Turn with me to the book of 1
Peter chapter 5. Verse 1, The elders
which are among you I exhort, That's the preachers. They're called bishops
or elders. There are some preaching elders,
and then there are some non-preaching elders. The elders which are
among you I exhort. who am also an elder, Peter said. I'm an elder. He didn't say he
was a pope. He said he was an elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ. That is, an eyewitness. He was
on the scene. And also, he said he was a partaker
of the glory that shall be revealed. That is, he was a recipient of
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Part of his inheritance was that
glory. So he says here, Feed the flock
of God which is among you, that's the children of God, by faith
in Christ Jesus, the church of God, the family of God, those
that have been given to the Lord Jesus,
feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof, that is, the leadership, you being a bishop and you being
an elder, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof,
not by constraint, not forcibly, but willingly. Both parties might
be agreed. Not for filthy lucre. for gain,
but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage,
that is, overruling the people of God, not ruling in the sense
of a dictator, but being in samples to the to the flock, the sheep of God. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, that's the Lord Jesus, ye shall receive a crown of glory
that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit
yourselves unto the elder, be in submission to him. Yea, all
of you, be subject one to another. and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the proud,
and he gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. Be sober, Be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour. Whom? That whom refers to the
devil. Satan, whom resist steadfast
in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But to
God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by
Christ Jesus, After that ye have suffered a while, make ye perfect,
establish, strengthen, and settle ye. To him be glory and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen. By Sylvanius, a faithful
brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly exhorting
and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein you
stand. The church that is at Babylon,
elected together with you, saluted you, and so doth Marcus my son. Greet ye one another with a kiss
of charity. Peace be with you all. that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Then, if you will, turn with
me to the book of II Thessalonians, and I'll read some more of the
writings of the Apostle Paul. Verse 3 of the second chapter
of 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. Chapter 2, verse 3, "...let no
man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first." Now, the people were
shaken in mind and troubled in spirit because they had got some
information from somewhere and they thought that it came
from Paul that the day of judgment was about to come. That is, the
Lord Jesus Christ was to come back from heaven. with all of
his saints. And they were troubled about
it. But Paul says in the second verse
that you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither
by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand. Paul didn't set a definite time
and tell them there's a definite time when He is coming, and it's
at hand right now. He didn't say that. So he says,
"...let no man deceive you by any means about this matter.
For that day shall not come..." We're talking about the coming
of our Lord, and much is said about it by those who deal in
prophecy, and there's a lot of prophecy in the Bible regarding
the second coming of our Lord. That is what he is talking about.
For that day shall not come except there be a falling away first.
The day won't come except there be a falling away first. That
the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Now, I don't know, but I think that
he is talking about the Antichrist He is not really referring to
Satan here, but this one is likened to Satan. That man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that
he as God, this son of perdition, this man of sin, that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was
yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what
withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work. It is already at work, this mysterious
spirit of the son of perdition. It is already at work, even now,
Paul said. Only he who now letteth willeth,
that is, God, until he be taken out of the way. Then shall that
wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume. with the
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan." This son of perdition is likened
unto Satan, that is, likened unto the power of Satan. He has that power, the workings
of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and
with all deceivableness and unrighteousness in them that perish, because
they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved. And for this cause, God shall
send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie, that
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, those that are believers, true believers,
those that own Him, those that know Christ as their obedience
and their righteousness. I am bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation." God has chosen
His people unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. No man will ever be saved unless
he believes the truth. Whereunto He called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast
and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether
by word or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
and God even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given
us everlasting consolation and good through grace, comfort your
hearts, and establish you in every good word and work." Well,
let me talk to you a little bit here this morning about the devil,
about Satan. And I've read several passages
of Scripture this morning here pertaining to Satan. He is a real being. He exists. You remember over in the book
of Job, where it says, and you'll not have to turn if you don't
want to, but it has this to say that in the sixth verse of the
first chapter of the book of Job, It says, Now there was a
day when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the Lord. And it says, And Satan came also
among them. Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord and
said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up
and down in it. And I read to you over there
in the book of Peter, I believe, where he is as a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour. Now, the devil is real, and he
is the cause of a lot of our troubles, trials, problems. It's the devil. Deception is
the chief work. That's the chief business of
the devil, is deception. He's out to deceive. We're told
by the Lord Jesus Christ himself that the devil is the father
of lies. Every lie you and I have told,
and every lie that we will tell, let's hope we don't tell any,
but every lie that's told, Satan is the father of that lie. He's
the father of lies. He's not the father of truth.
