The Love of the Truth Abhors the 10 Great Heresies

How rapid has life changed in this year and a half? I can still remember, just like everyone else, going about doing their routine work and activities, and all of a sudden from the government, there was this mandate of a lockdown. And the next day we woke up, you couldn't use your automobile. You couldn't go to the stores. You looked at the streets, they were vacant. And to me, it was shocking. But it was a reminder how quickly life can change. How quickly things happen, and man is powerless to stop it. We think that in this modern society, we can control circumstances. And so it has been quite humbling to see, here we are about a year and a half into this COVID world, this tunnel that we went into, and we still haven't come out completely. And we don't know how long it's going to take. But it's a reminder who truly is in charge of things. Not man, but God. He wasn't blindsided by this. After all, He created everything, including the viruses. He knows intimately everything that goes on. He says that a little bird doesn't fall on the ground without Him knowing about it. He says He has all the stars in the universe with personal names. Not one of those is hidden from His view. And so we can appreciate very much how quickly things can happen. Could this be a sign, a warning of more things to follow that are going to shock the world? At least the world has been shocked by this COVID virus. This little virus has humbled society. Notice in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 that the Bible warns us how quickly things can spiral out of control. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 1, Paul says, and this is a prophecy, But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. It's going to be unexpected. A thief doesn't announce his coming. It's going to be secret. It's going to be sudden.

He says, for when they say, peace and safety, everything's okay in society. We've licked our problems. We've solved things. Peace and safety. Then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. Jesus Christ used that same analogy of a pregnant woman. When her labor pains really intensify, you know you can't prevent that. That baby is coming out. Whether you like it or not, you're going to go through the process. Now, most mothers, of course, have mixed feelings. They're a bit scared, but at the same time, they're anticipating. Beautiful baby coming out. And that's about the greatest experience a woman can have in this life. But it is a painful process. And so here, before Christ comes, it is going to be a painful process for mankind. Whether they want to accept it or not, this is already written ahead of time by God. It is going to happen, whether we believe it or not. He goes on to say, but you, brethren, are not in darkness. We're not in ignorance. Like the rest of the world, going about in ignorance of what has been prophesied, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. No, we are aware. We don't know exactly when God is going to act, but we are prepared for that eventuality.

You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of night, the night, nor of darkness. Yes, God has given us light in our lives. He has illuminated our lives with wonderful truths. He has revealed His will. And so we're not in darkness.

He says, going on, therefore, let us not sleep as others do, which means a person that just is careless, doesn't think anything's going to happen. He says, but let us watch and be sober. Take life seriously. This isn't a game. We should be aware how quickly things can happen. Verse 7, For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. Why? Because that way you can hide what you're doing a lot better.

People are sleeping. People are groggy. Verse 8, But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. In other words, we need to have our spiritual armor on every day. And we have to be awake. We have to be conscious of the times we are living in. Going on, he says, For God did not appoint us to wrath.

He doesn't want to punish us, along with the rest of the ignorant world, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. That whether we wake, if we're still living, or if we sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

That's one of the purposes of coming here. Every week, every seventh day, which God separated to be holy. So His people will be instructed, will be guided, have their noses in the Bible. See what's going on. Remain alert. And this is part of the purpose, to keep you connected, so we don't get scattered. We don't just be torn off into the current of society. What does God warn us, more than anything else? What does He tell us as times go on? Notice in 2 Thessalonians, just one book further, in chapters 2, verses 7 through 15, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

Verse 7, Paul is talking about also the corruption going on in the world's systems that was also affecting the church. The sons of light, the sons of darkness. There's always been that struggle, that battle. And he says, verse 7, for the mystery of lawlessness. There is a system which pretends to be godly, but teaches lawlessness. The breaking of God's holy laws is already at work. Satan doesn't sleep. He has his own false religions. And he has his counterfeit system so that people will not come to the knowledge of the truth.

