The Protestant Reformation vs. The New Apostolic Reformation | Costi Hinn

all right well let's go ahead and shift gears we're gonna move from a kind of testimonies story to some some material here my goal in this session is to equip you to stand for truth and by saying that I mean to know the truth and to know what we're facing today in mainstream evangelicalism I'm gonna use a lot of terms and I have them clearly defined in the notes but I'll do this off the top I'm gonna talk about something that's called the New Apostolic Reformation who hears heard of that okay good so not many of you alright so as a preface even though you haven't heard of it it's very mainstream now and so what this is all would be pre-session material even but well we've seen in evangelicalism is certain terms like that pop up New Apostolic Reformation and so we're gonna talk about that and I want you to understand that everything talked about and and spoken is done in love and every name named or any issue we're gonna face together we're gonna face with the goal of being equipped to go do something about it amen same focus as session 1 so let's jump in when Martin Luther 500 years ago and some of you are familiar with the Reformation nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church he did so to spark a conversation at the time you had the Pope and you had guys like Johann Tetzel who was the Pope's kind of hit man and Tetzel 's job was to go around and sell indulgences and how he would do this is he would say hey you want to get a fellow loved one out of purgatory early pay up I'll sell you an indulgence and you could do penance and you could pray certain prayers and you could do certain things all the while to buy some sort of spiritual elevation in your status in God's eyes now all this time while I do all that and we talk about it I want you be thinking of the different parallels that might come tomorrow that come to mind for you you could buy a higher spiritual status by through indulgences and the Pope wanted to build st. Peter's Basilica and needed money to do it so he had Tetzel do that and you had Pope Leo the tenth with Saint Peter's Basilica in his legacy wanted to build a legacy and so Luther comes on October 31st 1517 and says we need to talk about this he nails the theses to the door it was only supposed to be a debate and discussion within the circles of people that would actually care and he was trying to spark the debate within the church except people got a hold of that they reprinted it and it went everywhere and pretty soon the Reformation began to take shape what was began by Luther led to a tidal wave and the church was called back from the authority of the Pope to the authority of Scripture now the word Sola and the word scriptura are put together often and some of you've heard Sola scriptura that means scripture alone and what it was back then was scripture and the Pope and yes scripture was still viewed as authoritative many people get that wrong when they talk about the Reformation and they talk about scripture alone they say you know Scripture was whatever and it was all about the Pope's Authority no the Catholic Church at the time still viewed Scripture as an authority or as the authority with the Pope which meant certainly scripture had authority but the Pope also the same authority and Luther came along and the Reformers came along and said no flip that paradigm it is Scripture atop alone of the Pope's Authority and there is a single Authority in which God operates as the head of the church and when the Reformers sought to put scripture back in its rightful place it inevitably led them to the doctrines of grace as they studied the word they came upon truths like justification by faith and the shape of the gospel and the shape of doctrine became clearer and clearer much like you and I together have studied the Scriptures after we've been converted and the deeper we go in our study of the word the more clear the whole picture becomes that's what happened at the time of the Reformation today we are in desperate need once again of reform and there are those who would suggest our reform needs to come through a very different kind of Reformation there are those who would instead of calling us back to Scripture begin telling us that we need to look to extra biblical revelation or something beyond Scripture so yes I know that God gave us the Bible but I need a little extra word from the Lord yes I know that God speaks through his word but while that is somewhat authoritative sometimes I think thoughts in my head and I believe that God is telling me something that is outside of his word and there are other times where people might approach you and say yeah I know you've got the Bible and I know you can get truth from the Bible but let me tell you brother or sister I've got a word from the Lord for you it's a prophetic word I've got fresh manna from heaven we are again in need of a Reformation to go back to the authority of Scripture this is not atypical this is now mainstream people everywhere well-intentioned some but others more ill-intentioned often say God told me God told me God spoke to me God spoke to me and we have this issue now in which God seems to be speaking everywhere but his word and people are turning to God's voice everywhere but his word there are claims now in a different Reformation that the Apostolic age or era has begun again meaning the time of the Apostles that once was meaning the Apostles you assumed we had Peter and Paul and John and the others while they were foundational there are those who would say there's a new Reformation happening in which God has started the Apostolic era you heard me in session one in my testimony mention apostles and prophets and mentioned that in our circles we viewed some of these men as apostles and