YouTube and Podcast teaching for….The Contents Of Our Prayers. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #92 (Luke 11:1-4)

The Contents Of Our Prayers. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #92 (Luke 11:1-4)

We have now made it to the 11th chapter of Luke and we find a familiar section of Scripture that shows us the contents of what our prayers should be like. As Jesus has continued to move through the Judean region He has certainly gathered even more people along the way but of course He still has His twelve disciples that have continued to follow along into this area. What will be important to notice in this section is that Jesus teaches the disciples a prayer that He would never pray because He never sinned and therefore did not need to ask for forgiveness of sins. So this is commonly known as the Lord’s prayer but in reality it is Jesus’ teaching of how to pray.

So with that in mind we come to this text to help us in times of prayer as well. Many of us have been taught prayers that are self centered and focused on what God can do for us in the realm of emotions and material blessings. Here we will see that the focus is not on those things but on worship to God for what He has provided and what He will provide, on His gracious mercy and on protection from falling into sinful patterns of life.

I hope that this study will help each of us to learn how to pray from how Jesus Himself taught us. With that let’s move now to our first point.

1.Jesus will GUIDE us in how to pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:1 that says And it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

I love to notate each time I see it in Scripture that Jesus is an example to us about the importance of praying. Sadly most of us lack in this area. We may say a quick little prayer at times of distress or when something big is happening in our life but rarely is praying a normal priority for us. I say this because I have talked with many people that have told me of their personal struggles in this area, I have heard many great preachers and theologians speak of their lack in the area of prayer so with that I feel that this is something that many people lack in their walk as a Christian.

Sadly this lack of communication with God shows a lack of true worship to God. I know this may seem harsh but it is true. We may attend church regularly, we may give consistently, we may even be a teacher or preacher of the Gospel but when we lack to pray this shows our lack of trust in the God we say we follow. Kevin DeYoung said and I quote: ¹Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God’s ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God’s help. End QUOTE.

Charles Spurgeon said and I quote: A prayerless soul is a Christless soul. and he also said He who lives without prayer, he who lives with little prayer, he who seldom reads the Word, and he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high—he will be the man whose heart will become dry and barren. However, he who falls in secret on his God, who spends much time in holy retirement, who delights to meditate on the words of the Most High, and whose soul is given up to Christ—such a man must have an overflowing heart. As his heart is, such will his life be. End QUOTE.

So Jesus is our example of the need to pray. If Jesus the Son of God prayed to the Father for direction and communion then we need to pray more often. In our text we see that Jesus prayed then one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

This was not a command but rather a statement meant to show the eagerness to be like His Lord. Earlier in Jesus’ ministry He had spoken similar words from what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. There you can see the same type of prayer but not exactly. The wording is a little different but the contents of the prayer remains the same. It is these contents that we will dive into for the remainder of this study as we look down through verse 4. Let’s look at the first of these in Jesus’ response in verse 2 and our second point.

2.We must GLORIFY God as we pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:2 that says And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.

This must be where every prayer starts and finishes. Prayer that does not glorify God is a selfish prayer. I have been guilty of such prayers and for that I need this model for prayer to be more active in my life as well. I love the fact that Jesus does not rebuke this disciple for His statement to want to know how to pray. Jesus goes right to the point of how to pray and with that we need to take note of the contents of this prayer. It isn’t about reciting this prayer word for word in some type of ritualist act but rather the direction of our prayers.

I don’t want to feel like I am just quoting people left and right in this study but I can’t help but quote Charles Spurgeon on this very point once again. He says and I quote: Let not your prayers be all concerning your own sins, your own wants, your own imperfections, and your own trials, but let them climb the starry ladder and get up to Christ Himself. Then, as you draw nigh to the blood-sprinkled mercy seat, offer this prayer continually, “Lord, extend the kingdom of Your dear Son.” Such a petition, fervently presented, will elevate the spirit of all your devotions. Mind that you prove the sincerity of your prayer by laboring to promote the Lord’s glory. Our best prayers when we are in the best place are for our glorious King, and for the enjoyment of his Father’s smile. END QUOTE.

Our motivation to pray must be for God’s glory and not for some emotion feel good moment. The direction of our prayers is towards God and every element in our prayers is towards God and to glorify Him. That word hallowed that we see in verse 2 means to set apart as holy or to treat as holy. When we come to God in prayer we must recognize that He is the only source of everything we have materially and spiritually. God is the only God and if His glory is not the focus of our prayers then our prayer will be useless and empty.

The phrase Your kingdom come is another form of recognizing God’s rule and reign. It shows the fact that we submit to His sovereign will that is summed up in His kingdom. God’s glory is our focus of our prayers and that is evident by the fact that we desire His kingdom to rule in our lives and in the lives of others. So we must seek to come to God with the mindset of not getting what we want but glorifying Him for His majesty and sovereignty over all things.

That recognition of His sovereign reign shows up throughout this prayer as we will see in our next point.

3.Knowing that God is the GIVER as we pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:3 that says Give us each day our daily bread.

