REVIEW
FLIP CHART: SOM’S KEY VERSE, GOAL, MOTTO
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness ….” (Mt. 6:33a).
The law sends us to Christ for justification; Christ sends us back to the law for sanctification.
FLIP CHART: Show new “Perfect Righteousness” chart explaining steps to coming to Christ (As a worm, mourning, meek, spiritual hunger/thirst with the result of legal righteousness). Explain: moral righteousness, immediate moral change at conversion, gradual change through life’s challenges and speeding up moral change via CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection and Confession/Thanksgiving). Key verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10:14).
FLIP CHART: John Stott’s outline of SOM.
TEACHING GOAL: To help the church spot false teachers.
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He has said,
To you, who for refuge, to Jesus have fled? (2x)
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am Thy God, I will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by my gracious, omnipotent hand. (2x)
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee thy trials to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. (2x)
When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace all-sufficient shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine. (2x)
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake. (2x)
To finish up his sermon, Jesus gives four powerful illustrations, all with a goal of pressing his listeners for a decision. Each of the illustrations contains a dire warning: destruction, fire, rejection, destruction.
INTRODUCTION:
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Mt. 7:15-20)
REVIEW: . . . . Some key ”SO WHATS?” From the two previous lesson.
1. Our Lord prophesied that there would be false prophets and we are to be vigilant concerning their appearance.
2. False prophets are deceitful and thus difficult to spot. We can spot them by noting their character (greedy and deceitful), content of their teaching and the impact of their lives and teaching on others.
3. A mistaken teacher is not necessarily a heretic or false prophet.
4. We need to look for teaching on the holiness of God, final judgment, the sinfulness of man, the substitutionary death of Christ and the deity of Christ when evaluating the teaching of a perceived false teacher.
OUTLINE:
1. Warning Against False Prophets
2. Spotting a False Prophet
3. Character of a False Prophet
4. Spotting False Teaching
5. The Gospel of Gaps
THE FIVE “SOLAS” OF THE REFORMATION
1. The Reformation
2. The Evangelicals
3. Introduction to the Five Solas
4. Sola # 1 – Scripture Alone
5. Good Works
6. Justification
7. Sola # 2 – Grace Alone
8. Sola # 3 – Faith Alone
9. Sola # 4 – Christ Alone
10. Sola # 5 – God’s Glory Alone
SPOTTING FALSE PROPHETS – (D) THE REFORMATION’S “FIVE SOLAS”
V. THE GOSPEL OF GAPS
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6)
“. . . and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you . . . . (Mt. 28:21)
“They continued in the apostle’s doctrine.” (Acts 2:42)
“For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will (counsel) of God.” (Acts. 20:27)
It is not so much what a false prophet says – but what he doesn’t say that makes him a false prophet.
“The man’s preaching is all right in that he says nothing that is untrue. The problem stems from what he does not say. He says many right things, but he also leaves out some indispensable points of belief. And that makes him exceedingly dangerous. (Hughes, 2549)
“They usually do not openly deny Jesus’ divinity. His substitutionary atonement, the depravity and lostness of man, the reality and penalty of sin, the destiny of hell for unbelievers, the need for repentance, humility, and submission to God, and other such “negative” and uncomfortable truths. They simply ignore them.” (MacArthur, 466)
“False prophets talk much about the love of God but nothing of his holiness, much about people who are deprived but nothing about those who are depraved, much about God’s universal fatherhood of every human being but nothing of His unique fatherhood only of those who are His children through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, much about what God will give to us but nothing about obedience to Him, much about health and happiness but nothing about holiness and sacrifice. Their message is a message of gaps, the greatest gap of which leaves out the truth that saves. (MacArthur, 472)
Gaps according to R. Kent Hughes:
First, “the false prophet avoids preaching on such things as the holiness, righteousness, justice, and wrath of God.” Second, “false prophets avoid preaching on the doctrine of the final judgment. Third, “false prophets fail to emphasize the fallenness and depravity of mankind.” Fourth, “false prophets de-emphasize the substitutionary death and atonement of Christ.” Fifth, false prophets fail to emphasize the divinity of Christ.
“We have somehow got hold of the idea that error is only that which is outrageously wrong; and we do not seem to understand that the most dangerous person of all is the one who does not emphasize the right things” [MLJ, 244].
CLASS ACTIVITY: Read over the “Statement of Faith” from a standard evangelical church in the USA. Underline things that you feel you seldom or maybe never have heard preached at Bethany.
Statement of Faith
I. We affirm our belief in the divine inspiration, truthfulness, and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety. They are the only written word of God, without error in all they affirm, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
II. We affirm our belief in the one eternal God, Creator and Lord of the universe, always existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each possessing divine perfection.