prophets they had authority I didn't mean that in more of an ethereal or just descriptive broad sense I mean that a very literal sense we viewed these men as apostles there are services and music videos and YouTube videos and other things that will showcase gold dust falling from the ceilings feathers falling from the rafters of churches some of you are thinking you're crazy that's not mainstream I assure you and I'll prove to you it is there are people claiming that God is giving them gold teeth that is showing up in the middle of their church service and doing dental work for people there are churches that even just last week were winning national Christian Music Awards who in their children's ministry forced children to complete a course or to be able to graduate to the next level they have to have healed somebody they teach the children to take field trips to heaven they're leading children down a path that is away from Scripture it is away from the gospel and it drives them to experience and away from the objective truth of God's Word some are apathetic towards this and they think well it's not very serious it's not in my church others are a little overzealous about it and they're looking for a heretic under every rock and neither is the right approach right in the middle is the balance of a biblically minded Christian thinking through like the acts 17:11 Bereans weighing everything testing things against the scriptures searching the Scriptures daily to see if these things are so we need to be discerning people amen and so for your notes I want you to follow along as we look at the marks of a reliable Reformation and the marks of a reckless Reformation and then we'll close with the marks of right response the marks of reliable Reformation of reckless Reformation and then the marks of right response as we contrast these for you note takers you'll notice a clear difference in what was and now what is while the Reformers were imperfect men they were full of shortcomings and they were flawed like us they came to stand upon convictions that ultimately changed the landscape of the church the greedy Pope Leo the tenth and Johann Tetzel were misrepresenting the church and they were corrupting the doctrine of the church and so what was the Reformation was something other than what people are trying to do today the Reformation was not innovation it was a reclamation a reclaiming of what once was these men weren't innovating the churches forward progress comes about by going back to foundational truths they understood that Reformation within the church is always achieved through biblically reliable truths not new ones and so number one under that heading under the reliable Reformation is a call back to Scripture a call back to Scripture a Calvin said let this be a firm principle no other word is to be held as the Word of God and given place as such in the church then what is contained first in the law and the prophets then in the writings of the Apostles and the only authorized way of teaching in the church is by the prescription and standard of God's Word Luther said oh would to God that we would all gradually train our hearts to believe that the preachers words are God's Word it is not an angel or a hundred thousand angels but the divine Majesty himself that is preaching there that's why a church that preaches God's Word is God's voice it is through God's word that he speaks and the Reformers were calling people back to that authority true and reliable Reformation looks to scripture for God's voice and Sola scriptura did not begin in 1517 it began with Jesus it began with Paul it began with Peter it began with John it began with the early church as Christ did what explained himself through the scriptures scripture alone is the authority when Satan tempted the Lord what did he do he battled back with Scripture he spoke back with Scripture that has always been the authority it has always been the thing that we must preach even now in the New Testament church Paul didn't tell Timothy preach your opinion Paul didn't tell Timothy preached your innovation Paul didn't tell Timothy preach your mystical revealed thoughts that you think might be God because you're reading the tea leaves too much he said preach the word and so we must look to the word so serious is the finality and authority and the sufficiency of Scripture that John in revelation 22:19 said that basically anyone who adds to the words or subtracts from the words the Lord will take away that person's part in the Tree of Life that's basically judgment in the most final sense don't mess with God's Word Isaiah 40 verse 8 declares the grass will wither the flowers will fade but God's Word stands forever we are reformed by reclaiming a foundational commitment to Scripture that is what reliable Reformation looks like number two justification by faith a reliable Reformation is marked by a focus on justification by faith Ephesians 2:8 and 9 you probably all know it you've memorized it since you are a kid if you're in church for it is by grace you have been saved through faith Romans 5:1 having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ we were enemies with God before he justified us through our faith while the Catholics at the time viewed righteousness as something within everybody and ultimately kind of had you go to give something or confess something or recite something we know that simply by believing in Christ through faith were justified there's a book if you're interested in growing in your understanding of why the Reformation still matters it's called why the Reformation still matters by Reeves and Chester Michael Reeves and Tim Chester and in it they say this is why Luther described justification as the summary of Christian doctrine and the article by which the church stands or Falls it is a deeply