We must always know that God is the One who provides everything we have. Nothing we have is from our own source. Yes we may go to work, we may have a great budget to save and not over spend but if it wasn’t for God’s grace then we would not have what we have. The idea of praying to God is not so much for material items but just the recognition that He is the provider of all things is so important. Jesus says in Matthew 6:30-33 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! ³¹ Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ ³² For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

This prayer of daily bread is showing that we trust God to take care of us each day. It isn’t that we are looking for God to supply to us abundance or more than we need but that we trust that God will provide each and every day. This does not mean that God will not provide more than we need at times but that should never be our motivation in prayer. A prayer that seeks for abundance of wealth is a selfish prayer that will not be fulfilled.

We are taking each of these points a little at a time so that we can understand the significance of the contents. Here we see that God is our provider and we need to ask God for this provision in the position that we are humbly asking because He will graciously give.

Psalm 145:15-16 says
The eyes of all wait on You,
And You give them their food in due time.
¹⁶ You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

We understand that God does provide for non-Christian and Christian alike but this recognition of Him being the One that provides is significant in our prayers. A prayer that glorifies God will praise Him for His provision of daily food. This brings us to look at another piece of this prayer in our next point.

4.Asking God for GRACE as we pray. Look with me at Luke 11:4a that says And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

This here is something we all need every day, in fact many times throughout our day. Now I want to make clear that this forgiveness is not so we can remained saved or earn salvation in some way but rather to stay in fellowship with God. Our fellowship with God is that we know that we are in need of His grace because of our own sinfulness. This asking of forgiveness shows the humbleness of our prayers. We do not just thank God that He saved us then continue to live the way we want. We seek to live in holiness and righteousness but we will sin. When we sin we come to God asking for the forgiveness of those sins because this shows that we know we have lived in a way contrary to the way He has commanded us.

It is as John says in 1 John 1:9 where he says If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

See asking God to forgive us, cleanses us from those sins and keeps us connected to Him in the way we need for spiritual growth. But when we choose to not recognize our sins or confess them then we are saying we don’t need God’s cleansing, we don’t need God’s grace and mercy. He says further in 1 John 1:10 that If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

So even as a professed Christian, when we live in a way that does not ask for forgiveness then we have said that we have not sinned and we do not need God’s forgiveness. You may think you have His grace because you said a prayer or made a profession of faith but in reality you only make God look like a liar and His Word is not in you when you continue to live in sin without acknowledging your sins.

Another clear point we see is that a person that is truly grateful for the forgiveness that God has given will in fact do the same to others. Jesus says that part of our prayer should include forgiving others of what they have done to us, He says this in Luke 11:4 For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

Matthew’s version of Jesus’ teaching on prayer says in Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

The fact is that we as Christians cannot be unforgiving and uncompassionate to others. We ask God to forgive us of the greater offense and we also forgive others of their lesser offense towards us. This is something we must pray to God about because it is difficult at times to forgive others. Our pride, our ego, our self centered desires get in the way and therefore we need to pray to God for this as well. This brings us to look briefly at our last point for this study.

5.Seeking for God to GOVERN our path as we pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:4 with our focus on the last sentence, it says And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.

We must remember what James 1:13-14 says: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

What James says is not a contradiction to what Jesus had taught here about prayer. This idea is that we will be protected by God in every circumstance we find ourselves in. God does not tempt but we are placed in times of trial. In those times we look to God for direction and guidance to endure the trial.

Most people know what 1 Corinthians 10:13 says No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

The prayer to not be lead into temptation is our acknowledgement that God is able to and will protect us from all potential trials that will cause us to sin. All of this prayer points to the fact that God is sovereign, all powerful, the provider, sustainer and protector of our lives. I’m afraid that to many of us have been taught prayers of self centeredness that focuses way to much on ourselves. I hope as we continue in the next section that we will notice that there is only one focus that our prayers should have and that is to give glory to God for everything that He has given to us from eternal life to the food on our plate.

1. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/prayerlessness-is-unbelief/ ↩︎

YouTube and Podcast teaching for….The One Thing That Should Always Be Our Focus. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #91 (Luke 10:38-42)

The One Thing That Should Always Be Our Focus. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #91 (Luke 10:38-42)

We come now to our last section in chapter 10 where we will meet Mary and Martha for the first time in the Gospel according to Luke. Of course most people know of the raising of Lazarus their brother that you can read in John 11:1-46. But here in Luke this will be the only time we encounter these two woman. This moment is at a time when Jesus is moving along throughout the Judean region ministering and preaching. We can not be certain of whether or not Jesus had visited Mary and Martha up to this point because we do not see that in the text. I think we have some keys within this section of Scripture showing us that this is the first time they had met Jesus. Maybe they had heard of Jesus, maybe they had known of what He could do but the reality is that they grew to be true followers of Him over time.

In this study we will notice that Jesus teaches a lesson here on prioritizing what is necessary. What I mean by this is that there are many things that must be done in a day whether it is at your home, your job or in ministry. For us we must focus primarily on what God has tasked us to do. We must be doing what we do with the right attitude and for the right reason. I hope as we look at this final section in chapter 10 that all of this will be more clear for all of us. Let’s look now at our first point for this study.

