel for that other person as though he were me. AND ISN’T THIS EXACTLY WHAT CHRIST DID FOR US? HE TOOK ON FLESH?! THAT LEADS ME TO MY NEXT POINT?

V)                 HOW DID CHRIST FULFILL THESE TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS?

1. IN WORD
2. IN DEED
3. IN THOUGHT
4. IN SUBSTITUTION FOR YOU

                                                               i.      FOR UNBELIVERS

                                                             ii.      FOR BELIEVERS

What are the functions of the Law?

1)       Reveal God’s character/Christ’s character  …reveal the holiness of God – this is shown when God put distance between Himself and the people at mt sinaii …the physical distance is symbolic of the moral distance between us and God….also shown in God spoke as being on top of the mtn…the Lord came down to the mtn…Moses had to go up 

2)       show me my sin… cf. uzzah died from touching the ark from falling…he meant well but what matters is God’s word/law…not ‘sincerity’ …if can’t man keep the 10 commandments, how can he keep the greater commandment to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ w/out the radical mercy of God…will you plead with Him today to have mercy on you? To grant you grace to believe because you can’t obey God’s command to believe without His mercy? Will you plead for God’s mercy to you as a sinner?  ….not only man’s inability, but man’s deception thinking he’s ok with God and/or keep God’s commands….Illustration: Mosique in L’ville…”I keep the 10 commandments.” “Can you name them?” cf. Rich young ruler “what shall I DO TO EARN salvation…I’ve kept the commandments since my youth up…”…jesus shows Him the folly of such thinking!!!..then challenges him w/ the two greatest commandments…”Love God (Follow me) and Love your neighbor (sell all you have and give it to the poor!) …cf Isaiah 6 …when he saw God, he saw the evil of his heart in how he broke God’s law…”I’m a man of unclean lips …I’ve seen the Lord.”….”Job: Ive heard about you, but now I see you and I repent in dust and ashes….reason we are not broken or tolerate sin or don’t see it that bad is because we have not seen God!   

1. ( what about ‘we need to start where people are because they may not understand law?..this is fallacious on two accounts…
2. scripture never says that they can’t understand or that this is just a way out of many ways to reach sinful man 
3. God’s law is ALREADY written on their hearts, so there already IS a point of contact – Romans 2:14,15  

3)      Show me Christ’s active obedience (cf. to passive obedience of cross) that I need to be saved cf. lack in evangelical thought…recall double imputation..

4)      Shows me need of mercy as a sinner, law breaker – amazing bec of God’s holiness and our flagrant breaking of the law that God has a way to bring about justice and mercy in Jesus Christ!!!!  Cf.Hebrews 12:18- 25!!!!  If you think God’s judgement, wars, bloodshed was bad in the OT, Hebrews says that is nothing compared to what those who refuse and know of jesus Christ now it will be far, far worse!!!…cf Illustration: father/daughter caught in prarie fire…burned ground in front of them…only found refuge from fire when stood on land that had already been burned!

5)      As a believer, reminds me of my need of grace (Galatians: “you who began by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the Law/flesh?!”) – raw obedience, commandment keeping apart from the Spirit of God will defeat you as a believer and drive you back to the cross, where you’ll be reminded of His love, and where you will be motivated by His love to keep His law

God has decided not to regulate the punishment of certain crimes now in the time of now, but at death…but His view on these things has not changed!

Why study these? 1) shows us how to love God and our neighbor..it’s the goal of the Law 2) Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 3) Cf. Western life is committed to minimal law and maximum freedom. Yet many laws also shows a lawless citizenship bec people are not self-governed by ethics. 4) because all cultures are built on false idols until Shiloh comes and subdues all nations under His feet…Rev. 19!   5) because no real change comes to us, the church or society until specific idols are dealt with…cf. Paul’s approach in Acts…ever gender, person, culture, etc has its own idols…and it is for God’s glory that we understand what this commandment means and how it impacts us!

The First Commandment: No other gods before Me

1)      What does this commandment reveal about God? I AM THE LORD AND THERE IS NO OTHER…HE DEMANDS EXCLUSIVE ALLEGIANCE, HE SEES ALL THINGS, HE KNOWS ALL THINGS, HE HAS POWER OVER ALL OTHER ‘GODS’ HE KNOWS THIS IS MAN’S TENDENCY TO LOVE IDOLS

2)      Why, in love, did God give this commandment to me? Bec all gods punish you when you break their laws! Cf. Romans 6 ‘what we yield to we become enslaved to!” …you don’t have a syndrome, you are enslaved to the god you serve!

3)      What is the true intention of this law?

1. This is foundational/preeminent to all the other laws…this law is broke when every other law is broken? How? Ex. Covet – I love some material thing more than God. Adultery – I love my lust more than I do obedience to God. Etc, etc.
2. Surface obedience – no bowing down to a carved image
3. Heart issues – Romans 1 “suppress the truth of God in unrighteouness”

                                                               i.      The law of God written on man’s heart!