personal doctrine every time I sin I create a reason to doubt my acceptance by God and I question my future with God but day after day the doctrine of justification speaks back peace to my soul isn't that great when you sin Christ hasn't when you fail he's still faithful when you waver and you deserve the Justice of God's wrath he gives you what righteousness you're justified declared justified because of Christ that's peace to our soul you don't have to have reason to doubt your standing with God in times of reliable Reformation when it's taught clearly from Scripture you can understand you can see clearly and you can hold to a confession of faith it is secure third another mark of reliable Reformation is a union with Christ union with Christ Paul writes to Timothy for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men the man Jesus Christ in 1st Timothy 2:5 and as the Scriptures continued to guide the Reformation Christ became the centrality of everything for the Reformers think of your tagline at this church centered on Christ focused on people did I get that right everything becomes about Christ he becomes the centrality of everything and Solus Christus Christ alone is another call of the reformers it was pointing people back to union with Christ understand it is very important to get Christ right the reason the Reformation was reliable is because what they did with the doctrine of Christ they understood him they made him clearer to people while in the Catholic view your union with Christ being one with him and in him was based on a numerous amount of factors you didn't know if you were good with him or not one day some union with Christ I'm doing good the next day not really sure so you need to do some penance and you need to work a little harder at your salvation and you need to try to sanctify yourself a little more get a little holier give a better offering get a little better get a little more anointed and then maybe you'll be closer to Christ the Reformers knew that union with Christ meant that he had to took our sins once and for all given us himself and all of himself there were no extras needed reliable reformation makes that clear you don't need a little extra you already have all of him fourth and finally as we look at the marks of reliable Reformation is a hunger for truth a hunger for truth reliable Reformation always always has the mark of a hunger for God's Word people grow weary of works and trickery of men and pragmatic religion and politics and empty humanistic strategies they need the truth because there's a famine in the land they begin to want the truth desperately that's why people come to churches that teach the Bible now the the last 30 years didn't do a lot of people much good we have biblically illiterate Christians that don't know their Bible but they're in their 50s and 60s we have a generation of young people that have exited the church because the church offers them no value they're not challenged they're just told you're good pray a prayer walk an aisle see in heaven there's there's no rooted life in Christ there's no hunger because there's no pulpits that are feeding the flock a hunger for truth emanates from reliable Reformation John Knox one of my favorite reformers he was a Scottish reformer and he was known as the greatest Scotsman he's the one who turned his entire country upside down but before doing so he was preaching throughout England until about 15 33 when Mary the first becomes Queen of England now she was a Catholic and she hated the Reformers you may remember her as Bloody Mary more than you do Mary the first under her watch nearly 300 dissenters would be murdered for their faith they were martyred for standing for the gospel and standing against her Knox fled staying away until she died and when he came back he actually returned to Scotland when he entered back into his native Scotland he led the Scottish Reformation how because Mary was dead no because he had a Scottish accent and they all knew he was one of them no it was his zeal for feeding the hungry flock of God Knox viewed himself above all else as a preacher of God's Word that's all he would do he was there to feed the flock his zeal for ministering through the word was so intense and so impacting that Scotland went from having 12 preachers in 1560 to seven seven years later having 850 ordained lay ministers and ordained vocational preachers in the church while I was in study I had to do the math on that and I wanted to know what kind of percentage increases that as we talk today right when small groups grow we had a 122 percent increase in small group attendance this quarter since 2012 our attendance has grown 82 percent at the church things are good okay try Knox in Scotland in seven years a six thousand nine hundred and eighty-three percent increase in preachers because one man was willing to say we're gonna preach the word that's what we do a famine in the land must be fed and true Reformation satisfies hungry hearts with God's Word let's transition now with the marks of reliable Reformation in mind to the marks of reckless Reformation and I'm going to help you understand and define what the New Apostolic Reformation is and why you ought to be aware and why you ought to be concerned in 2004 a fuller Seminary professor named C peter Wagner made a startling prophetic announcement he declared that God had restarted the Apostolic era that there were now going to be apostles again and that he was one of them if not the lead one and that the church would come under the authority of the apostles and that prophets would also be reinstituted though lower than apostles they would still also govern the church he along with others viewed their new movement as something that would equal the impact to the Protestant Reformation so they coined it the New Apostolic