One of the churches that I did preach in back in 1971 or 1972 was in northern Tennessee. It was a congregation almost as steeped in history and good doctrine as Bryan Station. I preached in their seminary, and met men who are still in the ministry today. Unfortunately, just a few years ago, I heard the heart-breaking report that this church had joined the Southern Baptist Convention. The only way that they could do such a thing was to cast aside some of their key doctrines.
I could go on to talk about individual men, pastors and non-pastors, who have done the same sort of thing. They said, or led us to think, that they believed doctrines which we think are Biblical and essential to the faith. But after years of service to the Lord, they tossed aside some of those doctrines and aligned themselves with people who hate the truth.
I am not in a place where I can call the ancient church in Rome “mediocre,” “weak” or “great.” If I had to make a guess, I would say that it was probably an exceptional church, especially when we remember that it had not been directly founded by any of the Lord’s apostles. There were some outstanding Christians who were members there. They had the privilege of the friendship of the Apostle Paul, and perhaps other apostles as well. They certainly were rooted in excellent doctrine, and they were situated in the cross-roads and capital of the world, with the possibility of being a blessing throughout the world. And yet, they were as vulnerable, if not more vulnerable, than any other church. This is why Paul was led of the Lord to write this lengthy letter. And this is why we have the warning of these three verses.
As I was rereading this scripture, asking the Lord for a message, my heart got hung up on the last words of verse 18 – “the hearts of the simple.” There were simple people who were members of that great church. With just a little study, one thought led to another and another. Let’s think about who these simple people are; how they can be deceived, and how they must be defended.
The Greek word is found in several forms in the Bible, and we have two in our text for this morning. They boil down to one predominant idea. Strong’s Concordance defines this word as “without guile or fraud, harmless, free from guilt; fearing no evil from others, distrusting no one.” I don’t know about you, but if this is the same thing as to be “simple-minded” then it is a very good thing. The specific form of the Greek which is found here is found in only one other passage – Hebrews 7:25. Speaking of the Lord Jesus – “he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, HARMLESS, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” In Hebrews this same word is translated “harmless” and is made to speak of the character of the Lord Jesus.
But of course there is no mere mortal whose character matches the infinite Son of God. So what is the meaning of this word in regard to some of the members of the church in Rome? Proverbs 14:15 summarizes it all for us: “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.” The simple people to whom Paul referred were ready to receive and believe what they were taught. Because they grew up in paganism, or even Judaism, they were now being taught things which they had never heard before. The Hebrew Sadducees were being told that there really are angels and there is a resurrection. The heathen were being told that there is only one true and living God, but that this God exists in three persons. They were told that many of the things which they had been taught as virtues were actually horrible sins. They were told that the Messiah, was not merely a king to be tolerated some day, but the Son of God, and the sacrifice necessary to cleanse them of their sins. Every week they were being taught new Bible doctrines, and they were “searching the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Some of those new converts were a little more incredulous and difficult to convince, but others were as pliable and impressionable as Play-do, receiving every new idea in simple faith. Of course their unbelieving acquaintances called them “naive,” “gullible,” and “unsophisticated” – “dupes.” More accurately, they should be considered as “spiritually surrendered,” “tender,” “pliable” and “teachable.”
Through the years, we have had hundreds of people visit our services, looking for a church to attend. Obviously, most of them didn’t find what they were looking for here. A few of them have stayed for a few weeks or longer, and a few eventually became members. In some cases, people have asked me about my opinion of those visitors. There have been occasions when my best description was merely that I considered them “teachable,” while others were not teachable. To put it in other terms, some were “incorrigible,” while others were “pliable.” Or to use the Biblical term – the more promising new-comers were “simple” – a very good thing to be.
Having said that, I have to add that to be “simple” is also a very dangerous characteristic to possess. Because with this simplicity comes vulnerability. Teachability needs to be monitored and watched. Pliability needs a double guard. The more valuable the cargo the more important is the security to protect it.
Last week someone came up to me with questions, after the message on what to do with heretics. What should we do with family members who are unbelievers, sinners and heretics? It is certainly a thorny issue, and I’m not sure that we should espouse a single plan for every case, because these people are in our families, and because there may be lots of variables. But perhaps the thing to notice here, is that Paul is talking about a specific set of circumstances. He is talking about heretics who have a desire to subvert souls. These are the aggressive, predatory heretics, not simply those who ignorantly believe false doctrine.
