1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,528 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,624 --> 00:00:06,552 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,656 --> 00:00:09,672 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,696 --> 00:00:10,728 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,904 --> 00:00:14,616 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,648 --> 00:00:16,300 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,120 Now, come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,700 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,008 And we're going to be learning about the truth of God through another 10 00:00:26,064 --> 00:00:28,426 Passage of Scripture, Second Corinthians, chapter 11. 11 00:00:28,568 --> 00:00:30,982 If you have your Bibles, you can go ahead and turn there with 12 00:00:31,006 --> 00:00:31,350 me now. 13 00:00:31,390 --> 00:00:32,454 Second Corinthians, 11. 14 00:00:32,542 --> 00:00:36,006 Just by way of reminder, if you received a bulletin coming in 15 00:00:36,078 --> 00:00:38,374 on the back of that bulletin, we have our outline. 16 00:00:38,422 --> 00:00:39,286 You could follow along. 17 00:00:39,358 --> 00:00:41,926 I know some people like to follow along and fill in the blanks. 18 00:00:42,038 --> 00:00:45,766 I will try to do my best to keep those blanks, those answers 19 00:00:45,798 --> 00:00:46,998 to those blanks given to you. 20 00:00:47,054 --> 00:00:48,810 I sometimes get ahead of myself. 21 00:00:49,230 --> 00:00:50,278 So if you. 22 00:00:50,414 --> 00:00:54,198 If you miss one, I just appreciate you not throw any tomatoes 23 00:00:54,214 --> 00:00:55,606 at me and stop the service. 24 00:00:55,678 --> 00:00:56,006 Just. 25 00:00:56,078 --> 00:00:58,150 I'll give you the answer at the end of the service if you really 26 00:00:58,190 --> 00:00:59,024 want it. 27 00:00:59,222 --> 00:01:01,900 We do have a PowerPoint that we're going to follow along with 28 00:01:01,940 --> 00:01:02,876 here this morning, too. 29 00:01:02,948 --> 00:01:06,524 So if we can get that up there Today, we're in Second Corinthians, 30 00:01:06,572 --> 00:01:07,276 chapter 11. 31 00:01:07,348 --> 00:01:12,956 And the title of our sermon this morning is the Loyalty in Love. 32 00:01:13,028 --> 00:01:15,000 Loyalty in love. 33 00:01:15,860 --> 00:01:18,364 God desires from us loyalty. 34 00:01:18,412 --> 00:01:20,636 Why does he desire loyalty from us? 35 00:01:20,708 --> 00:01:24,290 Because of his perfect loyalty to us. 36 00:01:24,460 --> 00:01:28,566 We know that God is completely faithful. 37 00:01:28,758 --> 00:01:29,158 And. 38 00:01:29,214 --> 00:01:32,422 And we even heard that this morning in that song, his mercy is 39 00:01:32,446 --> 00:01:32,630 more. 40 00:01:32,670 --> 00:01:32,870 I. 41 00:01:32,910 --> 00:01:36,614 I know that for me, we got a little emotional because I was thinking 42 00:01:36,662 --> 00:01:39,170 about that phrase, his mercy is more. 43 00:01:39,470 --> 00:01:41,478 And I said, his mercy is more than what? 44 00:01:41,534 --> 00:01:43,958 And then the answer that I just thought in my mind is it's. 45 00:01:43,974 --> 00:01:45,030 It's better than everything. 46 00:01:45,150 --> 00:01:48,326 His mercy is more than everything in my life, all my good, 47 00:01:48,478 --> 00:01:53,258 all of my bad, all of all of my failures, his mercy is greater 48 00:01:53,274 --> 00:01:53,978 than that. 49 00:01:54,114 --> 00:01:57,306 And so our God is perfectly faithful to us. 50 00:01:57,458 --> 00:02:01,562 And therefore, because of his word and because of the call for 51 00:02:01,586 --> 00:02:06,602 us to model his lifestyle, his character in our life, we should 52 00:02:06,626 --> 00:02:07,418 be faithful to Him. 53 00:02:07,474 --> 00:02:11,290 So God calls us to loyalty, but loyalty in love. 54 00:02:11,330 --> 00:02:16,154 And so God desires our hearts to be completely loyal to Him. 55 00:02:16,322 --> 00:02:16,650 Now. 56 00:02:16,690 --> 00:02:17,738 Now, is that going to happen? 57 00:02:17,794 --> 00:02:19,594 Well, we're going to talk about that here in a few moments. 58 00:02:19,642 --> 00:02:24,538 But God's desire is that we would be completely loyal to Him. 59 00:02:24,594 --> 00:02:25,690 And what does loyal mean? 60 00:02:25,730 --> 00:02:28,670 Loyal means faithful, committed. 61 00:02:29,570 --> 00:02:31,034 How do we show Our loyalty. 62 00:02:31,082 --> 00:02:33,510 Well, we show our loyalty through love. 63 00:02:34,210 --> 00:02:38,074 The way that I show my loyalty to my wife is by loving her completely. 64 00:02:38,202 --> 00:02:41,786 The way I show my loyalty to my children is by loving them completely. 65 00:02:41,818 --> 00:02:46,102 The way I show, I show my loyalty to the church that I pastors 66 00:02:46,246 --> 00:02:47,286 loving them completely. 67 00:02:47,318 --> 00:02:50,246 And it's the same thing when it comes to our loyalty to God. 68 00:02:50,278 --> 00:02:54,134 The way we demonstrate our loyalty to God is through loving 69 00:02:54,182 --> 00:02:55,770 him completely. 70 00:02:56,190 --> 00:02:59,942 Now, I do want to make a note of a scriptural passage that talks 71 00:03:00,006 --> 00:03:01,750 about that very same thing. 72 00:03:01,870 --> 00:03:03,398 Mark, chapter 12. 73 00:03:03,534 --> 00:03:06,774 Mark, chapter 12, verses 29 through 31. 74 00:03:06,942 --> 00:03:09,430 Mark, chapter 12, verses 39. 75 00:03:09,550 --> 00:03:10,022 Excuse me. 76 00:03:10,046 --> 00:03:14,984 29 through 31 explained to us very clearly that it is God's desire 77 00:03:15,032 --> 00:03:16,456 for us to love him completely. 78 00:03:16,488 --> 00:03:19,816 If you remember that story, there was an individual, a young 79 00:03:19,968 --> 00:03:25,304 guy, a ruler, a lawyer, who came up and was trying to test Jesus. 80 00:03:25,352 --> 00:03:26,792 And you remember what he asked him? 81 00:03:26,816 --> 00:03:28,728 He says, what's the greatest commandment? 82 00:03:28,904 --> 00:03:31,624 Thinking that Jesus would have to pick one of these commandments 83 00:03:31,672 --> 00:03:32,184 to follow. 84 00:03:32,272 --> 00:03:34,808 And you know, well, if you think that's better than what about 85 00:03:34,864 --> 00:03:35,432 this one? 86 00:03:35,536 --> 00:03:38,010 And Jesus answers him in perfection. 87 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:38,470 He. 88 00:03:38,510 --> 00:03:40,370 He says this in verse 29. 89 00:03:40,750 --> 00:03:45,014 The first of all the commandments is, hear, O Israel, 90 00:03:45,062 --> 00:03:49,254 the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shall love the Lord thy 91 00:03:49,302 --> 00:03:55,462 God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, with all thy mind 92 00:03:55,646 --> 00:03:57,222 and with all thy strength. 93 00:03:57,366 --> 00:03:58,886 And this is the first commandment. 94 00:03:58,918 --> 00:04:00,902 And the second is like, namely this. 95 00:04:01,006 --> 00:04:03,030 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 96 00:04:03,110 --> 00:04:05,958 There is none other commandment greater than these. 97 00:04:06,014 --> 00:04:09,184 And Jesus says, hey, look, if you want to know what it means to 98 00:04:09,192 --> 00:04:14,496 be loyal to God, it means to love him completely with our hearts, 99 00:04:14,608 --> 00:04:17,216 souls, minds, strengths, with everything. 100 00:04:17,288 --> 00:04:18,432 That's what Jesus is saying here. 101 00:04:18,456 --> 00:04:22,320 He says, the greatest thing that we can do as a believer to demonstrate 102 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,840 our loyalty to him, to demonstrate our obedience to him, 103 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:27,900 is to love him with everything. 104 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:30,032 Love means sacrifice. 105 00:04:30,096 --> 00:04:31,424 Love means service. 106 00:04:31,512 --> 00:04:35,370 Love means the that we're willing to put others before ourselves. 107 00:04:35,530 --> 00:04:38,790 And then he says, hey, look, if you want to see that in action, 108 00:04:39,490 --> 00:04:41,230 love your neighbor as yourself. 109 00:04:41,730 --> 00:04:42,794 That's loyalty. 110 00:04:42,922 --> 00:04:44,026 That's loyalty to God. 111 00:04:44,058 --> 00:04:45,194 That's what God's asking. 112 00:04:45,322 --> 00:04:48,394 God is not asking us to keep all 613 commandments. 113 00:04:48,442 --> 00:04:48,698 Why? 114 00:04:48,754 --> 00:04:49,790 Because we can't. 115 00:04:51,490 --> 00:04:52,714 You can't do enough. 116 00:04:52,882 --> 00:04:53,210 There. 117 00:04:53,250 --> 00:04:53,610 There's a. 118 00:04:53,650 --> 00:04:55,130 There's a false teaching out there. 119 00:04:55,170 --> 00:04:55,658 There's a. 120 00:04:55,714 --> 00:04:58,506 There's a group of people in this world that believe in the grace 121 00:04:58,538 --> 00:04:58,874 of God. 122 00:04:58,922 --> 00:05:00,288 And they say, hey, it's. 123 00:05:00,384 --> 00:05:02,032 We're saved by the grace of God. 124 00:05:02,096 --> 00:05:05,552 Plus, everything that we can do, folks, we cannot do enough. 125 00:05:05,736 --> 00:05:07,472 God's grace is abundant. 126 00:05:07,616 --> 00:05:09,168 God's grace is infinite. 127 00:05:09,264 --> 00:05:13,520 There's nothing that we can do to earn our love that God gives us. 128 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,416 So there's nothing that we can do to earn God's mercy. 129 00:05:16,528 --> 00:05:20,944 And so salvation is not based in our loyalty to God. 130 00:05:20,992 --> 00:05:22,160 Thank goodness for that. 131 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:24,992 Thank the Lord that God doesn't just save those that are 132 00:05:25,016 --> 00:05:26,380 perfectly loyal to him. 133 00:05:26,790 --> 00:05:28,010 Because you know what? 134 00:05:28,310 --> 00:05:29,486 I can't do that. 135 00:05:29,638 --> 00:05:34,014 I don't know about you, but I cannot be perfectly loyal to my Savior. 136 00:05:34,062 --> 00:05:36,894 I want to be, but I cannot be perfectly loyal. 137 00:05:37,022 --> 00:05:41,022 And so though God desires our loyalty, our salvation is not based 138 00:05:41,126 --> 00:05:42,850 in our perfect loyalty. 139 00:05:43,430 --> 00:05:45,150 There are some people out there that teach this. 140 00:05:45,190 --> 00:05:48,174 If you're not perfectly loyal to the Lord, you must not be a Christian. 141 00:05:48,222 --> 00:05:51,130 The truth is, is that none of us can be completely loyal to Him. 142 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,096 And so what is the royal of loyalty when it comes to our relationship 143 00:05:55,128 --> 00:05:56,060 with the Lord? 144 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:58,840 Well, I think it's this. 145 00:05:58,880 --> 00:05:59,032 I. 146 00:05:59,056 --> 00:06:03,128 I think that we're reminded in second Timothy, chapter two, verse 147 00:06:03,224 --> 00:06:08,280 13 that even when we are not faithful, even when we fall short 148 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,976 of our loyalty to him, it says this. 149 00:06:12,128 --> 00:06:16,824 If we believe not yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny 150 00:06:16,872 --> 00:06:17,192 himself. 151 00:06:17,256 --> 00:06:21,950 Meaning this, if we are faithless, he still remains faithful. 152 00:06:22,450 --> 00:06:24,986 And so the beauty of our salvation is this. 153 00:06:25,058 --> 00:06:26,250 Yes, God saves us. 154 00:06:26,290 --> 00:06:28,346 Yes, God gifts us with eternal life. 155 00:06:28,418 --> 00:06:30,714 Yes, God expects us to be faithful to Him. 156 00:06:30,802 --> 00:06:33,866 But when we fall short in our faithfulness, when we fall short 157 00:06:33,938 --> 00:06:37,082 in our loyalty, he is completely loyal to us. 158 00:06:37,186 --> 00:06:41,162 All the more reason for us to strive to be loyal to him out of 159 00:06:41,186 --> 00:06:43,390 thanksgiving, out of appreciation. 160 00:06:43,820 --> 00:06:44,612 Lord, you know what? 161 00:06:44,636 --> 00:06:44,772 I. 162 00:06:44,796 --> 00:06:48,948 I can go back in times in my life, Lord, that I have been so, 163 00:06:49,084 --> 00:06:49,956 so rebellious. 164 00:06:49,988 --> 00:06:50,180 I. 165 00:06:50,220 --> 00:06:52,004 I have been so unfaithful. 166 00:06:52,052 --> 00:06:54,260 But yet you have been faithful to me. 167 00:06:54,300 --> 00:06:57,200 Therefore that drives me forward to service for him. 168 00:06:57,580 --> 00:06:59,972 I said this recently to somebody, I said, you know what, 169 00:07:00,076 --> 00:07:04,964 the thing that makes our type of faith different, our, our belief 170 00:07:05,012 --> 00:07:07,972 system different is that most belief systems in this world say 171 00:07:07,996 --> 00:07:08,372 this. 172 00:07:08,476 --> 00:07:13,408 Do f things so that you can get salvation, work and be a better 173 00:07:13,464 --> 00:07:17,472 person, so that you can reach some type of love and grace by a 174 00:07:17,496 --> 00:07:18,128 deity. 175 00:07:18,304 --> 00:07:21,120 But what the Bible says, it's the complete opposite. 176 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:22,780 Come to Christ. 177 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:25,620 Not perfect. 178 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:26,848 Not perfect. 179 00:07:26,864 --> 00:07:29,136 You know, some people say, pastor, can I come to church if I'm 180 00:07:29,168 --> 00:07:29,776 not perfect? 181 00:07:29,888 --> 00:07:30,528 Yes, please. 182 00:07:30,584 --> 00:07:30,752 That. 183 00:07:30,776 --> 00:07:34,256 Cuz where, where else are you going to go to get cleaned up, right? 184 00:07:34,408 --> 00:07:36,688 You can't clean yourself up and then come to church because none 185 00:07:36,704 --> 00:07:38,874 of us will be able to come into this, you know, these doors. 186 00:07:39,002 --> 00:07:41,866 And so the truth is, the difference about our salvation is 187 00:07:41,938 --> 00:07:44,666 that we don't work to get to salvation. 188 00:07:44,778 --> 00:07:48,362 God's already done the work, and we trust in that work. 189 00:07:48,466 --> 00:07:51,466 And so we come to Christ in faith, and then we serve. 