so Greetings from the Household of Faith in Christ. I'm Troy Skinner. Many of you know me. Some of them, I'm not sure I recognize all of these faces. I'm the pastor of Household of Faith in Christ. I'm also the host of a radio program that's aired on WFMD for the last 17 1⁄2 years called the Frederick Faith Debate. It airs on Sunday mornings. And this is, I think, the 17th or 18th time I've had the privilege of preaching here over the last 10, 12, 13 years, whatever it is now. So it's always an honor to be invited to share the truth of God's Word with you today. I mentioned last time I was here, I think it was about a month ago, that there is a theological war that is being waged in the American church right now. And believe it or not, I mentioned this last time, I'll mention it again this time, something that's related to the heart of the controversy is the book and the movie The Shack. It's not that it sparked the controversy, but it's become kind of an emblem of so many things that are involved in the controversy. And we all find ourselves in the center of it, whether we know it or not. And so tonight I am gonna be personally standing in the center of it again as I stand upon the word of God and possibly stand in the middle of some crossfire on some of these issues. And so as I say these sorts of things, You know, there are some people that are concerned that the universal church is becoming the universalist church. And a poster child for these concerns, or one of the poster children for these concerns, is the shack. And so, why I'm concerned about how it could be related, received by people who are here, is because some people hear about the voicing of these concerns, and their response is immediately to say, oh, nonsense, are you kidding me? Seriously, it's just a book and a movie, and it's actually a pretty good darn book and a pretty darn good movie, so what's your problem? But amazingly, even though it's all these years later, the Apostle John, if he were around today, he would have something to say about these sorts of things. And that's what I'm trying to capture and what I'm going to share. When I've come here in the past, there's always a concern that the gospel could cause offense, but I have never myself thought that I was going to personally cause offense. The only time I've felt that way here before was the last time I was here when I wasn't sure how many real big-time fans or critics of the book that there were. This time I feel a little bit more secure, but there's some faces here this time that weren't here last time, and so you might get mad at me. I'm just telling you I'm doing my darndest to tell you what the truth of the matter is based on the Bible. So the message tonight is going to have some things to do with this sort of stuff. I have preached an awful lot here on the epistles of John, as it turns out. And we've covered pretty much all of the epistles of John during the dozen or so years that I've been coming here. And so this is kind of a capper on applying some of the things that we know to be true from the epistles of John to real life situations. So anyway, with that as a precursor to what we're doing, if everybody who's able would stand, we'll sing our opening hymn and we'll begin our worship time together. Our first hymn is number 160. There is a fountain filled with blood. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's face, and sinners' blood In even blood, lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their guilty stains. And sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. The dying King rejoiced to see a fountain in His name. And there may I, the guide of my feet, wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away. Dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power. Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. Be saved to sin no more. Be saved to sin no more. All the ransomed, Church of God, be safe to sin no more. Heav'n sends Thy faith, Christ of the stream, Thy flowing wounds supply. Redeeming love has bent my feet, and shall be till I die. ♪ And shall be till I die ♪ ♪ And shall be till I die ♪ ♪ Redeeming love has been my theme ♪ ♪ And shall be till I die ♪ This poor little thing, stand and break down, thy silent hymn of praise. Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save. I'll sing thy power to save. I'll sing thy power to save. Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save. Everyone may be seated. So at this point, usually somebody has some announcements related to Fairview Chapel, upcoming speakers or things happening in the life of what happens here with the ministry. Is there somebody who's been designated to do that this week? I think I'm elected. You're elected. It's unanimous, I'm sure. Well, I'd like to thank you for coming out, Steve. Kind of chilly and windy, but I appreciate you coming out. Next week, Patrick Sullivan will be here. And the following week, we'll have the Bluegrass group will be coming down. And we had a sample here a couple of weeks ago. Okay, sounds like a very nice lineup. Yeah, so I was actually doing my, mapping my plan for our church in the coming weeks and it kind of caught me. I thought for some reason I had one more week than I did. And I was like, oh, I don't have one more week, so I got to adjust my plans a little bit. So anyway, okay. Any other announcements or? Well, I would kind of like to share one. Holy Week, I know it's not, you know, we're affiliated with the New Market Church, but the Mount Pleasant and Walkersville churches are going to combine to do a Good Friday cantata that I get to conduct, so I don't get to do that much, so that should be fun. Yeah, that's exciting. But it'll still be nice. When's it gonna be at? Is it gonna be at the Walkersville? It will be at Walkersville, 7 o'clock on Good Friday. Okay. Yeah, I think I've seen her, heard her work a few times. She makes me feel good. Okay. Well, at this point, I'm assuming there's somebody here that's planning to be called upon to act as the usher and take up the offerings, the gifts to the ministry here at Fairview Chapel. