Discernment Part 2

Thank you, music ministry.

You have your Bibles, turn with me.

to the New Testament book of 1 Thessalonians,

chapter 5, and

verse number 20.

Today, I want to bring to

you part two of

my topical exposition on

the subject of discernment.

in the life of a Christian.

If you remember in part one, we

focused in on a particular phrase

in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 20,

and I want to go right back to that,

where Paul says in verse 20, do not despise.

prophetic utterances.

You remember that?

Prophet, in the Greek.

Now, as I went over, and I won't go back into depth during

the times of the apostles.

There were people who were gifted with prophetic

utterance, the apostles, and others.

You can go back in the book of Acts.

You can read through all that history.

As you know, we believe that came to an end,

and so by way of application today, in

2026, prophetic

utterance is now, we apply that to preaching.

That's what I'm doing.

I'm giving you prophetic utterance from

the word of God.

And so, really, in the big picture, what

Paul is doing here is he is exhorting

the church for all time through

this New Testament epistle.

Do not despise preaching.

Do not look down on it.

Do not treat preaching with triviality.

Do not diminish it.

Do not belittle it.

And then, remember, we also read next,

when you do hear it.

And I'm talking about preaching, sound preaching,

when you do hear it, verse

21, next verse, but examine

everything carefully.

I don't care who it is.

Let's preaching.

Examine everything carefully,

and you sure need to do that with a false teacher, right?

In other words, put it to the test.

And as we said, that means, what is put it to the test?

The test of what?

You put it to the test of scripture itself.

The scripture itself is the only standard

by which anything is

tested and measured.

And then look next in verse 21.

Paul says, Hold fast,

to that which is good, meaning,

if you remember, that which is inherently good,

and true.

So once you've tested it, and it

passes the test, and it has proven

to be good, Paul says, then hold fast to that.

Cling to it.

Cling to it with all your might.

For example,

In my example, will probably

give evidence of

why you will be stuck with me as your pastor, as

long as you want me to be here.

Not only will I, you

can never say never about anything, but most certainly will I

never be called to another church to

pastor, not only because of my lack of education.

But also probably because of examples I'm fixing to give you here.

For example, Romans chapter 3.

Verse 20.

Because of the works of the law, we're

going to be discerning, right?

No flesh will

be justified in his sight.

Now, you read that.

You hear that preached, you

compare that, and

what it means, with many, many,

many other scriptures that are directly related

to that verse, and you come out with

the doctrine of sola fide.

in the Latin, fide,

faith, sola, alone.

Justification is by faith alone.

That's what that verse means, and all of

the many verses that you can go and study that are attached

to that verse.

So you just tested that.

Right?

And it passes the test.

With A plus 100%.

And that means, as we just learned from Paul in Thessalonians,

that means that it's good.

The doctrine of justification by faith alone is good.

And so once you have examined it, and

you have tested it, by

the standard of scripture itself, you've compared it to other

scriptures, Paul is saying in 1 Thessalonians

5:20, once you've done that, hold

fast to that good thing that you've just examined.

Sola fide.

The doctrine of justification by faith alone

is an absolutely critical,

necessary component of the gospel.

That component of the gospel is

completely non negotiable.

It's not even debatable, though many have been debating it.

For 500 years or more.

Now, Sola fide.

If you have no solo fide, guess what?

You have no gospel, I don't care what other

components are added in your version, if

sola fide is not part of your gospel presentation,

you have no gospel, and

you hold fast, when you understand that,

you cling to that good,

doctrinal reality

with all your might, that's first level.

And then Paul goes on in his instruction

for our discernment.

Look, next in verse 22.

What happens next in this chain?

Verse 22,

Abstain from what is evil?

Some versions say shun.

So, for example, in

the modern day Roman Catholic Church, in

its current catechism, which I have a copy of in

my library, continues,

to this very day in 2026,

to hold to the proclamation of

the Council of Trent, not that Trent,

Council of Trent was a response

to the Reformation, and

it was held between 1543 and

1565,

You can go online in Google, Council of Trenton, all the canons

will be there, just as they were stated, back at that time,

and you get to the section on the doctrine

of sola fide.

faith alone.

