Wretched Radio together this montage on YouTube demonstrating James Donald’s and Mark Driscoll’s proper and biblical view view of the false teaching that is spewed weekly by prosperity preachers. I wonder why the false doctrine that is presented by word faith modalist Bishop TD Jakes was not addressed in the Elephant Room. Of course, I believe Jake’s view of the Trinity is foundational for it identifies the false God that he worships. As many have said, at least Jake’s is moving in the right direction. I believe, as I have stated before, that only a full repudiation of the language and belief of Modalism is effective in this case. The Potter’s House must remove from their statement of faith the Modalist language contained therein.

God
There is one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three manifestations: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Instead this is what Jakes says:

You describe “manifestations” as modalist, but I describe it as Pauline. For God was manifest in the flesh. Paul is not a modalist, but he doesn’t think it’s robbery to say manifest in the flesh. Maybe it’s semantics, but Paul says this.

This statement is in opposition to all the classic Christian Creeds, and the scripture.

They also must separate from those who continue to teach a false view of the Trinity. They are not brothers in Christ, because they believe in a false Christ.

But onto what I believe is a bigger elephant that was not addressed. Both McDonald and Driscoll know and have taught properly from the Bible that word faith and prosperity doctrine is false. Yet, one of the biggest (this is not a fat joke) proponents of prosperity doctrine today is Bishop TD Jakes. What saddens me is that the federal government seems to have a more proper view of theology than most churches do. They have at least sought to prosecute these thieves who take food out of the mouths of widows and orphans with the promise that their seed of faith will increase. It is a wicked teaching that is taking over many 2nd and 3rd world countries. As Driscoll correctly observed, their God is money and that is what they are seeking after rather than the God of the Bible.

Philippians 3:18-19 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

There are many friends of mine that disagree with me concerning people like Bishop Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar and the like. Friends, these preachers are leading people to hell (and poverty I might add). They are not preaching a biblical gospel. This is not a difference based on style. It is a difference based on content. They sprinkle truth in the midst of their promises to make it sound Christian. It is not biblical that you will gain wealth based on your faith. It is not biblical that if you are sick, crippled, have a disease, or any other issue, that you are out of the will of God or that you lack faith.

I challenge the word faith preachers to look at the life of the apostle Paul and tell me based upon his life, was he filled with the Holy Spirit? Did he lack faith? This man was beaten, jailed, had an illness, a thorn in the flesh, he didn’t speak in tongues publicly, and he was persecuted mercilessly by the government. Did he lack faith? If you don’t like Paul, you can check the stories of James, John, Peter, Stephen, Tabitha, Timothy, Barnabas, and all the way through the Bible. In fact Jesus promised us that we would face trials, temptations, persecution. He told the disciples to seek 1st the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The things that would be added to them would not be health and wealth, rather, provision for their needs. I wonder what Jesus thinks of $10,000 cappuccino machines 10,000 square-foot houses and private luxury jets. I just don’t he had that in mind.

When people like Stephen Furtick, James McDonald, and Mark Driscoll parade around on stage at their conferences fist bumping, hugging, and extolling the preaching prowess of a false teacher they are giving their hearty encouragement and endorsement to what the man is preaching. I urge every serious minded Christian to examine the teachings of TD Jakes before they rush to embrace him as a brother in Christ. Remember–words mean things. When a person makes a statement or agrees with the statement that someone else is made unless that statement is repudiated it stands. It is not enough to agree with a statement of faith when there is out there and opposite statement of faith. Until TD Jakes repudiates entirely his Modalist belief and language as well as his false word faith teachings, he still believes them. And when we embrace him we are embracing them to the confused world that is watching.

2 Peter 2:1-3 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

It seems Bishop Jakes is much like a presidential candidate these days in evangelical circles. He has made the rounds in the last two weeks to very influential meetings of evangelical churches, has been embraced and endorsed by powerful leaders within that party, and has been seen on the platform addressing people that support that party. He has been put forward and identified by certain powerful and influential leaders as a leading member and an excellent influence to that party.

It is just like Barney Frank has been introduced to the Republicans as a viable presidential candidate, embraced by Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh without repudiating his liberalism.

