Modern Day Hirelings - Live with Lon! 2/5/2023

Well hello everybody and welcome to Live with Lon. I'm so glad that you're with us today and we are studying the Bible. What do we study?

Say it with me. The Bible, the whole, come on, the whole Bible, nothing but the Bible and then we apply to our life or we ask the question, so what? So that's what we're going to do again today and we do exegetical expository Bible teaching. Going through the passage of scripture verse by verse and getting into the verse, exegeting the verse, pulling the meaning out of the verse, putting it back together, applying it to our lives. That's the way we believe the Bible ought to be preached and that's the way we do it.

So, are you ready? We're in John chapter 10, as you know, the Good Shepherd chapter, so let's pray and get into it. Dear Lord Jesus, open our hearts, our minds and our spirits to your word today. Help us to grasp the spiritual intensity and truth of your word and we pray this in Jesus' name and everybody said Amen and what?

Amen. Now, John chapter 10, we are in the chapter about the Good Shepherd and of course the New Testament. This is the New King James version of the Bible and I want to read to you, we've already read the whole section, but I want to read to you the section we're on today.

The title of my message today is Modern Day Hirelings. John chapter 10, beginning at verse 11. I am the Good Shepherd, Jesus speaking. The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling, there's our word, and not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.

The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. But I am the Good Shepherd and I know my sheep and I am known by them. He knows me even so I know the Father and I lay my life down for the sheep. Now what does Jesus mean when he said he lays his life down for the sheep? Well of course he's talking about the cross and dying on the cross as we said last week to purchase our salvation. No one took his life from him. He laid it down of his own accord and he took it back up because he was a second person in the cross.

God had by his own accord in power. But laying your life down for the sheep means in general, not just the cross, but it means in general protecting the sheep, defending the sheep, fighting to keep the sheep safe and to keep them in a place that their well-being is taken care of. This is what it means to lay your life down. For the sheep it means to be totally invested in the welfare, not of yourself, but of the sheep. The hireling is totally invested in the welfare of himself. So instead of staying and fighting a wolf, which by the way is a daunting task. Wolves usually hunt in packs, taking on a wolf pack as a shepherd. If you lay your life at risk, the hireling runs away.

Why? Because his first priority is himself, his own welfare, his own well-being, but the shepherd of the sheep. The good shepherd. His priority is the well-being of the sheep and the welfare of the sheep and the safety of the sheep. We who are in the church today, whether you're a Bible study leader, or a small group leader, or a Sunday school leader, or a youth coach in a high school ministry leader, or a pastor, or a seminary professor, or whoever you may be, we who assume leadership in the ministry of the gospel, we are expected to care for the sheep the same way the Lord Jesus did. Remember what he said to Peter three times, care for my sheep.

Take care of my sheep. Remember John chapter 21. So this is what I want to talk about today. And I want to give a message today that has a prophetic flavor to it. And it's a hard message. It's an admonishing message. It's a rebuking message.

But it's a needed message. Remember what Paul told Timothy. Let's put it on the screen. 2 Timothy chapter 4. He said, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead and his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word. Now watch.

Be ready in season, out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching. And that's what I want to do today. I want to fulfill that part of the Apostle Paul's charge. So before we do that, let's ask our most important question today. What is it? Come on now. You know what it is.

Nice and loud. 1, 2, 3, Solve what? What is the prophetic message for today from these verses about hirelings in John chapter 10? Well, I want to continue on with the next couple of verses from 2 Timothy four. Look, verse three. For the time will come when they meaning Christians and people will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own lusts because they have itching ears. They will heap up for themselves teachers who will scratch their itching ears and tell them what they want to hear. And they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.

But you be watchful in all things. You know, I had a woman call me up just a week or so ago, and she was inquiring about our trip to the Holy Land. And after we got through talking about that, she asked me a question or she really made a comment, actually. And she said, You know, I'm very concerned about the state of the church today in America.

