In the following 12-minute video, John MacArthur identifies the lies that move us forward in life.
Before one is born again, these lies are a ‘given,’ and we move forward in life according the path in which they move us.
Furthermore, it seems that these lies are the snares a Christian begins to become aware of in his struggle to deny himself, pick up his cross and follow Jesus.
Video Highlights:
- These lies engulf our society and have eternal consequences
- Church is supposed to be the pillar and ground of truth [God’s word is truth and enables one to see such lies
- THE LIES –which work together in the worldly system of our culture
- LIFE IS RANDOM: …we don’t have to answer to anyone
- TRUTH IS RELATIVE: since there is no one in charge, no law giver, no judge, no one to answer to, no one whose will dominates…; therefore, truth is what you what you want it to be, what we vote in…
- MAN IS BASICALLY GOOD: if we act badly, it is because of our circumstances, abuse… influences outside of us caused by someone else
- [In other sermons, Dr. MacArthur has mentioned Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s words: “Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains” as a source of such erroneous thinking; erroneous per the Bible. Rousseau influenced the Age of Enlightenment; born 1712, died 1778]
- [Also, because I worked with abused youth for a long time, I am certain that parental abuse can cause a child to violently act out… greatly influencing the course of their lives; in such situations, an onlooker would say that someone has been responsible for the harm of that victim’s life. So what he said would be difficult to assess in such cases. But if a child had a life wherein he was cared for by parents, went to church, was encouraged and loved… what MacArthur said could be seen more easily; it is in accordance with the biblical doctrine of depravity]
- Since no one is in charge; since truth is what we decide it is, per our own mood and desires; since we’re basically good, the 4th lie is
- THE HIGHTEST VIRTUE IS TOLERANCE: we need to be left alone to do whatever we like…; unity and peace can only come via complete tolerance…
- LIFE REALLY CONSISTS OF WHAT YOU POSSESS, ACQUIRE, OWN: not just houses, cars, fashion; but achievements of all sorts – we are taught to chase these. That starts when 5-year-olds receive trophies for playing soccer, they’re taught to chase recognition…; it becomes about what one can bring to himself to define himself…
- THE GOAL OF LIFE IS PERSONAL SATISFACTION: many even give to charities because it makes them feel good about themselves…
- YOU CAN BECOME ANYTHING YOU WANT TO BECOME: you can change if you don’t like your life, the power is within you; some believe that the only good that exists is that within themselves… (the truth is otherwise)
- DEATH IS A PLEASANT TRANSITION, DON’T WORRY ABOUT DEATH: you’ll just go down the tunnel and into the light of love…
- THE TRUTH IS AS FOLLOWS: life is not random, there is a God, the Creator, the Sustainer and He is the Judge; He is in absolute control of everything that happens in His world; all things happen within the framework of His will, by His power, for His purpose – that God is revealed on the pages of scripture
- TRUTH IS ABSOLUTE: Examples given that indicate that the physical, and spiritual/moral realms function on absolute laws; that indicate that truth does not reside inside you or any human, but it exists externally, in the Bible, in the words of God, as established by God
- Time and eternity are described on the pages of scripture
- MAN IS BASICALLY BAD AND ALIENATED FROM GOD, SINFUL, MOTIVATED BY EVIL DESIRES, SELFISHNESS, PRIDE
- THE NOBLEST VIRTUE IS NOT TOLERANCE, IT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS: doing what is right before God and man
- THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE IS WHAT YOU BELIEVE, NOT WHAT YOU POSSESS: what you possess will not take you to God or to heaven; bring you forgiveness of sin or salvation
- ONLY IN BELIEVING IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WILL YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE
- THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO GLORIFY GOD, NOT TO EXPERIENCE PERSONAL SATISFACTION: the chief blessing is to honor God, only then can you enjoy life to the max
- DEATH IS NOT PLEASANT FOR MOST, BUT A HORRIBLE DESCENDING INTO JUDGMENT
- GOD CAN CHANGE YOU AND MAKE YOU INTO A NEW CREATION VIA FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
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©John MacArthur messages and sermons
mosckerr, thank you for commenting on my post; however, I am not going to post your comment because of its length and depth. I am not familiar with any tradition or scholar you referred to, and the length of your comment must have contributed to my not even being able to ascertain specifically what you were saying in reference to the my post on MacArthur’s sermon excerpt (I read it twice). I did not agree with your statement about Paul being a “self declared agent of God” because I’m a student of the Bible and believe it. Acts 9 talks about Paul’s conversion and his mission being given him by the risen Christ: he was Christ appointed therefore. Your comment was on a very scholarly level, and although I have studied a lot of religious traditions, I never studied them as I have studied the Bible, having read through it a couple dozen times, memorized and studied numerous portions in depth. With all that, I have barely scratched the surface; and I am not as familiar with it as you are with all those other systems. I would recommend that you take up the Bible and become as acquainted with it as you are with the systems you spoke of in your comment. But I have to say that in my studies, I have come to understand, from the Bible and good Bible teachers, that the Holy Spirit teaches one the Bible as that person reads and considers it’s text. One cannot acquire a saving knowledge of it via his intellect, will… but through prayerful reading and submission to its commands. Respectfully, Michael A
Michael A, greetings.
