Nov. 17, 2024

Christianity and False Comfort Pt 2

Christianity and False Comfort Pt 2

A discussion about false comfort within Christianity

Spreaker podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
PocketCasts podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Overcast podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
iHeartRadio podcast player badge
Castbox podcast player badge
Podchaser podcast player badge
TuneIn podcast player badge
Deezer podcast player badge
Pandora podcast player badge
RadioPublic podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
YouTube podcast player badge
Fountain podcast player badge
PlayerFM podcast player badge
Goodpods podcast player badge
Podverse podcast player badge
Podyssey podcast player badge
Breaker podcast player badge
Podurama podcast player badge
Audacy podcast player badge
JioSaavn podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconOvercast podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconiHeartRadio podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconTuneIn podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconRadioPublic podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconFountain podcast player iconPlayerFM podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconPodverse podcast player iconPodyssey podcast player iconBreaker podcast player iconPodurama podcast player iconAudacy podcast player iconJioSaavn podcast player icon

A discussion about false comfort within Christianity

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:06.120
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:13.480
the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. You can be honest,

3
00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.519
Come on, you can be honest. Are you a little

4
00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:19.920
worried about what I'm going to say? Are you a

5
00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:24.719
little scared? Are you a little concerned? Are you thinking, well,

6
00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.800
I'll listen one more time and then I'm never listening

7
00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:31.239
to that podcast again. Are you having some of those thoughts,

8
00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:36.479
having some of those feelings because of our last live broadcast. Well,

9
00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:39.320
I can understand why you may feel that way, and

10
00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:42.840
I can't promise you you're going to feel any different

11
00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:47.679
when this broadcast is over. But I can say this,

12
00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:51.679
I think my feelings, my emotions may be a little

13
00:00:51.719 --> 00:00:56.840
bit different. So maybe maybe this won't be quite as

14
00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:04.040
startling or shocking or offensive or triggering. I don't know

15
00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:06.959
the exact words. Maybe this one will come across in

16
00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:13.040
a much more rational way, maybe not so emotional. Only

17
00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:15.920
time will tell, and we'll get to that right after

18
00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.519
I do this. Good evening everyone. It is Saturday, November sixteenth,

19
00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:24.879
twenty twenty four. It is currently seven forty nine pm

20
00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.519
Central Time, and I'm coming to you live from the

21
00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:34.239
Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas, and

22
00:01:35.079 --> 00:01:40.239
in this studio. I guess I'm kind of having Do

23
00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:43.040
we call it a crisis of faith? Do we call

24
00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:47.680
it a not necessarily a nervous breakdown, a spiritual breakdown?

25
00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:50.560
I don't know, but I definitely have kind of reached

26
00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:55.359
a breaking point. And I never foresaw myself being here,

27
00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:58.280
but here I am. Let me try to explain what's

28
00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:02.200
going on, trying to blame where we are. I put forth,

29
00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:04.519
if you listen to the last live broadcast, you'll hear

30
00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:08.240
kind of my emotions and they come out strong. I

31
00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:10.960
mean at one point. I mean I think people will

32
00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:12.919
just say you were yelling and you were screaming. I

33
00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:17.639
probably was because I just don't know what to say

34
00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:20.520
or do anymore. In fact, the last live broadcast begins

35
00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:24.439
with kind of a dramatic pause to kind of symbolize

36
00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:28.240
I don't even know if I should be or should

37
00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:31.319
be talking, or even what I should say if I

38
00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:33.719
decide to talk. It's like I was just kind of

39
00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:38.400
frozen for a second, because it really kind of captures

40
00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:41.520
what I'm struggling with, and I don't think most people

41
00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:44.360
are going to understand my struggle. I think to most people,

42
00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:46.919
they're just not gonna get it. They're gonna think, well,

43
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:50.599
he's being overly dramatic, it's not that big a deal,

44
00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:55.439
who really cares whatever. I think everyone's gonna just be

45
00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:59.120
very dismissive and just kind of say, well, that's just him.

46
00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:01.560
He'll get a it and within a couple of weeks

47
00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:04.400
it'll all be forgotten. Maybe that's true. Maybe that's true.

48
00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:06.840
I doubt it because I've been struggling with these issues

49
00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:11.000
in some ways. My entire Christian life is just sometimes

50
00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:15.319
things reach a breaking point, a tipping point, and so

51
00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:19.000
here we are. So here is kind of what has happened.

52
00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:21.639
I'll just briefly review and kind of get us on

53
00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:26.560
the same page. Since this is Part two. One of

54
00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:28.280
the reasons I'm doing Part two now, I will go

55
00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:32.039
ahead and just explain this. It's Saturday evening, right, It's

56
00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:35.319
Saturday evening. That means it won't be long before I

57
00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:39.199
will wake up, put on some clothes, take a shower,

58
00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:42.879
put on some clothes, get ready, drive to Victory Baptist Church,

59
00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:46.199
and be standing behind the pulpit, ready to preach. Dealing

60
00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:49.960
with things related to Isaiah Chapter forty, verse one, and

61
00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.840
of course the entire section of Isaiah forty to Isaiah

62
00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:55.479
fifty five. But our primary focus will be Isaiah chapter forty,

63
00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:57.319
verse one, if we can actually even get to the

64
00:03:57.400 --> 00:03:59.840
verse tomorrow. But there's gonna be a lot of things

65
00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:03.639
going to discuss. So in my mind, if you heard

66
00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:08.479
the last lie broadcasting, you heard my emotion. The best

67
00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:10.520
thing I can do is try to bring some of

68
00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:13.680
that emotion, some of those issues I was discussing to

69
00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:18.399
somewhat of a conclusion so that tomorrow I can at

70
00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:23.199
least be, you know, a step beyond it. Right. Maybe,

71
00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:24.920
I mean some of the things I'm going to be

72
00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:28.439
saying tomorrow is going to be very I mean, there's

73
00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:30.959
going to be overlap lap, there's going to be a connection.