This is not new in Evangelical circles today, nor is it surprising. In the past years, we have seen the embrace and acceptance of people who preach a different Gospel by those who affirm the true Gospel. And it is getting more insidious; case in point is Rick Warren being invited to preach at the Desiring God conference. While Rick Warren does hold firm to a classic understanding of historic Christian faith, his watered down view of salvation and broad declaration of how one becomes a believer in Christ, even how God views you before you are in Christ has been the basis of many false conversions. The worst part is the Seeker Sensitive model of church growth which preaches a man-centered Gospel that would allow a Murdoch or others to feel quite comfortable in their sin within the church- because repentance is simply not preached, nor is any other hard doctrine. However, while at the conference and in the weeks leading up to it, Rick Warren sounded reformed. Another classic politician, Rick Warren speaks to his audience, whoever that is.

The invitation of Bishop Jakes caused no small furor in said evangelical circles, including the resignation of MacDonald, host of the Elephant Room, from the Gospel Coalition, and Mark Dever declining to take part in ER2 What is the problem with Bishop Jakes that would cause such an issue? According to his own website, he holds to the heresy of modalism:

God
There is one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three manifestations: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Modalism is a classic heresy, also known as Sabellianism, which denies the trinity. http://carm.org/modalism of CARM puts it like this:

Modalism is probably the most common theological error concerning the nature of God. It is a denial of the Trinity. Modalism states that God is a single person who, throughout biblical history, has revealed Himself in three modes, or forms. Thus, God is a single person who first manifested himself in the mode of the Father in Old Testament times. At the incarnation, the mode was the Son and after Jesus’ ascension, the mode is the Holy Spirit. These modes are consecutive and never simultaneous. In other words, this view states that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit never all exist at the same time, only one after another. Modalism denies the distinctiveness of the three persons in the Trinity even though it retains the divinity of Christ.

Why is it so important? It denies that Jesus is the Christ today. It states the God died on the Cross while manifesting Himself as Jesus.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

1 John 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

At ER2, Jakes made this statement to Mark Driscoll, who was interviewing him at the time.

Driscoll: We all would agree that in the nature of God there is mystery. But within that, for you, Bishop Jakes, the issue is one God manifesting Himself successively in three ways? Or one God existing eternally in three persons? What is your understanding now? Which one?

Jakes: I believe the latter one is where I stand today. One God – Three Persons. I am not crazy about the word persons though. You describe “manifestations” as modalist, but I describe it as Pauline. For God was manifest in the flesh. Paul is not a modalist, but he doesn’t think it’s robbery to say manifest in the flesh. Maybe it’s semantics, but Paul says this. Now, when we start talking about that sort of thing, I think it’s important to realize there are distinctives between the work of the Father and the work of the Son. I’m with you. I have been with you. There are many people within and outside denominations labeled Oneness that would be okay with this. We are taught in society that when we disagree with someone in a movement, we leave. But I still have associations with people in Onenness movements. We need to humble both sides and say, “We are trying to describe a God we love.” Why should I fall out and hate and throw names at you when it’s through a glass darkly? None of our books on the Godhead will be on sale in heaven.

Many believers point at that statement and say- you see- Jakes is no longer a modalist! In fact, James MacDonald, Mark Driscoll, and Steven Furtick, power players in the neo-reformed (James and Mark) and seeker sensitive (Steven Furtick) movements within evangelicalism embraced him, as did many of their followers–not me. I do not believe it for one second.

You can call me intolerant, judgmental, even mean.

I call it being passionate about the Word of God, defending the flock of God, and being a Berean.

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Acts 17:10–11

T.D. Jakes still has some explaining to do. If you want to convince a Berean that you have been changed, you must repudiate the doctrine publicly, at least to the point where you have embraced it publicly. Then, in the same way repent of the heresy, and encourage those over whom you have had influence in that area to do the same. In my opinion, as worthless as it may seem to the larger institution of modern evangelicalism, what he stated at ER2 was not sufficient.

I have not even mentioned the word-faith heresy yet- because that was not addressed at ER2- and that is far more insidious and is creeping more and more into mainstream evangelicalism today.

