Avoiding False Worship & False Prophets by Shane Idleman

you Lord we do pray that you would have your way in this place tonight dear Heavenly Father I pray that you'd begin to mend those who are broken tonight Lord those who need a touch from you I pray that your spirit would be here Lord you are welcome here tonight Lord this is your service this is your church we built this church on the foundation of your son and we ask that you bring your life-changing word to these people Lord I pray for clarity I pray for direction I pray for precision Lord let me not go beyond what you want me to say Lord but the same time let me speak boldly through your word through your counsel Lord would you have your way in the service tonight Lord let your word be living and powerful in the lives of these people who embrace it lord I ask that you fill this empty vessel lord please give me the strength to not shy away from some of these difficult truths and I pray that people are changed tonight we ask this in Jesus name Amen and man well have the same problem tonight as I have most Saturdays I have a lot of time a lot of a lot to say and not a lot of time to say it so with that said if you have your Bibles turn to Matthew chapter 2 Matthew chapter 2 and some of you if you've not been here before we're actually going through the book of Matthew you're not too far behind we just started last week in chapter 1 and we're going through chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4 and something I mentioned the first time we started Matthew is I promised myself that I'm gonna follow a mission statement that I believe God is kind of put in my heart to keep Matthew very relevant and also get into some theological truth but also to make it very relevant to where we're living today and the whole point of the series of Matthew was bringing centrality back to Jesus's words and on that note I want to encourage you to make it Monday night we just started a truth project series Monday nights at 6:00 p.m. the first video was so powerful I think we're gonna rewind most of it and let it go all the way through each video Monday nights at 6 and he made a statement last night or actually last Monday that I wrote down I really pondered and it's helped me a lot with where our culture is right now and the the teacher there said it's actually quoting Jesus he said whoever is on the side of truth listens to me jesus said that who's ever on the side of truth when he was in front of Pontius Pilate and they're talking about this issue of truth Jesus said who has ever on the side of truth listens to me so that tells me that there are going to be sides in our culture see the big battle cry right now is intolerant or everybody's you were worshipping the same God or you fill in the blank you can't have side chain that's so intolerant that's narrow-minded but Jesus said use on the side of truth is going to be on my side my side of truth is over here so that tells me there's another side that's against Christ and it's against truth and that's what you're going to see that you know you will see we keep seeing the culture today all these struggles with with this and with that it's a side of truth or the side of error and a hundred years ago you know they probably read the prophets when they said woe be to that nation or woe be to that people who calls good evil and evil good they probably think what's he talking about that doesn't really make a lot of sense what makes a lot of sense today we are calling good according to God's Word evil the culture is and they're calling things that should be evil and abomination they're calling that good so there are sides you'll see those battle lines being drawn even more clearly I'm not talking about grabbing weapons and fighting I'm talking about being on the side of truth and that's what we're talking about beginning Monday nights at 6 p.m. we're gonna start this series so I encourage you to be there with that said we're gonna actually get right into truth in chapter 2 and you'll see the title is pretty interesting I'm sure I've drawn some attention there we're gonna talk about avoiding false worship and false prophets you might say Shane how did you get that from Matthew - well hold on let me get there I'm going there because I want to bring Matthew to relevant in many aspects but I also want to talk about this area because we're seeing this a lot in the church lately with that said chapter 2 verse 1 now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King behold wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying where is he who has been born King of the Jews for we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship Him and I actually put in there not 3 in parentheses for a reason because a lot of times you'll see the manger seen three wise men right well we don't know how many wise in it just says Wiseman came from the east I'm not you know tearing apart manger scenes we have one and there's three wisemen right there also Jesus wasn't a little tiny baby just born when they arrived they came to a house they found him weeks could be months later so get just just a part of doesn't have much to do with the sermon but I just know that in there so you know so these men came to worship Jesus that's genuine worship they came to worship Him verse 3 when Herod the King heard this he was troubled in all of Jerusalem with him let's stop there for a minute why we I think we know why Herod was troubled right he's King and now people are coming saying where is the King of the Jews that we may worship Him so Herod's like wait a minute I'm troubled and that word there in the Greek language means to take something in order and make it out of order so Herod is troubled by this I have this order I have this system I'm I'm gonna plant my successor there's no other king I'm King that's what Herod saying and what troubled means he was troubled you're taking something that's an order you're putting it out of order it would kind of be like I thought of this when I heard this word this pulpit troubles me right now this is not gonna work is it this is outta order I'm not gonna stand here and try to do this how would you like that guys not very appealing right it's out of order and this doesn't help everything's out of order and that's that word there that the the meaning of that is Herod is out of order he's he's troubled he's upset what is going on here now something that interests me is the following statement and all of Jerusalem was troubled with him I can see Herod but why is Jerusalem troubled they're waiting for their Messiah they've read Isaiah and Jeremiah Ezekiel and Daniel and Joel and Amos and Obadiah and many of the prophets they they've know that was I think there's 400 I have to check so no homie I'll tell you what this next week I'll make sure but I think there's 400 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament that were actually fulfilled by him coming 400 so these prophets wrote about him so why is this why is Jerusalem troubled it's the same reason many are troubled by worship today and saying Jesus is coming soon you better be ready they're not ready that's what troubled them the Messiah is coming we're not ready and that's why many people in the church when you start talking about difficult truths you start talking about being in right relationship with God you start talking about repentance and the judgment of God and the in the end they and the holiness of God and the righteousness of God why have we forgotten about all those things when you start to talk about those things I can see people start wiggling in their seats and they start oh I'm troubled by this I don't like this because they're not ready for the Messiah they're not ready for Christ and that parallels with us today and also parallels with and Jesus's time they were not ready so begs a question are you that's the main thrust of this text is talking about Jesus but why did he come born to die a little child born to die for the sins of the world and they did not want to receive him and Herod was jealous and envious but the people were not ready to receive him so I want to just encourage you if these types of messages upset and they make you move in your seat you're not ready for the Messiah that's a good thing because God says all you have to do is turn to me turn to me back citing people and I will embrace you I will