74
00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.680
But maybe I can move forward. I'm trying to because

75
00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:37.839
of this situation I find I feel like I have

76
00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:40.399
found myself in now. I feel like I just got

77
00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.360
to dig myself out, and it seems like the more

78
00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:46.399
I look or the more I study, the deeper the

79
00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:49.079
hole gets, and I'm not getting out of the hole,

80
00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:51.399
I'm going deeper into the hole. So I feel like

81
00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:53.720
I need to bring this to some kind of conclusion

82
00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:55.759
so that I can stand behind the pulpit and be

83
00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:00.879
somewhat effective, because if you're very emotional about something, then

84
00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:04.839
it hijacks the entire entire sermon. So that's what I'm

85
00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:07.639
going to attempt to do. But here's what's been happening.

86
00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:11.000
You know. December twenty twenty three, I put forth the

87
00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:14.079
challenge for everyone to download the sermons two point oh

88
00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:16.360
app and we were going to do the Sermons two

89
00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:19.800
point oh app sermon challenge right every single day, you

90
00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:21.319
were going to listen to our random sermon on the

91
00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.560
sermon's two point oh app and then you were going

92
00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.040
to write it down, write down kind of basically a

93
00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:27.839
summary of what you learned in the sermon, and you

94
00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:29.879
were going to have one sermon for each day of

95
00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:33.000
twenty twenty four. That was the goal. And I don't

96
00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.000
know where a lot of you, definitely, I can't say

97
00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:38.920
a lot some of you I know have been very

98
00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:43.600
dedicated to following through others. I don't know how many

99
00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:49.240
people actually participated, but we did that, and the more

100
00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:56.439
I listened, the more frustrated I became, because sermon after

101
00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:00.360
sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon after

102
00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:04.279
sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon, even many that

103
00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:07.839
I reviewed, you heard much. Sometimes my frustration live on

104
00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:13.040
the air started leading me to say something like this,

105
00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:28.480
Christianity constantly offers nothing more than fraudulent promises, false comfort,

106
00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:37.720
shallow peace, and an illusion of hope. It is nothing

107
00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:43.199
more than a lie, a sham, and leaves people confused

108
00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:47.120
and broken. Now I know, to hear me say that,

109
00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.639
that comes around immediately people get offended and they're already

110
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:52.199
typing another email. I've already got plenty today. It's good,

111
00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:54.879
you don't need to send another. I understand that nobody

112
00:06:54.920 --> 00:06:56.800
likes to hear that. Now, I did say in the

113
00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:59.720
last live broadcast. Probably I shouldn't use the word Christianity

114
00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:02.519
because people will misunderstand when I say Christianity, there I

115
00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:07.759
mean Churchianity. I mean the corporate church, the visible church,

116
00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:12.160
the institution, not the truths of Christianity. I believe the

117
00:07:12.279 --> 00:07:18.240
true biblical truths of Christianity does not do that. But Christianity,

118
00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:23.160
this is what we call Christianity, this institutionalized, corporate type

119
00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:27.600
of thing. It constantly offers nothing more than fraudulent promises,

120
00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:32.079
false comfort, shallow piece, and it offers an illusion of hope.

121
00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:35.000
It is nothing more than a lie, a sham, and

122
00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:41.720
it leaves people confused and broken. Now why would I

123
00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:46.720
be led to that, because in sermon after sermon after sermon,

124
00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:51.680
two things occurred. One thing we talked about it over

125
00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:54.160
and over and over in twenty twenty four is that

126
00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:59.600
Christianity seems incapable, unable to actually deal with the reality

127
00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:03.399
of sin within Christianity, the reality of sin within the

128
00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:07.800
lives of Christians, because we constantly give this fraudulent hope,

129
00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:12.639
this fraudulent comfort, this illusion that when you became saved,

130
00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:15.759
dont to done practically, you become a new creature. Whole

131
00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.959
things are passed away, and basically you're with basically without sin,

132
00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:21.519
you can say no to sin and yes to God,

133
00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:24.079
and basically you can be perfect. Well, I mean, actually

134
00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:26.519
you can't be perfect, so we so sell it that way.

135
00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:29.759
But the reality is sin, sin, sin, sin, sin, sin, sin,

136
00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:31.879
And if anyone looks at the law of God and

137
00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:34.480
even remotely honest, you know you're in a perpetual state

138
00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:38.039
of sin. Because God's law demands perfection, You're never perfect.

139
00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:40.600
You're in a perpetual state of sin. And then somehow

140
00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:43.120
we convince ourselves even though we're in a perpetual state

141
00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:45.000
of sin, we convince ourselves that we're not actually in

142
00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:47.000
a perpetual state of sin. And then we can look

143
00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:48.559
at other people and say, but look at the sin

144
00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:50.919
they commit, even though we're in a perpetual state of sin,

145
00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:53.080
we deny it. We pick up rocks to throw at

146
00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:54.919
other people who are in a perpetual state of sin

147
00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:57.120
because the sin they committed in their perpetual state of

148
00:08:57.120 --> 00:08:59.120
sin is supposedly worse than the sin that I commit,

149
00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:00.960
and I a perpetual si date of sin, and it's

150
00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:07.840
just it's just lunacy. It's ridiculous. It's just so nonsensical, illogical,

151
00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:10.879
circular reasoning, and it makes you want to scream. And

152
00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:13.480
we dealt with that, and we're still not done dealing

153
00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:15.720
with that. But over and over and over and over,

154
00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:20.879
this moralistic denial of the reality of what we are,

155
00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:25.919
so sermon after sermon would create this situation where it

156
00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:29.320
just demonstrate Christianity cannot truly deal with the reality of sin,

157
00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:33.559
not excusing sin, saying that we have to be able

158
00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:36.039
to deal with the reality of it, all right. And

159
00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:39.120
so because that happened over and over and over. I

160
00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:41.639
believe that Christianity is not really dealing with the issue.