1.Martha shows HOSPITALITY to Jesus.
Look with me at Luke 10:38 that says Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

This section of Scripture does not really have any interpretive challenges nor do we see much in the way of heavy doctrine. The lesson will be very practical and something that I believe we need to see within this section. What we see first is that Jesus is continuing to travel along the Judean region. These villages and cities could be the very ones that the 70 were sent out too. Along this journey we see Jesus enter a village where a woman named Martha, her sister Mary and their brother Lazarus live. We do not see Lazarus mentioned in this passage of Scripture but we know this from John’s account of Jesus raising him from the dead.

In fact it is that account that we find out the name of this village. John 11:1 says Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

In the next verse we find out that Lazarus is their brother. This gives to us a location of where Jesus is during His travels. So we know that He enters the village of Bethany where Martha welcomed Him into her home.

This is not just some act of bringing them into the home but this is an act of hospitality. The original language explains that this is an act of personal care and responsibility. It was much more than just preparing a meal or inviting them in, this was an act of honoring the guest into the house like they were a part of the family. This was compassionate and loving. This is what Martha set out to do in bringing Jesus into their home.

But as we will see this is not the motivation of Martha’s sister, Mary. This is what we will look at now in our second point.

2.Mary HANGS ON to Jesus’ words.
Look with me at Luke 10:39 that says And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.

Unlike her sister, Mary is not interested as much in showing the hospitality towards Jesus but rather we find her sitting at the Lord Jesus’ feet. I don’t know if it is so much that she did not have a desire to show the same type of hospitality as Martha did but I think that she realized that this was her opportunity to sit at the feet of the Lord. Again I do not think that Martha wasn’t interested in hearing Jesus’ words but that her priority was set in the wrong direction.

The fact that we see Mary seated at the Lord’s feet shows to us her attitude towards the Lord. It isn’t that she is just being lazy but this act of sitting at the feet of Jesus is the posture of a student with a teacher or Rabbi. This is also an indication of the posture of worship and adoration towards a deity. So we see there is more to this story than just someone sitting at Jesus’ feet to keep from having to do something in preparing for a meal. This was Mary’s focus and this too should be what we are focused on primarily.

We see that this is not just some passive action but that Mary was listening to His word. This was so much more than just hearing a sermon or hearing Jesus’ words, this is an act of taking in everything that He said. She was taking mental notes of what Jesus was speaking on. Now we do not have the contents of what Jesus was speaking about here but we know that He was always preaching about the Kingdom of God, always preaching and sharing the news that He was sent from God the Father.

I believe it is these things that they hear because in the encounter with both Martha and Mary after the death of their brother Lazarus, Martha expressed her belief that Jesus is the Lord, the Christ, the Son of God. Then Mary goes to Jesus in that account and falls at Jesus’ feet calling Him Lord. They believed that He is the Lord and they believed that Jesus would raise their brother Lazarus from the dead.

So we see Martha serving and Mary listening to Jesus but this does not sit well with Martha as we will see in our next point.

3.Martha’s HARASSED emotions.
Look with me at Luke 10:40 that says But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the preparations alone? Then tell her to help me.”

The first two points were short and provides for us the contextual understanding of the point that we are moving towards. Because we clearly saw that Martha was doing a good thing and so was Mary. Also what we will notice in the next point is that Martha is not rebuked or disciplined for what she was doing. The problem arises when Martha’s attitude changes from wanting to be hospitable to worried that she wasn’t getting help from her sister.

We can make this out to be some type of sibling rivalry but I do not believe that is the point here. I believe what we will see is something we all do when we think we are doing all the right things and never get any help or accolades for what we are doing. The problem starts out in Martha’s distraction of the things she was doing. Notice that Martha was distracted with all her preparations here at this moment.

Her focus was commendable, her actions were something that would bring great joy to the recipients of those that would receive what she was doing but the problem is that she was distracted. What was it that she was distracted from? I think when we look a little further into the text we clearly see that she was distracted with the preparations to make this a great welcoming feast when she really needed to slow down, listen to Jesus and learn from her greatest guest she would ever have.

People often invite others over and they want to make a great impression. They go all out, bringing out the best china or glasses and prepare food unlike their normal dinners. Martha seemed to be distracted with all of this and this led to her emotions being what drove her to say to Jesus, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the preparations alone? Then tell her to help me.”

She is so focused on her task that she questions Jesus’ compassion, His discernment to do what was right in the moment. She trusted the Lord when she brought Him into her home but now because her sister was not helping, she questions the Son of God on His motives. She allowed her emotions to drive her actions. I know that I have done this and I’m sure you have as well. Emotions can be a good thing but when we allow our negative emotions to drive what we say, what we do and what we think then we have failed to trust God.

Martha is so irritated that her sister is just sitting around listening to Jesus that she commands Jesus to tell her to help. This is brash and inconsiderate but don’t we do the same at times? Sometimes I can be so distracted with something that is of little importance that I miss the most important thing about what I am doing for the Lord. As we move on we will see that Jesus does not condemn her for doing what she is doing but He does show to her the sin that she has committed in allowing this to bother her. This will be what we see in our last point for this study.