Again, My Friend Daniel has made excellent observations here

[God] paid the ultimate price, that He might express the value of you by dying on the cross to give you eternal life. Never let any devil in hell make you think that you’re not valuable. Not based on the mistakes you made, or the things you did, or the circumstances of your birth. Not based on your economy, not based on your intellect, your education, or anything like that. Any time you doubt your worth, you tell the enemy ‘I must be valuable because Jesus died for me’. He died for me. I must be somebody, or He wouldn’t have died for me. No matter what I did, no matter what I’ve been through, no matter what mistakes I’ve made, I’ve got to be valuable because He’s shed His blood for me.

Touch your neighbor and say, ‘I am somebody’.

I am somebody only because Jesus paid a price to recognize my worth. I will never doubt my worth again.

No, Jesus died for you for God’s glory, to His honor. Read Ephesians 1- for each spiritual blessing that God gives us as a result of salvation, it is

to the praise of his glorious grace,(vs. 6)
to the praise of his glory.(vs. 12)
to the praise of his glory.(vs. 14)

We get the benefit, He gets the praise, the honor, and the glory. It is all for Him. It is not because we are valuable, or good. It is despite the fact that we have no value. It is as though we are a piece of dung on the sidewalk and God, to His glory, makes us into a flawless diamond. We bring nothing to the table- no value whatsoever. Yet God, to the praise of His glory, chooses us anyway.

If you are in Christ, you have value, but it is an alien value. It has been given you by God, for His glory. Now you have worth because you are in Christ- God has given you worth and value. It is not because you were good, it is because God is good.

The following is a message that can be taken as a response to the message Bishop modalist heretic T.D. Jakes gave at the Code Orange Anti-Revival. It may not be as delivered well, it is not meant to be compelling or entertaining, but it is the Word of God.

Notes are found here

An excellent review of the sermon ear-tickling pep-talk Bishop modalist heretic TD Jakes gave go here

On sterilization & racial purification:
Sanger believed that, for the purpose of racial “purification,” couples should be rewarded who chose sterilization. Birth Control in America, The Career of Margaret
Sanger, by David Kennedy, p. 117, quoting a 1923 Sanger speech.

On the right of married couples to bear children:
 Couples should be required to submit applications to have a child, she wrote in her “Plan for Peace.” Birth Control Review, April 1932

On the purpose of birth control:
The purpose in promoting birth control was “to create a race of thoroughbreds,” she wrote in the Birth Control Review, Nov. 1921 (p. 2)

On the rights of the handicapped and mentally ill, and racial minorities:

“[Slavs, Latin, and Hebrew immigrants are] human weeds … a deadweight of human waste … [Blacks, soldiers, and Jews are a] menace to the race.” “Eugenic sterilization is an urgent need … We must prevent Multiplication of this bad stock.”
– Margaret Sanger, April 1933 Birth Control Review .

“Give dysgenic groups [people with 'bad genes'] in our population their choice of segregation or [compulsory] sterilization.”
– Margaret Sanger, April 1932 Birth Control Review .

“Today eugenics is suggested by the most diverse minds as the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems. 
”More children from the fit, less from the unfit — that is the chief aim of birth control.” Birth Control Review, May 1919, p. 12

“Eugenics is … the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems.Margaret Sanger. “

The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda.” Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

“Eugenic sterilization is an urgent need … We must prevent multiplication of this bad stock.”
Margaret Sanger, April 1933 Birth Control Review.

“Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race.”
Margaret Sanger. Woman, Morality, and Birth Control. New York: New York Publishing Company, 1922. Page 12.

“Eugenics is … the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems.Margaret Sanger. “
The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda.” Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

On religious convictions regarding sex outside of marriage:
”This book aims to answer the needs expressed in thousands on thousands of letters to me in the solution of marriage problems… Knowledge of sex truths frankly and plainly presented cannot possibly injure healthy, normal, young minds. Concealment, suppression, futile attempts to veil the unveilable – these work injury, as they seldom succeed and only render those who indulge in them ridiculous. For myself, I have full confidence in the cleanliness, the open-mindedness, the promise of the younger generation.” Margaret Sanger, Happiness in Marriage (Bretano’s, New York, 1927)

“The third group [of society] are those irresponsible and reckless ones having little regard for the consequences of their acts, or whose religious scruples prevent their exercising control over their numbers. Many of this group are diseased, feeble-minded, and are of the pauper element dependent upon the normal and fit members of society for their support. There is no doubt in the minds of all thinking people that the procreation of this group should be stopped.”