                                                             ii.      The true intention of the law! Jesus heightens the demands of the commandments, not just to outward but to inward issues!

1. The root issue is idolatry – ‘anything that takes the 1^st place of God, that gives me my identity, that I love so much I’ll sin to get it or sin if I don’t, when a good thing becomes an ultimate thing…cf the gospel is we are saved by grace alone, an idol is something else can save me or be/do for me only what God can/should do”  Israel was facing Canaan that had many gods. We have a Canaan we are facing also. 3 areas where we have gods

                                                               i.      Cultural

1. Money – Artemis – cf. child sacrifices..some do it today w/ their families to get more money, etc.
2. Power – Zeus
3. Sex/Beauty – Aphrodite
4. Politics – many look for deliverance for fellow man/self in right party rather than in gospel of Jesus Christ! Cf. Israel – God said bec Israel trusted in military power of Egypt to do what God could do…Israel gave up freedom, paid more taxes, and came under more control to serve her idol of ‘security’
5. Intellectual/Reason – Athena – goddess of wisdom…science w/out God
6. American god – the moral therapeutic deistic god; the break glass in case of emergency god…Tozer “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” 
7. Greeks had gods for sex, work, play, etc for everything…why? Because everything can be a god…when something good becomes an ultimate thing it has become an idol.

                                                             ii.      Religious

1. Tolerance – When we won’t stand strongly for Jesus being the only way…this is really syncretized worship or polytheism…cf David, Solomon, Rehoboam degenerating pattern!!! TOLERANCE under Solomon, all out war against the Lord under Rehoboam…death of society!
2. Gifts…bec we can confuse our gifts and their efficacy for true fruit and they aren’t the same…cf. love, joy, peace, gentleness,
3. When we would rather hold to traditions instead of embracing needful change to move forward
4. When we want to change for the sake of being ‘new’ and on the ‘edge’
5. When we can’t celebrate w/ like minded brothers/sisters of diff church/denomination when God blesses them, you’ve made an idol of your ‘church’.

                                                            iii.      Personal

1. Belly – indulgence of food; when worry comes some find refuge (which what God is to be in their food)
2. Emotions (you can’t say anything to me when my emotions are high! You are rude to speak past my emotions bec I feel strongly right now about…..)
3. Relationships/romance/sex

                                                                                             i.            Kids – it will break the marriage…stunt its growth…and teach children that they are the center of the marriage rather than the 1 flesh union!

1. Pleasure – Toys, web, cars, etc but can’t tithe??
2. Health – seems to be the new way to reach immortality!
3. Behind every idol is demonic forces! Cf. No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.  (1Co 10:20 NAU)
4. “If I had ________ I would be finally happy. Or, If I did not have ________  I would finally be happy.” These are areas to look for the issue of idolatry in your heart!
5. What are some signs of my idolatry?

                                                               i.      What do I praise? “out of the heart the mouth speaks” We praise by our nature, the gods we love.

                                                             ii.      What do I sacrifice for? Every god demands sacrifice

                                                            iii.      What do I evangelize others with? What do I try to get people involved with me,etc?

                                                           iv.      What do meditate on? Fantasize about? Learn deeply about?

                                                             v.      What do I pray to? Where do I have my hopes of fulfillment in this god?

                                                           vi.      Where do I find my greatest joy w/out giving thanks to God for it as seeing as only a gift from God? Psalm 16 “in Your presence is fullness of joy..Thanksgiving or lack thereof is a big indicator…cf again Romans 1 and the exchange because they wouldn’t give thanks!

                                                          vii.      “everyone is conformed to the God they worship”…so what do others say you look like? Angry, jump to conclusions, manipulative, worry, fear, greed, ungrateful, etc.? cf Psalm 115 “those who make them will be like them”…cf. 2 Cor. 3  “beholding Him we are changed from glory to glory”

Review: 1^st bec foundational to rest….Lit. “no gods before my face.”

-what is the religious ritual of your daily life? What is this god promising you? How are you trying to appease this god/ manipulate it to get what you want? Cf. fertility gods and rituals/sacrifices…it’’s why OT is extremely relevant to your life! We deal w/ idols also.

1.  
2.  
3. The negative implies the positive fulfillment and its aspects

                                                               i.      Allegiance to the one true God…John 14:6…Matt 11:27 ‘no one knows the Father except whom the Son reveals Him to.”   1 John 5:20b, 21 “even in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.”  Illustr. – at  cabin, guy’s atheist friend “the river is my church/ the woods are my sanctuary”

                                                             ii.      A seeking after Him – a theological shaped mind/worldview, prayer, fellowship,

                                                            iii.      A full engagement of our whole person after the person of God alone.

                                                           iv.      Exclusive worship to the one true God…thanksgiving, adoration, praise…in short, Loving God w/ all our heart, mind, soul, strength

                                                             v.      ‘taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”

                                                           vi.      Pull down the idols of your life, culture, religion like prophets of old

1. Why do we love/desire false gods?

                                                               i.      Our nature is to love anything but the one true God.   Calvin “we are idol factories.”