190 00:07:51,578 --> 00:07:55,194 And so we don't serve and be loyal to be saved. 191 00:07:55,242 --> 00:07:59,066 We are saved to be servants and to be loyal. 192 00:07:59,178 --> 00:08:01,670 And that's the beauty of what we have in Christ. 193 00:08:02,530 --> 00:08:08,316 And so the way that we demonstrate our loyalty to God is 194 00:08:08,388 --> 00:08:13,196 by demonstrating our love for him, demonstrating our love for Him. 195 00:08:13,268 --> 00:08:14,060 A love for what? 196 00:08:14,100 --> 00:08:14,924 How do we love God? 197 00:08:14,972 --> 00:08:17,484 Well, we love His Word, folks. 198 00:08:17,532 --> 00:08:21,916 We should have a desire to love God's Word, to grow in God's 199 00:08:21,948 --> 00:08:23,308 Word, to obey God's Word. 200 00:08:23,324 --> 00:08:26,652 He even said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. 201 00:08:26,796 --> 00:08:29,820 He doesn't say, if you want to be saved, keep my commandments. 202 00:08:29,900 --> 00:08:33,760 He says, if you love me, show that you love me by keeping my commandments. 203 00:08:34,449 --> 00:08:38,789 And so the way that we can demonstrate loyalty to God is by 204 00:08:39,089 --> 00:08:42,249 loving and obeying and dwelling in His Word. 205 00:08:42,329 --> 00:08:46,905 Another thing that we can do is to love his ways, to love his 206 00:08:46,977 --> 00:08:47,849 path in our life. 207 00:08:47,889 --> 00:08:50,265 We talked about it this morning in Proverbs 3, 5 and 6. 208 00:08:50,337 --> 00:08:54,265 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not into thine 209 00:08:54,297 --> 00:08:55,113 own understanding. 210 00:08:55,161 --> 00:08:57,429 In all thy ways acknowledge him. 211 00:08:57,729 --> 00:09:02,036 And so it's trusting in his ways, it's loving his ways, and ultimately 212 00:09:02,068 --> 00:09:07,108 it's loving his work, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, the 213 00:09:07,164 --> 00:09:08,932 work of transformation. 214 00:09:09,076 --> 00:09:09,780 As Ms. 215 00:09:09,820 --> 00:09:12,596 Suzette sang this morning, how can I not be changed? 216 00:09:12,708 --> 00:09:14,420 How can I not be transformed? 217 00:09:14,500 --> 00:09:17,636 I must love that work of God in my life. 218 00:09:17,788 --> 00:09:21,812 And so many times we say we're loyal, but yet we're not loving the 219 00:09:21,836 --> 00:09:22,036 Word. 220 00:09:22,068 --> 00:09:23,396 We're not loving his ways. 221 00:09:23,428 --> 00:09:25,588 We're not loving his work in our life. 222 00:09:25,724 --> 00:09:28,772 And we're going to talk about that very thing here in 2 Corinthians, 223 00:09:28,836 --> 00:09:29,604 chapter 11. 224 00:09:29,692 --> 00:09:32,996 Loyalty to the Lord through love. 225 00:09:33,148 --> 00:09:35,556 Let's go ahead and pray, and we'll jump right into our main text 226 00:09:35,588 --> 00:09:35,940 this morning. 227 00:09:35,980 --> 00:09:37,444 Lord, I thank you for this time. 228 00:09:37,612 --> 00:09:40,596 Thank you for this opportunity to look into your word. 229 00:09:40,628 --> 00:09:41,956 Lord, I pray that you challenge our hearts. 230 00:09:41,988 --> 00:09:42,180 You. 231 00:09:42,220 --> 00:09:43,220 You comfort us. 232 00:09:43,340 --> 00:09:44,756 You convict us, Lord. 233 00:09:44,788 --> 00:09:47,812 You get us to a place in our life where we can see the truth of 234 00:09:47,836 --> 00:09:51,396 God and the importance of what it means to be loyal to you because 235 00:09:51,468 --> 00:09:53,636 of your perfect faithfulness to us. 236 00:09:53,788 --> 00:09:56,052 Lord, I pray that if there's someone here today that does not 237 00:09:56,076 --> 00:09:59,800 know you as Savior that has been trusting in something outside 238 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:04,968 of your work, that today can be the day of salvation, that today 239 00:10:05,024 --> 00:10:07,032 can be the day of transformation, that today can be 240 00:10:07,056 --> 00:10:09,992 the day that we can understand what it means that, that we have 241 00:10:10,016 --> 00:10:11,100 a loyal Savior. 242 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:12,360 So we thank you. 243 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:12,920 We love you. 244 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,544 I pray that you can remove any distractions from our minds and from 245 00:10:15,552 --> 00:10:15,928 our hearts. 246 00:10:15,944 --> 00:10:16,280 Lord. 247 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,960 Allow me to be removed from the picture, Lord, and allow your 248 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,180 word to be clearly seen this morning. 249 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,116 Shine light into our minds, into our hearts. 250 00:10:25,208 --> 00:10:26,996 We ask all these things in Jesus name. 251 00:10:27,068 --> 00:10:27,684 Amen. 252 00:10:27,812 --> 00:10:29,300 We're in Second Corinthians, chapter 11. 253 00:10:29,340 --> 00:10:30,960 We're going to start in verse number one. 254 00:10:31,580 --> 00:10:34,532 And again, you, you have to understand the context of, of what 255 00:10:34,556 --> 00:10:35,204 we've been studying. 256 00:10:35,252 --> 00:10:38,820 Second Corinthians, Paul is coming to a church that has been 257 00:10:38,860 --> 00:10:41,556 started a while back and they've had a lot of issues. 258 00:10:41,708 --> 00:10:42,020 Right? 259 00:10:42,060 --> 00:10:42,308 Right. 260 00:10:42,364 --> 00:10:45,460 Paul has invested into their lives by telling them what it means 261 00:10:45,500 --> 00:10:48,660 to love God, what it means to have salvation, what it means to 262 00:10:48,700 --> 00:10:50,244 worship him properly. 263 00:10:50,372 --> 00:10:54,162 But yet they've strayed and they've allowed other people who 264 00:10:54,186 --> 00:10:57,522 have come into the church here in Corinth and they have been preaching 265 00:10:57,586 --> 00:10:59,906 things opposite of what Paul has preached them. 266 00:11:00,058 --> 00:11:03,698 And what's happened is, is this, they begin to believe the other 267 00:11:03,754 --> 00:11:05,506 teachers instead of Paul. 268 00:11:05,618 --> 00:11:09,490 They begin to question what Paul has taught and therefore questioning 269 00:11:09,650 --> 00:11:11,186 what God has taught them. 270 00:11:11,338 --> 00:11:13,602 They've been saying this, Paul, you're, you're two faced. 271 00:11:13,666 --> 00:11:14,850 Paul, you're a hypocrite. 272 00:11:14,930 --> 00:11:17,298 Because these guys are telling us something different. 273 00:11:17,434 --> 00:11:20,496 And so Paul now is defending his himself. 274 00:11:20,608 --> 00:11:24,144 And by defending himself, he's defending the gospel, he's defending 275 00:11:24,192 --> 00:11:25,376 the truth of God. 276 00:11:25,568 --> 00:11:29,472 And so Second Corinthians, chapter 11 is him coming and explaining 277 00:11:29,536 --> 00:11:33,680 to the people, this is what I have taught you, this is what they 278 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:34,704 are teaching you. 279 00:11:34,792 --> 00:11:36,180 Let's look at the difference. 280 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:38,620 Let's put them to the test. 281 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:42,880 And he talks about their loyalty to God instead of their loyalty 282 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:47,104 to teachers, their loyalty to the truth instead of the loyalty 283 00:11:47,152 --> 00:11:48,182 to the lies. 284 00:11:48,376 --> 00:11:51,290 And so in here, in Second Corinthians, chapter 11, Paul is 285 00:11:51,330 --> 00:11:52,282 under attack. 286 00:11:52,466 --> 00:11:56,070 But by way of extension, God's message is under attack. 287 00:11:56,370 --> 00:11:58,922 And so the Corinthian context is this. 288 00:11:59,026 --> 00:12:01,482 The whole book of Second Corinthians is about getting the 289 00:12:01,506 --> 00:12:06,970 church in Corinth to realign in their loyalty to Jesus and the 290 00:12:07,010 --> 00:12:08,826 truth of the gospel. 291 00:12:09,018 --> 00:12:14,362 All of 2 Corinthians is about realigning the church back to the 292 00:12:14,386 --> 00:12:19,174 truth, back to the true Jesus, back to the true Gospel. 293 00:12:19,302 --> 00:12:21,686 And so Paul is like, guys, you need to get back on track. 294 00:12:21,758 --> 00:12:25,942 You understood it at one point and you've seen great fruit in your 295 00:12:25,966 --> 00:12:26,294 life. 296 00:12:26,382 --> 00:12:28,374 You've seen God transform in your life. 297 00:12:28,462 --> 00:12:31,750 But now you're starting to drift back into your old ways. 298 00:12:31,830 --> 00:12:35,398 You're allowing things from your pagan culture to mingle into 299 00:12:35,454 --> 00:12:38,090 the worship of the true God. 300 00:12:38,430 --> 00:12:42,438 You're allowing these false teachers to draw you away with their 301 00:12:42,494 --> 00:12:45,330 fancy talk and with their appealing language. 302 00:12:45,410 --> 00:12:50,370 And yet you have to go back to what you know about Jesus and the 303 00:12:50,410 --> 00:12:51,218 gospel. 304 00:12:51,394 --> 00:12:55,202 And so their disloyalty to Paul, because at this point in time, 305 00:12:55,226 --> 00:12:56,834 they're not being loyal to Paul. 306 00:12:56,962 --> 00:12:58,946 They're basically telling Paul, we don't want to hear anything 307 00:12:58,978 --> 00:12:59,474 from you. 308 00:12:59,562 --> 00:13:01,970 We're done with you're fake. 309 00:13:02,130 --> 00:13:05,330 They're attacking his authority, they're attacking his 310 00:13:05,370 --> 00:13:08,594 apostleship, they're attacking everything that he has said to them. 311 00:13:08,682 --> 00:13:12,452 And so their disloyalty to Paul is not just a disloyalty to 312 00:13:12,476 --> 00:13:14,884 a human, a preacher, an apostle. 313 00:13:15,012 --> 00:13:18,212 Their disloyalty was to the message of Christ. 314 00:13:18,396 --> 00:13:23,748 So, so, so the church rejecting Paul's message was them 315 00:13:23,804 --> 00:13:26,356 rejecting the message of Christ because Paul is preaching. 316 00:13:26,388 --> 00:13:27,508 Thus saith the Lord. 317 00:13:27,604 --> 00:13:29,284 This is what the word of God says. 318 00:13:29,372 --> 00:13:30,884 This is what Jesus told me. 319 00:13:30,972 --> 00:13:32,020 This is how you should live. 320 00:13:32,060 --> 00:13:33,252 This is how you should believe. 321 00:13:33,356 --> 00:13:35,760 And they go, paul, we don't want what you're bringing us. 322 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,432 And what the Bible tells us is that when people reject us, when 323 00:13:39,456 --> 00:13:42,696 people hate us, when people turn their backs against us, it's 324 00:13:42,728 --> 00:13:45,816 not so much a personal slide as much as it is that they hate God. 325 00:13:45,928 --> 00:13:47,816 Their rejection is a rejection of God. 326 00:13:47,848 --> 00:13:49,544 And so they're rejecting Paul here. 327 00:13:49,632 --> 00:13:51,912 So Paul isn't just being petty here. 328 00:13:52,016 --> 00:13:52,984 When he defends himself. 329 00:13:53,032 --> 00:13:55,112 He's not like, well, I want everyone to like me. 330 00:13:55,216 --> 00:13:58,376 He's like, hey, I gotta get together what I've been preaching 331 00:13:58,408 --> 00:14:01,192 to them and I gotta defend myself because I'm defending the 332 00:14:01,216 --> 00:14:02,220 truth of God. 333 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:08,040 And so we see that by defending his ministry, Paul is defending 334 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:08,984 the gospel. 335 00:14:09,112 --> 00:14:11,960 The Bible says in the book of Jude that we should contend for the 336 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,080 faith, that we should fight for the truth, that we should fight 337 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:15,784 for the gospel. 338 00:14:15,832 --> 00:14:17,432 And so that's what Paul is doing here. 339 00:14:17,536 --> 00:14:20,456 In verse number one, he's going to explain the foolishness 340 00:14:20,488 --> 00:14:20,984 of this. 341 00:14:21,072 --> 00:14:23,460 It's like, I shouldn't be doing this. 342 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:27,032 I shouldn't have to come back to you and defend myself and who 343 00:14:27,056 --> 00:14:28,494 I am and what I believe. 344 00:14:28,632 --> 00:14:30,354 But yet he has to here. 345 00:14:30,522 --> 00:14:32,482 And, and so in verse number one, we see this. 346 00:14:32,506 --> 00:14:37,666 He says, would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly 347 00:14:37,698 --> 00:14:38,790 or foolishness. 348 00:14:39,450 --> 00:14:40,802 And indeed, bear with me. 349 00:14:40,826 --> 00:14:42,834 You say, what is he talking about here? 350 00:14:42,922 --> 00:14:44,034 Well, he's saying this. 351 00:14:44,122 --> 00:14:44,418 This. 352 00:14:44,474 --> 00:14:47,250 Bear with me because we're about to go through some foolishness. 353 00:14:47,410 --> 00:14:50,146 He's answering a fool according to their folly. 354 00:14:50,258 --> 00:14:54,530 He says, look, really, I gotta go back and do this. 355 00:14:54,570 --> 00:14:55,464 This is foolishness. 356 00:14:55,562 --> 00:14:57,916 He's not saying that he's foolish for doing this. 357 00:14:57,988 --> 00:15:01,148 He's saying the fact that he has to defend what he has preached 358 00:15:01,164 --> 00:15:02,076 already is foolishness. 359 00:15:02,108 --> 00:15:02,316 They've. 360 00:15:02,348 --> 00:15:03,400 They're past this. 361 00:15:03,780 --> 00:15:07,964 And, and so the necessity of defending himself was foolishness 362 00:15:08,012 --> 00:15:08,412 here. 363 00:15:08,516 --> 00:15:08,828 And. 364 00:15:08,884 --> 00:15:12,108 But he realized that it was a necessity he had to do this. 365 00:15:12,244 --> 00:15:15,564 And so it was brought on by their own foolishness. 366 00:15:15,612 --> 00:15:18,172 The church at Corinth was foolish in the fact that they were 367 00:15:18,196 --> 00:15:19,196 rejecting the truth. 368 00:15:19,228 --> 00:15:22,644 The Bible says the fool has said in his heart there is no God. 369 00:15:22,812 --> 00:15:25,492 But we even know that foolishness is just rejecting the 370 00:15:25,516 --> 00:15:26,484 truths of God. 371 00:15:26,612 --> 00:15:29,684 And so it's because of their foolishness that Paul has to defend 372 00:15:29,732 --> 00:15:31,720 himself and defend the gospel. 