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to have the offering collected. We're going to do that in silence so we can kind of have some weight and gravity. We can meditate upon what's happening here because what's happening here is that we are giving back to God just a microscopic part of the incredible blessings he's already given us. And when we give to support the advancement of the work of the kingdom, it's an act of worship. And so it's not just an act of gratitude, but it's an act of worship. So I would like us to be thinking about that during this time. Once the offering is taken up, whoever's taking, is it you that's, you're doing double duty today? Okay, if you could wait at the back until we're ready, the music will start as we sing the doxology, we'll come forward and we'll pray over the offering and that sort of thing. Does that sound good to everybody? All right. All of you can stand. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen! Father, we lift up these gifts and offerings to you, ask your blessing upon them. We ask that you would give an extra measure of wisdom to those who are responsible for managing these funds, that they would have great discernment and put them to good use for helping to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to a world that so much needs to hear that good news. We thank you for the faithful who are involved in this ministry, that they will be encouraged by those people who continue to support financially the work that is going on here to keep this little chapel going after all these years. We thank you for the presence of your Holy Spirit with us here tonight. We ask that you would help us to feel it profoundly as we move forward with the continuing of our worship here. We lift all these things up to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Everyone may be seated if you like. So as is my habit here, and it's my habit whenever there's a gathering of like, you know, 20, 30 people or less, to have the prayers of people be the prayers of the people. So rather than having a messenger, somebody like me who voices those for the people, actually have the people voice them themselves, those who are comfortable. So we're gonna do what some people have called the popcorn style prayer. Teresa, if you would maybe open us with prayers, I know you're comfortable doing. And anybody after that who want to go in turn and pray aloud, you are welcome and encouraged to do so. If you're not comfortable for whatever reason, I would encourage you to try to get out of your comfort zone and then maybe try it for the first time if it is your first time. And if not, God hears your silent prayers as well. But I just want to encourage you that there is an edification that happens for all of God's people when they hear prayers be voiced by those that are there. But if that's not where you are, no pressure, no condemnation if you don't. And then after a period of time, I will close us in prayer when we're forward from that. Father God, I come to you with joy and thanksgiving for the privilege of coming into your presence. We just pray that the Holy Spirit fall upon each of us as we're in this place and unites us in your love, Lord. We have so much to be grateful for, Lord, and one thing I am grateful for is this place of worship that has stood here for so long. and for your word that is proclaimed here, and for all the voices that come and proclaim it. We're grateful for Troy tonight, and we're grateful for all those who come and share your holy word with us. And Lord, I am especially thankful this week that you have guided my daughter into the next step of her journey, that she did receive an internship. And Lord, we know that that's all in your hands. We're just very grateful. I think I shared with some last week that she found her keys that had been missing for two and a half months. Lord, we just knew that was a sign that you hold her future and all of our futures, the keys to our future, in your hands. So we are just grateful, Lord, and give you thanks and praise. God take care of prayer warrior and his dear wife, Sasha, who's in the hospital. Take care of Stanley and Rose Martin, Stacey, Rose Martin, from medical problems. Lord, we ask you to be with all those faithful ones that aren't with us tonight for whatever reason. Todd, Beth, Lisa, Donny. Lord, give them a special touch and just let them know that you love them and we love them too. Father, you are such a good God. And we know that you love your people so much. We wish that we were able to love you back as well as you love us. We know that through your Holy Spirit, you equip us to progress in our sanctification so that with each passing day, We can learn to do that better. We can grow in our love for you. And as an extension of that, love others around us better. There is much need for love in this world. Love that is expressed unashamedly, backed by the rock solid truth of your word. We ask that you would give your people all around the world in this nation more particularly, and in this community specifically, a boldness and a conviction of the faith that we have as followers of Jesus Christ, knowing that your promises are true, and that our need is desperate. There are lost and wandering people all around us who think they have answers, and we know from your word that they do not. They are deceived, they are deluded, Perhaps they are under attack from the devil. And they're blinded, they don't see. And we are called to be light in this world. Help us not to hide our light under the bushel basket, but to put it on the lampstand for all the world to see. And for us to recognize not just the need for the truth, but what the truth is. May I ask that you would give us the renewed spirit of commitment to press into your word daily, to seek your face in prayer, recurringly, without ceasing in