                                                             ii.      The promise to be refuge, deliverers, joy-givers, mighty towers, relief, promise to make us ‘holy/set apart’!, deliverance, promise – makers, etc etc…aka counterfeit gods….any and everything that the LORD promises to be for us the promise to do the same thru the CREATION!!! Here’s where we counter the lies of sin w/ the promises of God…Ex. I’m afraid so I look to (blank) for deliverance…How has Christ become your deliverance? Crucifixion, Second Coming, etc.   Again, cf Romans 1:18ff…again, why we don’t point at homosexuality as the “UGLY, UNFORGIVEABLE” sin bec when we disobey we are choosing the same God/idol exchange they are doing!

1. False gods always bring wrath for not obeying their ‘laws’
   1. Self as god –

                                                                                                                                       i.      Culture of pop psychology of ‘self esteem’ or if we turn it around ‘esteem self’..cf. Gen 3 ‘You shall be as gods’

                                                                                                                                     ii.      how do you punish others for not meeting your demands?

1. Where are you ‘depressed/defeated/beat down, etc’ because you have failed your god or because it has been unable to deliver you? 

                                                            iii.      We forget God’s eye is always upon us! Omniscience…Think how more reserved you are when you know someone is watching you and yet God is always watching, even when we show allegiance to other gods.

                                                           iv.      We forget God we are always in the full presence of God. Think how more reserved you are when you know someone is watching you and yet God always is watching you, even when you show allegiance to your other gods!

                                                             v.      Because God has given some amazing gifts in life…Gifts make good gifts but hard masters! Our sinfulness takes gifts out of  their proper place.

                                                           vi.      Bec we forget that sin is not just doing and pursuing evil things but sometimes it’s loving good, legit things supremely….cf. Matt. 4 – Jesus temptation to turn stones into bread…Was that legit need? Sure Was it God’s timing? Was it to take place over the priority of Him walking w/ Father? NO!

4)      How does Jesus Christ fulfill this?

1. NOTE: fulfill means

                                                               i.      ‘to make full, show true intention of, to complete, perfect it!’

                                                             ii.      Goal – it reaches its destination in Him – note: we are ‘in Him’ as law keepers!

1. Jesus as the revealer, the Logos, of God!
2. By His active obedience DEFINE!!!, I’m imputed w/ righteous credit…Matt 4:9,10 “you shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only
3. In His passive obedience – DEFINE!!!! He absorbed my sin for breaking this commandment in His own body on the tree.  Matt. 26:42 “let this cup pass but not my will but your will be done.”
4. What aspect of the ‘moral, civil, ceremonial’ divisions of law in relation to the fulfillment of Christ?
5. As a model in word, deed, speech…Be careful w/ “What would Jesus do?” mentality…some things you should do like Him bec you can’t…plus it’s whole reason he came: to do what you couldn’t!!!
6. The first commandment teaches us to worship Jesus as the one and only Lord, Savior, and mediator (Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5). 

5)      How does love motivate me to fulfill this?

1. Because He is my God..cf. Ex. 20:1,2
2. Because of Christ He is also my Savior, I now am motivated by His love/sacrifice to practically ‘become’ what I positionally am!!!
3. according to his Deity he is the one we honor and worship when we keep the law
4. When I see the wonder, beauty of God’s perfections…sometimes we don’t need more counseling principles…many times we need more theology so we can be won by a superior joy that’s found in Christ…Cf. “turn your eyes upon Jesus…”
5. THE PROMISES OF GOD…CF. WHAT IDOLS PROMISE TO BE/DO FOR US IF WE SERVE them…cf God promises to be our refuge, deliverer, comforter, etc.

6)      How do I use this in evangelism?

1. It’s easier to expose people’s sins…bec/ everybody is living for something and if that something isn’t the Lord, it’s idolatry!

                                                               i.      Bec it makes it easier bec people don’t have to be involved in ‘bad sins’ to be exposed w/ the law of God

                                                             ii.      Bec it deals w/ the heart and the heart of the issue is love and where are your affections?

                                                            iii.      Bec speaking of idols makes you relevant in showing the change they/society needs…to not speak to the needs of the day with the gospel is to fail in changing the world for Christ…we can’t pick our evangelism issues, society has chosen them for us and it’s here that we must engage the gospel…

If you expose people’s idols, they will threaten violence against you. You will also be the focus of attack of demonic forces.

Interestingly, people  were mad at Paul bec his exposing and refuting their idols they thought would bring chaos to society…exactly the opposite was the case…Paul was showing that society’s gods led to the corruption of humanity and society!

“we will not have this man reign over us!”

-what is a god? Anything that you give allegiance, love, energy to in serving

                -everyone has a god…question is

-what some common god replacements in the church, your life, society? 