He says, whom the Lord will consume. Going on, it says only that he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. We know God has angels. He restricts Satan right now to certain actions. Satan cannot go beyond God's permission. But there will be a time after Satan tries to take over God's throne for the last time. Because he knows time is short. When Christ comes back, Satan is going to be removed from all power and authority for a thousand years.

And so he's not giving up without a fight. And when he is cast down with his angels before Christ returns, it says there in Revelation 12. You can read it. Let's go to Revelation 12. I know this isn't in my notes, but it's good to cover it as well. Revelation 12. It says in verse 7, And war broke out in heaven. This is a spiritual realm. There are angels, fallen angels, in this world. And they influenced mankind. And now they're going to storm up. And Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. This is Satan. He's not, like I said, going to go down without a fight.

But they did not prevail. Satan did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So they will never go before the presence of God again. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan.

So here's a clear identity. This fallen angel, who deceives the whole world? He's still active. The world doesn't even know they're deceived, unfortunately. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. This, we consider, is a time when that restriction is removed from Satan, because it's described here. Nowhere else in Scripture is there a moment in time when the shackles are off, when the restrictions have been removed from Satan.

And it says, Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens!

Those angels are up in heaven. They're going to be happy. They're in heaven and not here on the earth. And you dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.

And it's described later, chapter 13, that he has a three and a half year period, which is called the Great Tribulation. And God's people are going to have to be protected miraculously, or they would all perish. There wouldn't be one person keeping the Sabbath, that has God's Spirit that would be alive. So God is going to have to intervene. Notice in 1 John, chapter 2, again, what does God warn us about? More than anything else. And we need to be aware of 1 John, chapter 2, verses 3 through 6.

Here's the warning.

Did I say it's 1 John?

Yes, 2, verse 3. It says, Now, by this we know that we know him. A lot of people say, I know Jesus. I've accepted Jesus. I follow Jesus. Okay. That's your statement. That's your belief. You are entitled to it. But here's the litmus test. Here's the Biblical test to see if you truly are following him or not. And he says, Now, by this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. Talking about God's holy commandments. Now, Christ expanded the Ten Commandments, and he gave it that spirit of love that we should carry it out. But in a sense, he didn't add. We don't have an 11th, 12th, 13th commandment, because God is love, and his commandments are love. But he did add that we should love each other, as he loved us. But in that sense, that encapsulates that includes the Ten Commandments in the spirit and the letter. Let's go on. It says in verse 4, He who says, I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. So if a person is keeping God's commandments in the spirit and the letter, as Christ taught, yes, accept him. But if a person is breaking God's commandments, that person, although could be deceived, the Bible says is a liar. He's not telling you the truth. It goes on to say, verse 5, But whoever keeps his word, talking about the word of God, with the commandments included, truly the love of God is perfected in him. Because we know that we are in him. Why? Because even at that time, there was a movement toward disparaging the commandments. There was a movement, a foot, called the Antinomian movement. Anti means against. Nomiant means God's laws. There was already a movement to water down God's laws. Oh, now we're living by grace. Oh, we don't have to keep that awful law. We don't have to keep any of those things now. Now we're living in grace, and we've got our church. It'll tell us what to do and what to follow. And at that time, John was already warning people about this. And then he says, the actions will tell you who is truthful. He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. And so, what did Jesus do? Typical, traditional Christianity is not doing the things that Jesus said were necessary to observe. And so, we have to define now what is truth and what is heresy in the Bible. So, the purpose that I'm going to be giving this series, which already was mentioned, the love of the truth abhors the ten great heresies. Because it's not a matter of, well, you keep what you feel is correct, and I will keep what I feel is correct, and we all love Jesus. And, well, we've got to keep different days that we keep, but one day is the same as the other. No skin off of my nose, whatever you do. Let's just all tolerate each other. That's so typical. But we're going to see. That's what the apostles were warning the brethren. Be careful with that type of attitude to change what the commandments of God are telling us to do.

Now, we will see what they are, the ten great heresies, and how to avoid believing in them, truly abhorring them. Now, there are very few things that you should abhor in this life. Abhor means hate, detest. You shouldn't abhor people. That's part of what we're going to see. But we should abhor the sin, or the breaking of God's laws, and creating false teachings. That we should hate. That we should not tolerate. And unfortunately, in this society, maybe we love the truth, but how about the falsehoods?