take you that's a promise we have from the Word of God that's why these words don't upset me really bad because there's the other side of the coin God's grace and his love and His mercy says all you have to do is repent come back to me that's all you have to do come back to me so yes these are difficult things but that's why Jerusalem was trouble and that's why many in the church today are troubled and that's why you'll see big ministry sometimes big churches there's a lot of big churches who are doing good things but a lot of times they don't want to trouble the people think about that why do I want to trouble the audience who's coming and supporting and building this big church and sometimes we need a little trouble we need things out of order in our lives and I sometimes God will get our life so out of order we're experiencing so much trouble that that is the final thing that makes us come to him so trouble can be a very good thing if it points us and gets us right in the right direction with God I will tell you as a living witness had not all hell broke loose in my life I think I would be dead by now honestly it wasn't tell that trouble everything in my life was troubled and and and I couldn't I couldn't see left I couldn't see where I could make decisions coming and it's not getting any better in our culture all this anxiety and things that's just fueling everything all this fear people suit suicide rate is and climbing all these things because people are troubled and we have the answer and we need to proclaim that truth so with that let's get into verse 4 and when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together what Herod is doing he's gathering the chief priests the scribes the people who knew the Old Testament together and saying ok tell me about this king of the Jews because I'm feeling really threatened right now because he's going to come and take my kingdom so we asked him where was the Christ to be born so they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea for thus it is written by the Prophet see we have that word worship earlier now we have that word prophet well how do these guys know that these are real prophets and that's kind of the the the direction of my message verse 6 but you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah but four out of you shall come a ruler who will Shepherd my people Israel and that's one of the remarkable things I'm going to talk about this next week this is actually part 1 part 2 is next week so if you get something from this make sure to make it next week because these go together in part two I'm gonna be talking about why did why is all this prophecy important God was telling his people listen as I said it then I said it in 14 BC I said it in 7 BC I said it in 500 BC with this prophet this prophet this they understood hears it coming it's coming the time clocks here's what to expect there's gonna be a messiah born in Bethlehem the least of all the cities out of David's lineage he is going to come not only is he going to come Isaiah would tell us that not even a bone is going to be broken when he's crucified that they will cast lots for his clothing that one of those among him will betray him all this is throughout the Old Testament prophesy of what's coming it's kind of like saying hello this is what's gonna happen it's like me saying this is what's gonna happen on your way home this this this this this and this is why so be ready you're setting the stage a lot of times we forget that God's Word is for his people it's for it's for us the very thing we need is a very thing we're neglecting you know where this is at most people's houses tucked away back here getting a lot of dust on I think I might pull it out for a funeral and put it back when it's living its act of God breathe and he he the prophetic accuracy of this book the historical accuracy the archaeological accuracy of the scientific accuracy the life-changing accuracy I wake up this morning not in a very good mood changes everything when God begins to pour his spirit out on you so he used his word to confirm his word verse 7 then Herod when he had secretly called the wise men to determine from them what time the star appeared and he sent to Bethlehem and said go and search carefully for that young child and when you have found him bring back word to me that I may come and worship Him also two different kinds of worships right the wise men went to worship Him and next week you'll hear about what Herod did in his worship and another prophecy was filled Rachel weeping for her children she cannot be comforted because of all the the the hell that Herod brought to that city so he was not coming to worship he had a false sense of worship Oh tell me about him so I may come and worship so I want to talk in a bit about this false prophecy accurate prophecy false worship real worship I want to pull and draw from this but before we get there let's just you know historically let's talk about a few things Bethlehem was a place of David's origin it was just five miles from from Jerusalem so it's very central there Herod the Great is who this person is he ruled this King from 37 BC to 4 BC so most speculate that Jesus was born right around 4 BC there's different people saying this and this and this I we don't really have a date but that's why because he died he ruled and obviously he was Jesus was born in his rule I think some of you they have the MacArthur Study Bible and have a chart in their other commentaries talk about you know when this happened so Jesus wasn't born right on 0 ad 0 bc 0 8 right right right there that's not necessarily the starting points a little bit before that so this Herod though was very ruthless he was very he was a control freak and he was so he had no plans and going and worshiping Jesus he had quite a different set of plans in mind and interesting enough I looked at different commentaries on this too because I couldn't quite grasp this following the star because that's usually not a good thing astrology this who's saying majus the majesty or the the Magi and all these things these guys usually it's really not a good thing that we read about in the Old Testament but for some reason God uses star and a lot of times in ancient literature that they would foretell the star that would guide and you know there's some there's a lot to it if I had another 20 minutes I could just talk about this one part but gods used this star to direct these men who are coming with genuine worship to show them where the Christ child would be born and so in this context it's ok so here Herod fulfills threat and these people come to worship Christ now here we get into the verse nine when they when they heard the King they departed and behold the star which they had seen in the East went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was so it's almost like they're following a star instead the star keep staying way out there it's moving it's moving kind of closer so they're gauging they're gauging it right right right and there he is so they use that star to guide these men to Christ and so what we do it let's pick up here verse verse eleven and when they had come into the house not a manger not a little tiny baby a few few days old but an actual house they saw the young child with Mary his mother and they fell down here's that word again they worshiped him and it hit me there's no band there's no smoke there's no lighting well where's the old hymns where's the new hymns why is it just this why is it just that why are they standing why are they sitting why are they raising their hands what's wrong with that guy he seems dead is ignoring what's going on there's none of that here because worship is the condition of the heart and a lot of times it is manifested in our actions but let's not think that jumping up and down or just sitting or this or music is worshiping God because many people can come in here and go well let's see change should be up there in 20 minutes and I'm kind of worshiping and waiting our Burger sounds good on the way home and you know I'm worshiping God no you're not the heart's not engaged you could be worshiping God driving to the Sierra Mountains with no music on verses in here thinking that we're worshiping God so always remember that worship is a condition of the heart a broken humble heart seeking God now couldn't have it can't have music it's a wonderful