our lives. That we would know that you have made us fearfully and wonderfully in your image. But because of sin, we now have a marred version of that image, and that's why we're so desperately in need of the cross of Jesus Christ. But there is the cross of Jesus Christ. Now to gratitude for that, we seek to serve you and do the work that you have privileged us to do in spreading the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, knowing that one day, Our Lord, Savior, our King, he will return. And we'll spend eternity with him in glory. For none of the present day struggles and challenges that we face, whether they be geopolitical, war-torn ravages around the world, church being persecuted, disease, sickness, depression, All that will be no more. Everything will be set the way you originally intended to be from the very start. And we get to be a part of that because you choose to honor us with the privilege of being useful to you as a means of accomplishing your will in this world. Help us not to take that for granted. Thank you for hearing the words spoken and unspoken to you in this time of prayer. We know that we can come before you, that we do come before you humbly, but we can come before you boldly as well, because you tell us that if we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, that you hear our prayers. And so Lord, we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's sing our second hymn for the evening. This one's gonna be number 154, 154, Beneath the Cross of Jesus. Oh, so Jesus, I think, would take my stand. The shadow of my dear love within a weary land. Oh, within the wilderness, a rest so long away, from the burning of the new-time heat and the burning of the day. Upon the cross of Jesus, my eyes at times can see, The very life-force of one who shall prepare for me. And from my smitten heart with tears to wonders I confess, the wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness. I take across my shadow your mind, a hiding place. I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face. Content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss. My sinful self, my only shame, my glory on the cross. Everyone may be seated. Unless you prefer to stand, I don't know. There might be somebody here who prefers, I don't know. Something I wanted to mention during the announcements and I forgot, we have a, it would have been perfect during the announcements. Our church is hosting, in certain circles, a relatively well-known name. I'm not sure people in this room would know who he is, but his name is John Harris. He has a website that he does a regular blog called Worldview Conversations. He has a podcast called Conversations That Matter. He is the author of two books that have done pretty well. One of the most noteworthy is called Social Justice Goes to Church. He has produced two documentaries. The best of those two documentaries, in my opinion, is one called Paint the Wall Black. I'm mentioning these things in case any of you is like, I think I've heard about that or anything. For my money, he is probably on the list, the short list of maybe the five most knowledgeable men in the entire country on the issue of social justice, particularly as it relates to what's going on in the church. And it's been a big issue in the church, in the community. It's been a big issue in the school systems and political dialogue and stuff. And there's a lot of new language that's become very invoked the last few years. It can be very confusing. And so if you're interested in learning kind of the nuts and bolts, what some of these terms mean, and that sort of thing, he's going to be speaking at our church, which is a house church, so at my home, on April 23rd. It's a Saturday evening. So if anybody's interested, when we wrap up today, I can give you some more information. and that sort of thing. The plan is for him to do a prepared hour-long presentation, and then they have an hour to an hour and a half for Q&A, so people can maybe ask specific questions they might have about it. It's a rare opportunity. I had him as a guest on my radio show a couple years ago, and I kind of played that angle, said, hey, remember me? Just a little small house church, but he's touring the country right now. He was just in Austin, Texas, uh, doing an event there, uh, last week. And, uh, his travel schedule allowed him to kind of divert and come to the Frederick area on April 23rd. So it's a pretty cool thing. I'm excited that he could come and serve our community, uh, that way. So if anybody's interested in learning more about that particular issue, this is a really good opportunity to do that. So anyway, forgive me for not mentioning that at a more appropriate time than right before the sermon. 1 John 2, it says, I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 1 John 4 says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. for many false prophets have gone out into the world. Second John says, the elder to the elect lady and her children whom I love in the truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever. Third John says, for I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. The Epistles of John emphasize the fact of Jesus Christ's identity as the Son of God. And these letters emphasize the importance of obedience to this Messiah, our King. And the Apostle John also emphasizes the importance of mimicking the love of our Lord and Savior. Those are the big themes in his letters. Now last month when I was here, we took a rather extended peek at the very successful book and movie and phenomenon, let's be honest, called The Shack. And when I was here, we spent time, I did anyway, lauding The Shack for highlighting the love of our Creator, our Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. But we also drew attention to reasons for having concerns about the shack, for potentially having an unbiblical bias, and therefore an unbiblical agenda. And this is important for Christians to grapple