Shall we stand this evening as we turn to 2 Timothy 4? In 2 Timothy 4, let me read verse 4 tonight to get started, and then I'm going to back up and read the first five verses of this chapter. This is the Apostle Paul writing to Timothy, both of these men preachers, one an elder preacher and another a younger preacher. And he gives him some truth to be thinking about, to be preaching. And notice as we come here to this passage. Now, this evening, you've seen on the board up here, I'm going to title the message, Religious Movies, or you could say Christian Films. And you see my outline. We're going to deal tonight with three things. We're going to deal with fables and play acting and movies, or Christian films and plays. And I ask you tonight, if you would, to bear with me. I have here on this side, I have some handouts. I bought some booklets for you by A.W. Tozer, been dead for many years, but he wrote a number of books. This one is titled The Menace of Religious Movies. I have some other handouts inside this I'm going to give to you tonight also on the subject of drama. I want you to, like I say, be patient with me. How many of you tonight believe that your pastor loves you? Can I see you? Thank you. I appreciate that. I appreciate that very much. I've always believed that a pastor is to pray and study and seek the truth and try to find it. And then once he finds it, he gives it to the people. And we've all been, unless your background is something different than most Baptists, If you came from one of the plain churches, you might have a little bit different background, but from the average denominational church today, if you've gotten saved and then you've come into the church, your background has been secular music and secular television. And once you realize this is wrong, now you can nod or say amen, once you realize this is wrong, Then you start giving it up. Then you start looking for something to substitute that. Amen? I've been through this process. You're looking for substitutes. So you're thinking, well, maybe some of the old movies. Remember, we talked about that last Sunday night. Well, maybe some of the old movies. They're not so bad. You start bringing them into your house and you find out they're just as wicked as some of the new ones. And then you say, well, I'm going to start watching Christian films. How many have been there? And you find some you like. And one of my favorites was Sheffie. I've probably seen it over the last 25 years about 15 times. And it was number one as far as movies, Christian films. And then you find yourself over a period of time picking and choosing and trying to decide what's right and what's wrong the dress, the music, the translations of the Bible that are used in them, and all these kind of stuff. And then you also, if you love God, you become frustrated even with the Christian fans. Am I correct? Can I get a witness from that? Alright, now notice as we read in verse 4, Paul writing to Timothy, he says in verse 4, "...and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto Fables. Fables are stories. Father, we thank You tonight for the privilege that You've given us to assemble together. We ask, Lord, tonight that You would meet with us. We pray, Lord, that You would speak to us. We pray, Lord, that You would minister to our hearts from Thy Word and by Thy Holy Spirit, which in Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. And you may be seated. Have you ever wondered why that fiction, as far as books and so forth. There's outselling doctrinal books in the time in which we live. There's a reason for that. And we're going to be looking tonight at the subject of religious movies. Now, I have all over the pulpit here a number of different sources. I've said this many times, I don't like to preach and quote other authors, but there's some subjects like this and like last Sunday night that I feel that there's a need to do so. I feel that I need to just give you some thoughts from some other people of years gone by and even contemporaries and just to give you a feel about what some people think about this. I'm going to ask you tonight, if you would, to listen to me. I'm going to give you something to think about. And I have grown in grace, as you have, and I believe that you want to follow the Lord and follow His teachings and His Word. And I have thought long and hard about the subject that I'm going to preach on tonight. This little booklet, I bought this little booklet for myself about five years ago. I've seen it, I ordered it, and so this is something I've been thinking about for the last four or five years. And it's something that I have victory in, by the way, in my life now. For the past two years plus, I have not been entertained by religious movies. Yes, there is life after Christian films. And so I'm going to ask you to pray for me that I continue to have victory in this area. I've been much better for it in my Christian life, my Christian walk. Now here's some of the things that we hear today. I'm going to read, by the way, in just a moment. And here's some of the things that we hear today. And I hear this, whether it be music dress or movies or whatever. And this is becoming a very common phrase with Christians. I heard it once last week. I heard this a couple of times the week before, talking about different issues. And here it is, three words, I like it. Or, but I like it. How many of you have heard that? Well, you know, it doesn't matter what it is. And it doesn't matter. You've got to ask this question, does God like it? You know, I may like dip and snuff, but the question is, does God like it? Is it right? Is it something that we need to do? Now, how is it that we, as believers, and what I'm fixing to tell you, no, I'm telling you the truth, how is it we can get all emotional and teary-eyed watching a movie and sit in a preaching service and never flinch? Now, I want you to just think about this tonight as we consider fables, play acting, and movies. How is it that we have tears running down our cheeks with a movie? And it doesn't even have to be a religious movie. It can be about a dog or a cat or a possum. You know, I mean, anything. And we get all emotional and tore up inside, you know, and crying and weeping and feeling sorry for whatever's going on in the film. And you can preach and people get angry with you, you know, over preaching the Word of God. drastically wrong in this. Now, our first point this evening, verse 4, is going to be fables. Now, let me give you a definition of amusement, and I've given you a definition many times, but I'm going to quote from another author this time. And he said that amusement is taken from the word muse, Muse means to think, meditate, to concentrate, to be sober. The prefix A added to