A. God, the Father is perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom and measureless in power. He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of people, hears and answers prayer, and saves all who come to Him by faith through Jesus Christ.
B. God, the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and man, and sinless in His life. We believe in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal visible return to the world according to His promise.
C. God, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity who came from God to convince the world of sin, righteousness and judgment and to regenerate all who believe in Jesus Christ. He indwells the believer and, by His present ministry, enables the Christian to live a godly life, different from that of the world.
III. We affirm our belief that all people, by nature and by choice, are perishing because of sin, but God offers His love to all people, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should repent. Yet those who reject Christ repudiate the joy of salvation and condemn themselves to eternal separation from God. Believers are called upon to proclaim Jesus as the only Savior and to invite all people to respond to Him as Savior and Lord in a wholehearted personal commitment of repentance and faith. Those who believe and confess Christ as Lord and Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and will rejoice forever in God’s presence.
IV. We affirm our belief in the spiritual unity of the Body of Christ universal, of which all regenerated people are members. A visible local church is a company of believers in Jesus Christ who have experienced a new birth effected through the truth by the agency of the Holy Spirit. Upon a credible confession of faith, these believers will be baptized and will associate themselves for worship, service, mission, and fellowship. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Communion) are commanded by our Lord as perpetual ordinances for believers.
V. We affirm our belief that the mission of the Church, for which it is uniquely equipped by the Holy Spirit, is to spread the good news of salvation to all people everywhere, and to testify of the reality and power of the Gospel by the holy life of its members, their genuine love for one another, their service to mankind everywhere, and their patient endurance of suffering.
THE FIVE SOLAS OF THE REFORMATION
I. THE REFORMATION
The Reformation officially started on Oct. 31, 1517 (this year will be the 492nd Anniversary) when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis to the Church Door in Wittenburg, Germany. This was basically a list of complaints about abuses of the church.
Example of Content – Thesis # 8 – The penitential canons apply only to men who are still alive, and, according to the canons themselves, none applies to the dead.
The Protestant Reformation is of vast importance in world history. Please note the top three events in the last 1,000 years.
# 1 event – Gutenburg prints the Bible – 1455
# 2 event – Christopher Columbus Discovers America – 1492
# 3 event — Reformation starts in 1517; M. Luther, # 3 of 100 top people
The Reformation period ended at the Peace of Westphalia (May 15 – Oct. 24, 1648) when Christians who were in specifically Christian countries were allowed to worship according to their denominational beliefs.
Social, Political, Economical, Educational Benefits of Reformation
Socially, it gave to the individual conscience unprecedented freedom from external constraint freedom to believe, to speak and to write. Politically, it led to the recognition of an essential equality among men and accordingly the creation of representative forms of governments. Economically, it led to free-market economics and gave to workers a new sense of dignity in their labors. Educationally, it gave impetus to universal literacy, as common people acquired the tools of literacy so that they might read the Bible for themselves. In a word, the reformation led to FREEDOM: The freedom of the individual conscience, freedom in the social order, and intellectual freedom. (An Evangelical and Reformed Faith, Terry Johnson)
QUESTION: What were the religious benefits we enjoy as a result of the Reformation?
The Reformation’s chief effects were religious. Do you enjoy congregational singing? Then thank the Reformers for reviving it. Do you prefer having the Bible read in the vernacular? Then thank Martin Luther and his German Bible for paving the way for a host of new translations of the Hebrew and Greek Scripture into the language of the people. Is your soul spiritually fed by preaching? Then thank the Reformers for restoring the preached Word to its central place in the life of the people of God. Do you think communion should be taken in both kinds? Then thank Martin Luther for instituting it. Do you believe in the ministry of the laity? Then thank the Reformers for emphasizing it. Do you know the answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved?” Then thank Martin Luther for rescuing the biblical answer to that question from the fog of superstitions by which it had been obscured for centuries. (An Evangelical and Reformed Faith, Terry Johnson)
READING: Many historians look back to the Reformation and wonder at its far-reaching influences in transforming culture. The work ethic, public education, civic and economic betterment, a revival of music, the arts, and a sense of all life being related somehow to God and his glory: These effects cause historians to observe with a sense of irony how a theology of sin and grace, the sovereignty of God over the helplessness of human beings, and an emphasis on salvation by grace apart from works, could be the catalyst for such energetic moral transformation. The reformers did not set out to launch a political or moral campaign, but they proved that when we put the Gospel first and give voice to the Word, the effects inevitably follow.