– Margaret Sanger. Speech quoted in Birth Control: What It Is, How It Works, What It Will Do. The Proceedings of the First American Birth Control Conference . Held at the Hotel Plaza, New York City, November 11-12, 1921. Published by the Birth Control Review , Gothic Press, pages 172 and 174.

“[Because of birth control], child slavery, prostitution, feeble mindedness, physical deterioration, hunger, oppression and war will disappear from the earth. There will come a Plato who will be understood, a Socrates who will drink no hemlock, and a Jesus who will not die upon the cross. These and the race that is to be in America await upon a motherhood that is to be sacred because it is free.” {Margaret Sanger. Woman and the New Race . Brentanos, 1922, page 161}

On the extermination of blacks:
”We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population,” she said, “if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.” Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America, by Linda Gordon

Margaret Sanger wrote about her Ku Klux Klan speech in her autobiography, “I accepted an invitation to talk to the women’s branch of the Ku Klux Klan…I saw through the door dim figures parading with banners and illuminated crosses…I was escorted to the platform, was introduced, and began to speak…In the end, through simple illustrations I believed I had accomplished my purpose. A dozen invitations to speak to similar groups were proffered.” (Margaret Sanger: An Autobiography, P.366)

“We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”
Margaret Sanger’s December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. Original source: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. Also described in Linda Gordon’s Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1976.

On respecting the rights of the mentally ill: “There is only one reply to a request for a higher birthrate among the intelligent, and that is to ask the government to first take the burden of the insane and feeble-minded from your back. [Mandatory] sterilization for these is the answer.” — Margaret Sanger, October 1926 Birth Control Review .
In her “Plan for Peace,” Sanger outlined her strategy for eradication of those she deemed “feebleminded.” Among the steps included in her evil scheme were immigration restrictions; compulsory sterilization; segregation to a lifetime of farm work; etc. Birth Control Review, April 1932, p. 107

“Our failure to segregate morons who are increasing and multiplying … demonstrates our foolhardy and extravagant sentimentalism … [Philanthropists] encourage the healthier and more normal sections of the world to shoulder the burden of unthinking and indiscriminate fecundity of others; which brings with it, as I think the reader must agree, a dead weight of human waste. Instead of decreasing and aiming to eliminate the stocks that are most detrimental to the future of the race and the world, it tends to render them to a menacing degree dominant … We are paying for, and even submitting to, the dictates of an ever-increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all.”

“I think you must agree … that the campaign for birth control is not merely of eugenic value, but is practically identical with the final aims of eugenics … Birth control propaganda is thus the entering wedge for the eugenic educator.

“As an advocate of birth control I wish … to point out that the unbalance between the birth rate of the ‘unfit’ and the ‘fit,’ admittedly the greatest present menace to civilization, can never be rectified by the inauguration of a cradle competition between these two classes. In this matter, the example of the inferior classes, the fertility of the feebleminded, the mentally defective, the poverty-stricken classes, should not be held up for emulation.”On the contrary, the most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective.” — Margaret Sanger. “The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda.” Birth Control Review , October 1921, page 5.

“In passing, we should here recognize the difficulties presented by the idea of ‘fit’ and ‘unfit.’ Who is to decide this question? The grosser, the more obvious, the undeniably feeble-minded should, indeed, not only be discouraged but prevented from propagating their kind. But among the writings of the representative Eugenists [sic], one cannot ignore the distinct middle-class bias that prevails.” — Margaret Sanger, quoted in Charles Valenza. “Was Margaret Sanger a Racist?” Family Planning Perspectives , January-February 1985, page 44.

On adultery:
A woman’s physical satisfaction was more important than any marriage vow, Sanger believed. Birth Control in America, p. 11

On marital sex:
”The marriage bed is the most degenerating influence in the social order,” Sanger said. (p. 23)

[Quite the opposite of God's view on the matter: "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." (Hebrews 13:4)

On abortion:
"Criminal' abortions arise from a perverted sex relationship under the stress of economic necessity, and their greatest frequency is among married women." The Woman Rebel - No Gods, No Masters, May 1914, Vol. 1, No. 3.