muse, we have amuse, meaning non-musing, that is, not to think, light-hearted, irresponsible, and such like. So, to muse. The Bible speaks of musing in Psalms 143 verses 4 and 5. To muse upon the Word of God. That is to think. and to meditate. Amuse or amusement means not to think. And usually when we're watching a film, secular or Christian, we kick our minds and hearts out of gear and we're sitting there for two hours or four hours, whatever the movie is, and we're not really thinking. We're allowing somebody else to think for us. That's amazing to me. We sit through a two, three, four hour movie or a football game That's next week, by the way, the football. And we will look at our watches if you think the preachers passed an hour. That's absolutely amazing to me. Now notice, first of all, the issue of fables. He said in chapter 4, I'm going to begin reading in verse 1 this time, I want you to notice the context. And God does not tolerate fables. That is fiction. in the Word of God. This is the thing I'm going to establish first of all. We're going to spend just a little bit of time on this. Truth is the opposite of fables and truth must be proclaimed. He said in verse 1, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom. Now notice the admonition, the charge, the command that he gives to Timothy as a young preacher He said, "...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. But once thou in all things endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, and make full proof of thy ministry." Mark Twain said the Bible is a mass of fables and traditions, mere mythology. I hate fiction. I don't have time for it. I don't read it. I don't need to be seeing it on a screen either. But in this passage, and also in Titus, we find the issue of fables versus truth. We'll read that in a moment. But in the passage we've just read, Paul is writing to Timothy as he did Titus as well. And he's a young preacher. Both of these men were young preachers. And he told them to preach the Word of God and rebuke fables, for Paul knew the danger of fables. And he also knew what every generation would face in coming to this area. So as we come to the Bible, the context here is that we are to speak, thus saith the Lord, and we're not to be involved in trying to sneak up on somebody with a hidden message. And that's what people try to do with fables. Let's sneak up on them with the Gospel, and God says, no, give it straight and plain. Don't sugarcoat it in any way. Now, let's read verse 4 one more time, and we're going to turn away. And He says here in verse 4, He said, "...and they shall turn away Notice their ears from the truth and shall be turned to fables." Turn with me please to 1 Timothy chapter 1. Now, Anton LaVey, the founder of the first church of Satan, and he wrote the Satanic Bible, he said, fantasy plays an important role in any religious curriculum, for the subjective mind is less discriminating about the quality of its food than it is about the taste. Thus, fantasy is utilized as a magic weapon in Satanism. The Satanist maintains a storehouse of avowed fantasy gathered from all cultures and from all ages." Talking about fantasy. Another writer said, He says, "...so calloused are many toward the Holy Spirit's prompting that they choose to follow not only the fables that men preach in the name of Jesus, but the overflyed pagan fables that swim before their consciousness through the world's art forms." I want to emphasize the world's art forms. Now, you notice with me as we come here to 1 Timothy chapter 1, I'm going to read each one of the five passages that mentions fables in the New Testament. Now, what is a fable? A fable is a fictional story. It is a falsehood. It has to do with myths and fairy tales, idol, fantasies, silly legends, superstition. In other words, it has to do with fantasy, myths, fictional story. And it is the opposite of truth and a story not based upon the fact. Most movies are fantasies. They are fiction. They are fables. And even if they try to make a movie that is based upon fact, usually they're not accurate in the portrayal of the things that they're trying to produce. Now, we find here in 1 Timothy 1 and verse 4, he said, "...neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith, so do..." Would you not agree with me tonight that fables minister questions? Do they not? They don't edify, they don't teach, they don't put you up on the solid rock, but they start causing you to ask questions. They bring doubt in our minds. Turn with me please to 1 Timothy chapter 4, and this time reading in verse 7. He says, But refuse profane and all wise fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. Godliness is in opposition to fables, and truth is in opposition to fables. We find that fables minister questions and they turn people from the truth. Fantasy is dangerous, especially for children. And that's what most fantasy, they say, is written for. So Christian fantasy is dangerous as well. Turn with me, please, to Titus chapter 1. In the book of Titus in chapter 1, and notice here. You see, the word fables appears five times in the New Testament. And the Greek word, and I needed to recheck this because this has been months ago that I wrote this down, I believe the Greek word is M-O-O-T-H-O-S. And this Greek word that is used from this word, we derive our English word myth. So when we talk about fables, we're talking about fictional stories, myths, fairy tales. That's what we're talking about. Fables then turn people away from the faith and distort the truth. He says here in Titus chapter 1 verse 14, he said, "...not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth." Turn with me to 2 Peter in chapter 1 and we'll look at the last one. Now in the Bible, and I'm going to ask you to bear with me tonight, be patient, I'm going to keep looking at a lot of notes here and decide what we'll quote from and what we will not. But in the Bible, we find facts and not fiction. I want you to think about some things, and when you begin studying this, talking about it, you'll hear all kind of arguments. Now, they'll say, well, there's fiction in the Bible, and all these kind of things, and there's not. Now, the Bible has proverbs. It has parables. It has figurative language. It has allegories. The Bible has typology. The Bible even has dreams and visions, but never fables. Even the dreams and visions, read Daniel 7.1, Daniel 8.17, Daniel 9.21. The dreams and visions are based upon truths and prophecies that God gave to individuals in the Old and New Testaments. Now, here's the thing. What is a parable? Well, a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. And when you go and read parables, you're talking about a short story of everyday life to teach the truth. It is a real ideal