4.Jesus explains the HIGH-PRIORITY that must be our focus.
Look with me at Luke 10:41-42 that says But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, ⁴² but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

I think often we can be doing good things for people, helping others financially or showing them kindness in some way and still have our priorities wrong. I think it is this thought that guides us to understand the point that Jesus teaches here. Martha was doing good by being a great host but it seems that she was doing some of this from the standpoint of selfish adoration. She was concerned with how everything was going instead of focusing on the priority at the moment. For us we can attend church, we can help out at a food drive or some community gathering but we must realize there is a time to slow down and listen to God’s Word.

Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus as a student to learn of God’s Kingdom and salvation. There was nothing sinful in what she was doing. She was not seeking to leave everything for her sister to do but it only seems that Martha wanted things to get done and leave no time for fellowship and learning. Martha demanded that Jesus tell her sister to help and Jesus replies to her first by saying Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things.

Jesus knows much more about Martha’s issues than what she was showing at the time. Martha showed irritation over this situation but Jesus says that many things are worrying and bothering her. Both of these words show us that she is stressed internally and it’s showing outwardly as well. It wasn’t just this situation that is bothering her but that there were many things that she needed to realize was keeping her from sitting at the feet of Jesus as well. It wasn’t just all of the things she was doing but it was something internally that has her this way.

So Jesus shows to her that she needs to focus on what is causing this but also that what Mary is doing is not something against her but for her own good. Jesus says to her in Luke 10:42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

At that moment, it seems that none of what Martha was doing was necessary. She was most likely trying to look like the best host. Jesus does not say that we never do other things but that at certain times we must choose the better over the good. Mary was commended here for the fact that she chose the good part instead of trying to be the best host. The good part here is referencing her sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening, taking in and learning about the salvation that will be provided through the Messiah.

So often we can be so distracted that we may go to church, we may teach, preach, serve and still miss what we needed and that is to sit at the feet of Jesus, worshipping Him, learning from His Word and growing in our faith. I hope that we see here that we must choose daily and probably many times throughout the day to listen to God’s Word in the Bible instead of doing other things that may be good but are not the better choice. Do not neglect the normal things of life but choose to saturate your mind and heart with the Bible, God’s Word.

YouTube and Podcast teaching for….Growing In The Faith And Guiding Others To Do The Same. EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF JUDE study #7 (Jude vs. 20-25)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2bGDYlptXP0wpfnN5Fj94v?si=w0Vrc9QQSHCXMNgqprhTwA

Growing In The Faith And Guiding Others To Do The Same. EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF JUDE study #7 (Jude vs. 20-25)

As we come to our final study in the book of Jude I look back on this great little book and see something that I hope we have all taken serious in this exposition. We must realize that not everyone that names the name of Christ is actually a Christian and not every gifted speaker that stands in the pulpit is a called teacher or preacher of the Word of God. No degree gives a person the calling that comes from God. There may be many people that have never earned a degree or even took any extra classes in theology that has been called by God. Our society has set standards on people that makes people believe that just because someone has a degree in theology or Biblical studies or has a doctorate in those things then that qualifies them to be a pastor or preacher.

That is far from the truth even though I do believe getting those degrees and doing continual education can be very useful for teaching and explaining the Bible. The time of Jude’s writing posed the same kind of problem. Many people wanted to be a teacher, the leader of a group, liked by their peers and with that many people began to falsify the Christian beliefs to bring along many that were just there for social reasons.

In this last study we will turn our attention away from speaking about false teachers and look towards ourselves. The focus of this entire letter was to write about our common salvation and to exhort the Christian to contend earnestly for the faith(Jude vs 3)

With that thought we come to the end of this letter where Jude turns that idea of exhorting into words expressing the importance of spiritually growing and helping others to do the same. So as we look at this final section we will notice those two details. Let’s look now at our first point for this study.

1.GROWING in your faith.
Look with me at Jude vs.20-21 that says But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

The point of this entire letter is not just to be harsh on false teachers or to call out false teachers. The point of this letter is for the Christian to recognize the importance of spiritual growth and maintaining our focus on glorifying God through the preaching of the true Gospel. It is highly important for us to know that false teachers will always be around to distort the true Gospel message. Sometimes it will be in very minute ways and sometimes it is very noticeable.

Here in this section Jude is bringing this letter to a close by letting his audience know that this whole letter is to guide us into spiritual growth. He called to our attention back in verse 17 that we need to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The idea is that what we know to be the true Gospel has not changed so there must not be any doubt within us concerning what we heard from the apostles and our Lord Jesus. It is with that thought that we move to this section that brings all of what Jude has spoken of to a place to help us to grow. Jude says first in Jude vs 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.

There is nothing mystical here in what Jude says. He is simply speaking of growing in the faith. This is done in many ways as we know. We can read and study the Bible, we can fellowship with others, we can hear a sermon or lecture on the Bible and Jude also says that we are to be praying in the Holy Spirit.

Now understand that some people will look at this as some type of secret prayer language that is spoken but that is not the idea at all. In fact if you try to place that here then you are eisegeting the text instead of exegeting the text. That means you are putting something into the text that is not there. There is no mention of a spiritual or heavenly language here or anywhere in the Bible. That is a manmade and demonic ideology that does not exist in the work of God.

So Jude is simply speaking of the connection that we have with God through the Holy Spirit. Paul speaks of this in a couple of places that gives to us even more clarity. Ephesians 6:18a says that we are to be praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit.