He's the father of lies. And we're told that he's a liar
and the father of lies. And we're told that he appears
as an angel of light, as a good shepherd, as the protector of
his sheep. He appears that way. He's not,
but he appears that way. He's very deceptive. Now, the
portrayals of the devil, of Satan, on the television and in the
movies, and in the magazines and in the newspapers lead many
men and women and boys and girls to suppose that he is easily
recognizable. But they have been easily deceived. He is not easily recognizable. He is very deceitful and he has
many counterfeits. And He goes about seeking whom
He can devour. And by deceiving them, He is
able to devour them. I remember our Lord turning to
Peter one time and said to Peter, He said, Satan has desired you
that he might sift you like wheat. He said, I prayed for you that
your faith fail not. Where did you come from? Where have you been? That's what
God said to him here. Why? He said, going to and fro
in the earth. Does not the Bible refer to him
as the God of this world, the prince and the power of the air? And he is very active, and he
is going about seeking whom he may devour. And God said to him,
Have you considered my servant Job? Have you thought about him? Have you considered my servant
Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and
an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? And Satan answered the Lord and
said, Job feared God for nothing. Hast thou not put a hedge about
him? Has not thou made a hedge about
him? You put a fence about him and
about his house and about all that he hath on every side. Thou
hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased
in the land. But put forth thine hand now,
and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. The Lord said unto Satan in chapter
2, Hast thou considered my servant Job? And Satan answered the Lord and
said, ìSkin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his
life.î Oh, Satan, very active, seeking whom he may devour. And
heís a liar and the father of lies. And he appears as an angel
of light, as a good shepherd and a protector of his sheep.
And heís not easily recognized, so youíve got to watch out for
him. Be steadfast and watch. Millions, and I say this not
generally speaking, but it's the truth and the whole truth,
so help me God, millions have been deceived by his false gospel. False gospel. There is a There
is the true gospel and there is many forms of the true gospel
which are Satan's gospel, which are deceiving gospels. And millions of men and women
and boys and girls have been deceived by false gospels, all
which seek to replace the true gospel which is the life and
the death and the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ with
something else. The common core, the center of
the false gospels of this age is a focus, is a concentration
on self, on self, not Christ. Instead of proclaiming the gospel,
the good news concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, what he did
2,000 years ago. They say false gospels now, which
has to do with self. These false gospels now, they
say that what makes a man acceptable to God is God's grace. in his heart. And that grace,
they say, which is in his heart is received through the sacraments,
especially baptism and the Mass. Now, grace is not something that
is infused like pie filling in a human heart. is an attribute of God and not
of man. Grace is God's unmerited favor
towards man. And what makes a man acceptable
to God is not God's grace in his heart, but what makes a man
acceptable unto God is the perfect life, and the obedience and the
righteousness and the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what makes a man acceptable
with God. Now, this false gospel that we
need to be aware of and need to understand, How to
avoid it and not to be overcome by it is to be confirmed in the
truth of the true gospel of how a man is accepted with God. Let me say again, we are saved
only by the perfect life and death and righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now sometimes, and in many cases
all over the world, the false gospel takes the form of the
gospel of the new birth. That is where our Lord Jesus
Christ said to Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God, and neither can he see the kingdom
of God unless he is born again. Now, sometimes the false gospel
takes the form of the new birth, as though being born again makes
one acceptable unto God. Now, you hear The reason I mention
this now is because we've already talked about the television,
and the radios, and the movies, and the magazines, and the papers,
and the cartoons, and all that, as they paint and portray Satan,
to the extent that men feel that they can recognize Satan by the
ways portrayed in the movies and in television and things
of that nature. But he can't be recognized that
way. Now, you hear on these Christian
programs and publications and so forth, personal testimonies
of individuals who sometimes we think they're doing a big
thing and we make more to do about them than really we ought
to. They say, well, I've been born
again. I'm a born-again Christian. I'm a born-again Christian. All
the people on television, the movie stars, the athletes and
all that, they make a touchdown and they run over and cross themselves,
they make a shot there that wins the game, they run to the end
of the floor and cross themselves, and if they question them, If
anyone says anything to them about this, they say, well, I'm
born again. I'm a born-again Christian. As if born-again Christian is
what salvation is all about. That's not what it's all about.
