False Teachers (Part 2 of 2)

Guest (Male): Have you heard of kudzu? It's an aggressive growing vine that appears attractive at first, but if you don't remove it immediately, it overtakes everything in its path and grows a foot each day. Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg explains why false teachers are like kudzu. They can seem appealing at first, but can quickly destroy the church if left unchecked. We're studying 1 Timothy chapter 6.
Alistair Begg: Now for men and women who wander around the fringes of religion, it is increasingly possible to be acquainted with all kinds of things, both as listeners as well as by as teachers. So we're acquainted with it all. We're inoculated against it because we have a modicum of knowledge and as a result of that, we're able to deflect different approaches that come our way and we can answer in this way and answer in that because we have a sufficient knowledge of the truth, but it has not arrested us. And that's the factor in relationship to these teachers. They're so full of themselves that there's actually no place for any truth inside of them. There's no place left. They're conceited. They are controversial. They are corrupted. And the whole gospel has become commercialized. Isn't that what he's saying? They've been robbed of the truth and they think that godliness is a means to financial gain. Turn to Titus 1, you'll see the exact same thing and in the 11th verse. These individuals he says must be silenced because they're ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach. So their content is off and they're doing that for the sake of dishonest gain. So there's two strikes against them. Number one, the content is bogus and number two, the motivation is wrong. So they're selling you the wrong stuff and they're driven by the desire to make a buck on the back of what they're selling you. Now so far you have got to be impressed by my my restraint in not applying this to contemporary situations. Are you not good? Because I'm very proud of it myself. I really am. But I don't want to do that. It's too easy. It's sadly too easy. Where did we get this gospel that didn't have dying in it? How can you have as your as your master a dying Christ and you don't die? A suffering Christ and you don't suffer. A selfless Christ and you're full of yourself. A Christ with no home. And you building retirement homes. You see religion is a way of getting rich and so they make a show of their godliness and the better the show, the larger the fee. They've donned the mask of religion in order to enrich themselves. Such individuals view their task not as a vocation or as a calling, but as a career. And so they will seek to chase down all the best options in pursuit of financial gain. Is there a place that I can go where there is a bigger fee and a bigger crowd? I'll go there. I have an open diary then I try and find the best shot where I can make the biggest amount of money and impress the largest number of people and broaden the scope of my influence in the greatest way. The Greeks were intoxicated, says one commentator, with the spoken word among them. If a man could speak, his fortune was made. And it was against the background like that that the church was growing up. And it is little wonder that this type of teacher invaded it. The church gave him a new area in which to display his talents, gain a tinsel prestige and a profitable following. That is the truth. The church provided in the first century this context. They could never have imagined the size of the market that would be present 2,000 years later. The ability for an individual to display his talents, to gain a tinsel prestige and a profitable following. Now it's really easy to point the finger. But the fact of the matter is the danger sits on your shoulder every day. Some years ago I spoke at a I didn't speak. I attended the an event organized by one of the big three car companies in America. And my brief was to give the invocation and the benediction. And so they had a meal and there were 2,000 people there and I sat at a at a platform table with people that I didn't know and who didn't really care if I was there or not. And the man stood up and said and now the Reverend Begg will give the invocation. And so I stood up and invoked and sat down for the next 2 hours and then he said and now the Reverend Begg will give the benediction. And so I stood up and benedicted and then sat down again. In the middle of the event in the main part of the event was a pump them up speaker, a very very good communicator. And he told these young people that had come from high schools and from the top echelons of their high school, how they could go for the gold and seize the the the crown and do everything and so on. And it was really a bunch of of smoke and mirrors and had no substance to it at all. And I can remember being jealous for his opportunity and I went away, came home and I was some weeks later on the receiving end of a telephone call from the master of ceremonies and the master of ceremonies said how we would like you to come back again next year. We do this every 12 months. We'd like you to come back. Oh no, I said no, I said you know that's that's okay. I think I'm busy. I'm bending down on that day next year, I think. And no no, he he he said we we would like you to come. And why I said it, I do not know, but quick as a shot, I said well I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll come if you pay me what you paid that character that spoke for half an hour. Now I don't know what he paid the character. He said oh I haven't come to the good part yet. I was just about to tell you we are going to pay you what we pay the character. Then I said oh man now I'm in it. Because you know if I'd been on the receiving end I could say well I didn't know, but now it sounds like I tried to make it happen. So I said what did you pay him? He said 1,500 bucks. I said man that sounds pretty good. So I went and I spoke and I took the 1,500 bucks and we went on spring break or something. I don't know and it was it was awesome. But that day I made a note to myself. I said I'm never going to do this again. Ever. And every day almost three times a week I get letters from people asking me to speak places. And almost