Reformation it has swept through evangelicalism with rapid speed and I want to be clear there is nothing new about it there is nothing apostolic about it and it's not a Reformation it's wreaking havoc on the church it's taking our young people from sound doctrine and plunging them into an experiential religion that is not true Christianity here are some key facts that you should know they have started training schools to raise up apostles they charge tuition to wield the miraculous gifts of prophecy and healing you can pay to be an apostle I'm not making this up 350 dollars annually for international apostles you pay $450 to be a North American apostle and you can pay six hundred and fifty dollars for a couples rate you always have to have the couples rate you can be an apostle of all kinds vertical horizontal congregational ambassadorial immobilizing apostle a territorial apostle or a marketplace apostle they have their own Bible maybe you've heard of the passion translation it's been done by Brian Simmons who changed original words to better fit what he believed God was saying see that's what happens when we divorce ourselves from Scripture and we divorce ourselves from proper biblical Authority who becomes the authority we do and whose words suddenly becomes God's Word our words and we're in trouble when we do that unfortunately on this topic there is a lot of stone-throwing there's a lot of people that suddenly are polemic about it but not constructive there's a lot of people that are heretic hunting now and everybody who's different and everybody who's Pentecostal and everybody who's charismatic is a heretic now I would advise against that we want to use wisdom the issues we focus on are the essentials and so part of the rest of our time will be analyzing why why would I stand here and tell you the New Apostolic Reformation is dangerous and damning why would I call it heretical why would I use the H word there are specific reasons it's not because they hold two different views on non-essentials it is their view on the essentials and so here as we look at the marks of reckless Reformation just begin to write them now number one is a divorce from Scripture in direct contrast to the Reformation Skol back to Scripture the NA R I'll call the New Apostolic Reformation the NA R has become a force within the church one of the leaders of this movement his name is Bill Johnson some of you may have heard of Bill Johnson some of this might cause some of you to become uncomfortable because bill Johnson's churches baffle church baffle Church berthed Bethel music Bethel Church started Jesus Culture and now I'm starting to rub some of you the wrong way maybe you don't like me so much anymore but I want to tell you I love you and I love the truth and we need to understand some things Johnson writes in his book Jesus did not say my sheep will know my book it's his voice were to know he believes that you should be hearing God Johnson and I quote we've gone as far as we can with our present understanding of Scripture it's time to let signs have their place he wants us to focus on signs and wonders now above God's Word if you'll notice we suddenly have an authority issue again I remember very well the way to push your weight around when I was in this movement was to say God told me and even to convince my parents sometimes of certain things I would say God spoke to me I would say I had a dream last night and I would have the whole room listening and captivated if I would simply say that the Lord told me last night clearly and everybody would lean in a little closer wow it was like a competition like in the Bible world maybe some guys say well my church has 500 my church has 800 my church has 1500 in that world its man the word the Lord told me this now the Lord told me this let me tell you both the Lord told me this it's just a continual climbing of the ladder as we try to one-up each other with greater and more outlandish revelations you know some of you may wonder what my thoughts are and the false prophecies and different things that have been claimed by even my own family members throughout the years I'll tell you what I think it is completely based on one upping the last thing you said if you said that God was gonna move in a powerful way at one service the next time you'd say God's gonna show up and if at one crusade you said that 10,000 would be healed the next service you're saying Jesus is gonna walk the aisles in heal 20,000 himself you're always trying to get people to come back for the next thing you're always trying to elevate yourself a little higher in their mind so you can keep your power and you could stay on top of the pyramid but a divorce from Scripture also means that it's open season on people who are biblically illiterate think of all the people who are sitting in these meetings who are suddenly told that God's Word is not enough and then they need to have some extra word from the Lord and they're confused or they start sitting up at night going Lord it's not you it's just air blowing through the vents and they say I hear the whisper of the Spirit no that's the air conditioning it's a dangerous charade second instead of a focus on faith that justifies the New Apostolic Reformation focuses on number two faith as a force faith as a force if you're familiar with the Word of Faith Movement that may ring a bell because they've borrowed it or evolved from the Word of Faith Movement let me be clear and fair what used to be white jackets and TBN and big hair and big offerings and all of that madness that some of you grew up with is now simply the same twisted theology with a new face it's just got v-necks and skinny jeans it just got a facelift it's got cool wood backdrops and modern buildings and great-looking worship guys with tattooed arms and cool pants that I