161
00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:46.240
It's just offering nothing more than a fraudulent promise. It's

162
00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:48.879
offering nothing more than a false comfort. It's offering nothing

163
00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:51.679
more than shallow peace. It's offering nothing more than an

164
00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:55.519
illusion of hope. That's why, because in that area, that's

165
00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.519
what it does. And then the second thing these sermons

166
00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:00.799
did over and over and over, over and over and

167
00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:05.399
over and over, is it misapplied scripture that clearly was

168
00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:09.320
about other people to us. Hijack the scripture and make

169
00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:12.039
it about us, taking promises that were not for us,

170
00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:15.519
claiming those promises somehow for us, even though the reality

171
00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:18.559
would demonstrate these promises and these things are not happening.

172
00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:24.480
And then this led that the last month or so,

173
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:30.840
three passages of scripture has become very well, it kind

174
00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:33.240
of becomes symbolic of all this that has happened. In

175
00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:37.279
twenty twenty four Isaiah chapter forty, verse one, where we

176
00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:40.080
read comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God

177
00:10:40.440 --> 00:10:42.840
all right, and we saw sermon after sermon where pastors

178
00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:45.559
go to that comfort. Still it from the original people

179
00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:48.600
make it all about us, and it's just I mean,

180
00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:52.519
that's just a hermeneutical train wreck. It's a travesty. It's

181
00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:57.639
it's spiritual malpractice because you can't take that comfort and

182
00:10:57.679 --> 00:10:59.679
just apply it to everyone. It has a very specific

183
00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:02.559
hists historical context, as we have been talking about, not

184
00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.600
to get into it everything there. Then we found ourselves

185
00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:09.039
in Deuteronomy thirty two to ten. Once again, here are

186
00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:12.960
promises being made what God has done, but forget the

187
00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:15.840
original people, forget the original context, make it about what

188
00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:20.360
God has done for us. And once again I feel like,

189
00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:23.360
and you're taking things that very much are about Israel

190
00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:28.320
and promises that were very tangible, material, physical, and then

191
00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:30.840
we try to apply that to ourselves. And while we

192
00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:35.080
see all the problems, then Hebrew six thirteen through twenty,

193
00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:38.559
even though the passage begins with God making promises to Abraham,

194
00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:44.200
we somehow insert ourselves again and make it all about us.

195
00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.240
So those are the three passages. So we're kind of

196
00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:50.080
working on that. I'm doing a series on Isaiah forty

197
00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:53.320
through fifty five. First by verse. We've got an entire

198
00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:57.720
series for that. In this series, I'm going to entitle

199
00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:03.480
Christianity false comfort, false comfort, and Christianity something along those lines.

200
00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:06.360
I'm gonna we're gonna be dealing with the whole idea

201
00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:08.679
of false comfort in a general sense and kind of

202
00:12:08.679 --> 00:12:10.799
a specific and then we'll do some work on those

203
00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:13.320
passages of scripture to try to bring all of this

204
00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:18.960
to some kind of conclusion. Now a later or earlier today,

205
00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:22.960
I had to laugh because I finished that broadcast and

206
00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:25.440
you could hear how frustrated I was. Then I started

207
00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:28.639
getting emails that only made things worse, right, So then

208
00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:30.519
I was like, okay, well I had to go somewhere.

209
00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:34.120
So I grabbed the iPad, downloaded some sermons, random sermons

210
00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:37.559
from the sermon's two point o app, started driving, made

211
00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:40.559
it about ten minutes down the road, and all of

212
00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:44.279
a sudden, what do I hear some pastor preaching from

213
00:12:44.360 --> 00:12:48.600
Nehemiah and making it all about guess who you and me,

214
00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:52.279
you and me, you and me us us us us us,

215
00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:55.279
And I'm like, just forget about the original people that

216
00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:59.799
it was just I just don't get it. I don't

217
00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:04.600
think think really, I don't think. Look, and that kind

218
00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:07.240
of preaching is what people want. That gets the numbers,

219
00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:11.840
the downloads, the streams, the popularity, the fame, They make money,

220
00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.639
They have jobs, they get to speak at conferences. That's

221
00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:18.840
what people simply want. And anything else, I mean, there's

222
00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:20.840
got to be room for something else. But it's just

223
00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:25.600
so maddening. So here's what we did. In the last

224
00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:29.240
live broadcast. I mentioned two passages in the Book of Jeremiah.

225
00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:35.759
Two verses Jeremiah six fourteen. They have healed also the

226
00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:40.440
hurt of the daughter of my people, slightly, saying peace

227
00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:46.200
peace when there is no peace. Jeremiah has words to

228
00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:49.320
the false prophets, to the priests, to the religious leaders

229
00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:53.919
who are running around for wrong motives, offering peace to

230
00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:57.080
people where there is no peace. Jeremiah was giving them

231
00:13:57.080 --> 00:13:59.879
a word of judgment, a word of warning, and those

232
00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.000
and the religious leaders were like, Jeremiah is wrong. Everything's

233
00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.600
going to be okay, nothing to worry about. And well,

234
00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:11.200
then Babylonian captivity came. So we read Jeremiah six fourteen

235
00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.840
and Jeremiah eight to eleven, which says the exact same thing.

236
00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:18.639
For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of

237
00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:23.000
my people slightly. They offered they offered some kind of healing,

238
00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:28.120
but it's a slight healing, saying piece piece when there

239
00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:33.000
is no peace. They gave them a shallow, fraudulent comfort.