373 00:15:32,140 --> 00:15:37,508 He calls it folly because he does it reluctantly, knowing his 374 00:15:37,564 --> 00:15:41,316 time and effort could be spent on far better things, specifically 375 00:15:41,348 --> 00:15:42,200 the gospel. 376 00:15:42,780 --> 00:15:46,372 He wants to spend his time on training these people so that they 377 00:15:46,396 --> 00:15:47,962 can go out and preach the gospel. 378 00:15:48,076 --> 00:15:48,302 He. 379 00:15:48,326 --> 00:15:50,910 He wants to spend his time starting other churches. 380 00:15:50,990 --> 00:15:53,710 He wants to spend his time showing the love of Christ to people. 381 00:15:53,750 --> 00:15:56,330 But now he's like, we gotta take a step back. 382 00:15:57,030 --> 00:15:59,342 Similar to the idea of, hey, you know what, you guys should be 383 00:15:59,366 --> 00:16:01,230 on the meat, but you're still on the milk. 384 00:16:01,310 --> 00:16:03,390 And actually at this point, you don't even have the milk rate. 385 00:16:03,510 --> 00:16:07,230 And so he's going back and saying, I, we gotta rethink what 386 00:16:07,270 --> 00:16:08,462 we're all about. 387 00:16:08,646 --> 00:16:09,742 And so that's what he's saying here. 388 00:16:09,766 --> 00:16:12,210 Bear with me while we deal with this foolishness. 389 00:16:13,430 --> 00:16:13,966 It's, it's. 390 00:16:13,998 --> 00:16:16,606 It's essentially Paul being very frustrated in the Lord. 391 00:16:16,638 --> 00:16:19,088 He says, look, I gotta come back and we gotta do this again. 392 00:16:19,144 --> 00:16:20,780 We're gonna start from ground zero. 393 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:23,440 And so we're gonna move a little bit further here. 394 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:27,712 And, and, and he talks in verse two about godly jealousy. 395 00:16:27,776 --> 00:16:31,568 He says, I am jealous for you, verse two, for I am jealous over 396 00:16:31,624 --> 00:16:33,700 you with godly jealousy. 397 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,544 That's maybe a phrase that you didn't know that was in scripture. 398 00:16:36,592 --> 00:16:37,376 Godly jealousy. 399 00:16:37,408 --> 00:16:40,140 We always hear that jealousy is out and out bad. 400 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:41,984 Don't be jealous. 401 00:16:42,112 --> 00:16:43,616 Well, there's two different types of jealousy. 402 00:16:43,648 --> 00:16:47,044 There's worldly, selfish jealousy, and there's, as the Bible 403 00:16:47,092 --> 00:16:48,436 says, here Godly jealousy. 404 00:16:48,468 --> 00:16:50,532 And we're going to talk about each one of those things. 405 00:16:50,636 --> 00:16:52,052 So what is worldly jealousy? 406 00:16:52,116 --> 00:16:54,480 Well, it's a jealousy that we're not supposed to have. 407 00:16:54,780 --> 00:16:58,804 Sinful jealousy or worldly jealousy is based in covetousness. 408 00:16:58,932 --> 00:16:59,844 What's covetousness? 409 00:16:59,892 --> 00:17:02,708 I want what someone else has, so therefore I'm jealous. 410 00:17:02,884 --> 00:17:05,620 Okay, so let's say someone pulls into the parking lot today 411 00:17:05,660 --> 00:17:09,396 with the vehicle that I've always wanted, and I see them pulling 412 00:17:09,428 --> 00:17:09,572 the. 413 00:17:09,596 --> 00:17:11,676 And I'm like, man, I wanted that. 414 00:17:11,868 --> 00:17:14,028 How did they afford that? 415 00:17:14,084 --> 00:17:14,700 How did they. 416 00:17:14,740 --> 00:17:15,212 And you know what? 417 00:17:15,236 --> 00:17:20,684 And it's that that jealousy I want what they have is based in selfishness. 418 00:17:20,732 --> 00:17:21,628 Covetousness. 419 00:17:21,724 --> 00:17:22,988 I want what they have. 420 00:17:23,044 --> 00:17:23,660 I don't have it. 421 00:17:23,700 --> 00:17:24,396 I'm jealous. 422 00:17:24,508 --> 00:17:25,660 That's sinful. 423 00:17:25,820 --> 00:17:26,140 We. 424 00:17:26,180 --> 00:17:27,560 We must reject that. 425 00:17:28,180 --> 00:17:31,580 And most of the time when we are acting in jealousy, it's in that 426 00:17:31,620 --> 00:17:32,240 route. 427 00:17:32,740 --> 00:17:33,100 I. 428 00:17:33,140 --> 00:17:34,460 I'm mad that they have that. 429 00:17:34,500 --> 00:17:35,612 I'm jealous of them. 430 00:17:35,716 --> 00:17:36,364 It's based. 431 00:17:36,452 --> 00:17:38,240 It's rooted in covetousness. 432 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,368 But godly jealousy is not based in covetousness. 433 00:17:41,544 --> 00:17:45,640 Godly jealousy is based in the fact that God is the recipient of 434 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:46,568 our desire. 435 00:17:46,664 --> 00:17:48,300 We're jealous for God. 436 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,088 We're jealous in righteousness. 437 00:17:52,264 --> 00:17:54,060 Let me use this as an example. 438 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,328 God has told me that I am to stay faithful to my wife. 439 00:17:58,504 --> 00:18:01,976 God has told me that I love one woman for eternity. 440 00:18:02,168 --> 00:18:02,520 I. 441 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:04,118 I love my wife. 442 00:18:04,304 --> 00:18:07,114 And I think, biblically speaking, that she is supposed to 443 00:18:07,122 --> 00:18:07,914 love me. 444 00:18:08,082 --> 00:18:10,842 And let's say, for example, I don't go around and go, I don't care 445 00:18:10,866 --> 00:18:12,922 who my wife loves, right? 446 00:18:13,026 --> 00:18:13,482 Whatever. 447 00:18:13,546 --> 00:18:16,026 She wants to go around and love other people, that's fine. 448 00:18:16,058 --> 00:18:17,306 Love other men, whatever. 449 00:18:17,418 --> 00:18:18,938 No, that's what's called. 450 00:18:19,074 --> 00:18:20,826 There can be selfish jealousy in that. 451 00:18:20,898 --> 00:18:22,650 But the godly jealousy would be, no. 452 00:18:22,690 --> 00:18:24,282 God has ordained this marriage. 453 00:18:24,346 --> 00:18:26,442 There's a covenant between God and man. 454 00:18:26,466 --> 00:18:27,994 There's a covenant between man and wife. 455 00:18:28,042 --> 00:18:29,258 We are now one flesh. 456 00:18:29,354 --> 00:18:32,324 And my jealousy is for good in that case. 457 00:18:32,412 --> 00:18:34,820 And so what Paul is saying here is he's like, I'm jealous over 458 00:18:34,860 --> 00:18:35,156 you. 459 00:18:35,228 --> 00:18:36,852 Now, why is he jealous over them? 460 00:18:36,956 --> 00:18:42,440 Because they were basically marrying another way of thinking. 461 00:18:43,260 --> 00:18:45,236 They were going another route. 462 00:18:45,348 --> 00:18:47,956 They were believing in the false teaching. 463 00:18:47,988 --> 00:18:49,684 And so he's like, I'm jealous over you. 464 00:18:49,772 --> 00:18:50,116 Why? 465 00:18:50,188 --> 00:18:54,320 Because my desire is that God is a recipient of your love. 466 00:18:54,780 --> 00:18:58,980 That the love of his word, the love of his ways, the love of his 467 00:18:59,020 --> 00:18:59,340 work. 468 00:18:59,420 --> 00:19:00,876 And so godly jealousy is this. 469 00:19:00,948 --> 00:19:02,620 I'm jealous over the right thing. 470 00:19:02,660 --> 00:19:06,252 I'm jealous over righteousness I'm just going to be honest with 471 00:19:06,276 --> 00:19:06,460 you. 472 00:19:06,500 --> 00:19:09,724 If there's a person who came into our church and started teaching 473 00:19:09,772 --> 00:19:13,372 false teaching and they were telling all of you that you should 474 00:19:13,396 --> 00:19:16,284 believe a certain thing that's outside of Scripture, I'm going to 475 00:19:16,292 --> 00:19:17,132 be jealous over that. 476 00:19:17,156 --> 00:19:18,764 I am going to fight for that. 477 00:19:18,932 --> 00:19:21,596 I'm not going to stand for the fact that, hey, we've been sitting 478 00:19:21,628 --> 00:19:23,692 here for years talking about the importance of the Gospel and 479 00:19:23,716 --> 00:19:25,564 someone comes in and says, well, you can work your way to heaven. 480 00:19:25,612 --> 00:19:26,262 No way. 481 00:19:26,396 --> 00:19:27,586 We're not going to stand for that. 482 00:19:27,658 --> 00:19:29,666 And I hope you understand that's godly jealousy. 483 00:19:29,698 --> 00:19:31,970 That's the type of jealousy that Paul is talking about. 484 00:19:32,010 --> 00:19:35,890 Here we see that God is a jealous God. 485 00:19:35,970 --> 00:19:37,470 Exodus chapter 20. 486 00:19:38,250 --> 00:19:39,378 Exodus, chapter 20. 487 00:19:39,434 --> 00:19:41,298 Most of you know this passage of scripture. 488 00:19:41,394 --> 00:19:41,714 It's. 489 00:19:41,762 --> 00:19:45,910 It's God speaking about these, what we call the Ten Commandments. 490 00:19:46,250 --> 00:19:47,954 But this shows God's heart. 491 00:19:48,122 --> 00:19:49,602 Exodus chapter 20, verse 5. 492 00:19:49,626 --> 00:19:52,006 It says, Thou shalt not bow down. 493 00:19:52,058 --> 00:19:54,382 Down thyself to them, nor serve them. 494 00:19:54,486 --> 00:19:56,206 Talking about the false gods. 495 00:19:56,318 --> 00:20:01,774 For I, the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity 496 00:20:01,822 --> 00:20:03,966 of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth 497 00:20:03,998 --> 00:20:05,406 generation of them that hate me. 498 00:20:05,478 --> 00:20:08,206 And so what we can see here in this case is that God is a jealous 499 00:20:08,238 --> 00:20:09,650 God for the right reasons. 500 00:20:11,030 --> 00:20:15,342 And so God is jealous in a godly jealousy. 501 00:20:15,406 --> 00:20:18,510 So it's okay for us to be jealous with a godly jealousy as 502 00:20:18,550 --> 00:20:20,540 Paul is here in this passage. 503 00:20:20,620 --> 00:20:24,716 Another passage of Scripture that speaks of God's righteous jealousy. 504 00:20:24,748 --> 00:20:27,560 His godly jealousy would be Psalm 78. 505 00:20:27,940 --> 00:20:30,716 Psalm 78, verse 58. 506 00:20:30,868 --> 00:20:33,772 And you can jot these down if you'd like for another time if you 507 00:20:33,796 --> 00:20:34,460 want to go back to these. 508 00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:36,572 If someone tells you, well, God isn't a jealous God. 509 00:20:36,636 --> 00:20:37,260 Or right here. 510 00:20:37,300 --> 00:20:40,364 These are the passages of Scripture along with many others 511 00:20:40,452 --> 00:20:42,684 that speak of God's righteous jealousy. 512 00:20:42,812 --> 00:20:45,724 Psalm 78, verse 58 speak of the same concept. 513 00:20:45,772 --> 00:20:47,482 Here says this. 514 00:20:47,586 --> 00:20:50,986 For they provoked him to anger with their high places. 515 00:20:51,018 --> 00:20:53,786 Their high places would be the places that they worship the false 516 00:20:53,818 --> 00:20:54,362 gods. 517 00:20:54,506 --> 00:20:55,930 Okay, He. 518 00:20:55,970 --> 00:20:56,170 He. 519 00:20:56,210 --> 00:20:58,474 They provoked him with their high ang. 520 00:20:58,562 --> 00:21:02,922 High places and moved him to jealousy with their graven images, 521 00:21:02,986 --> 00:21:03,258 their. 522 00:21:03,314 --> 00:21:04,510 Their idols. 523 00:21:04,930 --> 00:21:10,010 So God was moved with righteous anger in jealousy for their 524 00:21:10,050 --> 00:21:10,986 hearts. 525 00:21:11,178 --> 00:21:12,910 God wants our hearts. 526 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:14,976 So therefore we should have the heart of God. 527 00:21:15,008 --> 00:21:18,720 Meaning we want God's people to have their hearts set on the things 528 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:20,112 of God, not in false teaching. 529 00:21:20,176 --> 00:21:21,760 So that's what verse two is talking about. 530 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,584 Paul says, for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. 531 00:21:25,632 --> 00:21:30,064 Why he likens this type of loyalty to God, to the marriage relationship. 532 00:21:30,112 --> 00:21:34,032 He says this for I have espoused you or betrothed you or 533 00:21:34,136 --> 00:21:38,048 basically engaged you into a relationship, as it says here, to 534 00:21:38,104 --> 00:21:39,018 one husband. 535 00:21:39,144 --> 00:21:40,022 Who's the husband? 536 00:21:40,086 --> 00:21:45,330 God, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 537 00:21:45,630 --> 00:21:46,694 Meaning this. 538 00:21:46,862 --> 00:21:48,774 Paul says, I've taught you about the one God. 539 00:21:48,822 --> 00:21:51,494 I've, I've espoused you to one God. 540 00:21:51,542 --> 00:21:54,806 Therefore we want you to be pure so that when you stand before 541 00:21:54,878 --> 00:21:57,286 Christ, you can stand there as a pure virgin. 542 00:21:57,398 --> 00:22:01,990 That, that, that you have not allowed yourself to drift into spiritual 543 00:22:02,070 --> 00:22:02,982 adultery. 544 00:22:03,126 --> 00:22:05,690 That's the relationship that he brings into this picture. 545 00:22:06,140 --> 00:22:09,668 He says, guys, you're being unfaithful to your Lord. 546 00:22:09,764 --> 00:22:12,644 You're being unfaithful to the bridegroom. 547 00:22:12,692 --> 00:22:15,460 The Bible says that we as the church are the bride of Christ, therefore 548 00:22:15,540 --> 00:22:17,700 we should be loyal to our groom. 549 00:22:17,860 --> 00:22:19,796 One day there's going to be the marriage supper of the Lamb. 550 00:22:19,828 --> 00:22:23,604 We want to be loyal to the one who has promised himself to us. 551 00:22:23,772 --> 00:22:25,332 And that's what Paul is talking about here. 552 00:22:25,356 --> 00:22:29,316 He's reminding them that just as we would be repulsed as a spouse 553 00:22:29,348 --> 00:22:32,552 is unfaithful to another spouse, so we should be repulsed 554 00:22:32,616 --> 00:22:35,576 in the fact that we go after anyone else outside of God. 555 00:22:35,688 --> 00:22:37,544 He says, that's, that's, that's terrible. 556 00:22:37,672 --> 00:22:40,376 I, I, I have, he, he's basically saying this. 557 00:22:40,448 --> 00:22:42,328 I've brought you together with God. 558 00:22:42,424 --> 00:22:46,360 I've, I've led you to God through Jesus Christ and you should 559 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:47,940 be faithful to him. 560 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,856 Paul likens it to the marriage relationship. 