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Voddie Baucham - We Can't Unite Around a False Christ · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: By the way, here's another thing that's very interesting. The
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  Speaker 1: Gnostics are always on John's mind. A couple of examples
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  Speaker 1: that we get from John's gospel, for example, that we
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  Speaker 1: don't get from other gospels. You know, one of the
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  Speaker 1: things we get from John's gospel that we don't get
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  Speaker 1: from other gospels? Thomas, put your hand in my side.
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  Speaker 1: Touch the wounds on my hands. We get that in
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  Speaker 1: John's gospel. Why? Why? Because John's the Gnostic warrior. That's
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  Speaker 1: what he does. He fights the Gnostics. And even in
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  Speaker 1: his gospel, he's talking about things that the other writers
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  Speaker 1: don't even think of at the forefront of their minds.
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  Speaker 2: Did it happen? Absolutely it did. That's why it's proclaimed
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  Speaker 2: in the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: But other writers look at that and don't see it
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  Speaker 1: to the same degree of importance as John does when
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  Speaker 1: he sees it because now he's thinking about the Gnostics.
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  Speaker 2: You know what?
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  Speaker 1: The Gnostics are saying that Jesus was not flesh. Newsflash.
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  Speaker 1: We touched him after the resurrection. Here's another thing you
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  Speaker 1: see in John's gospel that you don't see in other places.
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  Speaker 1: The fish fry. Why is it important to record that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus is eating fish? It's very important to record that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus ate fish after his resurrection. If you're doing battle
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  Speaker 1: with the Gnostics, because the Gnostics don't believe he was flesh.
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  Speaker 2: He's not flesh. What's he doing at the fish fry?
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  Speaker 2: It's important.
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  Speaker 1: Wrong on Jesus. Wrong on the gospel. If we're not
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  Speaker 1: proclaiming Jesus, we're not proclaiming the gospel. If we're not
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  Speaker 1: proclaiming these works of Christ, we're not proclaiming the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: Here's the other thing. Look at it with me in
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  Speaker 1: verse 2. The life was made manifest and we have
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  Speaker 1: seen it and testified to it, proclaimed to you the
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  Speaker 1: eternal life which was with the Father and was made
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  Speaker 1: manifest to us. That which we have seen and heard
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  Speaker 1: we proclaim to you so that you may have fellowship
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  Speaker 1: with us. So that you may have fellowship with us.
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  Speaker 1: Here's what's interesting. If you don't get this, you don't
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  Speaker 1: have fellowship with us. We're proclaiming this so that you
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  Speaker 1: can have fellowship with us. In other words, why do
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  Speaker 1: I need to proclaim something to you in order for
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  Speaker 1: you to have fellowship with me if you already have
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  Speaker 1: fellowship with me? We see the exclusivity of the gospel here.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, this refutes universalism. this sort of universal
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  Speaker 1: brotherhood of man, all of us will ultimately be saved. No.
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  Speaker 1: Without the proclamation of the gospel, there is no salvation.
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  Speaker 1: Without our response to the gospel, biblical response to the gospel,
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  Speaker 1: there is no salvation. There is no fellowship there. If
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  Speaker 1: we're not responding to the gospel as it was proclaimed,
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  Speaker 1: if we're not responding to the right gospel, there is
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  Speaker 1: no fellowship there. If we're not responding to the gospel
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  Speaker 1: as it's proclaimed, there is no fellowship there. So he
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  Speaker 1: says these individuals are outside of fellowship. That's the spirit
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  Speaker 1: of Antichrist. In chapter 2, they went out from among
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  Speaker 1: us because they weren't all of us. If they were
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  Speaker 1: of us, they would have remained. But they went out
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  Speaker 1: so that it might be shown that they were not
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  Speaker 1: all of us.
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  Speaker 2: See what he's doing there? Just in the next.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter, he's already dealing with that. The exclusivity of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: It is only through a right understanding of the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: And it is only through an appropriate response to the
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  Speaker 1: gospel that we have fellowship with Christ and that we
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  Speaker 1: have fellowship with one another. And that only comes through
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  Speaker 1: our proclamation of the gospel. We must proclaim the gospel. Now,
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  Speaker 1: here's what's so ironic. Many of us don't proclaim the
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  Speaker 1: gospel because we think proclaiming the gospel is divisive. When
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  Speaker 1: the fact is the opposite is true. It's only through
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  Speaker 1: the proclamation of the gospel that we experience true unity.
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  Speaker 2: Anything else is a lie. Anything else is not true.
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  Speaker 1: If we look at one another and say, you know what,
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  Speaker 1: we just won't talk about those things because we know
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  Speaker 1: we disagree about those things.
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  Speaker 2: We'll just find areas where we have a... No, no, no. No,
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  Speaker 2: we got to get those things on the table.
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  Speaker 1: Amen? All of those things have to be on the
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  Speaker 1: table because that's where true unity comes. If you and
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  Speaker 1: I as frail human beings try to come closer to
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  Speaker 1: one another, we'll mess it up every time. But if
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  Speaker 1: you and I as frail human beings walk closer and
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  Speaker 1: closer to Christ, we automatically come closer to one another.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to do it. We're going to do it.