Do we really detest them? Or we just think, no, that's okay. It's not such a big thing as some do. Notice now, because God does abhor certain things, and he loves certain things. Notice in Romans 12, this is one of the places we use that word, abhor, which means detest, or hate. Romans 12, verse 9, it says, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Now, evil is a term that has to do with wrong actions according to the Bible.

Everything that goes against what the Bible teaches is right, is evil. That's why at the beginning you had the tree of the knowledge of the good and evil. And when Adam and Eve took of it, then they were going to decide what to choose. Either God's way or Satan's way.

It's either God's laws or Satan's laws and his wrong ways. Notice another scripture in Hebrews chapter 1. Why is Jesus Christ so honored and admired? Because he hated evil! But he loved good.

Notice Hebrews 1, verse 9. It's a description of what Jesus Christ fulfilled. He says, You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, the breaking of God's laws. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. So, yes, he was honored because he just wasn't tolerant. No, he hated wrong things. Now, he didn't hate the people committing them, but the deeds were the things that he hated.

That's why it is correct that we should love the sinner, but hate the sin. Not tolerate the breaking of God's laws. Notice in Jude, the epistle of Jude toward the end of the Bible, Jude also warns about how God's laws were attacked. They would be mitigated and tried to be eliminated.

In Jude, verse 3, he says, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered by God. So, that was a body of beliefs that was given at that time. And although society moves forward, changes a lot of their customs and changes, progresses in some things, regresses in others. But God's basic belief system was given at this time through the apostles.

And we can find that in the New Testament, buttressed by the Old Testament. And he says, contend, which means to fight the good fight. Notice in my introduction to this book, you might have the same thing in your Bible, but here's what the author said. Fight, contend, do battle. When apostasy rises, when false teachers emerge, when the truth of God is attacked, it is time to fight for the faith.

That's what Jude was talking about. He goes on to say, For certain men have crept in. This is verse 4. Unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turned the grace of our God into lewdness.

Other translations like sensuousness. And deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he goes on to say in verse 20, Some have compassion, making a distinction, but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment, defiled by the flesh. So again, you love the sinner, you want to help him, but be careful with the sins.

Don't participate. Don't yield to them. That's what he's talking about. And then a little bit further, the next book over is the book of Revelation 2, verses 4 and 6. Jesus Christ is speaking here, and he shows there are certain things he hates. He detests. In Revelation 2, verses 4-6, he says to this church, the Ephesian church, Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love, that first love of the truth, and made you want to sacrifice whatever it took to be able to be part of the church, to receive these wonderful truths, to come on the Sabbaths, celebrate the Holy Days.

That love of the truth, that was the most important thing. I know here we could hear every story of what people had to give up to be in this church. It wasn't easy. Some had to give up jobs because they were breaking the Sabbath day, including me. I had a job at a hospital where my dad worked as a doctor. I was an orderly. So after school, 3 to 11, there I was, 8 hours a day.

I left school, got to the hospital, carried bedpans around, take care of older people, do whatever it was. I was making money, I was happy, and all of a sudden, the Sabbath. So I told the people in charge I couldn't work from Friday evening to Saturday evening. They tolerated it for a while. But I started putting God's truths into action, just like everyone here has had to do, sooner or later. Notice what Christ said here. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolations, which I also hate. So you see, Christ does. He hates these Nicolations, or the Antinomians of their days. They were starting to water down God's laws, started changing things, turning grace into licentiousness, that, well, now we can decide what to do instead of looking at God's Word, what we can do. And notice, it doesn't say Christ hates the Nicolations, because he loves people, even if they're wrong.

He hates what? The deeds of the Nicolations. The works. That's what we have to avoid. So, let's begin by asking, what is the truth in the Bible? If you go to a philosophy class, they'll cover what is truth, and they'll have Heinz 56 sauces. Well, this philosopher believes truth is this, and others believe it's this, and finally, it's just such a hodgepodge of things that you're so confused.

