{"id":18507,"date":"2019-01-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-13T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/ecclesiology-048\/"},"modified":"2022-01-12T17:16:22","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T23:16:22","slug":"ecclesiology-048","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/ecclesiology-048\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecclesiology 048"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[108],"series_event":[484],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18507","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-2-john","series_event-ecclesiology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Ecclesiology 048","sermon_date":"20190113","sermon_month":"1","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":20002,"sermon_slides":20003,"sermon_mp3":20004,"sermon_id":"113191550144471","series_or_event":484,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":108,"chapter_and_verse":"9-11","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nEcclesiology 48, 2 John 9-11\n\n1-13-19\n\nLet\u2019s open with a word of prayer if we could.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for Your grace, we\u2019re grateful for the fact that Your grace that saves us is the grace that sustains us.\u00a0 And I do ask for the enablement of Your Spirit as we try to teach Your Word today in Your church.\u00a0 Help us to have an attitude where our minds are fixed on You and the things You have for us rather than our own personal things which we\u2019re easily distracted on those things but help us to focus today on You.\u00a0 And I pray You\u2019ll be with us in the Sunday School hour and the worship service that follows and all the things that You would seek to accomplish today in Your church.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We lift these things up in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026Amen.\n\nLet\u2019s open our Bibles, if we could, to the Book of Romans, chapter 16 and verse 17.\u00a0 As you know we\u2019ve been continuing on in our study on Ecclesiology.\u00a0 We\u2019re sort of at the very end of this study where we\u2019ve talked about ordinances, and we finished that up last week, and then we started the whole subject of purity, Roman numeral XII, Purity.\u00a0 And here we\u2019re not talking about positional purity, that\u2019s something that we already have at the point of faith alone in Christ alone.\u00a0 But really what we\u2019re dealing with here is\u00a0 practical purity, allowing our practice to catch up to our position.\n\nAnd the church has a difficult calling of representing God in a world that\u2019s fallen, in Satan\u2019s domain, and so the issue becomes well, how do we keep ourselves not positionally pure, we already have that, but how does the church maintain its practical purity.\u00a0 And the reality of the situation is the Lord, when you look at all of the biblical verses in the Bible relating to the church the Lord has given the church two tools that are of a practical nature that allow it to maintain practical purity in a fallen world, and you hardly hear about these spoken of today, in most places, yet when you look into the Bible they\u2019re clearly there.\n\nOne is ecclesiastical separation and the other is church discipline.\u00a0 So what we\u2019re doing today is we\u2019re trying to finish up the first of the two, ecclesiastical separation.\u00a0 And in a culture, and the culture to a large extent invades the church, and a culture that\u2019s promoting unity at all costs.\u00a0 What you find in God\u2019s Word is there comes a point in time when church bodies need to separate themselves from some sort of alliance with other bodies, like in a denomination for example, or in a feeding seminary, a seminary that feeds your pulpits, etc. when those other groups kind of veer off the path.\u00a0 So what happens if\u00a0 you\u2019re in a denomination that wants to ordain homosexuals or gets into the whole gender surrender movement, the transgender movement and all these kind of things?\u00a0 And they start talking about kind of socialistic causes all of the time from the pulpit.\u00a0 You know, universal health care, redistribution of the wealth, whatever it is, what do you do if you find yourself with that kind of group?\u00a0 Well, I think there\u2019s a biblical case for separation.\n\nSo why separate?\u00a0 Number one, I think we covered this last time, separation is not hatred, you\u2019re not saying you\u2019re hating people when you separate but it\u2019s sort of necessary to maintain your walk and witness in the world.\u00a0 Number two, if you don\u2019t separate and the church starts to look exactly like the world then it gives the world a false sense of security.\u00a0 So the person that\u2019s in the world will just say well, what\u2019s the harm of me being in the world, the representatives of God down the street are just as worldly as I am and they don\u2019t see their need to trust in Christ for salvation.\u00a0 And beyond that, and I tried to show you this last time with the story of Lot in the Old Testament, who is an example of a backslidden Christian in the Old Testament sense of the word.\u00a0 A good sermon title is Are you a lot like Lot.