My friends, I said to her, I called her by name and I said, You know what? You are preaching to the choir, ma'am. I am deeply troubled by the status of the Evangelical Church in our world today. Now, I'm not talking about the liberal church. The liberal church has always been around since I've been a Christian. And yes, I'm troubled by them.

But they they're they're their own unique beast. And they confronted the world and and confronted sin and confronted liberalism. And defended the sheep. And looked out for the welfare of the sheep. And warned the sheep where the the alligators were in this world.

So they didn't step on one. They connected the sheep with their own lives and reputations. Something's happened to the Evangelical Church, in my opinion. Not to every church.

I understand that. There are still many churches who are standing and doing it the way the Lord said. But, folks, we've moved from a position where in the 1970s, pretty much any Bible church you walked in, you knew that you were going to meet a real shepherd who was really taking care of his sheep. Almost any Southern Baptist church you walked into, you knew the very same thing. You'd meet a real shepherd taking care of his sheep.

And on and on we go. You know, this was assumed. This was understood. Almost any evangelical seminary you went to, you were going to be taught to be a good shepherd and to defend your sheep and teach them properly. Something's happened. And I know you can say to me, Lon, you're just an old man and you're being negative and you're being judgmental and bitter. Folks, may I say to you, yeah, okay, I'm an old man.

But I'm not bitter and I am not negative. And yes, I'm being judgmental, but when Matthew chapter 7, when Jesus said, do not judge lest you be judged, he's not talking about judging theology because we're commanded in the scripture to test the spirits and make sure which ones of them are from God. I mean, look at 1 John chapter 4 verse 1.

Let me put it on the screen. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits where they are of God because many false prophets have gone out into this world. So we're commanded to judge, pass judgment on people's theological position and on how they are doing the work of God. That is not contrary to scripture. Matthew chapter 7 is talking about judging people on a personal level, how their hair looks, what kind of car they drive, what kind of shoes they wear. You understand?

This is okay what we're doing. You also might say to me, well, who gives you the right, what qualifications do you have to make these, to pass those judgments? Well, I mean, I don't mean this wrongly, but I've been in the ministry for over 50 years. I've been a seminary, not just a student, but a professor.

I've been in the pastoral ministry for over 45 years. I've seen a lot and I know right from wrong and I know truth from error and I know false teaching from true theology and I know false prophets from true prophets. Listen to what Peter said, 2 Peter chapter 2, but as there were also false prophets among the people of Israel, even so there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed and by covetousness, greediness, they will exploit you with deceptive words.

Wow. And finally, in Acts chapter 20 verse 29, for I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will coming among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them, therefore watch. If we follow our definition that a hireling is someone who does not put the welfare of the sheep ahead of their own welfare, who does not put the care of the sheep ahead of their own agenda, then what are they doing to identify themselves as being a hireling?

Well, I've got a list that I made and I want to share it with you. Number one, let me tell you what a hireling does here in the 21st century, whether they're a seminary professor, whether they are pastor, whether they are a small group leader, whether they are a Bible study leader, whether they're on television being a woman's leader, whether they're on television being a men's leader, whether they're a teenage minister, doesn't matter whether they're a conference speaker. Number one, here are the marks of a hireling today. Number one, a hireling denies that Jesus is the only way to get salvation, eternal life and heaven. A hireling is a person who will tell you and teach you that there are many ways to get to God and Jesus is not the only way and that if a person is sincere in another religion, God will take that person to heaven if they never trust Christ. Why is that person a hireling? Because this is not looking out for the welfare of the sheep.

The welfare of the sheep depends on knowing how we're going to get to heaven and how we get eternal life and knowing the correct answer to that question. And the hireling is giving them false teaching. The hireling is misleading them. The hireling is lying to them. And why would he do that?

Why would she do that? Well, there are probably many reasons but one of them is to be popular, to be accepted, to draw more people, to come listen to them so that they become more exalted in the eyes of the world. I have 45,000 people listening to me. I have 10-12,000 people coming every Sunday to my church. I've got the largest ministry of this, that or the other thing.