                -every god demands allegiance and has a religious ritual: I’ll sacrifice for it, I’ll serve it, I’ll evangelize for it, I’ll suffer for it, I’ll devote time to it, I’ll learn the ‘word’ of that god (magazine, tv show, some teacher, some ) , I’ll think about my god, I’ll desire to please my god, I’ll hope for it (fantasize over it)

                -allegiance to any god means slavery  cf. Romans 6 either slave of God or of unrighteousness! “cf. hear people say, “I can’t give up that much right now…they are saying I don’t want to be enslaved to God yet they are already enslaved, losing more than if they came to YHWH…’my burden is easy my yoke is light.”

-What is that makes legitimate worship and idolatry? Faith and trust…What or who are you trusting? Note: no idolater will have a part in the kingdom…but Jesus has come to set us free from our idols to lead us into true worship of the one true God because He is the one true way!

Intro: Oprah – “God is jealous of me?” was big turning point for her.

God is jealous when someone gives to another something that rightly belongs to Him. God’s jealousy is His passion for what should be His.

God is jealous for:

I)                    His own honor

1. Exclusive worship and love – no idols, carved images, etc.
2. Linked with His holiness – that His glory should be acknowledged and proclaimed.
3. Linked w/ His mercy – Ezek. 39:25-27 …not mutually exclusive…cf. Ex.20:4
4. His right as “God”….all things are His and to act as if they aren’t provokes His jealousy.

                                                               i.      Cf Def’n; “Jealousy is wanting/desiring something that is not rightfully yours.” So what does not belong to God that He’s made???

1. There is an ‘emotional’ aspect to this attribute of God…cf to some views of Divine aseity…some argue against God’s ‘passions’ only when they are negative ‘emotions’, why not against the positive ones like love, kindness, tenderness, compassion of God?
2. It would be wrong for God to ‘not be jealous’…the image created in our mind by the word “jealous” is the picture of a lover or a husband who gets angry when someone else competes for the heart of his wife or when her heart goes away after other lovers. This picture is confirmed by verses 15 and 16 which warn Israel against playing the harlot with other gods. The demand of the covenant is: don’t be a harlot. Don’t commit adultery against God. Don’t let your heart turn from him and go after other things. For your God, your husband, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God in Exodus 34.
3. God is jealous like a powerful and merciful king who takes a peasant girl from a life of shame, forgives her, marries her, and gives her not the chores of a slave, but the privileges of a wife—a queen. His jealousy does not rise from fear or weakness but from a holy indignation at having his honor and power and mercy scorned by the faithlessness of a fickle spouse.
4. The ten commandments are not a job description for God’s employees. They are the wedding vows that the peasant girl takes to forsake all others and to cleave to the king alone and to live in a way that brings no dishonor to his great name.

II)                  For the faithfulness of His people

1. Based in His love for His people that expects to be reciprocated…God is not jealous of people as per Oprah, but jealous for the welfare of His people…what’s our ultimate welfare? To love God supremely. To be redeemed, to remember our redemption…cf. Ex. 20:1,2 “brought you out of Egypt”..

                                                               i.      How did God show His jealous love for us? Christ crucified! Look what He has done to defeat our false loves, our straying heart, and our eternal joy in Him

1. Results in judgment/discipline from God’s hand…key theme in bible “all idolatry is spiritual adultery”  aka the reason why God is jealous as a husband over His bride!
2. To lead to restoration – READ Zechariah 8:1ff

III)                On behalf of His people

1. Christ our sin bearer
2. Christ our righteousness – Matt. 4:10 “love God and serve Him only” from Deut 6 and motivation there is the jealousy of God…
3. Christ our love restorer …cf John “do you love me?” after Peter denied Him 3x’s
4. The Lord will fight for you.  Against your enemies, against false lovers who seek to draw away your heart from God. -

Conclusion:

1)      If there is no jealousy in God, can there be any meaningful relationships?

1. First this shows why doctrine of Trinity makes sense. For jealousy to exist, there must exist interdependence in a relationship. Jesus is the bridge for God’s jealousy from God to man because He is the God-man.
2. Without God’s jealousy, the church dies in relation of community w/ each other and in relation to God.
3. Cf. western society’s revulsion to ‘exclusivity’ in relationships….flirt w/ co-workers, divorce prevalent, hooking up culture, casual dating, church hopping,
4. Cf. our therapeutic man-centered culture “self help’ sections at even Christian bookstores, where is the community of God’s people, where’s a God centered approach to life?

2)      So why is it sinful for us to be jealous?

