Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.
The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.
Hey everybody, welcome to the sanctuary. It's great to have you with us as always.
You know, there's so much information out there. There's so much teaching that's going on.
Yet when we go to social media and we go to online video platforms, there's so many people being called out for false teaching.
You know, now typically it comes from a point of, I just don't like what they're teaching or I just don't like them because of whatever.
You know what? Sometimes that is the case. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it is legit. Alright?
We have to be discerning here. You know, I myself have even called out people for poor theology and for bad teaching.
You know, so when it comes to this thing, what should we do? What's the answer?
Well, there's a few pieces to this and that is what we're going to look at today.
Now, first off, I do want to point out the fact is we're all human. We're not always going to get everything right all the time.
I make mistakes. You make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes as part of being human, right?
We're still learning after all. However, that's not what we're talking about here.
Rather, we're talking about those people who continually cause offense and make no effort to change.
Right? Those people who just continually go out of their way to teach bad things.
And that's where we need to know what steps to take.
Now, the first, first and foremost, when we go to Galatians chapter six, verse one, the word actually has a warning for us.
And depending on your translation, it may say brothers and sisters or brothers.
If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.
Keep watch on yourself. Lest you too be tempted.
So we have to remember that no matter what happens, no matter the outcome of what's unfolding, we need to be kind.
Right? Just because someone's an error doesn't give us the right to be a jerk.
You know, we need to be acting in love and not out of spite. It's not doing to others before they do unto you.
No, none of that. Right? We need to be. We need to be gracious. We need to be merciful, just like God has been with us.
You know, now with that in mind, we can move on to the next steps.
And we have to do this in this order because we don't know if the person that we're calling out has actually been spoken to or not.
So these steps are here to ensure that when they're when they're transgressions are being called out, that is being done so in the right way.
OK, Matthew, chapter 18, verses 15 through 17, it's Matthew 18, verses 15 through 17.
The word says, if your brother is against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have gained a brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.
And if he refuses to listen to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Now, at this point, a few things can happen, regardless of how far down that list that we just read you make it.
A change is going to come about one way or another.
All right. You know, either they acknowledge the error and they take those steps to fix it.
Really, that's what we all are hoping for.
Right. That's what the prayer prayers for.
You know, it's like, hey, you know, you made a mistake.
You know, let me point it out to you. Oh, sorry.
I did. OK. Right. And then they take they take those steps and they correct it.
They take it back to it. Right. You know, secondly, you know, it could be a conversation is held and you in fact actually find out you're the one in there.
You know, it happens. Right.
It happens. We all make mistakes. I myself have made mistakes.
You know, thirdly, you know, it could be that they refuse to acknowledge their mistake and they keep on the same course.
And, you know, and really, when this happens, this is when the true colors of your board of trustees is shown
either they will deal with that person and they will remove him from the pulpit and send him away until he changes.
Right. Because change is needed here. Right.
The insulin error of this ways and make make correction, you know, or they'll continue to support them, which unfortunately, you know, it happens.
It happens a lot more than you think. You know, and that that that itself will actually bring us to our next piece of scripture before we get into it, though.
You know, I know there are many out there. They're asking why would they do that?
Why would these board of trustees? Why would these elders do this?
And I can tell you, sadly, you know, there are a number of quote unquote churches out there, especially prosperity, you know, churches that have their boards built with a group of yes men.
Right. And that's all they are. They are yes men.
Plain and simple. They are cowards. They have no spine. You know, whether or not they they actually know what the word is, or they're just going along with it, or it's because they like how their ears are being tickled, you know, is beyond the point.
They're yes men. You know, and in some cases, these are the same people who will actually stop you from even being able to try to call out that minister.
Right. And that itself is a huge red flag when you see it, because, you know, a lot of these places, they will surround these people with them.
You go to them like, oh, this is going, oh, you know, we'll we'll talk to him.
It's like, no, no, no, that's not how it works. You know, or they're like, I'm sure it's just a mistake or, you know, like, oh, he's busy.
You know, they have a hundred ways up for time's sake. I'm not going to get into them.
But, you know, they will do everything they can to hinder your efforts to call out these errors.
All right. Turning to Romans 16 verses 17 through 18.
So Romans 16 verses 17 through 18, the word says, I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.
Keep away from them, for such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites by smooth talk and flattery.
They deceive the minds of naive people.
So, you know, with that said, we need to read the Bible for ourselves and we need to get to know it so that when the time comes and we all run into these times at some point,
when the time comes with whoever's in front of us, for whatever reason, in or out of the pulpit, in or out of the church, they're all over the place, whether it's on social media or videos or whatever,
we need to get to know the word so that when the time comes, we're not fooled, we're not tricked, we're not swindled.
And Christians who study the word and pray to God to reveal the truth to them.
You know, these are the people who won't fall into these snares, you know, like the Bereans when we study the Bereans, you know, we need to be like them.
We need to ask questions and we need to ensure that the word that we're being fed is the truth and only the truth.
You know, we need to pick it apart and know the ins and outs of it.
Now, there's going to be times when many of us are responsible for going through these steps.
And we're not going to make it all the way through.
Like I said earlier, sometimes it's because of the yesmen.
Sometimes it's because of our own faults, right?