gift of God I'm going to get into that in a minute so when they saw him they opened their treasures they gave and this is interesting they gave their best gift you know frankincense myrrh gold all these things these are expensive gifts they gave it to the Christ child and no matter what your opinion is on Christmas this and that that's kind of where that whole tradition comes from is giving gifts not charging up and this and just giving a few you know giving things and one thing we like with our kids is have them choose one of their best gifts and give it to a family in need it's got to hurt a little bit that's the whole point you don't get a teen gift from your grandma and five from us and then if that's not thought we miss the whole point there that's a whole nother surmount wait till December but so they brought these gifts befitting a king and that's kind of where we leave off they come to worship Him so what we have is we have their coming to worship Him Herod says tell me where he's at so I can come and worship Him uh-uh two different kinds of worship and then they talk about what the prophets have foretold the prophets well what is a prophet chain well I'm glad you asked let me tell you what a prophet is throughout the entire Old Testament it is somebody who was basically saying thus saith the Lord they're in somewhat of a position of authority or of influence and theirs they're saying here's what God has to say to you now there was false prophets in his day well how would you know the difference and that's what's part two is gonna be next week so now I got the little carrot dangled out there for part two now I'm going to touch base on that this week don't worry but this is an important thing because when we talked about he was on the side of truth is on Jesus aside well how do we differentiate between somebody in a position of influence let's say me up here preaching how do you know it's truth how do you know I'm a true spokesman for God or a false spokesman for God you've got me up here saying that I don't think doesn't matter how many laws we pass and save in favor of same-sex attraction God's Word is crystal clear from here on out we've got somebody else just came out in the news two weeks ago Rob Bell Church in San Francisco says we got it all wrong it's okay we can embrace our lifestyle well it was Ryan who's who's the false proclaimer of God's truth here you see that you see the the the the difference here I'm gonna say if you don't repent and trust in Christ as your Lord and Savior there is a tourney separated from God I say with tears of my's but it's the truth a few years ago he writes a book that says in the end we're all gonna be saved there's no hell who do you believe folks you see you see you see why our culture is so confused in the church and it doesn't have to be confusing what's our standard this is the plumb line it's amazing when you talk to bankers who study or they prepare them for counterfeit money they don't look at counterfeit money they don't look at counterfeit money nope they look at original 20s five tens and hundreds all day long they get down the texture the number the coloring everything they get the original down so when air comes they already know what the truth looks like so that is going to be your major deciding point on what is true what is false know the word of God you don't need a priest you don't need a pope you don't need Mary you need the Word of God you the heat Christ is a high priest he is our mediator he justifies us so you go to the truth of God's Word that's how we differentiate you see the difference there between true and false so it's vitally important what about true and false worship you can go to some cult and they're jumping up and down and doing all kinds of stuff and and whoa they're really worshiping are they what's it where's their heart out what are they worshipping and this way as hard as it is I get invited to these probably every six months not even well it depends how often they're going but these ecumenical you know hey pastor we won't have a pastor there and we have a Buddhist priest and we have this we all just want to kind of come together and worship guys I I love them if they're my neighbors will have lunch I'll barbeque with them I'll witness to them I'll clean their yard of it but you can't go and worship God together it just it there's it's not possible you cannot learn how to worship the one true and living God by following false religions that deny the one true and living God so the coexist bumper sticker sound nice but they're not realistic and actually they don't even have it right because theoretically we are coexisting right I mean they live next door that we're coexisting now if it's ACO worshipping that's where you run into trouble and I know what they're trying to say is it's all one God we're all going on the same direction and we're not Jesus said who's on the side of me is on the side of truth jesus said narrow is that gate very narrow is the gate and broad is the road to destruction there are many that go through it and he would go on to say strive to enter through the narrow gate for many seek to enter this but they do not why because it's narrow you've got a humble yourself you got to say Lord I do need you I humble myself tonight I give you all of my life I repent of my sin hopes you say heck no I'm not doing that I got my god right here in my pocket I pulled out what I needed I'm in trouble I'll worship Him how I want and we have it wrong there's so there's just side there's this false and this truth now on this side of truth and proclaiming God's Word I said this a few weeks ago and I'll say it again nobody has a hundred percent accurate theology I do not have one hundred percent accurate theology to the T that's why one on one hand I'm very careful not to get too opinionated on controversial issues we can we can we can speak boldly and clearly in God's Word which he is crystal clear on but all these other superficial issues on church government are gifts of the Spirit or women and women and roles of leadership or total depravity and Calvinism and Arminianism and limited atonement all these things that Oh everybody's divided in different camps who has the perfect theology God does this is perfect truth so I'm not saying that I am perfect and everything you should you know thing I say is right that's actually a sign of a false prophet those who declare God's truth falsely want you to follow them in them alone they're not open and they're not teachable but now I'm jumping to myself let's let's begin this whole point on this issue of true worship I want to talk to you about true worship now I'm going away from the text a little bit because obviously Matthew 2 in contextually isn't talking about true and false worship but I'm gonna pull that from there and what I think the Lord for often is he's given me the ability in the last 10 years before I planted this church is I was able to speak at a lot of different denominations and a lot of different well let's just call it I caught him Knowles and Hillsong you see the difference if you don't know some churches they just have hymnals just stand up hymn number 22 there's an organ playing I spoke in Sun Valley a few weeks ago it down a couple miles from John MacArthur's church campuses the Sun Valley Church community church and they had hymnals there's a lot different than then Hillsong a lot different than here but I felt God just singing that or wonderous cross and looking at the words and just worshiping in that setting but I've also been to Hillsong type environments if you don't know what that is it's it's it's the band it's a full band sometimes we have that here there's mean it's a lights are down and it's loud and people are worshiping God so who's worshiping God you see I found strong men and women of God in both camps so I think what the reason I say I thank him for showing me that is because on this camp they think those people are on air all they're getting too emotional you can't do that and then these guys over here think all those old fuddy-duddies oregon hymnals they don't even know how to worship god nope we need more grace here folks we cannot judge the heart of man so we have to remember that that true and false word and I talked about true worship I'm not saying well you need to act just like this true worship is a condition of the heart and