The purpose of this website is to provide free sermon manuscripts and sermon videos to pastors and missionaries throughout the world, especially the Third World, where there are few if any theological seminaries or Bible schools.

These sermon manuscripts and videos now go out to about 1,500,000 computers in over 221 countries every year at www.sermonsfortheworld.com. Hundreds of others watch the videos on YouTube, but they soon leave YouTube and come to our website. YouTube feeds people to our website. The sermon manuscripts are given in 46 languages to about 120,000 computers each month. The sermon manuscripts are not copyrighted, so preachers can use them without our permission. Please click here to learn how you can make a monthly donation to help us in this great work of preaching the Gospel to the whole world.

Whenever you write to Dr. Hymers always tell him what country you live in, or he cannot answer you. Dr. Hymers’ e-mail is rlhymersjr@sbcglobal.net.

Satan used two tactics to hinder the spread of Christianity in the early centuries. He used persecution and false doctrine to oppose the work of God. In our text we see that Satan, that old serpent, was using false teachers to beguile the Christians at Corinth, leading them astray from the simple faith in Christ that Paul had preached to them when he founded that church.

But now they were listening to “false apostles” (II Corinthians 11:13). And these false teachers were preaching,

“…another Jesus, whom we [the true apostles] have not preached” (II Corinthians 11:4).

Dr. Walter Martin, whom I knew personally and who preached in our church, said,

The Person and work of Christ is indeed the very foundation of Christian faith…The “other” Jesus of the false cults of that day (Gnosticism and Galatianism) threatened the church…In order that we may better understand precisely how [II Corinthians 11:4] may be applied in our own day, we need only cite some [modern] illustrations of the “other” Jesus the Bible so graphically warns against (Walter Martin, Ph.D., The Kingdom of the Cults, 1985 edition, p. 378).

Again, Dr. Martin said, “We must understand the nature of the ‘other Jesus,’ and then give the Biblical reasons why it is the obligation of Christians to identify him as a counterfeit” (Martin, ibid., p. 377). Let us take a few minutes this morning to identify the “other Jesus” that is presented in the false religions of our day.

I. First, the “other Jesus” of Christian Science.

Dr. Martin said that, in the Christian Science religion, “Gnosticism was revived and Mrs. [Mary Baker] Eddy [the founder of Christian Science]…spelled out her view [of Jesus Christ] so that no one could possibly misinterpret her” when she wrote,

The spiritual Christ was infallible; Jesus, as material manhood, was not Christ (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 84).

The Apostle John strongly wrote against the false Gnostic idea, taught by Mrs. Eddy, that Jesus, in His flesh, “was not Christ.” The Apostle John strongly answered that heresy when he said,

“Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God” (I John 4:3).

Dr. Merrill F. Unger pointed out that “is come” is from the Greek word “eleluthota,” which is in the perfect tense and indicates that Jesus’ coming in the flesh is “not a mere historical fact but present in blessed effects” (Merrill F. Unger, Ph.D., Demons in the World Today, Tyndale House Publishers, 1972 edition, p. 156). Dr. Norman Geisler, commenting on I John 4:2, said that the phrase “is come” is in “The perfect tense, meaning, Jesus came in the flesh in the past and remains in the flesh [after His ascension]” (Norman L. Geisler, Ph.D., The Battle for the Resurrection, Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1992 edition, p. 164). So, Mrs. Eddy was wrong when she said, “Jesus, as material manhood, was not Christ” (ibid.). The Apostle John answered,

“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?”
       (I John 2:22).

Therefore we conclude that the “spirit-Christ” of Christian Science is not the real Jesus. It is “another Jesus,” not the Jesus of Scripture and history!

II. Second, the “other Jesus” of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have always taught that Jesus is “a god,” but not God incarnate. They have said,

He is a “mighty god,” but not the mighty God, who is Jehovah (The Truth Shall Make You Free, p. 47).

The founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Charles Taze Russell, said that Jesus was the Archangel Michael before he appeared in the world (Studies in the Scriptures, vol. 5, p. 84). Therefore the “Jesus” of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is an angel who became a man. He is “a” god, but not God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. These are false teachings that make the “Jesus” of Jehovah’s Witnesses “another Jesus” – not the Jesus of Scripture. To bolster their view that Jesus is “a” god, they mistranslate John 1:1. The Greek word “theos” cannot honestly be translated as “a” god. The KJV is correct, “the Word was God” (John 1:1). And Jesus proclaimed that he was God, the great “I am” of Exodus 3:14, when He said,

“Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).

“Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God”
       (John 20:28).

Again, the Jehovah’s Witness view of Jesus’ resurrection clearly shows that they believe in “another Jesus.” In the Jehovah’s Witness book, Make Sure of All Things, we read of “Jesus’ ascension as a Spirit” (p. 320). Again, they say, “Christ’s Return Invisible, as He testified that Man would not See Him Again in Human Form” (p. 321). They say Christ was raised as a “divine spirit being” (Martin, ibid., p. 97). Yet the Bible makes it very clear that He was not raised as a spirit!

“And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them”
     (Luke 24:36-43).

When Jesus ascended forty days later, it was in the same flesh and bone body that rose from the dead,

“And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”
     (Acts 1:10-11).

Thus we see that the Christian Science “Jesus” and the Jehovah’s Witness “Jesus” are both spirits at the resurrection. But the resurrected Jesus Himself plainly said,

“A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have”
       (Luke 24:39).

So, the Christian Science “Jesus” is “another Jesus” – and the Jehovah’s Witness “Jesus” is also “another Jesus.”

III. Third, the “other Jesus” of Mormonism.

The Mormon church claims that Jesus is one among many gods, which is made clear in their own literature,

Each of these gods, including Jesus Christ and his Father, being in possession of not merely an organized spirit, but a glorious body of flesh and bones (Key to the Science of Theology, by Parley Pratt, 1973 edition, p. 44).

Mormon theologian Pratt gave what Mormonism believes. They have a full pantheon of many gods. But the Bible says,

“There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5).

The Mormon church says that Jesus, before His incarnation, was the spirit-brother of Lucifer. They say that Jesus, after his incarnation, was a polygamist, the husband of Mary and Martha! Thus it is obvious, to anyone who knows the Christian Bible, that the “Jesus” of Mormonism is also “another Jesus” – not the one spoken of in the New Testament. Dr. Walter Martin said,

The Jesus of the Christian Scientists, the Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and of all the cult systems is but a subtle caricature of the Christ of [the Bible]…but he is still [unquestionably] “another Jesus” who represents another gospel and imparts another spirit, which by no stretch of the imagination could be called holy (Martin, ibid., p. 380). In other words, it is a demonic spirit! 

Jesus foretold these “false Christs” in Matthew 24:24,

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24).

Then, in the next verse, Christ said,

“Behold, I have told you before” (Matthew 24:25).

IV. Fourth, the “other Jesus” of liberal Protestantism.

I graduated from two liberal seminaries when I was young. I studied the liberal Dr. Emil Brunner, who said,

Resurrection of the flesh, no! (see Norman L. Geisler, The Battle for the Resurrection, Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1992 edition, p. 89).

The liberal theologian Dr. Rudolf Bultmann said that Christ’s resurrection “is not an event of past history…An historical fact that involves a resurrection from the dead is utterly inconceivable” (Geisler, ibid.). Bultmann spoke of “the incredibility of a mythical event like the resurrection of a corpse” (Geisler, ibid.). Dr. George Eldon Ladd of Fuller Seminary said that the resurrection of Jesus “was not a revivification of a dead corpse, returning to physical life” (Geisler, ibid., p. 94). Dr. Ladd taught that the body of Jesus “simply disappeared” (Geisler, ibid.). Dr. Murray Harris of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School taught that “Jesus’ resurrection appearances were merely manifestations and not in the same physical body in which He died” (Geisler, ibid., p. 99). But Jesus Himself said that He rose from the dead in the same body that was nailed to the Cross,

“And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet” (Luke 24:38-40).

So, we must also say, sadly, that the Jesus spoken of by these Protestant liberals and neo-evangelicals is also “another Jesus.” Notice that these liberal Protestants all have the same basic view of Jesus rising as a spirit – and that this is essentially the same thing that the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christian Scientists believe! 