240
00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.559
The healing was only slight because it wouldn't deal with

241
00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:39.159
the reality. And when a Christianity becomes detached with reality,

242
00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:43.399
then you begin giving people fraudulent hope and lies, and

243
00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:47.159
it just it's just an illusion. And most Christians are

244
00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:50.039
happy to live in the lie. Most Christians are happy

245
00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:53.360
to live in the illusion and feel like, oh, comfort

246
00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:57.200
and great. But they it's all just make believe, and

247
00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:01.639
sooner or later, for at least a minority, the reality

248
00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.480
of life overwhelms the illusion and they just give up

249
00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:08.159
and they don't know what to do. Others live in

250
00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:12.120
the illusion. It's kind of like Plato's allegory of the cave.

251
00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:14.799
Some people are more than happy to sit in the

252
00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:18.399
cave and look at the images being thrown onto the

253
00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:20.519
cave wall. They're just they're more than happy to look

254
00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:22.519
at the images. They don't care where it's coming from.

255
00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:24.200
They don't care if it's real. They don't care if

256
00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:26.559
it's true. Just give me nice little images to make

257
00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:28.600
me feel better. Go to church and just show me

258
00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.120
some images on the screen make me feel better. I

259
00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:33.279
don't care about truth, I don't care about accuracy. I

260
00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:36.799
don't care about harmoneutics. But there's always that minority that says,

261
00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:41.559
wait a minute, where's where's the images coming from? Wait where? Wait,

262
00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:44.879
there's an where there's light out there, And they get

263
00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:47.120
up and they walk out of the cave because they

264
00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:52.399
got to figure out why, where, how? Who? What? Well?

265
00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.039
Guess what that minority when they start they decide they're

266
00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:58.320
going to look into the face of reality. They get

267
00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:01.039
slapped and they're like, wait a minute, those images on

268
00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:05.720
the wall, that that's not the truth, that's just a

269
00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:09.120
that's an image, that's a shadow, that's not No. What

270
00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:11.759
we need is outside of the cave. But it's bright

271
00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:14.559
and it's maybe filled with pain and confusion, but we

272
00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:16.960
gotta have and to me, we gotta have a Christianity

273
00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:20.159
that can exist outside of the cave, not tucked away

274
00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:23.320
in a cave somewhere where we're all make believe in pretending.

275
00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:29.440
So what happens to Christians? What happens? What are the consequences?

276
00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:38.159
What are the consequences, maybe the unintended consequences of giving

277
00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:42.720
people false comfort to day? Well, the last part I

278
00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:45.879
gave you a number of them. Number one. It leads

279
00:16:45.879 --> 00:16:52.879
to disillusionment and loss of faith. It leads to disillusionment

280
00:16:53.360 --> 00:17:00.960
and loss of faith because when promises of guaranteed healing, prosperity, deliverance,

281
00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:03.679
God's gonna do this. God's gonna do this. God's gonna

282
00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:05.839
do this. God's gonna do this. God's going to do this.

283
00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:10.759
When they fail to materialize, people will feel betrayed by

284
00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:14.240
God or the Church, or by God and the church.

285
00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:19.960
This leads to cynicism, doubt, or even abandonment of the

286
00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:26.039
faith completely. So it leads to disillusionment and loss of faith.

287
00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:30.359
Number two, it leads to spiritual complacency. False comfort lulls

288
00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:33.279
people into a false sense of security. Hey, everything is

289
00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:37.279
good everything when reality no, things are not good. Hey guys,

290
00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:41.680
Jeremiah's time. Hey guys, those false prophets are telling you

291
00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:44.400
everything's okay. Let me tell you things are not okay.

292
00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:48.720
Babylonian captivity is coming, judgment, death and destruction is coming.

293
00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:54.559
You need to wake up. Number three, It leaves people

294
00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:58.880
unprepared for trials. When people are taught that faith will

295
00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:02.680
shield them from they're ill equipped to endure hardship, leading

296
00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:06.039
to confusion and despair when they get punched in the

297
00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:12.640
face by reality. You're not prepared for trials. Christianity should

298
00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:16.240
be preparing you by saying, Hey, here is God, here

299
00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:20.000
is spiritual reality. But guess what in our reality? Guess

300
00:18:20.039 --> 00:18:26.599
what the reality is in your life, in my life, pain, suffering, death, sin, failure.

301
00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:33.599
We got to be prepared for reality. Number four. It

302
00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:38.039
leads to an erosion of biblical understanding. When you have

303
00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:41.799
pastors misusing scripture to offer false hope, it undermines people's

304
00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:45.359
ability to understand the Bible correctly. It fosters a shallow,

305
00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.799
selective approach to scripture, where promises are taken out of

306
00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:53.400
context and harder truths are ignored. And that's what we

307
00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:58.960
see in Isaiah forty, Deuteronomy thirty two, Hebrew six. Let's

308
00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:00.960
not deal with the facts. Us I deal with the truth.

309
00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:08.079
Let's not deal with the text. Number five leads to

310
00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:12.519
a mistrust of church leadership. When pastors repeatedly offer empty assurance,

311
00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:16.759
people begin to lose trust in their leadership. This can

312
00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:19.359
lead to divisions within the church or cause individuals to

313
00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:25.759
leave organize religion all together. Number six, It perpetuates and

314
00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:30.039
it spreads false theology. False teaching about God's promises spreads,

315
00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:34.440
leading to widespread misunderstranding standing of core doctrines like suffering

316
00:19:34.839 --> 00:19:37.720
and the nature of God. This creates a cycle where

317
00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:41.599
new preachers and believers adopt and propagate the same old errors.

318
00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:46.319
It just never stops. See what's this false comfort starts?

319
00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.079
People just keep buying into it, and it just perpetuates

320
00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:52.240
these fraudulent ideas. And then one person takes it, they

321
00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:54.880
share it with another person. One pastor shares it, another

322
00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:57.079
pastor picks it, and it just continues. And that's what

323
00:19:57.240 --> 00:20:01.000
Christianity has turned into, the never ending perpetualuation of this

324
00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:06.240
wrong idea about a false comfort, false hope, and all

325
00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:13.559
of it is just it's just false. It leads to

326
00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:18.000
a neglect of genuine spiritual needs. And we see this

327
00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:21.240
when you give this basic idea that basically, when you

328
00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:25.119
give the basic idea that basically, I know that sounds redundant.