inevitably they say will you please tell us what your fee is? And what I discovered was and people must work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. What I have discovered is that it is customary for people in America once you have any measure of notoriety at all to be able to write your own ticket to a certain within certain limits. And suddenly on that day how would you ever know whether you were peddling the word of God to make a profit or whether you were preaching the word of God because you've been called to preach. For me it's impossible to do. So there's no fee. There couldn't be. There is no motivation here that is financial. Now am I saying this to boast to my own ego? No, I'm saying this to let you know that when you read the Bible they don't start applying it for the guy three seats up from you. Apply it to yourself. Don't start saying oh there must be a lot of bad people out there who doing a lot of bad things. Apply it to yourself. You realize you on that day when I said oh I think I'll do it if you just pay me the same amount of money as that guy. I put one foot on a banana skin that day. And you don't have to be a genius to work out the financial benefits that can accrue once you start that. Paul says these men are driven by the desire to make financial gain from the gospel. Now are there consequences? Yes, there are and I am just going to read them to you and we're through. Pseudo intellectualizing, intellectual theorizing doesn't come by itself. What comes with it? Number one, envy. Envy. When you are on the receiving end of this stuff, it generates envy. When people engage in speculating about various theories, when they apply their intellectual curiosity to nothing more than trifles, they are susceptible to pride. And instead of finding submission in an agreement to the sound instruction of the Lord Jesus Christ, they become envious of those whose puerile arguments are are attracting the largest following. And since they're driven by the market, they say well what generates the biggest reaction? Well it's over here. Oh well I think I'll go over here and do that because after all I can do very well with that. And envy generates strife. The two things go hand in hand like cheese and crackers, but but not as palatable. Indeed it is unpalatable. One of the individuals is bettered in an argument. He is unwilling to acknowledge defeat and as a result bitter discord is the result. And there is a constant contradicting of the view of their rivals. And there are people like this always in the Christian church. When you talk with them there's always criticism. It's always argument. It's always envy and it's always strife. Indeed one of the reasons that evangelicalism is is in the predicament that it is in today is not as a result of the inroads of the world. Forget the world. The problem is in the church. It's decay from within. Speculation and commercialization and corruption and deceit and generating envy and strife which is pervasive. And with strife comes malicious talk. Slander, scorn, insolence, insults and malicious innuendos, and evil suspicions. Look at the list. The man who is jaundiced sees everything yellow. The mind of the envious is haunted by mistrust. This kind of individual begins to suspect every action, every word, every gesture of those to whom he is opposed. And as a result of it all, there is constant friction, a mutual irritant in the system, protracted quarreling, persistent wrangling. Says one of the commentators when the mad novelty dispenser meets his opponent again to discuss other quotes religious matters, he is vengefully nettled, convulsively agitated, thirsting for blood. Their religious discussions are actually disputations full of scurrilous abuse, stinging insult, and heated invective. Or else covert insinuation, malicious innuendo, and thinly veiled disdain. Covert insinuation, malicious innuendo, and thinly veiled disdain. Now I don't want to alarm you and I don't want to play some kind of coward's castle, but I'm going to tell you something. You just described many a pastor's conference in the United States of America. Covert insinuation, malicious innuendo, and thinly veiled disdain. How many do you have? What's the square footage of your building? Since when were those New Testament questions? If that's the kind of stuff that the shepherds talk about when they're alone, would be no surprise if the sheep decided that godliness actually is a means to financial gain. Let me say two things now and I'll wrap it up. Number one, this issue of strife and envy and everything this will creep up and bite a church on its bottom when it isn't looking. And it may happen to us on any day. It may have begun to happen. Whenever a local congregation begins to sound to itself and then to others as if somehow or another it understands the Bible, you know, in a way that nobody understands the Bible. It understands doctrine in the only right way to understand it. It is the compendium of all revealed truth. And every other pulpit and every other place and every other preacher and every other group is somehow or another suspect. Then that congregation is in deep deep difficulty. And to the degree that you or I feel that spirit of pride rising within us, we go right out there to the front door and squat down in front of the verse that's there in the marble. The only marble in the building as far as I know. One piece put in there by the old Polish men from 43. You have exalted above all things your name and your word. We have only one string to our bow, one theme to our song. It's not about park side. It's not about us. It's about him. And you see when you move away from the sound and structure of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you inevitably start to talk about us. Rather than him. Said my old New Testament teacher bless his memory, Donald Guthrie, true godliness must never be commercialized because it is a matter of the heart and not the pocket. The individuals Paul has described where notice this, thirsty for applause, hungry for praise, and greedy for gain. You don't you like it when people clap when you do something well? And you don't stand back from this and say hold I don't like applause. You play your violin and they all go you go