II. EVANGELICALS AND THE REFORMATION
QUESTION: When a non-Christian or a poorly informed Christian hears the word “evangelical” what words do you think comes to his mind? (Write answers on the flip-chart.)
The earliest members of the Reformation were called “evangelicals” and not “Protestants.” Between 1517-1529 proponents were “evangelicals.”
The word “evangelicals” comes from the word “evangel” which is simply “Gospel” or “good news.” Evangelicals are “Gospel people” who in summary hold to the five solas.
In many countries of the world the “Lutheran Church” is simply referred to as the “Evangelical Church.” This is true in areas of Europe.
In 1990 Carl F.H. Henry, the dean of American evangelicalism was disturbed that evangelicalism was increasingly being defined by its most recent trends rather than by its normative theological identity. (Michael Horton, The Web)
Today the light of the Reformation is not what it was in the past. It is very dim. The result is that the word “evangelical” has become an inclusive term and has almost lost its meaning. In the past an evangelical was one who held firmly to the five solas (five foundational principles of the Reformation and Christianity). Today most evangelicals could not list those solas.
READING: Only in the last decade of this century have many of Evangelicalism’s mainstream leaders considered the loss of an evangelical substance. No longer is the evangel the focus of the movement’s identity, but it is now known more by a sub-culture, a collection of political, moral and social causes, and an acute interest in rather exotic notions about the end-times. At a loss for words, one friend answered a man’s question, “Who are the evangelicals?” with the reply, “They’re people who like Billy Graham.” (Michael Horton, The Web)
It is at this point that those of us who are heirs to the Reformation–which bequeathed to evangelicalism a distinct theological identity that has been since lost–call attention once more to the solas (only or alone) that framed the entire sixteenth-century debate: “Only Scripture,” “Only Christ,” “Only Grace,” “Only Faith,” and “To God Alone Be Glory.” (Michael Horton, The Web)
III. INTRODUCTION TO THE FIVE SOLAS
“Sola” means “alone” or “only.” From the Latin term “Solus” which means alone. We get the words solitary, solitude, solace, solo, soloist, sole from the same Latin root.
Sola Scriptura (“by Scripture alone”)
Sola Fide (“by faith alone”)
Sola gratia (“by grace alone”)
Sola Christus or Solo Christo (“Christ alone” or “through Christ alone”)
Soli Deo Gloria (“glory to God alone”)
Salvation is by God’s grace alone, received through faith alone, because of Christ alone, based on the Scriptures alone, solely for the glory of God alone.
Missouri Synod Lutherans: We believe that sinners are justified (declared right with the Creator God) by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone on the basis of Scripture alone for the glory of God alone.
READING: Luther and his reformers had 5 main slogans, all using the word “SOLA,” which is the Latin word for “ALONE.” It was this word “ALONE” that designated the true biblical Gospel and set it apart from all other pretenders. The cry of these Reformers was not simply FAITH!, GRACE!, CHRIST!, THE SCRIPTURE!, or THE GLORY OF GOD! (All embracing a false Gospel could do that.) Instead, the cry was FAITH ALONE!, GRACE ALONE!, CHRIST ALONE!, SCRIPTURE ALONE!, THE GLORY OF GOD ALONE! With Scripture alone as the sure foundation, the Reformers affirmed that justification is by grace alone, received through faith alone because of Christ alone for the glory of God alone. (John Samson, The Web, The Reformation, Has the Spirit Moved On?)
These five phrases developed over time. The three earliest were sola gratia, sola fide, sola scriptura. You can find all five referred to in literature of the period.
It is unfortunate but many within the Protestant fold feel it is irrelevant to focus on the five solas. These are not mere historical novelties that are interesting milestones and beliefs from a former era. They are core Biblical concepts that are the bedrock of who we are as evangelicals and should be embraced with passion.
ILL: I was recently involved in a friendly discussion with a fellow Christian minister. I was talking about the doctrines that sparked the Protestant Reformation, when out of nowhere, it seemed, my minister friend said, “The Holy Spirit is not stuck in the 16th Century. He has moved on. Why don’t you?” (John Samson, The Web, The Reformation, Has the Spirit Moved On?)
SO WHAT???
1. False prophets are here with false teaching and we need to be alert and make judgment calls on both in order to protect the church.
2. We can easily spot false teaching on major doctrines; it is much more difficult to spot gaps in teaching and yet we must make sure the whole counsel of God is taught.
3. The Reformation is a key historical event still impacting all of our lives in that it returned us to Biblical Christianity.
4. Are we Biblical evangelicals or cultural evangelicals? Do the five solas of the Reformation define us or does the evangelical culture of our generation define us?