Another Jesus - Part 2

Temple Baptist Church - 9-17-2008

2 Corinthians 11:1-4

Introduction:

A. We need to remember again at this point that there are two effective ways to attack a person:

1. Attack his Word – a man is no better than his word and Jesus Christ is no better than His Word!

a) If His Word is inerrant and infallible only in the original autographs, then we do not have the Word of God today. If this Bible that I hold in my hand in the work of man through preservation and interpretation, then it is errant and fallible at best and the “faith once delivered” is left up to the interpretation of man.

b) No Word of God means no Faith! You cannot have it both ways: either it is God’s Word and, therefore inspired, or it is the word of Man containing the Word of God and fallible!!!!!!! LIBERAL, please leave this poor old uneducated preacher to his ways because I am perfectly satisfied with the King James Bible and perfectly deluded in what I think about it.

2. Attack his Character – a man is not better than his character and Jesus Christ is no better than His character!

a) The spirit of antichrist is all around us as it was already in the days of the apostles. “Another Jesus, whom we have not preached” is the Jesus of both the world and the “Bible Belt!” The Jesus Christ that is portrayed in movies and liberal pulpits is not the Jesus Christ of this Bible that I hold. The Jesus Christ of the “Bible Belt” is one popular with the masses of people.

b) It is interesting that God has this to say about popular preachers:
Luke 6:26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

c) Thus it is with Christ!

John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Isaiah 53:2-3 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Luke 19:14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this [man] to reign over us.

Luke 20:13-14 Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence [him] when they see him. 14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.

B. In 2 John, we find the admonition of the Holy Ghost concerning those who have not the doctrine of Christ:

2 John 7-11 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. 9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

1. Identify Them - 2 Timothy 4:3-5 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

2. Try Them - 1 John 4:1-3 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

3. Avoid Them - Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

4. Rebuke Them - Titus 1:10-13 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake. 12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. 13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

5. Reject Them - 2 John 10-11 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into [your] house, neither bid him God speed: 11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. Do not allow them in your home either through the doorway or the airway!

C. Tonight, I want to look at the Person and work of Christ. Our text says that the apostates teach “another Jesus.” This denial of both the character and the work of Christ is so prevalent in our day and needs to be exposed. The “Jesus” of this world is not the Jesus of the Bible! We will not study the “Doctrine of Christ” because of the magnitude of this doctrine. I simply want to look at the “Jesus” of this world for a few minutes. How does the world see Jesus Christ?

1. “Another Jesus” Who Is Not Almighty God!

a. The Cults Deny Him Through Their Doctrine – 2 Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. (Damnable lies that go from Jesus Christ being Satan’s angel brother to His being Mary Son.)

b. The Lost Deny Him Through Their Deeds – Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

2. “Another Jesus” Who Is Not Lord! This battle has even raged within the ranks of fundamentalism.

Acts 10:36 The word which [God] sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

Revelation 19:16 And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

a. He Is Not Lord In Salvation – John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. (Just pray this little prayer any time you like and be saved. Salvation is God’s Way and God’s Time!)

b. He Is Not Lord In Sanctification – 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (You can be saved and live any way you want. A salvation that requires no repentance! Not to repent is not to be saved!)

3. “Another Jesus” Who Cannot Save!

a. Cannot Save Completely - Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

b. Cannot Save Eternally – John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand. (The world’s perspective of salvation is Jesus Christ plus! Either works enable their salvation or keep their salvation. What is it about eternal life that they cannot understand?)

4. “Another Jesus” Who Does Not Love!

a. Some Say That Christ Died For The Elite – Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. (He died for the rich and the poor. He died for every race!)

b. Some Say That Christ Died For The Elect – John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world. (Some say that He died for the Elite while others say He died for the Elect. He died for both rich and poor. He died for every race. He died for everyone! What is it about the “whole world” that they cannot understand?)

5. “Another Jesus” Who Is Not Holy!

a. A Jesus Who Will Not Judge Sin - Ecclesiastes 8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

b. A Jesus Who Will Not Judge Sinners - Revelation 20:12-13 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

6. “Another Jesus” Who Is Not Coming!

a. The World Sleeps In The Night - 2 Peter 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation.

b. The Church Sleeps In The Night - 1 Thessalonians 5:6-7 Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now [it is] high time to awake out of sleep: for now [is] our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Conclusion: The world’s perception of our Lord Jesus Christ is not a biblical one. This “Another Jesus” is the one being preached and believed upon by the world. It is not the One whom we have preached!