No. You know what? There used to be in this particular magazine a listing every year of the 100 biggest churches in America and other things that they kept. But this was the main list. The 100 largest churches in America. There was a time where McLean Bible Church I believe was at number 13. There was a time when McLean Bible Church was the largest church between North Carolina and Canada and from the Atlantic Ocean to Chicago.

Yeah. But you know what? By the grace of God given to me, we never compromised the gospel and the exclusivity of Christ for salvation ever. We told people on the radio, we told people on Not A Sermon Just A Thought, we told people from the pulpit that the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus alone and everyone else is lost and going to hell for eternity. And we never changed that message. Yes, we grew large, but we didn't grow large by tampering with the gospel.

However, many people, their goal is to be high on that list to make tremendous accolades. And to do that, they tamper with the exclusivity of Christ. This is a hireling. This is not a shepherd. Number two, hirelings are men and women who will tell you that hell is not real, that Satan is not real, that these are myths, that these are fantasies, and that God loves people so much he would never send anybody to hell. This is a hireling because the truth is God is a God, yes, of love, but he is also a God of holiness and justice and righteousness. And if a person is not covered by the blood of Jesus Christ when they go out of this world, his justice and his righteousness and his holiness will judge them and send them to eternity in hell. Friends, the Bible is absolutely clear about this over and over and over again. Jesus said it and the whole New Testament says it.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. And if you don't follow me, Jesus said, you're going to a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth and agony forever. The hireling doesn't preach that.

No, no. The hireling wants to be popular. So he or she tells people there's no real hell. There's no real Satan and demons and this whole evil of kingdom opposing the Lord. Folks, the greatest thing Satan ever did was convince the world he doesn't exist.

And second of all, convince the world that hell doesn't exist, because if hell doesn't exist, then, you know, I can do whatever I want with impunity. And one of the greatest reasons to come to Christ has just been taken away. The fear of going to hell brings many a person to faith in Christ.

And if there is no such fear, many people will not come. Number three, a hireling tells people that works, human works, count in terms of your eternal life, your salvation, and going to heaven. They preach that doing good things and saying the rosary and being confirmed and being bar mitzvahed and serving the Lord in a church somewhere and giving lots of money, this is a big one, to them, that this will help earn you favor with God. Let me say there's not a thing wrong with all those things I just mentioned, but they are results of salvation.

They are not the cause of it. And letting people think that their human effort has anything to do with salvation is misleading the sheep and deceiving the sheep away from trusting Christ alone plus nothing for your salvation. Number four, the hireling tells people that the Bible is not the inspired, inerrant Word of God. He or she tells people that there could be errors in the Bible. They tell people that the Bible is a nice book, but it's not the absolute words of Almighty God put down on paper.

And once you do that, why is that a problem? Folks, that is a problem because that means how can we trust what Jesus says about heaven if the Bible could be mistaken. And all the commands the Bible gives us to teach us how to live a holy life, they become superfluous and bendable and changeable and ignorable if the Bible is not the inerrant Word of God. I remember when I was a young Christian, I came up to the Washington area and I fell in with a wonderful group of Christians my age in their teens and early 20s that were gathering around a gentleman named Bob Porter at the King's Inn down on King Street in Alexandria. Bob Porter was a baseball player who had wrecked his knee, become an alcoholic selling insurance, and then got saved by listening to Billy Graham on the television one night.

He fell on his knees and gave his life to Christ. And then he went in to a full-time street evangelism ministry. And we would meet there and we would have Bible study there. Well anyway, long story short, there was a pastor at a Presbyterian church in Falls Church, Virginia, who knew about our group and wanted our little group of young people, maybe a dozen, to come and be part of leading the youth group in his church and helping them become more populous and whatever. So I insisted, I wasn't really the leader, but I insisted that we send several representatives to go meet with this pastor before we just agreed to do it.