And when you read it, you will find that

it is completely contrary to

the Bible's teaching, on solo, fide.

And at that moment, when you read those clear words

that were proclaimed all that time ago,

you have to use discernment.

You then, following Paul's instruction

here in 1 Thessalonians, examine carefully

those words with what?

Scripture as your guide, and

your standard, and

first you come to canon number nine.

out of the council of Trent.

And I'm going to quote it for you verbatim.

If anyone says that

by faith alone, the

sinner is justified, so

as to mean nothing else is

required to cooperate

in order to obtain the grace of justification.

Let him be anathema.

I'm not making that up.

I'm telling you what it says.

The word, anathema, was

used by the Catholic Church as a formal declaration of

exclusion, an excommunication

from the Church.

And it was primarily used against those who

were teaching heresy.

Anathema literally means this.

devoted to evil.

Cast out an offer to God's judgment.

In modern day vernacular, that

is, damned to hell.

According to the Council of Trent, for

anyone who is examined carefully,

as we did earlier, by the supreme

standard of scripture, the doctrine of

justification by faith alone,

and as you did,

you found it good, and you cling

to it in saving faith, if

you did that, according to Trent, you're a heretic.

According to the Council of Trent, you are damned to hell.

Well, brother Philip.

The church has evolved since the 1500s.

What about the modern day teaching?

of the Roman Catholic Church that's currently found in

the catechism?

Well, what do we do?

Well, we continue to follow what Paul said in

1 Thessalonians 5:21, but

examine everything carefully.

And so we go to the catechism.

of the Catholic Church.

And we find there numerous doctrines

where the Council of Trent is cited

by name.

In numerous places, and

never, on any page, in the modern day catechism,

is there any disagreement with

the Council of Trent in the modern day catechism?

And it never

reprints verbatim

the anathemas, and says that anything is

anathema, because we live in the modern

day, and I'm going to explain what that means in a minute, but

in every case, it

takes the exact same doctrines,

and presents them from a positive

and affirming position.

It never negates any of the canons of the Council

of Trent, and in every case,

where the doctrine, in particular

that's being discussed, is cited

that is derived from the Council of Trent

by name, the catechism of today,

always agrees with the proclamation in

positive affirmation.

And then, using

discernment.

We can look directly into

Part 2, Section 1, chapter 3, and

Article 2 on grace and justification,

in the catechism.

And we find, as its listed paragraph

numbers are listed throughout the entire catechism, we

find in paragraphs 1987 through 1995,

A lot of statements.

on grace and justification.

That while again?

The exact wording of anathema,

damn to hell, is not stated, its

wording is clearly exactly

in line when Trent's

proclamation, and here's an overview in those paragraphs,

where it says, that the doctrine of justification is

a grace fill transformation,

infused, very important word, remember

that word infused, by the Holy Spirit,

involving both

good works, rather

than imputation.

Everybody in this building ought to know what that word means.

So

Today's Catholic catechism not only continues

to hold to the same view as the Council

of Trent on solo fide, but also

it agrees with the Council of Trent that

the imputation of the righteousness

of Jesus Christ is not what the Bible teaches either.

I'm not making this up.

This is not my spin.

This is not my opinion.

And somebody else has a different opinion.

Justification, by faith alone, and the

imputation of Christ's righteousness are false

doctrine, according to Catholic teaching.

Period.

But both doctrines, when examine

carefully, using the standard of scripture,

are taught as Bible truths.

So we have an apple in an orange here.

Right?

Well, we have two apples and two oranges here.

With these doctrines.

So that means that

any religious system, Catholic

or otherwise, that teaches contrary to what

scripture does teach on

those two great doctrines, justification

by faith alone, and the imputation of Christ's righteousness?

I don't care what system it is, contrary to

what the Bible teaches, is false.

So, la fide and the imputation of Christ's

righteousness are first level

primary components of the gospel itself.

Take them out.

Teach them differently from the way that scripture,

presents them, and I'm sorry, you

do that, you have a false gospel.

And you know what a false gospel is?

Evil.

There's not many things in all of the world, more evil than

a false gospel.