329
00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:27.599
When you give this idea that, hey, whenever you become

330
00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:30.680
a Christian, basically your sinful nature is gone. You mean,

331
00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:34.359
you basically are without sin. Your heart's change, your nature's changed,

332
00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:37.079
You're now a new creature. Everything all the oldest gone,

333
00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:39.920
everything is new practically, but you can do it well,

334
00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:43.880
then it basically what Christianity gets reduced to is now work,

335
00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:47.160
do work, do good, do good, do good, do good,

336
00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:49.200
because you've got to do good to prove that you've

337
00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:51.680
truly been changed. And if you don't do good enough, well,

338
00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:53.799
then you prove that you're not changed. Therefore you're going

339
00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:55.920
to go to hell. And guess what gets destroyed? A

340
00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:59.720
proper understanding of law and gospel, because what you're supposed

341
00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:03.000
to do constantly compare yourself to the law and realize,

342
00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:05.119
no matter how much you do, no matter how hard

343
00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:07.400
you try, you're in a perpetual state of sin, which

344
00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:09.319
should drive you to the foot of the cross and

345
00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:12.720
rely on the imputed righteousness and understand that you're not

346
00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:16.200
being saved, and you were not saved by an infused righteousness,

347
00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:20.720
see the true spiritual need. It becomes neglected because of

348
00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:30.440
this fraudulent hope and fraudulent teaching. Number eight, and this

349
00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:34.440
is the one I got really emotional about, really upset about.

350
00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:42.880
It leads to harmful emotional and mental issues. It leads

351
00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:46.480
to emotional and mental issues in people. In some ways,

352
00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:49.240
I feel like I've been suffering this my entire Christian

353
00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:53.400
life because I constantly be like, wait a minute, we

354
00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:55.119
say all of this, but what about this? And what

355
00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:56.640
about this? And what about this? And what about this?

356
00:21:56.680 --> 00:21:57.920
And what about this? And what about this? And what

357
00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:01.680
about this? And what about this? And my questions just

358
00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:08.160
get me in trouble. When you offer false comfort, you

359
00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:16.400
leave people emotionally devastated when reality doesn't align with the

360
00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:22.960
promises that they wrongly give you. You end up having

361
00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:28.799
feelings of guilt, feelings of inadequacy. They often arise when

362
00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:31.640
people are told they lack faith or obedience as the

363
00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.240
reason to their unfulfilled hopes. Hey it's your fault that

364
00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:37.359
things are not working out, or you're told basically, hey,

365
00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:38.880
you're a new creature ahld, things are pass away, all

366
00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:41.440
things have become new. Okay, great, but you're gonna you

367
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:43.079
keep sinning? Why do you keep sinning? Why? I don't

368
00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:44.640
know why I keep saying? You said, I'm a brand

369
00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:46.839
new creature, the oldest gone. There shouldn't be any sin.

370
00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:50.359
Everything is brand new. You're doing something wrong. You're probably

371
00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:53.319
not even saying well again, it just leads you to

372
00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:55.119
what I gotta do, what I got to do to

373
00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:57.480
prove that I'm safing? Okay? Why are these problems happening?

374
00:22:57.599 --> 00:22:59.799
Is that my fault and he just It just leads

375
00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:02.079
to all kinds of mental issues and then you try

376
00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:03.799
to try to figure out, well, wait a minute, you

377
00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:06.359
said that God promised this, this, this, this, and this, Well,

378
00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:08.279
how come this is happening and this is happening and

379
00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:10.480
this is happening that seems to go against his promises?

380
00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:13.519
Is God wrong? Did I do something wrong? Who is

381
00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:20.480
the whole thing not true? Now this leads to the

382
00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:34.759
rest number nine. It encourages a self centered faith, This

383
00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:41.319
fraudulent comfort, These false promises lead to a self centered faith.

384
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:49.480
Preaching false hope often centers on personal benefit rather than

385
00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:54.039
God's glory or his broader purpose. This fosters a very like,

386
00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:59.119
almost like a consumer transaction view of faith where people

387
00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:01.720
where we fall hell of God only for what they

388
00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:05.359
think he can get he will do for us. It

389
00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:08.200
becomes this very self centered faith. And let me just

390
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:10.279
expand on it. It becomes self centered because now you

391
00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:12.319
go to the Bible and you just immediately see you

392
00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:14.920
you you, you you you you, you see yourself. You

393
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:17.599
move the other people out and you insert yourself. That's

394
00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:20.400
become self centered and then it's all about, well, God

395
00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:21.759
is going to do this for me, and God's going

396
00:24:21.799 --> 00:24:23.240
to do this for me. And God's going to do

397
00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:25.160
this for me, and so it's almost like, Okay, well,

398
00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:26.559
if I have faith, God's going to do all of

399
00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.400
these things for me, and I get all of these things,

400
00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:30.839
even though those promises are not even really for you,

401
00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:33.000
and you don't even show up in the text, but

402
00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:37.039
you've inserted yourself into the text. So this then turns

403
00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:40.839
into guess what, it all becomes about you? You, you,

404
00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:51.000
you you. He becomes this this never ending, self serving,

405
00:24:51.160 --> 00:24:58.400
self promoting, self seeing, selfish, self centered. It becomes we

406
00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:02.319
become narcissistic, t actual hijackers. As I have said, it

407
00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:08.839
becomes self centered. It's a faith based preoccupied with self.