On the YMCA and YWCA:
"...brothels of the Spirit and morgues of Freedom!"), The Woman Rebel - No Gods, No Masters, May 1914, Vol. 1, No. 3.

On the Catholic Church's view of contraception:
"...enforce SUBJUGATION by TURNING WOMAN INTO A MERE INCUBATOR." The Woman Rebel - No Gods, No Masters, May 1914, Vol. 1, No. 3.

On motherhood:
"I cannot refrain from saying that women must come to recognize there is some function of womanhood other than being a child-bearing machine." What Every Girl Should Know, by Margaret Sanger (Max Maisel, Publisher, 1915)

"The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." Margaret Sanger, Women and the New Race (Eugenics Publ. Co., 1920, 1923 of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

"[Our objective is] unlimited sexual gratification without the burden of unwanted children … [Women must have the right] to live … to love… to be lazy … to be an unmarried mother … to create … to destroy … The marriage bed is the most degenerative influence in the social order … The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members
is to kill it.” — Margaret Sanger (editor). The Woman Rebel , Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race . New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.

You are still here on this earth, unless you were one of the 150,000 some people who die each and every day. The evidence that Harold Camping or other people whom you have placed your trust are false prophets is that you were not raptured into heaven and Harold Camping and your other leaders are also still around.

• You must be angry
• You must be disappointed
• You may be questioning God.

Do not be discouraged, even Jesus Christ, God’s one and only true Begotten Son, the one who is fully God and fully man, does not even know the date or the time of His return (Matthew 24:36) No one but God knows that! According to Jesus Himself, you will not know when He is returning. It will take everyone by surprise (Matthew 24:44) In other words, Jesus’ return is imminent. It could happen this moment, it is indeed closer now than it was yesterday.

The only question is…are you ready?

I recognize that many of you are faithful and determined people. This is demonstrated by your willingness to leave your home, sell your possessions and your businesses, and go out and proclaim what you thought was the truth. You really can choose one of two Paths now. You can be like the followers of those charletans of the past, like Charles Taze Russell and others who have predicted the end of the world and the return of Christ, and scramble with your theology. Some of you, especially your leaders, will begin to make excuses. Others, unfortunately, may commit suicide or attempt to harm themselves or others. I would strongly suggest another response.

I call it the Damascus road experience.

Paul was a determined follower of God. He studied the prophets, memorized the Old Testament, gleaned it from top to bottom. He sat under the finest teachers of the day. He was so determined to promote his theology that he believed that the early Christians were doing battle against God, so He, as a lover of God, became a murderer of Christians. He was on His way to kill or imprison some more when he got knocked off his horse- literally and figuratively.He saw the light, by meeting the true Jesus and in humility laying down all that knowledge and what He believed about God at the foot of the cross. In short, Paul was converted. Paul was saved. Paul’s eyes were blinded, but now He saw. And he took that dogged determination and used it as a converted man to preach Christ crucified around the whole world- as Christ commands all of His followers to do.

I encourage you zealous people to use this experience to get knocked off your horse and see the light- the real Jesus for who He is. He is the one true God who came into this world to save people from their sins. What you must do is repent. In this case, have the humility to admit you were wrong about God, wrong about Christ, wrong about Harold Camping. Repent- turn from your false beliefs, from your idols, from your pride and turn to Christ. Place your trust in Him alone and He will save you from your sins. Then you can be obedient to Him as you fulfill His great commission until He comes (Matthew 24:14, 28:18-20). The evidence that you have been saved is when you are living for Him, that you are looking for His return by being faithful to Him.

Matthew 24:44-51

⁴⁴Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

⁴⁵Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

⁴⁶Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. ⁴⁷Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.⁴⁸But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; ⁴⁹And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; ⁵⁰The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, ⁵¹And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Oh, come to Jesus and be saved!

Rob Bell: Osama Bin Laden is is hell? Really? And you feel compelled to tell people this? I have to say that love wins, and this story is so much larger. Remember, Jesus painted blood on the doorposts of the universe and has reconciled ALL things to himself. Imagine the hell he has already experienced living in that one million dollar bunker on the border of Pakistan. Now that he is dead, he will be sure to choose Jesus. I am sure I will see him in the new creation someday.