561 00:22:50,888 --> 00:22:55,864 And so it, it, it's been said this, that godly jealousy is love 562 00:22:55,952 --> 00:22:59,616 in action, not covetousness in action. 563 00:22:59,768 --> 00:23:00,272 Right? 564 00:23:00,376 --> 00:23:03,580 Selfish, sinful jealousy is covetousness in action. 565 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:07,792 Godly jealousy is love in action. 566 00:23:07,976 --> 00:23:13,120 I love you enough in Christ to be jealous of you, not I love myself, 567 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:14,784 and that's why I'm jealous. 568 00:23:14,912 --> 00:23:18,496 And so that's the contrast between godly jealousy and sinful 569 00:23:18,528 --> 00:23:18,896 jealousy. 570 00:23:18,928 --> 00:23:20,864 And so Paul says, I'm jealous over you. 571 00:23:20,952 --> 00:23:21,744 This isn't a sin. 572 00:23:21,792 --> 00:23:24,742 Paul is saying, I'm doing this in the righteousness because I love 573 00:23:24,766 --> 00:23:27,014 the Lord and I want your heart to be set on Christ. 574 00:23:27,102 --> 00:23:31,250 I want your heart to be set on the one that has saved you. 575 00:23:32,510 --> 00:23:34,390 So what does it look like here? 576 00:23:34,430 --> 00:23:36,646 It looks like loyalty to God. 577 00:23:36,838 --> 00:23:39,766 Loyalty to God means loyalty to Christ. 578 00:23:39,918 --> 00:23:43,942 Loyalty to Christ means loyalty to the Spirit and loyalty 579 00:23:44,006 --> 00:23:44,630 to God. 580 00:23:44,710 --> 00:23:47,542 Christ in the Spirit means loyalty to the Gospel. 581 00:23:47,686 --> 00:23:49,490 I want you to see verse three. 582 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,768 He says, but I Fear, there's concern in his heart, lest by any 583 00:23:54,824 --> 00:23:59,248 means as the serpent beguiled Eve or deceived Eve. 584 00:23:59,424 --> 00:24:02,208 Now, now he's gonna talk to them about a story that they're familiar 585 00:24:02,224 --> 00:24:07,088 with, the story of Satan coming in the garden and deceiving 586 00:24:07,184 --> 00:24:10,080 Eve to be unfaithful to God. 587 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:11,648 You guys all know the story. 588 00:24:11,784 --> 00:24:16,298 He says, I'm concerned that you will be tricked into believing 589 00:24:16,394 --> 00:24:19,290 a different route, a different teaching. 590 00:24:19,450 --> 00:24:23,850 And so he says, I'm concerned that you are being misled by these 591 00:24:23,890 --> 00:24:24,842 false teachers. 592 00:24:24,986 --> 00:24:25,738 Through what? 593 00:24:25,794 --> 00:24:27,550 Through his subtlety. 594 00:24:28,450 --> 00:24:35,162 When, when Satan works in subverting the truth, he works in 595 00:24:35,186 --> 00:24:36,550 a very subtle way. 596 00:24:37,330 --> 00:24:40,410 In most cases, Satan doesn't come out now and say, hey, look, 597 00:24:40,450 --> 00:24:42,642 here's the temptation, here's what's going to happen. 598 00:24:42,746 --> 00:24:44,834 Here's all the problems that you're going to face with this. 599 00:24:44,922 --> 00:24:47,522 Here's all the issues and the destruction that's going to come 600 00:24:47,546 --> 00:24:48,162 with this sin. 601 00:24:48,226 --> 00:24:51,650 No, Satan works in a very mysterious way, and that is a way 602 00:24:51,690 --> 00:24:53,602 of deception, okay? 603 00:24:53,666 --> 00:24:57,350 He works in a way of subverting the truth. 604 00:24:57,930 --> 00:24:59,810 Subverting the truth essentially means this. 605 00:24:59,850 --> 00:25:01,874 He's going to try to come in unawares. 606 00:25:02,002 --> 00:25:04,962 He's going to try to come in, in a place where you would think 607 00:25:04,986 --> 00:25:06,210 that it's a good thing. 608 00:25:06,330 --> 00:25:09,336 And so he says, hey, look, you might think that these false teachers 609 00:25:09,368 --> 00:25:09,816 are good. 610 00:25:09,888 --> 00:25:13,272 They might be coming to you with, with fancy speech, they might 611 00:25:13,296 --> 00:25:15,688 be coming to you with credentials, they might be coming 612 00:25:15,744 --> 00:25:17,000 to you with numbers. 613 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,816 They might be coming to you with all these things, but they're 614 00:25:19,848 --> 00:25:21,860 coming to you as Satan came to you. 615 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,100 Satan came to Eve in the garden with subtlety. 616 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,024 And so Satan's deception comes this way. 617 00:25:28,112 --> 00:25:31,500 He subtly subverts the truth. 618 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:34,592 He always wants to question the truth. 619 00:25:34,696 --> 00:25:35,920 And that's what Paul is fighting for. 620 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:37,072 He says, the truth. 621 00:25:37,216 --> 00:25:40,000 So if we want to be loyal to the truth, who are we loyal to? 622 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:42,864 We're loyal to God, we're loyal to Christ, we're loyal to the 623 00:25:42,872 --> 00:25:44,740 Spirit, we're loyal to the Gospel. 624 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:47,260 He talks all about this. 625 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:53,472 He says, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through 626 00:25:53,496 --> 00:25:59,904 his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity 627 00:25:59,952 --> 00:26:01,020 that is Christ. 628 00:26:02,110 --> 00:26:06,650 So he says, look, you're being deceived. 629 00:26:06,990 --> 00:26:08,358 How are you being deceived? 630 00:26:08,454 --> 00:26:12,930 Satan is corrupting your mind to think differently about Christ. 631 00:26:13,470 --> 00:26:17,446 Now, we don't know exactly what these false teachers were teaching, 632 00:26:17,638 --> 00:26:23,510 but most likely because of the Corinthian culture in context, they 633 00:26:23,550 --> 00:26:26,444 were preaching against Jesus being humbled. 634 00:26:26,622 --> 00:26:29,776 They were preaching against Jesus being meek, they were preaching 635 00:26:29,808 --> 00:26:33,504 against a Jesus that would go to the cross and sacrifice himself. 636 00:26:33,632 --> 00:26:36,420 And so therefore they were preaching a different Jesus. 637 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:41,616 And so if we want to be loyal to God, we must be loyal to who Jesus 638 00:26:41,648 --> 00:26:41,792 is. 639 00:26:41,816 --> 00:26:46,320 According to Scripture, Jesus said in John 14:6, I am the way, 640 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:47,968 the truth and the life. 641 00:26:48,024 --> 00:26:50,624 No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 642 00:26:50,792 --> 00:26:52,976 It's through Jesus that we can understand God. 643 00:26:53,008 --> 00:26:56,594 And therefore to be loyal to God the Father, we must be loyal 644 00:26:56,642 --> 00:26:58,002 to his Son. 645 00:26:58,146 --> 00:27:01,586 And so therefore there's loyalty to God that is connected 646 00:27:01,618 --> 00:27:03,170 to the loyalty of Jesus Christ. 647 00:27:03,210 --> 00:27:09,250 And he says, look, your minds, your thoughts are being corrupted 648 00:27:09,330 --> 00:27:11,790 from the simplicity that is Christ. 649 00:27:12,730 --> 00:27:15,858 What is he talking about here that Christ is a simple man? 650 00:27:15,914 --> 00:27:19,470 Well, it's the idea of the simplicity of the truth of Christ. 651 00:27:19,790 --> 00:27:22,930 Another way that you could say it is singleness of mind. 652 00:27:23,310 --> 00:27:26,662 He's saying that you should have singleness of mind towards the 653 00:27:26,686 --> 00:27:27,942 truth of who Christ is. 654 00:27:28,046 --> 00:27:31,702 Don't be double minded, don't be split in what you think. 655 00:27:31,806 --> 00:27:35,046 Don't allow the world to infuse into your belief of Christ 656 00:27:35,118 --> 00:27:36,406 their thoughts. 657 00:27:36,598 --> 00:27:40,326 Well, it could be Jesus plus this, it could be this type of Jesus. 658 00:27:40,358 --> 00:27:41,990 You've even heard people say this maybe. 659 00:27:42,070 --> 00:27:44,470 Well my Jesus wouldn't do those types of things. 660 00:27:44,590 --> 00:27:47,434 That's the Jesus that, that they have created, but that's not 661 00:27:47,442 --> 00:27:48,394 the Jesus of scripture. 662 00:27:48,442 --> 00:27:51,130 So Paul says, hey look, you need to protect what you believe 663 00:27:51,170 --> 00:27:54,858 about Christ and it should be in single mindedness towards what 664 00:27:54,914 --> 00:27:57,550 you know from what you have been taught. 665 00:27:58,130 --> 00:28:02,030 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus. 666 00:28:02,370 --> 00:28:04,890 This is a scary passage of scripture because a lot of people 667 00:28:04,930 --> 00:28:07,242 think, well, if people are saying the name of Jesus, it must 668 00:28:07,266 --> 00:28:08,430 be good teaching. 669 00:28:09,010 --> 00:28:10,298 No, that's not what he says here. 670 00:28:10,354 --> 00:28:13,710 Because he says that people can come and preach another Jesus, 671 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,944 another representation of who Jesus is. 672 00:28:19,112 --> 00:28:20,540 That's what he's saying here. 673 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,960 And if you know anything about world religions right now, they all 674 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,256 have a belief system about Jesus, but it's not about the Jesus 675 00:28:28,288 --> 00:28:29,152 of the Bible. 676 00:28:29,296 --> 00:28:31,696 It's, it's not a proper view of who Jesus is. 677 00:28:31,768 --> 00:28:34,176 I'm not going to get down every rabbit trail of every false 678 00:28:34,208 --> 00:28:37,264 teaching about Jesus, but let me say it this way, like they teach 679 00:28:37,312 --> 00:28:39,936 people with counterfeit money, they don't teach you all the counterfeits. 680 00:28:39,968 --> 00:28:41,306 They teach you the one truth. 681 00:28:41,448 --> 00:28:43,862 And anything that doesn't match up to that truth is not the 682 00:28:43,886 --> 00:28:44,678 true Jesus. 683 00:28:44,774 --> 00:28:47,126 And so if you have anyone coming in and teaching you a different 684 00:28:47,198 --> 00:28:50,326 Jesus outside of what you know through the Word of God, then that's 685 00:28:50,358 --> 00:28:51,206 a false Jesus. 686 00:28:51,238 --> 00:28:52,246 That's a different Jesus. 687 00:28:52,278 --> 00:28:54,054 And so he says, verse 4. 688 00:28:54,142 --> 00:28:57,702 For if he that cometh, talking about a false teacher, for he that 689 00:28:57,726 --> 00:29:01,530 cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached. 690 00:29:02,510 --> 00:29:04,358 Now, I want to stop here right now. 691 00:29:04,494 --> 00:29:06,838 Remember, a lot of people say, what, what, what are you talking 692 00:29:06,854 --> 00:29:06,982 about? 693 00:29:07,006 --> 00:29:10,074 When Paul says he's referring to the Scriptures, he didn't have 694 00:29:10,082 --> 00:29:13,930 the New Testament, I realized that he's referring to the Old Testament. 695 00:29:14,090 --> 00:29:17,706 But you have to remember Paul has apostolic authority at this point. 696 00:29:17,778 --> 00:29:20,218 The word of God has not been completed yet. 697 00:29:20,354 --> 00:29:23,674 And so therefore what he preaches is, is the gospel, is the 698 00:29:23,682 --> 00:29:24,270 truth. 699 00:29:24,610 --> 00:29:27,386 Now, if I got up here today and said, well, you know what? 700 00:29:27,458 --> 00:29:30,394 What I say is the Gospel, and I don't care what the word of God 701 00:29:30,442 --> 00:29:32,074 says, that would be wrong. 702 00:29:32,122 --> 00:29:32,330 Why? 703 00:29:32,370 --> 00:29:34,752 Because we have the complete canon of Scripture. 704 00:29:34,946 --> 00:29:38,180 And so for me to preach the same message to you would be this. 705 00:29:38,300 --> 00:29:41,748 If someone is preaching something outside of what the word 706 00:29:41,764 --> 00:29:44,740 of God, the Bible says about Jesus, it's a false teaching. 707 00:29:44,820 --> 00:29:46,164 What Paul is saying is this. 708 00:29:46,252 --> 00:29:48,420 If someone is preaching something to you different than what 709 00:29:48,460 --> 00:29:51,508 we have preached to you as the apostles, it's false teaching. 710 00:29:51,604 --> 00:29:55,412 So, so he mentions Jesus here, but then he says this, or if ye receive 711 00:29:55,476 --> 00:29:56,600 another spirit. 712 00:29:57,500 --> 00:29:59,956 So what's happening is people are saying there's another spirit 713 00:29:59,988 --> 00:30:03,770 out there, a different a, a different Holy Spirit, so to speak. 714 00:30:04,110 --> 00:30:05,814 And the Bible says the test all spirits. 715 00:30:05,862 --> 00:30:09,254 And so what we can see here is that there can be a different belief 716 00:30:09,302 --> 00:30:12,662 system on Jesus, a different belief system on receiving of the 717 00:30:12,686 --> 00:30:14,486 Spirit which ye have not received. 718 00:30:14,558 --> 00:30:15,526 This is a different spirit. 719 00:30:15,558 --> 00:30:18,806 This is a spirit that is contradictory to what we have taught 720 00:30:18,838 --> 00:30:19,222 you. 721 00:30:19,326 --> 00:30:22,182 This is a spirit that is contradictory to the word of God. 722 00:30:22,326 --> 00:30:26,262 So it's loyalty to God, it's loyalty to Christ, it's loyalty to 723 00:30:26,286 --> 00:30:26,662 the Spirit. 724 00:30:26,726 --> 00:30:27,574 When does that mean? 725 00:30:27,662 --> 00:30:29,766 Well, let me use this as an analogy. 726 00:30:29,798 --> 00:30:31,766 Someone comes up and they say, well, you know what? 727 00:30:31,838 --> 00:30:35,110 I think it was the spirit of God that led me to do this sin against 728 00:30:35,150 --> 00:30:35,734 somebody else. 729 00:30:35,782 --> 00:30:38,662 No, that is not the Spirit of God, because the Spirit of God will 730 00:30:38,686 --> 00:30:40,246 not contradict the word of God. 731 00:30:40,358 --> 00:30:43,206 The spirit of God will always lead you to what the word of God 732 00:30:43,238 --> 00:30:43,382 says. 733 00:30:43,406 --> 00:30:45,318 There will always be an agreement there. 