1. It is a sin when we desire, or we are envious, or we are jealous of someone because he has something that we do not have. It is a different use of the word “jealous” when God says He is jealous. What He is jealous of belongs to Him; worship and service belong to Him alone, and are to be given to Him alone. Jealousy is a sin when it is a desire for something that does not belong to you.
2. Not all jealousy is…some is godly like for God’s honor, the church to love Christ, and your relationships eg. Marriage..cf Paul’s love for the church – 2 Cor 11:2
3. PIPER: God’s chief jealousy is to be known, admired, trusted, enjoyed, and obeyed above all others. This (God’s self-exaltation) is not megalomania because, unlike our self-exaltation, God’s self-exaltation draws attention to what gives greatest and longest joy, namely, himself. When we exalt ourselves, we lure people away from the one thing that can satisfy their souls—the infinite beauty of God. When God exalts himself, he manifests the one thing that can satisfy our souls, namely, God. Therefore, God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is the most loving act, since love labors and suffers to enthrall us with what is infinitely and eternally satisfying, namely, God. Therefore, when God exalts God and commands us to join him, he is pursuing our highest, deepest, longest happiness. This is love, not megalomania. God’s pursuit of his glory and our pursuit of our joy turn out to be the same pursuit. This is what Christ died to achieve. “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18 ). When we are brought to God as our highest treasure, he gets the glory and we get the pleasure.

3)      Where should be biblically jealous?:       

1. For the honor of God…this is passion, this is a willingness to stand and not be complacent…Illustration: Friend admired roommates books on leadership, but my response people need to conviction about what they believe and they’ll lead by default. Cf. Luther, Calvin, Augustine, William Carey didn’t read books on leadership but were jealous for God’s honor in the world!
2. For each other’s loyalty to Christ and the gospel…cf Paul “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. (2Co 11:2 NAU)…”

4)      So why are we not changed by God’s jealousy?

1. Going after other gods is in relation to getting rich, fat, comfortable and forgetting God’s salvation. This provokes God’s jealousy. See Deut. 6:10ff..right after very important section on training our children, not the schools, to love the Lord lest the next generation forgets and provokes God’s jealousy!
2. We don’t know Christ and the forgiveness of sins…We’ve never been changed by the fierce love of Jesus as shown in Calvary.
3. We have made an idol somewhere and we are jealous of protecting/keeping it.
4. We don’t understand the deep deep love of God in Christ or the who God is.

5)      It should cause:

                                                               i.      Believers to not flirt with idols, knowing that the Lord will execute vengeance upon our idols and discipline us

                                                             ii.      Unbelievers because they have given their love to a false god that belongs only to YHWH

Next week, Jealousy motivates God to command us (Exod. 34:13-14). But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God) (Exod. 34:13-14).

INTRO: Philosopher once said, “God made man in His own image, and man decided to return the favor.”

-1^st commandment says don’t worship a false god; 2^nd commandments says worship the true God in the right way! Not enough just to worship the true God, but must worship Him correctly!

1^st application: This commandment assumes some things about man:

a)      Man is by nature a worshipper

1. People actually making idols physically – idols often said to be ‘the works of man’s hands’…what are the things man makes today the people worship? Celebrity, wealth, status, material goods, etc.
2. People making idols idealogically, spiritually…in their minds…cf “I don’t think God is like…”

b)      Man by nature pollutes the true worship of the true God and wanders away from God

c)       Man gravitates towards physical creation over invisible creator…” cf. Romans 1:18ff

d)      Man needs redemption brought to Him by the revelation of the word of God! We see that ultimately in Jesus Christ. This command tells us what we need rescuing from.

2^nd application: God determines how we are to worship Him…. The heart of this commandment is God honoring worship!

a)      No other mediator – no object can mediate God’s presence…cf. altar of today to Christ’s finished work ….Hebrews 13 “Christ is our altar

1. Material ‘worship helpers’ are forbidden…cf. the sufficiency of scripture is undermined..it’s as if God’s word is not good enough to sustain, motivate, etc us
2. Cf good luck charms, horoscopes
3. Pictures of Jesus and in the movies!!!  Cf. Mormons/JW’s who are idolaters theologically, yet look how often their literature uses pictures of Jesus?!
4. What do people want out of images/idols? It is how you control the god/s to get what you want.  The want a material mediator but only Christ is our mediator and here I must speak against something that is sacred to Baptist but should not be sacred:
5. THE ALTAR IN MODERN EVANGELISTIC APPEALS…WHAT IF WE SAID MEN MUST STAND UP FROM THEIR SEATS, OR GET UP AND MOVE TO THE BACK OF THE CHURCH? WHAT DO THESE HAVE TO DO WITH THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD? THE ONLY ALTAR IS THE ALTAR UPON WHICH CHRIST WAS CRUCIFIED, THE CROSS AND HIS BLOOD SPRINKLED BEFORE THE ALTAR OF GOD IN HEAVEN FOR OUR SINS….WE ARE THE NEW TEMPLE, SANCTUARY….AN ALTAR IS REALLY A BAPTIST VERSION OF CATHOLICS PENANCE…

OBJECTION: BUT WHAT IF WE NEED TO PRAY? 

 RESPONSE: IS IT MORE SPIRITUAL, DOES IT EFFECT MORE GRACE BECAUSE YOU COME TO A SPECIFIC PIECE OF WOOD, PLACE IN THE CHURCH? CF W/ CATHOLIC VIEW IS MORE OT THAN NT FULFILMENT…CATHOLICA CHURCH HAS INCENSE, SPECIAL CLASS OF PRIESTS, ‘SACRIFICES FOR SINS AKA PENITNECE/GOOD WORKS TO MAKE UP FOR BAD’…CAN CATHOLIC BE SAVED WITHOUT THESE IN THEIR VIEW? YES BUT IT HELPS…CF BAPTIST, CAN BE BAPTIST BE SPIRITUAL W/OUT ALTAR, YES BUT IT HELPS…HOW SO?

