Christ on Their Lips, Darkness in Their Hearts| John MacArthur Motivation
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✨ Description: In this urgent and piercing message, John F. MacArthur confronts a rising spiritual crisis in today’s church: the widespread presence of verbal Christianity without true conversion. With clarity, biblical authority, and pastoral concern, MacArthur exposes how many professing believers speak the name of Christ yet live lives marked by compromise, rebellion, and self-deception. This message pulls back the curtain on false professions, emotionalism replacing truth, and the dangerous influence of wolves in sheep’s clothing. If you care about genuine faith, biblical discernment, and eternal truth, this message is a must-watch. It’s a wake-up call for those inside the church—and a call to repent and return to the authority of Scripture and the Lordship of Christ.
❗ Why Should You Watch? Because we are witnessing an epidemic of false assurance in the church. Thousands are claiming Christ with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. In just under 13 minutes, John MacArthur dismantles this deadly deception and points us back to the only true mark of salvation: a life submitted to Jesus Christ. If you've ever questioned what real faith looks like—or want to avoid the trap of counterfeit Christianity—this message will challenge and equip you to examine yourself in the light of God’s Word.
⏱️ Timestamps : 00:00 🕊️ Opening Statement – The crisis in the modern church 01:12 📖 Lip-service vs. Lordship 03:00 🐺 Wolves in sheep’s clothing 05:05 🎭 The rise of emotionalism over truth 07:15 🔥 True conversion produces fruit 10:32 ⚖️ The danger of divine judgment on false believers 12:50 🙏 Closing appeal – Return to Christ in truth
🗝️ Keywords: John MacArthur sermon, false Christianity exposed, preaching vs living, modern church deception, emotionalism in church, lordship salvation, true Christian conversion, biblical warning to church, wolves in the church, fake Christianity
00:00there is a staggering reality in today's church landscape you can speak the name of jesus and still be headed for judgment we live in a time where the name christ is on countless lips but the truth of christ is absent from their lives
00:17they sing to him speak about him and even preach in his name but their hearts remain dark untouched and untransformed by the gospel they claim to believe jesus warned us of this in matthew fifteen eight this people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me
00:37he wasn't speaking to atheists or pagans he was addressing the religious people who knew the scriptures people who kept the rituals and yet people whose worship was a lie today that same crisis remains a generation that confesses christ but denies his lordship through compromise sin and worldliness the gospel has been cheapened into motivational slogans and holiness has been traded for hype
01:06but god does not play games with his name this message is not just a warning it is a call to repentance to discernment and to gospel integrity because having christ on your lips means nothing if he doesn't reign in your heart one professing christ while denying his lordship one of the greatest tragedies in the modern church
01:28is this many call jesus lord but refuse to live under his lordship they speak his name with ease attend services sing worship songs and even participate in ministry
01:44but when you examine their lives you find no submission no repentance no transformation the lips speak christ but the heart rebels against his authority
01:56jesus was crystal clear in luke 6 46 why do you call me lord lord and not do what i tell you that is the defining mark of false discipleship
02:08a verbal profession unaccompanied by obedient faith this kind of self deception is rampant people believe that if they acknowledge jesus intellectually they are saved
02:20but faith without obedience is not biblical faith it is dead faith james 2 17 saying jesus is lord while living in defiance of his commands is spiritual hypocrisy
02:34it is to use his name in vain in matthew 7 21 23 jesus declares that many will say lord lord on the day of judgment and still be cast away
02:48why because they practiced lawlessness they spoke his name but they lived as if he were not king true christianity is not lip service it's life submission
03:01you cannot claim the benefits of christ while rejecting his rule the gospel is not an invitation to admire jesus it is a call to die to self and follow him
03:12this false gospel of verbal only faith has created churches full of cultural christians
03:20people who know christian phrases but have never bowed the knee to christ they want a savior but not a lord
03:28they want forgiveness without repentance heaven without holiness but jesus does not offer partial lordship
03:36he is either lord of all or he is not lord at all if your life is not marked by increasing obedience reverence and submission to his word then your profession is a line
03:50no matter how often you say jesus the church must return to preaching the lordship of christ because only a submitted life is a saved life
04:01anything less is a false gospel too false teachers masquerade as ministers of light satan's most effective work has never been outside the church but within it through deception cloaked in religious language
04:16false teachers don't wear horns they wear crosses they quote scripture speak in soft tones and claim to represent christ
04:26but they twist the truth downplay sin and offer a gospel that never saves paul warned about this explicitly in 2 corinthians 11 13-15 for such men are false apostles deceitful workmen disguising themselves as apostles of christ
04:46even satan disguises himself as an angel of light satan's most dangerous servants are not the ones attacking the bible
04:54they are the ones redefining it in the pulpit these men and women know how to talk about jesus without submitting to him
05:02they know how to affirm grace while denying holiness
05:06they preach love but avoid truth they are spiritual actors using christ's name as cover for their agenda
05:15this isn't new the prophets of israel faced the same problem