expressing another real idea. Parables are not fables. The Lord spoke in parables. Figurative language. The Bible says we're salt and light. That's not a fiction. That's not a myth. That is not a fable. You understand that, don't you? We understand what figurative language is. Jesus said, I am the door. I am the light. We understand that. He basically tells them, you must eat of my flesh and drink of my blood. We're not talking about fictions and myths and fables here. The Bible speaks of Proverbs. We have one whole book titled Proverbs. It's short sayings about wisdom. The Bible speaks of allegories as in Galatians 4, 21-33. The Bible uses typology. I don't get too involved in typology, but we know that the ark represents Christ. The dove represents the Holy Spirit. The tabernacle was built after a pattern of what is in heaven. So we're simply saying that the Bible is a book of truth. And even dreams and visions, they're true stories. Even the creatures in Ezekiel chapter 1 are real creatures. You find them in other places in the Bible. So, when we come to the Scriptures, we need to be very careful about making merchandise of people, and especially children. Listen to this verse, Matthew 18.6. Now, I'm going to read in 2 Peter. You stay there. It says, "...but whosoever shall offend of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea." Verses 1-6 are talking about children and humility and things of that nature. I had this verse used on me one time when I refused to baptize a young child. that had no faith in Jesus Christ. I refuse to believe they quoted this verse and said you're guilty of this verse. Don't even understand. You know the person, by the way. Yes. These things go on that you don't know about that I have to deal with. But that verse has nothing to do with that. But we're not to make merchandise of precious little children, and fiction and fables is doing just that. Now, notice as we come to 2 Peter, See, fiction confuses reality. Amen? I mean, there's enough confusion in this world anyway. We don't need any more. I'm telling you, we don't need any more. Now, notice here in 2 Peter 1 in verse 17. Now what? 1 Peter is affirming something here in this passage. Peter was with the Lord Jesus Christ and saw His transfiguration. And here's what he said. He said in verse 16, For we have not followed cunning, devised fables." Now, look at that. When we made known unto you the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitness of His majesty, and then he continues to the end of this passage talking about the sure word of prophecy, the importance of God's Word. Peter is affirming the fact that they did not follow cunningly, devised fables. He said, we gave you the truth. We saw Jesus in His transfiguration. We're giving you the Word. I'm writing this down for you. As an apostle, he's saying, we have not followed fables. Amen? Now turn with me to Titus again, and we're going to chapter 2 this time. Titus chapter 2. Now let's step into our second area this evening, and let's speak for a few moments tonight about play acting. Now, we know what fables are. This word is mentioned five times in the New Testament. And it has to do with fictional stories, myths, and falsehoods. Now, what about play acting? What I want to deal with under this title is that I want to deal with drama and theatrical entertainment. Now, notice as we come, we're going to come to Titus chapter 2. Now, I preached this morning on hypocrisy. I did that for a reason. I laid a foundation for what we're doing tonight. The word hypocrite comes from the stage. It comes from the stage. It means actor. An actor is one who assumes a character other than their own. Now, I really want you to think about number two tonight, or number two point. I want to drive this home if possible. I want us to really think about what God has to say about this thing. Now listen to this, the more fully that the actor becomes possessed by another personality, the better actor that they are. Now if you don't believe what I just said, go to Hollywood and ask them. They study the roles of the people they're going to portray. And the more that they get into that person's life and that person's personality, the better actor and the more money they'll make, whether it's in the secular scene or whether it's in the Christian scene. The Pharisees were play actors according to Matthew 23 and verse 27. Now, notice as we come here to the book of Titus. Now, again, I'm teaching tonight. mostly teaching tonight. Stay with me and put on your thinking hat this evening. I want you to think with me tonight as we look especially at this second area tonight, play acting and the issue of drama. And I'm going to give you some things to take home with you, and I want you to tell me what you think about this after this week is over, and just let me know what you think about the things I'm going to give you. I'm going to give you some quotes from this material, some other material, but you're going to have the things to take home with you tonight. Now, what is the opposite of play acting? What is the opposite of being a hypocrite or hypocrisy? It is sincerity. We find it many times in the Scripture. And I'm going to read here, but we also find it in Ephesians 6.24, we find it in 1 Corinthians 1.12, 1 Corinthians 5.8, in Joshua 24.14, and you can go a number of other places. Now, what does sincerity mean? Well, it's the opposite of being a hypocrite or being a play actor. To be sincere means staying in the character with yourself. Now, I want you to think about this tonight. We are not to be pretending to be somebody else. Now, this is clear in God's Word. We are to walk honestly as in the day, Romans 13 and verse 13. Everything about us is to be honest. and with integrity and with sincerity. There is no way that anyone can be an actor and obey these Scriptures. Where did acting, where did drama originate? Here's some questions you've got to ask yourself. I've done this with many things. Where did it originate? It did not originate in the Bible. Let me give you a quote. This is Tozer. And he said, the profession of acting did not originate with the Hebrews. It is not a part of the divine pattern. The Bible mentions it, but never approves it. Drama, as it has come down to us, had its rise in Greece. It did not originate with the Hebrew people in the Old Testament. It did not originate with the early church. You do not find Christ nor the apostles ever using drama or play acting. It's not there. And the early church writers, you've heard me quote them in the last five years a number of times, the early church writers, the 2nd and the 3rd and the 4th century, they spoke out against this and they called it idolatry. I've got quote after quote after quote of the early church