Well, what does Paul say next in verse 22 of

1 Thessalonians 5?

After we've done all this homework, we are to what?

Abstain from every

form of evil.

Now let me be clear.

What I just presented to you is not an attack.

What I just presented to you is not an anti

Catholic attack at all.

OK?

I love Catholic people.

I have family and friends that are Roman

Catholic.

I love them.

But what am I doing up here?

I am simply following scripture.

I am simply using discernment.

I have a Bible with words in it that

have meaning, and I have a Council

of Trent that's still written out that I can read

with my eyeballs, and I have a Catholic

catechism of today's teaching that I can open up,

and I can read, and I can understand with

my brain, and I can lay all of that, side

by side, and I can compare what

each of them teaches about two of the most important components

the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And again, 1 Thessalonians 5:21 and 22,

what do I do with all of that?

I examine everything carefully?

I hold fast to that which is good, and

I abstain from every form of evil.

I shun.

I abstain from the teachings of the Council of Trent.

I shun.

I abstain from the teachings of the catechism on

these two vital doctrines.

Let me tell you, and let me be very clear.

Those teachings are the heresy.

I'm being like a Berean.

I'm searching the scriptures to see if these things are so.

Scripture, folks, is the standard by which

we test and examine everything

carefully.

As we talked about last time, OK?

What we did in this little exercise that we just went

through for my example, which would get me kicked out of

probably a lot of churches, is

we used precision.

Remember I talked about that last time?

We have to be precise when we're dealing with the things

of God and the things that claim to be the things of God.

We've got to get down to the nitty gritty in

examining everything carefully, accurately, precisely.

We don't just take somebody's word for it, right?

Sadly, in much of today's

evangelical world, there is no premium

on precision like this whatsoever that I just gave to you.

Today, the prevailing notion

is everybody's entitled

to their own spin on scripture and theology.

And as far as most people in the church are concerned, oh,

any old answer will do about anything.

But that is not.

how scripture teaches us to operate.

And that way of thinking and behaving is

certainly not pleasing to God.

Discernment is critical in

the life of the church is what I'm trying to get you to understand.

Knowing what sound doctrine is, is

essential in the life of the church.

Now, the last time we were here with this subject, the

first reason we gave for the lack of discernment in the church was a

lack of doctrinal clarity and conviction.

is so very clear that the majority of

evangelicalism in America today has neither of those things.

If you want to do a little experiment,

You want to test that out, what I just said?

Next time you're with family.

Next time you're with friends, especially

with those who go to a church that puts all of its

emphasis on music and programs, and the preaching

is real man centered and light.

You just go ahead and ask them,

Could you please give me a presentation of the gospel?

Try that.

Ask him.

What is the gospel?

Ask them that.

Just ask them that.

What is the gospel?

And then prepare for things to get real uncomfortable.

especially if they professing Christian.

And prepare at best to hear an extremely

minimalist version of the gospel.

Prepare to hear a version of the gospel that

is not what you hear at Providence

when I give you the gospel.

Prepare not to hear that.

Hope you do.

But prepare, mostly, not to.

And the gospel church?

Is the most important piece of information in the universe?

No piece of information ranks higher in importance.

If you can name a piece of information in all of

information more important than the gospel,

please see me after church.

I'm real interested in what you have to say.

Because the gospel gives

us how it is that a sinful

human being can be made right with a holy God.

And there is nothing more important than getting the

answer to that question right.

Because there's only one correct answer.

Because there's only one gospel.

That's why Paul was so

emphatic in Galatians 18.

Listen to it again, because you've heard it, but please

look at the emphasis.

He is dire right here with these Galatians.

But even if we are an angel from heaven

should preach to you a gospel contrary

to that which we have preached to you, he

is to be accursed in the Greek anathema.

Same word we looked at earlier, damned to hell.

And in case you didn't get that, look

next in verse 9, because he says it again, as

we have said before, so

I say again now, if any man

is preaching to you a gospel contrary to

what you have received, he is to be accursed,

anathema damned to hell, any other gospel.

Now, it's that important.

When it comes to the gospel, it's that important.