God has made us differently I'm actually probably more conservative in my approach I you won't catch me or up and down the aisle or you know jumping up and down it's just not who I it's not my I don't get real excited sports events I don't you know you get money back on taxes on my okay great thanks and where's the excitement other people on the other hand are ecstatic and they're excited so we have to we have to cherish and honor both of those things so when it comes to worship I want to throw in two things here judgmentalism prevents worship as soon as we become judgmental about a certain group it prevents genuine worship with God because we're judging them you're not worshipping God like me well what is worshiping God I mean is there any difference between them from the man right there singing Amazing Grace with a hymnal as tears drop and run down his face then the group over there just praising God and in in worshiping is it well is there a difference there if you could see the heart there might not be so worship is a hard issue and also worship is a thermostat and it's a thermometer of the heart now what I mean by that well what does the thermostat do it regulates right so worship regulates the heart if you're feeling down you're feeling this you're dealing with depression or anxiety or fear all these things worship can can can lift that up it can lift your heart back up it gauges the heart after God a heart that never worships is a heart that's not falling hard after God that's just that's just right where the rubber meets the road if you're not worshiping God you are not in a deep genuine relationship with him because those who are have to worship God it's a byproduct it's like saying I took a shower but I'm not wet it's not going to happen but it's also the thermometer what does the thermometer do it goes in and it measures the spiritual depth and width and humility of a heart seeking God so worship comes in and those who do not want to worship God there's something wrong and cold in the heart I'm not talking about having seasons in life I mean there we come in sometimes we're setting a bad mood I need Lord I need you to work with me today that's welcome to the world but a person that continually comes in doesn't want worship I remember a guy few weeks ago I said it's come in and worship because I want to see out my car until that's over really and your heart's gonna be open and receptive everything I have to say huh I mean it's it's it just doesn't make sense so it's also a thermal it's a thermostat but it's the thermometer it gauges the heart I can tell a person's relationship with God by how they worship not necessarily raising hands or this or that not bad no but just their heart you can it just comes out is it this oh no it's a let me protect I'm gonna act like I'm using my Bible on my phone I mean that's how people get away with it now I've got my look watching him no they're not see you're if you're not engaged or something amiss in the heart there and I'll tell you a little secret I used to do this and I still do it I went and visited John MacArthur's Church a few weeks ago I actually went there before I spoke at this other church and that there in different places I often watch the pastor what he's doing before he gets up and preaches watch that sometime if they're distracted and just you know they should be in gate now again their seasons because I will do that from time to time so I'm not saying that but I would have went to churches before where they just set in the front row and they're just looking at worship okay you know it's my time pretty soon so the heart's not engaged all I'm saying is there's a it's a thermostat and a thermometer it measures the temperature of the heart because think about this if we realized why do people get so emotional sometimes I just heard of a couple came to Christ in front of a drug house this week they were they were at McDonald's I'll tell you if you want more the story I'll tell you and actually it was Russell you guys know Russell who was here he went and he met with this guy in his in their life was falling apart she's pregnant on myth pregnant and I'm like oh that right there just oh man but he prayed for them and people pray and you could just fell to their knees they got him already in halfway how and and in rehab centers in front of a drug house out on the east side so what happened there that was my point they met the risen Savior they have to worship Him they have to he just bought them for a price he just delivered them he just redeemed them they're giving their life over to him please save him he's gonna restore me they have to how can you not so that's the problem with many Christians I don't know what I believe I have no real genuine relationship with me because if he's redeemed me he saved me from attorney separated from him not only as he saved me and redeemed me now he's going to guide me he's going to heal me he's gonna direct me as a loving father guiding their son guiding their daughter come on let me show you how to do life let me help you get through this that you're gonna get a little bit excited I would think people get more excited at the Dodgers and they do Jesus Christ and they come to charge so worship is just a byproduct of that how can you not we get so excited over all these things but not over Christ it's because the we're either quenching and grieving his Spirit of God because we're he's so distant from us we don't know why we don't have a heart of worship we don't have a brung broken humble heart we just want just enough of him just to get in heaven so I can live like hell all week well that's not biblical Christianity that's not worship that's problem one problem two is they never met the risen Savior and I've told this story many times before you guys can go watch my testimony online but when he finally broke this prideful arrogant man and I'm still prideful arrogant man working on humility by the grace of God on a daily basis but when he finally did and I worshipped him and I just got on my couch and I just began to pray and weep and praying if the Word of God became alive I couldn't put it down I don't want oh I don't want TV I don't want junk I don't move I need the Word of God because in a night then breathe and have my being everything changes now my view on marriage changes not now it's not all about me it's all about glorifying Christ now everything changes about being a father it's not a bunch of kids who are inconvenience it's little kids that I'm mentoring and shaping and developing everything changes now my life is a life of worship to God you can't fabricate that and people want to debate it all day long I said well I'm just glad I don't believe that way he's changed my life he hasn't changed yours I don't know what to tell you you need to repent and turn to him see so worship is just a byproduct of that so when she's singing nothing but the blood nothing but the blood nothing but the blood of Jesus it's my only victory there's no other victory outside of the cross oh that rugged cross that rugged cross the man of sorrows beaten and betrayed by his own I put Christ on the cross how can I not worship how can they not break me you see it's just a byproduct of a right relationship with God that's what worship is so we need it well this is the worship this worship is just your heart pouring out your heart to God and then whatever that looks like I don't know he's poured his spirit so hardened to me sometimes I couldn't get up and then preach at certain conferences I was just lord just take this off me because I'm gonna break I can't even I can't even get out of word I keep Lord plea and I just wanna weep that's called personal revival it's not a bad thing it's a good thing because God's removing all this junk out of your life saying get that garbage out and let the power of the Spirit flow into your life so you can change that's how you quit addiction that's how you kill an anger problem is you bow at the foot of the cross you say I'm not Lord of my life anymore you are Lord of my life I give you everything that's worship there was no band when I when he broke me there was no music there was just the heart breaking and weeping that's worship so let's make sure we put this in the right perspective and you people are the voice getting more worked up why wouldn't you if he's radically changed your life if