408
00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:11.160
It's about go to the Bible, find me, Go to

409
00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:15.079
the Bible, find me, and put myself there even if

410
00:25:15.079 --> 00:25:23.519
I'm not there. That's number nine. It encourages a self

411
00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:31.960
centered faith. Number ten creates division among believers. When some

412
00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:40.599
people have unmet expectations. It can create division between those

413
00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:46.359
who cling to the false promises and those who challenge them.

414
00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:49.559
See those who cling to the false promises, those who

415
00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:52.440
cling to the false hope, those who cling to the

416
00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:57.119
illusion they get very upset when someone challenges all of that.

417
00:25:57.319 --> 00:26:00.119
When someone says no, no, not for us, no, noh,

418
00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:03.559
stop claiming that No, they get very upset and it

419
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:06.799
creates division. And I witnessed that division today in my

420
00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:10.880
emails because people don't like me to challenge this. People

421
00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:14.880
don't know No, no, how dare you? How dare you

422
00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:19.160
say that past? How dare you do that? Well, I'm

423
00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:23.839
just trying to help you stop with the fraudulent hope

424
00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:28.119
and the false comfort that do you want comfort based

425
00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:31.160
off lies or do you want comfort rooted in truth?

426
00:26:35.559 --> 00:26:42.160
Criticism of false hope may be dismissed as a lack

427
00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:45.640
of faith. See, if you criticize the false hope, you

428
00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:50.680
criticize the fraudulent promises, you criticize the illusion of hope

429
00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:54.079
offered by Churchianity, you're going to be dismissed as you

430
00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:59.720
don't have faith. I know that because I got it

431
00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:04.200
in my email. It creates tension within the church. Christians

432
00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:06.559
don't want it, They don't like it. They don't because

433
00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:09.319
they want to stay inside the cave looking at the

434
00:27:09.319 --> 00:27:11.799
images on the wall. That's what they that's what they

435
00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:13.640
don't want to go outside the cave. Into the bright

436
00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:16.319
sunlight and be confronted with reality. We want to live

437
00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:22.319
in this little, fraudulent, made up world and nobody wants

438
00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:24.440
to deal with Wait a minute, okay, Sue, So how

439
00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:27.759
do I understand that there is a God. He's omniscient,

440
00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:33.440
he's omnipresent, he's omnipotent. Yet this many people die a

441
00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:36.039
year from this, And people did this, and children get

442
00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:38.960
molested and women get sexually assaulted it and people starve

443
00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:40.720
to death, and people die here, and people this and

444
00:27:40.759 --> 00:27:43.119
this and that, and this sin happens, and this hit happens,

445
00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:45.359
and this and go on to all and you're like, well,

446
00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:49.240
wait a minute, I have a hard time reconciling reality

447
00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:53.720
with these things. I will join the club. But it's

448
00:27:53.720 --> 00:27:58.119
better than going hide inside your cave and pretending that, oh,

449
00:27:58.279 --> 00:28:00.319
God's going to do this for us, and go Odd's

450
00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:04.079
going to do that. Yeah, Borrowing passages of scripture in

451
00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:06.720
many cases that are for Israel, and what God is

452
00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:08.799
doing for them is based off a covenant promise that

453
00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:10.920
he would do those things, where we don't have those

454
00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:19.680
same promises. Next, it dilutes the gospel when you emphasize

455
00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:24.480
temporal promises health, wealth, comfort, it overshadows the eternal hope

456
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:31.519
of salvation in Christ. See for us our promises. We're

457
00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:35.319
blessed with all spiritual blessings in high places. Our promises

458
00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:41.599
are spiritual now, the tangible, material, physical promises are for eternity.

459
00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:44.599
When we get a new body, new heaven, new earth,

460
00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:46.920
no more pain, and we're suffering, no more death, no

461
00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:49.480
more tears. But we want to constantly rip down and

462
00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:51.480
bring it. We want to take the promises of the

463
00:28:51.480 --> 00:28:55.559
Old Testament that's made to Israel about provision, protection and

464
00:28:55.559 --> 00:28:57.359
all that. We want to bring that and apply it

465
00:28:57.400 --> 00:28:59.799
to us. Now. It doesn't really work, and it makes

466
00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:03.480
us overshadow, overshadow, and it dilutes our focus on the

467
00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:09.960
spiritual promises. This begins to distort the Gospel, reducing it

468
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:12.680
to a tool for personal gain rather than a message

469
00:29:12.680 --> 00:29:19.640
of redemption and reconciliation with God. That's number eleven, number twelve.

470
00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:24.839
It can lead to endjustice towards the vulnerable. False promises

471
00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:29.680
often exploit those who are already vulnerable, such as the sick, grieving,

472
00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:34.559
or financially struggling, by offering them solutions that never come.

473
00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:37.599
This can lead to further despair and financial loss. When

474
00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:41.200
people invest time, money or resources and to false assurances.

475
00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:44.960
It's unjust. It takes people who are vulnerable, people who

476
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:48.200
are fragile, and you promise them all kinds of stuff

477
00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:51.000
and then it doesn't ever truly come about, and they're

478
00:29:51.079 --> 00:29:54.599
left broken and disillusioned and they don't know what to do,

479
00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:59.680
or they just find themselves dead. Now, this is why

480
00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:03.519
I oh the charismatic world right promising healing and problem

481
00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:05.519
all that doesn't come to pass. I could tell all

482
00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:07.559
the stories I've told a million times. I'm not going

483
00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:12.680
to do that tonight. But the same thing, when someone

484
00:30:13.319 --> 00:30:16.680
has broken over their sin, they're vulnerable, they feel guilt,

485
00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:21.240
they'll feel shame, they feel humiliated, whatever the case may be,

486
00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:23.720
and they're longing for hope and forgiveness, and you give

487
00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:26.519
them the forgiveness. But then the hope you tell them is, hey,

488
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:28.880
now that you're a Christian, dun dun da done, You're

489
00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:30.279
never going to do this again. You're never going to

490
00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:31.799
do this again because you're a new creature. Old things

491
00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:34.160
are passed away, everything's being new. You've been set free. Yeah,

492
00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:35.680
and then then when that go will wait a minute,

493
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:38.200
I keep sinning saying, sinning, Well, you'll probably not saved.