The people to whom Paul refers, were out to deceive the hearts of the simple. It was not merely a matter of the heads or minds of people, but their hearts – their “kardia” (kar-dee‘-ah). These false teachers were thinking of their own bellies, not just the making a few corrupted converts. They wanted to be leaders of parties, cliques, factions and sects. They wanted to profit from their conquests, so they were going for hearts as well as minds.
With that in mind, notice that their weapons were somewhat diabolical – “good words and fair speeches.” The Greek word for “fair speeches” is “eulogia” (yoo-log-ee‘-ah) which has come into our language as “eulogy.” An “eulogy” is a laudatory speech or written tribute; usually put into the context of someone’s death. As James Strong defines the Greek word it means “language artfully adapted to captivate the hearer.” Paul warns us that this purveyor of error uses all his communication skills to steal the hearts of the simple. He does his best to tickle the ears of people, or perhaps to tickle their human natures. He might adapt his false doctrine making it suitable to the hearer’s carnality. But at the same time, he makes sure that these are “good words” – plausible. One trick that people like this employ is the onslaught of rhetorical questions – questions that have obvious answers, but twisted into a context which supports his position.
Unfortunately, most of us thrive on special attention – the simple included. And these cultists sometimes single out lonely or otherwise vulnerable people to attack. Bringing two passages together from I Timothy, Paul warned his friend about this kind of enemy. “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” I say this with all the kindness and gentleness that I can muster – Children and ladies are more apt to be teachable and pliable than most men – the more “simple.” This also makes them the most vulnerable to the religious huckster and cultist. Beware!
The context suggests to me that Paul may have been thinking about the temptation of Eve – Genesis 3. You might be able to see this more clearly when we return this evening. “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
Without implying that Adam was any more “simple” than his wife, it is still quite obvious that Eve definitely was. She had been newly made, not unlike someone who had been recently born-again. She was inexperienced in dealing with false teachings, and thus far everything that she had been taught, she was expected to believe, and she did believe. But at the same time, every one of those points of doctrine or instructions were in jeopardy. Satan, the heretic, came to her “with good words and fair speeches.” He spoke to her with the semblance of logic. He appealed to her fleshly nature, even though sin was not yet a part of it. He had every desire to “deceive the heart of this simple one.” It wasn’t merely a matter of a spiritual conquest, but the enlistment of a follower – a disciple. And he succeeded – he won her heart – in more than one way, he won her heart. And along with Eve’s heart everything else followed.
In Genesis 3 we have the method of the heretic, working on a simple, innocent, gullible soul.
I am not going to accuse Adam of anything, because he was basically as simple as his wife. But I am sure that if he ever had the opportunity to do it again, he would have taken some precautions. He probably didn’t tell Eve, not to open the door to the boys in white shirts and ties – but he should have. He didn’t have any reason to warn her about those people carrying their Watchtower pamphlets. I don’t know if the serpent had been speaking out-loud prior to being occupied by the Devil. I don’t know if there was anything to cause Adam to warn Eve about such things. But I’m sure that looking back sometime later, with a broken heart he might have said, “Watch out, Eve.”
Based upon the clear and distinct declarations of the Word of God, those who are more mature have the responsibility to make note of those who believe doctrines contrary to what we have been taught. And if those people attempt to spread their heresies with a desire to cause divisions among the brethren, then they are to be avoided – shunned.
And continuing with our Old Testament illustration, let us not forget the particular heresy that the serpent was trying to spread. It dealt specifically with the human being’s relationship with God. It presented sin to the woman, without the blessing of salvation. Satan’s first attack upon the Lord’s creation was the introduction of sin. And today, his attack is primarily on the subject of salvation, now that sin has become a part of our natures.
Deliverance from sin is accomplished through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation from the fall which simple-hearted Adam and Eve suffered is in the death of the Lord Jesus. Christ shed His innocent and holy blood on the cross as a deliberate payment for sin. That payment has been made on behalf of all the children of Adam who demonstrate their calling by repenting of their sins and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.