\u00a0 You see, when Lot, a believer became just like his environment around him, he lost his distinctiveness and his power and he lost his prophetic voice to those around him because his lifestyle was just like theirs.\u00a0 So that\u2019s letter A there, why separate.\u00a0 And what we were working on last time, before we adjourned, was is this really a biblical idea; I mean, is biblical separation under certain circumstances really something that the Bible talks about.\n\nSo what I was doing is I was giving\u00a0 you a number of passages, church age passages from the epistles so these are directly binding on the church today, where it\u2019s very clear that there\u2019s a case for biblical separation.\u00a0 Last time (if I remember right) we had already looked at 2 Thessalonians 3:6 and verse 14.\u00a0 We\u2019ve looked at 1 Corinthians 5:11. We looked at a very important passage, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 which says, \u201cDo not be unequally yoked.\u201d\n\nAnd then I think we need to pick it up here with Romans chapter 16 and verse 17.\u00a0 Notice what Paul says.\u00a0 \u201cNow I urge you, brethren,\u201d so obviously he\u2019s speaking to believers, \u201cto keep your eye on those who cause dissentions and hindrances,\u201d now why would people be causing \u201cdissentions and hindrances\u201d in a church at Rome?\u00a0 Because they are teaching things, quoting here from verse 17, \u201ccontrary to the teaching which you have learned.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0So there were people coming into Rome and they were teaching all kinds of concepts and ideas that were different than what the Apostle Paul had taught them.\u00a0 And you actually see this happening very early in Paul\u2019s ministry.\u00a0 Paul, as revealed in the Book of Galatians and the Book of Acts had evangelized the various region of southern Galatia and planted churches there and no sooner had Paul gotten back from that missionary journey there to Antioch towards the northern tip of Israel, legalists had come in and were teaching sort of a salvation by works idea.\n\nAnd then also very early on in Paul\u2019s ministry, in his letter to the Thessalonians, particularly 2 Thessalonians 2, around verse 1 and 2 basically what was happening is Paul had taught the Thessalonians that they were going to escape the tribulation period through the rapture and lo and behold a forged letter shows up after Paul had left, allegedly coming from Paul, teaching something exactly the opposite, that they were in the tribulation\u00a0 period itself.\u00a0 So Paul is constantly dealing with people who are challenging the things that God has given him as an apostle to teach His authoritative doctrine.\u00a0 And he\u2019s dealing with how you deal with those situations.\n\nSo it says there in verse 17, \u201cNow I urge\u00a0 you brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned,\u201d and then it says very clearly, \u201cand turn away from them.\u201d\u00a0 So you don\u2019t give them a pulpit, you don\u2019t give them a platform, you don\u2019t let them set up some kind of ministry table in your lobby, you don\u2019t allow them to post whatever they want on your church website or Facebook page.\u00a0 Basically he says you mark them, you keep an eye on them and the first chance you get you turn away from them. \u00a0That\u2019s ecclesiastical separation.\n\nNotice, if you will, the Book of Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 11, another example of separation.\u00a0 Notice what Paul says, \u201cDo not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.\u201d\u00a0 So if you\u2019re yoked to some group that\u2019s all of a sudden drifting off the path in terms of Biblicism you don\u2019t hang around them to the point where you are some sort of co-laborer with them as a participant, you don\u2019t participate with them because their deeds are \u201cunfruitful\u201d and they\u2019re \u201cof darkness.\u201d\u00a0 But rather, what you ought to do is to turn the searchlight of truth on them and expose them for what they are through the light of God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 \u00a0So once again you see here this idea of not participating or co-laboring with people that hold to contrary doctrines.\n\nI\u2019m just giving you these passages very fast just to show you how prominent this idea of ecclesiastical separation is in the Bible.\u00a0 If you go over to Titus, which is a pastoral letter, so it\u2019s specifically dealing with issues taking place in churches, in this case on the island of Crete.\u00a0 Notice what Paul says there.\u00a0 \u201cBut avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. \u201c\u00a0 [Titus 3:9]\u00a0 What he\u2019s saying in verse 9 is don\u2019t get yourself involved with a bunch of arguing about things that the Bible really hasn\u2019t spoken on clearly anyway.\u00a0 That\u2019s just a waste of your time.\n\nThen he says, verse 10, \u201cReject a factious man,\u201d now that\u2019s someone that\u2019s trying to bring a split into a church by debating about some kind of speculative matter.\u00a0 \u201cReject a factious man after a first and second warning, [11] knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.\u00a0 [Titus 3:10-11]\u00a0\u00a0 And I\u2019ll come back to this a little bit later but you might want to underline the word \u201cfactious\u201d in verse 10.