494
00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:46.480
You destroy them. You pray on their vulnerability and their weakness,

495
00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:59.400
only to toss them out later. Number thirteen. It encourages

496
00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:06.960
pride and self righteousness. Those who seemingly experience the so

497
00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:11.880
called fulfillment of these false promises may feel superior to

498
00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:15.640
those who do not, fostering pride and a judgmental spirit.

499
00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:21.400
This creates a toxic environment where struggles or failure is

500
00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:28.319
viewed as an evidence of a lack of faith. Become prideful, well,

501
00:31:28.359 --> 00:31:33.039
because you think every scriptures about you. It becomes self righteous, thinking, well,

502
00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:37.319
God's doing this for me. Yeah, because you're convincing yourself

503
00:31:37.319 --> 00:31:40.720
in many cases of the fulfillment of promises that are

504
00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:43.480
false and fraudulent, but then you think you're better than

505
00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:57.680
other people. Number fourteen. It weakens evangelism. It weakens our

506
00:31:57.720 --> 00:32:06.759
evangelistic efforts. Non believers often see through the false promises,

507
00:32:09.160 --> 00:32:16.599
and they view the church as insincere and manipulative. See

508
00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:19.000
people in the church can't see through the false promises,

509
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:22.480
they're blinded by it, but many on the outside look

510
00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:26.519
at and go false promise, lie, lie, lie lie. People

511
00:32:26.519 --> 00:32:35.000
are being manipulated, They're being used. This undermines the credibility

512
00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:42.440
of the church and the gospel message. You hurt evangelism

513
00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:45.119
because the world sees through it. They hear all the

514
00:32:45.160 --> 00:32:49.640
promises that we claim and are like, whatever, whatever, it's

515
00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:56.480
just garbage. How many times young people go off to

516
00:32:56.559 --> 00:32:58.559
church camp. I never when I was a teenager, I

517
00:32:58.599 --> 00:33:00.319
refused to go to church camp. I saw all the

518
00:33:00.359 --> 00:33:05.039
game that was played. Kids go, they're manipulated, sold all

519
00:33:05.160 --> 00:33:07.720
kinds of things. They come back thinking everything, and then

520
00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:10.599
sooner or later they crash, they burn, and I'm just like, look,

521
00:33:10.839 --> 00:33:13.240
how oft how how long you're gonna play this game?

522
00:33:13.519 --> 00:33:16.599
You go, you get emotionally manipulated, You come back thinking

523
00:33:16.599 --> 00:33:20.000
you're gonna you know, you're gonna rush hell with a

524
00:33:20.039 --> 00:33:24.200
water gun, and six weeks later you're broken and just

525
00:33:24.200 --> 00:33:27.160
just right back to the same place you were last time.

526
00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:30.160
And then next summer you get all go to chairs champ,

527
00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:34.240
get all emotional again. Get you're getting manipulated, you're getting used,

528
00:33:34.279 --> 00:33:48.680
You're getting played. Number fifteen. So, not only is it

529
00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:58.480
leads to weakening or hurting evangelistic efforts, it fails to

530
00:33:58.519 --> 00:34:05.680
provide true comfort. False comfort ultimately fails because it is

531
00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:08.360
not grounded in the truth of God's word or his

532
00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:17.360
eternal promises, or in reality. True comfort, which acknowledges suffering

533
00:34:17.800 --> 00:34:21.159
while pointing to God's sovereignty and eternal plan, is neglected

534
00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:27.559
in favor of temporary, shallow assurance based off the misapplication, misinterpretation,

535
00:34:27.960 --> 00:34:35.039
and hijacking of the text of scripture. You can't get

536
00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:42.320
true comfort if you're stealing others comfort, you're misusing the text.

537
00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:49.480
I'm going to go through all of these again. False comfort,

538
00:34:49.559 --> 00:34:54.280
false hope, false all these things that we've referenced leads

539
00:34:54.320 --> 00:35:01.239
to disillusionment, disillusionment and a loss of faith. It can

540
00:35:01.320 --> 00:35:06.519
lead to spiritual complacency. It can lead to being unprepared

541
00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:11.280
for trials. It can lead to an erosion of biblical understanding.

542
00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:16.119
It can lead to mistrust of church leadership. It can

543
00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:19.880
perpetuate false theology. It can lead to neglect of genuine

544
00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:23.840
spiritual needs. It can be harmful. It can lead to harm.

545
00:35:23.960 --> 00:35:26.280
It can lead to emotional and mental harm. Let's stay

546
00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:30.079
it that way. It can lead to emotional and mental harm.

547
00:35:30.679 --> 00:35:35.159
Number nine, It encourages a self centered faith. Number ten.

548
00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:39.800
It leads to division among believers. Number eleven. It dilutes

549
00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:44.159
the gospel number twelve. It leads to injustice towards the vulnerable.

550
00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:48.719
Number thirteen. It encourages pride and self righteousness. Number fourteen.

551
00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:53.440
It weakens evangelistic efforts. Number fifteen. It fails to provide

552
00:35:53.639 --> 00:36:00.800
true comfort, false hope, false peace. False comfort offered by

553
00:36:00.920 --> 00:36:05.079
preachers may seem appealing in the short term, but it

554
00:36:05.159 --> 00:36:12.199
results in significant spiritual, emotional, and relational harm. The long

555
00:36:12.280 --> 00:36:16.119
term consequences damage individual faith, the credibility of the church,

556
00:36:16.320 --> 00:36:19.480
the integrity of the Gospel. True hope and comfort must

557
00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:22.199
be rooted in the full counsel of God's Word, including

558
00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:26.679
both the hard truths and the eternal promises found in Christ,

559
00:36:27.039 --> 00:36:31.440
and the reality that you live every single day. You

560
00:36:31.639 --> 00:36:54.960
don't create a fraudulent reality to escape the harsh reality.