I cannot close this sermon without mentioning the main reason why so many people in our day believe in “another Jesus” (II Corinthians 11:4). Toward the end of the Second Great Awakening a preacher named C. G. Finney (1792-1875) radically changed the way pastors dealt with the lost. Before Finney, the old preachers listened to the testimonies of inquirers. But Finney did away with that and, through the use of his “new measures,” brought thousands of people into the churches without listening to them, and finding out what they believed. Within a few decades most preachers adopted Finney’s methods. Anyone who professed to be converted was immediately received into the churches. We have written a book that explains all this in detail titled, “Today’s Apostasy.” You can read it free of charge on this website. Click here to read “Today’s Apostasy.”

Dr. Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844) was one of the few Christian leaders who stood against Finney’s “decisionism.” Speaking of the new methods brought in by Finney, Dr. Nettleton said,

I have often been struck with this circumstance in the mode of preaching, that nothing was heard of the danger of spurious [false] conversion. For months together, the thought never seemed to be glanced at, that there was any such thing as a satanic influence…an enthusiastic hypocrite, or a self-deceived person, never to be once dreamed of (Asahel Nettleton, D.D., quoted in Bennet Tyler and Andrew Bonar, The Life and Labours of Asahel Nettleton, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975 reprint, pp. 367-368).

Again, Dr. Nettleton said,

It is an important part of a preacher’s duty…to discriminate between true and false conversion. Without this…the work will rapidly degenerate (ibid.).

Well, that is exactly what happened! The work of evangelism rapidly degenerated. By following Finney’s methods, preachers by the thousands failed to “discriminate between true and false conversion.” Preachers by the thousands forgot “that there was any such thing as a satanic influence.” And, so, hundreds of thousands of unconverted people were brought into the membership of the churches without the pastors asking them any questions. Millions came to believe in “another Jesus” – as a direct result of the pastors neglecting to listen to their testimonies – neglecting to ask a few simple questions that every real convert should be able to answer. Within a few decades after Finney the Protestant and Baptist churches were filled with unconverted people who went on to become liberals, or fell away into one of the cults I mentioned. Even today the Mormons get most of their “converts” from Baptist churches, because those Baptists have never experienced real conversion.

Did you know that the Mormons "eat" one Baptist church every week in the State of Texas alone?  Yes, they take in about three hundred Baptists a week there.  At their current growth rate they will pass the Southern Baptist Convention and become the largest non-Catholic group in America within twenty years or so.  Calvary Contender reported, "Mormons Make Converts From Baptists.  Mormons claim that they have more converts from Baptists than anybody else" (Calvary Contender, May 15, 2001, p. 2).  Dr. Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, agreed that "It could be true" (Calvary Contender, ibid.; see R. L. Hymers, Jr., Th.D., A Puritan Speaks to Our Dying Nation, Hearthstone Publishing, 2002, pp. 11-12).   

This deplorable condition can only be remedied by Baptist preachers making as certain as possible that their people are truly converted!  

In 1903, a Baptist pastor named F. L. Chapell said, “The dark days that preceded the Great Awakening will come again unless somebody stands firmly and clearly and decidedly by the doctrine of a converted church-membership” (F. L. Chapell, The Great Awakening of 1740, written in 1903). We are living right now in the “dark days” that he predicted a hundred years ago.

C. H. Spurgeon was one of the last preachers to follow the old way. Though pastor of the largest Baptist church of his day, he loved his people enough to listen to them and evaluate each one’s testimony before baptizing them.

I could ask you to make a “decision for Christ” right now, and undoubtedly many of you would respond. But I know, from being in the ministry for 52 years, that nearly all of you – probably every one – would soon fall away from the church and go back to a selfish life of sin.

Not all conversions are exactly the same. But usually you must come under conviction of sin, and feel the depravity of your heart. Only then would you see the value of Christ’s death on the Cross to pay the penalty for your sin. Only then would you see that you need the real Jesus to wash your sins away with His real Blood. Only then would you come to the real Jesus, and only then would you be enabled by Him to live out your life as a real Christian, as a real member of the local church.

(END OF SERMON)
You can read Dr. Hymers’ sermons each week on the Internet
at www.realconversion.com. Click on “Sermon Manuscripts.”

Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Dr. Kreighton L. Chan: Matthew 24:23-25.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith: “One Day”
(by J. Wilbur Chapman, 1859-1918).