As though being born again makes one acceptable to God. That's
not what makes one acceptable. It's a false gospel. It does
not make one acceptable with God. The only thing that makes
one acceptable with God is the life and the obedience and the
death and the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what makes a man acceptable with God. Nothing else. You say,
well, maybe you're belittling the new birth. Oh, no. A man
who is saved by the grace of God is born again. He's born
again. To be born again means that you
have life. He said He called Paul. He said,
I call you into this, that men might see, they might understand,
they might be delivered from the captive of the devil. Man's
got to be born again. But being born again is not making
one acceptable with God. What makes one acceptable with
God is Jesus Christ and what he did 2,000 years ago. That's what makes a man acceptable
with God, is to believe what Christ did on Calvary's tree. That's what makes a man acceptable. And he believes this truth. Because
he has been born again. Because he has been given eyes
to see, and ears to hear, and an understanding. He doesn't
believe in order to be born again. He believes because he is born
again. See what I'm talking about? And
that which makes a man acceptable with God is what the Lord Jesus
Christ did on His behalf, His substitutionary work. So if you
don't watch out, the first thing you know, you'll be trusting
in a false gospel. You say, well, I'm born again.
When would you say, well, I'm born again? I'm a born-again
Christian. You're not a born-again Christian
unless you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ hath God hath revealed
him here in the Scriptures." So, these deceptions of Satan,
this false gospel, sometimes these false gospels take the
form of the baptism of the Spirit. Well, I've been baptized by the
Spirit. I speak in other tongues. I cast
out devils. I do this, I do that. It either
takes on the form of the baptism of the Spirit, or sometimes it
takes on the form of our own good works. There's multiplied,
thousands have been deceived by that, aren't they? Well, if
you do enough good works, God's bound to accept you. He won't
accept you on the basis of any good work that you do, The only
basis whereby God accepts any man is the good work that the
Lord Jesus Christ did on Calvary's tree. That's the only good work
that God will accept. Sometimes the false gospels take
the form of preaching that says the belief of the gospel is not
enough. And I've heard that all my life.
And I could hear it today if I just shook myself a little
bit and go out there and start talking to somebody about what
is the gospel. And if I told them that Jesus
Christ is enough, you know what they'd tell me? They'd say, well,
what about good works? They'd say, well, what about
good works? But if they didn't say that, they'd say, but do
you live it? Don't they say that? Don't you
live it? Do you live it? Oh, you've got to live it. Well,
what do they mean by you've got to live it? Does it mean that
once you're saved, then you live perfect from the time that you're
saved until you die? That you never sin again? Is
that what they're talking about? They don't do that themselves,
but they'll put that upon you. Oh yeah, sometimes this false
gospel takes the form of preaching that says the belief of the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ is not enough. You've got to surrender.
You've got to make the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.
You've got to put the Lord on the throne of your soul. You've
got to do that. You can't make the Lord Jesus
Christ anything. We can't make God do this or
God do that. That's not what it's all about. What they're saying is belief
in the gospel is not enough. But I'm telling you that the
Apostle Paul and every writer of the Bible on every page and
every word says that when the Lord Jesus Christ said it's finished,
it was finished. All that pertains to the salvation
of a sinner was wrought in Christ on the tree. We are made acceptable
with God on the basis of what Christ did. And that alone, and
I believe that, I trust Him, and Him alone. Oh, listen, the
voice on the tree, the voice that came from the form of Him
that hung on the tree. It did not summon those that
were in that crowd to do anything. And it don't summon you and I
here this morning to do anything. But what does it say? It says,
be satisfied with what is already done. That's what Christ says. He's not saying, do this, do
that. He's saying the good news is,
be satisfied with what I've done. Be satisfied with the doing and
the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, who undertook in our behalf to
be our substitute, to be our Savior. through his obedience unto God
by keeping every jot and every tittle of that law. The law requires, God requires
through the law that you and I obey that law. Not just a part
of it, but all of it. If you offend in one part, you've
offended in all of it. We can't keep that law. You can't
keep the first commandment. The first commandment says to
honor and to love God with all your heart. You've never done
that and you never will do that. That's your problem right now.