561
00:36:55.679 --> 00:36:59.599
This falses. All of this false stuff has got to

562
00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:10.119
stop now. I want to go and do some work

563
00:37:10.159 --> 00:37:12.920
in Jeremiah, just to show you how prevalent this false

564
00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:16.880
assurance and false promises were in the Book of Jeremiah.

565
00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:18.719
But I'm not because I just all I really wanted

566
00:37:18.719 --> 00:37:21.559
to do tonight was just at least finish all of

567
00:37:21.599 --> 00:37:28.199
the negative consequences intended or unintended of false hope, false peace,

568
00:37:28.679 --> 00:37:32.000
false comfort that's being provided by pastors and sermon after

569
00:37:32.039 --> 00:37:34.599
sermon after sermon, because they just seem to think that

570
00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:48.400
they can do whatever they want with the word of God.

571
00:37:49.320 --> 00:37:51.519
I don't know what else to say other than you

572
00:37:51.559 --> 00:37:59.599
should consider all fifteen of those points, and whenever you

573
00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:03.679
hear a you should ask yourself, is this false hope,

574
00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:08.840
false peace, false comfort? Is this stealing promises? Is this

575
00:38:08.920 --> 00:38:15.199
hijacking scripture? Now? I know it's almost impossible to see it,

576
00:38:15.239 --> 00:38:18.239
because you've been so in it the language use. You

577
00:38:18.400 --> 00:38:20.920
just accept it. You never go wait, what exactly does

578
00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:33.719
that mean? Now? I did that much calmer. I don't know.

579
00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:39.360
I don't know if that's helpful. Maybe I should have

580
00:38:39.400 --> 00:38:44.880
maintained the same emotional temperature, the emotional level. But I

581
00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:49.960
think that hearing it two different ways, maybe maybe that

582
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:52.039
will make some kind of a difference. I don't know,

583
00:38:58.559 --> 00:39:00.039
But just think of all the sermons we heard in

584
00:39:00.159 --> 00:39:03.440
Isaiah forty verse one, comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.

585
00:39:03.480 --> 00:39:07.480
And guess what who got thrown out my people? In

586
00:39:07.519 --> 00:39:11.840
their context Babylonian captivity. Isaiah thirty nine sets up the

587
00:39:11.840 --> 00:39:15.800
context they everyone got thrown out and we inserted ourselves

588
00:39:15.800 --> 00:39:19.920
inserted ourselves Deuteronomy thirty two. We inserted ourselves Hebrew six.

589
00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:23.440
Remember I did a message on whose anchor their anchor?

590
00:39:23.559 --> 00:39:29.280
Or our anchor, our anchor, their anchor. Well, we completely

591
00:39:29.360 --> 00:39:33.039
eliminate the people That Hebrews was written to people facing

592
00:39:33.519 --> 00:39:37.280
the siege, capture, and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple

593
00:39:37.320 --> 00:39:39.519
in seventy a d. Was written to them somewhere between

594
00:39:39.559 --> 00:39:42.679
sixty five sixty seven sixty eight a d. They were

595
00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:45.039
about to face one of the most horrific thing. Look

596
00:39:45.079 --> 00:39:47.840
at the history. Over a million people died, some reverted

597
00:39:47.840 --> 00:39:52.360
to cannibalism, Horrible things occurred. They needed an anchor, They

598
00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:54.800
needed hope, they needed promise, and many of that that

599
00:39:54.920 --> 00:39:57.239
much of that hope and promise was very much rooted.

600
00:39:57.360 --> 00:40:00.679
And the fact that Israel was given specific promises that

601
00:40:01.400 --> 00:40:05.039
well give gives them hope even today that sooner or

602
00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:07.440
later they will be regathered to the land will be restored.

603
00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:09.639
We'll be saying all of those things that we've discussed.

604
00:40:10.440 --> 00:40:13.639
But of course, why why worry about the original recipients,

605
00:40:13.679 --> 00:40:17.079
Why we don't care about them? Now? Am I saying

606
00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:20.360
none of these passages have application to us? It's it's

607
00:40:20.440 --> 00:40:24.760
application without inserting ourselves into it's making sure that the

608
00:40:24.800 --> 00:40:28.159
application is consistent with what the text actually says and

609
00:40:28.199 --> 00:40:36.000
not what we're just reading into the text. But those

610
00:40:36.039 --> 00:40:39.400
are the consequences of false hope, Those are the consequensequences

611
00:40:39.440 --> 00:40:43.519
of false promises. Those are the consequences, and those consequences

612
00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:46.159
are horrific. That means what that This is just not

613
00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:49.320
me just having you know, my little pet peeve ranting

614
00:40:49.400 --> 00:40:52.280
and raving. This is me saying real people are being

615
00:40:52.360 --> 00:40:56.880
really hurt by it, and I don't know if the

616
00:40:56.960 --> 00:40:59.159
church will ever admit the hurt that it's been. That's

617
00:40:59.199 --> 00:41:09.679
been done. All right, I'll stop there. Thanks for listening, everyone,

618
00:41:09.800 --> 00:41:14.719
have a great night. Hopefully tomorrow you'll have a great

619
00:41:14.760 --> 00:41:21.239
day at church. Hopefully church will be positive for you. Hopefully,

620
00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:26.039
hopefully the Word of God will be handled carefully accurately,

621
00:41:26.199 --> 00:41:31.000
without hijacking it, misapplying it, and inserting us where we

622
00:41:31.119 --> 00:41:38.159
don't belong and offering you false comfort, false peace, false hope,

623
00:41:38.360 --> 00:41:42.679
because that only leads to negative consequences. Thanks for listening,

624
00:41:43.320 --> 00:41:43.880
God bless