he's radically changed your life I should be beating my wife tonight not holding or when I get home you don't don't you don't understand I should be going home drunk and cussing at her you don't understand God has changed my life that's what some of you need some in the church need to experience the risen Savior we've got religiosity but we have no relationship and that never works that never works it's only submitting to the blood of Christ and allowing that to cover the sins and then bowing at the foot of the cross and saying your lord of my life I give it all to you and then then you watch your transformation and all I'm supposed to do is be a witness see the good part about my job is I'm not selling anything I don't care if you sign up I don't care if you give all I'm gonna do is say bye hide and go and go home see my family when I get home I'm not selling anything I'm just the witness that makes my job very easy I don't have to are you gonna change tonight are you are you what about you come on aren't you I don't have to God does that changing how with the hammer of God coming out and crushing that pride that arrogance he had to crush me many times he still has to because as soon as we think we're humble guess what happens now we're not humble now we're prideful now we can fall it's funny the church is pretty full tonight last week there's a lot more empty it's like Lord's like you know you can't gauge it by attendance you can't gauge it by people getting upset you can't gauge it by this you got to gauge it by Lord what are you doing in my life what do you want to do and I've one of the one of the callings I feel of Westside Christian Fellowship is almost like a hospital I put this in my journal a year ago we have people from all you guys don't even know the different churches that come here and what I call double-dipping well it's because Saturday night and and it's almost like they're being revived and they take that back to their churches and back to their families they come they're being revived they take that back to the churches and their families there's people coming and they're doing the hospital is it God's doing business he's he's rebuilding and reshape in healing and then they go and take that out in the valley so you might not have a huge mega church which I'm fine with because as soon as you do you start measuring attendance I look at what I've done instead of looking what God did my the best when I get most excited when I hear of lives being changed like thank you Lord that's why we did this I don't want to just come here and play Church it's filling somebody for worship I'll give a message okay and we'll go home that's not what I came here for I came here to preach a glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and watch people be broken at the foot of the cross and give their lives over to him and then restore and rebuild their marriages and their families in the relationship with others and the relationship with God that's true worship so with that said it's a much longer introduction I planned on but it was needed we have to be very careful false worship and true worship I'm gonna get into that true worship Matthew he said that the Wiseman said are actually their records not the Wiseman didn't say this but the Matthew records where is he who has been born King of the Jews they said we have seen a star and we have come to worship Him so the first point it's probably gonna be up there it must flow from a broken thankful heart focused on truth so the first step would if you I'm sure some of you now truly want to worship God right well that's the definition it must flow from a broken thankful humble heart focused on truth this is why all religions can't worship together because they opposed truth this is God's truth of the Bible his truth is absolute we come in and we worship Him based on truth in the same way that we can fabricate religious acts we can fabricate worship like Herod was going to do but the wise men had to worship Him and this is the first point on true worship but when talking about false prophets and what I mean by him and that term is a little loaded in our culture as well and in the church I if I mentioned prophet what do you guys think of oh well these guys you know just beaming from they're just kind of weird and this and that but really it was somebody who spoke for God they kind of like thus saith the Lord the lines a scripture that that person of influence it's speaking God's truth so true prophets let's contrast it with false prophets they know nothing of brokenness and humility they are arrogant rebellious divisive and unteachable okay so if you ever wonder if it's a home group a church whatever if somebody is rebellious unteachable and arrogant they are probably not proclaiming the truth of God's Word now I'm gonna be real careful here because I put this on a post-it note this morning I felt like just God just kind of spoke spoke you know I'm careful with this too but he ministered to my spirit he spoke to my whatever you want to say and it came it was crystal clear do not judge too quickly so as I'm talking about this false prophet issue I don't want to judge too quickly and in other words if somebody is rebellious divisive and unteachable it doesn't necessarily mean that they're a false prophet of God it could just be Aries are struggling with in the maturing but a false prophet of God is somebody in position Authority and this is one of their characteristics they are arrogant rebellious divisive and unteachable in a scripture they all like to use is this one of first Chronicles what they use this when you start to challenge them hey you know you're off do not touch my anointed ones and do my prophets no harm don't touch God's anointed wine do my prophets no harm your coming against me brother your quench and grieving the spirit of God no I'm not i'm using discernment that's much different than judgmentalism I'm called to use discernment you're called to use discernment what I'm telling you today you're supposed to filter through the discernment filter there you should have a good working knowledge of the Bible you should you need to process what I'm saying so that's one of the characteristics there and though speaking the Word of God myself included we are not above this we are subject to it so it's almost you're speaking like this I am subject to the Word of God I come underneath it it holds me accountable it sets the standard not me it dictates truth not me I simply am a vessel to proclaim what's in there you see the difference a lot of these guys dismisses and so let's go back to what I said earlier and I want to be careful here but I would consider that guy mentioned earlier Rob Bell very dangerous because of these things at first a few years ago you could watch some of the videos okay YUM that's interesting make you know good points but then you see this slide away from truth so as a pastor now you're writing a book saying that there's no hell we're all gonna be saved oh boy somebody's wrong here now you're saying that homosexual marriage is good and God given God ordained and you guys just need to wake up get with the times Oh Rob Oh see now I've got to come against you you've made this public now I've got to say something you see how that works it's not an attitude of me going all wait till I tell this guy I actually don't want to say anything I come up here and I don't want to see why why don't we just all in the same page but when they depart from truth I have a biblical mandate to say listen here's where they're departing from truth and it's very dangerous now he's part of this emergent church I've talked about before it's basically it's liberalism repackage they're going away from the Word of God they're embracing things that should not be embraced and that's a very dangerous thing now take this back to the point I just said these men are unteachable arrogant and they're rebellious I've read their biographies they are very upset at the established church they have this perception of God as an angry God and all this legalism so now they're going to the pole or opposite instead of saying okay yeah we need to bring some more love back in the church they're going the polar opposite and begin denying these things and people challenge them there on teachable they're arrogant their rebellious why because they have the truth they have the truth