writers speaking out against the theater and the stages. So when we come to the early church writers, now listen to this, both the actor and those who watched the actors were refused in the 2nd, 3rd century, they were refused baptism and the Lord's Supper and other privileges in the church such as church membership. They were refused that. If they were an actor or if they went and watched the stages, the stage acting and so forth, the plays. They didn't have DVDs and so forth to bring into your home at that time. And so if anyone was an actor, many of the churches would not allow them to join, to be baptized, to partake of the Lord's Supper. And those who went to the theaters to watch the actors, they also felt the same way about them. I want you to think about something this evening. In the church here tonight, in this church, How many of you would appreciate your spouse pretending to be somebody else's spouse? How many of you would appreciate that tonight? Now, you think about that. We let people come into our living rooms through the television, through DVDs and through that kind of means. Otherwise, we would not let them in. We know nothing about their personality, their character, their belief system. We know nothing about that. I'm going to deal with that in a few moments. And we let them come in through the television and entertain us, and there's people that you watch on television you would not allow sit at your dinner table with your children and talk in your house. Now, this thing about acting, how many would appreciate your spouse pretending to be somebody else's spouse in the church? I can't get an amen to that because you would not appreciate it. As a matter of fact, you'd be angry about it. But why is it we would sit and watch time after time with people pretending to be somebody else's spouse? And this is what goes on in the entertainment field. Now, notice as we come to this, I'm simply saying to you, Christians in the beginning did not have stages, they had churches. Now watch this. I'm going to be reading one verse. Notice here in this passage. I'm going to be reading verse 7, talking to young men in verse 6. He said in verse 7, he said, "...in all things, showing thyself a pattern of good works in doctrine, showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity." That means honesty. In every area of our life, we are to be honest. And there is no honesty in the area of drama. It is a sin. It belongs to Babylon, Revelation 18, verse 4 and 5. God says, come out of her. Don't partake of her sins or her judgment. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, and notice here. Now, the Catholic Church, and I've given you these facts a few years ago, the Catholic Church gave birth to religious drama of the Middle Ages. But many of the Reformers and the Puritans said that it had not biblical authority. Now, I want you to think about this, and I've given you some of these quotes and some of these facts before. And I'm going to read some things here in just a moment about drama. Many of them relied upon the early church writers a lot. And in early American literature, the Puritans were suspicious of the creative arts. The colonies were afraid of make-believe for its perceived dishonesty. In our own country, many were worried about this. Listen to this carefully. Again, I'm coming back. In the Middle Ages, think about the medieval time. Miracle plays, how many have heard of them? If you haven't heard of them from anywhere else, you've heard me mention them in this pulpit just three years ago. The miracle plays, these are plays acted out. And when I'm talking about movies and play acting, I'm talking about television, stage, in church, I'm talking about anywhere. I'm talking about pretending. play acting dramas. The miracle plays of medieval times were dramatic performances with religious themes staged for the entertainment of the populace. They usually had Bible themes. Okay? They're called miracle plays. And what is interesting, again, the Catholic Church basically gave rise to religious drama of the Middle Ages. Many of the Reformers spoke out against this. And I come back to this, the miracle plays, is that these started at the most corrupt period of time the church had known. Now think about this. These miracle plays came into existence during one of the most corrupt times that the church had known. And the plays passed away, or pretty much passed away, when the church came out of darkness through reformation and so forth. The plays started fading as the church was coming out of this darkness. Now here we are in the 21st century, the church today, the church is lukewarm across our land. It is as the Laodicean church in Revelation chapter 3 is poor, is blinded, and is naked, and we see today, I mean, the importance of religious films. We've all been influenced by it one way or the other. Now, the ancient Greece, Roman world, public entertainment dominated the Roman Empire from the very first century until the end of the empire in the 6th century. The dramatic arts, I'm quoting again, took its rise in Greece amid the orgies of Bacchus and the Roman theater was mostly a copy of the Greek theater. The theater was central in the lives of the Romans. The Caesars made provisions for the theater to appease and satisfy the people. An excessive love for pleasure and amusement was the downfall of Babylon. Persia, Greece, Rome, and it will eventually be the downfall of America. So what is drama? What is acting? What is drama? Three words. Assuming another's personality. That's drama in a nutshell. Assuming another's personality. And drama permits a person to play with sin, pretending to be someone else. Now, you think about this. Drama came from the world. And even if you wanted to do a Bible character, let's say you want to play at and you want to be Moses or David or Samson or someone, you know what that requires? That requires, again, for you to simulate their sins. Now God wrote down the sins, but He don't want us acting them out. Amen? David had his sins. Samson had his sin. Moses even had his anger and those kind of things. So how could we pray? How could we act like we're praying when we're not really praying? How could we act like we're praying our daily bread for our daily bread when we're not really praying? We're pretending to be praying. I'm talking about this is a fictitious world. And it violates the ninth commandment. We're not to bear false witness. It violates that commandment. We're not to bear false witness against our neighbor. That's in Exodus 20, verse 16. Drama is a form of lying. Now, I want you to think about this. It is a form of lying. When you really think this thing through, and I've been thinking about this for the last three, four, five years. Now, where did I tell you to turn? 2 Corinthians 7. Notice here, I'm going to be reading in verse 1. 