OBEJCTION: BUT PEOPLE NEED TO RESPOND TO THE MESSAGE/CHALLENGE…

RESPONS: IF THE PERSON IS NOT WILING TO OBEY CHRIST 10 MINUTES LATER, THEN IT WAS ONLY EMOTIONAL AND NOT A REAL REPENTANCE/ACT OF WORSHIP…ILLUSTRATION: LLOYD JONES “MAN SAID IF YOU GAVE INVITATION I WOULD HAVE CAME TO CHRIST…”WILL YOU COME TO HIM NOW?” NO’ “THEN IT WAS NOT A WORK OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD’.  REALITY IS EVERYBODY ALWAYS RESPONDS TO THE MESSAGE, WHETHER OBEDIENTLY, OR DISOBEDIENTLY!…OBEDIENT RESPONSE TO THE WORD OF GOD IS CALLED WORSHIP.

OBJECTION: PEOPLE MAY WANT OTHERS TO PRAY WITH THEM….

RESPONSE: 1^ST, THIS SHOULD BE 1^ST PRIORITY WITH THEIR ELDERS   2^ND, WHAT IS WRONG WITH TAKING MORE TIME THAN THE CLOSING FEW MINUTES OF HYMN TO GATHER OTHERS AROUND YOU FOR EXTENDED PRAYER? CF. WE THINK TRANSFORMATIONAL PRAYER HAPPENS IN INVITATIONAL TIME YET BIBLE SPEAKS OF PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER AND HABITUALLY PRAYING FOR OTHERS FOR CHANGE…HOW DO YOU SQUARE THIS WITH ‘INVITATION PRAYING”…I WONDER HOW MANY COME TO ALTAR TO ALLEVIATE THEIR GUILTY FEELINGS AND NOT REALLY DEAL WITH ISSUE.

POINT OF INTERST: GODLIEST PEOPLE I KNOW AREN’T ONES USUALLY GOING TO ALTAR, BUT BATTLING IT OUT DAY AFTER DAY IN THE TRENCHES OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE

POINT OF INTEREST 2: BRIEF HISTORY AND THEOLOGY OF WHY ALTAR EVANGELISM CAME INTO PRACTICE….ALSO CF. GRAHAM’S THEOLOGY: ‘TO CONFESS CHRIST, COME FORWARD…NO!!!! TO CONFESS CHRIST, BE BAPTIZED AND JOIN THE CHURCH!!!!”

MORE BIBLICAL ALTERNATIVE: 1) PRIORITY OF ELDERS FOR COUNSEL/PRAYER  2) WEEKLY ACCOUNTABILITY…BEST MODE IS THRU SUNDAY SCHOOL…’SEE ELDERS JOB IS EPH. 4:6-11..’EQUIP YOU SO THAT BODY CAN BUILD ‘ITSELF’ UP”

b)      Regulative principle – only worship God the way He says

1. the total corruption and deceitfulness of the human heart disqualifies man from judging what is to be admitted into the worship of God

c)       John Knox expressed the matter pointedly: “All worshipping, honoring, or service invented by the brain of man in the religion of God, without his own express commandment, is idolatry”

d)      Warning against human traditions ..charismatic tendencies of excess, Baptist of minimizing ordinances as worship..

1. Wrong worship gives false testimony about who God is…what does your worship say about what you believe about God? About God in your life? Not encouraging false pretensions but where is your heart?

                                                                                                   i.      Cf. idols are limited but God is not

                                                                                                 ii.      An idol is created, God IS

                                                                                                iii.      Idol is not living, God is the everliving God

                                                                                               iv.      Idols imply human control over the ‘god’, Christ is Sovereign!

                                                                                                 v.      Idols imply need, Christ is the sustainer/up holder of all things! “In Him all things hold together.”

                                                                                               vi.      Idols are visual related and not heard, God is heard but not seen…that means no pictures of Jesus! ..cf society ‘visual is replacing verbal’…cf. texting and no converstation!!

 3^rd application: We become what we worship – Psalm 115:1-8 Their idols [graven images] are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speaks them through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; [so is] every one that trusteth in them. (Psalms 115:1-8).

a)      2 Cor. 3:18- beholding Him we are changed from glory to glory…

b)      making an idol also means making yourself or leading others away from being conformed to the image of God in Christ!….How do we change? By beholding…2 Cor. 3:18 “beholding Him we are changed from glory to glory….”  “those who make idols become like them” (Psalm 115)     Application: what are you conformed to? What do you talk about? What/who do you act like? Who/what do you admire? Who/what do you long for more than god?

c)       Cf. imaginations, fantasy, if only statements, what makes you happy pursuits, what do you meditate upon in trouble or for joy?

d)      Importance of taking thoughts captive and renewing our minds on the nature/character of God in Christ

4^th application: Our depth of theology and purity of worship will shape generations to come.

a)      Vs. 5,6

b)      Again, cf. Deut. 6

c)       What this does NOT mean: it is NOT a curse in sense that you are zapped bec you had bad parents, but unbiblical parents beget likeness in teaching them what to love, worship, etc.

d)      What it DOES mean: God works thru means!