we don't we're in error so his definition of me would be a rigid legalistic narrow-minded fundamentalist and what have I said before the road is very narrow there are fundamentals of the faith that we have to refer to obeying in God's Word is not legalism it's wisdom so you see the difference so as much as I wish I wouldn't have to say these things people like that need to be challenged and I get all kinds of questions and I don't know I don't even know if I should say some of the stuff but I get asked it I'm not gonna go into it but I'll just people like Joel Osteen and you know you fill in the blanks I say I don't know I haven't heard a sermon in 10 years I know I'd have to talk to people I'd have to read their theology I'd have to try I can't just come out say there are false this if I don't know anything about them so that's why I don't take a hard-line stance unless I know and have read and research and say listen you're some dangerous things here that you know are being said so be careful so that's why I meant by don't judge I don't want to just just cuz I don't know I don't know these people I haven't read anything I haven't watched certain things so I'm not one in a position to say that I will say this so from what I've littleBits I've seen or read he if anything he should be a motivational speaker because you can't be a pastor and avoid the difficult truths that's like being a Christian or that's like taking a shower not getting wet so I would tell people just be careful don't just be filling your mind with positive this and positive that and God wants to bless you those are biblical principles that's motivational but to be a pastor I believe was Paul who told Timothy preached the word which means the totality of the word everything that's in the word preach the difficult truths and the easy ones preach what's uplifting and preach what's going to condemn Timothy be ready in and out of season because the time will come which we live in now when they will no longer endure sound doctrine they will look for teachers who will tell them what they want to hear why does Rob Bell have best-selling books telling people what they want to hear there's no hell we're all gonna end up in heaven I knew it yeah well you're telling tell me again what I want to hear and they're persuaded by opinion rather than biblical truth so that's one of the marks I'm not gonna ever get through this if I don't hurry up number two number two and I've got to be very careful on this one too I could spend a whole sermon right here number two emotional responses often follow true worship I this week I went back and I looked at all the people who worship God I didn't see much of well Hosanna I mean I saw people bowing down the presence of God holy as our god falling on the face worshiping this is now I'm not saying that has to happen but what I'm saying cuz we can work this stuff up too much I'll talk about a minute but there should be kind of there should be an emotional response that follows true worship I just broke it down 20 minutes ago why I experienced true worship because what happened I experienced God when my fourth child was born talk about emotions I mean I couldn't going to cry it as doctors and I'm not oh my lord they hand me this little baby she's just oh man where does those emotions come from you get married on your man and wedding day but where's all that ammo so how is it when we worship God we become emotionless and it always gets in you got the to Kent you got this camp and you got this camp they say oh that's just emotional worship sometimes I want to say good good good I know what they're saying they're saying what you can't just worship with emotion but there should be some emotion God has saved us and redeemed us we're coming to worship Him he's going to get our life back on track or heal or restore that should I don't know call me silly but that should spark some kind of emotion right real estate agents close the deal I hear a motion all the way down the hall right Dodger fans yelling screaming painting their bodies but why is worship a cemetery why have you ever thought about that I have it doesn't make a lot of sense unless we're worried about what people think so my whole point on this was emotions can be good and god-given can you imagine just being in a puppet and not experiencing any emotions here's your baby dad who thinks is a tax write-off here we go walking down the aisle to get married throw this thing up there's no emotion just dead can you imagine it so God gave us emotions for a reason to fill deeply to hurt deeply to hurt deeply so we break and we turn to him to to fill these loving being a mode I thank God for emotions I don't run from them I mean sometimes I'll preach it feels like just rocks are coming out of my mouth like how quick can I get to that door hurry up and other times like tonight I feel pretty energized I feel this I feel a difference there's a whether there's God filling you this spirit there's that there's this emotional response where does that come from is that bad I'll shoot I shouldn't do that I mean where do we got where does that come from but that's only one side of it because I do see the other side of the emotional side that gets carried away and you guys know I talked about that isakoff you get this ready but I talk about this often I talk about the circus environment jumping up an area I talked about all this weird stuff a lot of people going what are you talking about Shane what are you talking about Shane woody well no I brought I'm gonna bring you what I've been talking about and this is what I'm talking about is not good emotional worship so let's watch this for just two minutes and I'll come right back probably the worst that are the embassy his influence is growing enormous Lee especially amongst the youth well I love your heavy drunken glory I firmly believe in token the ghost right have a little jehovah wanna so he just i have to and the thing is this free you just reach in your pocket the glory a basic question here at what point does something go from being only tantamount to blasphemy and become real actual blasphemous this is the stuff that john Crowder and his friends have been spreading all over the earth welcome to swash fest which they hold every year attracting hundreds and hundreds of people and of course if anybody questions what they're doing they're immediately accused of being a religious Pharisee so apparently we're not even allowed to use our discernment even though the Bible commands us to do so here's the well-known author and speaker Jim goal taking part in the drunken glory with Crowder and his accomplice been done and he has been done ministering this drunkenness anointing to the young people at bill Johnson's famous Bethel Church in Redding California in fact a lot of this movement now is targeting young people now bill Johnson is a very famous charismatic leader author of the book when heaven invades earth what people don't realize is that Bill's Church in Redding is one of the major centers for this drunkenness anointing in North America they specialize in what they called the fire tunnel where they impart this anointing to all the young people can you imagine walking into a room that sounds like this [Applause] you get the picture false fire versus real fire and those are Christian churches I have friends that that have went to those now I want to be careful because I think some people go with the right intentions they want to be have more of God they want to worship Him it's the leaders who I want to hold responsible that allow this stuff and what I ask is three quick questions when something like that are they truly drawn closer to Christ is their marriage being stronger and restored or they're leaving they're just as Carnales when they arrived it was so cool such a rush I experienced it some with such a high that's what you can say when you leave Magic Mountain folks so you see my dilemma tonight is you need to worship God there needs to be emotion but we cannot gauge it by that alone because look what can happen I mean if that happened here if they hold the guys uh-uh this is not feeling right what is going on here but see the leadership is allowing that that was another mark of the false prophets that go along with this is they actually encourage now these people he this guy he said wrote a book and all the stuff that's