2 Corinthians 7. and in verse 1. Now notice here as we read this, and I challenge you to back up into chapter 6 and read from verse 14 to 18 at another time, but notice he said in chapter 7 verse 1, having therefore these promises, he says, Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. We're to cleanse not only the flesh, but the Spirit as well. And there's no way we can watch things night after night, day after day, and be clean in the sight of God. Now, let me give you a few other quotes here. I hate to do this, but I feel like it's needed for this particular subject. You're going to be turning now to Ephesians 5, and then we're going to go to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians 5, first of all. And then we'll go to Ephesians 4. Drama. Would you listen to this? Drama is, by definition, I'm quoting now from another author, the presentation of the life of another person, whether real or fictitious, by the assumption of that person's personality for the purpose of entertainment. The key point here is that drama is possible only by assuming another's personality. Any textbook on drama will emphasize this. The gifted actor is the person who is able to suppress completely his own personality and assume the personality of another. The more he is able to do this, the better actor he is. He must be successful, assume to himself all the thoughts, the desires, the emotions, the feelings of the person whose role he plays, he must, as much as he can, make himself that person. He must make himself feel as that person feels, think as that person thinks, he must so to speak, crawl behind the skin of that man and get into his bones and marrow to lay hold of that person in the very depths of his being, he must put himself deeply inside that person so that he looks through the person's eyes, down that person's nose, and experiences all that that person feels and thinks. This is true. I have read those who act and they get the script of the person that they're going to be playing the part, and some of them will study it a month, some of them will study it a year in order to get in to that person's personality. This author goes on and says, The person is that part of the individual which has the direct stamp of God upon it, and which sets a man apart from every other person who has ever lived. This stamp is put by God according to God's purpose and in order that God's intent may be accomplished in him. He stands alone in life as unique, marked by God Himself. This is clear. from identical twins. You know this tonight. Every individual, God has created you in a particular way different from anybody else in a very special way. And you're not to be pretending to be somebody else. I go on to quote, and it says, but because every person is created by God, we do violence to our own person when we push it aside in order to assume the personality of another. We deny our God-given person to assume the personality of someone else. That's strong words, but it's true words. And I could take you to many people that act, and if you were to ask them if these things are true, even lost people, they say, yes, they're very, very true. They'll admit that this is very true. The very values that Jesus Christ scorned are now being used to attract people unto the gospel. I want you to think about that tonight. One writer said, we believe that God has given every individual his own unique, creatural distinction in life, and that it is sinful for anyone habitually to reshape his individuality and to twist his personality for dramatic purposes to display anger, Sorrow, fear, or elation under artificial stimulation is a profaning of gifts and powers God intends shall be used only in sincerity and in truth." This came from the Standard Bearer, Volume 69, September 1, 1993, page 467. These are sobering things when you think about them. One writer many years ago, speaking of Shakespeare, He said, as a bastard of Babylon, the stage which Shakespeare trod was in the eyes of his Puritan contemporaries more than immoral, it was unholy. Now listen to this. I'm going to give you another quote by a different author. Speaking of Shakespeare, his plays are still being performed all over the world. Now listen to this, and I agree with this. I could put some of this, I could give you my own words. I'm just giving you some words of others. You say, oh, that's just our preacher again. I've heard that over the years. Here he's on another hobby horse. He's trying to take something away from us again. I'm trying to give you something. Now listen to this. It says this. It says, Shakespeare understood his art too well to level a drama at the conscious. Now listen. These great plays are written not to the conscience, but to the imagination. Now the imagination may be roused and stimulated to the most fervish activity by representation of the consequences of vice without producing the least desire for reform in the heart. Nothing is easier than for a man to think, when his imagination is thus enkindled, that his heart is glowing with the love of virtue and hatred of sin, but no greater mistake can be made The pleasure of the theater is the pleasure of sense and imagination. To these all its machinery is directed, and the imagination may be in a state of highest excitement when the moral sense is cold and sluggish or dead. Listen to this. Many a woman weeps nightly over imaginary sorrows who would turn a blind and starving beggar from the door without a pain. One other quote. Now listen to this carefully. The stotia of plays must be written and acted to please the taste of the mass of pleasure seekers. Does anybody believe that their tastes are pure? Let them be composed in the high style of art, and how would the audience dwindle? And how true that this is. Now, number three tonight. We've looked at fables briefly. We've looked at play acting, that is drama, theatrical entertainment, that is on the stage, on the movie screen, I don't care if it's a church, the theater, I don't care where it's at. Years ago we've done some stage plays here. I understand exactly how the church does that. We've done them and done them very well as far as being pleasing to the eye, even as a small church. But now let's come to the issue, we'll title number three, movies or Christian films. And I want you to notice as we come to Ephesians chapter 5, I would ask you this week to read from verse 3 through verse 18 of this chapter. Now, when we come to the issue of movies, and by the way, we are not talking tonight about videos with preaching and teaching. We're not talking about an educational film or a documentary. This was thrown in my face about three or four months ago by