A Sanhedrin court does not have jurisdiction to judge a Capital Crimes case outside of the borders of Judea. A damages torts court could never have judged Paul for the Capital Crime of avoda zarah.
Furthermore, the Torah mandates four types of death penalty: stoning, sword/beheading, burning/pouring molten lead down the throat of the convicted criminal, and strangulation.
Stoning the most sever because it mutilates the body of the criminal the worst. A mob did not gather stones and “stone” the convicted criminal under Jewish law. A 3 storey high scaffold, built specifically for the purpose of carrying out a Sanhedrin court ruling of stoning. The criminal stripped of all clothing, taken to the top of the scaffold, bound, and pushed off face forward unto a jagged boulder behold. The body upon impact literally disintegrated.
The Talmud teaches that no man ever survived the initial fall. Which would otherwise require the 2 main witnesses to place a heavy stone upon the criminal’s heart till he died.
The Book of Acts describes a stoning completely different and outside of Jewish law! Paul walked away on his own power. This strongly indicates/suggests that the stoning of Paul served as a ruse whereby Paul could now infiltrate and undermine the heretical false messiah movement.
Paul as an agent provocateur fits right into a standard Jewish military approach which puts the enemy on his back feet. Judah Maccabee did a similar action against the Syrian Greeks prior to the imaginary birth of Je-Zeus.
Regards and good health
Moshe Kerr
The church throughout its entire history has denied the Oral Torah. In the article you refused to publish I clearly show/proved that the 5th Book of the Torah exists as the Oral Torah which the church has for ever denied. Paul failed to distinguish between the differences between Jewish common law and Roman statute law.
Dear Moshe Kerr, I just took another look at your comments and decided to approve this one. I need to say again, that I am a student of the Bible and an 71 now, having studied it for the past 18 years, at least a couple of dozen complete reads…, and I also studied, in not that much depth, numerous other religions. Judaism is not a religion I have studied, except for the Biblical Old Testament. I am totally unfamiliar with the Oral Torah, and other Jewish writ not in the OT. I am guessing that most of my readers have not read through the Bible, as statistics say that a very small percentage of Christian have done so. Therefore, your comments would be meaningless to them. They fly over my head because of the aforementioned. It seems that you are saying that the Bible, Old and New Testaments are founded on false premises, doctrines, beliefs…. I will not live sufficiently long to know that, nor do I have the type of intellect to challenge you by way of assessing your system and discussing it in terms of the Bible. In closing, I would like to say that Protestant theologians say that God wrote the Bible via the Holy Spirit inspiring men to communicate His truth to them, that a clear way of salvation might be known. Peter comments on that in his second epistle, chapter 3, that SOME of Paul’s writings are hard to understand, implying that most are not. Theologians describe the scripture as being perspicuous, as God wants people to know His way of salvation. However, even though the NT clearly presents the way of salvation, entering into it and walking by faith, is no easy matter, as we all want to do something to be saved. So the gate by which one enters and the way are described as narrow, because they are via faith, not works. and they require self-abasement. I have read and studied the scriptures much and am floundering because I still turn to some idols.
I shouldn’t have wasted your time by going there. But I guess I had to say that the Gnostics of the apostle John’s day, preached a way that required secret knowledge; and Paul strove against the Judaizers, who taught that one had to become a Jew before he could be saved… but the Bible proclaims Christ crucified. That He is the way and one must cast aside all else to be able to savingly follow Him…. I have studied enough religions to find rest in that, which I have not yet accomplished, as the Holy Spirit / word reveal to me that I have still not cast away reliance on things other than Christ, self for example.
A good new week to ya Michael A. Torah have has nothing to do with the foreign notion of “getting saved”. Israel came out of Egyptian bondage, to conquer the oath sworn lands and rule Canaan with righteous judical common law justice. That’s it, the Torah told while standing on one foot.
The theology of Christ crucified, a notion that the Torah commands buring a barbeque to heaven. How revolting. The concept of Torah sacrifices, employs the dedication of animal living blood, poured upon the altar as a metaphor and only as a metaphor. The point of the altar, for Israelites to swear a Torah oath alliance with one another.
For over 2000 years Jews have attempted to inform Xtians that Jesus existed as a Greek/Roman myth imaginary false messiah. That the common law legal system of the Torah stands upon legal precedents. So when the prophet Shmuel/Samuel anointed David messiah, what Torah precedent did Shmuel/Samuel rely upon from the Torah? Answer: Shmuel/Samuel relied upon Moshe anointing his elder Brother Aaron Moshiach!