Let me give you the next reason for the lack of discernment

that we find in the church of today.

And I'm going to give you, are you ready for the big word of the week?

You ready for this?

And I want you to remember, big words that

you don't know the meaning of are simply

because you've never looked up the definition for the big

word, and once you do, presto,

you know the meaning of it.

Okay?

I mean, look.

I have my highest level of education

is an associate's degree in business administration from

Delta Junior college, not exactly

the academic elite in

colleges in America, okay?

So if I can look up what this next word means, and

understand the definition of it, I promise so can you.

The next reason for the lack of discernment in

the church is a failure to be antithetical.

You ever heard that word?

What does that mean?

Antithetical.

That's an adjective, describing something that

is in direct and extreme opposition or

contradiction to something else, right?

To be antithetical, to

put it another way for our purposes in what we're talking about.

The problem in the church is

an unwillingness to disagree about anything.

and unwillingness to be antithetical.

And then Martin Lloyd Jones, the doctor

himself, says this, quote,

When you remove polemics

from the church, the church dies.

Now, there's another word we need to define, right?

Polemics means this.

A forceful, aggressive, or spoken

argument designed to fiercely attack,

or vigorously defend a specific opinion,

belief, or doctrine.

Dr. Lloyd Jones says, when you remove that,

When you remove polemics from the church, the

church dies, and I agree, especially in

this internate age.

What I'm telling you, what's critical right now in 2026 is

there has to be constant, healthy

discussion and debate about

truth in the church.

That's what Pastor Brian Gunnar and I from Salem Baptist

Church were engaged in, when we responded

to the events down the street here that became national news

and went viral online.

We decided, together, that it was important for

two local pastors to step up and answer

the question publicly, When is violence justifiable

according to scripture?

But as I said in my remarks,

Me and Brian look around for other

church leaders to join us in these endeavors, we

only find ourselves looking at each other.

Why?

Why is that?

Most people are just afraid.

That's what it is.

Afraid, for many reasons, to be involved in

any way, in anything that even smacks

of a controversial issue in the public arena.

Let me tell you.

When you decide that taking

a stand for something, or debating

something is being divisive,

or that disagreement is intolerable,

because everybody's got a right, to their own

opinion, let me tell you, in that kind of environment,

you forfeit any chance for

real reformation in the Church of Jesus Christ.

Forfeit it.

Listen to me.

As Christians, we have to be antithetical.

especially in this day and age, because

there's only one truth.

God's truth!

Founding God's word alone.

And because of that, reality?

Let me tell you, we have to, as Christians have

to be willing to say things like, that is right,

and that is wrong, according to the Word of God.

We cannot be afraid of that.

Right now, the majority

report in the church is this politically

correct sentimental, safe relativism

that doesn't want to disagree with anything or

anybody, don't rock any boats, just

stay in your four walls.

And even if somebody does disagree with

something, hoo, they

don't have the courage to say it out loud.

Not publicly.

You may remember the emerging church, some years

ago, one of the many fads that came and

went, but sadly,

it still has some of its lingering effects that

continue to this day, such

as, well, you know what, man, you are too intense,

because nobody's really all the way wrong,

and nobody's really all the way wrong.

Nothing's really all the way true, and nothing's really

all the way false.

We're all just here trying to figure it out.

That's the emerging church in a nutshell.

I mean, you have a right to come to whatever spiritual

conclusion you want to, and that's good for you, that's good for you.

Let me tell you, that is poison to the church.

right there, that kind of thinking.

When everything is subjective, that

spells disaster for the church.

Today, biblical expository

preaching is no longer

relevant in our culture.

Why?

Because it's too definitive, like today.

It's too offensive, like today.

It's too sharp, like today.

It's too black and white.

It's too absolute.

It hurts people's feelings.

It offends people.

when you're this black and white.

But let me tell you something.

If you properly understand the gospel of Jesus Christ,

then you understand that the gospel is

the most offensive message that exists on Earth.

Being antithetical in a world that is shaped

by voting Bachham's 11th commandment, Thou

shalt be nice, means,

What it's going to take to be a

faithful Christian in this environment

that we live in today boils down to one word.