his video I don't know I don't know these guys so I'm not saying I'm what i saw looks pretty pretty you know pretty alarming and that guy token the holy ghost all that that is blasphemy to me that is ridiculous and I've seen other clips where he's just he's just wearing like this gown like a priest would and just I mean just the people acting weird and bizarre that's not God Jonathan Edwards you know who he was a theologian that in the colonial time of American history in the 1700s they experienced what was called the first Great Awakening in America and I've read his journals and I've read his things and some things happen and people would fall out prostrate they'd be worshiping God they would be broken they would be shaking and saying I ain't no standing in the presence of God I spoke at Men's conferences where I see guys shaking stop because God is breaking them right there on that chair he can't stop weeping the ushers have got to come and pray with him that's genuine revival God is breaking his people but he said he wrote a book on the true work of the Spirit he said when something happens when God's Spirit moves Christ is exalted the devil is opposed not these manifestations weirdness taking place Christ is exalted the enemy as opposed there's a deep respect and love for God's truth in his word and a deep respect and the love for God and others a person's whole attitude changes or this you don't see that I know people that go these events they're just as Carnales when they arrived that something that just got emotional so that was my whole point is showing that is show you the dangerous side because I don't want to say oh you just have to be emotional not necessarily but there should be some emotions I'm if you just got a text hey your numbers been drawn you just want a million dollars Wow you might get what you think you might get emotional yeah so we have to remember that genuine worship requires or actually has an emotional response and you remember the the Bible records when they saw the star they rejoiced exceedingly and I wanna I also put this down to just encourage some people I want you to always remember to press through regardless of your feelings because even though we might have beat some people up read just a few minutes ago let me encourage you I don't expect everybody to come in here with broken humble hearts worshiping God because life stinks and sucks on some days I just lay it out there doesn't it sometimes I don't want to come to church at night I don't I've been honest about that before but I have to but once I get here and here the worship man lorem guy because see the field I didn't allow my feelings to guide me many people miss church because they don't feel like it well welcome to the world you think you're gonna feel like going to church every single weekend anomie just loves you to go to church you look forward to duck dynasty you ever you ever it does ever amaze you that he doesn't oppose those things I can sit and watch Fox News and O'Reilly had all this stuff for hours I've watched a few things a duck I mean people told me about it and they showed me as I will have my thoughts but and we'll go there I've heard the guy preach on YouTube too it was pretty good but anytime that culture I mean they got the big rings and the money look at them you just kind of woke you you know all I'm saying is be careful don't get caught up in these things and have that take the majority of your time I'm gonna get out of that hole real quick I'm gonna dig myself in a big hole so under two here you cannot fabricate emotional worship it must be genuine I just explained that right and that reminds me of the prophets of Bell do you remember that story some of you do some of you don't when when God was challenging his people he lied she came on the scene he said return to God how long we falter between two opinions and he said okay if you're God be God go ahead and have him have him bring down fire Elijah said let the God who answers by fire let him be God and these prophets of bale 450 made this huge altar and God wasn't he wasn't answering so he said maybe your God sleeping and they start jumping up and down and cutting themselves and bleeding and like that it reminds me of that that's what they were doing on this altar trying to get their God to bring fire wake him up you're my God must be sleeping nothing nothing nothing so then Elijah took water drench the entire altar with water so water was filling around the whole thing and he said let the God who answers by fire let him be God and all of that was consumed in a moment everything licked up that's the one true and living God that's not false fire that's real fire that's that that that emotional that the gustaría plike you it's a holy spirit pep-rally you've got to be very careful very careful emotions cannot control us they should be a byproduct of truth they should not gauge truth I guess is what I'm trying to say I could just said that avoid this whole point okay so emotionals our response to truth is good when our emotions respond to truth that is very good when they just respond to respond and try to work things up it's not very good at all God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit my have to do part three so I'm getting I've got four more pages well but I cannot I'm also realistic I can understand when you know price you to close the service about 20 minutes ago when I was all passionate Chelsea come up and when it's a time of worship that's what we probably should have done instead of me just keep speaking speaking speaking but anyway let me leave you with a couple thoughts John MacArthur said and actually you guys I quote him a lot but me and him differed on this area of worship and the gifts of the Spirit and some things so I don't you know there can be opposite I mean there could be disagreements on things but you still respect and cherish you know the beliefs of those other people in other words he's more of the hymnal in the you know you don't mmm no raising hands I mean I went down there to his church I saw 3,000 people I didn't see one hand raised now 3,000 people what not one why didn't you do a change because welp I'm sitting right in the middle 3,000 people and it was different to him though you sit down and you have a reading then you stand up and you sit and I was like you know but that's how they worship am I gonna say well they're not worshiping God of course 9 those guys were worshipping God that's but that's how they were raised that's worship to them so you see the difference there the distinction and what happens is a lot of times they come against emotionalism because of that that's why the a lot of people come and gets emotional worship because of that that's all over the church hyper Pentecostalism hyper charismatic that's what that they just get out there so we have to be very careful now can God still work in that see that's why a lot of these people don't get challenged you see I saw God working I saw God working in a drug house last week I saw I God works in four of a bar at a VA hospital just because God's working doesn't mean something necessary he might just honor the people's sincerity they want to get healed they want to get delivered because the people want are searching after God it's a leadership that upsets me John MacArthur said truth so if you want to know what truth this truth is that which is consistent with the mind the will the character the glory and the being of God everything that is consistent with God is truth that sums it up for you and I just want to read a few things on your article you have in your bulletin I pulled this off of a flying David Capelli and I think his name is you've read other articles but this one really stood out he made the point that suicide catches suicide has surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of injury death for Americans didn't I tell you this a year ago you're gonna be seeing more and more as our nation gets more paralyzed and more fear factor and more all this you're gonna see this they need God these are byproducts of a nation rejecting God so if this is happening because you reject God what's the solution God but even more disheartening is the world's greatest military the United States military which I love and I cherish and I think God has blessed us greatly with this died more of them died last year by suicide than in