Shane Hipps: Who are we to judge. Osama bin Laden had the imago dei, that divine spark. He just chose a different sail with which to catch the wind of God.

Rick Warren: I was looking forward to working with Bin Laden to bring my PEACE plan to Afghanistan and Pakistan. It does not matter what people believe, we can join hands with them to accomplish humanitarian goals in that region.

Samir Selmanovic: Osama Bin Laden served the same god I do, even though he called him Allah and worshiped Him by murdering Christians and Jews whom he calls infidels.

Doug Pagitt: Osama Bin Laden is going to be reconciled and restored to God just like the rest of us.

Shane Claiborne “There are some things worth dying for… but none worth killing for.” Even Osama Bin Laden did not deserve to die. After all, I loved the way he lived so simply hiding in a cave. He also made his own clothes like me. How bad of a guy could he be?

Jay Bakker: Osama Bin Laden was born as a murderer. How can we judge him for doing what he was born to do? After all, if loving his Muslim brothers and sisters meant killing Americans, who are we to judge who and how he loves?

**My friends, these are not actual quotes, this is taking quotes from the above said people and replacing ideas they have about theology and scripture etc. with the name of Osama Bin Laden. No emergents were injured with this bit of poetic license/humor

These quotes from Rob Bell’s new book old heresy:

As soon as the door is opened to Muslims. Hindus, Buddhists, and Baptists from Cleveland, many Christians become very uneasy, saying that then Jesus doesn’t matter anymore, the cross is irrelevant, it doesn’t matter what you believe, and so forth.

Not true.
Absolutely, unequivocally, unalterably not true.

What Jesus does is declare that he,
and he alone,
is saving everybody.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

John 3:16-18 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.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 3:36 36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

And then he leaves the door way, way open. Creating all sorts of possibilities. He is as narrow as himself and as wide as the universe.

John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.…

Luke 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

John 14:6 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Matthew 7: 13-14 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

People come to Jesus in all sorts of ways.

Sometimes people use his name;
other times they don’t.

Philippians 2:9-11 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Acts 17:23,30,31 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Some people have so much baggage with regard to the name “Jesus” that when they encounter the mystery present in all of creation—grace, peace, love, acceptance, healing, forgiveness—the last thing they are inclined to name it is “Jesus.”

John 1:4-5 4In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

What we see Jesus doing again and again—in the midst of constant reminders about the seriousness of following him living like him, and trusting him—is widening the scope and expanse of his saving work.

Revelation 6:15-16 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

Revelation 20: 11- 15 11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 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. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Fans flock to his Facebook page, his NOOMA videos have been viewed by millions, and his Sunday sermons are attended by 10,000 parishioners—with a downloadable podcast reaching 50,000 more. An electrifying, unconventional pastor whom Time magazine calls “a singular rock star in the church world,” Rob Bell is the most vibrant, central religious leader of the millennial generation. Now, in Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering. With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly optimistic—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins.

To be fair, Rob Bell’s book has not even hit the shelves. It is called love wins, and in his provocative style he has released a video to promote this new book by asking a bunch of open ended questions. It is the combination of questions that he has raised (usually the same questions that the post- modern millennials are asking) and the way in which they are asked that has caused such an uproar. When I watch his videos, and hear his sermons, the questions come across to me like I imagine the serpent in the garden of Eden talking when he asked ‘did God really say?’ So why are we talking about this famous preacher today? Because the world is full of false teachers, as Jesus warned us there would be. It is all important to me, as your Pastor, to warn you when there seems to be a false teaching that can impact your understanding of the Gospel. It is also important to give a ready answer when you are approached with such ideas. The question I am pulling out of this book is the idea of Hell, and, more appropriately, the afterlife. The questions I would like to try and answer through the scripture is about the nature of man, the nature of God, and ULTIMATELY the reason for the cross, which we will cover in great detail in the weeks leading up to Easter, as we conclude our study of John. But these are questions that must be answered to gain an understanding of the destiny that awaits us when we shed our mortal coil, and the righteousness and Justice of God in sending the un-regenerated sinner to an eternity in Hell, and the mercy and love of God in saving people like you and like me who deserve an eternity in Hell.