Sounded like a wonderful offer, he was going to give us a place to meet, blah blah blah. And as we were sitting there talking to him, I said to him, maybe I had too much hubris, I don't know, I was 22, he was probably 50, and you know, was the pastor of this church, and I said, so tell me, sir, do you believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God, before we cement this deal? And baby, did he begin waffling. He said, well, you know, all this waffling nonsense. And I said yes, but no, I just need a yes or a no.

Do you believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God? And he said no. And I said, okay guys, we're out of here.

And the couple of people who were with me was like, well, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. You know, maybe we can work with, and I said, uh-uh, no way, uh-uh, this man's a hireling. Imagine the audacity to call him that, but he was, this man's a hireling, and we are not allying ourself with a hireling.

And we're leaving, and boom, we were gone. Folks, anybody who teaches people that the Bible is not the inerrant, inspired, infallible Word of God, is a hireling. They're not defending and protecting their sheep by teaching them to live under the authority of the Word of God.

All right, next one is, now I'm going to get into some specific issues. Any spiritual leader, any pastor who teaches people that abortion is okay, that gay rights is okay, that gay marriage is okay, is a hireling. This is not true. Abortion is not okay. It's murder. And yes, can you be forgiven if you have an abortion? Of course. Can we have open arms to help people and recover from that emotional disaster? Yes, of course that's what we do as the church. I mean, I forced my girlfriend in 1969 to abort our first, what would have been my first child. So when I came to Christ, I had an abortion in my background. But, even though we help them, do we condone abortion? No. Is a woman's right to her body, does that supersede the idea that this child, defenseless child, is going to be murdered?

No, it does not supersede that. I'm sorry. And anyone who teaches that is a hireling. They are not only teaching what will harm this woman, because the emotional disaster of having an abortion, of aborting your own child, is well documented.

But, they're killing these children. This is not the Good Shepherd's ministry and gay rights, although it's become out of control in our country in the last 10-15 years. Everything I watch on TV now, it seems like there's always some kind of gay representation.

In a commercial, two men are shown along with other couples kissing each other and selling this product. In shows, all over TV, even the Hallmark Channel, oh my gosh, has gone to this. This is not okay. This is not acceptable to God. He makes it very clear in the Bible, in the Old Testament, in Romans chapter 1, in other passages, this is not okay. And a pastor who doesn't stand for that and declare that abortion is murder and sin, and that homosexual behavior is an offense to God, an abomination to God, and sin, this man or woman is a hireling. And they're not protecting their sheep from being drawn into these things and bringing great emotional and spiritual disaster on their lives. You say, whoa baby, you wound up today. Well, I've been saving this one and thinking about it.

Only got a couple more. And let me just say before I move on, anybody, any preacher who tells his sheep that it's okay to vote for a politician who supports abortion, that it's okay to vote for a politician who supports gay rights. That's preposterous. This is nonsense. What pastor would do something like that and put these people in office to advance an agenda that is totally contrary not only to the teachings of the Bible, but to the welfare of all of the sheep. What pastor would do this? And I've heard about pastors who have written articles and books saying these are the fight, abortion and homosexual rights are the fight of the old fundamentalists from 50 years ago, like Jerry Falwell and many others.

And today we've moved beyond that and to vote for a politician who supports justice and this and that and the other thing is more important than worrying about where they stand with abortion and homosexuality. This is nonsense. It's crazy. Any pastor who tells you that is a hireling. Last of all, let's stop.

I got two more. Number six, any pastor, any spiritual leader who tells you to flaunt your Christian liberty is a hireling. I had a person call me on the phone not long ago and said, I got to ask you a question because maybe I'm wrong. And I said, okay, what's the problem? And they said, my church, my pastor, they are teaching that we have liberty in Christ to do anything. I said, well, that is true.