Courage.

And I find courage to

be in short supply amongst our church leaders, today,

and that makes me wonder, what would happen with

the church in America, if real persecution

broke out, like right now, that what they have in Africa?

And look, let me be clear, too, here.

Being antithetical does not mean being ugly to people.

Being antithetical does not mean being mean.

Just because I raised my voice when I preach doesn't mean I'm a mean guy.

Or I'm ugly, or I'm being ugly.

What being antithetical is simply

defending God's truth against error.

in a very clear and articulate way.

That's what being antithetical is.

And really, just think about it.

When you read your Bible, it's

not just the words in the pages that are black and white, the

pen is black and white, it's absolute.

From start to finish.

Oh, I want you to listen to something Bible commentators John Adams wrote.

It's a lengthy quote, but it's good for our instruction

in this situation.

Listen to what he wrote, quote.

From the Garden of Eden, with its two trees,

one allowed, one forbidden, to

the eternal destiny of every human being

in heaven, or hell.

The Bible sets forth two and

only two ways, God's way, and all other ways.

Accordingly, people are either saved or lost.

They belong to God's people, or the world.

There is garism, the amount of blessing, and

evald the amount of cursing.

There is the narrow way and the wide way.

One leads to eternal life, the

other to eternal destruction.

There are those who are with us?

There are those who are against us.

There are those who are within the kingdom.

There are those who are outside the kingdom.

There is life, and there is death.

There is truth.

And there is falsehood.

There is good.

and there is bad.

There is light, and there is darkness.

There is the kingdom of God, there is the kingdom of Satan.

There is love, and there is hatred.

There is spiritual wisdom, and the wisdom of the world,

and Christ is said to be the way,

the truth, the life, and no one

may come to the Father, but by him.

He is the only name under the sky by

which anyone may be saved.

End quote.

That is Christianity.

Antithetical.

That is exactly, folks,

the way the Bible presents itself.

There is right theology, and anything that disagrees

with right theology.

Guess what that is?

wrong theology.

There is a right way to understand God

and Christ and the Holy Spirit and salvation

in a wrong way, many wrong ways, for that matter.

This is on every page of the Bible.

This antithetical kind of thinking is

everywhere inscription.

Real quick example.

Think about how God put

the ceremonial law in

place in the Old Testament.

You ever wonder why in Old Testament Judaism.

There were many distinctions in the Old Testament

Judaism that didn't really have anything to do with morality.

I mean, there were clean and unclean animals, right?

I mean, there was things you could eat and things you couldn't eat.

There were certain ways that the food had to be prepared.

They had all these little rules.

And why?

Why did God put all that in place back then?

Well, it wasn't arbitrary, that's for sure, because God doesn't

do anything arbitrary.

And it covered all kinds of things, how you ate, how you

cooked, how you formed, how what kind

of clothes you wore, and so consider this.

As an Old Testament Jew, you had to think.

about everything that you did.

And you had to know, in your mind, every

single day, that there was

God's way of doing things and every other way.

And you lived it out daily.

And you never forgot it.

They were real clear about it.

Today is totally different.

Very few distinguish between God's

way in every other way, in

every subject under the sun.

We have God's truth and the world's wisdom.

And those with worldly wisdom think that

they are the intellectual elites, and we are

just the old Bible thumping hillbillies.

They absolutely have no idea.

What true reality is.

Even among the politically conservative, those

who are Christless conservatives, guess what?

They have nothing but worldly wisdom, too.

They may have some morality that lines up with us, but that's about it.

And that's why, for example, chryslist conservatives will

support two men being married and adopting children.

Many Republicans support that.

That's worldly wisdom, which is

really not wise at all in any way.

Look at what Paul says in Titus 1, verse 9.

Holding fast the faithful word,

which is in accordance with the teaching,

so that he will be able both to exhort in

sound doctrine and to

refute those who contradict.

Holding fast means having a strong grip

on the faithful Word of God, in accordance with

the teaching, understanding what it teaches,

so that you will be able, and here's the kicker,

so that you will be able both to exhort in

sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

In the ministry, especially.

We exhort people in sound doctrine.