hey man violin man that's me. You make a sales presentation there. Wonderful. He said you know if you're not careful the guys that rise to the fore in this are driven like men walking in darkness by the sound of clapping and the lure of applause. That's how it is that a guy loses his edge presumably. He starts off and he says I want to tell you what's in this book. Then suddenly he he stops telling people what's in the book. It's not that he doesn't one day say I'm not going to tell you what's in this book anymore. He just starts to deviate ever so slightly. Just goes off ever so slightly. I don't want to say that. It's a little hard. I don't want to mention that. It's there's a few people out there. I don't want to no. For the congregation knows where it is. A deviation of 1° over 27 miles has taken them way off the track and they woke up one morning and said you know what, we're no longer on the freeway. We're not even on a B road. We're in bypass meadow here. How did that happen? It happened not as a result of a major U-turn. It happened as a declension because an individual became enamored with applause, thirsty for praise, and greedy for gain. I don't want to hear anybody saying it couldn't happen here. I got an email the other Sunday night came late Sunday night from one of my dear friends in Ireland. Said I just found your stuff on the internet and I wanted to know if you were still walking on the tracks. And then he went in and described a few things and then he said I have just come home from our monthly communion. We had 40 people. But I am learning not to be concerned about the numbers. And you know it humbled me. It put me down, you know, in a good way because I thought of him there faithfully faithfully week after week laboring with no immediate evidence of apparent success or influence. But the joy of the Lord is his strength. These individuals that Paul's describing use numbers as their criteria for effectiveness. Epictetus records a conversation and with this I close between a sophist and his disciple following the sophist's performance. It goes like this. Well what did you think of me today? Incidentally that's the first mistake. Never ask that question. Don't ask your wife to answer that question for you. Not unless you're prepared to be humbled. That's not a New Testament question. What did you think of me today? He says what did you think of me today? Upon my life sir, I thought you were admirable. What did you think of my best passage? Which one was that? Where I described Pan and the nymphs. Oh it was excessively well done. A much larger audience today. Yes, much larger. 500 I should guess. Oh nonsense. It could not have been less than a thousand. Why? That is more than deal ever had. I wonder why it was. They appreciated what I said too. Beauty, sir, can move a stone. See I can tell you tall tales. I can personally with very little external help see you laugh and see you cry. But I cannot teach the Bible and see you move 1 inch closer to conformity with Christ without the divine enabling of the spirit of God. Reminding me to remind you that in an age of novelty the main things are the plain things. And the plain things are the main things.
Guest (Male): You're listening to Truth for Life where Alistair Begg is encouraging us to focus on what scripture makes clear. He returns in just a moment. Here at Truth for Life, we love the local church. We strive to encourage the men who are called to lead as pastors. In fact, our mission statement reflects that passion. We're committed to teaching the Bible in a clear and understandable way. We trust God's spirit to work through the teaching to reach unbelievers and to draw believers closer to himself. Our prayer is that as a result local churches will be strengthened and more committed to consistently proclaiming the gospel. One of the ways we seek to fulfill this aspect of our mission is by making teaching available specifically for the local church. You can visit our four pastors and churches page on our website today. Go to truthforlife.org/churches. There you'll find video teaching from Alistair that is expressly for pastors. You'll find a Bible study for your church's small group and there's free content you can share with your church family to help everyone grow in faith. While you're on our website, check out the resource we are currently offering. It's called Guarding the Truth and it's a brand new study guide from Alistair that takes you verse by verse through 2 Timothy. We have paired Alistair's commentary with the ESV Bible to help you explore important questions for believers like how do we protect ourselves from false teaching and how can the truth of the gospel sustain us during hard times? As you work your way through Guarding the Truth, you'll be challenged and encouraged. Ask for the study guide today when you donate to Truth for Life. You can give online at truthforlife.org/donate or call us at 888-588-7884. Now here's Alistair to close with prayer.
Alistair Begg: Oh God our father, the word of God gives us no place to jump and hide. We find ourselves pressed in by its truth and its challenge. We look a few verses ahead and we realize it's about to get worse because now it moves beyond the person in the position of teaching influence to the group in the crowd. And the temptation of being driven by the desire of financial gain. So we pray that you would make us teach students of your word. Conform us by your spirit to the image of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Save us from the hypocrisy that likes to make people think that we're really quite diligent in relationship to these things. The kind of false piety that parades itself in the eyes of men and isn't genuine in your sight. And so then sanctify us by your spirit that in both heart and in life we might serve you and that we might do so acceptably to the honor of your great and holy name. Through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we pray. And may his grace and mercy and peace be our abiding portion today and forevermore. Amen. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow we're going to learn the secret of contentment. I hope you can join us. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the learning is for living.