with because the Apostle John, in his three letters that we still have preserved for us in our New Testament today, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, An important part of our New Testament canon, unfortunately one of the more neglected parts of our canon, but an important part of our canon nonetheless, they emphasize the truth, the importance of the truth. Does the shack teach the truth? Some, yes, but not all. Now, a quick refresher, or maybe it's an introduction for those that aren't familiar with the book and the movie. The shack tells a story of a man named Mac. He has a six-year-old daughter who's kidnapped and murdered in an old shack in the middle of the woods. And this causes Mac to enter into what the author, William Paul Young, describes as the great sadness. And you might relate. Mac's life, it feels inside out. It doesn't seem normal anymore if it ever was. And he questions what he was taught in church and at seminary. And he wonders if it's all a dream, a hoax, a hallucination, a nightmare. Is God toying with him? And his relationship with his wife, his other children, it gets weakened through this experience. And Mac, he finds no answers from his pastor, no answers from the Fellowship of Believers at Worship Service, and this is mostly because his congregation is really more of a religious social club than a church. And so he's not certain of anything anymore. He's not even certain of a distinction between the irrational and the rational. And at this point in the story, Mac receives a letter in the mail from someone who's named Papa. Mack wonders, is it the killer? Or is it God? I wonder if it's the devil. Mack says on page 71, part of me would like to believe that God would care enough about me to send a note. Like 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, maybe? And he wonders if Papa will have a long, white beard, or maybe he'll be a bright light or some sort of burning flame, something like that. Anyway, that gives you a sense of what's going on in the story. So with that, we'll conclude our sad recap setup. This, you can see, though, this is an achy, breaky heart sort of a story of hurt and doubt, right? And it's so relatable. And this is what makes the shack popular. It is so powerful a scenario this story is, isn't it? And this is what makes the shack dangerous. If what it teaches about God is not true. The book does admit to the presence of evil in the world. And it honestly acknowledges the brokenness and deadness of living in an evil world, and so two points in the Shack's favor there. And it calls attention to the dead and empty evil horror of the demonic that might tempt us, might dare us all to, on rare occasion, shout at God, I hate you. to blame God, to think of God as indifferent, to doubt that God even exists. And that would mean then that we exist in kind of a black chasm of darkness. There's no God. Right? No God. That would suck any last vestiges of hope we might've had remaining in our heart. And that's where he is. And Mac's only hope is for God to come and find him and show himself as a God who brings life in order out of despondency and chaos. And this is kind of what happens in the shack. And maybe Mac is dreaming or maybe he's hallucinating, but in the shack he has an encounter with God. Or at least this is what William Paul Young intends for you to understand. But is it God? The real God? The biblical God? There's reason to have doubt. And in the shack, there is at least some truth. If it's okay that I should say that without upsetting our author, because after all, he does quote Albert Einstein on page 151 saying, whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods. However, attempting to follow after the noble character of the Berean Jews, We're going to press forward with great eagerness. We're going to examine the scriptures, see if what Paul Young says in the shack is true. And I read kind of a handful of verses from John's epistles, and we'll be alluding to other verses throughout this. And I just want to remind us that those verses, they're part of God's word, right? It's breathed out of God. It's what we call inspired by God. So it's without error. God doesn't make mistakes. It's infallible. It's the fully sufficient rule and guide for our faith and for our life practice. That's our standard. And so, I invite those with ears to hear, to hear the truth tonight. Now the book, The Shack, it presents the idea of a God who brings order out of chaos. Especially the order out of the chaos of our lives. Lives that are filled with emotional pain. So far so good, right? And it's a pain that's very often best dealt with by pressing into the hurt. And the shack does this. It indicates that God is able to take what is bad or dangerous and to use it for good. And good, it does not always mean what makes us feel good. And the shack says that there is such a thing as good, distinct from evil. This is confirmed as true. In the book, it illustrates beautifully that each of us are co-laborers with God. And the book, it pokes a little hole in that phenomenon. Remember that phenomenon, what would Jesus do? That was a big deal like 15, 20 years ago or whatever. Pokes a hole in that phenomenon, which to me actually is a good thing. A lot of baggage with that phenomenon, if you ask me. And there's a little bit of ink that's spent on the benefits of leaning on God because, well, if we depend on things that are absent of good, well, that would be depending on evil. And the book, it highlights the Son of God as one who did not grasp after his rights, choosing instead to serve. And in this, there is an example for all of us. Are we willing to surrender our rights to life, our rights to property, our rights to fill in the blank? And while it is fleeting, there is a fleeting moment of reverent heavenly worship in the book. It's on page 138, if you'd like to look it up yourself later. And there is a trinity in the book. For example, there's Papa and Jesus. and Saraiu, which