Today I saw an article at Slice of Laodicea on the "Coming Collapse of Evangelicalism", which is actually being reported by the Drudge Report. I think many of us with discernment has seen this coming for a while, but as I was searching for something else, I found a sermon by John MacArthur that I thought is applicable to this situation. I also find it helpful in that I am always dealing with a family member that is deceived and unable to discern truth from error and it has affected our entire family.
Bad doctrine has huge practicle implications. So does RIGHT doctrine, contrary to what someone recently said to me. Now, we have to make sure we're talking about professing Christians here, obviously. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit and Scripture. God says that IS enough. And Scripture says that godly doctrine leads to godly living. Let the following excerpts exemplify what I mean.
Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psa 119:104 Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
Psa 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple
2Pe 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
Tit 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,
1Ti 6:3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,
"A Call For Discernment Part 2http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/52-33" (1Thes. 5:21-22)
Let me remind you of its truth with a simple and straight forward reading. "But examine everything carefully, hold fast to that which is good, abstain from every form of evil." This is a call to discernment. Examine everything carefully. Beloved, this is absolutely critical in the Christian life, absolutely critical. The Christian life is the most precise life of all. It is the most disciplined pattern of thinking and conduct. It calls for exacting precision, in comprehension, in deed, precision that conforms to an absolute standard revealed by God in Scripture. The Christian life is a life that pursues perfect and total conformity to fixed laws commanded and empowered by God Himself. There is no life so precise and demanding as the Christian's life because it not only calls for precision on the outside in terms of behavior, but precision on the inside in terms of thought and belief. ...The Word of God sets fixed demands for every area of our lives. There are no changing doctrines in Christianity. There are no changing values. There are no changing morals. There are no changing ethics.
We are required to live in a disciplined pattern of thinking and we are required to live in a disciplined pattern of conduct. And at the very foundation of this disciplined precise kind of living is the necessity for discernment. We must be able to discern what is true from what is false. We must be able to discern truth from half truth as well as truth from error. And when the church loses its ability to so discern, it therefore forfeits its precise theology, it forfeits its precise morals, values, ethics and doctrines and therefore abandons any hope of precise living...precise conduct. And when you look at Christianity today and you see it filled with immorality and a low-level commitment to holy living, you must understand that that imprecise kind of conduct is the result of imprecise kind of thinking which is the product of an inability to make discernment work.
And unfortunately the church has fallen into chaos and confusion under this onslaught. It is unable today to discern true from false and good from evil and that is creating imprecise doctrine, imprecise conduct.
In fact, as essential as it is to precise Christian living, being discerning and discriminating is not popular today even in the church. If you take stands strongly on issues you are looked down on.
There is today an assault on doctrine. And any assault on doctrine is ultimately an assault on God. It is an assault on knowing God truly and knowing His truth properly...therefore it is an assault on His character, is an assault on worshiping Him accurately, it is an assault on morality as well.
Evangelical Christianity is in a severe state of confusion. It is not sure how it is supposed to act because it is not sure what it's supposed to think because it is not sure what it believes. Watered down diluted theology will fail to produce deep reverence, deep worship, deep repentance, deep humility, deep understanding of God, His nature, His work, His ministry, His laws, His standards, His principles. It fails to make people God centered. The church today caught up in relativistic thinking about doctrine, relativistic thinking about morality cannot then come to precise living. Discernment then is crucial.
And the Word must be properly interpreted and it will yield all necessary truth precisely for holy living, if rightly understood.
How can we be discerning if doctrine isn't an issue? How can we be discerning if we're not willing to say this is right and this is wrong and get rid of relativity? How can we be discerning if we're trying to compromise and make the world comfortable? How can we be discerning if we don't even know how to rightly interpret Scripture?
We can't lower the standard. We can't accumulate sinning Christians or sinning non-Christians. We've got to purge and discipline and sift and purify and if God does that at His own church as a first priority, then what in the world is He going to do to the unbelievers? So if we preached judgment and chastening and purity to the church, we have to preach judgment and chastening and salvation to the lost. We have to confront their sin. Start that judgment in the church, he says. And remember, if God wants His church pure and He's going to judge the church if it isn't, what do you think He's going to do to the unbelievers?
There's no discernment in immaturity.
Ephesians 4:14 says this, "We are no longer to be children, we're no longer to be children...here's why...children are tossed here and there by waves and they're carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men and craftiness and deceitful scheming." There you are. Spiritual immaturity makes victims out of people...makes victims out of them. They don't know what's right. They don't know what's wrong. They're yanked all over the place, blown all around. They're deceived easily. How do you change that? Verse 15, "Speak the truth in love so we can grow up," verse 15.
"Solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." [Heb. 5] Discernment and maturity go hand in hand. Discernment and maturity go hand in hand. Sitting under the Word, understanding the word of righteousness, taking in solid food, engaging in spiritual practice, conduct, trains your senses to discern good and evil.
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