The following
is compiled from six chapters from the book:Sarah Young's Jesus Always Devotional
EXPOSED!. It presents the test criteria used for one of the evaluations of
Jesus Always. You'll need to read the book to find out how Jesus Always
does based this test. Order
your copy on Amazon.
What Are The Characteristics of False Teaching?
In
his book Studies in the Sermon on the Mount D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
lays out six characteristics of false teaching. Not all false teachers exhibit
all six, and it is possible for some false teachers to have none of these characteristics.
But, if a teacher (or book), has most these characteristics, they are most likely
a false teacher.
To be as fair as possible Im using biblical criteria
from an independent expert to evaluate Jesus Always. In other words, Im
not picking and choosing criteria in such a way as to make Jesus Always
look bad. The results of evaluating Jesus Always against these criteria
will be published in the book "Should You RUN From Jesus Always?"
Here are D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones six characteristics of false teaching:
Number
1 There is a Vagueness and Absence of Doctrine
It
does not like doctrinal preaching; it is always so vague
The false prophet
very rarely tells you anything about the holiness, the righteousness, the justice,
and the wrath of God. He always preaches about the love of God, but those other
things he does not mention. He never makes anyone tremble as he thinks of this
holy and august Being. D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Studies in the Sermon
on the Mount, 1976, pages 501-502
What Ill be looking
for in Jesus Always is for Sarah Young to talk about the holiness, the righteousness,
the justice, and the wrath of God in a way that actually says something specific
about these attributes. These are all foundational to Christianity.
Holiness
When Martyn Lloyd-Jones says false prophets tells you nothing about the holiness
of God, he does not mean they never mention the word holy. False teachers
love using spiritual words such as holy, but they dont talk
about holiness. They never tell you what it means to be holy.
We have a holy
God, meaning that He is separate. For example God is separate from His creation.
It also means God is separate from all that is evil and wrong
separate from
sin.
Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to do wrong.
Job 34:10
Righteousness
To be righteous means
to be free from sin
to be perfectly reflecting the righteousness of God.
We were created in the image of God, and thus we should demonstrate the righteousness
of God. But we dont
we sin (disobey God)
and that means we deserve
destruction.
God cannot just say, I love you all. Everyone
can come into heaven. That is neither love nor righteous. What God did
was to say, I love you all. So I will pay the penalty youve earned
for breaking the law. I will be punished in your place so that you are free to
enter heaven. That is righteousness. Speaking about what Christ did on the
cross, Paul wrote:
This was to demonstrate His righteousness
Romans 3:25.
Justice
A simple definition
of justice is: the right and appropriate consequences for our actions and thoughts.
We see this clearly on the cross. We broke Gods laws, and the penalty for
breaking His laws had to be paid. God in His mercy and grace took on Himself the
punishment you deserved in order to pay the penalty you earned for breaking His
laws. The Got Questions web site describes it this way:
His
mercy and grace are not in spite of His justice, but because of it. He loved us
so much that despite the fact that our sin demands our death, He sent His Son
to be our substitute upon the cross, thus demonstrating that His justice was not
violated, but instead satisfied (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9). - http://www.gotquestions.org/God-of-justice.html.
Gods
Wrath
The fourth characteristic on the list is Gods wrath.
For human beings, wrath is the emotional response, in many cases anger, to something
we think is wrong or unjust. But, what is Gods wrath?
Gods
wrath is His response to our misrepresenting who He is. We are created in the
image of God and should reflect His character. For example, the Ten Commandments
describe the character of God. When we dont reflect Gods character,
that is called breaking His law (sin) and there are consequences. Those consequences
are called Gods wrath. It is the just punishment for sin.
Gods
wrath is sometimes poured out in this life. He may use natural disasters
(earthquakes, storms, disease, etc.) or human means (war, deportations, oppressive
government, etc.), or divine means (a withdrawal of His providential blessings)
to bring His wrath for sin on those living in this earthly realm. Gods wrath
is also poured out on all of those not trusting in Jesus Christ when they die.
This post physical death wrath is sometimes called hell, the lake of burning fire,
or outer darkness.
Number 2 There is Nothing About Final Judgment
and the Eternal Destiny of the Lost
There has not been
much preaching about the Last Judgment
and very little preaching about hell
and the everlasting destruction of the wicked. No, the false prophets do not like
teaching such as you have in the second Epistle of Peter. D. Martyn
Lloyd Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1976, pages 502
Jesus
talked about hell more than he talked about heaven. Why? Because He loves you.
Imagine a courtroom. Every defendant who comes into that courtroom, no matter
what the crime from murders to jay walkers is set free. There are
no fines. No jail time. No penalty of any kind is imposed. Is that judge a good
judge? No. Not at all.
God is good, righteous, just, and perfect. You
will stand before Him as your judge
and you cannot hide anything. He knows
it all. You are guilty and the penalty must be paid. There must be punishment,
a place we call hell. Otherwise God is not a good and righteous judge.
Let me tell you the most terrify truth I can possibly speak to you. Are
you ready? Here it is. The most terrifying thing I can tell a man, a woman, a
child, is this
God is good
. And whats the problem with that?
The problem with that is youre not good. What does a good God do with someone
like you? Paul Washer, YouTube video God is Good, Youre
Not! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeIIl44hi8Y
God
is good and you are not. What is He to do with you? What He did was to go to the
cross and pay the penalty youve earned for not being good
for your
having broken His laws. If you refuse to believe this is true, you must pay the
penalty yourself
an eternity in the lake of fire
Number 3
There is Nothing About The Utter Sinfulness of Man
In
the same way the false prophets teaching does not emphasize the utter sinfulness
of sin and the total inability of man to do anything about his own salvation.