is meant to be the Holy Spirit. And so there is a lot, right? I just mentioned a lot that is true in the shack. Well, now let's take a look at Papa. Papa in the book is described as a large African-American woman who sees Mac face to face and who wears his mother's perfume. Now, there are some dispute points that we should note about this. Now, while God is spirit, we know this from the Gospel of John chapter four, verse 24. So therefore, God is not a man nor a woman. He's spirit. However, the Bible does pretty consistently refer to the Father in masculine terms. And I do think that it helps us to better understand concepts like federal headship and customs of the ancient Near East and practices related to inheritance and adoption and questions of leadership and order. There's a lot of reasons why we might want to hang on to those masculine pronouns in our Bibles, but despite all of these theological issues that could get raised, to be honest, I don't think Bible-believing Christians should get all bent out of shape. A lot of them were, but I don't think we should get all completely bent out of shape because Papa is presented in the book as a female. I mean, later in the book, Papa is presented as a male, after all. What's more concerning is that Papa is seen at all in the Bible. No one ever sees the Father face-to-face. Not one time. Never. If you'd like to check me out on that, you can look up John 1, verse 18 later, or 1 John 4, verse 12. There are other places too. So Mac sees the Father when no one else does. And this Papa seems to be a construct of Mac's imagination, of his desires. Remember, Papa wears the same perfume as Mac's mother. And Papa tells Mac on page 83, that's okay, we'll do this on your terms. And I remember from last month how I wondered if maybe the author, Paul Young, is a pacifist. And that's fine if he wants to be a pacifist. I think William Paul Young probably is a pacifist. Papa clearly is. Papa is anti-gun. Papa won't even hold a gun in the story. Are we free to make a mental image of the father and to make him in our own image? This Papa in the shack, these are words used to describe Papa in the shack. Joyful, folksy, casual, affectionate, and playful. Constantly thinking things hilarious. Roaring, belly laughing, chuckling, smiling, grinning, giggling, grunting, snorting, smirking, humming, beaming, winking, mocking, muttering, snickering, and super silly delighting with spasms of mirth and amusement. Yelling things like, time for some fun. It's the portrait of a kind of Slap happy God. At one point Mac asks, it's on page 88 and 89, am I supposed to believe that God is a big black woman with a questionable sense of humor? That's an excellent question. What we have in the shack is a very domesticated, laissez-faire, whimsical God. Always quite pleased, perpetually satisfied, shoulder shimmies and hip shakes. Doing lots of cooking in the kitchen while listening to West Coast Juice, which is described as Eurasian funk and blues. It's on page 90. And this is a surprise to Mack. Mack says he expected that God would listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Mormon? Mack is supposed to be a seminary-trained Christian. Mormon music? Really? Well, now again, let me say something positive about the shack. At the end of the story, the pain Mack was experiencing, it vanishes and it leaves Mack happy. And that is good. Of course. But God is not glorified. God has basically explained away. Human decisions are in control, not God. Not God's word. The quote-unquote God of the shack does not inspire much in the way of worship or awe. In fact, Mack is downright irreverent early on and then is astoundingly sarcastic and informal later on. He's constantly blaming and doubting God. How does this stack up with how people in the Bible react when they are in the presence of God? In the shack, there is just no sense of awe. Look at page 183. Mack uses the Lord's name in vain. Go to page 166. Mack curses in God's presence. Page 140. He curses again in God's presence. Go to page 224. Mac is rude. He repeatedly cuts God off. He interrupts God. And the shack's God is totally fine with Mac, constantly irreverently interrupting him with sarcasm and irritation. And God is routinely doubted as a liar. See page 102, for example. And God is made to cry by Mac. See page 92. You know, the shack, it does, it presents us with a picture of a tender God, but also a weak God. A God who says on page 92, I have no magic wand to wave. What? God can do no miracles. Now, Paul Young does once use the phrase, awestruck wonder. I wonder if he put that there to keep some of his readers, people like me, happy. It's on page 110, by the way. But prayers before meals, they are disrespected on page 105 and then again disrespected on page 120. And Mac is said to be amused by God on pages 115 and 117. And right before this on page 114, Mac says, I hope you're right to Jesus. Seriously, I hope you're right. This is supposed to be Jesus. There is no sense, pretty much ever, in the shack of the throne of God. Instead, we see Jesus skipping stones on page 170. On page 176, Jesus is depicted as childish. He's chasing after a fish he just can't catch. The one who proved to be a great fisherman just asked St. Peter, Can't catch just one fish? Near the end of the story, at page 237, Max says, saying goodbye to God seemed a little silly. Well, Max's entire relationship with God in this story has been a little silly if you ask me. And there's a threat of antinomianism that runs throughout the shack. This means that there's an anti-law view that's put forth. Page 88, rather. Mac is told by God, you can do whatever you want. Very next page. You're not supposed to do anything. You're free to do whatever you like. And then, now Jesus was serious. Don't go because you feel obligated. That won't get you any points around here. Go because it's what you want to do. Are you kidding me? On page 126, Papa says, our relationship is not about