\u00a0 It\u2019s the word in Greek hairetikon<\/em>, anybody know what word we get from hairetikon<\/em>?\u00a0 What does it sound like?\u00a0 It sounds like the word heretic, doesn\u2019t it.\u00a0 So people throw around this word heretic and heresy all of the time but what is a heretic?\u00a0 A heretic is somebody who wants to come into a body and bring division by teaching something not found in Scripture.\u00a0 So you don\u2019t buddy up with such a person.\u00a0 Notice there\u2019s a grace period, you give them a first warning, a second warning and then after that if they won\u2019t listen they\u2019re obviously addicted to a perverted way of thinking and they\u2019re self-condemned and you reject such a person, see that?\u00a0 Ecclesiastical separation.\n\nOne of the clearest passages on this is in 2 John verses 9-11, there\u2019s only one chapter there in 2 John, just like there\u2019s only one chapter in 3 John.\u00a0 So these are very small books towards the end of our Bible but it\u2019s amazing how John, the love apostle, you know John probably speaks about the love of God more than anybody else.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting how John the love apostle also talks about this whole idea of ecclesiastical separation.\n\nNotice what he says there, I\u2019m actually going to begin at verse 7, \u201cFor many deceivers have gone out into the world,\u201d now that\u2019s something worth noting, there\u2019s not a few deceivers out there, it seems like there\u2019s an abundance of them.\u00a0 From where I sit it seems like they\u2019re increasing.\n\nFor many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. [2 John 1:7]\n\n \n\nFor many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.\n\n\u201cFor many deceivers have gone out into the world\u201d well, who\u2019s a deceiver? \u201cthose who do not acknow\u00adledge Jesus Christ as<\/em> coming in the flesh.\u201d So this is basically an early form of Gnosticism, the early Gnostics taught that the physical world is evil and the spiritual world is good, which obviously can\u2019t work biblically because God created everything in six days, which involves the physical world.\u00a0 And what did He say after the six days of creation?\u00a0 Genesis 1:31, He didn\u2019t even say it was good, He said it was what?\u00a0 Very good.\u00a0 [Genesis 1:31, \u201cGod saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.\u201d]\u00a0 So the physical world in and of itself is not evil.\u00a0 It\u2019s certainly under a curse but it\u2019s not in and of itself evil.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the world as God intended it but it\u2019s certainly not in and of itself evil just because its physical.\n\nAnd basically if you believe that the physical world is bad\u00a0 you start getting all kinds of strange doctrines taught.\u00a0 I believe this is largely the source of amillennialism; amillennialism really you can track it to Northern Africa or the school there in Egypt, Alexandria, Egypt.\u00a0 Antioch up north was the literal school, Alexandria, down south was the allegorical school interpreting the Bible allegorically.\u00a0 And one of the things that came out of there was the spiritualizing method of interpretation, meaning the Bible wasn\u2019t literally true in certain areas.\u00a0 And one of the doctrines that came out of that is amillennialism.\u00a0 Amillennialism is the idea that there will be no future kingdom of God on the earth.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because we\u2019re in the kingdom now, so they took all of those prophecies about Israel and the land, Jesus reigning from David\u2019s throne in Jerusalem and they started to allegorize those.\n\nSo if you think that the physical world is bad it starts to mess up your eschatology and it also starts to mess up your Christology or your doctrine of Christ because if the physical world is bad then how in the world could Jesus have come in a physical body?\u00a0 See that!\u00a0 And what developed from that is what\u2019s called Docetism, from the Greek word dokeo\u0304<\/em>, which means to seem or appear.\u00a0 So they started to teach things like well, Jesus really didn\u2019t have a body, it just seemed like He had a body.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why when you go through 1 John there\u2019s so much information about the anti\u00adchrist\u2019s that are coming will deny that Jesus has come in a body.\n\nIn fact, if you back up and you go back just one book and you look at verse 3 of chapter 4, it says, \u201cEvery spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.\u201d\u00a0 [1 John 4:3]\u00a0 And then if you go back to verse 2 of 1 John chapter 4, \u201cBy this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;\u201d [1 John 4:2]\u00a0 And then if you look at verse 1, \u201cBeloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.\u201d\u00a0 But you\u2019ll notice it says there in verse 3, \u201cEvery spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, that is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.\u201d\n\nAnd then I John 4:4, \u201cYou are from God, little children, you have overcome them because greater is He that\u2019s in you than he that\u2019s in the world.\u201d So those are the antichrist\u2019s that John is talking about and that\u2019s why there\u2019s so much information in John\u2019s Gospel about physically touching Jesus.