734 00:30:45,454 --> 00:30:47,782 And so you say, well, you know, I think it was the spirit of 735 00:30:47,806 --> 00:30:49,782 God that led me to lose my cool with that person. 736 00:30:49,886 --> 00:30:51,190 No, that was your flesh. 737 00:30:51,350 --> 00:30:52,486 That was another spirit. 738 00:30:52,518 --> 00:30:54,790 Or that was something that came from another realm that was 739 00:30:54,830 --> 00:30:55,334 evil. 740 00:30:55,462 --> 00:30:58,806 The Bible says that nothing that God leads us to do will contradict 741 00:30:58,838 --> 00:30:59,382 his word. 742 00:30:59,446 --> 00:31:02,022 And so the Bible says, you can either walk in the spirit or you 743 00:31:02,046 --> 00:31:03,290 can walk in the flesh. 744 00:31:04,270 --> 00:31:08,358 And so he says, test that if someone is preaching a different 745 00:31:08,414 --> 00:31:11,174 spirit or receiving another spirit which you have not received, 746 00:31:11,342 --> 00:31:16,250 or as he says here, another gospel which you have not accepted, 747 00:31:18,190 --> 00:31:19,798 he might well bear with him. 748 00:31:19,854 --> 00:31:20,422 What do you say? 749 00:31:20,446 --> 00:31:21,062 What is he saying here? 750 00:31:21,086 --> 00:31:23,584 He's saying this problem isn't. 751 00:31:23,632 --> 00:31:24,592 I'm getting ahead of myself here. 752 00:31:24,616 --> 00:31:26,800 But the problem isn't the false teaching. 753 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:29,140 There will always be false teachers. 754 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:30,640 Let me tell you that. 755 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,632 There were false teachers from the very beginning, and there will 756 00:31:33,656 --> 00:31:35,344 be false teachers to the very end. 757 00:31:35,512 --> 00:31:38,416 So the problem isn't just, hey, like, we need to avoid all false 758 00:31:38,448 --> 00:31:38,784 teachers. 759 00:31:38,832 --> 00:31:41,472 We need to get ourselves into a vacuum and we never need to go 760 00:31:41,496 --> 00:31:44,256 out and we need to stay here and we only listen to one person. 761 00:31:44,328 --> 00:31:45,536 That's where you get into problems. 762 00:31:45,568 --> 00:31:46,208 Okay, so. 763 00:31:46,264 --> 00:31:51,090 So it's not about avoiding false teachers as much as receiving 764 00:31:51,170 --> 00:31:54,830 them and condoning them and tolerating them. 765 00:31:55,210 --> 00:31:56,402 And so I want you to see here. 766 00:31:56,426 --> 00:31:56,882 What is he saying? 767 00:31:56,906 --> 00:32:01,090 He says, hey, some of you are tolerating or bearing with these 768 00:32:01,130 --> 00:32:02,230 false teachers. 769 00:32:02,730 --> 00:32:04,018 You can't avoid false teaching. 770 00:32:04,034 --> 00:32:05,826 All you can do is reject it. 771 00:32:05,978 --> 00:32:09,570 So there's that rejection of false teaching and there's the receiving 772 00:32:09,650 --> 00:32:10,790 of false teaching. 773 00:32:11,210 --> 00:32:14,386 And I would encourage you to reject false teaching if it comes 774 00:32:14,458 --> 00:32:14,850 your way. 775 00:32:14,890 --> 00:32:17,376 So there's the toleration of false teaching that Paul is preaching 776 00:32:17,408 --> 00:32:18,352 against here. 777 00:32:18,536 --> 00:32:20,580 So who is the true Jesus? 778 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:25,200 Well, loyalty to God is a loyalty to Christ and his word. 779 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:26,192 John 14:6. 780 00:32:26,216 --> 00:32:27,088 I've already quoted it. 781 00:32:27,144 --> 00:32:28,560 Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. 782 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:31,776 No one can come to the Father but through Jesus Christ. 783 00:32:31,928 --> 00:32:34,048 So the true Jesus is the only way. 784 00:32:34,184 --> 00:32:36,688 The true Jesus is God. 785 00:32:36,864 --> 00:32:38,000 God in the flesh. 786 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:42,096 The Bible says that in John chapter one, the Word was made flesh 787 00:32:42,128 --> 00:32:43,462 and dwelt among us. 788 00:32:43,616 --> 00:32:47,066 But the Bible says also in John chapter one, that the word Jesus 789 00:32:47,098 --> 00:32:48,190 is eternal. 790 00:32:49,010 --> 00:32:50,170 Jesus has always been. 791 00:32:50,210 --> 00:32:51,590 He's not a created being. 792 00:32:52,050 --> 00:32:55,290 A lot of people will teach that Jesus is a creation of God the 793 00:32:55,330 --> 00:32:55,690 Father. 794 00:32:55,770 --> 00:32:57,210 And he's a good prophet. 795 00:32:57,290 --> 00:32:59,498 He's actually maybe even miraculous. 796 00:32:59,674 --> 00:33:01,866 He did all these wonderful things, but he's not eternal. 797 00:33:01,898 --> 00:33:03,434 No, we have to believe that Jesus is God. 798 00:33:03,482 --> 00:33:05,658 Jesus is one of the persons of the Trinity. 799 00:33:05,754 --> 00:33:06,874 He's eternal. 800 00:33:07,002 --> 00:33:12,408 And so therefore we see that a loyalty to God is a loyalty to Christ 801 00:33:12,464 --> 00:33:14,460 and to his Word. 802 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,960 Jesus has said many things and a lot of people will say this. 803 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,128 I will, I won't Maybe you've never heard this, but I've heard 804 00:33:21,144 --> 00:33:22,984 people say Jesus never claimed to be God. 805 00:33:23,112 --> 00:33:25,080 Jesus never claimed he was the only way. 806 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:26,504 That's a false teaching. 807 00:33:26,632 --> 00:33:27,016 Jesus. 808 00:33:27,048 --> 00:33:29,416 I can sit here all day and tell you times where Jesus claimed 809 00:33:29,448 --> 00:33:32,904 that he was the I am the same I am that was mentioned in the book 810 00:33:32,912 --> 00:33:33,416 of Exodus. 811 00:33:33,448 --> 00:33:35,380 Jesus says, I'm, I'm that one. 812 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:37,896 Jesus says, hey, he, he receives worship. 813 00:33:37,928 --> 00:33:39,464 Jesus says that he is the way. 814 00:33:39,552 --> 00:33:41,016 Jesus says that he is God. 815 00:33:41,048 --> 00:33:43,464 And so therefore Jesus did claim to be the only way. 816 00:33:43,552 --> 00:33:45,496 Jesus did claim to be God. 817 00:33:45,528 --> 00:33:47,048 That is the true Jesus. 818 00:33:47,224 --> 00:33:51,592 And so Satan lee Satan subtly subverts the Savior. 819 00:33:51,736 --> 00:33:53,940 Jesus is always the attack. 820 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:56,792 God's authority is always the attack. 821 00:33:56,896 --> 00:33:58,760 The truth of God's word is always the attack. 822 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:02,376 If you go back to Genesis chapter three, go back to Genesis 823 00:34:02,408 --> 00:34:04,856 chapter three in your minds with me or can turn there. 824 00:34:04,928 --> 00:34:05,832 What did Satan do? 825 00:34:05,856 --> 00:34:06,840 It says he. 826 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:11,144 He says that he came and the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall 827 00:34:11,192 --> 00:34:12,632 not surely die. 828 00:34:12,776 --> 00:34:17,096 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes 829 00:34:17,128 --> 00:34:20,488 shall be open and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 830 00:34:20,584 --> 00:34:24,376 So Satan comes and he twists the truth of God and he questions 831 00:34:24,408 --> 00:34:25,336 the word of God. 832 00:34:25,448 --> 00:34:27,260 Ye shall not surely die. 833 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:29,928 And that's what Satan does today. 834 00:34:29,984 --> 00:34:34,481 Satan will always try to subvert, try to lie, try to twist 835 00:34:34,545 --> 00:34:35,713 the truth of God. 836 00:34:35,841 --> 00:34:40,785 And so how does Satan in his most diabolical form try to twist 837 00:34:40,817 --> 00:34:41,601 the word of God? 838 00:34:41,665 --> 00:34:43,121 By twisting who Jesus is. 839 00:34:43,225 --> 00:34:45,793 Because Satan understands that Jesus is the only way. 840 00:34:45,881 --> 00:34:49,121 So if Satan can attack the authority of Jesus, if Satan can 841 00:34:49,145 --> 00:34:52,257 attack the truth of Jesus, he can attack everything that we stand 842 00:34:52,313 --> 00:34:52,913 on. 843 00:34:53,081 --> 00:34:55,441 And so there's a lot of people that are okay with saying, well, 844 00:34:55,465 --> 00:34:57,393 there's a big man upstairs that loves us. 845 00:34:57,481 --> 00:34:59,785 There's a God out there that's bigger than us. 846 00:34:59,897 --> 00:35:02,538 But the moment you start preaching about Jesus being the only 847 00:35:02,594 --> 00:35:05,914 way that Jesus is God, that's when people start to kind of have 848 00:35:05,922 --> 00:35:06,970 their feathers ruffled. 849 00:35:07,050 --> 00:35:09,178 You want to offend someone, preach Jesus. 850 00:35:09,354 --> 00:35:11,994 The Bible says that Jesus is a stumbling block. 851 00:35:12,122 --> 00:35:12,986 To some. 852 00:35:13,138 --> 00:35:14,986 He's the way of salvation for many. 853 00:35:15,058 --> 00:35:17,754 But for many, he's a stumbling block because they get there and 854 00:35:17,762 --> 00:35:19,190 they can't go any further. 855 00:35:19,570 --> 00:35:23,034 Look at, look at why, why the Pharisees hated Jesus. 856 00:35:23,082 --> 00:35:24,554 They, they believed in God. 857 00:35:24,682 --> 00:35:26,378 They didn't believe that Jesus was God. 858 00:35:26,394 --> 00:35:27,746 And that was the biggest issue. 859 00:35:27,938 --> 00:35:31,426 And so we go back to this idea of the true Jesus, folks. 860 00:35:31,458 --> 00:35:34,722 If you have someone that you listen to in your life, if you have 861 00:35:34,746 --> 00:35:40,098 a book that you read that in any way questions the biblical Jesus, 862 00:35:40,194 --> 00:35:41,474 that's a false teaching. 863 00:35:41,522 --> 00:35:42,706 Run away from that. 864 00:35:42,858 --> 00:35:44,274 Take that out of your life. 865 00:35:44,362 --> 00:35:47,010 Because Jesus is the core centerpiece of everything that we 866 00:35:47,050 --> 00:35:47,538 believe. 867 00:35:47,674 --> 00:35:49,330 And it'll be subtle. 868 00:35:49,410 --> 00:35:52,946 It'll be subtle, but the true Jesus must be preached and the true 869 00:35:53,058 --> 00:35:54,744 Jesus must be believed in. 870 00:35:54,882 --> 00:35:58,828 And so we must be aware of the deception of the truth. 871 00:35:59,004 --> 00:36:00,364 You, you always, I, I don't. 872 00:36:00,412 --> 00:36:04,444 Now, I'm not saying be on edge all the time when it comes to everything, 873 00:36:04,612 --> 00:36:05,036 okay? 874 00:36:05,068 --> 00:36:05,932 Don't, don't be Mr. 875 00:36:05,996 --> 00:36:07,564 Skeptical about every little thing. 876 00:36:07,652 --> 00:36:11,452 But the Bible does say be a berean and check what someone is 877 00:36:11,476 --> 00:36:12,160 preaching. 878 00:36:12,500 --> 00:36:16,268 The Bible does say to be aware of false prophets. 879 00:36:16,364 --> 00:36:19,564 The Bible actually promises that there will be people who slip 880 00:36:19,612 --> 00:36:22,888 into the church and try to mislead. 881 00:36:23,064 --> 00:36:23,832 So what does that mean? 882 00:36:23,856 --> 00:36:25,304 That means we should have antennas up. 883 00:36:25,392 --> 00:36:29,496 We should know what the truth is so that we can identify the counterfeit. 884 00:36:29,688 --> 00:36:32,120 You, you, you should have red flags if someone gets up. 885 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:34,568 You might not even know specifically why it's off. 886 00:36:34,624 --> 00:36:37,208 But you know, that's not the Jesus that I know in scripture. 887 00:36:37,304 --> 00:36:37,848 Not. 888 00:36:37,984 --> 00:36:39,880 And I've heard a lot of people say, well, you know what? 889 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:42,420 Here it is, Pastor, I just was never taught that. 890 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:44,740 Okay, for example, you know what? 891 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:48,596 I've always been taught this, Pastor, I've always been taught that, 892 00:36:48,768 --> 00:36:52,172 you know, having let me use something like that's not super offensive. 893 00:36:52,236 --> 00:36:55,452 I've always been taught that 10:30, you have to have church at 894 00:36:55,476 --> 00:36:58,220 10:30 every Sunday because if it's not at 10:30, you're really 895 00:36:58,260 --> 00:36:59,308 not a true believer. 896 00:36:59,404 --> 00:37:00,316 Okay? 897 00:37:00,508 --> 00:37:01,516 That's what you've been taught. 898 00:37:01,548 --> 00:37:02,684 Maybe, but that's not right. 899 00:37:02,772 --> 00:37:03,484 Okay? 900 00:37:03,612 --> 00:37:05,420 You can have church at any time of the day. 901 00:37:05,460 --> 00:37:05,804 Okay? 902 00:37:05,852 --> 00:37:08,124 Just if you, if you're one of those people, I think 1030 is the 903 00:37:08,132 --> 00:37:08,972 only time you can meet. 904 00:37:09,076 --> 00:37:12,444 Now, Pastor's not trying to change church services, but I'm just 905 00:37:12,452 --> 00:37:13,420 using that as an example. 906 00:37:13,500 --> 00:37:16,356 But what I'm saying is this, just because you've been taught something, 907 00:37:16,428 --> 00:37:18,564 that doesn't mean that that's the gospel. 908 00:37:18,692 --> 00:37:20,692 What it is is what does the Bible say? 909 00:37:20,796 --> 00:37:21,732 What does the Bible say? 910 00:37:21,756 --> 00:37:23,604 Well, I've always been told that Jesus did this. 911 00:37:23,692 --> 00:37:25,652 I, I, I've always been told that this was. 912 00:37:25,756 --> 00:37:26,692 Well, where did you get that from? 913 00:37:26,716 --> 00:37:28,852 Well, I watched this movie back in the day and that's how they 914 00:37:28,876 --> 00:37:29,332 portrayed him. 915 00:37:29,356 --> 00:37:33,476 And so that's why don't, okay, here's a bit big warning here. 916 00:37:33,548 --> 00:37:36,292 Don't get your theology from Christian movies, okay? 917 00:37:36,356 --> 00:37:38,836 I'm not against Christian movies or Christian TV shows, okay? 918 00:37:38,868 --> 00:37:40,500 Watch them, enjoy them. 919 00:37:40,540 --> 00:37:42,404 They're better than the things that are in this world. 