You've never kept the law and you won't keep it. The consequence
of not keeping that law is condemnation and damnation. The soul that
sinneth shall die the second death." Our Lord Jesus Christ
kept that law. Every jot and every tittle of
it. Representatively, He undertook on our behalf to keep that law. And He did. He honored the law
and magnified it. That's how I kept Him, in Him. That's the reason He's my Savior. The sinner can only find peace,
peace for his conscience and healing for his soul when he
rests in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
where it's at. Oh, it is the finished work of
the dear Savior that brings the sinner into favor with God. And it did not leave him in uncertainty
as to this. The glorifying, justifying work
of the Lord Jesus Christ was God's way of not only bringing
pardon and forgiveness, but also the certainty of it. Some folks
say, well, I believe this aspect of the gospel that Christ died
for sinners. I believe that part of it, but
I'm not sure whether I'm saved or not. The gospel of God says
Whoever believes this gospel is saved for time and eternity. The certainty of our salvation
is not in my believing this or believing that. The certainty
of salvation is in what He did. And the Bible says that whosoever
believeth in Him is not condemned. That's the certainty of it. If
you believe in the Gospel, you're not condemned. But you're justified
before God as though you had never sinned. That's the true
Gospel. I told you that the false Gospels
focus upon you, focus upon yourself, what you can do and what you
can't do. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He
gave Himself, undertook on our behalf to fulfill all righteousness,
to bear the penalty that was due us in Himself, bear the penalty,
whatever it was, the penalty of condemnation, the curse of
the law, whatever is involved in all of that, He undertook
for us. and satisfied all that God required
in my behalf. And He, the Lord Jesus Christ
now, without sin, no sin in Him, no
sin in the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of that, if you will. Thirty-three years old, a man,
like I'm a man, but without sin. yet tempted on every hand. No sin in him. Listen to me now. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, was
the only perfect thing. He was the only perfect thing
which had ever been presented to God on man's behalf. The only. and will be the only. And if a man refuses Him and
says no to Him and refuses to bow to Him, he ought to be condemned. He ought to be condemned. And nobody ought to shed a tear
for him. Nobody ought to shed a tear for
that poor, poor soul that says, no, I refuse to bow to him, no
one ought to shed a tear for him. God won't shed a tear for
him. The saints of heaven, when they turn men into hell, there'll
be no weeping and waiting and crying on the behalf of the saints
of God, but they'll rejoice and thank God. God turns men into hell. He's
not a man like you and I are. You know, you say, well, I can't
help from being sorry. Well, that's one thing to be
sorry. One thing to be sorry that they refuse. But oh, this
perfection of our Lord Jesus Christ is so wonderful, so extraordinary,
that it might be used by you and I in our transactions with
God as if it were really ours. Oh, God help us. We've got to be reconciled. The
only one way we can be reconciled is by and through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Let me read something here for
you, and I'll quit. I'm telling you what I've said
so far, the basis for reconciliation. Now, I know that man in general as a whole considers
sin to be a misfortune or less, and does not consider it to be
a crime against God. And it's a crime against God.
And that's how he looks at it. And that crime has, because we
have sinned against God, we are far off from God. And we've got to be reconciled
unto God. It's not God being reconciled
unto us, it's us being reconciled to God. And the only way that
we can be reconciled unto God is on the basis of what the Lord Jesus Christ
did. On the basis of who He is and what He did. We are reconciled
unto God through Him. Reconciliation. And in this basis of reconciliation,
it shows forth that God did not compromise on this business of
sin, in that He punished sin. To be God, He must punish sin. He can't compromise on it. His
holiness will not let Him compromise on the punishment of sin. Sin's
got to be punished. You see, God's got to be satisfied. It's not only God the Father,
but it's God the Judge. And the Judge has got to be satisfied
as to the question of our violation, the question of our sin. The
only way we can be reconciled now is God the Judge. God the Father has got to be
satisfied that sin has been punished. So all of our sins, you see,
was rolled on Him. And God punished us in Him, and
He bore the punishment. So, God the Father is satisfied. God the Father is satisfied. The law is satisfied. Justice
is satisfied. And the problem is, is you and
I can't be satisfied because we refuse to be reconciled unto
God on the basis of what He did. If you refuse, if you refuse
the reconciliation that God has provided, there's no hope for
you. You can't be reconciled by yourself. You're a sinner by choice and
by nature, and you're far off from God, and you don't want
to come back. And God's got to do something for you and bring
you to this place of peace of mind, peace of conscience, to
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ to see how God reconciles sinners
unto himself. It's on the basis of what he
did, the finished work. And he cries from that cross.
He doesn't say, this do. He says, trust in Him that's
already done it. Is that too difficult? Trust
in Him who's already done it. He's done everything that's needful
and necessary and all that God requires, He did in Himself. And whosoever believes in Him
hath eternal life. and shall not come in condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life." I'll leave that with you.
Let us stand. We'll be dismissed.