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he records the story of Thomas, post resurrection, physical touching Jesus because a lot of people were running around saying the physical world is bad and if the physical world is bad not only can there not be a future kingdom but Jesus could not have come in the flesh.\u00a0 So that\u2019s who John is talking about here in verse 7.\n\nSo going back to 2 John 7, \u201cFor many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus as coming in the flesh.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what he\u2019s dealing with.\u00a0 \u201cThis is the deceiver and the antichrist.\u00a0 [8] Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.\u201d\u00a0 So allowing false teachers into the church circumvents your growth in Christ and it doesn\u2019t disqualify you from salvation which you already have, but it can disqualify you from running your face effectively and not receiving a full reward from God at the Bema Seat Judgment.\n\nVerse 9, \u201cAnyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. [10] If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine,\u201d notice what it says there in verse 10, \u201cdo not receive him into your<\/em> house,\u201d now why would it say that?\u00a0 I mean does that mean not if but when the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses show up I can\u2019t invite them into the house for a glass of lemonade on a hot day in Texas?\u00a0 Is that what it\u2019s saying?\u00a0 No! Where did the early church meet?\u00a0 In houses, so you don\u2019t have chapels and cathedrals and stained glass windows and all of the things that we\u2019re accustomed to in the 20th<\/sup> and 21st<\/sup> century.\n\nWhen he says \u201cdo not receive them into your house\u201d he\u2019s not talking about a lack of hospitality when the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses show up, we should demonstrate love towards those people. What he\u2019s saying is don\u2019t give them the pulpit in the church.\u00a0 That\u2019s what he\u2019s saying.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026do not receive them into your house.\u201d\u00a0 Don\u2019t let them teach Sunday School, don\u2019t let them set\u00a0 up their ministry tables in your church. Don\u2019t let them post whatever they want on your Facebook page.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let them have access to your e-mail addresses and send out to the church a church wide announcement about the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses are meeting down the street. \u00a0And then he says, \u201cand do not give him a greeting;\u201d and then it says, this, now this is very important, verse 11, \u201cfor the one who gives him a greeting\u201d does what? \u201cparticipates in his evil deeds.\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s saying don\u2019t be loving or don\u2019t have basic manners. What it\u2019s saying is don\u2019t do anything to contribute to their ministry (A) financially, (B) giving them some sort of venue in a local church, because when you do that\u00a0 you become a partner with them in their evil deeds.\u00a0 See that.\n\nSo this is John, the love apostle, also talking about ecclesiastical separation.\u00a0 So it\u2019s interesting that the Bible does talk about love quite a bit but the biblical love is not sort of an open-mindedness.\u00a0 You know, some people are so open-minded their brain actually leaks out of their head.\u00a0 That\u2019s not biblical love.\u00a0 Some people are kind of wrapped up in this syrupy sentimentality to the point where they\u2019re completely undiscerning about truth.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a balancing act here, you don\u2019t want to be rude to people but at the same time\u00a0 you don\u2019t want to give them some kind of platform. And you also certainly do not want to give them some kind of support which allows them to do their ministry in a wider scale.\n\nAnd it\u2019s sort of interesting to me to contrast what John says here with what Paul, the apostle, wrote about financial support for his own ministry.\u00a0 Over in the Book of Philippians, chapter 1 verse 5, Paul says, \u201cin view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.\u201d\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice that Paul acknowledged that the Philippians had participated in his ministry and here, 2 John, is talking about not participating in someone\u2019s \u201cministry,\u201d \u201cministry\u201d there in quotes because it\u2019s really not a ministry, it\u2019s a false teaching, if they do not abide by apostolic teaching at least concerning the incarnation of Jesus Christ which the Gnostics were denying.\n\nSo how do you participate in a ministry.\u00a0 I mean, why would Paul say to the Philippians say, in view of your participation with me in the gospel, I mean what were they actually doing to participate in the ministry of Paul.\u00a0 Well, what they were doing is they were giving him financial support.\u00a0 And you see that over in Philippians 4, same book, verses 15-17 where Paul essentially explains how they were participating.\u00a0 [Philippians 4:15-] \u201cYou yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone;\u201d\u00a0 chapter 4, verse 16, \u201cfor even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.