I have a series called Gray Matters on my website where I proclaim the very same thing that there is not a thing you can do. You have liberty to lose your salvation. But that is not the emphasis of the scripture to go out and flaunt your rights. The emphasis of the scripture is we need to understand how free we are in Christ, but then we need to limit those liberties for our own benefit, our own welfare and the welfare of others. Paul says in proclaiming our liberty, all things are legal for me, but not all things are profitable.

All things are permissible to me, he says in 1 Corinthians 8 through 10, but not everything is judicious, smoking cigars and cigarettes. Is this legal? Yes. Is it permissible? Yes. Is smoking in the best interest of my health?

No. Doesn't mean that it's profitable. How about gambling? You know how many people have gambling addictions, my friends?

It would shock you. And you know what that does to a person? They gamble away their whole salary before they get home from work on a Friday. Their families suffer. They suffer.

They get into debt to people that you don't want to get into debt to. And it's a horrible thing, gambling addiction. But is it okay for a pastor to tell people, hey, gambling's fine. Don't worry about it. Go to Las Vegas.

Have fun. Now, you know what? For many people, they'll go to Las Vegas, lose $100, come home, no big deal.

But for many people, other people, they'll go and that'll be the opening of the door for Satan to hook them and pull them in to something that will destroy their life. A pastor who tells people, go to Las Vegas, have fun. Is this person looking out for the welfare of the sheep? No. This pastor is trying to be, or this teacher is trying to be, oh, very modern, very unlegalistic, very unjudgmental.

You know, very cool and with it and chic. Friends, there's nothing chic about sin that hooks people and destroys their lives. Alcohol. You know how many people's lives have been ruined by alcohol?

Millions and millions and millions. And now we've got legal marijuana and gummies. Is this okay for pastors to encourage and allow, tell their people to do? This person would call me on the phone, said, you know, I understand the idea of liberty, but my church is having a whiskey and cigar night that's being sponsored by the church. It's being announced from the pulpit for all your friends to come to a whiskey and cigar night.

Bring your unsaved friends and show them how cool our church is and how unjudgmental our church is. Whiskey and cigar night. She said, am I wrong for saying I see a problem with this? And I said, no, ma'am, you are not wrong.

You are not wrong. If you want to exercise your liberty and go out and have a whiskey in your home, that's your business. If you want to smoke a cigar in your back porch, that's your business. Is it permissible to you to do this? Yes. But to have a church sponsor a whiskey and cigar night, is this profitable?

I don't believe so. To have a church sponsor a poker night, come, we're all going to play poker and we're all going for money. Is this okay? Is it okay you want to play poker in your basement with a couple of friends?

Sure. Do you want your church to sponsor this and bring in people who maybe have just kicked the gambling habit and now because the church says it's okay, Satan hooks them and draws them back or an alcohol problem or a smoking problem or whatever? This is a hireling who flaunts liberty and tells you to flaunt liberty. The emphasis of the Bible is not to flaunt the liberty we have, but rather to limit it for our safety and the safety of others. This is what, this is the emphasis of the apostle Paul. Listen to Galatians chapter 5 verse 1, stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free. Okay, he's proclaiming liberty, but now listen to verse 13, for you brethren, look at this, we'll put it up, have been called to liberty. All right, we know that, watch, only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Do not use your liberty as an opportunity to feed the flesh, but serve one another by limiting it if it might harm somebody else. Finally, number seven is a hireling does not preach hard against sin or teach hard against sin. A hireling focuses only on one side of the attributes of God, his mercy, his love, his forgiveness, his kindness, his benevolence.

Okay, that is certainly, all that's certainly true of God, but there's another side of the attributes of God, his holiness, his righteousness, his justice, his judgment. And hirelings don't preach that side, they don't get up in the pulpit and teach the Bible verse by verse where you're forced to come and grapple with many of the areas where God is saying no, no, no. This is wrong. This is unholy. This is on Christ-like. No, don't do this. And you won't hear a hireling getting up and preaching hard against sin.