And others, you know, because people, the people these false teachers surround themselves with, you know, it's they might actually be putting stuff out there and putting bad information,
you know, talking trash about you, you know, to other people or anything, you know, putting you in a bad limelight even, you know, like I said, when it comes to our own faults, you know, let's face it, you know, sometimes it's tough.
You know, because we love we genuinely love the people that were around, you know, these are people we consider friends and family.
And so it's really hard to talk and to get through.
You know, sometimes, you know, there are those people, you know, you want one or two obstacles getting away.
It's like, it's just it's just not worth the stress.
It's not worth the time and effort, you know, and it's well, you know, unfortunately, you're wrong.
It is worth it.
However, however, for you make it is however, for you make it, you need to talk to God about that.
You know, the key here, however, is that we don't allow ourselves or our loved ones to stay and to continue to be fed the lies.
We don't allow them to stay and continue to be abused.
You know, part of the problem that they have is the support that they have.
Second Timothy, four, three, the word says for the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires,
will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.
And let's face it, people don't want to hear that they're wrong, especially, you know, these and I use the term loosely here,
preachers who run their fellowships as a business.
Right. They're about numbers and money.
You know, if it impacts that bottom line, guess what's not going to happen?
They're not going to be preaching on it.
You know, they're not even going to talk about it.
You know, they'll try to him and ha put some spin on it.
Remember what I was saying earlier, if it itches your ears, this is it right here.
You know, people, you know, this is why prosperity preaching and certain, you know, people that, you know, they call them preachers,
but they're really more motivational speakers.
You know, this is why they get so popular because they're telling people the things that they really want to hear.
They're they're ignoring other things or tiptoeing around other things, you know, to really, you know,
put the put the things out there that people make them feel good.
Right. Deep down inside, because everybody wants to feel good.
Right. You know, it's like, oh, you're you're loved and God doesn't want you to suffer to, you know, have hardship or anything like that.
He wants you to be rich and he wants you to be healthy, you know, health and wealth.
That's a big thing with the prosperity, which is absolutely counter to the Bible and counter to Jesus, you know, who said, hey,
you're going to have struggles and not only that, but you're not going to take any of this with you when you go.
Right. The fact is that with many of these people, there's no real accountability as well, not by them, not by their boards, not by their families,
not by the congregation that's blinded by this charisma and charm and the show that's being put on with the lights and everything.
Right. So so what do we do?
Well, the answer is right here in Romans 16. We just looked at it.
We keep away from them. We keep away from them, meaning we leave.
You know, you've done your part. You've called it out.
Sadly, you know, sometimes the bottom line is, well, you need to leave. You need to separate yourself.
Right. We don't allow the things that hurt us to continue to hurt us.
And we know if something's bad for us, we need to leave it be, not keep going back to it.
That, you know, some people would say that's common sense. Right.
However, a lot don't do this. They sit back down in the pews.
They keep quiet and they just keep going through the same thing.
And unfortunately, that's not the right answer.
I know it's hard. It could be downright painful leaving the place you've been for a while, possibly even years.
I've been there myself and it was a really hard call.
However, you can't keep allowing yourself to be fed poison because eventually you'll be fed enough that you will die as well and you will die to sin.
Unfortunately, you know, it's because you're going to fall victim to illusory truth effect.
You've heard me speak about this before.
It's where you hear something over and over and over enough times where that even though it's false, you start to believe it.
And when you start to believe a lie, you start to live the lie. Right.
So remove yourself from the situation and rebuke it with the word.
Just like Jesus, when he was tempted by the devil and Luke for the devil, you know, when he was talking to Jesus, he would omit parts of the word.
And, you know, you'd be able to get it where it had just that perfect twist, where there was enough truth left.
And what he said that it sounded good. Right. It sounded enticing.
You know, it's this is the same thing that these other false teachers are often employing.
Why? Because they're tools of the devil at this point.
However, Jesus, because he knew the word, he was able to throw the scripture and what it really meant back at him.
And he stopped the devil in his tracks. He stopped him from doing any other damage here. Right.
He was able to overcome those temptations and that, you know, and that and not fall into that false doctrine because he knew the word.
Let's face it, you know, in the beginning, you know, he was there.
He was there. He was there when the word was written. He what he is the word. Right.
So he knows it better than anybody. First Corinthians, Chapter 10, verse 13, the word says, No temptation has overtaken you, except what is common to mankind.
And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
It's not that things won't be tough. It's not that you're just going to, you know, kick the door and walk through it like a boss.
Things are still going to be hard. All right.
It's not like you're going to go, you know, temptation. It's not that I'm just going to shrug it off.
No, that's why it's temptation. It's hard, you know, and it's not that you're going to do it all on your own strength.
The fact is, when these temptations come, you know, even the temptation of staying in a church with false doctrine and false teaching, you know, that is a temptation itself, a temptation.
I'll remind you is another word for test. You're being tested.
All right. So you'll be able to overcome it or pass the test by leaning on Christ, by knowing your word.
That is the way out that the Bible is talking about here where it says he will also provide a way out so that you can do it.
It is your word. It is your scripture is reading and knowing your Bible.
So do your due diligence. Call out false teaching, you know, on the offhand, you know, be prepared to knowledge if you've made a mistake.
However, if change isn't going to happen and it is an error on their part, be prepared to walk away from those teachers as well.
Just as the Bible has told us here, we've seen it here today.
All right. Remember, you are loved and you are blessed.
Now go and be the church. Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
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We look forward to hearing from you all. God bless.