someone. Well, I know preachers that got their preaching on DVD. They are justifying a television they put in their home. But what we are talking about, we're talking about television, plays, videos, DVDs, the theater, the stage, dramas, musical, operas, all of these. That's what we're putting. Whether it be in the church, whether it be in home, or whether it be downtown at the theater, that's what we're talking about. play, acting, or we're talking about dramas. Now, you notice in Ephesians chapter 5, he says in verse 3, "...but fornication, and all uncleanness, or covenants, let it not be once named among you as to become a saint, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of things." And he says in verse 7, he said, But be not ye therefore partakers with them, talking about the ungodly. He said, verse 8, for you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord. Walk as light, as the children of light rather. And then he says in verse 10, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. That should always be our desire when we look at anything in this world, is proving what God likes and what God says is right. And he said in verse 11, And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them, for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. He tells us in verse 14 to wake out of the sleep. He said, Arise, and walk circumspectly, in verse 15, not as fools, verse 16, redeeming the times, understanding the times, in verse 17, and being filled with the Spirit of God, in verse 18. Turn with me please to chapter 4. We see a lot of Christian films today. I've seen plenty of them in my life. We see a lot of gospel movies today. What about Christian films? I'm going to give you a couple more quotes here, and then we're going to get away from them and just stick with the Scriptures. But what about Christian films? They've become very popular today. I want you to think about the popularity. Everybody's getting involved. Even churches our size are now trying to produce films. I wrote down a list. I have them here before me, and I'm not going to put them on the CD tonight. But I've got a list of colleges, ministries, preachers, churches, and just a number of different churches and ministries that are now producing films. Oh, they say, well, it's for ministering, for preaching. No, it isn't. It's for entertainment. Let's be honest about it. They're doing it for entertainment. Now, when you get to thinking about this, many in the Christian circles today that are producing these films, these movies, and I'm going to mention a few in just a moment, but now many of them are having their yearly film festivals with awards given out just like they do on secular television. Oh yeah, I get the magazines, I get the ministries, one out in Texas, One out in California, one up in Tennessee. They're having their yearly festivals now, film festivals, Christian film festivals, and they're giving out the awards. There's magazines, there's promotions, there's advertisements. They're producing stars in the Christian circles. And literally, now let me give you ten thoughts here. First of all, it's making use of worldly methods. It is. And secondly, it is a waste of time and money. I've been to the mission field 15 times. We've even used PHIMS years ago on the mission field a few times. But I've been to the mission field 15 times, and I have been to 6 or 7 different countries, and I have been in places and seen people starving to death without food. One of the missionaries called me two weeks ago and he told me, he said they had in one day that week 25 people coming just wanting a handful of food. And we're spending millions of dollars in churches to entertain ourselves? You've got to be kidding me. We've got to be out of our minds. to spend this kind of money on this stuff. And they can call it ministry. They can call it whatever they want. They can call it the Jesus films and everything else, but the bottom line is it's for entertainment. And what about the animation? It's becoming so popular. And what about talking animals and talking vegetables? I have a problem with that anyway, don't you? Don't you have a problem with that? The veggie tales and all this kind of stuff, this is a bunch of garbage. What about the background music in many of the films? Many of the films that are being produced now have CCM rock and roll type music in it. I'm just telling you it's not good. What about the actor? And again, pretending to be somebody that you're not. What about the actors? Do you know who they are? Do you know anything about them? Take the Passion and Mel Gibson. Do you really understand that he's a perverted, wicked man? And churches played this film in their sanctuaries and so forth across our land. He's a wicked man. He's been in the news all the time in trouble about stuff. You see, these are things that we've got to think about. Who is it that is entertaining us? Who is writing the script for these films that we are watching? These are things that we've got to... Think about it. Let me ask you this, and you probably won't be honest with me tonight, but when you watch movies, whether secular or whether Christian, have you ever become identified with the lead character in the role and kind of pretend you were maybe the war hero or the athletic star? Have you ever put yourself in that role? What about the translations of the Bible that they're using in many of these movies? What about the theology that is being preached in these movies? What about the fiction? And even if they base the movie on the true story, how do they know it's true? How do they know the truth? There's a film come out that is called Gods and Generals a few years back. And I heard people quoting from the film. Well, how do they know what Jackson and his wife were talking about when the bedroom doors were closed and they're laying in bed? They're talking one night. How do they know that? They don't. They don't. Listen to this right here. This is another quote. Hollywood have produced films that are an attack on the true Christianity. For instance, The Last Temptation of Christ, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Da Vinci Code. Then they produce movies that are not accurate, like The Ten Commandments, Jesus of Nazareth. Or they zero in, now listen to this point, they zero in on biblical accounts which contain a lot of fighting or romance such as Samson and Delilah, a favorite theme in our wicked society. Now, God wrote it down so we would know it, but He didn't want us to act it out on a stage in front of a church. Now, notice as we come to this passage here, Ephesians chapter 4, and I'm going to be reading in verse 17 through 19, I'm simply saying in this passage, we are not to be imitating the lost in any way. Verse 17, He said this, He said, This I say therefore, and testify unto the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness and greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus, He said, put off something and put on something in the next few verses. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 3. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Another quote dealing with emotions. People respond to imagery presented in movies experimentally. And this quote says, play acting involves the simulation of emotions not actually felt. It embodies a gross moral contradiction in that it calls a lie to the service of truth. And I just gave you the quote about Shakespeare just a moment ago, that he knew his art very well and how to present it on the stage. He knew this very, very well. And Christian myth, in my opinion, is worse than pagan myth. And I think about all the fictional books and movies that are out today. C.S. Lewis, the Chronicles of Narnia, even the Hardy Boys and some of these other fictional stories. I'm just going to be honest with you. I don't even care for Pilgrim's Progress. That's going to probably blow some of you away. I've never read it. I don't like fiction. Yes, the great John Bunyan wrote it, and that's fine. I don't care for it. I don't care for any of these. You know, if you really want to read something, you know, you've got Fox's Book of Martyrs. You want your children to read something. You know, you've got Martyrs' Mirrors. Take them a few years to get through that one. The thing is that thick. You've got biographies of missionaries you can read. And a real novel ideal, you've got the Bible. I mean, we could use it sometimes. It's filled with all kind of true stories. I mean, that's a novel ideal now in the 21st century, but you could actually read the Bible every now and then. In the book of Revelation, Martin Luther, the Reformer, was supposed to have made this statement. I don't know whether he did or not, but he was supposed to have made this statement about some preachers prohibiting plays in his day. He came out of Catholicism, but he didn't come out quite far enough in my opinion. And he's supposed to have made this statement. And if he did, it's a very stupid statement. And if he didn't make it, whoever made it, it's very stupid. It says, Christians must not altogether shun plays because there are sometimes coarseness and adulteries therein. For such reasons, they would have to give up the Bible too. In other words, don't shun plays just because there's coarseness and adulteries. You should have to give up the Bible. That's a very stupid statement. The Lion King, James Dobson focused on the family. They claimed that the Lion King had only a few slight imperfections. Otherwise, it was a wholesome, brilliantly animated picture relating the importance of family and responsibility. See, I'm asking this question, where does it ever end? We pick and choose. Well, this is good and this is not. A few years later we say, oh, that's not either. Where do we end with this thing? Besides have a book burning and a DVD burning like they did in Acts chapter 19. I mean, where does this end? Do you know what's in the Lion King? Necromancing, speaking to the dead, spiritism. The dead father line appears to his sons. And I want to tell you something, animals don't talk to begin with. Turn into Revelation chapter 3. Now before I read there, let me go ahead and read there and then we'll take another text. Revelation chapter 3, notice with me as we read in verse 1, I just need this one verse. It said, And under the angel of church in Sardis write, These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars, I know thy works, notice, and thou hast a name that thou liveth, and are dead. They had a name that was alive, but He said, you're dead. They were well known, and still yet the Lord says, you're dead. They had a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 3. Now dealing with this last section here with movies, let's go back just for a moment. I mentioned this last year. And let's consider 1959, 61, years ago being her. Alright? We're talking about a religious film. This film, starring Charlton Heston, A Tale of Christ, is an 1880 novel by an American author, Lee Wallace, who lived between 1827 and 1905. Now, the screenwriter, I actually have this testimony. I have this testimony on a DVD, as a matter of fact. The screenwriter, He actually worked a homosexual romance into this movie without telling Heston. Stephen Boyd, and I hope I'm pronouncing it, is it Masala? Masala, I guess. He was the man that played the part of a Roman friend to Heston. Heston would have been a Jew, who had not seen each other for years. And the writer told the other actor, Masala, to not say a word, but it would be clear in his looks and his actions." In other words, he did not want to tell Heston because he knew that Charlton Heston would object to it. Sixty-one years ago, working into this supposedly Christian film about a tale of Christ, a homosexual scene. Can you trust anybody? Can you trust Hollywood, can you trust even Christ? What about the Passion of Christ? We talked about that a few moments, 2003, by Mel Gibson. Again, he stays in trouble all the time. He's not a good man. He's not a Christian man. This is a Catholic film. It's ecumenical. It's not biblically correct. It undermines the power and sufficiency of Scriptures. There's pictures of Christ in it, which is contrary to the Word of God. It has the co-redemptive role of Mary, her exaltation in this film. And I don't carry a crucifix, do you? It's a Catholic film. What are they teaching us? What about the left-behind fictional series? And that's exactly what they are. First of all, there's false doctrine. Secondly, there is no second chance when Jesus Christ comes again. I'm sorry, there is no second chance. There is one coming, and there is no second chance. Again, I already mentioned to you gods and generals that a Christian group got involved. I talked with a Christian man in Montgomery about six years ago that worked on that film. I sat down with him and talked with him. But in the film, there's cursing, there's killing, there's the stirring of anger. If you're a Southerner, you start hating Yankees again. If you're a Yankee, you start hating Southerners again just by watching this film. I hear people quoting from the film. One of the statements, a preacher friend of mine just told me when he was down here a few weeks ago, that where Jackson rode out on his horse in the beginning of that film and made this speech, he said he never even made it to begin with. And Christians quote that. Never even made it. promoted by Christian groups, and there's cursing all through the film. The Blind Side, 2009, Christian bookstores have it. Here's one quote from the Family Christian Bookstore. It said it was PG-13. This movie is rated PG-13 and has been Dove approved. Oh, that's exciting, for the ages of 12 plus. It contains content best suited for older audience. It just has a little strong language, brief violence, sexual reference and drug use. That's all it has in it. Take your children and go, or buy the DVD. There's the one that we've probably all seen, Time Changer. There's segments of music in it that shouldn't be there. And there's no way that you can travel in time. Young people watching that, it's confusing sometimes. There's new films coming out, Facing the Giant, Fly Wheel, Fireproof. I'm going to get in trouble this now. The church in Georgia producing these. Bad music. Bad dress standards. Pretending to be somebody else's spouse. Football miracles. Who cares? Bad translations of the Bible. And naked cheerleaders. And I could go on. 