You just won't. Partly so they'll attract more people and their church goes up on the hundred churches list, but preaching hard against sin is defending the sheep. Preaching hard against sin is protecting your sheep.

Why? Because when we're drawn into sin, we get entangled in it, Paul says, and we become a slave to it, the Lord Jesus said. Listen to what he said in John chapter 8 verse 34, Jesus answered them and said, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin becomes a slave of sin. And man, I know about this firsthand from my life before I came to Christ, I was a slave to sin, to womanizing, to drinking, to drugs, to gambling, to lying, to cheating, to man, you name it. I was a slave to it all. And only the Lord Jesus coming in my life set me free.

But here's the point. Once you're free, you can be reentangled again in sin and become a slave to it again. This is what the Bible says. Galatians chapter 5 verse 1, stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free.

Okay, now watch. And do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Now he's not talking specifically here about a specific sin, but the idea is once we're free, we can be reentangled.

And how do we not do that? Well, among other things, we need a preacher. We need a Bible teacher.

We need a spiritual leader who's reminding us week after week what sin looks like, what sin is, and who hits it hard without compromise. Yes, there's love in that church. Yes, there's forgiveness in that church.

Yes, there is compassion in that church. But there's also a direct, serious, clear line between holiness and sin. And it comes from the pulpit. It comes from the lectern. And in seminary, it comes from the professors who understand this.

Hirelings don't preach hard against sin. In fact, they do topical messages, four-part topical messages that are all aimed at making you feel good. But I've never seen a four-part topical message on lust and uncleanness. I've never seen a four-part topical message on greed and usury. I've never seen a four-part topical message on lack of forgiveness and slander and gossip. You know, four-part topical message, gossip, part one, slander, part one, lack of forgiveness, part one, bitterness, part one, four parts.

Where that's hammered, that forgiveness and watching what we say, you know, I mean, I'm terrible with saying things that I shouldn't say about other people. And I need to hear from the pulpit. This is wrong. This is sin. This is offensive to God. It helps me.

It helps me as a sheep. But a hireling won't stand up there and preach like that. Too worried about losing people from the church. And by the way, I didn't even mention pornography, which is another thing that needs to be preached hard against.

What just happened, my friends, is God just has given me such a burden for our churches and where we are today. None of this would have been true of the evangelical fundamental church 50 years ago, what I just said. None of the pastors in those churches 50 years ago would have been guilty of doing what I just said a hireling does.

I visited many of them, Baptist, independent, Southern Baptist, Bible churches, whatever. These people stood and they protected their sheep. They stood and they they set up a perimeter around their sheep.

They loved their sheep. Hirelings love themselves when it really comes down to it. And there's way too many hirelings that have worked their way into leadership in the evangelical church, into pastorates, into seminaries.

So I don't know, maybe nobody will ever hear this and it just makes me feel better to share it with you. But friends, we need to pray that God sends a revival and we need to pray that God runs these hirelings out of leadership in the evangelical church. And many of you know, some of the hirelings I'm talking about, people who used to preach hard against gay rights. And now they're saying it's fine. People who used to preach hard against abortion.

And now they're saying women's rights come first. People who used to preach the exclusivity of Christ hard. And now they're saying, well, maybe not. And the inerrancy of the scripture hard. And now they're saying, well, maybe not. And the reality of hell hard.

And now they're saying, maybe not. Friends, if you can't throw that hireling out of the church, you're going to get out of that church and go find a real shepherd for the sheep. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, use what I've said today as a prophetic message. And I pray that at least those of us who hear it will be attuned to what a hireling looks like today.

A modern day hireling. And if nothing else, that we will remove ourselves from that person's ministry. We will not be their sheep, but we will go find a shepherd who will look out for the welfare of the sheep above the welfare of himself or herself. Lord Jesus, thank you for your word. May it bear fruit today, we pray in Jesus name. Amen and Amen. God bless you. See you next week, Lord willing.