could never wear and pull that off it just looks that's what it is now the New Apostolic Reformation is simply a remake of what was and they've taken faith as a force and implemented it these teachings go back to new thought ideologies that have been passed along from leaders long gone like Phineas Quimby ewk nyan they had New Age new thought movement ideas in which they would say if you think it you can create your reality Oprah calls it the secret men came along like Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland who's about 81 years old now and they've mainstreamed word of faith because it's a great way to get really really wealthy you tell people you can name it and you can claim it Joel Osteen has specialized in this though a lot less weird he plays it cool with a big white smile is great suit those big tie knots I don't know how you make them all big like that like the dudes in GQ and Osteen just stands up there and just promises that God wants you healthy wealthy and if you just see yourself the way God does he tells everybody you're of good stock telling everybody you're a champion you tell that sickness where to go God doesn't want you sick what do you do then what do you tell Johnny Erickson tada what do you tell amazing brothers and sisters in the faith who have been in wheelchairs all their life simply unable to move they have faith in Christ they're changing the world in their sphere of influence and is God not happy with them do they not have enough faith are they not naming and claiming what is available through the atonement did Jesus not die for that cancer why do they still have cancer why do godly relatives go on to be with the Lord because of cancer why aren't they all getting healed they must have not had enough faith or they must not have used faith as a force to tell that cancer where to go I would argue that there have been billions of Christians throughout the ages that have died and suffered and let me start with the most important one Christ it doesn't take enough faith that is faith if you live for your faith you will suffer Paul told Timothy all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted the martyrs died a martyr's death for their faith John 90 years old hunched over on Patmos exiled where were all his friends where were all the rest of the Apostles on vacation toes in the sand umbrella in their drink no they were dead they were martyred they were beheaded they were stoned that is what faith is it's suffering for Christ it's holding on it's justified no matter what your circumstances you're right standing with God and great rewards awaits you in heaven third and I want you to pay close attention to this one because this is where I will levy the most serious charge of heresy against a movement that is mainstream I'm fully aware that last week at the devil Ward's baffle music Bethel kids and correos Berry who sings with them and the song reckless I'm well aware that they cleaned house at the Music Awards I know they're on your radio I know some of them might be on your podcast I joked with the guys earlier and said we're gonna have some Jesus culture and the set tonight I get it lots of churches well-meaning churches sing the stuff and not every song is riddled with heresy but not every message that my uncle preached was always heresy either Paul was clear when he addressed the church at Corinth in 2nd Corinthians 11 that Satan's favorite game essentially is to what have his false workers look like true workers of righteousness Satan's favorite game is to come in white shining armor like an angel of light he doesn't show up at the foot of your bed with a red tail and a pitchfork saying Here I am to deceive you he comes with subtlety Jude says secretly introducing destructive heresies Peter said the same thing it's subtle it looks good it feels good it sounds good it honestly sometimes does some good for family and friends I had a sister that graduated from their school the Bethel school of supernatural ministry and for a season it helped her she felt better about herself but eventually the theology began to weave into all the other areas of her life and take her off course they teach a cannot ik Christ number three is a cannot ik Christ that's the issue when people ask what's the big deal why the book which I'll talk more about shortly why the book on this stuff why are you picking on Bethel why are you hating on Jesus culture leave them alone they're just trying to love Jesus this is why number three a cannot ik Christ ke n OT I see Christ cannot acknowledge II also known as cannot ik Theory cannot acara see this is the nineteenth century German philosophy that Jesus laid aside his divinity when he emptied himself he laid aside his divinity why it's important that you know that is because I never want any of you to be sitting in a church service and a preacher say something like that yeah Jesus emptied himself of his divinity and just went on under the anointing of God and you're sitting there at going okay I want you to be a thinking and a discerning Christian to go now that's not right something's up he he set aside his divinity but but he was divine canonic theology says that the Philippians 2:7 kenosis the emptying was of divine attributes we know biblically that Jesus emptying himself means that he humbled himself came down he took on humanity he did not subtract deity I like what RC sprawl calls it he says it's subtraction by addition he humbled himself by adding humanity to his divinity which is ultimately the lowliest and most humiliating thing God could have ever done I'm gonna add puny human to finite divinity the people that I'm gonna let kill me I'm gonna add their nature to mine and then I'm gonna go down and save them and they don't deserve it and they're gonna spit at me and mock me they're gonna