Today, I'm exhorting you in sound doctrine.

That's the positive side.

But it's also critical that we refute those

who contradict sound doctrine.

We live in a time where discernment is

viewed as harsh.

mean, calling out

someone else's error, for

many people is just flat out, intolerable.

And what happens in that scenario when you don't do that?

Well, that error wins the day.

Here recently.

as a part of responding to the week

long national news that we had down the street here.

anybody who called out the

major heresy of oneness

theology which denies that God is Trinity.

Anybody that called that out online was

roasted in the comments.

How dare you say that about that man?

Pastor Brian and I both did, from the pulpit.

And we posted the video publicly.

You want to know why?

Because denying the Trinity is first level,

top of the list, heresy.

As I said last week, if you don't believe in the Trinity, you're

not a Christian, period, I don't care much, Jesus you attach to what you say.

Listen, discernment will only thrive

in an environment of necessary confrontation

when you refute those who

contradict sound doctrine.

And an environment of pastors who

have the courage to, as Titus,

19, it says, again,

look at it, refute those, who

contradict sound doctrine.

That's what Brian and I did.

That's what the people who got roasted online did, when

they pointed out oneness theology that denies the Trinity.

Understand?

There is antithesis, and there is thesis.

There is black, and there is white.

There is true, and there is false.

There is right, there is wrong, and it's part of our responsibility

as Christians alive on the earth right now to

be guardians of God's truth.

You understand that?

That's not just my responsibility.

That's your responsibility as well.

Now, let me give you a third cause for the lack of discernment.

A preoccupation with image and influence

as a key to evangelization.

The idea is this.

And it's an old one, now.

The church will be more effective in evangelism,

if it can create an environment that embraces unbelievers.

That's the methodology of the seeker friendly

movement that's tried all kind of things over

the last 30 to 40 years, and

it still exists today in varying different types of iterations.

The idea is, make unbelievers feel

good about going to church.

Which also, at the same time, means this.

Do not confront them boldly

with the full counsel of God.

Don't do that, or they're not going to feel good.

Do not, especially, confront them with their sin.

Don't even say the word sin.

Do not confront their error.

Do not call them to repentance.

Don't even use the word sin, repentance, wrath,

judgment, or hell, because none of that makes them feel good.

If you say any of that, that's going to offend them.

Get anything remotely perceived as offensive out.

Get anything different out.

You know what?

Today, the old hymns are considered different.

We are considered, if you didn't know this, different

in our community as a church.

Because we stick to the old hymns in our service.

Expository preaching is considered different.

Very few pastors in our community, and comparatively speaking,

in our nation, preach verse by verse today.

The illusion here is that if we can influence

them into Christianity by cutting out everything

that is offensive to them, and we can just reinvent

the church, and make it just another form of

entertainment, big musical productions,

with psychology, and Jesus name, to

boost their self esteem, well,

then, kind of like undercover, we can subtly sneak in

minimalist gossel, which doesn't give you all the necessary

components that you have to know, like the bad news of the

gospel before you ever get to the good news of the gospel.

You put all together,

And let me tell you something.

That is a place where discernment goes to die.

Certain death.

And that, to varying degrees in methods, is

really the majority report, especially in most

of our larger churches in America.

The idea that somebody gets saved because of somebody else's

influence is false.

The only reason anybody ever gets saved

is because they hear the biblical

gospel, and they repent, and they believe that gospel.

As you know, our worship

service is designed by following the Bible, alone,

which means our worship service, is

designed for believers.

The only seekers who

are seeking God are

genuinely regenerate believers.

That's the only people that are seeking God.

Breaking news from Romans 311 for all unbelievers.

You ready for this?

Breaking news?

There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God.

Breaking news.

Now, we want them to come on in, Jack.

I don't care how you're dressed.

Long as you got clothes on, and you don't disrupt anything.

We want them to hear the gospel, and if they

repent and believe, guess what, then

they can become seekers just like the rest of us, we're

now seekers, that believe.

If you are truly a believing seeker, guess what?

All of a sudden, the preaching about sin,

and about death, and about hell, and about a bloody

substitutionary atonement on a cross becomes

something you can't get enough of.