5^th application: Where and how is the commandment fulfilled?

a)      Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God…we perceive Him through the preached word and through the ordinances of the church.. (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3). WE SEE HIM FULLY IN THE GOSPEL…CF. 1 PETER “WE HAVE A MORE SURE WORD” AND YET HE SAW HIM AND NOT ONLY THAT SAW HIM AT THE TRANSFIGUREATION!!! WOW, WHY NEED PICS OR OTHER ‘SPIRITUAL RELICS’?

b)       Our devotion to him precludes worship of any other image.

1. He also obeyed this law and suffered the consequence as if He broke it…this is substitutionary atonement; double imputation

c)       Man is made in the image of God…can’t love God and yet hate our fellow man…here we see the image of God and yet we despise it and then we go off and make/love our own Gods or try to approach God in worship? Cf Matt 5 “If your brother has something against you, leave gift at altar, 1^st be reconciled, then come present gift.”

d)      Recall how these two tie back into Loving God and Loving man as the fulfillment of the law

e)      We see this in the celebration of the ordinances where we behold Christ and the transformed person representing the image of God which leads us to worship God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

6^th application: What will you do?

1. God is to be worshipped bec He is jealous for His fame, He is God and has all rights, and He is redeemer for sinful man (I brought you out of the land of Egypt..You know God is saving your life right now? Why are you still alive though you’ve sinned against Him?)
2. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols [graven images]? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2 Corinthians 6:16).
3. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8).
4. Will you put away your idols/false images/ideas of God and come to Christ who IS the image of God, who has provided redemption for you to be restored yourself back to being in the image of God?
5. Christians will only put away their false gods when they see manifest beauties of one who is the fullness of the image of God…see Christ and idols will fade!

INTRODUCTION: CONNECTION BETWEEN NAME AND CHARACTER…

-VAIN ‘EMPTY, MEANINGLESS,

-3^rd commandment is like 9^th commandment, except 9^th is in regards to our neighbor and 3^rd commandment is in relation to the Lord Himself.

-ILLUST: ALEXANDER THE GREAT STORY…

1)      WHAT DOES THIS COMMANDMENT REVEAL ABOUT THE CHARACTER OF GOD/CHRIST?-The name of God is very, very significant in several ways. First of all in Old Testament cultures, in the cultures around Israel in the days of the Old Testament, the name of gods were very significant for giving you access to those gods, and influence with those gods. To know the name of the god enabled you to have a certain access and influence, and perhaps even to use the name of that god for blessing and cursing. And so also the one true God giving His name to His people was a special blessing to them. For them to know His name, His covenant name, was to give them a special privilege of access to Him in order to pray, in order to ask for blessing, in order to be a part of His family.

-God has given His name to you, and He has taken your name to Him. If you have trusted in Him, if you have been joined to His church, you have received baptism, and in baptism you have received His name.

2)      HOW DOES THIS COMMANDMENT REVEAL MY SIN?

1. PRINCIPLE: THE LETTER OF THE LAW:   The third commandment forbids all profaning and abusing of anything whereby God makes Himself known. (Malachi 1:6-8; Lev. 20:3; 19:12; Matthew 5:34-37; Isa. 52:5.) It is not simply a matter of cursing or using the name God or Jesus vainly in that way. It is true that God’s name is not to be used in that manner. We are not to say “God bless you” frivolously when someone sneezes, or say “Oh my God” when we are excited or ecstatic

                                          i.    OMG, GEES, GOSH, JESUS, LORD… BAD LANG. DOESN’T EXPRESS WORSHIP OR FAITH…

1. PRINCIPLE: THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW: What is this commandment primarily directed against? The commandment is primarily directed against the heart and the tongue. The heart is where a man’s actions come forth from. If our heart is irreverent towards God, then we will use His name in vain, or in an ignoble fashion. Remember, the heart controls the tongue.

                                                               i.      When we profess God’s name but do not live answerably to it. It means we live hypocritically. By using the commandments of men in place of the commandments of God, the people violated the Law of God. Jesus went on with this statement, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

                                                             ii.      When we worship with our lips and not our hearts we take His name in vain. -“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:8-9).

                                        iii.    When we pray to Him but do not believe Him we use His name in vain..”in Jesus name.”

                                        iv.    When we swear by God’s name falsely, we use it in vain. Whenever we make a promise and do not keep it, we are lying as a Christian and making a mockery of God’s name. When we make an oath to God and do not keep it we use His name in vain.