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Now I'm going to be closing this evening with this thought. We've looked at fables, play acting, and movies. Fables are fictional stories, myths, falsehoods. Play acting, drama, theatrical performances or entertainment. And Christian films, plays, all these things fit into this category. Now I'm going to close with this thought tonight. Now we're not through yet, but I'm going to close with this thought tonight. The sufficiency of Scripture. That's my closing thought. The sufficiency of Scripture. We have replaced anointed preaching. We have replaced, thus saith the Lord. with theatrics. What is God's way? He's the architect. He gave the dimensions to the tabernacle, the temple, and also to His church. We are weaning ourselves off of the written Word of God in the time in which we live. Productions are inferior to the preaching of God's Word, and we never should forget that. The Holy Spirit deals with reading and preaching for understanding. No one has the right to alter God's method. And I'm saying that if movies are needed today in our brain-dead society, then God's methods are failing. If they're needed, God's methods are failing. And many say, oh, they're needed today to reach the young people. Well, they've done right to reach them with the pathetic music and everything else, and it hasn't helped anybody. You'll notice with me as we come to this last passage. No, this is not the last. Well, it may be. It may be. I don't need to belabor this. I have so many other quotes and thoughts I could give you this evening. Tozer, and you'll get this out of his book, he said, history will show that no spiritual advance, no revival, No upsurge of spiritual life has ever been associated with acting in any form. This is from this book I'm going to give you. He said, religious movies, by appealing directly to the shallowest stratum of our minds, cannot but create bad mental habits which unfit the soul for the reception of genuine spiritual impressions. He said, what will be the end of a generation of Christians fed on such a diet of deception disguised as the faith of our fathers? He said, to pretend to pray, to simulate godly sorrow, to play at worship before the cameras for effect, how utterly shocking to the reverent heart. He said to harmonize the spirit of the religious movie with the spirit of the sacred Scripture is impossible. Any compromise is grotesque, and if it were not so serious, would be downright funny. These are in the quotes of the book I'm going to give you tonight. As we come to this passage, we will close here, and let me give you a few other verses. Hebrews 11.13, rather, the Word of God is placed over images. You know what the pilgrims and strangers of the Old Testament held on to? The promises of the Word of God, not images. Hebrews 4.12, the Word of God is powerful and living. This is a living book, and that's why Satan wants to take it out of your hands. Don't deny what the Word of God says about itself. We are to proclaim and publish. These two words are used to communicate God's message. Please understand that. 1 Corinthians 2 verses 1-5, when Paul came to the Corinthians, he didn't come to them with man's wisdom. He said, I came to you with the Word of God, the Gospel, and a demonstration of the Holy Spirit. He did not use methods or philosophy of the Greeks and Romans, but he spoke plainly the truths of the Word of God because the Spirit of God takes that. If paraphrased Bibles are a plague in our society, what about the movies and what they're producing today? In Exodus chapter 32, another quote, it says, people opted for subjective way instead of objective instructions in the Word of God. They wanted something visible, they wanted the calf, and Moses is up getting them the Word of God. Exodus 16, when He gave the manna, we're not to become weary of the manna. and lust for red flesh, as A.W. Tozer said, a sorry substitute for their lust. Faith cometh by what? By hearing. And hearing by what? The Word of God. The Word of God. Any movie, all it does is water down the Word of God. Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. He said, we're to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind and our strength. How can we do that if we're weaned off of the Word of God? Aren't you tired of picking and choosing? Trying to figure out what's good for the family and what's not? Aren't you tired of that? You've got to ask the question, what would Jesus watch? What would you watch if Jesus was sitting in your living room? You think about that. Jesus did not tell fairy tales and fantasy stories and science fiction and murder mysteries and love stories. He didn't do that. He didn't tell those kind of stories. He would not rent them. He would not watch them. He would not buy them. That's what I want to leave with you tonight. 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. We will be reading from verses 15 through 17. We'll close here in this passage. He says here in verse 15, And that from a child I have known the Holy Scripture, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Yes, amen. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Hey, it's given to us by the Holy Ghost. God breathed. He said, "...and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Notice, "...that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." God has given us everything that we need in His holy Word. He's given us everything. You see, God has given gifted pastors and teachers and evangelists. He's not given gifted movie stars, even in the Christian circles. And I do believe, we were talking about a family this morning, sister, I do believe when people combine trying to come to church and hear the Word of God, And this here, that one day that's going to win out. That other's going to win out. Shall we stand?