have glory in their midst the glory of heaven the Son of God himself the majesty of Majesties the son of the Almighty God in their myths and they're gonna kill him and I'm gonna let I'm gonna let them kill me basically what Jesus said that's humble that's empty that's lowly and that's what he did he was always God not once do we see him lay aside his divinity in the fullest and truest sense we see him limit himself but who limited himself he did as God he put self limitations on himself which means he was still God here is the teaching of this false Christ like Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses or a Muslim belief system the Jesus of the na r is not the Jesus that can save people that's why I come here that's why I leave my family at home that's why I make the trip because I want to tell you that Jesus they believe in cannot save people so I'm on a gospel mission it's great Commission type of theology they're toying with the ultimate the gospel write these down letter a under header one cannot ik Christ is one letter a Jesus did his miracles as just a man that's one of the claims Jesus did his miracles as just a man Bill Johnson writes on page 29 of his book when heaven invades earth he meaning Jesus performed miracles wonders and signs as a in right relationship to God not as God I'm quoting if he performed miracles because he was God then they would be unattainable for us his point is that Jesus set aside his divinity did some great stuff as a man so you can too now that lifestyle is attainable for us so you all have to do miracles going back to Paul's words though in first Corinthians 12:30 that not all do these it seems a little weird that a New Apostolic Reformation guy would say that but not if you think they're viewing themselves as apostles so their authority to say all ken is greater than Paul's authority to say all won't 2nd or let her be Jesus laid aside his divinity and we're gonna quote again this is not hearsay Johnson teaches in Supernatural power of the transform mind one of his books to help everybody think like he does Jesus had no ability I'm quoting to heal the sick he couldn't cast out devils and he had no ability to raise the dead he said of himself in John 5:19 here's a very twisted hermeneutical leap the son can do nothing of himself see quote he had set aside his divinity on page 50 explicitly Jesus was just a man doing all these great things you can do it too this is very serious this is the kind of teaching that at the church councils in history would have been condemned as heretical thank God we don't live in an era where people who taught that would be burned at the stake or stoned or exiled we just sent him a letter right on a book say hey brother you know what you're doing you know what you're teaching and so far the answer is yeah we do and it's true they view their position as authoritative I want to go to a fourth and final which is a lust for signs we move from cannot ik Christ to lust for signs in a reckless Reformation which is the New Apostolic Reformation you'll see a high focus on signs in fact quoting again from Bill Johnson on page 112 of his book when heaven invades earth he says that our hunger for God should be marked by her lustful pursuit of science quote the reason that I wanted to contrast earlier a hunger for truth is to ensure that you were prepared to hear somebody say that we ought to have our hunger for God marked by a lust for signs ultimately why why teach this why do it why the deception what agenda does it all serve based on both study of the topic and my experience within the movement and many family members now caught up in working with Bethel and these people there's three things that I would surmise that's the best I can do I'm certainly not getting led into the secret dinner meetings after anymore I'm not invited into the inner circle so I can't give you any more than this money power and forces of darkness would be the three main drivers first money cuz it's big business to preach cannot acara see if though he would never john gets up and says jesus did his miracles is just a man guys we can do them too are you ready we're gonna turn gilbert upside down with signs and wonders are you ready for god's power like you've never seen it we're gonna blow the roof off this place the anointing is gonna hit you you're gonna see things you've never thought you'd seen four and remember God is the god of the impossible he's promised greater worse are you ready for them you're not you're not you're not you're not that's okay you're out we want world changers we want revivalists that's ultimately what it does and it drives up demand and then if John says again and to help you cuz I know some of you are confused we're gonna start a school okay and Dale and I have gotten together we built the curriculum it's gonna blow your socks off and within six weeks I promise she'll be prophesying and doing miracles it's gonna cost you a simple price we've cut this thing way down some about thousand dollars a person and all the money is going towards revival and we're gonna teach you it's big business and then pretty soon john rolls in with an aston martin which is exactly what Bill Johnson drives and you're going that's funny the New Apostolic Reformation sounds a lot like the Word of Faith Movement and it sure looks a lot like the prosperity gospel that's because it ultimately is it's just a new twist on old heresy finally the marks of right response how do we respond to this some of you are taken back some of you may get upset some of you are thinking already of friends and family that are caught up soon you're gonna go home and feel guilty and start deleting songs on your iPad or iTunes I let's let's slow down and let's discern and if you will agree to let the Scriptures be your authority the Holy Spirit