1. MARRIAGE (DIVORCE, SEXUAL RELATIONS, FLIRTATION)  /EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE/CONTRACTS, CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, WITNESSING, DISCIPLE MAKING,
2. PROMISES – HOW SOME MINIMIZE PROMISES..CF. JEWS ‘SWORE BY TEMPLE INSTEAD OF GOD.”
3. Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matt. 5:33-37).

                                         v.    When we speak evil of God in a circumstance He is bringing us through we use His name in vain. How often do you grumble and complain against God? Do you find His ways hard? Is the path that He is leading you down weary to your feet? Do you want to hop over the fence into the plush meadow to comfort your aching bones? Do you gripe at the perfect, concise, eternal, unchangeable plan of God? If you do or if you have, then you have used God’s name in vain. God has the perfect plan laid out for you. When adverse circumstances come by you should praise Him as Job did, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21b) Do not grumble or gripe like Job’s wife who said “Curse God and die,” but be humble before Him knowing that everything He does for you is for your good. When we grumble against God in hard circumstances we give a bad witness and consequently use His name in vain….CF ISRAEL’S COMPLAINING…LED TO JUDGMENT/DISCIPLINE

                                        vi.    WHEN WE BECOME TRIVIAL WITH APPROACHING GOD OR THE THINGS OF GOD, WE HAVE USED HIS NAME IN VAIN. CF SUPERFICIAL WORSHIP OF NADAB AND ABIHU!

3)      WHAT IS THE POSITIVE TEACHING OF THIS LAW?

1. Promise keeping
2. SPEAK SOBERLY ABOUT THE GREATNESS OF GOD AND WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE…
3. SEE GOD IN HIS NAMES, TITLES, ACTS…HAVE A ROBUST THEOLOGY…A MINIMALIST APPROACH TO GOD’S ACTS/SPEECH AKA WHAT HIS NAME IS ABOUT, IS TO MINIMIZE THE NAME OF GOD! USE OUR LIBRARY! COME TO TRUTH PROJECT, BE IN BIBLE STUDIES!

                                          i.    PEOPLE ARE CHANGED BY WHO GOD IS, NOT MODERN PSYCH..WE NEED AN ENCOUNTER W/ GOD, NO MORE ENCOUNTERS W/ OUR ‘INNER’SELVES’…

1. LET YOUR LIFE BE CHARACTERIZED BY THE IDENTITY IN GOD’S NAME, NOT YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OR LACK THEREOF, ETC.
2. PRAYER – VIRBRANT, DYNAMIC…NOT REPETIVE, CLICHÉ PRAYERS  God’s name can also be misused by constantly repeating it over and over in religious services. This is vain repetition; it has no worthwhile purpose. Heathen often use the same type of vain repetition for the purpose of detaching the self from the mundane world. “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matt. 6:7-8).  CF. PROPHETS OF BAAL W/ ELIJAH
3. FELLOWSHIP – MICAH 4:5 “ALL THE NATIONS MAY WALK IN THE NAME OF THEIR GODS BUT WE WILL WALK IN THE NAME OF THE LORD OUR GOD FOREVER AND EVER.”

4)      HOW DOES CHRIST FULFILL THIS LAW FOR ME?

1. ‘I HAVE MANIFESTED YOUR NAME TO THE MEN WHOM YOU GAVE ME OUT OF THE WORLD.’ JOHN 17:6
2. PHILL. 2:9-11 ‘NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME, KNEES WILL BOW’
3. ‘OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME…
4. SUBSTITUTION! ‘HE MADE HIM WHO KNEW NO SIN…” 2 COR. 5:21

5)      HOW DOES LOVE MOTIVATE ME TO FULFILL THIS LAW? IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DO I WORSHIP BASED ON THIS COMMANDMENT?

1. JOEL 2:32 “WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
2. ACTS 4:12 “SALVATION IN NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN.’
3. 1 JOHN 3:23 “BELIEVE ON HIS NAME AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.’
4. LOVE FOR GOD AND NEIGHBOR LEADS TO MATT. 28:18-20; PREACHING FULL GOSPEL, FULL LAW, FULL WARNINGS OF JUDGMENT!
5. HOW DOES GOD RESPOND TO TAKING HIS NAME IN VAIN? GOD, IN LOVE, REVEALS MAN WILL BE JUDGED FOR HOW HE TREATS GOD’S NAME…READ VS. 7…ALSO LEVITICUS 24 – WOMAN’S SON WHOSE SON BLASPHEMED THE NAME OF GOD; HE WAS STONED TO DEATH.  ‘GOD HAS NOT MELLOWED IN WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT THIS!”
6. ANSWER: TO CLEAN UP THE MOUTH, CLEAN UP THE HEART: MATT 12:33FF ‘…LOVING GOD WILL LEAD YOU TO USE HIS NAME GLORIOUSLY!
7. WARNING: -VAIN USE OF HIS NAME BY A FALSE CONVERSION OR TRUSTING IN YOUR FAITH RATHER THAN CHRIST TO SAVE YOU: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work lawlessness” (Matt. 7:22-23).