The interpretation made by Shmuel/Samuel any person can accomplish this mitzva. Shmuel/Samuel first annoited Shaul/Saul of the tribe of Binyomin as moshiach. Only later did he anoint David of the tribe of Yechuda as moshiach. Any and all Jews have the Torah obligation to obey the Moshiach Torah commandment!
mosckerr, Forgive me for the delayed response, I wasn’t sure what to say, as I believe in the Christian Bible and it claims to have begun at creation…. In the past few days, I listened to the following broadcast and highly recommend it to you: The Negation of the Real | Dr. James Lindsay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0M7tE3T42w&list=LL&index=1
It mostly went over my head, as Lindsay is brilliant and deep. In the presentation, he was explaining the mystery cults, gnostic cults…, how they manifest, disappear when they are recognized and come back in a different form. In the process, his presentation was sprinkled with descriptions of gnosticism, which is what your beliefs appear to be in my opinion. Yet I am not so bright or informed that I can say that with certainty. I hope you will spend 2 hours to hear what Lindsay has to say and maybe look into other videos by him regarding this new explanation of what is happening in our society today. Sorry if I have offended you, wasn’t aiming to do that. I just don’t understand where you are coming from and am seeking to make sense of that. Michael A
Greetings Michael A. Where am I coming from? Am an Israeli who views Torah faith as the legal judicial pursuit of Justice. That’s the whole story.
Thank you for that succinct answer. Do you pursue justice between yourself and God; or between individuals in this life? One more question if you don’t mind. What of salvation and the afterlife? And a related question, what do you do about sin? Michael A
Man cannot judge the Gods. Justice: fair restitution for damages inflicted whether accidental or on purpose applies strictly between Man and Man.
Justice asks no questions of salvation from sin and afterlife. These question plague Xtianity not Jews. The Pauline doctrine of ‘original sin’ means nothing to Jews. The exile of Adam from the garden, this theme plays throughout our history as a people. Guilt trips about sin, what a waste of time.
regards,
Moshe
God established a covenant with Adam, unilaterally. Adam was responsible to keep one law, he failed and was exiled from the garden. Original sin goes back to Adam’s descendants, not to Paul. It began with Cain and Abel to date. The entire Bible, including the Torah, is about God’s program of redemption of a people for Himself. Types or pictures of redemption can be seen in the Ark, the Passover, the exodus from Egypt, and the sacrificial system in Leviticus. Those are pictures of salvation from sin by a Savior. Paul was given revelation to write his epistles, those did not come solely from his mind…. God is just; He sent His Son to die for those whom He planned to redeem. Because He punished Christ, His justice was served and He can thereafter have mercy…. The covenants God made with Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses are in the Torah. They are unilateral covenants, man cannot give anything to God, but God bound man in covenant; bound him to obedience. Man owes God. God gave revelation to Adam, Moses, the prophets, and the apostles. The New covenant in the blood of Christ was predicted by both Jeremiah and Ezekiel…. Considering all those points, I am not clear on how you can claim to be exempt from concerns about sin. As sin has been the major problem in God’s holy writ since the very beginning. The only thing I have to say, with respect, about your beliefs, is that they are the doctrines of men, not God. As the doctrines of God were given via divine revelation to the servants of God who wrote them in the Bible, Old and New Testaments. Peace, Michael A
The term ברית mistranslated as covenant simply wrong. Brit means oath alliance and the bible never once brings the Name of HaShem which a person swears to cut a brit alliance. Therefore covenant a wrong translation. Paul introduced the “original sin” nonsense. According to the Jewish masoret, the story of Adam’s expulsion from the Garden teaches the mussar of g’lut/exile. A key theme that plays throughout the Torah. Noach experienced exile in the Ark. Israel in Egypt. Israel in the wilderness for 40 years – one theme of g’lut/exile.
The murder of Abel by Cain another story of exile. Monotheism violates the 2nd Sinai commandment. HaShem alone took Israel out of Egyptian bondage – the 1st Sinai commandment. Israel has a oath brit alliance with HaShem and no other Gods. Justice has nothing to do with beliefs or doctrines. A judge who hears a Case before the Court while holding fixed beliefs – compares to a Judge who accepts a bribe!
regards,
Moshe
Thank you for your response Moshe, I don’t know enough about your beliefs to respond. I’ll be praying on the matter. Michael A
Thumbs up. I consider myself an atheist praise God. The pursuit of justice share no common ground with theology or Creeds or dogmatism.
Moshe, I was confused by your last comment. You used ‘atheist’ and ‘praise God’ in the same sentence. Then separated ‘justice’ from theology, the study of God. The following questions occurred to me and I just want to mention them for your consideration. How can you say you are a Jew and an atheist? The Torah, as I am familiar with it, is the root of the Bible: therein, God created all things, began to form a people to Himself with Abram…. God, therefore, is the source of all things, that includes ‘justice.’ He created people, of which you are one…?
Torah faith revolves around righteous judicial justice. Belief in the Gods has nothing to do with fair compensation for damages. The subject of the Gods — above my pay grade. Simply stated I do not know.