\u201d That\u2019s finances.\u00a0 Verse 17, \u201cNot that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.\u201d\n\nSo here he is acknowledging that the Philippians were participating in his ministry, chapter 1.\u00a0 How are they doing that?\u00a0 They were helping him financially, chapter 4.\u00a0 So when you give money to a ministry you\u2019re not giving to that ministry, you\u2019re giving through that ministry and you become a participant, a co-laborer, a partner in that ministry.\u00a0 And of course that\u2019s a good thing to do as long as you have a ministry that\u2019s on track. But what do you do in a situation where the ministry runs off the rail and starts to deny apostolic authority and teaching and become unbiblical?\u00a0 Then you have to factor in what 2 John 11 says, \u201cfor the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.\u201d\u00a0 So if I\u2019m writing checks to a ministry that\u2019s running off the rails doctrinally, then I am participating in their evil deeds, just as if I were writing checks to a ministry that\u2019s doing God\u2019s work following biblical truth.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 So if you give money to a good ministry you\u2019re a participant.\u00a0 If\u00a0 you give money to a bad ministry, a false teaching ministry, then you\u2019re a participant as well.\n\nSo what is the Bible saying?\u00a0 The Bible is basically saying look, you get behind financially ministries that are following what the Bible says and ministries that aren\u2019t following what the Bible says, first of all they\u2019re not even ministries any more but secondly you cut them off financially.\u00a0 That\u2019s not my opinion, this is what the love apostle is saying here in 2 John 9-11.\u00a0 [2 John 9-11, \u201cAnyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. [10] If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your<\/em> house, and do not give him a greeting; [11] for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.\u201d]\n\nSo the bottom line to the whole thing is when you put all of these Scriptures together, and there may be others that I haven\u2019t even thought of, you see a very clear case for ecclesiastical separation.\u00a0 I mean, there is a point in time in which you have to remove yourself, your presence, your member\u00adship and the money that God has entrusted to you from certain people.\u00a0 Although it\u2019s a biblical responsibility for the disciples of Christ to support ministries that are doing God\u2019s work there\u2019s a biblical place to cut other ministries off.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 And it\u2019s not non-loving to do that, it\u2019s following what the Scripture says. And if the church won\u2019t do that what\u2019s going to happen?\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be sucked into all kinds of partnerships that God has not called the church into.\u00a0 And what\u2019s going to happen is those partnerships are going to negatively affect you more than you are positively affecting them.\n\nAnd so that\u2019s how the church keeps itself pure in a world that\u2019s constantly losing ground and in a Christian community that\u2019s constantly becoming more and more apostate.\u00a0\u00a0 You have to start becoming very discerning who you\u2019re going to support with your presence and your dollars.\u00a0 It\u2019s sort of like investing in a stock, if you\u2019re going to invest in a stock you would want to know everything you could about the company you\u2019re investing in.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 You would want to see financial reports,\u00a0 you would want to see a portfolio and all of these kinds of things because you don\u2019t just throw money at something that is not going to earn for your investment a good return on that investment.\u00a0 Well if that\u2019s true in the natural world it should be more true in the spiritual world, shouldn\u2019t it.\u00a0 I mean, before you support anything you need to figure out who are these people, what are they teaching, what is their doctrinal statement like, what kinds of things have they written, what are some of the criticisms that have come against them, (A) are those criticisms fair or (B) are those criticism unfair.\n\nIn other words,\u00a0 you\u2019re using your mind and you\u2019re a careful investor of the Lord\u2019s money that He has given you because you want a good return on\u00a0 your investment.\u00a0 You want your money actually to be fruitful for God\u2019s purposes. Well, it\u2019s not going to be fruitful for God\u2019s purposes if you\u2019re giving it to the wrong source.\u00a0 If\u00a0 you\u2019re giving it to the Gnostics it\u2019s not going to be very fruitful but if you\u2019re giving it to people like Paul or those who try to imitate his pattern then you\u2019re going to have a great return on your investment, ecclesiastical separation.\n\nNow one of the things that\u2019s happening in our day that I wanted to bring up is this whole issue of interfaith dialogue, where\u00a0 you get together with Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, and\u00a0 you sort of have a debate about who\u2019s right and who\u2019s wrong kind of thing.\u00a0 And what I\u2019ve started to notice is that more and more of these debates, while they may have their place, they\u2019re starting to take place within the confines of the church.