Are you going to follow Kierkegaard? Are you going to follow Heidegger? Are you going to follow Kant? Are you going to follow Kant? Whatever. All of these philosophers. Each one has their sauce of what the truth is. But it's human reasoning. And look at the society it has brought on. Now it's called relativism. Everything depends on your own opinion about this. But what is truth according to God? Let's look in the Old Testament first. Psalm 119.142. Remember, all the Bible is inspired by God. It has his stamp of approval. Psalm 119.142.

It says, Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. God's not going to ever change. And your law is truth. That's what we are to follow. That's what we are not to question. Coming up with our own opinions of truth. Notice what it says in verse 151. You are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are truth. Notice in verse 172. My tongue shall speak of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness. Want to know what righteousness is described in the Bible? Keeping God's commandments in the Spirit and in the letter as Jesus Christ did. He never sinned once.

And then in the New Testament, what is the definition of truth in the New Testament? John 17 verse 17. John 17 verse 17. Jesus said, Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Here. This is revealed truth. There is no such truth that has to do with our spiritual lives that is outside the Bible. Now, we can read a lot of things that are very helpful, tools, but they are not at the same level as the Scriptures. The Scriptures reveal God's truth. And now, let's look at the other side of the coin. What is heresy according to the Bible? We know what truth is. It's God's word. What is heresy? He comes from a Greek word. Where our word heresy comes from? It's heresis. Heresis. With the accent on the I. Heresis. And from J.D. Watson, a word for the day, key words from the New Testament. He says, heresy is a choice. A deliberate decision to, quote, seize upon a particular teaching that is not orthodox or biblical. In other words, it's your pet theory. Yes, you're convinced this is the truth. It's not what the church teaches. It's not what has been taught, what we have studied. Now you have your own pet truth. And so you're going to follow it. You don't care what's going to happen. But now you have chosen to go against the biblical teaching. We have 20 fundamental beliefs that we have gotten from the Bible that are clear as a bell. And that's what we subscribe to. We don't subscribe to a man, whoever he is, that is supposed to be there teaching and adding. No, this is from the Bible itself. This is the faith once given to the saints. He goes on to mention, for example, in Acts 5, 17, we have a heretical sect. It mentions the sect heresis of the Sadducees. And what was the heresy of the Sadducees? This was a Jewish group. It included a lot of the priests, a lot of the rich people. They had a heresy. They had chosen a particular belief that was contrary to the Scriptures, and that was they denied the doctrine of the resurrection. You can read it there in the book of Acts. They just didn't believe that there was going to be a future life. And they went through all of the actions, and yes, they would go to the temple, but they were heretics in that sense. They were teaching lies to the people, and Christ confronted them, the Sadducees. And he told the Pharisees, you can read that there in Matthew 20-22, you can read where he faces the Sadducees, and they were trying to convince him that there is no future resurrection. And Christ just said to them, don't you know that Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac were the fathers of which the promises were given, and that God is not a God of people that perish, and you never hear anymore. He says he's the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac. He is the God of the living, because these men are going to have a future life. They have not perished forever. But that's an example of a wrong teaching. Let's turn to 2 Peter 2, because here Peter uses the term heresies in a very strong way. Notice 2 Peter 2, verses 1-3.

Because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. So one of the ways that describes our system of beliefs is the way of truth. It will be blasphemed. And how do they do it? By covetousness, they will exploit you with deceptive words. For a long time, their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slump. God's going to eventually punish them.

But in the meantime, they do a lot of damage in the Church. When a person chooses on their own, I'm not going to follow the teachings and foundational principles. No, I've got this pet theory. And they are going to be as stubborn as, even if it's speculative, even if it's not very convincing. Once they get their mind set on it, it's like one of those traps.

It just springs and just shuts, tight as possible. In my years in the ministry, I've had to deal with people that you love, but then they get into this wrong ideas about something, and they just will not give in. No matter how many ways you explain how it doesn't make sense, it doesn't fit, they've already chosen it.