The nature of man: A biblical understanding of the nature of man is essential to understanding the need for the cross. The Bible in many places describes the nature of man, both in the Old and New Testament. For the sake of time today, I will hone in on a few verses:

 Jeremiah 17: 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

The word wicked (Hb raw-shaw) or its root appears 421 times in the Old Testament. It is a word that is used to describe evil actions, intentions, and, ultimately, the nature of man. It is a word that is opposite of Hb tsa deek which is a word that means righteous, that is, the nature of God. The heart, that is, the very seat of judgment and emotions and the will is desperately wicked. That means that our very nature since the first sin in the garden is the opposite or in opposition to the nature of God. We are, at the core of our very being, rebellious against God. We are blind to that fact, in fact, most people will tell you about how good they are. But the heart is deceitful above all things. Mankind is easily fooled into thinking that He is better morally than he is. It is only God who can see into the very nature of man. It is God who proclaims in Psalm 14 and Romans 3:

Romans 3:10-19 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

 
This is the very judgment of God towards man, that there is no one righteous. The Greek is dikaous, and it is the standard of righteousness, which is God. In this passage, there is no one that is righteous certainly by God’s standards, but also, there is no one who is consistently right, equitable, and fair in dealing with other people. The passage goes on to describe those who are not righteous. In our human nature, we are by nature selfish and humanistic, looking to gain pleasure and success within ourselves. We do not understand ourselves, much less, understand God and His standards. We do not even seek after God. We have ‘gone out of the way’ that is we have set our own standards of right and wrong, departing from the way of God. As a result, we have not lived up to the standard of even being profitable. We are useless for doing what we were created to do and that is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. The passage goes further in what it looks like to be unrighteous:

Humans are unrighteous in the way that we speak: The verses above first describe the way that we use our mouths. Paul describes the mouth as an open grave. In the days in which this was written, the embalming process was not quite like ours. An open grave would look and smell like death. Since death is the ultimate end of man, the ultimate punishment for sin, it should not surprise us that this nature is reflected in the very words that unregenerate men speak. And the stench is awful. Our tongues are used to deceive, that is, with our tongues we tell lies. One of the first phrases we see spoken by Satan in the garden is that which we have taken on in our human nature: did God really say? We all to often use our words to make us seem like something we are not, or to make God seem like something He is not. To deceive is to send someone in the wrong direction with our words. This is the real danger, an unregenerate, unsaved man can even speak kind words that are meant to deceive. Satan is a master of that, for He is the Father of all lies. Ultimately, the real character of a person will come out in their actions, if not in their words. The man who is unregenerate and wicked use words that act like poison. The Greek word that is translated poison is ios can mean the poison emitted by serpents, but it can also mean a missile or a weapon that is sent forth. Both meanings are appropriate here. How many times have you used your tongue as a weapon? How many times has the words that you have spoken pierced the very people who you claim to love? Even as Christians, there are many times that we use our tongues inappropriately as we gossip, or backbite, or even slander people. This should not be; the tongue is a deadly fire, as James puts it in His epistle. Jesus said that the words that we use reflect our heart.

Matthew 12:33-35 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

We need to examine the very words that we use on a daily basis that they are not filled with what Paul calls deadly poison. The poison comes from under the lips, and the Greek phrase means that the words spring forth from under, that is, as Jesus said, from the heart. It is not what we take into the mouth which defiles us, it is what comes from out of our mouth. We ought to expect such words from those who have not been regenerated, for if there is an evil heart the words will reflect that. As Paul is stating here, the nature of man is such that the very words that we speak reflect the heart that is within. If your mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, it is a reflection of your very heart. The Greek gemo means stuffed-full and this is the description of the very overflow of the heart. The Greek Ara is translated cursing, and it is a malediction, that is the opposite of a blessing. That means that the overflow or abundance of our heart is full of cursing towards other people. When I was a non-believer, I had the foulest of mouths. To say I cursed like a sailor would be an insult to sailors. That is one of the things that God changed in me when He saved me. When we say that towards other people, speak in an imprecatory manner, we are saying that about a creation of God that God values. In doing so, we are in fact cursing God. It is the same way with bitterness, that is Greek pikria, and it can also be translated venom. Bitterness rots our bones, but it also brings other people down. When we express bitterness with our lips, we are elevating self and bringing other people down. We are not being thankful to God for His provision for us. When our mouths are full of cursing and bitterness, it often leaks into the manner in which we live with other people.