920 00:37:42,492 --> 00:37:45,796 But please, please don't base your Christian theology out of something 921 00:37:45,868 --> 00:37:50,004 that was an author's license to try to make it more creative, 922 00:37:50,052 --> 00:37:50,404 okay? 923 00:37:50,452 --> 00:37:52,052 Just be cautious of that. 924 00:37:52,156 --> 00:37:54,772 I love you in Christ, and I want to make sure that that is out 925 00:37:54,796 --> 00:37:55,028 there. 926 00:37:55,084 --> 00:37:56,468 So I go back to say this. 927 00:37:56,524 --> 00:37:59,028 We must be aware of the deception of the truth that's around 928 00:37:59,084 --> 00:37:59,636 us. 929 00:37:59,788 --> 00:38:01,828 This leads our minds astray. 930 00:38:01,924 --> 00:38:06,436 So the deception of the truth, whether it's open deception or very 931 00:38:06,508 --> 00:38:09,956 subtle deception, that deception will lead our minds astray 932 00:38:09,988 --> 00:38:11,572 from the will of God in our lives. 933 00:38:11,676 --> 00:38:14,844 Go with me and see what it says there in verse number four. 934 00:38:15,012 --> 00:38:16,364 Excuse me, verse number three. 935 00:38:16,452 --> 00:38:21,356 He says, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity 936 00:38:21,468 --> 00:38:23,240 that is in Christ. 937 00:38:24,500 --> 00:38:27,040 Satan is trying to subvert. 938 00:38:27,540 --> 00:38:31,484 He's trying to question God so that our minds can be set on the 939 00:38:31,492 --> 00:38:34,972 wrong things, so that our minds can be led astray from what 940 00:38:34,996 --> 00:38:36,600 God wants for us in our lives. 941 00:38:37,380 --> 00:38:39,962 You say, well, I don't think Paul's really talking about that. 942 00:38:40,076 --> 00:38:41,630 Look back just at chapter 10. 943 00:38:41,670 --> 00:38:42,798 We just talked about this. 944 00:38:42,854 --> 00:38:46,830 Thinking biblically, he says, casting down imaginations in every 945 00:38:46,870 --> 00:38:50,702 high thing, verse 5 of chapter 10, that exalted itself against the 946 00:38:50,726 --> 00:38:54,334 knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the 947 00:38:54,342 --> 00:38:55,342 obedience of Christ. 948 00:38:55,446 --> 00:38:58,718 Paul says, it is what's in our minds that lead to what we do. 949 00:38:58,774 --> 00:39:01,134 So therefore, we must think properly about God. 950 00:39:01,262 --> 00:39:04,846 If the corruption comes in through our minds, it'll connect 951 00:39:04,878 --> 00:39:08,482 to our hearts, it'll connect to our loyalty, it'll connect to 952 00:39:08,506 --> 00:39:09,490 our actions. 953 00:39:09,650 --> 00:39:12,194 And so prepare your minds. 954 00:39:12,322 --> 00:39:14,550 Protect your minds with the word of God. 955 00:39:15,130 --> 00:39:19,122 Allow yourself to ask God through prayer and, and, and say, 956 00:39:19,146 --> 00:39:23,426 lord, give me the wisdom, give me the protection, so that when false 957 00:39:23,458 --> 00:39:26,034 teachers come, I'm ready to reject that. 958 00:39:26,122 --> 00:39:27,490 I'm ready to say, you know what? 959 00:39:27,530 --> 00:39:28,690 This is the word of God. 960 00:39:28,770 --> 00:39:31,940 And I don't care what you say about our culture because that, because 961 00:39:31,980 --> 00:39:36,596 anytime someone tries to question the word of God, the argument 962 00:39:36,628 --> 00:39:37,300 is this. 963 00:39:37,420 --> 00:39:38,868 That's how it was back then. 964 00:39:38,924 --> 00:39:40,100 Today's different. 965 00:39:40,220 --> 00:39:43,172 So there's gotta be some kind of understanding of a change. 966 00:39:43,356 --> 00:39:46,052 Well, folks, if we use that logic, everything in the Bible can 967 00:39:46,076 --> 00:39:47,428 just be thrown out, right? 968 00:39:47,484 --> 00:39:49,044 Because we can argue anything. 969 00:39:49,172 --> 00:39:49,828 Well, that's. 970 00:39:49,924 --> 00:39:51,252 Most of the people today don't believe that. 971 00:39:51,276 --> 00:39:52,996 So we don't need to believe that anymore, folks. 972 00:39:53,028 --> 00:39:54,852 It's the word of God for a reason. 973 00:39:55,036 --> 00:39:56,804 And, and so what we need to see is this. 974 00:39:56,892 --> 00:39:57,252 You Know what? 975 00:39:57,276 --> 00:40:02,260 There's gonna be people that come with very appealing, very convincing 976 00:40:02,340 --> 00:40:04,628 arguments to say that the Bible doesn't need to be trusted 977 00:40:04,644 --> 00:40:05,764 the way that it's written. 978 00:40:05,892 --> 00:40:09,460 They're going to say, look, back then, you know, education was 979 00:40:09,500 --> 00:40:09,796 different. 980 00:40:09,868 --> 00:40:12,532 And so therefore, now that we're very educated, we're able to 981 00:40:12,556 --> 00:40:13,780 understand things in a better way. 982 00:40:13,820 --> 00:40:15,636 So therefore we don't need to believe it. 983 00:40:15,708 --> 00:40:18,356 Those are people that were living in a world that was totally 984 00:40:18,388 --> 00:40:19,360 foreign to us. 985 00:40:19,980 --> 00:40:22,884 Yes, that was very foreign to us. 986 00:40:23,052 --> 00:40:25,760 But the truths that are in scripture don't change. 987 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:28,760 And so what we have to understand is that if the Bible says 988 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:31,704 something, we can't allow someone to come in and try to undermine 989 00:40:31,752 --> 00:40:33,112 what the word of God says. 990 00:40:33,216 --> 00:40:35,976 And so this will lead our minds astray from the will of God. 991 00:40:36,088 --> 00:40:38,456 And really the truth is, is that we can be corrupted. 992 00:40:38,488 --> 00:40:40,888 You would say, I, I can't be corrupted. 993 00:40:40,984 --> 00:40:41,288 Okay? 994 00:40:41,304 --> 00:40:43,256 I, I'm strong, I'm strong willed. 995 00:40:43,288 --> 00:40:45,640 Pastor, you don't know me well, you might be strong willed, 996 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:50,168 but the Bible says that we can be corrupted by having a double mind. 997 00:40:50,224 --> 00:40:53,934 If you, if you look at James chapter one, James chapter one, verse 998 00:40:53,982 --> 00:40:59,086 six talks about a, a man or anyone who is double minded. 999 00:40:59,278 --> 00:41:02,782 So, so you might not say, oh, I'm against God, or, or you might 1000 00:41:02,806 --> 00:41:05,582 not say, I'm opposed to what the pastor is preaching. 1001 00:41:05,726 --> 00:41:08,990 You, you might say, I'm, I'm not all for the, the satanic things. 1002 00:41:09,030 --> 00:41:12,302 I'm not, I'm not for believing everything the world gives me. 1003 00:41:12,406 --> 00:41:14,494 That's not what James chapter one, verse six says. 1004 00:41:14,582 --> 00:41:17,646 James chapter one, verse six says, but let him ask in faith, talking 1005 00:41:17,678 --> 00:41:18,494 about wisdom. 1006 00:41:18,622 --> 00:41:21,262 Verse 5 says, if you lack wisdom, ask God, he's going to give 1007 00:41:21,286 --> 00:41:21,678 it to you. 1008 00:41:21,734 --> 00:41:25,070 But verse 6 says, but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. 1009 00:41:25,150 --> 00:41:28,638 For he that wavereth, meaning going back and forth in faith, putting 1010 00:41:28,654 --> 00:41:31,758 my faith in the things of this world, putting my faith in myself, 1011 00:41:31,854 --> 00:41:34,574 and then putting my faith in God sometimes that, that's a double 1012 00:41:34,622 --> 00:41:35,150 minded man. 1013 00:41:35,190 --> 00:41:36,286 It says verse 6. 1014 00:41:36,358 --> 00:41:39,582 For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the 1015 00:41:39,606 --> 00:41:40,930 wind and tossed. 1016 00:41:43,110 --> 00:41:46,850 For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of 1017 00:41:46,890 --> 00:41:47,586 the Lord. 1018 00:41:47,698 --> 00:41:50,962 A double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. 1019 00:41:51,026 --> 00:41:54,850 A double minded man is a simply a person who puts their faith 1020 00:41:54,930 --> 00:41:58,402 in God sometimes for some things, and puts their faith in the 1021 00:41:58,426 --> 00:42:01,250 world in some areas, and then tries to bring those two together 1022 00:42:01,290 --> 00:42:03,154 and try to bridge both of those divides. 1023 00:42:03,202 --> 00:42:05,314 It says, no, that's a wave in the sea. 1024 00:42:05,362 --> 00:42:06,466 Pass to and fro. 1025 00:42:06,578 --> 00:42:08,466 Let them not receive anything of the Lord. 1026 00:42:08,498 --> 00:42:11,090 They don't, don't expect to receive anything from God, whether 1027 00:42:11,130 --> 00:42:13,442 it be wisdom or, or power or strength. 1028 00:42:13,506 --> 00:42:15,602 If you're putting your faith in the things of this world, he says 1029 00:42:15,626 --> 00:42:19,138 that is a double minded man and is unstable in all of his ways. 1030 00:42:19,154 --> 00:42:22,786 And so therefore someone can be corrupted by simply just putting 1031 00:42:22,818 --> 00:42:26,482 their faith in something else outside of the complete truth of 1032 00:42:26,506 --> 00:42:26,946 God. 1033 00:42:27,058 --> 00:42:30,034 And so our loyalty can maybe be on the outside. 1034 00:42:30,122 --> 00:42:30,658 Very clear. 1035 00:42:30,714 --> 00:42:32,370 Hey look, that's a loyal person. 1036 00:42:32,410 --> 00:42:33,826 They're in their place every week. 1037 00:42:33,978 --> 00:42:36,674 They're, they're in a ministry, they're doing wonderful 1038 00:42:36,722 --> 00:42:37,496 things for the Lord. 1039 00:42:37,578 --> 00:42:40,236 But yet in their minds it could be double minded because they're 1040 00:42:40,268 --> 00:42:43,180 trusting in the things of this world to be the things that they 1041 00:42:43,220 --> 00:42:46,828 are trusting in when it comes to their, their salvation, their 1042 00:42:46,884 --> 00:42:50,652 faith, their provisions, their power, their healing, whatever it 1043 00:42:50,676 --> 00:42:51,240 is. 1044 00:42:51,700 --> 00:42:55,132 And so he says, hey, be careful that you don't leave the 1045 00:42:55,156 --> 00:42:59,692 simplicity that is in Christ, the single mindedness that is in 1046 00:42:59,716 --> 00:43:02,640 Christ, that is the true Jesus. 1047 00:43:02,990 --> 00:43:07,526 And so simplicity, it's singleness of mind, it's being locked 1048 00:43:07,558 --> 00:43:12,070 in on Jesus, being focused on his word, being focused on his ways, 1049 00:43:12,150 --> 00:43:13,686 being focused on his work. 1050 00:43:13,758 --> 00:43:15,926 And that is what's tied to the gospel, right? 1051 00:43:15,998 --> 00:43:20,406 We, we are loyal to Jesus, we're loyal to the Spirit, we're 1052 00:43:20,438 --> 00:43:24,490 loyal to the Father, and we're loyal to His Word, the Gospel. 1053 00:43:25,550 --> 00:43:29,494 And so another Jesus can be preached, another Spirit can be preached, 1054 00:43:29,542 --> 00:43:31,164 another Gospel can be preached. 1055 00:43:31,262 --> 00:43:34,940 And the problem wasn't that these false teachers had come in. 1056 00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:38,672 The problem was that these people in Corinth had put up with 1057 00:43:38,696 --> 00:43:39,260 them. 1058 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:44,960 The question that I would ask you today is are we willing to stand 1059 00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:49,216 up against false teaching or are we going to tolerate false teaching? 1060 00:43:49,328 --> 00:43:52,016 You would say, bless God, we're not going to tolerate false 1061 00:43:52,048 --> 00:43:53,536 teaching from our pulpit, Pastor. 1062 00:43:53,568 --> 00:43:55,152 We're going to watch every word that you say. 1063 00:43:55,256 --> 00:43:57,232 Folks, I'm going to tell you that you get preached at more than 1064 00:43:57,256 --> 00:43:58,272 just this pulpit. 1065 00:43:58,416 --> 00:43:59,152 Okay? 1066 00:43:59,296 --> 00:44:01,888 Monday morning you're going to get preached at in a lot of different 1067 00:44:01,944 --> 00:44:02,580 ways. 1068 00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:06,976 You're going to get preached at by what you take in, in entertainment. 1069 00:44:07,008 --> 00:44:08,080 You're going to get preached at. 1070 00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:10,608 What you're going to get, you know, what you take in at work, you're 1071 00:44:10,624 --> 00:44:11,392 going to get preached at. 1072 00:44:11,416 --> 00:44:14,656 And what you take in, what you read, a podcast, you're going to, 1073 00:44:14,728 --> 00:44:17,328 it's being engulfed into your mind, okay? 1074 00:44:17,424 --> 00:44:20,192 Your mind is being just covered with all these things. 1075 00:44:20,296 --> 00:44:23,472 And what I would say is this just as Much as you are vigilant 1076 00:44:23,536 --> 00:44:25,872 and what is being preached from this pulpit, and you should 1077 00:44:25,896 --> 00:44:30,216 be okay, if a preacher gets up here, me or someone else that's preaching 1078 00:44:30,248 --> 00:44:32,856 something contrary to this Bible, first of all, you contend 1079 00:44:32,888 --> 00:44:33,336 for the faith. 1080 00:44:33,368 --> 00:44:35,320 And if that doesn't work, you. 1081 00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:36,408 You leave, okay? 1082 00:44:36,504 --> 00:44:39,432 The moment that the word of God is not being lifted up, only 1083 00:44:39,536 --> 00:44:42,312 is, is the time where you say, that's not for me. 1084 00:44:42,496 --> 00:44:43,784 But what I would say is this. 1085 00:44:43,872 --> 00:44:45,768 Are you going to have that same vigilance? 1086 00:44:45,864 --> 00:44:48,136 Am I going to have that same vigilance when it comes to what I'm 1087 00:44:48,168 --> 00:44:49,620 taking in throughout the week? 1088 00:44:50,160 --> 00:44:52,856 Am I going to be willing to put that person that I'm listening 1089 00:44:52,888 --> 00:44:55,580 to Monday through Friday to the same test that I'm putting to 1090 00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:56,148 my preacher? 1091 00:44:56,164 --> 00:44:58,212 And you say, well, he's not preaching to me, folks, if there 1092 00:44:58,236 --> 00:45:00,980 is any talk about anything, it's being preached to you. 1093 00:45:01,020 --> 00:45:03,600 A certain philosophy, a certain thought process. 