combat yeah killing themselves especially if they have they had they don't know God one-third of the nation's employee suffer chronic debilitating stress and more than half of all millennials kids 18 to 33 experience of level of stress that keeps them awake at night I would say a lot of that is because of their parents instilling fear into their kids instead of love and grace and they're going to bed in this fear factor mode at this point often joke too about caffeine sometimes too I saw some teenagers come in they ordered a triple latte frappe with an extra shot and I'm thinking no wonder you should you have high levels of stress and anxiety you're fueling it man you're on high alert there's not much difference in a little line of crystal meth and that I mean it's not much I'm just saying and be careful shocking new research from the federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention shows that one in five one in five one out of five of all high school-age children in the United States have been diagnosed with ADHD one in five why when I grew up is one in five hundred what's what's going on here and there's a lot of speculation I know but I'm just saying these are statistics children ages 6 to 12 have been medically diagnosed with either eight a DHD anxiety or depression or bipolar disorder one in five preteens that's why the title this article is Americans snapping by the millions I won't even tell you the the stock of of anti prescient medication and how that is just everybody's grabbing for the pill instead of the cross now of course I'm careful here I'm not one that says you should never take this and that it should be a last resort never first never at first I don't believe I think that I think God should be the first resort and let me read this incredibly 11% of all Americans 12 and older listen 11% of all the people in the United States 12 and older are taking SSRI antidepressants those are the highly controversial mood altering psychiatric drugs with the FDA's suicidal warning and the alarming correlation with school shootings so what we're going to give you for your suicidal thoughts might actually might that's a side effect it might actually lead to some very detrimental things so just telling you so we're why that's why I always go the hope is in Christ and Christ alone because that's how you realign everything that's how you realign everything that's in your life the worship this whole thing on worship that's how these things can many of these things can get cured in our families and our homes from anger depression whatever it is I've seen God curing I seen God work in the heart because a lot of these things start in the heart the sinful heart the sinful prideful heart needs to be dealt with and cleansed God's Word says if you cast your cares upon the Lord he will sustain you if Paul says be anxious for nothing Jesus said my peace I give to you he told Timothy you don't even have a spirit of fear so where is all this coming from if it's not of God that's the importance of worship and many of you know if quotidian bounds before he said when faith ceases to pray it ceases to live well let me add a little line in there I'm sure he wouldn't mind when faith ceases to worship it ceases to live the reason the church in America is dying on the vine the reason many in this room are dying on the vine is you're not worshiping the one true Living God we have a form of godliness we don't want to truly worship I always ask people if I'm gonna counter I'm gonna talk with people I said tell me about your worship time nine times out of ten you want to know what that is what are you talking about I I read the Bible now no worshiping just reading the Bible is not worshiping seminary students do that I'm talking about worshiping God where you spend time in the morning or late evening just you and him just God dealing with you heart breaking heart worshiping him how much of that is happening that's my number one question why because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth is going to speak out of the abundance of the heart is how you're going to deal with life's issues if there's a worshiping broken heart you'll get rid of half your problems right there because that's what does it you come up out of the prayer closet realizing you're not God realizing you're not right realizing I might be the reason I'm the in the situation I'm in it's seven excusing everything in everyone that's what worship does it puts you right Center with the true Living God the presence of God shipping him as he breaks you as the hammer of God comes out and crushes you and molds you and shapes you that's how you do this as you break through through worship so as Chelsea comes up we're actually gonna close on that note on worship and that's what genuine worship looks like is the heart crying out to God and when I talk to people all the time with issues nine times out of ten they do not have a life of worship they can read the Bible they listen to podcasts but they do not have a life of worship why because it's difficult and challenging yeah that's right anything in life were in life worth having is difficult God wants you to press in and Brett press in put the Bible on the Shelf and get on your knees and cry out to God and worship Him we can sit on Facebook for an hour and a half but we don't know what to pray for with God I don't know what to pray for what do you what if what do you know not to pray for Lord would you heal my marriage Lord restore my soul Lord I'm so angry and upset this week Lord would you take that away Lord help me not be angry at my kids or to help me cherish them and love them Lord would you pull this nation back to you Lord bring revival Lord we need revival if you don't revive us we're going to fall we're gonna crush Lord that person down the street I'm praying for would you bring him to Christ would you heal it of this Lord my son my daughter's far away from you would you bring them back that's just not the top of my head you can go you can pray you can seek that's a heart of worship a heart that's experiencing the risen God because he's changed their life that's worship that's worship that's the heart of God the heart of God is to have your heart engaged with his not in reality because he has spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth he's not a physical body or perfect but he you know I'm saying our heart must beat with that crying Abba Father the spirit within us is crying Abba Father and you've got to break through that you've got to say say come hell or high water I'm gonna worship the one true and living god I worship money I worship success but I'm not going to anymore I'm gonna worship God I worship my friendships my this my that I'm not going to anymore I'm gonna work God you have to fight against that because the flesh wants to destroy you my flesh does not want to worship my flesh right now wants to say well that concludes a service let's go eat doesn't yours Congress that guy would hurry up an hour long sermons I want to go to church with 30 minutes Herman's I might just get through the introduction in 30 minutes I have a lot to say but with that said let's just close and pray lord I ask that you would move tonight Lord during worship Lord that people have never met you in a mighty way would just begin to know you more intimately tonight Lord have the words of this song Lord ring true pierce their hearts Lord I pray that you would bring that prodigal son home tonight Lord have him fall at the foot of the cross take this back home and surrenders life to you Lord are the wayward daughters we're praying for our children Lord have them sustain a living relationship with you Lord rebuild marriages tonight Lord begin to break the pride and the arrogance from our hearts Lord we ask that the hammer of God come out tonight and begin to shatter self shatter selfishness shatter everything that is pulling us away from you as we worship you tonight lord have your way in this place let people leave your changed and transformed by the glorious gospel that you have given us thank you for your son we thank you for the cross amen [Music]

Channel: SermonIndex.net

Views: 19,611

Rating: 4.7863503 out of 5

Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Shane Idleman

Id: zEvN8qf9fqc

Length: 72min 33sec (4353 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 29 2013