When you're a believer.

If you think that dishing

out nothing but love, and care, and

being nice, and, oh, if they'll like us,

maybe they'll like Jesus is the way to go, well, guess what?

You just skipped over Jesus' method.

The Bible says Jesus came preaching repentance.

And they hated him for it.

And they constantly plotted to kill him, and

they eventually executed him because of

the words that he said.

Same thing happened to

of the apostles, because as I said earlier, and I'll say all the time.

The gospel accurately presented is

the most offensive message in all of the world.

Now lastly, for today, a fourth reason.

that we have such a lack of discernment in the church today is a

failure to interpret scripture properly.

Guess what?

It's real simple.

The meaning of the scripture is the scripture.

I, for example, what we looked at last week.

Do you remember what we looked at in the Gospel of John?

How in the world?

Do you come away from that text that we read with

an interpretation that says Jesus never claimed to be God?

He said, I am the father of one, and for this very

reason, the Jews picked up stones because

he was making himself equal to God.

How do you come up with any other interpretation?

Then Jesus is God.

I can't even begin to get it.

The meaning of the words in the scripture is the scripture.

If you don't have the true meaning, guess what?

You don't have the scripture.

So if you misinterpret the scripture, that's not the scripture, is what I'm saying.

For example, if you're going to do a study

on the nature, and the being of God,

and you come out of that study with

an interpretation that says, God can only exist

in one mode at a time, he

can only be the father, when he's in the mode of

being the father, and so on, that's

not the meaning of the scripture on that subject.

I don't care how much Jesus, you shout

and yell about in your service, and therefore, that's not the scripture.

And with that subject?

Well, church, that's more than just error right there.

That's heresy.

Heresy.

If you can read just the book of Romans, and

come out with an interpretation that says justification is not

by faith alone, that our works play

a role in our justification, that's not the scripture.

And not only that, in denying sola

fide, you have obliterated the gospel, and you

have just made clear by your proclamation that

Christ's work on the cross as your substitute

was not enough.

You have to add some things to what he did on the cross in order to be justified.

So when we think about this whole issue of discernment,

we have to realize that discernment

cannot survive in an environment where

doctrine does not matter.

Discernment cannot survive in an environment

where we are scared to offend anybody,

where we are scared to disagree with

anybody, or have a contrary opinion,

or we're scared to call out false doctrine,

because we're going to hurt somebody's feelings.

Let me tell you something.

The future of the church is absolutely counting

on both courageous church

leaders and membership, who are discerning Christians,

who are very concerned to preserve, proclaim,

maintain, and defend the truth at all costs.

No matter what other people think about us.

and to pass down the torch.

of preserving, proclaiming, maintaining, and defending

the truth to the next generation, and

all the generations all the way down until the king returns.

Now I'm really going to close.

Really?

2 Timothy 2:15.

I don't know why y'all got me so wound up this morning.

2 Timothy 2:15.

Paul says this.

Be diligent.

To present yourself approved to God as

a workman, who does not need

to be ashamed, accurately

handling the word of truth.

Now I don't know about you.

But when I face my king,

I don't want to be ashamed of my ministry.

I don't want to stand before my

king ashamed of the Christian

life that I lived, and

to make sure that doesn't happen, I

have to be diligent with this word.

I have to be a workman.

When I prepare these sermons for you,

I have to be a workman, who, as best as I possibly can,

accurately handles the word of truth,

which means I have to be discerning.

And guess what?

So do you, Christian.

You, Christian, have no less of a responsibility to

be discerning than I do.

We just have different levels of accountability before God.

Look, you only get one life to get this figured out.

You only get one life to get it right, and to

get it done on a daily basis, and you do not know.

As Lindsay Graham found out last night, and his family, and the

rest of our nation, when your time is up.

Just in case you're wondering, I have a little bit more to say about this.

Next time.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you for this infallible,

inerrant, all sufficient word of God.

It is our meat and our drink.

Lord, I pray that your people have been fed,

your sheep have been fed today, and that we all

walk out of here with a deeper understanding of

the need for discernment, and I pray it has been

done all to your glory.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.