\u00a0 One very well-known one happened in Tennessee between James White, a Reformed theologian, and Yasser Khadi \u00a0who is an Islamic imam, he\u2019s actually connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, and you\u2019ll notice how this event was described, it was \u201cBeyond Debate.\u201d\u00a0 So this wasn\u2019t even a debate and both sides agreed not to counter each other.\u00a0 And the title of this was A Friendly Dialogue Between Christians and Muslims<\/em>.\u00a0 Now if you want to have that over at Starbucks or the hotel ballroom, if you want to spend your time\u2026 frankly I don\u2019t see a lot of fruit that comes out of these kinds of things, but some people are really into this kind of stuff.\n\nGo over to Starbucks, go to a hotel ball room, go to some neutral site and go ahead and have your dialogue.\u00a0 The problem here is this particular one took place within a church; this was in front of the assembled saints of God and because the title of this was Beyond Debate, and you can watch this whole thing if you want to on\u00a0 You Tube, it\u2019s all over the place, it was a big deal not last summer but the prior summer.\u00a0 The problem with having this idea Beyond Debate in a church before the assembled saints of God means that the Muslims could get in front of God\u2019s people and say whatever he wanted.\u00a0 In fact, part of that debate involved Yasser Khadi saying to everybody Jesus did not die on the cross, because as you probably know from Islam Jesus did not die on the cross according to their view, that was just an imposter that died on the cross.\n\nSo here he is, Yasser Khadi in front of the assembled saints of God on a stage just like this espousing all of this heresy in front of the assembled saints of God.\u00a0 And James White, the Christian, sat there like a potted plant and didn\u2019t refute anything Yasser Khadi said.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because they agreed to these rules beforehand beyond debate.\u00a0 And what\u2019s disturbing about this trend is this is not happening at some neutral site, this is happening in a church. See that?\u00a0 And this is how a lot of false teaching, I believe, is coming into the church under the guise or the Trojan Horse of interfaith dialogue.\u00a0\u00a0 And I believe that this should have never happened on the basis of 2 John verses 9-11 and many other passages that we\u2019ve referenced.\n\nAnd in fact, I found this tremendous quote, it was floating around on the internet and the quote \u00a0\u00a0was so good I didn\u2019t believe it was true, I thought it was fake news, and\u00a0 so I actually went and purchased the book and looked it up and there it was, a wonderful quote on this by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a Reformed theologian in London, I think he followed the church that he was in was once pastored by G. Campbell Morgan.\u00a0 So in his time he was sort of a giant in the Christian world.\u00a0 And in one of his books, Knowing the Times<\/em>, and he wrote this all the way back in 1989, not that long ago, but a few decades back.\u00a0 He makes a statement that\u2019s almost prescient in terms of this mindset of the interface dialogue, and I want to just share this quote with you.\n\nHe says, \u201cTo regard a church, or a council of churches, as a forum in which fundamental matters can be debated and discussed, or as an opportunity for witness\u201d<\/u>\u00a0 and see this is how all this inter faith dialogue is coming in, it\u2019s like oh, we\u2019re getting a chance to witness to the Muslims.\u00a0 Well no you\u2019re not, when you agree to rules where you can\u2019t refute what they\u2019re saying what you\u2019re doing is you\u2019re giving them a pulpit to teach their perverted doctrines in God\u2019s church.\n\n\u201cTo regard a church, or a council of churches, as a forum in which fundamental matters can be debated and discussed, or as an opportunity for witness\u201d bearing, is sheer confusion and muddled thinking<\/u>.\u2019\u00a0 He says, \u201cThere is to be no discussion about \u2018the foundation\u2019, as we have seen. If men do not accept that, they are not brethren and we can have no dialogue with them.\u201d\u00a0 What verses do you think he\u2019s talking about?\u00a0 2 John 9-11. [2 John 9-11, \u201cAnyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. [10] If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your<\/em> house, and do not give him a greeting; [11] for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.\u201d\u00a0 I guarantee that\u2019s what in his mind here.\n\n\u201cWe are to preach to such and to evangelize them. Discussion takes place among the brethren who share the same life and subscribe to the same essential truths. It is right and good that brethren should discuss together matters which are not essential to salvation and about which there is, and always has been, and always will be, legitimate differences of opinion.\u201d\u00a0 There are some things within the body of Christ that are open to discussion.\u00a0 \u201cWe can do no better at that point than quote the old adage, \u2018In things essential, unity, in things indifferent liberty, in all things charity.