Romans 8:26-27 says And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷ and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Nothing in these passages shows us some heavenly language but only the work of the Holy Spirit as we pray to God. In times of heavy distress when we do not know what to say the Spirit utters words for us to God therefore we pray in the Spirit which helps us to grow spiritually.

Jude also says in Jude vs.21 that we need to keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

This speaks of maintaining our position. This of course is not speaking of maintaining ourselves as recipients of eternal life but rather to remain faithful. Jesus says in John 15:9-10 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

The key to staying in the place of God’s love and not His wrath is to be obedient. Now this does not mean that every time we sin God is going to strike us down or punish us but we must be living in such a way that is producing growth spiritually. If we do not then we will find ourselves under God’s wrath or discipline depending on your status as a child of His or not.

So first we must make sure we are in the place of God’s love by being obedient. As we do this we will be growing spiritually and this will help us to be able to help others to do this as well. If we are not in the right place spiritually then we will have a hard time helping others to do this as well. So it is not selfish to take care of yourself first but we must remember that it is our place to help others to grow as well. This leads us to our next point for this study.

2.GRABBING others out of danger.
Look with me at Jude vs.22-23 that says And on some, who are doubting, have mercy; ²³ and for others, save, snatching them out of the fire; and on others have mercy with fear, hating even the tunic polluted by the flesh.

So not only are we to cultivate our walk as a Christian but we must be helping others in their walk as well. Jude says that we do this first on some, who are doubting, have mercy.

This may refer to those that have not fully grasped the concept of eternal life or it may refer to those that have began to follow after these false teachings. I lean on the fact that this could be those that are doubting because of their influence from these false teachers. We must be careful to not condemn or have a lack of compassion on those that are falling into false teaching or following a known false teacher. Rather Jude says that we are to have mercy on these people.

Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:7 that Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Mercy is the act of not giving to people what they deserve. This attribute is common to all believers because we know that just as we have received mercy, we should also give mercy to others. When we lack to give mercy to others then we are saying that we are capable of never offending anyone, never sinning or having any reason to need mercy. We must be quick to give to people mercy as we have received mercy from God who we have offended the greatest.

So some people will need mercy from us and others will need rescued completely from the damage done by false teachers. Jude says in Jude vs 23 and for others, save, snatching them out of the fire.

We must not just sit by watching people go down a path of destruction. We must step in by showing them the truth. Some professed Christians will not be true Christians and never find their way back into fellowship but others will come back. This will be as if we have snatched them out of the fire.

James 5:19-20 says My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

The point is that we have a place as Christians who are first growing in Christ to help others as well. Galatians 6:1 says Brothers, even if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each of you looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.

So we must help others to get away from false teachers and that means some will need a tougher approach. Jude says that on others have mercy with fear, hating even the tunic polluted by the flesh.

Some people need to hear words of condemnation or to be approached with excommunication from the body of believers. It isn’t that we seek to condemn these people but that we are speaking against the very sin they are living in. In this case the sin is in relation to following after false teachings that corrupt the true Gospel. These teachings seem to point towards following after fleshly desires. Of course we have pointed out that this is a major attribute of these false teachers and therefore many will follow in that same pattern of living. But we are to have mercy towards them. Even if our words are harsh we must still give to these people mercy so that they too will return to God to bring Him the glory due to Him. This really leads us to look at our last point of this entire letter.

3.GLORIFY God our Savior.
Look with me at Jude vs.24-25 that says Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jude closes this letter with a doxology that exalts God. The mention of us praying in the Holy Spirit in the last section connects us to this section as well. Here we see both God the Father and God the Son mentioned here which brings us to the place of recognizing once again the Trinity within this passage of Scripture. The Holy Spirit is who guides us to worship and to exalt the Father for what He has done through the Son who is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice within this doxology that Jude mentions the fact that this is directed towards Him who is able to keep you from stumbling.

Yes we must make choices in living in obedience but that itself is not possible unless God keeps us from stumbling. In ourselves we have nothing but sin and destruction, we are those that reject God and follow after fleshly desires but it is God that helps us to stay afloat and to stay connected to Him. This is the perseverance of the saints that we have in Christ. Paul says this in 2 Timothy 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will save me unto His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

They knew that it was not anything within themselves that caused this consistent way of living but it was only by God’s power. Jude continues in this doxology by saying that God will make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.

Not only will you not stumble into false teaching but He will help you to stand firm in Him until you stand in His presence. This is a continual thought of praise for the believer because we know that what we have been promised will come to us as reality one day. All of this is directed to what Jude says in the final verse of this letter, he says in Jude vs 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

In this final verse we give glory to God for keeping us from falling into false teachings, from living in a lifestyle that is driven by our flesh or worldly desires. Jude expresses God’s salvific nature being the focus of our worship. It is His majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Salvation belongs to the Lord because He has the power, the means, the authority. This will not end and there is no beginning to His majesty. God has, is and will fulfill His promise to us therefore we must turn from false teachings and false teachers. We must worship God for what He has done in giving to us salvation that will be our reward for eternity.