will guide you it ain't cost ease word in ain't John's word it's God's word and so let's just let the Word of God guide us Luther said this word is the word of life it's the word of truth it's the word of light of preaching of righteousness of salvation of joy of Liberty of wisdom of of grace of glory and of every blessing beyond our power to estimate our response must be measured and biblical we turn to scripture the first thing that we ought to do in the first mark of right response is number one expect deception expect it don't be shocked people often you know might say I can't believe it can you believe this I always like to say yep I mean who would have saw this coming well Jesus did so did Peter sort of Paul so did John so did that guy Jude man I think everybody saw it coming and then they took the book they bound it in leather you can get it at the store it's right there I think we know what's coming expect deception Paul to Timothy in 2nd Timothy 4:3 2:4 says for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but wanting to have their ears tickled they'll accumulate teachers in accordance with their own desires and they'll turn away their ears from the truth and they'll turn aside to myths expected to educate yourself educate yourself in that same passage a favorite of mine because it starts with him saying preach the word and as a pastor I always want to remind myself preach the word and when I'm counseling preach the word and when I'm talking to my kids preach thought I'm a minister of the word in many different ways in many different forms with different tones and different elevations sure I can take a knee with my kids and still preach the word but more gently and more relatedly preach the word and Paul to Timothy explains and it's advice that we can take and apply here to educate ourselves he says in second Timothy 4 5 verse 5 a but you contrasting with everyone else be sober in all things you need to be a sober Christian I need to be a sober Christian we need to not be afraid to face the music no pun intended it's not meant to be funny we do need to be prepared to face the music third we need to evangelize others we expect deception we educate ourselves and we evangelize others we don't sit around in our bubble stone-throwing we don't sit around in our bubble can you believe I heard this one song did you see her did you see him I can't believe I read this one book did you see that article that's not the game we play we are measured and we are biblical we are on mission and so in verse 5 be we like Timothy we should emulate this advice we endure hardship we do the work of an evangelist and we fulfill our ministry we are not commissioned to hide in our little Bible bubble a redeemer Bible is a great place no doubt a safe haven for truth but we never want to become so focused on separation from people that we forget our role of proclamation people in your life and in this community needs you God ultimately doesn't need you and he doesn't need me but he'll use us if we'll make ourselves available amen as the Reformation took shape and people began to realize the historical moment that was taking place Luther kept getting asked how is it all happening Martin how'd you do it how'd you pull it off he had his chance to explain how what he started was changing the world what did Luther say talk about his courage talk about his zeal talk about how brilliant he was I knew it all along I nailed it right there and I saw people watching I knew they would take that decease and go copy it spread it around it was planned spontaneity know Luther said I simply taught preached and wrote God's Word otherwise I did nothing and then I slept and the word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince and never an emperor inflicted such damage upon it I did nothing the word did it all it's the Word of God that does it all so let's use the word and let's be Christians who stand for truth amen let me pray for us before we go on a father we come to you now after hearing about the reliable Reformation and about hearing on the reckless Reformation these are souls help us to see them that way I lift up bill Johnson to you right now I mentioned his name I quoted his false teachings I lift him up to you right now there might be people here or people who have opinions on me praying for him and frankly I don't care you're a god that could save anybody if somebody decided to pray for me back when I was lost I sure glad sure I'm glad they did so we come tonight and we lift up these people and we lift up our friends and our family who are caught in deception asking you to open up their eyes use your word they're interacting with it we just know that the Spirit of God has not yet opened their eyes and illuminated them to the truth we know they have Bibles we know that they think they're worshiping you but they're not we ask and pray that you would rescue them redeemed them caused them to repent bring them to their knees and make this entire movement something that's just a historical narrative we look back upon it but ultimately make so many of these people monuments to your glory save them to the point where even we is Bible believing Asians are shocked that so many lives are transformed we pray for them and we pray for our own hearts that you would keep us as discerning biblically minded submissive Christians to the authority of your word and your word alone in Jesus name and all God's people said amen thank you [Applause]

Channel: Redeemer Bible Church AZ

Views: 236,491

Keywords: Jesus, Bible, Redeemer Bible Church, Arizona, Gilbert, Mesa, Bible Church, Truth, Understanding, God, Protestant, Reformation, N.A.R, NAR, New Apostolic Reformation, Hillsong, Costi Hinn

Id: PkAK9MXzy6E

Length: 52min 30sec (3150 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 30 2018