performance. Are you having to please me? I'm not some self-centered, demanding little deity insisting on my own way. God being righteous, is him being a petulant little bully? Now Mac is thoroughly confused, saying that Papa is, quote, not anything like the God I've known. It's on page 164. You know what, it's not anything like the God I've known either. Mac adds on page 179, I find the way you are so different from all the well-intentioned religious stuff I'm familiar with. What, like from the Bible and from the church fathers you mean? Look, this is a problem. On page 187, Papa tells Mac, who says of himself, that he hides inside lies. And Papa tells him, there's no shame in that. There's no shame from hiding in lies. And Papa also says, I'm not about feeling guilty. Guilt will never help you feel freedom in me. Okay, so why do we have a conscience? In the shack, God is kind of like a, excuse me, a cosmic salesperson. You know, when his people refuse to listen to him, he's not frustrated, he's not disappointed, he just looks down the corridors of time, you know, and he sees that with just 46 more attempts, he will be successful. It's kind of like when I was in sales and I was taught that every no brings you that much closer to a yes. And in the shack, it seems there might be a yes awaiting each individual. So does this mean that there is universal salvation? Well, perhaps. According to Paul Young on page 149, Jesus says, if you want to do your thing, have at it. Time is on our side. In the end, love wins. To borrow a title from the controversial Rob Bell book. Now, the shack does place this antinomianism at the foot of the cross, at least, on page 203, saying, Jesus laid the demand of the law to rest. It no longer has any power to accuse or command. But is this right? Does the law have no power to command? And were all people, each individual person, was their condemnation nailed to the cross. I would invite you to think about that in your devotional time later. Look at John chapter 16, verse 8, 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 10, or other places too, but those are two good places to start. Now on page 223, Papa says, I don't do humiliation or guilt or condemnation, but is this right? I mean, is there no judgment? Is it fair to say that Jesus humiliated the Pharisees when they were trying to trick him? Don't all people stand guilty before God, saved only by the blood of Christ? Is there or is there not condemnation? Is there not a judgment day coming? According to the Bible. Papa also says on page 206, you never disappoint me. Now maybe I'm mincing words, but was God disappointed in Moses? Telling him he couldn't enter the promised land? Was he disappointed with Israel while they were wandering in the wilderness? Was he disappointed with any of the seven churches in the book of Revelation? How about was he disappointed with the whole world at the flood? Could also go to Mark 3.5, Ephesians 4.30, 1 John 2.28. I mean, take your pick. And Sarah Yu, again, this is the Holy Spirit character, digs the hole a little bit deeper, saying on page 206, the trouble with living by priorities is that it sees everything as a hierarchy. So, have no priorities? Be anti-authority? Are humans on the same footing with God? And Jesus, he tries to, the Jesus character, tries to clarify on page 207 that he doesn't want to be at the top of the pyramid, no, no, no, because he wants to be at the center of everything. This is a straw man argument built upon wordplay that leaves no one in charge. There's no authority, no law, no rules. And with no rules, there can be no sin. And so, Missy's killer in the book isn't said to be a sinner. No, no, the murderer instead is a victim, said to be, on page 225, a victim of pain. And Papa says he is, quote, a broken child that has been twisted by his pain. And the same is true for Mac, I guess. Because Mac, he calls himself a mess, he calls himself a screw-up, he does not call himself a sinner. Papa does this too, page 188, he says, when you mess up again, ask for forgiveness again. And Sarayu, page 196, calls sins mistakes. Trouble with this language is that not all mess ups are sins. If I bump into a milk carton and I spill milk all over the floor, that's a mess up. I've made a mess. That's not a sin. It's the main reason why we do not cry over spilled milk. And so if God isn't an authority figure, what is God? Well, in the shack, Papa says on page 95, I am the always present observer. An observer who describes sin as, quote, your soul's sickness. Who sees Mac's soul as a complex garden on page 138. But I gotta ask, where is the sin in the garden? God of the Shack asks postmodern questions like, what is freedom, really? And then answers that freedom is an incremental process. So freedom is kind of like, I don't know, like a verb or something. It's mere movement. It's never gained. Words have meaning. And we need to be mindful of the definitions of the words that we use. I mean, take, for example, the meaning of Papa's name. in the shack. Something that could easily get lost in the reading of the shack is the importance of Papa's real name. Because Papa is the familiar name for the father character in the story. But the official name in the story for Papa is Eleusia. You'll find that on page 86 if you have a copy of the book. Eleusia. Theologians might find this interesting because Eleusia means God of all being. And later in the book, Papa said to be the ground of all being. It's on page 111. Now, why do I point this out? Because this appears to be language that's borrowed from a 20th century existentialist philosopher and theologian named Paul Tillich. And Paul Tillich taught that God isn't a being, per se. Rather, God is the ground for all being. So there's no personal God. So as I read deeper into the shack, I was thinking to myself, okay, is Jung building a system of thought that's based upon Platonist philosophy mixed with some sort of a weird systematic theology or existentialism or