\u2019\u201d\n\n[\u201cThey are to be regarded as unbelievers and need to be called to repentance and acceptance of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. To give the impression that they are Christians with whom other Christians disagree about certain matters is to confuse the genuine seeker and enquirer who is outside. But such is the position prevailing today. It is based upon a failure to understand the nature of the New Testament church which is \u2018the pillar and ground of the truth\u2019 (1 Tim. 3:15).<\/u> In the same way it is a sheer waste of time to discuss or debate the implications of Christianity with people who are not agreed as to what Christianity is. Failure to realize this constitutes the very essence of the modern confusion.\u201d]\n\nBut then he goes on and he says, \u201cBefore there can be any real discussion and dialogue and exchange there must be agreement concerning primary and fundamental matters.\u201d\u00a0 There is no such agreement between Christians and Muslims.\u00a0 I mean, Christianity and Islam are teaching two different things completely right down to who it exactly was that died on the cross.\u00a0 Not exactly a tangential issue in Christendom.\n\n\u201cWithout the acceptance of certain axioms and propositions in geometry,\u201d see, I like this because he\u2019s a medical doctor, that was his training so he uses this example. \u201cWithout the acceptance of certain axioms and propositions in geometry for example, it is idle to attempt to solve any problem.\u201d\u00a0 I mean, how do you get down to business and solve algebra problems and geometry problems unless everybody agrees on the rules of algebra and geometry, which are not open to this view.\u00a0 I mean, if you\u2019re going to sit around and argue about one of the fundamentals of geometry and algebra with a bunch of people that disagree on the fundamentals you aren\u2019t going to solve any problem.\u00a0 See that.\u00a0 But this is what this interfaith dialogue mentality wants to do, it wants to act like everything is up in the air and open for discussion.\u00a0 And the Muslims are smart enough to use this as a vehicle to teach their doctrines in the Christian church, interfaith dialogue!\u00a0\u00a0 And it\u2019s an issue that\u2019s not going away, I can guarantee it.\n\n\u201cIf certain people refuse to accept the axioms, and are constantly querying and disputing them, clearly there is no point of contact between them and those who do accept them. It is precisely the same in the realm of the church. Those who question and query, let alone deny, the great cardinal truths that have been accepted throughout the centuries do not belong to the church, and to regard them as brethren is to betray the truth. As we have already reminded ourselves, the apostle Paul tells us clearly what our attitude to them should be:\u201d oh my goodness, we quoted that verse earlier didn\u2019t we, Titus 3:10, look at that, \u201c\u2018A man that is a heretic\u201d that\u2019s what the word fascist means in Greek in verse 10 of chapter 3 of Titus, \u201c\u2018A man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition reject\u2019 (Titus 3:10).\u201d\n\nHe goes on and he says, \u201cThey are\u201d outsiders, \u201cto be regarded as unbelievers and need to be called to repentance and acceptance of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 I mean, is this what Jesus told us to do, \u201cGo into all the world and dialogue,\u201d I mean today everybody is dialoguing with everybody.\u00a0 We\u2019re not in the dialogue business, we are in the proclaiming business.\u00a0 We have already decided what the Bible says and we are to go out and we are to proclaim that to an unbeliever.\n\n\u201cTo give the impression that they\u201d that\u2019s your dialogue partners, \u201care Christians with whom other Christians disagree about certain matters is to confuse the genuine seeker and enquirer who is outside.\u201d Now what\u2019s an unbeliever supposed to think when a Muslim is allowed to propagate and propagandize in a Christian church.\u00a0 Think of the confusion it throws them into.\n\n\u201cBut such is the position prevailing today.\u201d\u00a0 Remember, he said this is 1989. \u00a0\u201cIt is based upon a failure to understand the nature of the New Testament church which is \u2018the pillar and ground of the truth\u2019\u201d (1 Timothy 3:15).<\/strong><\/u>\u201d\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 That\u2019s what the church is, and when we were going through word pictures of the church early on in our ecclesiology series we looked at that verse.\u00a0 The church \u201cis the \u2018pillar and the foundation of the truth.\u00a0 It is not some sort of debating society.\n\n\u201cIn the same way it is a sheer waste of time to discuss or debate the implications of Christianity with people who are not agreed as to what Christianity is.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s like trying to figure out, as I mentioned before, geometry and algebra with someone who doesn\u2019t even agree with you on what the rules of algebra and geometry are.\u00a0 \u201cFailure to realize this constitutes the very essence of the modern confusion.\u201d\u00a0 [Knowing the Times<\/em> (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1989; reprint, 2001), 161-62.]\n\nI believe James White pushed that whole thing into high gear by agreeing to this ridiculous situation with Yasser Khadi.