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  Speaker 2: It's interesting. It's interesting.
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  Speaker 1: Trey and I were talking about this the other day.
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  Speaker 1: We had the opportunity to be in several places. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: just this year, with believers from all over the place,
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  Speaker 1: he made the comment, it seems like wherever we go,
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  Speaker 1: we see the same people. I mean, wherever we go,
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  Speaker 1: we see the same people. We just flew back this
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  Speaker 1: morning on the red-eye from Oregon. Got on a flight, 1230,
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  Speaker 1: last night in Portland. So we can fly and get
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  Speaker 1: here 6.30 this morning to Houston. Amen. Hallelujah.
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  Speaker 2: Praise the Lord. I'm going to go to sleep. Okay.
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  Speaker 2: So we just flew back. But you know what?
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  Speaker 1: Whether it was in Oregon or the weekend before that
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  Speaker 1: in Colorado or wherever we go, we meet brothers and
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  Speaker 1: sisters in the Lord. How does that happen? You go
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  Speaker 1: from here to Russia, from here to China, from here
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  Speaker 1: to Zambia, from here to Romania, and you meet brothers
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  Speaker 1: and sisters in the Lord. I mean, you have stuff
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  Speaker 1: in common. You know each other. You love each other.
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  Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, in a couple of days,
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  Speaker 1: you feel like, you know what? I'd lay my life
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  Speaker 1: down for this brother.
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  Speaker 2: What is that?
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  Speaker 1: That's the fellowship that we have with one another when
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  Speaker 1: we have fellowship with Christ. That's what the gospel gives us.
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  Speaker 1: And only the gospel gives us that. Nothing else does that.
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  Speaker 1: It's the gospel that unifies us. And here's what's unfortunate.
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  Speaker 1: Because the gospel is being polluted in our culture, we
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  Speaker 1: have a fragmented so-called Christian community. And here's what everybody's saying.
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  Speaker 1: Christians can't even get together and agree on things. What
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  Speaker 1: does it look like to the world when Christians can't
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  Speaker 1: even get together and agree on things? If Christians could unify,
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  Speaker 1: we could change this culture. I agree wholeheartedly. Problem is,
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people call themselves Christians or not. You
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  Speaker 1: can't have unity that way. The reason we don't have
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  Speaker 1: unity is because we're trying to have unity apart from
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  Speaker 1: the gospel. You only have unity to the degree that
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  Speaker 1: we're tenacious about the gospel. That's the only way we
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  Speaker 1: have unity with one another because that's the only way
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  Speaker 1: we have unity with God. And that's what John says here.
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  Speaker 1: Fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the
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  Speaker 1: Father and His Son Jesus Christ. We're proclaiming this to you.
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  Speaker 1: Because if you believe the other gospel, or if you
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  Speaker 1: believe a perversion of the gospel, you're not going to
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  Speaker 1: have fellowship with God. And therefore, you're not going to
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  Speaker 1: have fellowship with us. So we're proclaiming this to you
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  Speaker 1: because we want to have fellowship with you. Not because
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  Speaker 1: we want to drive you away. Doctrine divides. No, doctrine unites.
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  Speaker 2: Amen?
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  Speaker 1: Amen? The only time doctrine divides is when somebody's sin
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  Speaker 1: doesn't want to accept the doctrine. And in that case,
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  Speaker 1: it's not doctrine that divides. It's sin and disobedience that divides.
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  Speaker 1: And we need to divide over that. Well, you're going
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  Speaker 1: to say Jesus is just some Middle Eastern guru and
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  Speaker 1: we're supposed to unite?
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  Speaker 2: You might as well. No, you can't do that.
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  Speaker 1: That's like a man coming up to me insulting my
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  Speaker 1: wife but wanting to shake hands and be my friend. Well,
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  Speaker 1: you're not going to shake my hand? No, I'm not
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  Speaker 1: going to shake your hand. I need my hand free
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  Speaker 1: to punch you in the mouth.
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  Speaker 2: Not really, kids. Not really.
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  Speaker 1: But think about that for a moment. A man walks up.
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  Speaker 1: He insults your wife. Man, I can't stand your wife.
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  Speaker 1: She just, I just, I hate her.
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  Speaker 2: But I really want us to be friends. Well, what
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  Speaker 2: do you do? You go, well. Okay. No. No, no, no, no, no.
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  Speaker 2: We can't do that. How is it that we can
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  Speaker 2: get that? and we can understand that?
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  Speaker 1: But when somebody insults my Jesus, my Savior, my Master,
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  Speaker 1: my Lord, King of Kings, God of Gods, when somebody
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  Speaker 1: insults Jesus Christ, we're supposed to say, Can't we all
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  Speaker 1: just get along? No. There's no unity there. There's no
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  Speaker 1: unity there. If you're wrong on my Jesus, I have
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  Speaker 1: but one goal. And that one goal is this, for
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  Speaker 1: you to get right on Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because if you're wrong on Jesus, you don't have unity
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  Speaker 1: with me. That's the least of your problems. You don't
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  Speaker 1: have unity with God. That's what the gospel does.