panentheism? You know what panentheism is? Most people probably don't. But fortunately, we're told on page 112, the Jesus character says, God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through all things, ultimately emerging as the real. That's like a textbook definition for panentheism. And think about it. If God is in everything, everything is God, then there's no distinction. There's nothing to distinguish God from his creation. Now, as is often the case, this book is a little bit inconsistent on this point, because on page 135, Saraius says that original sin, quote, tore the universe apart, divorcing the spiritual from the physical. Well, if God is in and through and ground for all these things and it's torn apart, it doesn't make any sense. So it's clearly, that's not exactly a biblical view, but it's also not exactly a shacklical view either. How can God be in everything when the spiritual and the physical have been divorced and torn apart? It doesn't make any sense. Now if you're a little confused on some of these points, that's okay because so is William Paul Young. Now there's a lot more that can be said, probably more that should be said, but I've given you a lot of information. Full disclosure, I have taught series on the heresies found in the shack. I've done Sunday school lessons, Bible studies, small group sessions, series of sermons over the years. I've done this topic on my show, and I've had William Paul Young, the author of the shack, as a guest on the Faith Debate. I spent about two and a half, three hours talking with him. And so I probably could do a whole year's worth of sermon, or at least six months worth of sermons on this. I'm not gonna do that to you. Trust me, as much as I've already thrown at you, there's so much more that's problematic. And part of the reasons why I'm going through this last time, this time, and if I should come ever again in the future, there's a few other things I might still want to share with those here. So I might do one more shack-oriented kind of message here because, It helps us to see so many of the things that are swirling in the air around us. The shack didn't invent these things. William Paul Young didn't invent these views. These heresies have been around for years and they reincarnate different ways, different times. And if we can spot them in something like the shack, we can spot them in other places that are important, spot them in the TV shows we watch, spot them in a sermon. We've got to have more discernment. There are too many wolves wearing sheep's clothing and they're devouring the flock right now. We've got to get better at this. And so I'm doing my darndest to help us to get better at this. At least ask the questions. If you don't know the answer, know enough to say, there's something that doesn't feel right about that. And then go to somebody who might know something about that particular kind of a question. We've got to get better at this. Because we have the truth. We know the truth. That's what John says in his epistles. We have and know the truth. So hopefully you're encouraged. I'm not trying to beat us up. Because I'm sure there's at least one person in this room who read the shack, saw the movie and thought it was fantastic and didn't see anything wrong with it. And I'm not saying anything out of school because she said it publicly herself already. And she's not here. But my wife's one of those. She read the book, I wasn't interested in reading the book, but she read the book and she liked it. It was months later that somebody was talking about something from the book and I said, wait, that's in the shack? And they're like, yeah. I was like, what? I better read this book. So my wife didn't pick up on almost any of this stuff either. Now, you know, she sees it. She's not as concerned about it as I am because she's like, ah, it's just a book. She's still kind of in that school and I gotta tell ya, this is how the enemy gets in. So I just want to encourage us to be on guard, to be vigilant in it. Let's transition now into the Lord's supper. So I'm not sure who handles the elements at this point. Somebody come forward and help distribute the elements. And I'm going to be working out of Mark chapter 14 to help guide us through the supper. And do we have somebody that handles that or I do that? How are we doing that today? Usually? Oh, really? Okay. So on the first day of the Feast of Unlimited Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover? So he sent two of his disciples telling them, go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. follow him, say to the owner of the house he enters, the teacher asks, where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? He will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there. The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. So one of the first things we want to note about what we're doing here is the Passover was a covenantal meal for God's people. And so this is a New Testament expression of a covenantal meal for God's people. This is a family meal. It is reserved for those who are baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, Holy Spirit, who are professing, publicly professing members of Christ's Church. So this is a family meal. It's a meal for you if you're a Christian. If you're not a Christian, this is not a meal you should participate in. The Bible actually has warnings against participating in a meal if you're not a believer. But some people take those warnings and apply them erroneously to Christians. So if you are a Christian, but you don't feel worthy of participating, you're misunderstanding the nature of the meal. If you're a Christian, You are worthy of this meal because God sees you as worthy. He has declared you as worthy. When he looks at you, he sees the record of Jesus Christ. Because Christ paid the penalty for all of your unworthiness. And it's out of a gratitude and a humility in that that we participate in this. So continuing in Mark