5th Sunday of Easter May
3, 2015
1 John 4:1-11 Why
You Can Believe Your Pastor
Dear fellow redeemed,
It’s not a matter of putting the best construction on things.If you don’t trust the police to
begin with, you’re not going to believe what they’re saying to the
public.
* Back on April 12th
Freddie Gray was arrested after he ran from police.
At some point,
either before or after officers loaded him into a police van, Freddie
suffered a severe spinal injury.A week later he died, and authorities have
not yet
explained how or when his spine was injured.
* What we know is this: a prisoner who was in the same police
van with Freddie told
investigators that he could hear him banging against the walls of
the vehicle and believed
that he was intentionally trying to injure himself.
We
also know that police have reported that Freddie did in fact injure himself in
the van.
*But the question which remains is, did Freddie suffer
self-inflicted injuries which led
to his death, or did this prisoner who shared the same vehicle
with him receive a deal for his
testimony?Evidently he was
still looking at several years of prison.
*Will the case be made in the end why the community can
believe the police?
Well, this morning we’d
like to make a different case; Why You Can Believe Your Pastor.
*If he’s preaching the truth concerning Jesus Christ, yes
you can believe him.
It
always comes down to God’s Word.
*Last Sunday you’ll remember we spoke of the pastor’s
obligation.
As as a shepherd he is to both feed and defend the flock
by telling them how the Good
Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep.
* Today we speak of the believer’s obligation.You are to be discerning.
You don’t feed on everything that’s placed before you, or
believe everything you’re told.
You don’t assume, just because someone has the title
pastor that he’s indeed
preaching God’s Word and is interested in defending you from the
wolves.
*Beloved, St. John writes, do not
believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God.
*You can’t believe
everything a preacher preaches St. John is telling us.
Determine for
yourself whether hes a true preacher of God and deserving of his title.
Test him!
Of course, there are tests, and then there are tests.
*Many want a
certain preacher to pass no matter what, so they design the test just for him.
1They
test him, for example, by how popular he becomes in the community.
Is he well-liked by those both inside and outside of the
congregation.
2 Or
they test him by judging whether hes full of life.
Are people sitting at the edge of their seat and never
falling asleep?
3 Or
people test the preacher on the basis of their offerings, or whether people
pouring into
the pews.
But in today’s text St. John doesnt comment on any of this.
* As to whether you can believe the pastor and trust that he
really speaks for God,
the apostle mentions only one element.
*After mentioning
that many false prophets have gone out into the world, John explains
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh is from God.
*Does
the preacher preach that Jesus, who is God, took on our human flesh so that he
might
become our
substitute?
If that sounds pretty basic, we need to ask who’s failed in this
regard.
* Are we simply
talking about those who deny the incarnation; that Jesus is the Son God,
and that as the
God-Man he died for us and rescued us from sin?
* In a matter of
speaking we are.
But keep in mind
that every one of Christ’s teachings relates to the fact that our God in
the flesh died for our sins. And there are many different
ways a preacher may deny this.
Lets mention just three.
* In the first place
there are those who maintain that Christ did not do many of the things
that are attributed to him in Scripture.
* Some of you may
remember the walk out staged by the majority of the St. Louis
seminary faculty back in 1974.It was precipitated by the suspension of the
campus
president who was found guilty of teaching false doctrine
in his seminary classes.
* Most of the
faculty protested his suspension, many would argue, because they were guilty
of teaching the same thing.
*Long story short: with the exception of my father and a few
others, the faculty would not teach
what John identifies as the necessary mark
of a true teacher of God’s Word.
Instead of teaching what Jesus did, they taught what
Jesus presumably did not do.
1) Jesus
did not die for our sin, many claimed. He simply died to provide a
loving example.
2) Many
of them denied Christ’s statements in the Gospels as being historical, claiming
they
were added after Christ’s death or that they developed over time.
3) Concerning many of the miracles the New Testament ascribes to
Christ, a number of the
professors declared its very doubtful he did any of them.
4) Some of them even denied the virgin birth; the incarnation,
that the Holy Spirit caused
the Son of God to take on human flesh in the womb of the
Virgin Mary.
* So, yes even the
Missouri Synod has its history with false prophets.
We should know, however, that the false prophet isn’t always so
cooperative in helping us identify him.
Jesus remarks of false prophets that They
come to you in sheeps clothing (Matthew
7).
* The next type of
false prophet, we should know, can quote Scripture as well as any
Lutheran.Theyll
say on paper that Jesus has come in the flesh.
In their pamphlets and
brochures theyll agree with us.
* Theyll answer
yes to our face if we ask them whether Jesus died for our sins and
whether hes the Savior of the world.
* But are they
preaching Christ?
If we dont know
what it means that Christ has come
in the flesh, false prophets can be
quite persuasive, and there may be no way to tell them
from the real thing.
* I speak of those
who preach man rather than Christ.They
teach that we get closer to
God and become confident of the afterlife as a result of
our personal efforts.