This ends this great exposition and I hope that this has opened our eyes to the reality of false teachers. We must be aware of the dangers and the subtlety of the damage that false teachings can do. We must embrace the true Gospel and worship God for the salvation that He has given to us.

YouTube and Podcast teaching for….Showing Mercy To All(The Good Samaritan). EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #90 (Luke 10:29-37)

Showing Mercy To All(The Good Samaritan). EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #90 (Luke 10:29-37)

We began this section of Scripture in our last study with a look at the question that this scholar of the law asked our Lord Jesus. The questions is seen in Luke 10:25 where he says to Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” This question comes to the minds of most people. Not very many people will admit to wanting to die. Most religions have some form of eternal life and with that this question comes to the minds of most people. For this scholar this was a question that he knew the answer to, well at least intellectually. He knew the proper answer to this question himself and looked to trip Jesus up with this question as we looked at last time.

So Jesus didn’t directly answer the question but asked the scholar “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” This man gave the correct interpretation of the Law by stating that the answer is that “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

This answer was a proper understanding of what the Law of God will do and that is to help us to live this way in loving God and man. But the problem is still there and that is how can we perfectly live out this Law? Because the question was how to inherit eternal life and the answer really points to living that Law out. Jesus challenges this man by saying in Luke 10:28 where we finished our last study, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

We talked last time about how the Law of God exposes our sin. It shows to us what sin is and this is the very thing that it did here. But as we will see, this man just like many of us tried to find a loophole in the Law to justify his sinfulness. This brings us to our first point for this study.

1.The scholar MAINTAINS his innocence.
Look with me at Luke 10:29 that says But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

So we see this man had the right answer, Jesus confirms that his answer is correct but when he was challenged to live it out he then began to look for a way to make himself look as if he was living out the Law perfectly. Most of the religious people that Jesus encountered had this same attitude. Later on when Jesus has a conversation with the person we most often call the rich young ruler, he answered this question by saying in Luke 18:21 “All these things I have kept from my youth.”

They did not come to Jesus in hopes to find out what their own sin was or what they really needed to do to become a recipient of salvation but rather in hopes of being justified by Jesus. Luke records for us that this man looked to justify himself in Luke 10:29 by asking Jesus “And who is my neighbor?”

This man knew the proper interpretation of the law but lacked the ability to do what it said. Jesus rebukes this behavior in very strong words as we can see in Matthew 23:23-24 where Jesus says “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

Jesus had told the people in Matthew 23:2-3 “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; ³ therefore all that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 

They knew the Law of God but they made their own laws and edits to the Law so that they could look good as if they were keeping the law. This man looked to be approved and looked to maintain his innocence by asking this question concerning who his neighbor really is? This brings us to Jesus’ response in what we will see in our next point.

2.The MAIN POINT of the parable.
Look with me at Luke 10:30-36 that says Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. ³¹ And a priest happened to be going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him, and when he saw him, he felt compassion. ³⁴ And he came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ ³⁶ Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”

As we see often Jesus responds in a way to help clarify the point. In this parable that we know as the Good Samaritan we will notice that there is a point to the entire story. All of this points to the question that this scholar asked back in Luke 10:25 which was “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Hindsight tells us that we know that no one can earn salvation, no one can “do” anything to become recipients of salvation but for Jesus’ audience this would be a very intriguing question that many would want to know the answer to. They wanted eternal life, they wanted to be a part of God’s Kingdom so this answer from Jesus would be what everyone wanted to hear. But as we see he gives them a parable to see who it is that really has eternal life.

In this parable we will see 3 different men that could have helped this other man that had been robbed and left for dead. Let’s look at the first one as Jesus tells the story. Jesus says in Luke 10:30-31 “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. ³¹ And a priest happened to be going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

The first person that encounters this man that had been robbed, beat and left for dead was a priest. In the minds of those listening they would have thought that this priest would have been in the right for not going to help this man. I mean Leviticus 21:11 says that a priest shall he approach any dead person nor defile himself even for his father or his mother.

This priest could have thought this man was dead and decided to walk the other way to keep himself holy as the Law prescribed. If this priest was to come in contact with a dead body then they would have to be ritually cleansed before being able to perform duties again as a priest. Of course I believe that Jesus purposely chose this story to show them that love, compassion and mercy are attributes of people that have truly received eternal life. So I believe he chose this priest to show this scholar that they were like this priest in looking for loopholes instead of showing compassion. They would look to uphold certain portions of the Law and make new laws of their own to justify why they didn’t keep others.

The next person to encounter this man left for dead would be who we see in Luke 10:32 that says Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

Just like the priest this Levite did not look to be compassionate but looked for a reason to go the other way. The two men were both knowledgeable in the Law which they knew could provide them a cleansing if they decided to help but instead they went the other way. Both the priest and the Levite would be considered the top of the religious ladder in Jewish custom but here we see that Jesus is conveying that they were not interested in reaching out to others. They were not concerned with the well being of this man and just like them, the religious leader of Judaism was not concerned with the common people.