\u00a0 James White, interestingly enough is a very capable debater.\u00a0 You know, James White wanted to even refute this guy in a church, I personally here at Sugar Land Bible Church would never host that kind of thing but I could sort of see what he\u2019s trying to do because this, as the title says, was beyond debate; in fact, it wasn\u2019t even a debate, it\u2019s a friendly dialogue, which means the Muslims could stand up in front of the assembled saints of God in God\u2019s church and propagate all sorts of heresy and James White sits there like a potted plant and doesn\u2019t say a single word in refutation.\u00a0 And if you can put your ear to the ground you can hear the late Martin Lloyd Jones rolling over in his grave because this is exactly what he warned about all the way back, a few decades back, in 1989.\n\nAnd see, this is why we\u2019re having to think about this whole issue of ecclesiastical separation because what is happening is the rubric of interfaith dialogue is being used to teach false doctrines in the church.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I\u2019m bringing it up.\u00a0 So why separate?\u00a0 Because the church loses its power if you don\u2019t.\u00a0 Is there a biblical basis for separation?\u00a0 I showed you multiple verses on that.\n\nSo this leads to number 3 or letter C, what exactly do you separate from?\u00a0 Well the first thing you have to separate yourself from as a church is false doctrine.\u00a0 If you take a look, for example, at \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 Timothy 4:16, Paul is instructing Timothy, a pastor, and he says, \u201cPay close attention to\u201d the offering numbers\u2026 NO, he doesn\u2019t say that, \u201cPay close attention to how many people you could cram into the building,\u201d he doesn\u2019t say that, \u201cPay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.\u201d\n\nSo the first thing he tells them to pay attention to is your teaching, your doctrine.\u00a0 I mean, Paul says is\u00a0 young Timothy in line with what I\u2019ve\u00a0 taught you as given me by God or not?\u00a0 Now Paul wrote (as you know) thirteen New Testament letters so we have to constantly ask ourselves are the things talked about in this church consistent with God\u2019s revealed truth.\u00a0 That is supposed to be the preoccupation of a pastor.\u00a0 And this needs to be said because everybody kind of has a different definition of what a pastor is and should be doing.\u00a0 You know, a lot of people look at a pastor as sort of a cruise director\u2026 we\u2019re going to have shuffleboard on the Leo deck, do a bunch of activities, keep everybody moving.\u00a0 Not that activities in and of themselves are wrong but the primary preoccupation of a pastor is doctrine.\u00a0 That\u2019s what He says to Timothy here.\n\nTake a look if you could at Titus 1:9, what should an elder be able to do to be qualified as an elder.\u00a0 It says in Titus 1:9, \u201cholding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching,\u201d now when you see teaching, now when you see \u201cteaching\u201d here the Greek word is the Greek word is didach\u0113<\/em>, teaching or doctrine.\u00a0 What taught doctrine?\u00a0 Paul\u2019s doctrine that he got from who?\u00a0 He got from God.\u00a0 \u201cholding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine\u201d see, you have to have the ability to exhort people in the truth, but look at this, \u201cand to refute those who contradict.\u201d\u00a0 Would that not include a Muslim who is propagandizing the fact that Jesus didn\u2019t die on a cross in your church before the assembled saints of God?\u00a0 Of course it would.\u00a0 And if an elder won\u2019t do that or if an elder can\u2019t do that then an elder has no business calling himself an elder.\u00a0 It\u2019s the priority of doctrine.\n\nSo the first thing you separate yourself from in terms of ecclesiastical separation is you have to separate yourself from false doctrine.\u00a0 Well, what doctrine should you keep an eye on?\u00a0 I would say at least these ten, and believe me, this is a very short list here.\u00a0 This should be dramatically expanded.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice that in the Sugar Land Bible Church statement of faith, which we ask people to sign on to in terms of agreement if they want to become a member of this church there are certain doctrines that we are asking people before they request membership that they hold to.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see it all in our constitution.\u00a0 The constitution is right there on our website.\n\nAnd then there\u2019s another part of our constitution which has our position statement which tightens things up even more.\u00a0 And there\u2019s about seven position statements there and these are thing that will be taught from the pulpit.\u00a0 In other words, when anybody teaches at Sugar Land Bible Church, whether it\u2019s in a Sunday School class, whether it\u2019s from the pulpit, whether it\u2019s in written form, it will embrace these seven concepts or ideas that we call position statements. We are not hiding the ball from anybody; the statements of faith are there for you to examine, position statements are there as well. So we at Sugar Land Bible Church have made a decision to separate even from those who don\u2019t hold to those position statements\n