chapter 14, when evening came, Jesus arrived with the 12. And while they were reclining at the table eating, he said, I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. Again, this is kind of part of the warning. We don't want to participate in this meal if we're somebody who's aiming to betray Christ. And I'm going to skip ahead to verse 22 in Mark 14. While they're eating, I probably should get one for me, huh? Jesus, he took the bread, and he, whoops, let me get the first piece off. And he took the bread, and he gave thanks, and he broke it, which I already just now broke it, opening it. But I'm good. Oh, there's bread down there, too. You got it all here, okay, there we go. That's what I was looking for. All right, so this is much better. It's like an object lesson. So Jesus took the bread, and he gave thanks. And so we're going to do that now. Father, we thank you for what this symbolizes, the body of Christ sacrificed for us, scourged for us, taking the punishment we deserve, a demonstration that you, God, took human form, a human nature, became human for us to live the life we fail to live, to live a life of obedience all the way on to the cross, all the way on to death. only to raise again, declaring your victory over all things, including death. We praise you and thank you that you have ordained this covenant meal for those that belong to your church. We thank you for the reminders that moments such as this bring to us as your people. And so after giving thanks, he broke it and he gave it to his disciples and he said, take. This is my body. And then he took the cup and he gave thanks. Father, we praise you and thank you for what is symbolized here, what is represented in my hand right now, the cup of the blood of the new covenant, The blood of Jesus Christ shed, paying the price, the bloody price, the blood covenant price, making possible for us to spend eternity with you while there will be no more shedding of blood, no more crying or tears or anything that's evil, because victory is won. And though Satan thought that he had won a great victory by the shedding of this blood, We know that in your perfect will, sovereign control, without him knowing the tables were turned and that this blood symbolizes victory. And we are sustained by this lifeblood. We are sustained by the body and blood, the perfect life of Jesus Christ. And we praise you for it. In Jesus name, we lift all these things up to you in prayer. Amen. And so after giving thanks, he offered to them, and they all drank from it. And Jesus also said, this is the blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. He said to them, I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God, a glorious day when he returns. And then, they sung a hymn before departing from Mount of Olives. And so we're going to do that now. Let's sing our final hymn of the evening. It's hymn two. I'm told that you know what that means. How Great Thou Art. Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome slumber, I'm still on the world's dark ends of May. I see the stars. I hear the rolling thunder, my Father throughout the universe displayed, and sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. Thou bring thou art, Thou bring thou art, That sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. I'll break no heart, I'll break no heart. When through the woods and forest lanes I wander, ♪ Hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees ♪ ♪ When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur ♪ ♪ And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze ♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee I'll break no heart, I'll break no bone. And when I think that God is somehow sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, that on the cross My burden I'll be bearing, He will die to take away my sin. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, I'll break the morn, I'll break the morn. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, I'll bring the Lord, I'll bring the Lord. When Christ shall come, when shall the battle be won? And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart? Then I shall bow, In humble adoration, and there proclaim, My God, how great Thou art! And sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, I'll break the watch. I'll break the watch. Then sing my song, my Savior God, to Thee. I'll break the watch. I'll break the watch. If you could remain standing for a moment for a reading from God's word, I'm gonna do a kind of a lengthy benediction here because it ties directly into the theme of today's message. It's from Ezekiel chapter 13. It's verses one through nine. The word of the Lord came to me. Said a man prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God. Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. You have not gone up into the breeches or built up a wall for the house of Israel that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord. They have seen false visions, lying divinations, they say declares the Lord when the Lord has not sent them. Yet they expect him to fulfill their word. Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination whenever you have said, declares the Lord, although I have not spoken? Therefore, thus says the Lord God, because you have uttered falsehoods and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord God. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God. You need to be aware of the wolves are out there. And there are people who need to hear the truth. And so before we sing the Alleluia, I just want to remind you that when we leave these doors, we go out there, we enter a mission field all around us. So when we do leave after singing the Alleluia, I would invite us all to leave in peace and proclaiming proudly that good news of Jesus Christ. So since we're all still standing, let's sing that Alleluia now. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Thank you again for having me. God bless y'all.