Then we see the third man that encounters this man left for dead in Luke 10:33-35 that says But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him, and when he saw him, he felt compassion. ³⁴ And he came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’

The importance of a Samaritan being the most compassionate of the 3 men that encountered this man left for dead is significant in this story. Jews hated Samaritans simply because they were half Jew and half Gentile. They looked at Samaritans as filth, unholy and defiant against God. So Jesus uses this Samaritan as an example of a person that has shown compassion towards this man. Not only would this Samaritan show compassion by stopping but he would also bandage his wounds, take him somewhere to be cared for and gave his own money to take care of this stranger.

This Samaritan would be looked at by Jews as one that breaks the Law of God and unworthy of eternal life. But in this parable Jesus shows that the Samaritan was the one that not only knew the law but lived it. He would live out Leviticus 19:33-34 that says And when a sojourner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. ³⁴ The sojourner who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

Also Deuteronomy 10:19 that says Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

He was not looking for excuses to not do what was needed but had compassion. The priest and Levite could have helped. It was not completely forbidden to help this man but it would have cost them time, money and effort in which they did not want to participate. The main point of this parable is in showing not who your neighbor is but are you being a neighbor to others as you have been told to do by the command of God? Jesus asks the man after he tells the parable in Luke 10:36 Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”

This question really points towards the fact that a person that has received eternal life will not be looking for reasons to not show compassion but will be compassionate because of the desire to be like their Father and God. This leads us to the last point for this study.

3.Those who receive MERCY will do the same.
Look with me at Luke 10:37 that says And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

We see here that this scholar clearly understood the point of the parable. We do not know if this man was truly saved but what we do know is that Jesus again confirms that his answer is correct. He answers Jesus’ question of who proved to be a neighbor by saying “The one who showed mercy toward him.”

*Showing mercy towards others is an attribute of every Christian. If you profess to be a Christian and you lack compassion and mercy then I would doubt that you have received mercy from God. Jesus says in Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

1 John 3:16-18 says By this we have known love, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

In another parable that Jesus shares He says in Matthew 18:33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’

The point of that parable points to the same reality that a person that has been forgiven by God will in fact have the same attitude towards others. We will never be perfect in this but we must strive for this way of living.* The original question was what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

The answer is “Go and do the same.” This is not pointed towards earning salvation but that if you can live a life full of mercy towards others that there is no need to question your salvation because that is simply an attribute given by God to His children. My thoughts on this is that Jesus knew that this man was uncompassionate, unmerciful and unloving therefore he exposes this to him to show that his status as a scholar, his intellect and his standard would not give to him eternal life but only mercy from God. The fact that he had mercy from God would show up in the way that he lived that out towards others in his life.

YouTube and Podcast teaching for….The Wicked Words Of False Teachers. EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF JUDE study #6 (Jude vs. 14-19)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6rN5kmKtKOXceZD00BImgY?si=xmvaYzZITIGWfonHfUPOrw

The Wicked Words Of False Teachers. EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF JUDE study #6 (Jude vs. 14-19)

I hope that this walk through the book of Jude has helped in understanding the subtlety of false teachers, the deceptions in their motivation and actions along with their emptiness in helping you to grow spiritually. Many people look at their life and think that they have attained some type of spirituality because of a sense of growing in morality. This indeed should be what happens to a true convert but this alone is not proof that there has been a true change in status as a follower of Christ. A true follower of Christ will be evident by the fruit of their life in every area of life. It isn’t that we will not sin or struggle in some areas more than others but there must be a change that shows up in more ways than just some morality by keeping rules or laws.

The truth is that many of these false teachers will claim to be true Christians but their actions, their motivation and their direction of life shows something different. They preach an unbiblical Gospel, they seek for selfish and fleshly gain and as we will see in this study, they speak words that show their true nature. They are not for building the church but for flattering the people that they are influencing. The topic of the wickedness of the speech of false teacher will be what we see in this next to last study in this great letter. This brings us to look now at our first point.

1.The HARSH speech of false teachers.
Look with me at Jude vs.14-15 that says But Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, ¹⁵ to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Just like we saw a couple of studies back concerning Moses’ body, we have here something else that we can not find anywhere in the Scripture. We see that Jude says that Enoch prophesied about these men, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, ¹⁵ to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

This is not recorded anywhere in the Bible other than here. That means that God gave Jude this insight for this purpose of relating the actions of the false teachers being associated with the ungodly and wickedness that was in his time as well. The message of the prophecy from Enoch is clearly about God’s judgement on the ungodly. Of course just several generations after Enoch is taken by God, the flood happened which drowned all living creatures on the Earth. That judgement was on the ungodly and Jude speaks of a judgement that will happen again as well.

This judgement is on those that are ungodly, those that have not accepted the sacrifice of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus and have never began to follow Jesus as Lord. Jude says that Enoch’s prophecy was that God would execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

He of course is aligning these false teachers into this category as well. They will not be spared because they are not of God. They hate God, they speak evil of God and they deny His very existence. They live in ungodly passions and desires, their deeds are ungodly and the things they say are harsh. This word for harsh in the Greek indicates that they are stubborn in their ways. They stay fixed on their ways and look to discredit God by speaking evil of Him.

In reality this harsh and stubborn way of speaking against God is just one way they do this. False teachers not only will speak against God, His servants and His Word but they will also seek to point out mistakes of others in the most condemning way. This brings us to look at our next point.