And most of them will die with it. So, this is the danger that we have. In this book that I mentioned about a word for the day, key words from the New Testament, he says one example of heresy is the use of images in church history. This is throughout church history. Here's how one of those heresies was introduced, that is followed now, popularly.

While any use whatsoever of images was never used by the early church, because God forbid it, they slowly came into use through emblems, such as the dove, the fish, an anchor, a vine, and a lamb. Gradually, this increased through paintings, sculptures, and jewelry that depicted biblical events, items, saints, martyrs, and even Christ himself. You see, you start off with just, well, let's have a nice portrait of Jesus, of course, according to a person's imagination.

But that is making an image of something that is in heaven. Jesus is a person. He's in heaven. God is an invisible God. He doesn't want us to have images before us. Again, how many of us have had to do sacrifices? I know you've heard mine about one of the few things that we were able to bring from Cuba, because we lost everything there.

But one thing was a big crucifix made out of silver that had gotten from my school. And so I put it on my wall. My mother said, this will protect you from evil and all of these things. And then I came into the church, and I read the booklet, which is there, the Ten Commandments. And I read the Second Commandments. It says, you shall not make images of anything up in heaven. You shall not bow down to them. You shall not use them. So I went over, took it out, opened the window, and threw it out into the forest as far as I could. I don't want images. The knowledge of the truth changes you, because you start thinking, that's God.

That represents God. No. I go up to heaven when I want to see and talk to God. And so he goes on to say in this book, the spirit of, quote, tolerance in the church today is also heretical, because God commands that we discern truth from error and strongly condemn false teaching in no uncertain terms. And so here, oh, let's not hurt anybody's feelings. And, well, we just go along and don't do anything.

Truth is truth. People have a right, whatever they do. But when they get into our lives, we can't tolerate that type of wrong teaching. So to begin with, the first great heresy. Which is it?

It's one of the Big Ten. It's the fourth commandment. It's changing the Sabbath day to Sunday. That is the major heresy of our times. When Satan was able to make that coup, boy, you talk about DV80. From the seventh day, which is holy, to the first day, now you transfer to what? The holiness? From the seventh day to the first day? The Sabbath, the seventh day keeping, was given at the time of right after the creation of Adam and Eve. Notice Genesis 2. Go to Genesis 2.

In verse 2, it says, On the seventh day God ended his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Which means set it apart for holy use. Because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. So this is one of the creation ordinances or laws. This didn't have to do with the Jewish people. The Jewish people didn't exist for thousands of years after this commandment was given. This was given to Adam and Eve. It wasn't given to any Jew. It was established by God. Notice in Mark 2.

Christ said this is a creation ordinance and law. Verse 27. And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So what did God do first? He made Adam and Eve. What did he do next? He created the Sabbath for them as a way of reminding them of what he had created. Of being the creator and honoring God on that seventh day. It's sanctified. Can man sanctify something? Make holy? No. I don't care what title you have. No man can establish something that is holy. Only God can do it. And what else did he say? Here in Mark 2 verse 27, verse 28. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. He is the Master of it. He was there as a pre-existent Christ. He was the one there with Adam and Eve. And he set it apart. So of course, he is the Lord of the Sabbath.

Below God the Father, who gives instructions. But it was Christ in his pre-existent form that was there. And it was the Catholic Church that admits it was the one that changed from the Sabbath to Sunday. A famous Cardinal, Cardinal Gibbon, in his book Faith of Our Fathers wrote the following. You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctified. See, we never sanctified. Like man is the one that sanctifies Sunday. My friend, you don't have the power to sanctify. God already did it. And no matter what your position is, you can't sanctify the day of the Sunday. So, I have more to give to you, but next time we will continue with this first great heresy. Because God knows how important it is to keep it. It is a sign between us and God. And so, we will continue. God willing. I won't be here. I plan to go to Boise again. We are doing a summer, helping Natalia with the kids. But hopefully the following Sabbath, we will continue with this series.