05:20in jeremiah 6 14 the lord rebuked false prophets who cried peace peace
05:28when there was no peace
05:30they soothed the people's conscience while leading them toward destruction
05:35today's false teachers speak of destiny blessing and breakthrough
05:41but they never preach repentance sin or the wrath of god
05:47they promise the kingdom without a cross
05:49they affirm the sinner without calling for surrender
05:53and the tragedy millions follow them thinking they are following christ
05:59but jesus said in matthew 7 15 beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves
06:10they look like shepherds but they devour the flock we must test every message by the word of god
06:18if a preacher minimizes sin avoids hard truths mocks doctrine or prioritizes feelings over scripture
06:25they are not a servant of christ they are a tool of satan the church must wake up
06:32not every preacher with a bible is preaching truth
06:35not every movement with jesus in the name is from god
06:38we must return to biblical discernment doctrinal clarity and courageous exposure of error
06:44because the devil's greatest lie is this that you can follow a christ of your own making and still be saved
06:50that's not christianity that's a deception that leads to hell
06:563. emotionalism has replaced sound doctrine
07:01the modern church has become increasingly addicted to feelings over faith
07:07emotionalism high energy music motivational rhetoric and carefully orchestrated experiences
07:15has replaced sound doctrine as the center of worship
07:20and while emotion is not wrong in itself
07:23emotion divorced from truth is spiritual deception
07:27we are warned in 2 timothy 4
07:303-4 that the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching
07:36but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions
07:42that time is not coming it is here
07:45many churches today function more like entertainment venues than places of biblical instruction
07:52the sermon is a td talk the worship is a concert the theology is vague and truth
07:59it's optional especially if it offends or convicts
08:03the goal is no longer to honor god but to make people feel good
08:08but romans 10 17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of christ
08:15not through goose bumps not through lights and fog
08:19but through the clear preaching of scripture
08:22when the bible is sidelined and experience becomes the measure of truth
08:27we raise up false converts with shallow roots
08:30god's word was never meant to be edited for mass appeal
08:34it is sharp convicting and confrontational
08:38it reveals sin calls for repentance and exalts christ not self
08:44when churches trade doctrine for emotionalism
08:47they produce people who are moved by music but unmoved by sin
08:52this is exactly what we see in matthew 13
08:56the parable of the soils
08:59one type of soil receives the word with joy
09:03but because it has no root it falls away
09:07emotional response without doctrinal depth is not saving faith
09:13we must recover the centrality of scripture
09:16true worship flows from truth
09:19true conviction comes from clear doctrine
09:22we need preachers who teach the word without apology
09:26not emotional storytellers who entertain the crowd
09:29if your faith depends on how you feel
09:32it will collapse the moment life gets hard
09:35but if it's grounded in truth
09:37it will stand
09:38because it's built on the rock
09:40not the rush
09:41god is not impressed with emotionally charged services
09:45that lack doctrinal substance
09:47he is looking for worshipers who worship him in spirit
09:50and in truth
09:51john 4 24
09:53anything else is a show not worship
09:564
09:57true conversion produces holiness
09:59not hype
10:00the greatest evidence of salvation
10:02is not a raised hand
10:04a walk down the aisle
10:06or a powerful moment during worship
10:08it is a transformed life
10:10a new birth that results in new behavior
10:13a heart that hates sin and longs to obey christ
10:17but today many profess faith in jesus with no fruit
10:21no repentance
10:22no change
10:23the bible makes it unmistakably clear
10:26real conversion always produces real holiness
10:30in 1 john 2
10:324 it says
10:33whoever says i know him
10:35but does not keep his commandments is a liar
10:38and the truth is not in him
10:40that's strong language
10:42but it's the word of god
10:44profession without obedience is deception
10:47we've created a culture where someone can claim to follow christ
10:51while living exactly like the world
10:53they say they believe in jesus
10:56but their lives are marked by sexual immorality
10:59gossip
11:00drunkenness
11:01pride
11:02materialism
11:03and rebellion against god's word
11:06that's not christianity
11:08that's counterfeit faith
11:10titus 1 16 says
11:13they profess to know god
11:14but they deny him by their works
11:17they are detestable
11:19disobedient
11:20unfit for any good work
11:22if your life doesn't bear evidence of salvation
11:25your claim to know christ is meaningless
11:28and yet many churches celebrate hype over holiness
11:32the louder the service
11:34the more spiritual it seems
11:36but holiness isn't about volume
11:38it's about obedience
11:39true faith leads to sanctification
11:43it doesn't merely inspire it transforms
11:46conversion is not just an emotional decision
11:49it is a divine miracle
11:51the holy spirit indwells the believer
11:53and begins a lifelong process of making them more like christ
11:57that includes conviction of sin
12:00growth in humility
12:01hunger for the word
12:02and a desire to walk in righteousness
12:05does that mean christians never sin no
12:08but it does mean they fight sin
12:10they don't excuse it
12:12they don't celebrate it
12:14they don't tolerate it
12:16they grieve over it
12:17they repent of it
12:19any gospel that offers salvation without transformation
12:23is not the gospel of jesus christ
12:26it's a man
12:27made lie designed to comfort sinners in their rebellion
12:31we don't need hype
12:32we need holiness
12:33we don't need stage lights
12:35we need the light of the world
12:37god is not impressed with what we say
12:40he looks at what we become
12:42and if we are not being made more like christ