2.The HYPERCRITICAL speech of false teachers.
Look with me at Jude vs16a that says These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts.

Notice that this is not the word hypocritical even though false teachers will be hypocrites but rather hypercritical. This means they are extremely critical. They seek to expose someone’s error to the point of making it out to be more than it really is. We see the word grumblers here that simply means one that is discontented. These grumblers are discontent and they verbally complain. Jude says they are those that are finding fault. The Greek word for this phrase is mempsimoiros (mem-psim’-oy-ros) which means a complaint over the allotted portion.

In other words these false teachers make excuses for their own actions. They blame others, they complain because of others. They are not content with their position in the church, they are not content with how things are done but they complain because they are not being used in the way they believe they should be. In all of this Jude says they are following after their own lusts.

If you come upon someone that is complaining over things that are of little value or importance it is because of one thing and that is their own selfish agenda. This is at the heart of every sin, this is at the heart of every complaint. If we are discontent it is because we do not trust God to provide whatever it is in the situation that we are in.

These false teachers are not happy with their lot in life so they look to elevate themselves by bringing down others. They complain about others, they put others down and they seek only their own agenda that has its foundations in their own lustful desires. They look to blame others for their faults, they complain because they are not getting their way. Their own lust drives them to do what they do and what they do is sin. James 1:13-16 says Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully matured, it brings forth death. ¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

So we see clearly that these false teachers are harsh in their words, they are hypercritical in their speech about others and now we look at another way they speak in an evil way in our next point.

3.The HAUGHTY speech of false teachers.
Look with me at Jude vs16 with the focus on the last part of the verse that says These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; and their mouth speaks arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of their own benefit.

We see here the same concept that we have seen several times with these false teachers. *False teachers are not focused on seeing others grow spiritually, they are only focused on themselves. So not only do they speak harsh and with hypercriticism but they also elevate themselves as better than the people they are putting down. In fact they look at themselves as so good and so intelligent that God gives to them special revelations. They have one goal and we see that Jude says that they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of their own benefit.

Paul warns of this very thing as well in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 where he says For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, ⁴ and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Not only was this a warning for them but for us as well.* Many of the mainstream charismatic and word of faith preachers claim to hear directly from God by dreams, visions, an internal voice, trips to Heaven and many other claims. The problem is that they aren’t even living by the standards that are in the Bible so why would God even be talking with them about anything. We know that God spoke this way in the past but that was for a time a purpose. The writer of Hebrews expresses this well by showing to us how God speaks to us now in Hebrews 1:1-3 that says God, having spoken long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ² in these last days spoke to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, ³ who is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power; who, having accomplished cleansing for sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

God speaks through God the Son, who gave to us the Holy Spirit that will bring to remembrance all that Jesus said and give to us the things we need to know for the future. That show to us the inspiration of God’s Word that has given to us all we need to know in how to live as a Christian and how to glorify God through fulfilling the great Commission. But so many false teacher are looking for a new word from God, a fresh word or a different understanding of the Word that almost always contradict the Holy Bible.

The focus of these supposed revelations is pointed towards fulfilling their own desires of popularity, wealth and being the center of attention. We need to steer clear of these false teachers because we too will easily fall into their traps. But there is one more that we need to look at concerning the false teachers speech as we look at our last point for this study.

4.The HARRASING speech of false teachers.
Look with me at Jude vs.17-19 that says But you, beloved, must remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” ¹⁹ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, not having the Spirit.

The key word we are focusing on here is the word mockers because once again we see that these mockers are following after their own ungodly lusts. This is the Greek word empaiktés (emp-aheek-tace’) that shows us that these false teachers not only speak against God and His people, not only are they critical of the very things true Christians do and teach, not only do they lift themselves above others but they speak down about true Christianity in the sense of people that follow that way is ignorant and stupid. I want to remind you also that they do this not openly and in your face but secretly and deceptive.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 says If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words—those of our Lord Jesus Christ—and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, ⁴ he is conceited, understanding nothing but having a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

This section in 1 Timothy gives to us a great summary of what we see here in Jude. These false teachers are preaching and teaching a different doctrine other that the true Gospel, they are self seeking, misguiding others and live in ungodly sinful passions. They may seem good on the outside but inwardly they are evil and malicious. Jesus speaks of false teachers and warns us by saying in Matthew 7:15 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

We need to really look at the motivation of these false teachers and make sure that anyone we are following is in fact teaching sound doctrine. This is not a call to nitpick every difference we may have with someone in ministry but it is a call to protect the truth of the Gospel. Jude says to us at the beginning of this section to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what we need to do and not look for some new word.

Those that preach a different Gospel are those Jude says that causing divisions, worldly-minded, not having the Spirit.

They do not want unity even if they say they do. They do not want you to grow spiritually, they keep you focused on the world’s way of doing things. Jude associates these once again as those that do not have the Spirit, simply because they are not true Christians. Please take this as a warning and look at those you listen to, that may be your pastor, your small group leader, spouse or friend. If we find them to teach anything other than the true Gospel then we must lovingly go to them to share with them their wrong. If they will not listen then this is a good indication that they are in this category of being a false convert and false teacher. Seek to reach them with the true Gospel message.