1094 00:45:04,060 --> 00:45:06,292 If something's coming to you outside of scripture and you take 1095 00:45:06,316 --> 00:45:10,212 that as scripture, that's receiving preaching in a false way. 1096 00:45:10,316 --> 00:45:11,844 And so therefore, I would say this. 1097 00:45:11,932 --> 00:45:15,316 Be vigilant, not just on Sunday mornings, but be vigilant 1098 00:45:15,348 --> 00:45:16,452 throughout all of your day. 1099 00:45:16,556 --> 00:45:18,628 Be vigilant about what your children are taking in. 1100 00:45:18,684 --> 00:45:20,516 Be vigilant about what you are taking in. 1101 00:45:20,588 --> 00:45:20,820 What. 1102 00:45:20,860 --> 00:45:24,750 What are you allowing yourself to go to and trust in? 1103 00:45:25,610 --> 00:45:26,754 You know what, folks? 1104 00:45:26,882 --> 00:45:29,698 It's not always what we go to. 1105 00:45:29,754 --> 00:45:31,230 When things are going well. 1106 00:45:31,930 --> 00:45:33,938 When things are going well in our life, sometimes it's tempting 1107 00:45:33,954 --> 00:45:34,642 to say, well, you know what? 1108 00:45:34,666 --> 00:45:36,034 God's blessing me, everything's good. 1109 00:45:36,122 --> 00:45:38,670 But where do we run when trouble comes? 1110 00:45:38,970 --> 00:45:40,450 Because that's our true character. 1111 00:45:40,530 --> 00:45:40,770 Our. 1112 00:45:40,810 --> 00:45:44,450 Our true heart will be manifested when we're put under the 1113 00:45:44,490 --> 00:45:45,190 pressure. 1114 00:45:45,530 --> 00:45:46,482 What's they. 1115 00:45:46,506 --> 00:45:47,202 They've said it this way. 1116 00:45:47,226 --> 00:45:49,378 What's ever really inside of you when you're squished, that's 1117 00:45:49,394 --> 00:45:50,510 what's gonna come out. 1118 00:45:50,950 --> 00:45:53,182 Okay, so what's really in there? 1119 00:45:53,206 --> 00:45:57,502 When you're put to the test, what's really there? 1120 00:45:57,526 --> 00:45:59,070 What are you really trusting in? 1121 00:45:59,110 --> 00:46:00,558 What am I really trusting in? 1122 00:46:00,614 --> 00:46:03,010 When the rubber meets the road, Folks, I'm. 1123 00:46:03,910 --> 00:46:04,814 I love you guys. 1124 00:46:04,862 --> 00:46:07,486 I'm done playing games with church. 1125 00:46:07,678 --> 00:46:10,478 Church is not a social club, okay? 1126 00:46:10,574 --> 00:46:13,102 We can have social activities here at church. 1127 00:46:13,246 --> 00:46:13,790 That's great. 1128 00:46:13,830 --> 00:46:16,456 We should be social part of fellowshipping. 1129 00:46:16,598 --> 00:46:19,508 But if it stops there and we miss out on what the purpose is, 1130 00:46:19,564 --> 00:46:20,356 folks, we're here. 1131 00:46:20,428 --> 00:46:22,596 We're the pillar and ground of truth. 1132 00:46:22,708 --> 00:46:24,980 We are to contend for the faith. 1133 00:46:25,060 --> 00:46:28,080 We have a great commission to go. 1134 00:46:28,620 --> 00:46:31,400 If we're not willing to go for the gospel. 1135 00:46:32,380 --> 00:46:33,600 What are we doing? 1136 00:46:34,140 --> 00:46:38,292 You, you can, you can find a social connection anywhere in this 1137 00:46:38,316 --> 00:46:38,880 world. 1138 00:46:40,300 --> 00:46:43,060 Go down to the local pool hall and you can play pool with people 1139 00:46:43,100 --> 00:46:47,280 and you can, you can indulge in all those things that they do. 1140 00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:49,616 Okay, you can go to a local place and have that. 1141 00:46:49,688 --> 00:46:53,136 Folks, the church is a distinct body of believers different 1142 00:46:53,208 --> 00:46:55,632 than the world to come together and fellowship. 1143 00:46:55,696 --> 00:46:57,024 They come together and study. 1144 00:46:57,112 --> 00:46:59,312 They come together and to fight for the truth of God. 1145 00:46:59,376 --> 00:47:01,376 And Paul is saying, guys, you're just playing a game. 1146 00:47:01,448 --> 00:47:03,296 You're playing the Corinthian game. 1147 00:47:03,448 --> 00:47:06,992 The Corinthian game is just to come together and to go back to that 1148 00:47:07,016 --> 00:47:07,856 pagan ritual. 1149 00:47:07,968 --> 00:47:09,860 And he says, don't do that anymore. 1150 00:47:10,260 --> 00:47:13,804 He says, don't tolerate this, folks. 1151 00:47:13,852 --> 00:47:16,332 We should be discontent with false teaching. 1152 00:47:16,476 --> 00:47:17,756 Don't tolerate that. 1153 00:47:17,908 --> 00:47:19,680 There's some things that we should tolerate. 1154 00:47:20,980 --> 00:47:23,020 Tolerate your brother in Christ. 1155 00:47:23,140 --> 00:47:25,948 Sometimes we gotta have grace, sometimes we gotta have mercy. 1156 00:47:26,124 --> 00:47:29,240 The Bible says to, to be patient with them. 1157 00:47:29,620 --> 00:47:32,156 But, but false teaching is something that we have to be careful 1158 00:47:32,188 --> 00:47:32,332 of. 1159 00:47:32,356 --> 00:47:33,692 And Paul is defending himself. 1160 00:47:33,756 --> 00:47:34,796 He says, no, we. 1161 00:47:34,948 --> 00:47:36,878 I'm the one that's preaching the truth. 1162 00:47:37,044 --> 00:47:38,618 So application is this. 1163 00:47:38,754 --> 00:47:40,910 Examine our loyalty to God. 1164 00:47:41,970 --> 00:47:43,150 Well, I'm loyal. 1165 00:47:43,970 --> 00:47:45,710 How, how are you loyal? 1166 00:47:46,690 --> 00:47:49,146 Okay, you say, well, I'm, I'm, I'm. 1167 00:47:49,178 --> 00:47:50,970 To the best of my ability, I'm loyal. 1168 00:47:51,130 --> 00:47:52,938 Okay, well, none of us are going to be perfectly loyal. 1169 00:47:52,954 --> 00:47:53,706 I, I get that. 1170 00:47:53,778 --> 00:47:55,098 None of us are gonna be perfectly faithful. 1171 00:47:55,114 --> 00:47:56,026 And that's the beauty of it. 1172 00:47:56,098 --> 00:47:58,554 The beauty is, is that when we fall short, God is better. 1173 00:47:58,642 --> 00:47:59,990 His mercy is more. 1174 00:48:00,610 --> 00:48:02,154 But it's, it's our desire. 1175 00:48:02,202 --> 00:48:03,914 God is always concerned about our desire. 1176 00:48:03,962 --> 00:48:04,404 Right. 1177 00:48:04,522 --> 00:48:06,752 Love your, Love your Lord, thy God with all your heart, soul, mind 1178 00:48:06,776 --> 00:48:07,552 and strength. 1179 00:48:07,696 --> 00:48:09,360 Okay, so what does that mean? 1180 00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:10,560 That means God wants our heart. 1181 00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:12,576 He doesn't want only our actions. 1182 00:48:12,688 --> 00:48:14,272 Because what can happen is this. 1183 00:48:14,456 --> 00:48:16,340 We can all go through the motions. 1184 00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:18,112 We, we. 1185 00:48:18,296 --> 00:48:21,936 Pastor said to show up at, you know, Saturday at 9:00 to go do this. 1186 00:48:22,008 --> 00:48:24,944 I'm here 9:00, but my heart's not here. 1187 00:48:25,112 --> 00:48:27,420 I'm in church, but my heart's not here. 1188 00:48:27,720 --> 00:48:29,846 I have a ministry, but my heart's not here. 1189 00:48:29,968 --> 00:48:31,914 I'm reading my Bible, but my heart's not here. 1190 00:48:32,002 --> 00:48:32,682 It is. 1191 00:48:32,786 --> 00:48:33,770 And this is a true question. 1192 00:48:33,810 --> 00:48:35,270 I want you to think about this morning. 1193 00:48:35,650 --> 00:48:38,890 Is God pleased if we just go through the motions and have no love 1194 00:48:38,930 --> 00:48:39,510 there? 1195 00:48:40,610 --> 00:48:42,230 I don't, I don't think so. 1196 00:48:42,690 --> 00:48:45,258 Because that's not worried about the actions as much as he's 1197 00:48:45,274 --> 00:48:46,510 worried about the hearts. 1198 00:48:46,930 --> 00:48:50,762 What, what, what if I just said, well, you know, I, I have to, 1199 00:48:50,786 --> 00:48:53,658 I, I, I have to give my wife a birthday present and, and, and I've 1200 00:48:53,674 --> 00:48:55,098 got to get her an anniversary present. 1201 00:48:55,154 --> 00:48:55,418 Okay? 1202 00:48:55,434 --> 00:48:56,746 If I don't, there's gonna be problems. 1203 00:48:56,778 --> 00:48:57,482 I'm gonna go do that. 1204 00:48:57,506 --> 00:48:58,682 I'm just gonna robotically do it. 1205 00:48:58,706 --> 00:48:59,370 Okay, here it is. 1206 00:48:59,410 --> 00:49:00,442 Same thing you get every year. 1207 00:49:00,466 --> 00:49:01,346 You know, whatever. 1208 00:49:01,498 --> 00:49:03,682 My wife's gonna really question whether or not my heart 1209 00:49:03,706 --> 00:49:04,770 is committed to her. 1210 00:49:04,810 --> 00:49:05,442 Right. 1211 00:49:05,626 --> 00:49:07,058 It's the same thing with the Lord. 1212 00:49:07,154 --> 00:49:08,402 And sometimes we think that we do. 1213 00:49:08,426 --> 00:49:09,762 We, hey, we check our box. 1214 00:49:09,906 --> 00:49:11,746 I checked my Baptist box today. 1215 00:49:11,898 --> 00:49:14,402 I did it, I did my demotions, I'm good now. 1216 00:49:14,426 --> 00:49:15,890 I can go do whatever I wanna do. 1217 00:49:16,010 --> 00:49:17,714 God wants more than your devotions. 1218 00:49:17,762 --> 00:49:21,170 God wants you to be devoted to him single mindedly all day, every 1219 00:49:21,210 --> 00:49:21,506 day. 1220 00:49:21,578 --> 00:49:22,658 That's where he wants your heart. 1221 00:49:22,714 --> 00:49:24,962 So the question is, is like, how am I loyal to God? 1222 00:49:25,026 --> 00:49:27,518 How am I demonstrating my loyalty and love to Him? 1223 00:49:27,674 --> 00:49:30,822 And by the way, it's loyalty and love because if you love someone, 1224 00:49:30,926 --> 00:49:32,086 you're gonna do things for them. 1225 00:49:32,158 --> 00:49:34,134 You love someone, you're gonna spend time with them. 1226 00:49:34,302 --> 00:49:37,862 No one has to twist my arm to spend time with the people that I 1227 00:49:37,886 --> 00:49:38,450 love. 1228 00:49:39,230 --> 00:49:42,198 And so that's the idea for us is like, okay, I know I'm not gonna 1229 00:49:42,214 --> 00:49:44,342 be perfectly loyal, but what are some steps that I'm taking in 1230 00:49:44,366 --> 00:49:48,406 my life to try to demonstrate my faithfulness to God as He's been 1231 00:49:48,478 --> 00:49:49,894 perfectly faithful to me. 1232 00:49:49,982 --> 00:49:52,646 If you ever doubt whether or not you want to be faithful to God, 1233 00:49:52,678 --> 00:49:54,292 go back to what he's done for you. 1234 00:49:54,486 --> 00:49:56,088 We have to be reminded of that. 1235 00:49:56,224 --> 00:49:57,480 He went to the cross. 1236 00:49:57,640 --> 00:50:00,380 He, he had you in mind as he went to the cross. 1237 00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:03,304 For all have sinned to come short of the glory of God. 1238 00:50:03,432 --> 00:50:04,420 That's me. 1239 00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:06,280 Romans 5:8. 1240 00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:09,060 But God commended or demonstrated his love towards us. 1241 00:50:09,600 --> 00:50:11,784 And that while we were yet sinners, that's me. 1242 00:50:11,872 --> 00:50:13,272 Christ died for us. 1243 00:50:13,456 --> 00:50:16,952 He knew that I would sin, he knew that I would be disloyal. 1244 00:50:17,016 --> 00:50:18,900 But yet he was faithful to me. 1245 00:50:19,530 --> 00:50:20,210 Died for me. 1246 00:50:20,250 --> 00:50:21,394 He died for you. 1247 00:50:21,562 --> 00:50:23,586 And so therefore we gotta go back to that. 1248 00:50:23,658 --> 00:50:29,010 And so the second part of this would be, am I putting myself in 1249 00:50:29,050 --> 00:50:33,510 a place where I am on guard against false teaching? 1250 00:50:34,490 --> 00:50:39,190 Beware of false teaching that leads our hearts and minds astray. 1251 00:50:40,650 --> 00:50:42,790 It's gonna come in secretively. 1252 00:50:43,370 --> 00:50:46,202 I always tell our, our church, you know, when we were going through 1253 00:50:46,226 --> 00:50:49,450 the book of Jude, a false teacher is not going to come in with 1254 00:50:49,490 --> 00:50:53,550 a sign around his neck that says, false teacher, beware. 1255 00:50:55,010 --> 00:50:56,938 It's going to come in in different ways. 1256 00:50:57,114 --> 00:50:59,390 The Bible says, wolves in sheep's clothing. 1257 00:51:00,130 --> 00:51:01,674 Beware of false teaching. 1258 00:51:01,722 --> 00:51:02,394 You say what? 1259 00:51:02,482 --> 00:51:03,322 That's a lot for me. 1260 00:51:03,346 --> 00:51:04,234 I'm scared now. 1261 00:51:04,322 --> 00:51:06,506 Maybe the person I'm listening to is a false teacher. 1262 00:51:06,618 --> 00:51:10,010 A false teacher will never preach the word of God. 1263 00:51:10,170 --> 00:51:12,300 False teacher will always go astray. 1264 00:51:12,450 --> 00:51:12,808 So. 1265 00:51:12,864 --> 00:51:14,344 So it's an easy fix. 1266 00:51:14,472 --> 00:51:17,688 You just test it to the word of God, test it to the word of God, 1267 00:51:17,784 --> 00:51:18,984 and then lastly, here. 1268 00:51:19,072 --> 00:51:23,272 Remain steadfast in singleness of mind, that simplicity and devotion. 1269 00:51:23,416 --> 00:51:26,232 Is my mind fixed on Christ, or is it fixed on Christ and about a 1270 00:51:26,256 --> 00:51:27,416 thousand other things? 1271 00:51:27,568 --> 00:51:29,496 You say, well, Pastor, you don't know my job. 1272 00:51:29,648 --> 00:51:31,800 I gotta be fixed on about a thousand different things. 1273 00:51:31,840 --> 00:51:32,728 You know what I mean? 1274 00:51:32,864 --> 00:51:36,424 When it comes to your hope, when it comes to your salvation, 1275 00:51:36,552 --> 00:51:40,232 when it comes to understanding your standing before God and your 1276 00:51:40,256 --> 00:51:40,992 identity, when it. 1277 00:51:41,006 --> 00:51:42,236 What's your identity? 1278 00:51:42,428 --> 00:51:45,960 Someone comes up and asks me, you know, who are you? 1279 00:51:46,580 --> 00:51:47,292 What do we do? 1280 00:51:47,316 --> 00:51:47,692 What do we do? 1281 00:51:47,716 --> 00:51:48,300 Most of the time, we. 1282 00:51:48,340 --> 00:51:51,164 Well, as men, sometimes we say, what we do for a living. 1283 00:51:51,212 --> 00:51:52,812 Well, I'm a so and so. 1284 00:51:52,836 --> 00:51:55,196 And I do this sometimes. 1285 00:51:55,388 --> 00:51:58,860 You know, a wife is asked or a mother's asked, who are you? 1286 00:51:58,900 --> 00:52:00,332 I'm a mom to these kids, right? 