* It’s something all
Christians should note: Every false prophet makes the same claim:
We gain God’s
approval by what we do.
Of course, if weve been well indoctrinated we may have no
difficulty recognizing those who
preach works.And wed like
others to know, youre not going to snow me with your lies!
* I’m reminded of the con game that goes on through emailing,
and I’ve received a number
of them over the years.
1)
One was entitled,
Pre-approved Loan amount: 15 hundred dollars. Our loans have
helped thousands get
their finances caught up. We are ready to help you today.
2)
Another one speaks of my
having an outstanding invoice from FedEx that is ready for
paying. To pay, please
sign in . . . by clicking on this link.
3)
Another communicated that
my tax payment recently sent from my bank account was
returned by my financial
institution. By checking out the details below presumably I can
pay it again.
4)
Or how about this one?
After many attempts to reach you on the phone, I deemed it urgent
to contact you via your
e-mail and notify you about your outstanding compensation
payment of 2,811,041.00
dollars.For more information, contact
the agent, listed below.
Phonies posing as the real thing:It serves as a pretty good definition of a
false prophet.
*And they’re not
always so difficult to identify. They may come dressed in sheeps clothing,
but the discerning believer
can spot them a mile away.
* Other times,
however, it can prove more challenging determining whether you should
believe the preacher. In our final example, spotting the
false prophet is recognized not so
much by that he is saying as by what he’s not
saying.
* Recall the words
of John: Every spirit that does not
confess Jesus is not from God.
Thats pretty straight forward.Hes telling us if someone isnt preaching
the Gospel,
theyre not from God.
Theyre a false prophet!
* Were talking
about preachers who may be quite good at preaching about love but they
neverdefine it
properly. Love is thought of as our human capacity to set aside all our
prejudices and to accept those who are different than we
are.
Or love is seen as
completing this exhaustive catalog of good deeds.
* In any given case,
the pastor’s job, it would seem, is to help his parishioners tap into this
love which can often remain buried or dormant in someone.
* The problem with
this love is that it has nothing to do with Christ who shed his blood on
the cross for us.
We may think of many preachers today with their endless how to
lists.
* Their big
interest, clearly, is not to preach the Gospel so that this Gospel can work on
someone. Instead, they’ll use a secular strategy in order
to help people act Christian and
claim that the results are what count.
* Now, certainly,
teaching people how to behave has its place.
But is it the bottom
line?!After all, anyone can act like a
Christian!
*However, the only
time that a person can truly love God is if his heart has been changed
by the Gospel; the message which consists of Gods
love.
In this is love John informs us: not
that we have loved God, but that he loved us and
sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
*Sooner or later we
must ask of every preacher: Is he preaching the Gospel?
If not, his
message is worthless and we should regard him as a false prophet.
The Bibles definition of love is so simple and easy to
understand.
* Greater love has no one
than this, Jesus says, (John 15) that
someone lays down his
life for his friends. Thats the Gospel and the
message we crave.
* That Jesus lay down his life for us, you see, is the message
which causes us to trust in
him for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.
* Its the message
which encourages us to get up on Sunday morning and travel to this
church to listen to God and his Word.
* Greater love has
no one than this; that God comes in the flesh.
He sheds his blood for us and then he gives us the means by which
we can believe the
preacher and know that hes giving us Gods truth.
* So just go ahead
and ask the question: What about my pastor?
1 When he tells me that God became a man so that he might
take my place in life and
death shall I
believe him?
2 Shall I believe him that when I come to the altar I will
receive Gods body and blood for
the forgiveness of my sins?
3 Shall I believe him when he tells me that even as sinners
we can love one another, just
as surely as he first loved us?
* Yes you may, so
long as your pastor preaches Christ without hesitation.
But isn’t trust something that is earned? you may finally ask.
* We’re already
entering the campaign season, when various candidates are announcing
their intention to run as president.
* And we can pretty
well predict what many of them will tell us.
You want to know
why you can believe my promises?Check
my record.
* But that’s not how
the Christian pastor receives people’s trust.
You and I know
very well that trust in Christ’s teaching is not earned.It’s a gift.
And I need to remember that just as much as you, for I’m
just as much of a sinner as
you are.
* And that’s why
I’ll never point you to my record but Christ’s.
You may believe
I’m doing my job, but it’s Christ in whom you trust for your salvation.
Having said that: every one of you here at Triune God should know
something.
* If you, for
whatever reason, you should wish to ask me what I believe, you have my
full cooperation and blessing.If you ever hear something which doesnt
quite make
sense, please ask
me about it.Maybe I could have said it
more clearly.
* If its during
Bible Class, of course, you can ask me right there.
Or come to my office to
visit with me about something Ive said.
* Im not a politician, but I will make you this promise: with
Gods guidance I will preach
Christ and every single one of his teachings.
* Yes. This is why You Can Believe Your Pastor; by my
confession: Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh. Amen.
May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