Humans are unrighteous in the way that we treat other people: Because we are by nature idol factories, worshipers of ourselves rather than of God, we tend to look out for our own self interests and not the interests of God or other people. When we are offended, we tend to seek out immediate revenge. Our feet are swift to shed blood, we are as swift to demand blood. That is , even though many of the things that bring us to anger are not worthy of something as harsh as injury, or even death, we are not just so when humans seek revenge, they seek to get back more than has been taken from them. Humans seek to cause more injury than they have been injured. A good example is the civil justice system with punitive damages. Often times, the lawyers go overboard with their demands because they want others to feel the pain, and often it is more pain than they have caused. It is because we are not righteous. Paul goes on to describe our very lifestyle as one of bringing about destruction and misery. Again, the natural man is much more effective at tearing down rather than building up. We are better at producing pain, misery, and distress than we are at healing. We do not know the way of peace, because when we look to our own self interest, and the other party is looking to their own self interest, there is no way that we can come to Greek eirene peace, which is the absence of strife. The reason that we will never have peace in our world. The main reason all of this is true is because we have a higher view of ourselves and our rights than we do of others, indeed, than we do of God.

Humans are unrighteous in how we deal with God as our creator. We do all these things because we are wicked, and because we are wicked we do not fear God. We do not reverence Him as God. Because there is no fear, there is no reverence. In fact we demonstrate our hatred for God or our love for Him by the way that we behave. We curse the very one who gives us our lives and our breath. We do not believe what the Bible teaches about Him. We prefer our way rather than God’s way, because we do not have a proper understanding of who God is We do not have proper fear or reverence for God. We believe that we are good, but God is that standard of God, that is, moral righteousness. In his promotional video, Rob Bell brings up the example of Ghandi. Now Mahatma Ghandi was a good person when compared to many of his own contemporaries in how he struggled and fought for the independence of India. We would probably say that among people, Ghandi was probably in the top ten percent morally of all other people, certainly higher than say an Adolf Hitler or an Osama Bin Laden. If we are to compare ourselves to others, we could see that our righteousness exceeds some while it falls short of others. But it is our pride blinds us to the fact that we are wicked when we compare ourselves to the righteous standard of God. If we sinned one time per day for a life span of 70 years, we would have 25,550 sins to deal with against God. The average person (according to a poll) lies 4 times a day. That is 102,200 lies in a 70 year life span. Even if you are not that prolific of a liar, God does not grade on a curve. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) There is no exception. Mankind falls short of God’s standard. When we say that we are good, that is morally pure, we are calling God a liar, because He says we are wicked. And the evidence is stacked against us.

19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

That is the very purpose of the law, that is, the Word of God. It supernaturally, by the power of the Holy Spirit, reveals our nature to us. We know that we are guilty because our conscience with the mirror of God’s law, bears witness that we have sinned against God. We know the truth, but we suppress the truth by our unrighteousness. As John says, we love the darkness rather than the light because our deeds are evil. Our very nature wars against the knowledge of God, against the proper fear of God. Knowledge of cars being in the street teaches us to at least look before we cross. Even a perfunctory knowledge of God should teach us to fear Him, to know that we ought not to offend Him. The law ought to at least stop our mouths, and bring us to a knowledge of guilt before a Holy and righteous God. For many in this world, it does not do that. For we who believe, it should make us stand in amazement, and thank God daily that He has saved us, even when we were yet unrighteous, even yet sinners. (Romans 5:6-8) We will spend time in the next message examining the nature of God, but we must close here. Doesn’t this knowledge of our wickedness make the love of God towards us, even His common grace towards us that much more amazing? His undeserved kindness towards us should lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4) Isn’t it wonderful and graceful that He does not strike us down in His anger, that He demonstrates love in His long suffering towards us? This is the truth of the Gospel, it is amazing grace and it is a sweet sound to those who know that he has saved us from our sin, from ourselves, and from His well-deserved wrath towards us. It is true- when we are regenerated, and we repent and trust Christ, love wins.