1287 00:52:00,356 --> 00:52:01,580 You see where their heart is. 1288 00:52:01,700 --> 00:52:02,380 You see where their. 1289 00:52:02,420 --> 00:52:03,640 Their desire is. 1290 00:52:04,100 --> 00:52:06,588 And so someone came up to me and asked me, well, who are you? 1291 00:52:06,644 --> 00:52:08,062 What my answer should be. 1292 00:52:08,086 --> 00:52:09,246 I'm a child of the Lord. 1293 00:52:09,358 --> 00:52:11,774 Not, hey, I'm pastor of Middletown Baptist Church. 1294 00:52:11,902 --> 00:52:12,238 And. 1295 00:52:12,294 --> 00:52:14,142 And I, you know, have a lot of these things that I do. 1296 00:52:14,166 --> 00:52:14,990 And I did this. 1297 00:52:15,110 --> 00:52:15,630 My. 1298 00:52:15,750 --> 00:52:16,846 What did Paul say? 1299 00:52:16,918 --> 00:52:19,650 Paul didn't say at the very beginning, I'm super apostle. 1300 00:52:20,710 --> 00:52:24,526 He says, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ, a prisoner. 1301 00:52:24,638 --> 00:52:25,822 Jesus Christ. 1302 00:52:26,006 --> 00:52:27,290 That's who we are. 1303 00:52:27,590 --> 00:52:27,966 We're. 1304 00:52:27,998 --> 00:52:28,254 We're. 1305 00:52:28,302 --> 00:52:30,770 We're linked to him in our identity. 1306 00:52:31,190 --> 00:52:36,644 And so are we going to be willing to commit ourselves to the 1307 00:52:36,652 --> 00:52:40,276 best of our ability to be in singleness of mind towards our devotion 1308 00:52:40,308 --> 00:52:40,756 to Him? 1309 00:52:40,828 --> 00:52:44,840 Now you would say, is that even possible, Pastor? 1310 00:52:45,900 --> 00:52:49,364 Not in our own strength, it's not. 1311 00:52:49,372 --> 00:52:50,228 In our own strength. 1312 00:52:50,324 --> 00:52:51,268 So what do we do? 1313 00:52:51,404 --> 00:52:52,292 We ask God. 1314 00:52:52,356 --> 00:52:53,172 James, chapter one. 1315 00:52:53,196 --> 00:52:55,844 If you lack wisdom on how to do anything that he's called you 1316 00:52:55,852 --> 00:52:57,040 to do, ask him. 1317 00:52:57,900 --> 00:52:59,952 Ask the Lord to give you the strength. 1318 00:53:00,116 --> 00:53:01,740 Live in the spirit. 1319 00:53:03,840 --> 00:53:05,480 Philippians, chapter 4, verse 6. 1320 00:53:05,520 --> 00:53:09,624 It says, Be anxious or be careful for nothing. 1321 00:53:09,752 --> 00:53:13,176 But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving. 1322 00:53:13,208 --> 00:53:15,260 Let your requests be made known unto God. 1323 00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:16,728 Meaning this. 1324 00:53:16,864 --> 00:53:20,760 You could have a reason to be anxious about everything or you could 1325 00:53:20,800 --> 00:53:22,700 bring everything to him in prayer. 1326 00:53:23,360 --> 00:53:25,928 So I would say one of the practical steps that you can take 1327 00:53:25,984 --> 00:53:30,406 in your loyalty to God is, is by creating a communication relationship 1328 00:53:30,438 --> 00:53:31,170 with Him. 1329 00:53:31,950 --> 00:53:33,334 How do you talk to God? 1330 00:53:33,462 --> 00:53:34,198 Pray? 1331 00:53:34,374 --> 00:53:36,250 How do you hear from God His Word? 1332 00:53:36,830 --> 00:53:38,342 How do you spend time with Him? 1333 00:53:38,446 --> 00:53:43,782 By, by serving him, by, by obeying His Word, having a love for 1334 00:53:43,806 --> 00:53:46,210 His Word, his ways and his work. 1335 00:53:46,670 --> 00:53:49,142 Folks, I know that there's some challenging stuff here this 1336 00:53:49,166 --> 00:53:49,686 morning. 1337 00:53:49,838 --> 00:53:54,052 I know that I've, I've, I've tried not to pull any punches, but 1338 00:53:54,156 --> 00:53:56,292 I want to let you know that I'm preaching to myself up here. 1339 00:53:56,316 --> 00:54:00,820 And every single time I hit one of those points, I feel that. 1340 00:54:00,860 --> 00:54:03,316 I feel that dagger in my chest too, convicting me. 1341 00:54:03,468 --> 00:54:04,308 I'm there. 1342 00:54:04,444 --> 00:54:08,036 I feel it because so often my love and my desire goes somewhere 1343 00:54:08,068 --> 00:54:08,420 else. 1344 00:54:08,500 --> 00:54:11,280 Folks, are we willing to say, you know what, I want to die to that? 1345 00:54:12,940 --> 00:54:15,860 I want to be single minded towards the Lord. 1346 00:54:15,940 --> 00:54:16,740 Paul warned them. 1347 00:54:16,780 --> 00:54:19,000 He says, hey, look, it's going to corrupt your minds. 1348 00:54:20,390 --> 00:54:26,878 And you know, things that can be good if they become first can 1349 00:54:26,934 --> 00:54:27,690 be bad. 1350 00:54:28,070 --> 00:54:29,450 You know what I mean by that? 1351 00:54:30,630 --> 00:54:33,050 Well, Pastor, you know, I'm not doing anything bad. 1352 00:54:33,350 --> 00:54:34,926 I'm just, I'm working a lot. 1353 00:54:35,078 --> 00:54:40,222 If my good work takes place before my relationship with Christ, 1354 00:54:40,406 --> 00:54:42,490 my work has now become something bad. 1355 00:54:43,350 --> 00:54:44,158 If, if, if. 1356 00:54:44,214 --> 00:54:44,782 Well, you know what? 1357 00:54:44,806 --> 00:54:46,814 Well, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm trying to do this, I'm trying to 1358 00:54:46,822 --> 00:54:47,208 do that. 1359 00:54:47,294 --> 00:54:48,560 Folks, it's not about trying. 1360 00:54:50,140 --> 00:54:51,652 We could try all day. 1361 00:54:51,756 --> 00:54:53,960 It's about relying on the Lord. 1362 00:54:54,300 --> 00:54:58,052 The more we die to our own work, the more we see his work in 1363 00:54:58,076 --> 00:54:58,708 our life. 1364 00:54:58,844 --> 00:55:00,916 Folks, just rely on him, trust in Him. 1365 00:55:01,068 --> 00:55:06,436 He gives you that peace of God which passeth all understanding. 1366 00:55:06,628 --> 00:55:10,324 You can find that too when it comes to this struggle that we fight. 1367 00:55:10,412 --> 00:55:13,622 Now Paul's going to come back and he's going to talk about in the 1368 00:55:13,646 --> 00:55:15,190 next verse, verse five, he's going to start. 1369 00:55:15,230 --> 00:55:20,198 This idea of a false prophet is going to be one way, a true prophet 1370 00:55:20,214 --> 00:55:21,286 is going to be another way. 1371 00:55:21,358 --> 00:55:22,890 And he speaks of humility. 1372 00:55:24,030 --> 00:55:27,046 The Bible says that anyone that's preparing and proclaiming 1373 00:55:27,078 --> 00:55:30,470 the word of God properly will not take a place of pride, will take 1374 00:55:30,510 --> 00:55:31,690 a place of humility. 1375 00:55:32,190 --> 00:55:34,422 And so that's what he's going to address next. 1376 00:55:34,606 --> 00:55:37,462 But the action items today would be, where is our loyalty to 1377 00:55:37,486 --> 00:55:37,686 God? 1378 00:55:37,718 --> 00:55:41,154 Is it a loyalty in have to do this? 1379 00:55:41,242 --> 00:55:43,230 Or is it a loyalty of love? 1380 00:55:43,530 --> 00:55:45,310 You think about his love for you. 1381 00:55:45,690 --> 00:55:49,682 It's much easier to rest in that love and to reciprocate that 1382 00:55:49,706 --> 00:55:51,794 love by the way that we obey Him. 1383 00:55:51,882 --> 00:55:52,786 So let's go ahead and pray. 1384 00:55:52,818 --> 00:55:53,858 Every head bowed, every eye closed. 1385 00:55:53,874 --> 00:55:55,378 I'm asking you to stand, too, if you're able to. 1386 00:55:55,434 --> 00:55:56,450 If not, that's okay. 1387 00:55:56,530 --> 00:55:59,830 We're gonna have a time of reflection, a time of invitation. 1388 00:56:00,170 --> 00:56:04,770 If you have something that God has been speaking to you here this 1389 00:56:04,810 --> 00:56:05,058 morning. 1390 00:56:05,114 --> 00:56:08,124 I know it's been a heavy, heavy, heavy message in the concept 1391 00:56:08,172 --> 00:56:09,280 of a challenge. 1392 00:56:10,740 --> 00:56:15,532 We never really want to talk about false teachers because the 1393 00:56:15,556 --> 00:56:18,880 fear is that maybe we're being misled by a false teaching. 1394 00:56:19,540 --> 00:56:22,700 But the beauty of all of this is that when we fall short, and we 1395 00:56:22,740 --> 00:56:29,116 will, The Bible says, 1 John, chapter 1, verse 9, if we confess. 1396 00:56:29,228 --> 00:56:31,400 Confess just means to agree with. 1397 00:56:32,430 --> 00:56:33,510 Agree with God. 1398 00:56:33,590 --> 00:56:38,294 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our 1399 00:56:38,302 --> 00:56:40,294 sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1400 00:56:40,422 --> 00:56:43,206 The Bible says, come back to him and just admit where you've fallen 1401 00:56:43,238 --> 00:56:43,430 short. 1402 00:56:43,470 --> 00:56:44,070 He guess what? 1403 00:56:44,110 --> 00:56:45,942 He already knows where you've fallen short. 1404 00:56:46,126 --> 00:56:48,902 So just admit to that, the fact that you agree with him on what 1405 00:56:48,926 --> 00:56:51,462 you're doing, and say, you know what, I've fallen short here 1406 00:56:51,486 --> 00:56:52,582 in my loyalty. 1407 00:56:52,726 --> 00:56:55,686 I know I'm not perfect, but I'm far from it and I've been desiring 1408 00:56:55,718 --> 00:56:56,390 other things. 1409 00:56:56,510 --> 00:56:58,822 Maybe it's time for you just to realign to him and confess that 1410 00:56:58,846 --> 00:56:59,190 to him. 1411 00:56:59,230 --> 00:56:59,903 Say, lord, I'm. 1412 00:56:59,954 --> 00:57:01,440 You don't have to confess it to me. 1413 00:57:02,220 --> 00:57:03,800 I'm not a priest. 1414 00:57:04,540 --> 00:57:07,412 I'm not some sort of person that can grant forgiveness in your 1415 00:57:07,436 --> 00:57:07,860 life. 1416 00:57:07,980 --> 00:57:11,412 It's only a relationship with God and your fellowship with him 1417 00:57:11,436 --> 00:57:14,260 that can bring you back to a place of restoration. 1418 00:57:14,340 --> 00:57:16,468 And I would encourage you to think about that here this morning. 1419 00:57:16,524 --> 00:57:17,892 Where is your loyalty? 1420 00:57:18,036 --> 00:57:23,280 Is it a loyalty in duty, or is it a loyalty in love? 1421 00:57:25,180 --> 00:57:28,970 I think about this quite frequently, and I hope that you do, 1422 00:57:29,010 --> 00:57:29,594 too. 1423 00:57:29,762 --> 00:57:34,470 Why am I doing what I'm doing for the Lord if I'm doing something 1424 00:57:35,010 --> 00:57:35,750 great? 1425 00:57:36,370 --> 00:57:39,354 But the better question is, is why am I doing what I'm doing for 1426 00:57:39,362 --> 00:57:39,706 the Lord? 1427 00:57:39,738 --> 00:57:41,242 Is it because of what he has done for me? 1428 00:57:41,266 --> 00:57:44,682 Or is it because I'm trying to earn something or get some kind of 1429 00:57:44,706 --> 00:57:45,818 acclaim or praise? 1430 00:57:45,914 --> 00:57:48,218 And so the thought process for me this morning and the challenge 1431 00:57:48,234 --> 00:57:51,770 that I would have for you is that, are we willing to examine our 1432 00:57:51,810 --> 00:57:52,624 loyalty? 1433 00:57:52,802 --> 00:57:57,396 Are we willing to commit ourselves to fighting against false 1434 00:57:57,428 --> 00:58:00,040 teaching and leading our hearts and minds astray. 1435 00:58:00,380 --> 00:58:03,924 And are we willing to remain steadfast in our singleness of mind, 1436 00:58:04,012 --> 00:58:05,764 the simplicity that is Christ? 1437 00:58:05,852 --> 00:58:06,292 You know what? 1438 00:58:06,316 --> 00:58:08,548 The Gospel is not that complicated. 1439 00:58:08,724 --> 00:58:13,440 It is putting our faith in Jesus and Jesus alone to save us. 1440 00:58:14,060 --> 00:58:15,764 And then that's now where it ends. 1441 00:58:15,812 --> 00:58:19,076 Because a believer does not stop resting in the Gospel the moment 1442 00:58:19,108 --> 00:58:19,924 they are saved. 1443 00:58:20,052 --> 00:58:23,012 Now we're resting in the Gospel to give us the hope and the 1444 00:58:23,036 --> 00:58:26,692 strength and the power and the provisions to do everything that 1445 00:58:26,716 --> 00:58:30,052 God has called us to do in our life until we get home one day and 1446 00:58:30,076 --> 00:58:32,596 we look our Savior face to face and he says, well done thou 1447 00:58:32,628 --> 00:58:33,960 good and faithful servant. 1448 00:58:34,700 --> 00:58:36,564 That's why we rest in the Gospel. 1449 00:58:36,612 --> 00:58:38,388 That's why we proclaim the gospel. 1450 00:58:38,484 --> 00:58:40,820 That's why we live in the Gospel in every way. 1451 00:58:40,940 --> 00:58:42,948 Lord, I pray that you'd be in this time of invitation, working 1452 00:58:43,004 --> 00:58:43,684 hearts and lives. 1453 00:58:43,772 --> 00:58:46,452 Lord, if there's someone here today that needs you as Savior, I 1454 00:58:46,476 --> 00:58:49,708 pray that today can be the day of salvation, that they can trust 1455 00:58:49,804 --> 00:58:53,484 in your word and your way and your work to know what it means to 1456 00:58:53,492 --> 00:58:54,460 have everlasting life. 1457 00:58:54,500 --> 00:58:55,532 We thank you and we love you. 1458 00:58:55,556 --> 00:58:56,828 In Jesus name, Amen. 1459 00:58:56,844 --> 00:58:59,452 As the music plays if you need Jesus this morning as your Savior, 1460 00:58:59,516 --> 00:58:59,820 come forward. 1461 00:58:59,860 --> 00:59:01,052 We got some folks up here. 1462 00:59:01,156 --> 00:59:04,092 If not, if you want to commit yourself to loyalty to him, if you 1463 00:59:04,116 --> 00:59:07,676 want to commit yourself to living that life single minded towards 1464 00:59:07,788 --> 00:59:10,332 Christ, I encourage you to come forward and commit that to him 1465 00:59:10,356 --> 00:59:11,240 here this morning. 1466 00:59:11,700 --> 00:59:14,364 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1467 00:59:14,412 --> 00:59:15,164 podcast. 1468 00:59:15,292 --> 00:59:17,930 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing blessing for you. 1469 00:59:18,310 --> 00:59:20,526 You would like to find out more information about our church 1470 00:59:20,558 --> 00:59:24,174 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1471 00:59:24,302 --> 00:59:27,090 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1472 00:59:27,590 --> 00:59:32,046 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 1473 00:59:32,078 --> 00:59:36,510 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1474 00:59:36,550 --> 00:59:39,570 along for future podcast and updates. 1475 00:59:39,910 --> 00:59:41,070 Thank you so much. 1476 00:59:41,190 --> 00:59:42,014 God Bless. 1477 00:59:42,142 --> 00:59:43,190 Have a wonderful day.