It often does not believe in sin at all, and certainly does not emphasis its vile
nature. It does not say that we are all perfect; but it does suggest that sin
is not serious. D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the
Mount, 1976, pages 502
The song Amazing Grace says it perfectly:
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
We
may not like to think of ourselves this way, but we are wretched sinners. Jesus
said:
No one is good except God alone. Mark 10:18
Even
the very best we can do
our very best good deeds (our righteousness)
are like maggot infested filthy rags:
But we are all like
an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; - Isaiah
64:6
Until we accept that we are sinners (there is nothing
good in us), we dont know we need a savior. A law-breaker needs saving from
the consequences, but a good person does not need saving. As long as you are thinking
you are good, you will not see a need for the cross. (Take the Good Person Test
at: www.911Christ.com.)
Number
4 The is Nothing About the Cross Being the Only Way
The false prophet talks about Jesus; he even delights to talk
about the cross and the death of Jesus. But the vital question is, what is his
view of that death? What is his view of that cross?
The one test is this:
does he realize that Christ died on the cross because it was the only way to make
expiation and propitiation for sin? D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Studies
in the Sermon on the Mount, 1976, pages 503
The cross is the
only way. The Son had to die, taking on Himself the sins of the world and the
full wrath of God for those sins. Books such as Jesus Always tend to speak to
our emotions. They build up self-esteem and present a very sentimental type of
Jesus whom everybody likes. They rarely mention the cross.
The problem
is that the cross is offensive. It is a stumbling block to the Jew, and foolishness
to the Greek (anyone who is not a Jew).
The Offensiveness of the Cross
- The cross is offensive because it is exclusive. It is the ONLY way to salvation.
- The cross is offensive because, before we can come to the cross,
we must admit we are not good. Ive talked to thousands of people, asking
them why they think theyll go to heaven. Id guess that over 90% of
them said, Because Im a good person.
- The cross
is offensive because we need to come to it poor in spirit
meaning that we
know we are totally helpless and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves.
We want to be in control of our destiny. We want to be the one who is
in charge. But, to come to the cross we need to fully accept Jesus as Lord
He is the one who is in charge and the ONLY one who can save us. There is NOTHING
we can do to contribute in any way to our getting to heaven. It is 100% God, or
nothing.
- And the cross is offensive because it is available
to everyone. Charles Spurgeon in his sermon The Offense of the Cross
said:
The Cross makes moral and immoral persons go to Heaven by the
same road! The Cross makes rich and poor enter Heaven by the same door! The Cross
makes the philosopher and peasant walk on the same highway of holiness! The Cross
procures the same crown for the poor creature with one talent that the man with
10 talents shall receive. Therefore, the wise man says, What? Am I to be
saved by the same Cross which saves a man who does not know his letters?
Your fine lady asks, Am I to be saved in the same fashion as my servant
girl? The gentleman says, Am I to be saved the same way as that chimney-sweep?
And he who boasts of his selfrighteousness cries, What? Am I to jostle against
a harlot, to elbow a drunk on the road to Heaven? Then, I will not go to Heaven
at all
The cross is offensive, and because of that false teachers
do not teach the full truth about the cross. They may mention the cross, but to
say it is the only way
well, thats just too offensive.
Number
5 The is Nothing About Real Repentance
It does
not emphasize repentance in any real sense. It has a very wide gate leading to
salvation and a very broad way leading to heaven. You need not feel much of your
own sinfulness; you need not be aware of the blackness of your own heart. You
just decide for Christ and you rush in with the crowd.
D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1976, pages 503
In
Matthew 7 Jesus talks about the wide gate on the broad path leading to destruction,
and the narrow gate that leads to eternal life. The wide gate and the narrow gate
both offer the same promises
eternal life in heaven. But only the narrow
gate actually delivers on that promise.
The wide gate and broad way are
easy because they satisfy our human desires. They are easy because they do not
require repentance, nor do they require you to give up your pride and humbly accept
Jesus free gift of dying to pay your penalty for sin. The wide gate is easy
because it requires is that you say a prayer or ask Jesus into your heart
and then you are pronounced saved
as you head through the wide gate of destruction.
The narrow gate is small and not many find it. It requires repentance
turning away from sin and obeying Jesus Christ our Lord.
Scripture says:
Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order
that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; - Acts 3:19
Number
6 There is Nothing About the Jesus Being the Only Way
The false prophet does not emphasize the absolute necessity of entering
this strait gate [the narrow gate] and walking along this narrow way. He does
not tell us that we must practice this sermon. If we only listen to it without
practicing it we are damned; if we only comment on it, without carrying it out,
it will rise in judgment against us and condemn us. D. Martyn Lloyd
Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1976, page 504
A
couple of years ago I was handing out gospel tracts and talking with people who
had come to the annual Cannon Beach Sand Castle Competition. There were thousands
of people admiring the sand sculptures, including one woman who, when I approached
her about the gospel, said that she was fine. She her life based on the Sermon
on the Mount.
BUT
she had her own interpretation of what Jesus
said and it did not include Jesus as her savior. She talked about being a good
person because she was living according to what Jesus taught. But, the Sermon
on the Mount shows us that none of us can be good. None of us can even come close
to the standards Jesus sets in the Sermon on the Mount.
We cannot take
Jesus words and spin them to mean whatever we desire them to mean. We cannot
make Jesus words conform to our desires. We must listen to the words of
Jesus and believe what He says
and Jesus says He is the only way:
Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one
comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6